Good News 1952 (Vol II No 03) Mar

8/10/2019 Good News 1952 (Vol II No 03) Mar

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T h e N o t i o n a l M a g a z i n e o fA M B A S S A D O R C O L L E G E

vok. 11 NUMBER 3 MARCH, 1952

Did P a d Preach a

NEW KIND of Christianity?.rSo many are asking about Pauls instruction to Gentile converts.Did Paul teach against the Sabbath and Holy Rays? Here is ananswer you have probably NEVER seen in print before

By Herman L. Ho ehv u HAVE been born into a con-fused world which is filled withY onfused teaching.

Many of you have been taught thatPaul instituted anew kind of Christiani-ty to the Genti es. You have been toldby some that Paul abolished the observ-ance of ALL days. Yet others say thatChrist commanded Christian days forHis church.

W ho is r ight? To understand thetruth, we must first acquaint ourselveswith the inspired practice of Jesus andthe true chilrch.

Examples f romChristPaul tells Gentile converts in Ephe-

sians 5: 1 to be followersof God. Butdoes the Bible give us examples ofHOW to follow God?

It certainly does. The Father made itclear how eachof us is to live, by send-

ing His Son into the world to set us anexample. Peter tells us that Christ set usan example that we should follow hissteps-I Peter 2 : 2 1. The man who pro-fesses to continue in Him is himselfalso bound to live as H e. lived saidJohn. ( I John 2:6, Weymouth trans.)

The first thing to rememberis thatwe must abide in the practices andteachings of Christ. W e are bound bythe Word of God to follow his example.

Ne w Covenant Minis ter

Perhaps you have heard that Jesus

spent three and one-half years ofhisministry preaching an Old Covenantmessage? Thats not what your Biblesays Th e law and the prophets werepreached until John, and from that rimeon, the Gospel was preached-the Ne wTestam ent message (Luke16: 16).

Jesus Christ is the m inister of th enewcovenant based on better promises thanthe o ld (He b. 8:6; 12:24) . The mes-sage Jesus preached-the very wordsofthe gospel-is the way of life Jesuspracticed. Jesus did not do one thingthat we should not be doing today. H econdemned those who say, and do not.(Mat. 23:3 ) . Everywhere we find Jesusliving ,according to the message hepreached, and commanding his disci-ples t o follow his steps. The w orks H edid we areto do also (John 14:1 2 ) .

Jesus preached and lived a NewTestament message in opposition t o the

Iews. If we claim to abide in Christ, weought to walk evenas H e walked-fol-low his example

W h i c h D a y s?

Jesus set the pattern for the way weare to obey the Father.So lets examineit before we turn to the teaching of Paulto the Gentiles.

W ha t was Jesus custom about observ-ing days?

Luke 4:16 shows Jesus attendingservice on the sabbath day before hebegan to preach. H e had cometo Naza-

reth, where he had been brought upand, as his czlstom was,he went into thesynagogue o n th e sab bath day, and stooup for to read. Here we see thatfromchildhood, Jesus customarily went to thesynagogue-the Jewish name for thch ur ch -o n the sabbath .

Since this article js to explain theteaching of Pa ul to the Gentile convertsa full explanation of Jesus examplneed not be given. But to understand icompletely, write for the bookleWhich Day is the Sabbath of the NewTestament?

There are dozensof scriptures in theBible where Jesus showed the peoplhow to keep the sabbath as God intended. It is lawful, Jesus said, to d o good othat day, because the Sabbath was madfor man (Mark 2 :27) .

Remember, Jesus was setting an example for the New Testament church.

Jesus observed also the passover, anfestival of unleayened bread before hentered his ministry . (Luke 2:41,42).And he continued toso do afterward(John 2:13, 23 and 6: 4) . Other festvals of God are mentioned, as the Festval of Tabernacles, to which the ApostlJohn devoted an entire chapter, theseventh.

N o t once did Jesus tell us we shouldnot observe these days. H e setus an ex-ample by keeping them.No where canyou find He offered sacrifice on thesedays, either, except the passover. H e sub


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Page The GOOD NEWS March, 1952

sti tuted for the lambt h e symbols of un-leavened bread and wine.

But was all this preaching just forJews?

Na i l e d to t h e Cross ?

There are all varietiesof argzlmentsby those who cant see it.So you haveprobably heard that even though JesusDID N O T O N C E D U R I N G HIS WHOLELIFE preach against the days God insti-tuted, they were abolished by hisdeath.

If that were so, the Holy Spirit couldnot have inspired the A postle to say thatthe day af ter the death of Jesus was ahigh day or annual festival (John19:31) and that the seventh day wasstill the sabbath accordingto the four thcommandment (Luke 23 :5 6) .

Then all of Jesus preaching wouldhave been fo r nothing, and whose exam-ple are we to follow?

But, perhapst h e apostles changed thedays? Did Paul tell the Gentile converts

to keep different days?T he Apost les Examples

Here is what Paul told the Gentileconverts a t Corinth: Bey e followers ofme, even as I also am o f Christ ( I Cor.11 1 .

And to those Gentile-born at Philippi,he wrote: Be followers together ofm e . . . so as ye have us for an example(Phil . 3: 1 7 ) And to the once paganThessalonians he wrote:For ye, breth-ren, became follo wer s of the churches ofGod which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus

I Thess. 2 : 1 4 . Here are conclusive texts thatGEN-

TILES, on being converted are com-manded to follow the examples of theApostle to the Gentiles asI also am ofChrist, and to follow the ex amp le ofthe churches of Godin Judaea Thosewere composed of Jewish members

Did Paul follow the exampleofJesus?

Could Paul have lived any other waythan that of Jesus?For he himself said:Christ liveth in me. And Christ is thesame, yesterday, today and forever Je-sus doesnt change. He lives the sa mekind of life inus as he lived in Paul-the same life He, hirnsGlf, lived whenpreaching theGospel in person.

But can we be sure we are followingChrists example when we follow theteachings of Paul? Certainly.

It was Paulsmanner t o keep the sab-bath just as it was Jesus custom Butthat was to Jews, many will say (Acts17 :2 ) . Of course , bu t d idyou ever readwhere the Gentiles asked Paul, AFTERTHE JEWS HAD GONE O U T OF T H ESYNAGOGUE, to preach to them the nextsahhath2 Here, as recorded in Acts13:43-45,was Pauls great opportunityto tell Gentiles to meet him somedi f -

ferefit day if the Sabbathwere changedBut what happened? Paul didnt say

any such thing; but, instead, met withthem the next sabbath. EverywherePaul followed the exampleof Christ inkeeping the sabbath, even when amongGentiles

Many of you are r ight now thinkingof several texts where the first dayof t h eweek is mentioned. But did you everstop to notice that in every text it wasa common work day? You cant affordto delay writing for Mr. Armstrongsbooklet Which Day is the Sabbathofthe New Testament? which explainsevery om of these texts.

Did Gent i les Ke ep Fest iva ls?W e see now that Paul kept the sab-

bath among Gentiles, but surely hewouldnt have taught the Gentile con-verts to keep the annual festivals ofGod? Thats another fable youve beentold

After the handw7iting of ordinanceswere abolished, we find the true churchfilled with the Spiritof t i o d o n th e a n -nual festival of Pentecost (Ac ts 2:1The passover and daysof. unleavenedbread were keptby the churches inJ u -daea (Acts 12 :3 ) . And we have readwhere Paul praised theGentiles in Thes-salonica for following the churches ofGo d in Judaea -The Jewish brethren

But does the Bible record that the an-nual holy days wereheld where the Gen-tiles lived-long afte r thos e rituals tha twere nailed to the cross were abolished?Yes, indeed.

The Holy Spir i t inspired Luke towrite in Acts 20:6 that the daysof u n -leavened bread occurred in faroff Phil-ippi Th e disciples sailed away afterthe days of unleavened bread.

In I Corinthians 16:8, Paul told theGentiles he was intending to be atEphesus, a Gentile city, the dayof Pen-tecost. If this is not enough proof, thenlets turn to 1 Cor. 5:8 where Paul c o m-manded Gentile converts to observeone of these festivals.

For even Christ our passoveris sac-rificed for us: therefore. . . what?Read it Therefo re let, us kee9 thefeas t, not wi th old Leaven . . . but withthe unleavened breadof sincerity andtruth.

Here and in I Cor. 11:20-34, Paul isinstructing the Corinthians how to keepthe passover and the festival of unleav-ened bread. They are com mandednot tozrse leaven on those days. But instead oftaking unleavened bread arrnrdingtothe letter of the law as the Jews did,Paul admonished these Corinthians toobey accordingto the spirit, by usingunleavened bread-the symbo lof r ight-e o u sn e ss - w i tha pure heart in sincerity.

This sapid sketch of the practice of

Jesus and the early church, which wasguided by the inspiration of the Apos-tles, shows the PRACTICE of real Chris-tianity as it began.

But what about those three texts thatPaul wrote to Gentile converts? Donthey say that these days were abolished?-And that Christians departed fromgrace by observing them?

E s te e m ing O n eDay Above Another

In spire of the Biblical evidence al-ready presented, many people firmly believe that Paul said it didnt make anydifference w hich days we keep if w ekeep them to God as bestw e believe inour own human reasoning.Is that whatPaul really said? Lets see.

On e man esteemeth one day abovcanother: another esteemeth every dayalike. Let every man bef d l y persuadedin his own mind. Romans 14:5,6.

By caking these verses outof theirsetting, people mak e Paul say somethin

altogether different. Does he sayto ob-serve Christmas, Easter, Lent, Good Friday, Sunday, or the Festival of the As-sum ption of Mary into Heav en? Does hsay here that Jesus did away with thvery days He kept?

Does Paul say God esteemeth oneday above another andGod esteemethevery day alike? It doesnt say God,but oneMAN esteemeth one day aboveanother. This tells us what certainM E N though t, not what G od says

W e a r e no t t o b e judged by whatmen think, but by the word of GodJohn 12:48 reads: The word that Ihave spoken,the same shall judge himin the last day. Jesus is not going tojudge you by what anyman believes, bu tby the wordsH e spoke

Next, notice that these saints at Romehaving differing opinions, were forbidden to jzldge one another as unworthy ofChrist. W ho areyou that judges anoth-er mans servant? to his own master hstands or falls. Yes, he shall be help up:for God is able to make him stand.( R o m . 14:4)

Paul is not sanctioningor condemn-ing any particular days, but warnin g thsaints not to judge one another ancause strife for having differing opinions about thingsthey did not yet under-stand clearly.

Let every man be fully persuaded ihis own mind.

Does this give license to believe whaever you want? God commands: Leanot unto thine own understanding.(Prov. 3 : 5 ) How are you going to befully assured in your own mindUNTILY O U K N O W W H AT GOD SAYS IN HISWORD? The holy scriptures . . . areable to makeyou wise to salvation Pauwro te Timothy. ( 2 Tim. 3 : 1 5 ) By

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IF YOU DIE ...Will You Live Again?

Y

Y o u are going to be surprised b y the N EW FACTS you will learnabout the resurrection in this article-facts y o u have NEVER beentaug ht, but information wh ich your Bible bas ALWAYS contained.

B y Dr. C. . Meredith O U recall how man ingreat physi-cal dang er fights for his life H eexerts almost superhuman energy

to save himself and does not give upuntil all strength is gone

But what aboutDEATH? It is the o p -posite of life. It takes away this verymortal life rhat you would defend withall your strength

All people down through the ageshave had to die, but this is not a satis-fying answer when you yourself haveto face it.

Just what IS the chanceof YOUR comingback to life, of living again?Your onlyhope of living again is by a resurrection.BULwhat i~ your ASSURANCE , if any, ofsuch an occurrence?

IS DE ATH T HE E N D OF E VE RYT HI NG?

W h e r e can you look for such assur-ance? Yo u can look to the Bible It willgive you the answers to thoseimportantlife and death quest ions that no humanmind can give It is the revealed WORDO f GOD.

Predic ted F ar in AdvanceAs usual, withgreat events, God has

made the resurrections known for hun-dreds of years in advance Job, fifteenhundred years before Christ, saidThough after my skin worms destroythis body, yet in my flesh will I see God.(Job 19:26). David said, God wil l re-deem my soul from the powerof thegrave: for he shall receive me.(Ps.49:15). These two were speakingoftheir own future resurrection to immor-

Isaiah 700 years before Christ, proph-eSied Christs resurrection; for in Isa.26: 1 9 h e says Thy dead men shall live,together with my dead body shall theyarise. Also, David saysof Christs res-urrection, Thou wilt not leave my soulin hel l (th e grave); neither wilt thousuffer thine Holy one to see corruption.

Ps. 16: 10). All these resurrections areresurrections to IMMORTALITY

But Daniel, about500 B.C., has FORE-TOL D that there is going to be,I N THEF U T U R E , a resurrection which can alsobe followed by a sentencing to eternaldeath-to e\ erla stin g contempt--Andar that time shall Michael standup-

tality.

and many of them that sleep in the dustof the ear th shall awake, some to ever-lasting life, andsome to sham e andever-1ushz.g con tempt. (Daniel 12: 1,2)

But even BEFORE Isaiah and Danielprophesied the resurrectionof Christ-in fact practically at the very t ime Godformed man, God, referring to Christscoming said, I will put enmity betweenthee ( th e serpent) and the woman, andbetween thy seed and her seed; it (theseed ) shall bruise thy (Sata ns) head-( Gen. 3 : 15 ) . Satan deceived Eve intoeating of the tree of knowledge of goodand evil (Gen. 3 : 6 ) , the penalty ofw h ich was death (verse 3 ) . Had Adamand Eve not eaten of this tree, theywould likely have eaten of the treeoflife (Gen. 2:9) and they and wecouldhave lived forever. A just God made itpossible that through womans seed-Christ (Christ had no earthly father) allmankind could again have a chance toeternal life through a resurrection fromdeath. ( I Tim. 2:1 4 and Isaiah 7:1 4).Romans 5 :10 says If-we were reco n-ciled to t iod by the death of his son-we shall be saved by hislife.

Do you get the significanceof this?W e are saved -by his (Christs) , if&.Th e HOLY SPIRIT Christ had this by be-ing begotten of it. (Psalms 2:7; Mat-thew 1 2 0 ) . WE who repent and are bap-tized receive it as a gift (Acts 2 : 3 8 ) .W e werent born with any immortalsoul, we must receive eternal lifeas ag i f t . Now we are beginning to see whyChrists reszlrrection was as importantas the sheddingof his BLOOD for theforegiveness of our past sins It meansthat IF the same l i fe (Holy Spiri t ) isin US that was in Christ, GodC A N andWILL RESURRECT US TO IMMORTALITY;for Romans8: 11 says If the Spiri t (theHoly Spiri t) of him (G od the Father)that raised up Jesus from the dead dwellin you, he that raised Christ from thedead shall also quicken y o w mortalbodies by his Spirit (Holy Spirit) thatdwells in you.

No won-ler the RESURRECTION OFJESUS was such an .important event t othe whole EARTH IT WAS TO PROVETHAT THE I- .OLY SPIRIT WITHIN A PER-

SON WOUL D CAUSE A RE SURRE CT I ONTO IMMORTALITY AFTER DEATH

Bible Basedon a Plan

Th e preachers today NOT GRASPTHE FACT that the WHOLE BI BL E deals

M AT I O N O F T H E KINGDOM O F GOD byGOD the FAT HE R

It can also be calledthe f ami ly of God.It will bea familyof SPIRIT BEINGS withGod the Fatherat the head; Christ willbe the eldest son, and those who arfinally saved at the resurrection will bthe other sons. (See parables on Kingdom of God-Matt. 13 and Mark 4).

ITY represents THE VITAL TRANSITION

with O NE SUBJE CT ONLY- T HE FOR-

T HE RE SURRE CT I ON TO I MMORTAL -

FROM THIS MOR TAL BODY-BY BEINGBORN AGAIN-INTO THE SPIRIT FORMA N D E N T R A N C E I N T O T H E K I N G DO M O FGOD - e x c e p t a m an b eborn again hecannot see the kingdom of God. (Joh3 : 3 ) .

With such a close-knit message as thto tell, can A N Y P E R S O N say the oldtestament is done away,,or say that Pauwritings should be left outor onlypreach from sections here and thereTh e ENTIRE BIBLE is O N E C O M PA C TUNIT and drives hard toward the subjeit has to reveal, once it isPROPERLYunderstood

As we go o n now to study the varioRESURRECTIONS, let us keep in mindhow the MAST E R- MI ND, God the Fatherreveals H I S PLAN to us. It will build ourFA I T H in the resurrection W e willK N O W that we are in a world that irunning according toa PRECONCEIVED

Resurrect ionof Jesus Christ

From the time Adam and Eve sinneGod foretold the coming of ONE whowould again give man an opportunito immortal life, and foretoldof hisdescent through Abraham.H E who wasto give ITS the opportunity of a R E S I J R -RECTION to E T E R N A L L I F E X H R I S T

Christ was TO BRUI SE the SERPENTSHE AD (Gen . 3 : 1 5 ); his origin to bethrough Abraham (Gen.1 2 : ) ; and tobe through the Judah branch of Abra-ham (Gen. 49:lO ; nd the Pharez

D E F I N I T E P L A N


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The national magazine of

AMBASSADOR COLLEGEministering t o T h e Church.of God

scattered abropd, andreporting on campus happenings

VOL. I1 NUMBER 3

Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and Editor

Herman Hoeh, Executive EditorRaymond Cole, Marion McNair,

Raymond McNair, Paul Smith

Associate EditorsOwen Smith, Campus Ediror

Kenneth Herrmann, Sciewe Edi tor

Dick Armstrong, Picture EditorRod Meredith, Sports Editor

Sent free on personal request, as theLord provides. Address communica-tioil u the Editor Box I I I, Pasadena,California.

branch of Judah. (Gen. 3 8 : 2 8 , 2 9 , 3 0 ) .David foretold Jesus resurrection

about 1 , 0 0 0 years B.C. (Ps. 16: o ) , andIsaiah about700 years B.C. (Isaiah 7 : 14and 26: 1 9 ) . Christ himself foretold thathis resurrection would occur theTHIRDDAY-72 hours (not less than2 days-36 hours, as the churches today teach )and IT H A PPE N E D I N 72 HOURS Readour booklet Does Easter reallycom-memorate the Resurrection?)

Now, let us look back over these hap-penings-a sequenceof events, prophe-sied alwayswell in advance, and extend-ing over a period of four thousand yearsand always fulfilled Should not this in-spire your CONFIDENCE in the ONE-the SUPREME GOD-who saw th at the seevents were prophesied, and saw that

ever God says by H ih Ho ly Wo rd , theBible, will be done

Th e resurrection of Christ was an en-tirely di fe ren t type of event than hasever happened on this earth before orsince. The pagans had taught about im-mortal souls and that p eople returnedtolife after death in various other forms(i.e. reincarnations), but theyconldnever produce PROOF. Christ,before hiscrucifixion, raised many of the deadback to life to fill out theirnatural lifeJpan. (Matt . 9 : 2 4 , 2 5 ; Matt. 10.8, Luke7 : l S ; Ju . 11 :44) .

rhese resurrections were all, only for

they ALWAYS CAME TO PASS? W h a t -

T h e G O O D NEWS

a short return. to aPHYSICAL LIFE andwere of no great importance excepttothe ones involved

But on Christs resurrection dependsthe RESURRECTION and ETERNAL LIFEof ALL OF US; for 1 Cor. 1 5 : 1 7 , 1 8 says,If Christ be not raised,your fa i th isvain; ye are yet in your sins. Then theyalso which are fallen asleep in Christ

are perished. Doomed to eternal deathDo you understand it? Had Christ

been an Ordirtrtry mortal man withoutthe Spiritof God, he would haveSINNEDsometime during his life andcould nothave paid OUR DEBT for sin Th e wagesof sin is DEATH . . . (Ro m. 6 : 2 3 )ETERNAL DEATH His sin would havetaken his own l i fe and God would nothave resurrected him H e would havehad no life leftto PAY FOR OUR SINS-WE COULD NOT EXPECT TO BE RESUR-RECTED TO ETERNAL LIFE

It took on UNUSUAL HUMAN B EINGto go through life without sinning.He

was known asthe Messiah Jn. 1 :41 )the ANOINTED ON E- o n e wh o was t ocome to REDEEM the people. He wasBEGOTIEN of the HOLY SPIRIT (Luke

RADIO LOGThe WORLD TOMORROW

Herbert W. Armstrong analyzes to-days news, with the prophecies ofThe WORLD TOMORROW

TO T HE NAT ION & C A N A D A :XERF-1570 on your dial (extreme

top .of dial) every Sundaynight, 7:15 P.M. CentralStandard time.

XEG-1050 on your dial, every night,8 : O O P.M. Central Standmdtime.

XET-0-800 on your dial, everynight,9:OO P.M. Central Strlndardtime. (8 :00 Mountain Stand-ard time.)

XEFW-810 on dial, every night,9:00 P.M ., and every morning,6: 30 A.M. (heard in Easternstates one hour later).

HEARD O N PACIFIC COAST:XERB-50,000 watts-1090 on dial

-7:OO P.M. every night.XEDM-1580 on dial, every night,

R:nO P.M. Pacific Coast time.KALI-Los Angeles-1430 on dial-7:30 A.M. every morning.

KXL-Portland- 10,000 watts. 750on dial-2 :30 P.M., Sundays.

KVI-Seattle-Tacom a-570, first ondial-10:30 P.M. Sundays.

OTHER STATIONSWAIT-Chicago-820 on dial-1 :Oo

P.M. Sundays.KM AC-San A n t o n i d 3 0 on dial

7:OO P.M. SundaysKLEE -Houston410 on dial, 1n:oo

P.M. Sun. and 12 midnightMon. thru Sat.

1 35-the p o wer which strengthcnedhim against temptationFROM BIRTH 1Cor. 1 5 : 17 says If Christ be not raised,your faith is in vain.

Suppose Christ had died butset notime as to when he would be resurrectedand suppose further, that aftera year orso his body disappeared. YOU AND 1WOULD HAVE N O EVIDENCE WHATEVER

THAT WE WOULD EVER BE RESURRECTEDand BECOME IMMORTAL His bodymight only have been stolen.

But Christhas given us the evidenceWhen the Scribes and Pharisees askeChrist for aSIGN (of his being the Mes-siah-or Savior) he said he would bTHREE DAYS AND NIGHTS in the grave(Matt . 1 ? : 4 0 ) - ~ 0 ? . one and a halfdays as the churches today believe, buTHREE By this teachingof a day and ahalf the devilis trying to take our veryevidence of a salvation hopeaway from

Christ arose the third day He was

crucified late Wednesday afternoon anarose late Sabbath (Saturday ) afternoon(Our booklet Does Easter really commem orate the Resurrec tion? clearly eplains this.)

T h e t h i n g that confuses people is thatthey mistake the Sabbath thatis men-tioned as drawing on in Luke2 3 : 54 fora WEEKLY SABBATH whereas it was actu-ally an A N N U A L SAmAlH-which happened to fall on Thursday in A.D. 31.After this came theirWEEKLY SABBATHon Saturday. Between these days thwomen bought and prepared spice(Mark 1 G : l ) .

God has seen to it that these twWORLD IMPORTANT EVENTS-the Cru-cifixion and the Resurrection-havebeen well witnessed Christs healinand miracles had attracteda large fol-lowing. People were interestetd in himwherever he went. On the day of Hcrucifixiona large m ultitude was present(Mat t . 2 7 : 2 4 )

Mary (Jesus mother) and the othetwo Marys and John were present (Jn1 9 : 2 5 , 2 6 ) also.

A s Christ said he would rise the thirday the chief priests and Pharisees toogreat precautions to see that his boddid not disappear by being stolen by tdisciples, so a guard was set and a greastone was rolled over the sepulture etrance. (Matt. 2 7 : 6 3 - 6 6 )

Christs body diddisappear though(Jn. 2 0 : 1 ) He had been RESURRECTEDfrom the deadTHE THIRD DAY and MaryMagdalene (John20: 1 4 ), the disciples(Jn. 2 0 . 1 9 , and aficr that about 500people sctw him at one t ime ( 1 Cor.1 5 : 6 ) . Fifty days later in Jerusalemalarge number gathered from all over thworld to observe Peitecosr and awathe coming of the Holy 3pirit (Ac2 : 2 ) .

us.


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Page 6 The GOOD NEWS March, 1952

spirit FIRST CAME TO THIS EARTH TOB E AVAILABLE TO ALL M E N fifty daysafter Christ was crucified It came onthe day of PENTECOST (Acts 2 : 1-4).

These MILLIONS are NOT LOST FOR-EVER -They NEVER were called to besaved Go d is a JUST GOD and he hasPROVIDED A WAY whereby theyC A N B ESAVED

Also, what about the great numbersince Christs day who have shown verylittle interest in religion and have die d?A R E THEY LOST FOREVER? No, becausethey have never had a chance to salva-tion. They are blinded. God is N O T try-ing to save inany now. H e has BLINDEDthem Read Romans 11: 5,7,8,25. Acts7 : 4 2 , Isaiah 2 8 : 1 3 , Matthew 13:10,11,13.

Now notice WHE N GOD IS GOING TOGIVE THESE PEOPLE THEIR FIRSTCHANCE for SALVATION N o t e this card-fully YOU m e probably NEVER hemdit explained before in its T RUE meaning

*. . . Ye shall know I am the Eternal,when I have opened your grav es. .. andbrought you up outof your graves, andshall put my spirit in you ,and ye shalllive, and I shall place you in your ownland . . . (Ezekiel 37:13-14). This isspeaking of ancient ls raeGa peoplewho had been scattered among the na-tions almost 150 years before this waswritten

W H E N does this take place? It cannot take place before Christ returns toearth at his second coming because thatwill bring about the FIRST RESURREC-T I O N . It W I L L N O T take place then butonly after one thousand years haveelapsed from the time of thef i r ~ t ecur-rection because as we have already seen(please refer to First Resurrection) onlythe GOOD will be RESURRECTED then(Also Rev. 2 0 : 5 . )

Therefore T HE RE ARE ONLY T W O

SIBLY REFER TO-the evil dead whohave knowingly rejected the truth andthe dead who never had a chance T h eevil dead are those who DELIBERATELYDECIDED they did not want to be r d e dby God. There is NO REASON to givethem a second chdnce to attain immor-tality They bad their chance and turnedit downTherefore IT IS THE CLASS OF PEO-

CLASSES THIS RESURRECTTON CAN POS-

PLE, THE VAST BLINDED MAJORITY,WHO NEVER REALLY HAD A CHANCE TOACCEPT GODS WAY OF L I FE , WHO A R ERESURRECTED

Read what Revelation20: 11-12 saysabout this RESURRECTION. . . and Isaw a great white throne. . . and I sawthe dead, small and great stand beforeGod . . . these people areSTANDING-A RESURRECTION . . . and anotherbook was opened which is thebook ofLife . . .* hey are givenLIFE-. . . and

the dead were judged out of those things

IT IS THE GREAT WHITE THRONE. . .

JUDGMENTEven the WORST of the sinners who

never had a chance, will be in this RES-URRECTION for even the inhabitants ofSODOM will be there W he n thy daugh-ters, Sodom and her daughters, shall re-turn their former estate, and Samariaand her daughters shall returnto theirformer estate. . . hen thou (Jerusalem,refer to Ezekiel 3 7 ) . . . shall return toyour former estate. (Ezekiel16:5 5 .

Isaiah 65 : 20 indicates ALL will live tobe a hundred years old in this ageat thistime.

God is indeed a just God (Deut. 32:4 ) and A LL W I L L H AV E THEIR CHANCE

T he Final Resurrection

Revelation 20: 13,14,15 describes theFINAL RESURRECTION in which the sea,

death, and hell (Hades-the gra ve )give up their dead to be judged. Theseare they who, after being begotten byGod, rebelled, and those who have livedcontrary to Gods way of life and haverefused to repent;be baptized, and thusreceive the gift of t heHoly Spirit. Theseare cast into the lakeof fire which is de-scribed in verse14 as theSECOND DEATH.It is the EVERLASTING DEATH

W h y So Many Resurrect ions?

At first glance it seems strange thatthere are so many resurrections, but letus examine. God the Father is forminga spirit family of his very own from usmortals hereon this earth, but he is alsoseeing to it thatwe develop intoBEINGSOF CHARACTER-beings that can ULT I -MATELY BE TRUSTED WITH the GREATPOWER THAT GOD WILL GIVE US

TO BE SAVED

This will takeTIME in order that manmay learn thatHI S ( MAN S) OW N WAYSof doing things,g l l j de d by his o w nut-ural tendencies, ARE WRONG and that heM U S T be guided by Gods laws inALLhis activitiesor only WRETCHEDNESS andDEATII will result We are just startingto see the terrible end results now ofmans own way of runniFg this earth

God is going to enlarge hisKINGDOM

gradually. An increasing number will begiven immortality at each resurrection.Only those who qualify to becomeaspirit being and are changed into spiritcan enter into this kingdom; for1 Cor.1S:50 says Flesh and blood cannot in-herit the Kingdomof God.

Matthew 13.31-32 describes the man-ner of growth of this kingdom: Thekingdom of heaven (or kingdom ofGod) is like to a grain of mustard seed. : which is the least of all seeds; butwhen it is grown, itis the greatest amongthe herbs, and becometha tree . . .

Only O N E person has beenborn intothis kingdomso far-this is Jesus Christ.This was don e by his resurrectionto im.mortality. (Romans 8:29; Col. 1 18).

These resurrections to immortalitywhich are to GIVE BIRTH to the rest ofthe citizens of this spirit kingdom havenot started yet, but will start at Christssecond coming W he n these do start,there will be a shorter space betweeneach succeeding resurrection.

These people who are transformedinto spiri t beings, will be usedto governthe mortal beings here on this earth.These spirit beings of the KINGDOM willbe rulers, priests, and judges. (Rev .1 6;20.:4; 1 Cor. 6:2.) Ultimately ALL mor-tal men M U S T be in thisSPIRIT KINGDOMor CEASE T o EXIST ALL of the Bibledoes start to MAKE SENSE once GodsP L A N is UNDERSTOOD

T he Glorious Iope-The Good N ew sNo wonder the apostles who were all

witnesses to the resurrection of Christ toimmort&ty (Acts 2 : 3 2 ; 3:15 were sojoyous that they went diligently up anddown the land preaching thishope.

From the PortfolioBY Owen Smith

Here are some entertaining extractsfrom our campus newspaper the Port-folio which should give you an insightinto our life. This paper is put out bythe Journalixn class under the directionof Professor Walker, for the studentsonly.

* *Tote that dirt; water those camellias;

plant those trees; clean these groundsup, make it snappy yellsMr. Allen orMr. Cole Work, thats the word; workfor a living, and work fora cause.

A college that gives you workto en-able you to go to it. A college thatmakes you proudof it, and makes youfeel a part of it because you helped makeit what it is. You planted those flowers;you watered that lawn. You cleared thaland; and you shaped that contour. Itsa part of you, and you are a part ofit.

* *Mr. Emile Mauler-Hiennecey is giv-

ing an advanced couise in French thawill take up the study of journalism, radio script writing and public speakingalong with present-day customs of othemass communication media of France

Dick Armstrong is the only studenwhv has enrolled in the classso far.

The subject material covered will beanalytical rather than creative. SeveraFrench newspapers will be subscribeto, and tadia srations in Paris are beingaddressed through correspondencetoobtain radio scripts and analyze methodof broadcasting in France.


7/16

An OPEN LETTERto those buptized lust summer

HIS IS an open letter to all ofyou well-remembered people whoT ere baptized last summer.

Every time I remember those pleas-ant summer days and nights when youand Raymond McNair andI came to-gether before God in the performanceof His command to be baptized, I thinkof many things thatI would like to sayto you.

So I am beginn ing this article at11 20p.m. on a Saturday night.I feel that God

has given me the essenceof an open let-ter or article. I hope it will help and in-spire every one of you brethren and co-workers whom Raymond and I cannotrecall without having a feeling of lovesweep over us. We both feel that wetruly met Gods own people on the tourlast summer. You were wonderful to usand we will never forget the many kind-nesses you showed us.

H o w You C a m e to K n o w

God brought us together last summerand I know that he had a great purposein it. As we met you brethren on our

tour through the South and Midwest-w e ealized more th an ever t h a t rhis wasthe work of the Creator. Each of youwas in different circumstances, each hada different background, yet somehowGod had oprricd each onr of your riiiridsand hearts to realize that true Christiani-ty was much more than you had beentaught in the popu lar churches.

You wanted a real and a genuine re-lationship with your Creator and yourGod, and the World T omorrow broad-cast had helped you make a start in thisdirection. You learned th rough atrueminister, Mr. Armstrong, that Gods

kingdom, in addition to aboundinggrace, has system, and law and order.You became willingto repent of break-ing Gods laws. Through your own per-sonal Bible study and prayer, you hadcome to realize that God Almighty gaveus his laws because He wanted to showus the right way to live a full, happy,and abundant life.

Yes, you knew th at G od gave us thoselaws out of LOVE, and you were willingto turn from your past ways and to beginobeying God. Raymond andI count it agreat joy and bless ingtd have been priv-ileged to meet and talk with you, and to

Are you really l iving a _Christian life? Ap p l y this test and see.

By Rod Meredith

baptize manyof you-knowing that thiswas the first step tow ard a lifeof real ac-complishment, love, joy, and peace ofmind. W e should a ll thank God that H ehas shown us theWAY to real peace andhappiness

Here in this world we see peoplegroping and struggling for peace andjoy, yet they wil l not obey the laws thata loving God has set in motion to pro-duce those very results. Their churches,their pastors and leaders areblinding

them and preventing them from discov-ering this way to everything really goodand worthwhile.

Let us rejoice then that God has seenfit to call us out of this Babylonof con-fusion, and to give us the realizationthat the principleof LOVE, as expressedin the ten commandments, is actuallythe key to real deep-down human hap-pincss. Wh cn you thinkabout it, its justcom mon sense, isnt i t?Yes , Godstruth is so plain th at a little child can un-derstand if he will study with an openmind. Yet the world goes on with itsphilosophy of greed, competition,WAR,

and hate. How thankful we can be justfor the knowledge thatLOVE and OBEDI-ENCE to our Heavenly Father is theonly genuine key to successful, happyliving

Do You F i n d T h is H a r d ?

But a lot of us find even these simpletruths hard to practice. Many of youhave written us of your problems. Andlet me confess, brethren, that allof ushere have many problems in Christianliving too. I often find myself t ry ing s ohard to live up to the letter of the lawthat I neglect to show fo rth the love and

kindness toward others that I should.Doany of you have problem like this?How many times d o we ge tso in tent onthe battle with our own human naturethat we forget to help the other fellowwith his problems? It gives one a guiltyfeeling when he realizes this. Yet itseems almost impossible to fight the bat-tle with oneself a nd the world aroundusat the same time.

Arent a lot of you having troubleovercoming your own bad habits andfaults? And donty o u often become dis-couraged at your seeming lackof abilityto live a full and happy life, and to show

forth the love and good works thatyouknow God desires?

Well, there is a way out of this predicament

T h e Way Out of This Troub leBrethren, letus realize first of all that

God has called us for a definite purposeH e has predestinated us to become hiown children (Ephesians1 : 5 ) and hehas purposed that we should be partakers of the divine nature (I1 Peter 1 : 4 .

Yes, we are to have the verynatureand character of our heavenly Father implanted within us. Doesnt a humachild have the natu re of its father? Cetainly And Go d has given us thisas anexact t y#e of ou r birth as one of His ownchildren. As a child of God, we will inherit the very nature and attributesofGod

How else could we ever obey . Jesuscommand, Be ye thereforeperfect, evenas your Father which is in heaven is pefect? Many of us are just beginning torealize thetremendous meaning in thesewords W e are to grow spiritually, unt

a perfect man, unte the measure of thstature of the fullness of C hrist.s YOUR Life Exciting and Full?

W h a t a CHAL L E NGE this is to makethe most of our lives

God has commanded us to live fulexciting and productive lives just aJesus Christ did. W hy should we trembat this command? God standsbound tohelp us Christ said that Go d ismorewilling to give us the Holy Spirit thawe are to give our hungry childrebread (Luke 11:13).

W e can face lifecompletely unafraid

God has promised that if we seekfirstHis kingdom and righteousness, all omaterial needs will be added (Matthe6:33) . Christ said that even the verhairs of your head are all numbere(Luke 1 2 : 7 ) and then said FEAR NOTW hy should we fear while weknow thatGod is protecting us, guiding us, andproviding all our needs?

Nearly everyone in the world today seeking some kind of security. But asGods own begotten children, we hathe o?dy real and unfailing securitthere is.

W ith this knowledge then, letus face


8/16


our troubles squarely and without fear.W e find that the true Christian life is atime of many trials and tests, dont we?But that is theWAY God is building ourchnTacte? Dont hard work and excrcischelp build physical streng th? Well, Go dis sending us througha spiritual obsta-cle course to strengthen us spiritually.

Heres ONE Tes tPaul tells us in 11 Timothy 3: 12,all

that will live godly in Christ Jesus shallsuffer persecution. InI Peter 3:12-19,Peter tells Christians not to thinkitstrange because they are going througha fiery trial, but to REJOICE inasmuchas they are partakers of Christs suffer-ings. Yes, we should beh 4 p y that wehave these momentary trialsto helpbuild within us a holy and righteouscharacter which will last throughouteternity.

Knowing that God is doing all thesethings to strengthen us, we can face life

with renewed courage andenthusiasm.Let US put the T en Commandments andGods other laws in practice in our dailylives. Yes, I said pdc t ice , because wewont be able to do this perfectly at first.W he n we begin to become serious aboutthese things, ,man y of ou r erstw hilefriends and relatives will make funofus. Perhaps someof their criticism willbe justified, hermiwwe often tend to be-come too serious or sometimes evensanctimonious about our beliefs whenwe begin trying each dayto live them.

Yo u Are t h eOnly Light i n the World

But we can grin and bear it, cant we?Rorrle wasnt built ina day you know.It takes t ime and experience to learn touse the proper judgment in livingbyGods laws. W e need these problems t ostrengthenus for the bigger ones ahead.We are helping to build the mostvaluable and lasting thing there is-thecharacter of God. That is why God isputting us through this experienceofmaterial life.

Christ said that his followers are thelight of the world and the saltof theearth. W e should be continually help -ing others with our time, money, orprayers. It is our dutyto give to thosewho are really in need;to visit the sick;to comfo rt those who are in distress.Weare to be an exampleor a light tothose about us (Matt.5:13-16).

Ho w should we go about this Breth -ren, here is where we have to put faithand courage towork. Every true followerof Christ should try to develop his tal-ents and abilitiesso that he can be moreof a light to his fellow men.

Yet Perhaps Po or and UneducatedMany of you are in poor financial cir-

cumstances and some have not had very

much of this worlds education. Thisistrue because God is not now callingmany wise and wealthyof this world.BGt God has given eachof you manytalents. Air you studying and develop-ing those talentsso that Christ may say,We ll done, whenHe returns?

Remember that you areto take Jesusas an example. Do you think he usedsloppy speech? Didnt he have a goodknowledge of world affairs? Wasnt Heneat and clean in appearance and cour-teous in manner? If you will study thelife of C hrist carefully, you will see thathe was truly an educated, cultured man.Even when Christ was only12, thelearned Pharisees were astonished at hisunderstanding (Luke 2:47) .

If we are to be perfect even as Godand Christ are, we will haveto acquirenew knowledgeof how to live and con-duct ourselves.No matter what our sta-tion in life, each of us should try ourbest to improve. By doing this, we will

then be ableto help others much moreeffectively. They will respect our judg-ment more in spiritual matters becausethey see the good resultsit has broughtin our material life.

Th e Ch a ll eng eof Real Christ iani ty

This is really a challenge to grow,isnt it? Yet if we areto be kings andpriests in the kingdom of God, we willall have to multiplyour present talentsand abilities ma ny times.We will do thiswith Gods help

Remember that, unto whomsoevermuch is given,of him shall be much re-quired (Luke 12:48). So those of uswho have had more education andop-portunities will be expected to accom-plish much more than those lessfor-tunate. But we are all commandedtodevelop the talents thatGod has givenus, and to use them in H is service.

Make a fresh stan Dont be afraidto begin learning all over again theworthwhile things you only half-learnedyears ago. Get t he books you need to i m-prove your knowledgeof the Englishlanguage, history, andof other vital sub-jects. Learn more about yourjob so thatyou can be a more profitable workmanor farmer. This will probablymean anincrease in your responsibility or pay.This is Gods way It will enable you toserve others more andto glorify God bythe example you set.

Do you catch the vision? W e arebuilding the characters which will fit usto be kings and priests with Christ (Rev.5 : 10 and 2 0 . 6 Know ye not that weshall judge angels?( I Cor. 6 : 3 ) . Solets give ourselves completelyto God.The very purpose of life is tochalzgeand grow better each day. Let us con-tinually ask Gods help in this.For withGod nothing shall be impossible, as is

recordcd in Luke 1.37.

T h e Big TestBUT, in th e very process of develop-

ing o ur ow n characters, atremendous re-sponsibility has been placed on ourshoulders God has given usa job to d otogether, as co-workers with Christ.

Christ said, And this gospel of thekingdom shall be preached in all theworld for a witness unto all nations; andthen shall the end come. Notice thathi s was not a gospelabout Christ, butthe good newsor gospel of rhe king-dom of God.All of us who are sincerelysearching for truth realize thatas yet,there is only one source proclaimingthis true gospel in any largeor nationalmanner. This is the World Tomorrowprogram.

That fact doesnt fill us with thezealit should A lotof brethren dont fullyrealire yrr what this means. It meansthat God has called some of us to fulfi

the most important mission on the f .ceof the earth at this time Thats one wayGod develops Hischaracter in us.

After being hereat Ambassador Col-lege and .seeing this great work in action, I realize more than ever the jobahead for every true Christian.To thebest of our knowledge, God has raiseup no other work to fulfill this commissiun of Christ to proclaimHISgospel asa witness to all nations. Most 6 us arejust common, humble people, but Gohas somehow seenfit to open our eyesto H is truth-and layon our shouldersthe responsibility of carrying out thisworld-wide mission.

YOU Must Help Change theWorld

Dont be a timid soul God will showus the way, but we have to doour part.Doesnt this sound like something thawill give life new meaning?Yo u and I,all of us collectively, are trying to reachthe whole world with a message It is astartling message of a new WORLD GOV-ERNMENT which will soon be set upbyJesus Christ.

Peo ple wont like this message Butitwill be the means of bringin g thousandof them to repentance. W e will eachbehaving a part in changing the thoughtand the lives of every personon earth

Think about itW ho could ask fora better chanceto

live a truly worthwhile, happy and exciting life? And we have Gods promisthat he willprotect and guide us as wecarry out this Divine commission.

So let us go about our ta>k with en-thusiasm. W e should each strive dailytoput G o d s love to work in our livePresent your bodies a living sacrificholy, acceptable, unto God which is youreasonable service (Rom.12:1 ) . We

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9/16

HOW to Observe Gods FestivalsHere is a clear, simple explanation

showing bow YOU can k e e p Gods f es t iva l s

By Herman L. HoehAV E YOU been robbing yourself

of happiness? Have you beenH heating yourself of oneof thegreatest joys of living?Like so many others, you probablyhave been mrprzsed to learn for thefirstt ime that God wantst o keep yolc happy.H e isnt the stern GodHe has been pic-tured. One way God has provided forour ha pp ine ss- ou r great joy-as wellas growth and development in the trueChristian life, is an opportunity for fel-lows hip at Hi s festivals with those whosehearts God has filled with His Spirit.

You have read in previous issues ofThe Good News exactly W H Y thesefestivals are to be kept, andW H AT theirsignificance really is. Heres an articletelling how you can observe these HolyDays. If you have missed previousarti-cles, send for them immediately so youwill understand the truth w ith hundredsof others.

Purposeof Festivals

Investigators have proven thaty o uneed a weekly day of rest. But yourHeavenly Father knewthat long ago. Hecreated you that way Th atis why Godgave the weekly Sabbathas one of Hisfestivals (Lev. 23: 2, 3. But men havesubstituted their weekly holidays inplace of Gods.

Did you know that research men havealso discovered that we human beingsneed annlcal periods of rest so that wecan be more efficient? Get the most ourof life? God knewthat long before ourmode rn investigators, too H ecreatedus that way Thats why He institutedthe annual festivals. ButGod also knewthat YOU need to spend these seasons inDIRECT CONTACT WITH HIM, not justby yourselves.

These festivals are so arranged thatyou can have TWO annual periods ofeight days, one in the spring, the otherin the fall, when you can be free fromrhe worries of life and share the happi-ness of many others who have learnedthat Gods ways pay. On them and theother Holy Days,God meets wtth us. O nother days of our choosing, He is not inour midst because we are not gatheringtogether in His nameor by His au-thority. No w onder the world doesntknow God

There is no time in all the year asjoyous as these festiveseasons They arenot yokesof bondage as many have beendeceived into believing, but daysor-

dained to keep you FREE-if you follow

the LAWOF

LIBERTY with your wholeheart (James 2: 1 2 ).. By keeping theSabbath and the an nual Holy Days (m e-morials of creation and the plan of Go d)you are FREED from the superstitious, ig-norant beliefs of men, who tryto coverup their own unhappiness and dread oflife with their own holidays, and whoconfzlse you as to the Will and Purposeof the Creator.

W h a t Is a Festival?

A festival, or feast, as ordained byGod is a time of rejoicing, both spiritu-ally and materially. The Sabbath is aweekly festival, a period of rest fromour usual labors, with everything possi-hle prepared the day before. There willbe future articles explainingb o w tokeep the Sabbzth asGod intended.

The annual festivals are not alwaysrest days, however. The passover isafestival butnot a sabbath day. Th e inter-vening days in the major spring and fallfestivals are not sabbaths either.All fes-tivals are COMMANDED ASSEMBLIES orconvocations called by God, in which weare to meet at the placeH e chooses.

In this age, however, God realizesthat many of his people are unable toassemble on the Sabbathor even on theannual Holy Days. W e are to worshipthe Father in Spirit and truth no matterwhere we may be (John4:21-24). Butwhen it is possible to assemble we arecommanded to do so. Many brethrenwho find it impossibleto meet on theweekly S abbath are able to doso on theannual Festivals.

Last year a family, very dear to allofUS, hought they could not affordto at-tend the feast of Tabernacles. Becauseof neglect, when the time came they re-alized what it mean t to spend these daysalone and not in the presence of Godwhen they could have doneso. N o w

they arc joyously planningLO assembleon the f-stivals this year.So dont letGo d find anyof you cheating yozlrseluesout of the precious joys of meeting withHis people.

M E N ire especially c omma ndedto ap-pear with offer ingsduring the three sea-sons of rhe year, at the Festival of Un-leavened Bread, Pentecost and the Feastof Tabernacles. The whole family iscommar ded to come whenever possible(Deut . 16:11, 14 and 1 6 ) . Jesus andhis brothers and sisters came withJo-seph ar d Mary at the Passover and the

days of Unleavened B read (L uke2:41,

4 2 ) .Go d wants t he men especially becausthey are the heads of the homes; but today when many women are convertedand their husbands not, they shouldcome to the places God makes possiblefor the brethren to meet. Each year amother and daughter come about seventeen hundred miles to assemble onthe Festival of Tabernacles. If they cando it, God certainly can open the wayfor you to do the same, especially asmost of you dont have nearly that distance to travel.

H o w to Observ e the Passover

As most of you know, the Passovercomes the day before thegreat springFestival of Unleavened Bread. Itis nota sabbath day; work may be done on itThe Passover is a very serious timeofthe year. Jesus set us the example on thday of his deathso that we today mightknow how to keep the passover.

For the explanationof how YOIJ cankeep this commanded ordinance, whether with the brethren or in your owhomes if necessary, be sure to write MArmstrong. Thi Z very important soYOU will know where and how to ob-serve it.

Also, if you havent already writtenask for the booklet explaining when anhow often to keep the passover ( o r, aspopularly called, the Lords Su pp er

Although the passover is the day before the Feast of Unleavened Bread, itwas customary to use unleavened breaon the passover day as well (Luk2 2 : 7 ) . No leavened bread is ever to bused with the passover service-whichis wrongly called communion, echarist or Jmds supper (Exodus23:18). The morning after the passoveservice, which is still the same day (athese days start at sunset,not at mid-

night) is probably the most convenientime to remove any leavening agentsorleavened bread.

Be sure that all leaven is removefrom your premises. Dont store it isome other room. Removing leaveneproducts which cost a few cents is juone way God has of testingyou to seehow much you prize true happinesabove the money and pleasures of thage. By followilig His will, God wigive you more in this life in returnforyour loving obedience (J ohn10: 10 ).

It is wise to ;mange your purchase


10/16

Page 10 The GOOD NEWS March, 1 9 5 2

so that when the passover comes therewill be little to discard. If you do havesome left that is suitable to give toneighbors or friends, that maybe done.Remember, there is nothing wrong withleaven, it is merely used as a symbolofsin in the festival. There is nothingwrong in bestowing it on unconvertedfriends or neighbors wh o d o not under-

xan d the m eaning of th e feast.Perhaps some of you are wonde ringwhat leaven is. A leavening agent is anysubstance that is used to puff upor pro-duce fermentation causing doughtoraise. Yeast, soda, baking powder, creamof tartar are such products. Bread, crack-ers, some prepared cereals, cakes andsome bought pies contain leaven andshould be discarded. Home made pies,cereals, and unleavened bread areto beused for the festival following the pass-over. Cakes with beaten egg white areleavened and should not be used.

At first it may seem strange to do

without leaven in a festival, but o nce wecome to know the mind of God andJesus Christ,we see the lesson of obedi-ence it teaches. Happy are you if you dothese things, Jesus said (John13:17) .

As there are many products contain-ing leaven, be sureto exam ine the labelsof all products on your shelves.As willprobably happen, there will always besome leavened material rhat somehowescapes A very good typeof the hiddensins that we dont always discover uponconversion. We must always throw awaythis forgotten leaven-a type of sin-upon discovering it.

Festival of Unleavened BreadHere is the great spring festival, mid-

way in the first month of the sacred cal-endar, when the peopleof God are toassemble with one another and rejoiceover the wonderful year ahead. The feastis a seven-day period in which we cele-brate with God, who has separated usfrom [he [roubles [hat overrake theworld, and who has opened upa newway of life that is full, abun dan t andwithout those needless worries.

Whenever possible, Christians shouldgather together for the passover and theentire seven days of unleavened Breadas God makes possible. The festival,al-though seven days long, has but twoannual Holy Daysor Sabbaths, occurringon th e first and last days of the feast.The intervening days are not sabbathsor convocations.

Annzul sabbaths differ fro m th ew e e k -l y Sabbath in that cooking for the oc-casion may be done on them. But allother forms of work are not to be deneas the festival is meantto be a time ofrestful rejoicing. Exodus 1 2 : 16 reads:No manner of work shall be done inthem, save t h a t which every man must

eat, that only may be don e of you.Although the intervening days are

not sabbaths and work may be done onthem, time on these days, when volun-tary meetings of joy are held, is spentin good fellowship.As some of you willnot be a ble to assemble, be su re that th eusual routine does not sto p you from re-alizing the purpose of the occasion-a

time of laying aside your labors and re-juvenating yourself spiritually and phys-ically. Th e entire festival is meant to bea special period of happiness, free fromyour customary duties of life.

T h e U s eof Unleavened Bread

In this feast, no leavened bread shouldbe in your homes and n o leavened prod -ucts should be eaten. Use uNL E Av-ENED bread instead, together with thecustomary meals. God wants you to re-joice especially on these days, so giveHim thanks by preparing wholesomefood with U N L E AV E N E D bread. If some

of you have never tasted unleavenedbread before, you have a surprisecorn-ing.

Children should be trained by theirparents to eat unleavened bread duringthese days, and also TA U G H T T H EMEANING FOR so DOING. This will al-ways be a wonderful experience forthem, because most children have nevertasted nutritious unleavened bread,which can either be bought,or bakedvery simply in your own home. Unleav-ened products are sold in most allstores near you. Just ask the grocer, orlook on the packages to see that noleavening is contained.

If some of you would enjoy bakingyour own unleavened bread, be suretowrite for the recipes, if you do not al-ready have some.

If families are divided, with onlysome converted, difficulties may arise.Perhaps you are a husband or a wifewhose family does not follow God.Dont let that worry you, because Godtook all your troubles into account whenHe ordained these days. It is a test tosee how well you do His will and howmuch consideration and love and pa-tience you can giveto those who havenot changed from their wrong ways.Never force your will on others. Thisfestival is a matter between. you andGod.

You will not have these worries withmembers of your family when you as-semble wit h bre thren . But if $his is notpossible, you might needto take the ex-ample of a co-worker from Texas. H ewas in partnership with another manwho would not approveof the festival.Rather than cause undue difficdties, hewent into another town for the festival,rented a neat, inexpensive roomfor thefestival and rejoiced withGcd alone.

And when he returned there was per-fact harmony Most of you will not findthat necessary as there are many morebrethren now with whomto assemble.It is so much morc cnjoyablc to meetwith the saints or remain at home;butstill it is infinitely better tobe alone inpeace than with angry attitudes surrounding you.

If God has not provided you the monetary means through the second tithewhether your own or others, then,ofcourse, you will need to observe thesedays at home. First, explain to your family if they do not understand. If they dnot object thanks be LO God. You mayhave to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves in explaining the matterhowever.

If opposition might develop, it wouldbe well before saying anything,to de-light unconverted membersof your fam-ily with unleavened products so thatthey will not think anything strang

when you first mention it. It is surprising how many people know little onorhing about unleavened breads, buwho enjoy them from the very first. Perhap s if the. unconverted really enjoy inothing need be said about the festivaand you can use unleavened bread fothe entire week.

Where the entire family serves Godall leaven must be removed by the beginning of the festival. If unconvertedmembers are in the family, all leavenshould be removed if they do not objecBut if they object to the willof God,rather than provoke wrath, it is betteto reckon the house as the others property and not remove the leaven. Doinotherwise would involuntarily imposeyour religion on the unconverted.How-ever, a wife can take all leaven from thkitchen shelves and place it where nobjections would be raised. You wiveshould not bakeor buy leavened breadfor unconverted members of the familynevertheless, allow others perfect fredom to eat it if they purchase it.

When living with the unconverteall these troubles can be avoided by atending the festival with the brethrenOf course, there might be limiting cicumstances, especially if there isanew born child. In I Samuel1 : 2 1 - 2 3 weare given an example of Hannah, thmother of Samuel, who, when her sowas first born, was not able to attend tpassover and feast.

Th e first annual Sabbath or High Daof Unleavened Bread is the onlyNIGHTconvocarion that is commanded, exceptthe passover (Exodus 12 : 4 2 ) , .It is anight to be m uch observed, for the grewonders that God does for us in mak ii t possible to live His way of l ife. W ha tcould be more pleasant than beginnin

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11/16

March, 1952 The GOOD NEWS

guestion BoxYour questions answered in these columns Your opportuni ty to have

those puzzling queries, needing only a short reply, solved.I f yours are nothere , then wr i t e the m t o us. A s space permits they will be printed if ananswer is possible. Of course, questions demanding lengthy replies cannotbe placed in these colum ns. Edited by the Students.

What Do e s Not U n d e r t h e Law,b u t U n d e r G r a c e M e a n ?

Does grace do away with the law?Ifyou keep the law, have you fallen fromgrace?

Most people are confused by thosewho claim to expound the wordsof Paul.You may hear one group quote one setof scriptures telling of the law, and an-other group quoring verses mentioninggrace. That is the wrong way to study

the Bible. All scripture is given by in-spiration.What does grace mean? Webster

defines it as mercy, favor, f inmeri tedkindness , an exemption or pardon asfr om a penal ty.

It is by grace, the undeservedpardonof God, that you are delivered from thepenalty of sin.-Romans 6 : 2 3 . Christpaid t h e penalty in your stead.If you ac-cept the grace of God, who permittedHis Son to die in your stead, to free youfrom sin, then you are under grace. Youare under an unmerited pardon, not un -der the law.

W ha t then? Shall we sin ( th at is,transg ress the law-I Jo hn 3 : 4 ) be-cause we arenot finder the law, bu t un-der grac e? Romans6:15. Thats whatPaul asked Shall we sin-shall we breakthe law? Rem ember, sin is the transgres-sion of th e law--I Jo hn 3 : 4 .

W h at is Pauls answer? G od forbid.H ow shall we, that are dead to sin( transgressing Gods Law) , live anylonger therein? (Romans6: 1,2.)

If we are under grace, the pardon ofGod, we are not to live in sin,we arenot to break Gods law. If we breakGods law by sinning , then we comeunder the law. It is over us. It has aclaim on our lives. It is only those whokeep the law that are not under the law;it has no claim over their lives.

Grace does not do away with the law;it pardons our sin, making it possiblefor us to keep the law through the HolySpirit that is given to those thatobey

Wo uldnt i t be r idiculous fora judgeto grant a pardon toa criminal and thentell him to commit the same crimeagain? Yet that is exactly how ridicu-lous most people make Gods grace.They turn the grace, the pardon,of

God-Acts 5 : 32.

God into lasciviousness, license to doevil.

If grace could abolish the law, thenthere would be no more sin, becausethere is no sin where there is no law-( Ro m a n s 4 : 1 5 ) . And if there were nosin, there would need be no grace-nopard on of God-to deliverus from thepenalty of breaking the law.

Christ died in your stead and minesothat we couldobey God unto righteous-ness and not serve sin.A s long as we

were under the claimof the law becauseof transgression, sin had dominion overus, we were its slaves. But now we arefree to obey the law unto righteousness-Rom. 6: 16.

Do e s God Hear Sinners?

Everyone has sinned and cut himselfoff from God. But your iniquities havesepaiatrd between you and your God,and your sins have hid his face fromyou, that he will not hear (Isaiah5 9 : 2 ) .

God hears not sinners (John9: 31 ,He will have no fellowship with those

who sin. H e hears only those who d orighteousness. But if everyone hassinned, then there must bea way forsinners to come to God,or else we couldnever become righteous. How can sin-rirrs seek G O D ?

The prophet Isaiah tells usthe waysinners cometo God. Seek ye the Lordwhile he may be found,cal l upon himwhile he is near. But how do we call onGod? How do we seek Him? Let thewicked forsake his way , and the unright-eous m a n his thoaghtr: and let himreturn unto the Lord, and he will havemercy upon him ; andto our God, for H ewill abundantly pardon. (Isa. 55 :6,7 ) .Let him repent of transgressing GodsLaw, and accept Jesus Christ as Saviourfrom its penalty. Christ isTHE WAY.

Thats how you can come to GodFor-ake the way you have been living,start to obey God. O nce youREPENT ofgoin3 the wrong way Y O U ARE NOLONER A SINNER I N GODS SIGHT.

H e rill hear you and give His HolySpirit to you, if you obey Him (Acts5 : 3 2 .You must be willing to forsakeyour ways and thoughts andgo the wayof God. Th en H e will hear you becauseyou keep his commandments andDO

Page 1 1

these things that ate pleasing in IIiss ight ( I John3 :22 ) .

Do t h e Co m m a n d m e n t sForbidALL Pictures and Statues?

Are you oneof those who have beenconfused about the meaning of the second command? Thou shalt not makeunto thee any graven image,or any like-ness of any th ing that is in heaven aboveor that is in th e earth beneath,or that isin the water under the earth; thou shalnot bow dow n thyself to them , nor servthem.

As is always the case, we must com-pare scriptures to give us the keys thatwill unlock the true m eaning of thicommand. In Num.21:9 God actuallycommanded the Israelites to makcaBRAZEN. IMAGE of a serpent. Whoso-ever had been bitten by a serpent, uponbeholding the brazen serpent washealed. No w would G od have commanded the Israelites to make this image of

snake had it been sin , and then healethem when they carried out His injunction?

But when the Israelites later startedto worship this brazen serpent andburned incense to it, it had to be de-stroyed. King Hezekiah, a God fearingking, Brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made. (2Ki.18:4). This proves that any imageorreplica is an idolw h e n it i s worshipped.

God gave the Israelites divine instructions concerning the buildingof thetabernacle and the temple. H e had themmake likenesses of flowers, almonds anpomegranates (Ex. 25:31; 2 6 : 3 1 .

If we were to appry the comniaridtoprohibiting everything that man hama de how absurd it would really be Iwe did this, we would not be permittedto make more than one machine, toolimplementor gadget of any kind, for ifwe mad e a second that would be m akina likeness of somethingt h n t was in theearth.

But now go back to the beginnin g ofthis question, and read the second Comma ndm ent again-or read itall in yourBible. God does not forbid themakzngof images or picturesonly. Look at Exo-dus 20, and especially verse4. There isno period at th e end of verse4 . It is notthe end of the sentence. Verse 5 is partof the same sentence. And verse 5commands us not to bow down to, orserve, or worship any image or picture.

No place in all the Bible has Godgiven any prohibition against makingorpossessing a pictuie ur statue. In e5erypassage the command is againstwor-shipping the thing. If a motherworshipsa picture of her child, then that w orshiis idolatry. Otherwise it is not. It inever the th ing , but always our wronguse of things which constitutes sin.


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What Did Paul Preach?Continued f ro m page 2

studying the word of God to prove allthings, and by holdingfast that which isgood (I Thess. 5 :2 1) ,YOU BECOMEFULLY PERSUADED I N YOUR OW NM I N D S concerning whatG o d says.

Able to Stand Before Him

God is able, said Paul, to make thesesaints stand before Him in the judg-ment, by revealing t o them the wordsby which they will be judged. It was forthis very reason that Paul was writing t othese saints at Rome, some of whomwere weak in the faith, not having ac-quired perfect knowledge. He says:For I long to see you, thatI may impartto you some spiritual gift,to the endthat you may be established (Ro.1 11 .(

It is so plain. Here were convertsatRome, still weak in the faith, who were

divided in their regard of days. Paultold them not to sit in judgmentof oneanother, but to follow peace, becauseG o d would judge them, after settingthem aright through more perfectknowledge which Paul was going topreach to them. In the meantime theywere to act in accordance with the bestthey knew fromGods word, not mansword.

This did not give them libertyto d oas they pleased. They were to obey God,or perish if they disobeyed after theknowledge of the truth had come.Forto him that knows to do good anddoesnt do it, it is sin. (Jam es4: 1 7 )

W h a t W e r e T h e se D a y s ?

But what days was Paul referring to?By reading these verses in their set-

ting, rather than taking them outoftheir context, lets determine the answer.Paul is writing to the saints at Rome,both Jew and Genti le. He admonishedthem to receive those who are weak inthe faith (Ro. 14:1), not to disputewith them over unimportant matters andsit in judgment on them. Someof theserecently converted Gentiles, being weakin the faith, refused ib eat meats, sub-sisting on vegetables mainly.

The reason for thisis explained inICorinthians8. Most meat that could bebought had been offered to idols. There-fore some, with conscience of th e idolate it as a thing offered unto an idol;and their conscience beingweak is de-filed. But meat commendeth us not toGod: for neither, if we eat, are we thebetter; neither, if we eat not, are we theworse ( I Cor. 8: 7,s)

So here were saints who had not yetlearned that there was no harm i n eatingmeat offered to idols previously by oth-ers provided it was doneto God wi th a

clear conscience. These Gentiles atRome had been converted andhad giv-en up do la t ry, but still held supersti-tious beliefs i n their minds, thinkingthat the idol was somethingred.

But why should Paul have broken in tohis dissertation about eating meator re-fraining from eating it?

Because in connection with the old

pagan idolatry,were numerous days ob-served as dolatrous festivals.These dayswere consecrated to deitiesof the statereligious cults and wereunlucky be-cause of the influenceof the gods Thesecivil and religious days were regardedas unsuitable for many purposes, bothpublic and private: for battles, levies,sacred rites, journeys and marriages. W eare told that they owed their unluckyquality to the pronouncement of theSenate and pontiffs. (FromRest Daysby Webster, p. 171.)

So Th ese Weren tGods DaysAf t e r Al l

As many as one third of the days ofthe old Roman calendar were marked asunlawful for judicial and political busi-ness. . . a n d . . . on wh ich the state ex-pected the citizens to abstain, as faraspossible, from their private business andlabour. No wonder Paul spokeof ev-ery day

Here at Rome were recently converted Gentiles who had given up idolatry,but who still believed idols were real be-ings, and hence would not eat meat of-ered to them. They also continued toregurd superstitious beliefs that certaindays were better than others,or that alldays were alike-unlucky. The se Chri s-tians no longer observed these days inthe old idolatrous manner-that w m ldhave been sin. But they stillregarded orjudged some days to be above others,as though the day had natural qualitiesof good or bad about it. It was a com-mon superstition of the time, hard fornew Christiansto root out.

And how qany worldly as well asreligious peopl e still have similar beliefstoday Such as unlucky Friday thethirteenth

Paul was goingto Rome to enlightentheir honest mindsso they would giveup this foolish regardof heathen days.

There is nothing here referring to theSabbath or the holydays of God whichPaul commanded to be observed by theGentiles. It is merely a plea to toleratehonest beliefs held in ignorance.

Th e Le t te rto the Gala t iansBut what about the festival Paul

mentioned to the Gentile conv .rts inGalatia?

Among these people were Gentiledeceivers, professing great knowledgeand philosophy, who deliberately

wormed their way into the good graceof the heathen converts trying to turthem backward into their former ways.

That is why Paul said in Galatian4: 0 , l l : Ye observe days, and monthsand times, and years.I am afraid of you,lest I have bestowed upo n you labour invain.

What is this that Paul is saying?

Read it againDid he say, Ye observe the Sabbathand holydays?N O But Paul SAYS youare observing Days and months, antimes, an d years.

It does not say the holy days and sabbath Nowhere in all the Bible canyoufind one text calling Gods occasions bthe names days, months, times anyears

W h a t D a ys We r e T h e s e ?

No tic e the entire chapter-yes, thentire Epistle to the Galatians. In thefirst three chapters Paul speaks to thosin the congregation who are beguileinto Judnism which Jesus condemned asthe tradition of the elderJ. Judaism mad ethe laws of God of no effect B ut inthe fourth chapter Paulceases to speakabout Judaizers. He is now writing tthe GENTILE converts, those whowerein bondage under the elements of thworld. Gal.4:3.

Howbeit then when you knew notGod , you dad service t o them which bynature are no gods. But now, after thatyou have known God,now TURN YOUBACK AGAIN to the weak and beg-gardly elements, whereunto you desiAGAIN to be in bondage? Ye observdays, and months, and times, and yearsI am alarmed about you, he conclude

Here were Gentile converts, who intimes past did not know Go d, who wecur off from Hi m (See Eph. 2.1 2) , whwe re slaves to gods which were n o goat all. They had been serving demoand idols, not the Living God. Falteachers were coming am ong them, peverting the true gospel, beguiling thet o turn again to their fo rmer ways. Paulwaq alarmed. They were d epartingfromthe gospel and RETURNING to what?Days, and months, and times anyears.

Paga n holidays They couldnt be rtu rn ing to Gods festivals. They neveheard of them before Paul preacheabout them.

These Galatians were not observinthe occasions Go d instituted, but the opagan days-days which were creepiinto the church in Pauls day and nomasquerade under Christian soundinames. Paul denounces such vain prtices.

Here is the beginning of the obserance of pagam days by the church anGods condemnation of it. Manyof the


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March, 1952 The GOOD NEWS Page 13

holy days in the religious calendarofChristendom were borrowed, as is wellknown, from the festivals of ancientpaganism. (R es t Days, p. 306 .) W eare NOT TO LEARN the way of the heath-en (Jer. 10) .

Christians are here admonished toqui t followingmodernized heathen cele-brations that are for no good use or pu r-

pose-counterfeit days that are attemptsto fill the void in the livesof religiouspeople.

W h a t A r eTimes?

Turn to Leviticus 19:26 and Deuter-onomy 18: 10,14 where Moses, accord-ing to the command of God , told the Is-raelites not t o observe TIMES. This isABSOLUTE PROOF that the days Paul isforbidding are pagan and not God-given.To observe t imes originally was a h eath-en practice of divination often attachedto the heavenly bodies. In Greece it de-veloped intoregular seasons.

Some church leaders today try to ma keyou believe Paul was condemning Jewsfur rrturriiiig tu the Sabbarharid day5ofGod, which they claim were in the Lawof Moses. But the Law of Moses forbadeobservance of T imes. Pa ul was wri tingto Gentiles who wanted to return to ob -serving the days associated withT im es - G en ti le days-Sunday, Easter,Christmas, etc.

The Catholic Church father, Chrys-ostom, admits that these superstitioust imes which Paul forbids, were practicedby Christians in his day, butwi thou tthe idols as in dzys of old. H e says:

Many were superstitiously addictedtothe observance of t imes , and made divi-nation and conjectures upon them. . .In the celebration of theset imes ( they )set up lamps in the market-place, andcrown their doors with gur1unds.-From Binghams Antiq uiti es of t heChristian Church, pp. 1123, 1124.

Besides t imes, the Greeks observedspecial days in honor of the dead. Therites took place on the. . . unlucky daysaccompanied by complete idleness andcessation of business. FromRest Days,p. 79.

Dur ing the months of the year, festi-

vals were held in honor of the Greekgods, Apollo (April , October), Zeus(February, Jun e) , Ar temas (Ap r i l ) ,Bacchus (January) and many otherswhich you can read in theEncyclopediaAmericana, article Festival.

Also certainyears were set aside quad-rennially and biennially during whichwere national idolatrous feasts and thecelebration of the Olympic, Isthmian,Nemean and Pythian games. Every oneof these were connected with idolatrousworship and ceremony.

Paul was forbidding the returntothese practices by Geriiile converts-

not the days Jesus observed, settingusan example that we should follow hissteps. Many of the present holidays ofChristendom were celebrated in theheathen world when Pair1 and Ch k s twere on earth, but they refused to ob-serve them.

Holy Days and Sabbaths

Although speaking of Gentile prac-tices in the two preceding epistles,Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, cer-tainly is speaking of the days God in-stituted. In Colossians 2:16 Paul isthought by many to have abolishedthese days. Lets see if he did.

First, stop to consider Is it logicalthat Paul would have commanded theGentiles in Corinth and elsewheretoobserve these festivak, and then contra-dict himself by telling the Colossiansnot to observe them? Yet most Chris-tians would make Paul just that incon-sistent.

The t ru th is so plain here in Colos-sians. W ha t is Paul writing to th e saintsin C olossc? Letno man therefore judgeyou . . . Does this say: God has abol-ished these? Look at the verse again.It says, Let no man . . . judge youconcerning these matters. Tojudge isnot to abolish. Paul is warning the Co-lossians not to let anyMAN judge themabout certain matters.W h y ?

But why do you judge your brother?. . . for we shall all stand before thejudgment seat of Christ . . . So thenevery one of us shall give accountofhimself to God. Romans 14:10,12.

God is the Judge No tman. It is bythe WORD OF GOD that we are all goingto be judged, not the ideasof man.(John 12:48.) Since we are to liveasthose who are to be judgedby the wordof G o d , then we have to go tootherpassages of scripture to find HOW GODWILL JUDGE Us with reference tomeats, drinks and festive occasions. InColossians 2:16 Paul does NOT mentionanything beingabolished. H e ONLY saysthat we areno t to l e t me n judge uswithregard to these things. It doesnt matterwhat human beings think, but i t doesmatter what GOD THINKS.

So lets examine the scriptureto seewhat Gods standard for C hristians is.

Trad i t ions of M e n

Paul begins the second chapter ofColossians with warnings against thosewho were seekingto beguile the churchafter the philosophy and traditionsofmen (verse 8 ) . Then he mentions thatboth Jews and Gentiles have beenrec-onciled to God by the death of JesusChrist and both have become circum-cised in the heart. But how could theGentiles, uncircumcised in the flesh,come into this relationship to Godto-

gether with physically circumcised JewsBy the fact that Christ was circum

cised for them, thus blotting out thehandwriting of ordinances that wasagainst us, which was contrary to us, andtook it out of the way, nailing itto hiscross. (Col 2 : 14.)

Now what was thishandwriting ofordinances that was against men? Evi-

dently the same as.mentioned in Eph2: 13-16which put enmitybetween Jewand Gentile. But what is it?

Th e ten commandments? No.They are NEVER called ordinances.

They were written by the Finger of Godnot by the hand of Moses. They constitute the law of liberty (James 1:25)holy, just and good (Ro. 7:1 2 ) . T h esabbath, one of its points, was madFOR MAN, not aguznst man (Mark 2 :27This law could not have been meant byPaul because it is not abolished but eternal (Ps. 111:8) and BY IT WE ARE TOBE JUDGED according to the apostle

James (Jas. 2 : 1 2 ) .Could the handwriting of ordinancesu g u i m t be the statutes which ordainedthe holy days forever? N o . The en t i re119th Psalm, the longest in the Bibleand inspired by God, proves that thestatutes and judgments of God,whichdefirte sin and regulate human relationsare eternal, good, making wise the ig-n o ran t . These were n o t ag a i n s t u s butfor us. So the laws regulating the holydays, as well as the sabbath, are still iforce and by them we shall be judged

T h e passover was instituted as ar_or-dinance, and Jesus commanded his di

ciples to observe it forever. Paul commanded the Gentiles at Corinth, as whave seen, to keep this ordinance. (Cor. 11 2,20-34.)

If the commandm ents, statutes anjudgments of God werc all made forus, then the handwritingof ordinanceswhich were AGAINST us must havebeen the ritualistic laws added becausof transgression, till the seed shouldcome to whom the promise was made.Gal. 3 : 19.

Here it is at last A grou p of lawadded until a specific time because otransgression. Since there must be

law before there is transgression (Rom.4 : 1 5 ), it is no wonder that this hanwriting of ordinances wasADDED. Andit was added BECAUSE OF transgressionyet it could not just i fy the person whoperformed its works It was a yoke(Acts 13 39; 15: 10.) Therefore thihandwriting of ordinances was not cormanded the Gentiles . (Acts . 15:24.)

But what were the specific laws icluded in these ordinances? Hebrew9: 10-15 has th e answer

lhese handwritten ordinances ofMoses, given to Israel for a lim ited timonly, not forever, stood only in meats


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Page 14

and drinks, and diverse washings, andcarnal ordinunces, imposed on themUN-TIL the time of reformation. This isa system of physical rituals relating tothe Levitical priesthood, drin k offerings,sacrifices and physical precepts regulat-ing bathing when unclean. These ordi-nances were to cease as soon asthe sac-rifice thdt could ta ke awaysins would be

offered. Oncea sacrifice purges sin, thereis no need of offerings for sin. (Heb.10:2.)

So we see that Paul is telling the Co-lossians to know the word of God sothoroughly that they couldrefute anyM A N who would dareto si t in judgmentof them for accepting the sacrificeofChrist rather than the offeringsof thelaw contained in ordinances.

The GOOD NEWS March, 1952

In Respectof

Wh at does the Apostle mean when hetells the Colossians notto let any m a njudge them in respect of an holyday,

or of the new moon,or of the sabbathdays?This verse does not say as some hold

foolishly that the sabbath is binding butnot the holy . days and new moons?Neither does it say thatall are abol-ished?

Thi s verse statesONLY that Christiansare not to allow anyM A N to judge themin respect of these days. Thereis s ostatement here about anything beingabolished. The Moffatt version makesthis very plain: So let none takeyou totask . . . in connexion with, obserwmzceof festivals or new moons or sabbaths.It does not read: Let none take you totask because these days are abolished.No t a t all

It says jzrst the opposite-let noper-son take you to taskor judge you in thematter of nr concerningor in con-nexion with the observance of these oc-casions. It is GOD who shall judge youin connexion with the observance or inrespecr of these days.

The phrase in respectof is used byPaul (according to ThayersLexicon oft h e N e w Te s ta m e n t ,p. 401 where thewriter means to intimate that there areother matters, to be separated fro m thatwhich he has specified. That is, Paul isspeakingof a particular matter concern-ing these days--in par tas the margin-al reading of the King James Versionis. It is in connexion with the sacrificesheld on these daysthat Paul wants theColossians to understand they must notallow men to judge them. It ist h e m a n -ner of obserzjance that enters Paulsmind.

Paul has just been mentioning theordisances that were consumated inChrist-no longer in force. Convertsarenot to offer sacrifices on these days be-cause the ordinances regulating the sac-

rifices are abolished. But that doesntabolish the days

No Because these days began to beinstituted BEFORE the ordinances pre-scribing sacrifices and offcrings wereADDED.

The weekly and annual sabbaths wereN O T instituted for the purposeof sacri-fice. God says: ForI spake not unto

your fathers, nor commanded them inLhe day that I brought them out of theland of Egypt, concerning burnt offer-ings or sacrifices: But this thing com-manded I them, saying, Obey my voice,and I will be your God, and ye shall bemy pcople: and walk ye in all theways that I have commanded you, thatit may be well unto you. (Jeremiah7:22,23.)

God commandedno sacrifices (exceptthe passover, which is still continued u n-der different symbols today) when herevealed t h e holy days to Israel. Israelwas then in Egypt, readyto be led out.Sacrifices were placed on these days,later, AS ON EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK,EVERY DAY OF THE Y ~ A R , because oftransgression. (Exodus29:38.) Wi t hthe sacrifice of Ch rist hav ing taken place,Paul wants the Christians to know thatthey are not to be judged by the hand-writing of ordinances regulating theserituals.

But th e days arc still t o bc k e p t holybecause they were institutedas everlaJt-ing statutes, not by the handwriting ofordinances, which was abolished withthe death of Christ.

The sabbath day beganat creation,and the annual festivals began to be in-stituted asMEMORIALS OF THE PL AN OFGOD before the old covenant was madeand before sacrifices were imposed toteach men the need of Jesus Christ andthe power of thc Spiritof God.

Shadows

Paul continues his thought in Col.2117 by speaking about shadows ofthings to come; but the body is ofChrist. What could Paul have meantby shadows?

Shadows are mentioned in severalplaces in Hebrews. Priests who offergifts *serveunto the example andshad-o w of heavenly things. (Heb.8:5.)And again: For the law havinga shad-OW of good things t o come, and not thevery imageof the things, can never withthose sacrifices which they offeredyearby year continually make the comersthereunto perfect. (Heb.10: 1.)

Thew two verses show that the shnd-ows were the sacrifices and ritualisticofferings made by the priests accordingto the law. The BODY that casts theshadow is Christ, but the shadaws-rhecontinuous roundof offerings, sacrificesand washings-were no t th e veryinm

gee of the heavenly things whichJesus Christ is now performing forus atthe right hand of God asour HighPriest. (Heb.9 : l l . )

Cuntrary to what many believe,t h eBible nowhere speaks of the sabbath,the holy days and the new moons asshadows. They are memorials. See Exo-dus 1 2 and Leviticus 23 where they are

called thus. But wedo find that the eri-tire book of Hebrews is writtento showthat the shadowy physical ordinanceonce performed by the Levites havbeen abolished and changed into thespiritual preceptsof the priesthood ofMelchizedek, in which Christ,as Hi g hPriest, is reconciling those who are nowcalled t o G od.

How plain these verses are inColos-sians when we understand the Bibleasa whole

Feasts to Cease?There are yet certain texts in the Ol

Testament often misunderstood on thisubject. There aretwo verses in Lamen-tations which speak about God causinthe sabbaths and solemn feasts to bforgotten and unattended. (Lam.1 : 4 ;2:6.) This dnes not mean that Godabolished his festivals becauseof dis-pleasure with them. Because of the sinof the people in breaking these days(Ezek. Z O , God was going to punishJudah by taking from her the blessingof having these days.

Far from abolishing them,Christ keptthem, the early true church did, andJudah and Israel will keep them in thmillennium: udah, keep thy solemnfPdrt1Nah. 1: 15.

Not only will Israel be observing thfestivals of God, but the GENTILESA R E GOING TO B E FORCED TO -fortheir own good. Read Zechariah14where heathen nations will haveto comebefore the Eternal of Ho sts to keep thFestival of Tabernacles or be smittenwith drought and disease.

Gentiles are goingto be .blessed forkeeping the sabbath in the millennium(Isaiah 56: 1-8.) And all flesh (shall)come to worship before me, saith thLord from sabbath to sabbath (commanded assembly) and from new moto new moon (laboring day with volutary assembly). (Is aiah 66:23 .)

Wh o se Sab b at h s Do esGod H a t e ?Some claim that God says that H

hates H i s sabbath, new moons and festvals

Where can you find one text whereGod says MY sabbaths and festivals hate? Every tim eMY sabbath s and festivals are mentioned, Go drebuked the Israelites for breaking them. (Ete k.20:16. )

God daes not sayHe hated the,e oc


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March, 1952 The GOOD NEWS Page 15

casions in Amos5 :21 and Isaiah 1: 10-15, nor in Amos : l O and H osea 2:11Look again; does it sayMY feasts andsabbaths NO It reads: I hate, I despiseYOUR feast days, and. . . Y O U R solemnassemblies. YO UR new moo ns andYOUR appointed feasts my soul hateth:for they are a trouble u nto me.

These were not the days God insti-

tuted, but man-appointed ones-pagandays

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