Good News 1954 (Vol IV No 04) May_w

7/28/2019 Good News 1954 (Vol IV No 04) May_w

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\'OL. IV . ~ ' { ' \ l H I - R '1

T h eTHE

NatIonal MagazCHURCH O F n e 0 fGOD

Must God's Ministers Be Ordainedby theHand ofMan?

How can you klloW who are t he true called ministers of God?Does God ordain them privately and direct-s-is it cOlltrary toGod's order to ordain by the hand of mall?by Herbert TV. ArmstrongI T 'S VITAL t hat you know how Godconfers the authority of office in HisChurch.

Jesus conferred upon Hi s called ministers of His Church the keys of theKingdom of God. He vested them withauthority to guide His Church , andcarry on His work, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.But how can you know \\ ho carriesthis authori ty? How are those uponwhom it is confer red ordained to office? How can you recognize the oneand only true Church of God-the veryChurch Jesus said He would build

HIS BODY! rhru whom the Spiri t of Godtod.iy carries on the work of God?\X'as the Apost le Paul Ordainedby Man?

How was the Apostle Paul orda inedII ) his office of authority? Did God ordain him pri\'ately-secretly-withotlt;'ny human witnesses to the fact, or washe ordained 171' the b.ind of man?Is God's order, in His Church, to ordain men independently of each other,secretly, directly? And does God carryon His work rhru different competingmen, independently? Or is God's Churchorganized, working together in harmonyand teamwork! with one mind, actuatedby ONE SPIRIT?

It is of vital importance that thesequestions be answered-ACCORDING TOGOD'S OW N WORD!

First, then, how was the Apostle Paulordained?Let's trace the case-history of thisApostle from his conversion to the t imehe became an Apostle with full authority. You should be familiar with thischain of experiences.Paul's Case History

As you know, this man's name wasSaul, until God changed his name toPaul. Saul is first mentioned in Acts7: 58, in connection with the martyrdam of Stephen. In Acts 8: 1 it is mentioned thar Saul was approving the stoning of Stephen. He was a young man a,that time (Act s 7: 58).Acts 8:3, Saul, filled with misguidedzeal, participated violently in the persecut ion of the Church, making havoc ofit, l iteral ly dragging men and womenoff to prison.

Acts 9:1-2, Saul, passsionarely breathing threa ts of murder against disciplesof Christ, obtained credentials from thehigh pries t to the synagogue at Damascus, authorizing him to arres t and bringto Jerusalem any men or women disciples found at Damascus. As he approached Damascus, God struck him

down hlind with a blinding light, andthere Jesus spoke to Saul and revealedhimself to him, and commanded Saul torise and go on into the city, where hewould be told what to do. (Verses 36.) He was blind three days (verse 9) .

Now in the conversion of Saul, didGod work t hru human agency, or didHe do it all secretly, privately? Godnow used a disciple whom Saul wouldhave murdered, or thrown into prison-sAnanias-to whom Jesus spoke in avision, instructing him to go to Saul.This Ananias was the HUMAN instrumentthru whom Christ worked in convert ingSaul.

"And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting hishands on him (Saul) said, 'BrotherSaul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appearedunto thee in the way as thou earnest,hath sent me, that thou mighrest receivethy sight, and be filled with the HolySpirit." (Acts 9 :17. ) "And now," saidAnanias (Acts 22:16), "why tarriestthou? arise, and be baptized, and \vjS ' Jaway thy sins, calling on the name ofthe Lord." And so Ananias laid his haulson Saul for the receiving of the HolySpirit-his actual conversion and begertal as a son of God-as well as for therestoring of his sight.


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Page 2Even Conversion by Man's HandThus Saul's conversion was accomplished BY THE HAND OF MAN, used asGod's instrumentality. This was not his

ordination as an apostle-it was his setting apart ;IS a begotten son of God. ButGod works rhru HIS chosen humanhands!For several days (Acts 9:19-20), Saulwas with the disciples at Damascus. Immediately, in the synagogues , he proclaimed that Jesus was the promisedMessiah-the Son of God. He did 110tat this time proclaim the GOSPEL of the

Kingdom of God, for that had not yerbeen revealed to him. He merely knew.at this juncture, from his heavenly vision,that Jesus was the Christ.Next, in verse 23, "af ter that manydays were fulfilled, ..." The events ofthis verse 2.J occurred man)' days later.What happened in the meantime?Paul's account in his letter to lite Gal.uians explains it."But when it pleased God, . . . to reveal His Son to me"-at the time hewas struck down bl ind and led to Da

mascus-" ... immcdiately I conferrednot with flesh and blood: neither wentI up to Jerusalem to them which wereapostles before me; bu t I went intoArubi, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I wentup to Jerusalem." (GaL I :15-18.)So Saul did not go up to Jerusalemimmediately, after his convers ion. Instead, immediately-after the few daysproclaiming Christ in the synagogues inDamascus-liE WENT INTO ARABIA!What happened there?Notice I Cor. 9: 1 and I Cor. 15:8:Paul had actually seen Christ! He had

been with Christ! He did no t receivehis knowledge of THE GOSPEL fromPe te r or the apostles, or from men. Hereceived it direct from CHRIST! As onebegotten into the apostolic family out ofdue time. When? Where? \Vhy, duringthis three years in Arabia! He was in theArabian desert-away from civilization,and from men, He was there withChrist! Then he returned to Damascus.This, then, is what happened during the"MANY DAYS" mentioned in Acts 9:23.The "many days" were the th ree yearsSaul was in Arabia with Christ.Now, GaL 1: 18, after this three yearsin Arabia Saul returned to Damascus,and went up to jerusalem to see Peter

-to report to the chief Apostle. But hesaw none of the apostles on this t rip, except Peter, and James, the Lord's brother.This mus t be the trip to Jerusalem described in Acts 9 :23 -27. After this"many days," the Jews at Damascus plotted to kill Saul, but Christian discipleslet him down over the wall of the cityin a basket by night, and he escaped,

T be GOOD NEWSand went to Jerusalem, attempting thereto join the disciples. But they wereafraid of h im. Then Barnabas took Sauland h rought h im to the apostles- JUStthe two, Peter and James, according toGal. 1: 18-19, to whom he reported hisheavenly vis ion, Chr is t' s commission ,and his conversion. Thereupon Saul wentin and ou t with Peter and James at theTemple, preaching boldly-but theJews soon sought to kill him. At thisrime, in a trance while praying in theTemple, Chr is t again appeared, tellingSaul to leave Jerusalem, and that he wasto be sent to the Gentiles (Acts 22: 1721). Then the Christian brethrenbrought Saul to Caesarea, and sent himoff to Tarsus , his home city,Paul Ordained by Hand of Men

in Author ityJesus revealed to Saul, when he wasfirst struck down blind, that he was tobe sent to car ry the Gospel to the Gentiles. But up to this point in the casehistory of Paul's call to this service, Godhad no t opened salvation to the Gentiles.It was "to the Jew first," and then to theGentiles.It was while Saul was back home inTarsus that God sent PETER to carry theGospel, first by the band of Peter, to theGentiles. The 10th and 11th chaptersof Acts record the experiences of Peterbeing sent to the home of the gentileCornelius, and the opening of the mindsof the apostles at Jerusalem to the factthat God had now grant ed repentance

to the Gentiles.Now pick up the s tory at Acts 11: 19.The disciples who were scattered as aresult of Stephen 's martyrdom travelledas far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,preaching to Jews only. Then some ofthem at Antioch preached to the Greeksalso, and God blessed their work, and agreat number turned to Christ. News ofthis reached t he Church at Jerusalem,and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. Under t he min is try of Barnabas a largenumber were added to the Lord there.Then (v. 25) Barnabas went to Tarsusafter Saul, and brought him to Antiochto help in th e growing work there. Barnabas (his name now men tioned first)and Saul taught in the Church there forone year. Here the disciples for the firsttime were called "Christians."In these days prophets came fromJerusalem to Antioch. These prophets

ranked second to the apostles in th eframework of God's Church. (Eph. 4:11.) Their mission seems to have beento receive messages or prophecies directfrom God, and to convey these messagesfrom God to the apostles or evangel is tsor eiders. God's Word had not yet beencompletely committed to writing. TheNew Testament was still in process of

being written. There is no evidence ofthe existence of any prophets in theChurch since the New Testament waswritten.Every example in the New Testament , however, shows that Christ elf-ried on affairs in His Church accordingto HIS GOVERNMENT, and in definiteorder. There is no doubt, therefore, thatthese prophe ts were sen t from jerusalem BY AUTHORIlY OF THE APOSTLES.Then there was a great famine, foretold by the prophet Agabus. Barnabasand Saul were sent with relief provisions

to drought-stricken jerusalero (Acts 11:27-30). About this time Herod theking became violent against the Church.He killed j ames (brother of John), andpu t Peter in prison at Passover t ime.Peter was freed from prison by an angel(Acts 12:6-10). Verse 25, Barnabas(still named first) and Saul returned toAntioch with Mark. Up to t hi s t ime,Saul had engaged only in a pr epa ra toryministry-had not yet entered his calledmission to the Gentiles.Now chapter 13. At this t ime the rewere, at the Antioch Church, PROPHETSand TEACHERS. (No apostles.) ButGod'sauthority was vested in the Church atJerusalem, and authority there was vested in the APOSTLES, who undoubtedly,in process of GOD'S GOVERNMENT, hadsent rhe prophets to Antioch. Barnabasand Saul were included among theTEACHERS at Antioch.Verse 2: While t hey were worshipping and fasting, GOD, rhru the HolySpirit, gave order: "Set apart for meBarnabas and Saul for the work to whichI have called them." THAT IS, ORDAINTHEM! Up to this rime, Saul bad no / en-tered upon tbe work to which Cbristhad called him. He had been merelygaining preparatOry experience.What is the Bible definit ion of "ORDAIN"? From Cruden's Concordance, itis: "To appoint , or design to a cer ta inend or use. To choose. or SET APARTfor an office." .So here we see in operation THEGOVERNMENT OF GOD IN HIS CHURCH,throt.tgh His human officers chosen byHim, headed by prophets sent by Apostles! Verse 3: "And when they hadfasted and prayed, and laid their bands011 them, they SENTTHEM away."THERE IT IS' Barnabas and Saul, renamed in verse 9 PAUL, were then andthere OFFICIALLY ORDAINED, after fasting and prayer, BY THE LAYING ON OFHANDS of those in authority, SENT thereby the Apostles, and as DIRECTED bythe Holy Spirit! God did not ordainPaul priva te ly, secret ly or INDEPEND-ENTLY of HIS CHURCH. He was ORDAINED BY THE HANDOF MAN, according to GOD'S ORDER OF GOVERNMENT,

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What You Shouldabout Pentecost

KnowW'"as tbe Church of God [ounded 01l Sunday? lVhat is tbe red

meaning of Pentecost, and why baue the churches lost it?by Herbert W. Armstrong

PART I II s THIS the only "day of salvation"?The worldly churches generallyteach tha t all who die unsaved, ordo not "get saved" before the secondcoming of Christ, can never thereafterreceive salvation.They assume there is a great contestin progress between Christ and Satan.They believe Christ came to save theworld, and all these churches in theworld are His churches, through whichHe is desperately trying to "get theworld saved."On the other hand, the clever deceptive devil is doing all he can to preventpeople from being "saved." And theyseem to believe there is a t ime-l imi t onthe contest.We are now near the time for thesecond coming of Christ, bu t whenChrist returns to earth in Person He willfind Himself helpless-utterly unable

to save the world from Satan's clutchbecause then "it will be tOO late." "Probation will be closed," 3S one denomina(ion expresses it.This paganized teaching representsSatan as far more powerful than God.The Answer Revealed

The New Testament Church of Godwas not founded on Sundnv. Bur it didstart on the anm/t!l Sabbath-day called"Pentecost" or "Feast of F irst Fruits."Also called the "Feast of Weeks."The New Testament Church continued, year after year, to keep this annualSabbath, Pentecost, as we shall show.And God gave this festival to Hispeople in order to reveal, and to keepthem cont inually informed, that the

present dispensa tion is only the first,preliminary "harvest of souls."As already explained, God's purposein g iving His Church His annual holydays was to keep His children constantlyin true understanding of God's greatPLAN.To accomplish this, God took theyearly materia! harvest seasons in Palestine as the picture of the spiritual harvest of souls,In Palestine there are tw o annualharvests. First, produced by the earlyrain, is the spr ing grain harvest. Second,

produced by the "latter rain," comes themain harvest-the much greater fallharvest. God intended His holydays topicture to His Church repeatedly yearby year the fact that only those He Himself calls during this age can becomeHis begotten children now.' And weare merely the first-fruits of the greatspiritual harvest!

The W'ave-SheafBut let us continue the central passage which summarizes all the holydays-Leviticus 23.Here we find all of God's festivals,proclaimed holy convocations, in the onechapter. First is the weekly convocation-day, the Sabbath, the seventh day ofthe week. Then, beginning verse 4, follows a list of the annual festivals, alsocomrnaruled assemblies, "which ye shallproclaim in their seasons.First of these is the Passover, followedby the days of unleavened bread withthe two annual Sabbaths. Beginningverse 9, we find instructions for thewave-sheaf offering.The Israelites were not allowed toharvest any of the early grain crop unt ilthis day (verse 14). Then, on the dayfollowing the weekly Sabbath duringthe days of unleavened bread, in a solemn ceremony of the Levitical priesthood (the rituals were mere substitutesand therefore not practised today) thefirst sheaf of gra in was cut and brought

to the priest. The priest solemnly wavedit before the Eternal to be accepted forthem.This pictures-not the resurrectionbut the resurrected Christ being acceptedof God as the very first human to beactually born of God-the first f ruitof the first harvest of souls! By comparing John 20:17 with Matt . 28:9, youwill see tha t Christ presented Himselfbefore the Father on the day AFTER Hisresurrection ( I Cor. 15:20, 23; Rom.8:29; Col. 1:15, 18). This fulfillmentof the weave-sheaf offering actually occurred on Sunday, the morrow after theSabbath dur ing the days of unleavenedbread.

How to Figure PentecostNext comes Pentecost. The word

"Pentecost" is a Greek word, used in theNew Testament, but not in the Old.I t signifies "fifty," or, literally, "countNty," In the Old Testament this feastis called "Feast of Firstfmits," and "Feastf)f W/eeks."Notice the properly translated plaininstruction beg inning verse 15: "Andyou shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the daythat ye brought the sheaf of the wave

offering; seven WEEKS shall be complete:even unto the morrow after the seventhWEEK shall ye number fifty days." Andthat fiftieth day is PENTECOST!", . . And ye shall proclaim on theselfsame day, that it may be an holyconvocation unto you: ye shall do noservile work therein: it shall be a STATUTE FOREVER in all your dwellingsthroughout -your generations" (Verse21) .All other holydays or festivals comeon definite days of definite months. Butthis one annual Sabbath must be determined by COUNTING. I t is verysimple and plain. Any child should beable to start numbering from a dcfinircday and count fifty. Yet there are threelittle simple points which seem to confuse some few people so that they observe the wrong day.

It is of very grave importance wefigure the r ight day. This day, and thisonly, is made HOLY by the EternalCreator. Suppose at the time the Churchof God was founded, the Apostles hadmiscounted. And "when the day ofpentecost was fully come," (Acts 2: 1)they, instead of be ing all with one accord in one place were in discord, somehaving observed the day preceding, andsome waiting until the following day!

Three ErrorsThe first of these three errors is fignring from the day after the first annualSabbath. The erring Pharisees figuredthat way. That is why they no longerneed to COUNT Pentecost. But the wavesheaf was waved on the morrow after

the Sabbath-the weekly Sabbath. Christfulfilled that which it pictured on theday after the weekly Sabbath. So wealways start by counting fifty days from3 Sunday.


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Page 4 rs, GOOD NEWS May, 1954

Addrcs< communications to the Editor,Box Ill, Pasadena, California.Copyright, May, 1954By the Radio Church of God

Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and EditorHerman L. HoehExecutiue EditorRoderick C. MeredithAssociate Editor

The national magazine ofTHE CHURCH OF GODministering to its membersscattered abroad, andreporting on campus happeningsat Ambassador College

Most Not Now CalledGod has not cast away His people,Israel. Bur He blinded them TTNTTJ theend of Gentile Times, so that thru theirfall salvation came to the Gentiles who.

thru Christ, are individually GRAFTEDIN, or s piritually ADOPTED into, thefamily of Israel.This is th e dispensation when God iscalling a people for His name (Acts 15:14-1I-study this anew! ) to be a Kingdom and PRIESTS, reigning WITH Christin the Kingdom during the thousandyears (Rev. 5: 10)."After this"-after this dispensation

of taking ou t of the Gentiles a peoplefor His name-s-"] will return," promisesthe Eternal What [or? "and will buildagain the tabernacle of David , which isfa llen down; and I will bu ild aga in theruins thereof , and I (Christ, not men)will set it up:"

WHY? "Tb.u tbe residue of men;hight s eek a ft er tbe Lord."Tabernacle signifies worship. Duringthis present Church age, the Jews andIsrael are blinded. Their church "tabernacle" is fallen down. Israel is "inBabylon." After this Christ will return,

and then the rest of men-blinded Israel,and Gentiles alike, will seek a fter the

Then: are seven annual Sabbaths. Therewas a sabbati cal YEAR-every seventhYEAR. To count the Jubilee year, theybegan count ing from (not with burfrom) t he pre ceding Jub ilee . Sevenyears from this year was the first Sabbat ical Year. Seven of these Sabbatica lyears were counted. Then the very nextY(;.1r AFTER the seventh Sabbatical year- t h e FIFTIETH year-was Jubilee.Counting to the next Jubilee they nevercounted that Jubilee year as numberone-bur the year following it, or oneyear [rom it was number one. That isthe way to count PENTECOST. It'sALWAYS on '1 MONDAY'

Meaning of PentecostPassover symbolized Christ's sacrificefor the remission of ou r sins, and thedays of unleavened bread the puttingaway of sin. Pentecost pictures the firstpa n of the Spiritual harvest-the calling

ou t of the Church-the called-out ones-which, for th e New Testament dispensation, began on Monday-Pentecost, June 18, 31 A.D. On that day theHoly Spirit first came to dwell WITHINall flesh, as prophesied by Joel.The tw o wave-loaves were broughtout of the habitations of the congregation as the FIRSTFRUITS unto the Lord.So the New Testament CHURCH wasgathered ou t of au apostare, Christrejec ting congregat ion (church) ofJews, as the FIRSTFRUITS of His salvation.

ABC NETWORK, TRANSCONTINENTAL-Every Sunday. Consultlocal newspaper radio schedules fortime and station.

Herbert \\1. Armstrong analyzes today's news, with the prophecies ofThe WORLD TOMORROW!TO ALL OF EUROPE:RADIO LUXEMBOURG - 2.3:50Mondays, Greenwich time.TO ASIA: RADIO CEYLON

"The WORLD TOMOROW"RADIO LOG

Jubilee Settles ItNow the counting of the JUBILEEYEAR settles the matter. God 's ent ir ePLAN is a sabba ti cal pl an. There werethe seven days of creation-six of cre

ation by work, and the seventh by rest.God's PLAN runs seven thousand years.

this Hebrew word which means WEEKS.

TO THE NATION & CANADA:XEG-1050 on dial, evrr: n;"\o:,8:.30 P.M. Central Std. time.Other stations at I'su:1I t ime.

Count ing FROMNow if on a given Sunday somefriend a n a l 1 g e ~ (U go f ishing or hunting

with you "one week from today,' youcertainly would meet tha t friend on thenext Sunday.Thi s brings us to the third error.Some start counting fifty days from theSunday after rhe weekly Sabbath of unleavened-bread week, by numbering thevery day they count from as "Numberone," and then come out with Pentecoston a Sunday.There are TWO ways to COUIlt "Pen-tecost." First, count seven WEEKS fromthe particular Sunday following theweekly Sabbath in unleavened-breadweek, which brings you to the seventhSUNDAY, and then count even to themorrow after that seventh week, and youwill correctly figure Pentecost to comeon MONDAY.Second, count FIFTY DAYS fromthis same Sunday, and that f if tieth day isPentecost. It is very simple. One day

from Sunday isMonday. Two days fromSunday is Tuesday. And so on until youcount fifty days from Sunday, a Monday.The simple little word "from" means,according to Webster's dictionary, "awayout of." The day you count as numberone day [ron: Sunday is rhe very firstday that is "away out of" Sunday. Youcannot number Sunday as the first dayfrom Sunday, because it is no t awayfrom it or ou t of it, bu t still in it.

VOL. IV

The second mistake made by some isin counting seven Saturdays ins tead ofseven WEEKS. As Moses wro te thi s inHebrew, the word "Shabbath" was used.Th is Hebr ew wo rd has more than onemeaning. I t means "seven," and "week"as well as "rea," anA "the S"bhdth" orseventh day of the week. Like t he English words, "saw," and "bear," it hasmore than one meaning . Therefore wemust pu t other Scriptures rogether withthis to let the Bible i tself tell us whichmeaning is intended.In eight places in the New Testamentthis same Hebrew word was incorporated into the Greek language in theoriginal writing to indicate the word"week," as in Mac 2R: L 1n Deur, 16:9we find another instruction for countingthis day of Pentecost. Here, a differentHebrew word was written by Moses"shabua'l-v-which never means theweekly Sabbath , bu t alwelYs means"week." It says: "Seven WEEKS shaltthou number unto thee; begin to number the seven weeks from such time asthou beginnest to pu t the sickle to thecorn. And thou shalt keep the Feastnf WEEKS." Also Nil 111. 7R: 76-sameHebrew word. Pentecost is the day [terthese seven WEEKs-"after your weeksbe out," and not the last day of thoseweeks, In Ex. 34, the very NAME ofthe Festival is Feast of WEEKS. No tfeast of "Saturdays." The Moffatt andother t r.mslar ions t ransla te Ex. 23: 15seven WEEKS shall be complete." Inview of these other Scriptures it cannotmean anything else, though in the KingJames translation the word "snbbaths"was incorrectly used. But the word "sabbath" is merely the Engl ish spe lli ng of


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May, 1954Lord when Satan is chained, and Chrisrreigns as King of kings and Lord oflords!Those of the FIRSTFRUITS of Hissalvation, nude immortal, will then reignwith Him, as kings and priests in thewonderful work of building a NEW civilization.During this rime Israel is mostlyblinded UNTIL the fullness of Gent iles

wmein,


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OrdinationContinued from page 2)

as directed by Chris t the HEAD of theChurch, but THRU THOSE HUMAN INSTRUMENTS according to God's own OR-DER.GOD'S Order of Government

Up until this ordination, BY THEHAND OF MAN, the Apost le Paul neverspoke with authority . He spoke boldly.He spoke convincingly. Bur never withauthority. Never did he issue orders . HEWAS UNDER AUTHORITY. He OBEYEDORDERS.But now, a ft er this ordination by thelaying on of hands , PAUL SPOKE wnHAUTHORITY of his OFFICE.You read of Pau l' s ordination in verse3, of Acts 13. Notice, verse 6, theyfound a certain sorcerer, a false prophet,who opposed Barnabas and Saul. Nownotice how Paul acted with authority:Verse 9: "But Saul, who is also calledPAUL, filled with the Holy Spirit, lookedintently at him and said, 'You son of thedevil, you enemy of all righteousness, fullof all deceit and villainy, will yOll norstop making crooked the straight pathsof the Lord? And now, behold, the handof the Lord is upon you, and you shallbe blind and unable to see the sun for atime.' Immediately mist and darknessfell upon him," (Verse 9-11.)

Never before had Paul assumed authority. Now, after being ordained bylaying on of the hands of men in properoffice, author ized by Chr is t, Paul assumed and wie lded the AUTHORITY ofGod!

What is God's order of authority II IHis Church?You find it in Ephesians 4: 11-12:"And He (Ch ri st , the HEAD of theChurch) gave some, APOSTLES, andsome, PROPHETS, and some. EVANGE-LISTS, and some, PASTORS (leading orpresiding elders of local churches), andTEACHERS; for the perfect ing of thesaints, for THE WORK of the ministry,for the edi fying of the body of Chr is t:till we all come to the unity of theItlitb . . ." In other words, to preren:separate, independent, and competingwork which would introduce confusion,and division, driving many Out of theBody of Christ, GOD HAS ORGANIZEDGOVERNMENT in His Church. That government is the government of GOD.It operates from GOD, at the top, ondown. I t is government of and by andfrom GOD the Father, thru CHRIST, thruGod-called and ordained APOSTLES, thruEVANGELISTS, rhru PASTORS, thruTEACHERS, in that order. This govern

ment means TEAMWORK. I t works fa tUNITY, nor division.

The GOOD NEWSTeamwork Between Paul and Pet er1[1 Christ's apostolic organization, during those first two 19-year time-cycles

of Hi s Church, there was alwaysTEAMWORK, harmony, unity, in God'sGOVERNMENT in His Church.Before Saul did any more than a litLIe prepararory preaching, asserting thatJesus was the prophesied Messiah-s-evenbefore his ordination as an apostle-hewent to Jerusalem to see Peter-to report to Peter his vi sion from Christ,and the commission Chr is t had givenhim. I t is evident f rom the Scripturalaccount that Peter accepted him. Duringhis 15 days with Peter in Jerusalem, heroomed with Peter (Gal. 1:18 ) .

The Prophets with the teachers, who,under direct instruction from Christ, ordained Paul at Antioch, had come fromJerusalem. And in the operation of theGOVERNMENT OFGOD withinHis Churchthis could not have been except by autho ri ty f rom Peter and the Apostles.Nothing was at any t ime done contraryto , or in opposition to , Peter or theApostles. There was always perfect harmony and cooperation.Later, 14 years after his conversion(Gal. 2; 1), Paul went up to Jerusalemagain, with Barnabas, taking Titus also.God had revealed to him the commandto go. He then communicated privatelyto Peter and the Apost les the Gospel hepreached among the Gentiles. This wasthe same vis it to Jeru sa lem recorded inActs 15. I t was a coming to the HEAD-QUARTERS Church, where the Apostlessat in COUNCIL, with AUTHORITY, fordecisions inspi red by the Holy Spirit,thru APOSTLES, God's chief human offices under Christ.

Upon seeing that the work of theGospe l to the Genti les had been committed BY CHRIST to Paul, as chiefapostolic office for that work. even asthe chief apostol ic office for the work ofthe Gospel to ISRAELITES had beencommitted to Peter-that the SAMEHOLY SPIRIT worked in both, but intheir different, non-conflicting, non-compcting fields-they gave to Paul andBarnabas the r ight hand of fellowship inthis APOSTOLIC MINISTRY-Pau l asChrist's Apostle in first authority underChrist in the work to the Gentiles; Peteras Chr is t' s Apost le in first authori ty under Chr is t in the work to Israelites.

But still there was perfect harmony,There was no conflict. There was noabridgment of God's GOVERNMENT, thruChrist. rhru Apostles-in that order!And even so, Pau l' s pos it ion and officewas recognized and accepted by Peterand other Apostles.

Titles of OfficeIt IS well, here, to exp la in the titles

:\lay. 1 9 ~ i

GOD uses for those in office in His government. \'{Te have JUSt considered suchoffices as those of apostle, prophet, euan-gelist, pnsior, reacher. But what aboutsuch t it les as "Elder," "Bishop," "Over seer," or "Presbyter ." All these are usedin the New Testament . Actually, allthese latter four mean exactly the samething. A Bishop, or an Overseer, is anElder-and the Presbyters are, s imply,elders,But some Elders hold higher office ofauthority than others. Actually, Apostlesare also elders, and the assistant pastors,or even non-preaching teachers andleaders in local churches are elders. TheApostle John called himself an Elder( I I John 1, and II I John 1 ). The Apostle Peter called himself an Elder (I Pet.5: 1 ). In other words, ALL ministers ofChrist, no matter how high or low theoffice of authority , are Elders. All Apostl es arc Elders, bu t till Elders ,N B notApostles!To understand the der ivat ion of theterm "Elder," let me briefly sket ch foryou the history of the title.

The original government of the Hebrews, from Abraham, was patriarchal.The head of the family exerc ised thesupreme rule (under God), over all hisdescendants. His married sons bore ruleover their respective families, childrenand grandch ildren , crc., but still remained subordinate to their father assupreme head. It was government fromthe TOP, down, At the father's death,his f ir stborn son succeeded him in supreme headship over the family. Naturally, these posit ions , hence the designainto these posit ions, hence the designation "Elder" which simply meant the

o J d e ~ t one. Thus Jacob (Israel) was thesupreme head over all who went toEgypt with him, a ltho his sons had families of their own. Thus "Elder" becamethe official t it le of those in authori ty .The earliest mention of "Elders" ingovernment office ( as ide from familyrule), is at the time of the Exodus. Theseventy elders mentioned in Exodus andNumbers were a governing body, a SOrtof parliament. This was the o rigin ofthe Sanhedrin, or Council . This carriedto the time of Christ. In the New Testament Church, the Elders, or Presbyters,were the same as Bishops-the generaltitle for ALL spiritual offices of authorityover the Church.God Works Thru Only ONE BodyGod's Church is CHRIST'S BODY,

When Jesus was on earth in humanflesh, He said that of Himself He coulddo nothing-the Father that dwelt inHim, thru the Holy Spirit, did theworks. The Spirit, or Power, of God,then, did the WORK OF GOD for thatt ime thru the one human body of Jesus!


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But Jesus said to His disciples thatthey should do the same works He did.because He would go to the Father, andsend the SAME SPIRIT to work IKTHEM. After Jesus ascended to heaven.the SPIRIT of God entered into thehuman bodies of those God had pu t intoHIS CHURCH, and now worked THRL'THEM as His human instruments. ThusTHE CHURCH is the BODY OF CHRISTthe human body (composed of its manyhuman members) by which, empoweredby the Holy Spirit, THE WORK OF GODis carried on.The Word of God clearly teaches usthat there is but the ONE Spiri t, and theONE Body. (I Cor. 12:12-13,20.) Godcannot, and does not, carryon HIS WORK

rhru ONE BODY, with he.ulquarters atPasadena. California, and also thru someone man, or different Body, working independently and out of harmony withthe Pasadena Body, in Pittsburgh, andanother man pul ling in a still differemdirec tion of opposi tion, in New York.God ALWAYS Ordains byHand of ManThat ONE BODY of Christ, carrying onHIS WORK, must function as a UNIT.It must work in harmony and unity,wi th teamwork, for God is no t the

author of confusion. There mus t be nopulling off in different directions by different men in that one Body. There mustbe no competition, or division. And anyone who knowingly promotes, or encourages anyone in promoting, suchdisharmony, competition, and division,becomes the enemy of God, and is serving the devil and not God!In order that this ONENESS-this UNITY of purpose and action-this HARMONY and co-opera tive teamwork , bemain ta ined and preserved in GOD'SWORK, God has ordained GOVERNMENTIN HIS CHURCH. And He has empowered His Church with DIVINE AUTHoRITY.That government in God's Church is

government from God, thru Christ, thruapostles, thru evangelists, thru pastors,rhru orber plclers, in that order!Now suppose God did no t have thesevarious officers ordained by t he hand ofman. What would happen? One manin New York wou ld appoint himself,and come up and say, "I claim equaloffice and authority with those ordainedfrom Pasadena. I wasn' t ordained by thehand of man, bu t direct by the hand ofGod." And then this man carries on his

own independent work. Such a workcannot be a PART of the work of GOD'STRUE CHURCH, for the simple reasonthat sooner or later it will start pullingoff in an oppos ite direction-unless thereis DIRECTION from Chtist on dow'l,in ONE CHURCH ORDER OF GOVERNMENT as God ordained. Sooner or later

The GOOD NEWScompetlt1on, misunderstanding, strife,and division will result! CHRIST IS NOTDIVIDED!So you sec, Brethren, WHY God alwaysordains men to office THRU HIS OWNCHURCH, THRU HIS OWN ESTABLISHEDORDER, as laid down in HIS WORD! GodALWAYS ordains to office by the band. ofmen, whom HE has placed in office.THERE IS NOT ONE EXAMPLE IN THENEWTESTAMENT WHERE ANYMANWASSELF-APPOINTED, OR ORDAINED WITHOUT THE HAND OF MAN, SEPARATEFROM AND INDEPENDENT OF HIS ORDERED CHURCH! Any such claims to O f-dination or office are WITHOUT A SHREDOF SCRIPTURAL AUTHORITY!NOtice a few Scr iptural examples:

101m 15:16: Jesus Chri st HimselfORDAINED His Apostles-by His Handin Person, direct. Also Mark 3:14.

Acts 1:22: Matthias, after God rhruthe Holy Spirit directed that he be chosen, was ORDAINED thru the other elevenas one of the 1WELVI' APOSTLES. (Alsoverses 23-26.)Acts 14:23: Elders were chosen andORDAINED in every city, by the handsof Pau l and Barnabas, with fasting andprayer.

I Tim. 2:7: Was Paul actually ORDAINED, or just made an Apostle byGod direct without ordination? Paulhere says plainly, HE WAS ORDAINED!That settles it!

II Tim. 1.,6 and 4:1-5: Timothy wassent out by Paul as an evangelist,clothed with AUTHORITY to appointand ordain elders and deacons in thelocal churches, and given authority overlocal pastors and churches. God did rhisTHRU THe HAND OF PAUL, and in thisScripture, we see Paul had laid handson Timothy. If for receiving the HolySpirit, then certainly also for his ordination.Titus 1:5 : Paul gave to Titus theevangel is t authori ty to ORDAIN eldersin every city, as Paul had appointed him.Thus Titus was ordained ro this authorityby the hand of Paul, and elder s in manychurches were ordained by the hand ofTitus, the evangelist. Here is the GOVERNMENT OFGOD, operating fromChrist,thru Paul the apostle. thru Titus, theevangelist, thru local Elders, in the orderof God's authority in His Church according to Eph. 4: 11.And so it goes. There is not one example in the New Testament showingtha t any man was ever ordained to anoffice of authori ty WITHOUT the handof man! The only examples and ins truc tions we have show God doing itthru the hand of men of His choosing!WHICH Is Christ's ONE Body?Either the Church of God with headquarters in Pasadena is the ONE AND

ONLY true Body of Christ, thru whom

Page 7Chri st carries on HIS WORK, or else itis deceived, or it is a fraud. There is noother possibility. You MUST FACE IT,and DECIDE WHICH ALTERNATIVE ISTRUE. If ir IS the Body thru whomChri st works in carry ing on HIS WORKto the world for this time, then it isTHE ONLY BODY that is being used ofChrist. Christ is not dirided!Now what is the true WORK OF GOD?Jesus ' first commission to His Churchwas: "Go ye into all the world, andpreach the Gospe l to every creature."Apostasy was prophes ied. But, lookinginto our present end-t ime, Jesus said,"This Gospel of the Kingdom shall bepreached (Mark 13, published) in allthe world for a witness unto all nat ions:and then shall the end come."Brethren, WHO is preaching the sameGospel Jesus taught, the Gospel of the

KINGDOM OF GOD, to the world? Doyou know any other Church fulfillingthis prophecy as to the WORK OF THETRUE CHURCH for this very day andtime?This is the t ime when the "Philadelphia" era of God's Church has beenreached. Somewhere in the world todayis this t rue CHURCH of GOD, fitting thedescription of the "church in Philadelph ia" of Rev. 3.It follows the "Sardis" era of theChurch. The Sardis Church had theNAME of being alive-the NAME,"Church of GOD." But this Sardis Churchdied, spiritually. Chri st , in His Messages to these seven Churches, or churcheras, warned this church that its WORKwas not perfect-it was not performingthe WORK OF GOD in power, bu t withsuch pitiful weakness there was NOSPIRITUAL LIFE in it. It had many truedoctrines, else it could not have been theChurch of God at al l -hut Christ warnedit to AWAKE, and strengthen itself, and toREPENT. In orher words, acknowledge irserrors in doctr ine, and accept the NEWLIGHT now becoming available in theselast days, and yield to God so it could befilled with HIS POWER. Otherwise,Christ warned, He would come on thepeople of this Church "l ike a thief," andthey will not know "the hour" of Hiscoming. This, of course (compare Mat.24, Mark 13, Luke 21), refers to theSecond Coming of Christ . This showsthat members of this Church will still bephysically alive ATTHE SECOND COMINGOF CHRIST. Yet the re were a few namesin that Church who were not guilty ofrefusing to repent or accept new truth.Apparently rhey carry over, and formrhe nnrleus of the following era-thePhiladelphia Church.Of the "Philadelphia" Church, Christsays, "I know that you have bu t littlepower." I t is probably the WEAKEST innumerical and physical strength andpower-the smallest in membership , of


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Page 8any of the Churches from the time of theApostles until the Second Coming. It hasbut few ministers. Yet this Church hasKEPT God's Word-repented where itwas wrong-accepted the new knowledge now revealed-lived by the \"{'ordof God-and is also called by theNAME, The CHURCH OF GOD. Becausethis Church, physically small and weak,has KEPT GOD'S "fORD with patient endurance, it shall be PROTECTED andPRESERVED from the hour of rrial-rheGreat Tribula tion , and Day of the Lord,soon coming on the earth! And THIS isthe Church Chris t uses as HIS INSTRU-MENT in proclaiming His GOSPEL OFTHE KINGDOM-the GOVERNMENT ofGod-to the world. He sets before thisChurch an "OPEN DOOR," for the proclaiming of this Gospel to ALL THEWORLD. The meaning of this "DOOR" isexplained in I I Cor. 2: 12-13. Paul said:"I came to Troas to preach Christ'sgospel. and a OOOR was opened to meof the Lord." This was a means to preachthe Gospel in EUROPE. Until then, for19 years, the Gospel had been preachedonly in Asia!For one 19-year time-cycle, God carried on the Gospel rhru His Church toNorth America. He had opened theDOOR of radio and the printing press.Then , 19 years to the exact month , GodOPENED THE DOOR for the Gospel to goto ALL ETJROPE, and the very next yearto ASIA. The same identical time-patternof 19-year t ime-cycles is being fulfilledin God's work rhru His Church today,as it was thru His Church in Apostolicdays.But SOME of those in the Churchtoday will grow weary with well-doing.They will brag about being the trueChurch-thinking they are spirituallyrich, when they are, in fact, almost spiritually destitute. Because they are indifferent to the real WORK OF GOD, lukewarm,lacking in zeal, Chr ist will spew themout of His mouth. THEY cannot be used

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Tbe GOOD NEWSII I His work! THEY shall lose the verysalvation they boast of having unlessthey repent! God help yOl t never to driftinto the LAODICEAN church!

Ordained, and Under AuthorityFinally, bre thren, many may not realize that I personally was fully ORDAINEDby the laying on of hands after fasrinc

and prayer of those in authori ty in GOD'SCHURCH. It was in the summer of 19)1.I had held a short evangelistic campaignfor the Oregon Conference, Church ofGod (Stanberry, Mo.), six months before, after three and a half years of receiving ins tructi on in the Gospel f romChrist, thru His wri tten Word. In thesummer of 1931 those in authority inthis Church of God asked me to enterthe full time ministry, starting with atent campaign in Eugene, Oregon. Andfor this ministry I was ORDAINED, byfasting and prayer and laying on ofhands of the presbytery-those in authority in God' s Church. This Churchis now clearly identified, in the lightof carefully documented histor ical research, as the "Sardis" era of the Churchdescribed prophetically by Jesus in Revdation 3: 1-6.An abbreviated account of thoseearly years in the ministry-of beingUNDER authority-of preaching whereand when I was sent by those over me inauthority--of being sent by them to thecountry school house west of Eugene,Oregon, in 1933, f rom where the presen t work and the "Philadelphia" era ofthe Church blossomed forth-was published in the December, 1953, GOODNEWS. in Herman 1. Hoeh's article"God Dema-nds Teamwork."

There is not space in the presentarticle to repeat this history at earlyexperience-of being considered, andaccepting the status, of the least of theministers in the Church. Sometime laterI hope to write an art icle fil ling in manyint eres ti ng details and experiences of

May, 1954those days-sketching in more detailthe actual beginning of the PhiladelphiaChurch-YOUR Church today.

God works rhrn HUMAN INSTRU-MENTS! Of course God could carry onHis work otherwise. God cONld carryon His work without relying on thet ithes and offerings of His children inHis Church. He could supply all themoney by direct miracle. But it is forOUR good that He gives every begottenchild of His a direct part in His greatwork.

God could ordain those He has calledto office and authority in His work secretly and direct, without the hand ofman. But there is no instance in the history of His Church where He ever did!God could cia all His work HIMSELF,direct, without us ing any minis ters orhuman agencies at all! BUT THAT ISNOT GOD'S WAY! God did His work onearth thru the human body of JesusChr is t wh il e Jesus was on earth. Now,according to God's own Word, HISCHURCH, with its many human members, is CHRIST'S BODY th ru whom Godcarries on His work. There is no examplein the Bible where God carried on HIS\X'ORK under the New Covenant by anysingle individual OUTSIDE OF, independent of, HIS ORGANIZED CHURCHAND HIS ORDER OF GOVERNMENT INTHF CHURCH. Anyone outside of God'sChurch is AGAINST God's Church!Jesus said: "He that is nor with me isagftinst me; and he that garhererh norwith me scasteretb abroad!"

Pentecost(Continued from page 5 )tionary. It is an assembly where everyone is COMMANDED, under AUTHORITY,to be present. The Sabbath is a weeklyholy CONVOCAnON. We are commanded,therefore, to assemble ourselves to gether. Each of these annual days is anholy CONVOCATION. The early Churchobeyed. Are we?

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