Good News 1972 (Vol XXI No 05) Aug

8/10/2019 Good News 1972 (Vol XXI No 05) Aug

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2/20

More

Abou t

Our

Cover.

.

Looking over and beyond a section of the Berlin

Wa ll into East Germany. one begins to sense the

isolation East Germans mu st feel- especially our brethren

behind the wall Beginning on pag e 4 , Mr. John Karlson of

our omce

in

Dusseldorf relates some

of

the problems brethren

in

East Germany are facing, and what you can do to help.

Clayton mbassador College

What our

READERSSAY

Mr. Armstrong, I want to express deep

appreciation f o r the May-June GOOD NEWS.

It has seemed like ages since we last

received one, but this o ne makes u p for

it.

The article on the Summer Educational

Program was a real eye opener.

I

know

some children who will be attending, and

now I have a better idea of what they have

to

look forward to. These children will also

have an opportunity to learn first-hand,

through experience, just what it is their

parents are working for. Its not just for

personal salvation, but

to

give this kind

o f c l e a n , he a l th f u l l i v ing to a l l the

world.

As so

often happens, I looked

a t

the

article

on

proper fellowshipping and said to

myself, Oh, I know who that applies

to

Surprise

I

found out it applied very

strongly to me. Please keep this kind o f

corrective, instructive article coming. I, for

one, need them desperately.

The articles on the baptizing tours and

the growth

of

the Wo rk arc vcry

inspiring.

How God has truly worked in bu ilding His

Church W e now have a much better idea

of the areas for which we need

to

be

praying. Plcasc thank all thosc who

were inspired

to

write such uplif t ing

articles.

Mrs. Barbara W., Warsaw,

New York

I just finished reading the article on

Christian Fellowship in the May-June

GOOD NEWS.Gods Holy Spirit does really

inspire His ministers

to

give us a balanced,

helpful and overall picture of the various

aspects of Christian living. That article

really thrilled me Th ank s very much. W e

really appreciate your service to us. This is

the kind of spiritual food we need in these

times, in order that we might learn

to

love

one another more fervently to the end

Thanks again for all the hard work that

goe s i n to t he se wonde r fu l up l i f t i ng

articles.

C.

B.,

Winetka,

Illinois

The May-June issue of

The

GOOD NEWS

really hi t me all right, especially th e article

on

What

Is

Real Christian Fellowship? I

have repented of not fellowshipping

enough with all members instead of only a

few he same ones each week.

We

d o

want to meet others and get to know

them.

Member, Willard,

Ohio

The article by Mr. Waterhouse, The

Foreign Wo rk hen and Now, in the

May-June issue of The

GOOD NEWS

was

certainly a fine, inspiring article. Our

thanks

go

to Mr. Waterhouse for it.

B. F., Thornton,

Colorado

I

want

to

tell you how

I

enjoyed reading

Mr. Waterhouses report in The G w n

NEWSbout the growth in all areas he vis-

ited last year.

As

I read it, it seemed like I

was sitti ng in the meeting h e has held here

in Cape Girardeau, Miswuri and

wished 1

could have had more

to

read of the Work

and Gods plans as he explains and

expounds them.

J. P., Paducah,

Kentucky

The GOODNEWS rticle about the Afri-

can baptizing t our is very inspiring, and

so

is thc rcccnt article about the

puwci

uf

Gods Spirit.

It

is quite a revelation to learn

that we sometimes, like Christ, can become

drained of some of the Holy Spirit, and

that

we

have

to go to God in

praycr

to

renew it.

In Mr. Jacksons diary, the paragraph

about the woman who contacted all the

hotels in t he area until she found where th e

baptizing team was, moved me to tears. I

was glad she

got to

be baptized. It is so

thrilling to have these articles about our

foreign hrethrcn hecaose they make

us

aware of what

to

pray about in.the Foreign

Work.

The photos of the Summer Educational

Program in the May-June Goon NFWS

are beautiful. They sort of make me wish

Continued on back cover)

International Magazine

of

THE

CHURCH

OF

GOD

miniiterzng

to

its

members

i c i l t t r r rd 12bY0td

August 1972

Volume X X I Number 5

Piihlishrd ar

Pa\ad,-n?l

Cgltfornm

972 Worldwlde Church of God

EDITOR

HERBERT. ARMSTRONG

MANAGING EDITOR

David Jon Hill

SENIOR EDITORS

Roderick

C.

Meredith

Albert J. Portune

Herman L. Hoeh

Associate

Editori

Richard H Srdliacik R n n a l r l Krlly

Contributing Editori

David Albert Dennis G. Luker

David

L.

Antion Ernest L. Martin

Dibar K. Apartian Leslie L . McCullough

Frank Brown Bill L. McDowell

Alfred E. Carrozzo Raymond F. McNair

C. Wayne Cole

L.

Lerov Neff

Raymond C. Cole Richard F. Plache

William Dankenbring John

E.

Portune

Ronald

L.

Dart John Robinson

Charles V . Dorothy Paul S. Royer

Charles

F.

Hunting Norman A. Smith

Paul W . Kroll Dean R . Wilson

Robert L. Kuhn Clint C. Zimmerman

Lawson

C. Briggs,

Copy Editor

Thomas Haworth.

A r t Editor

BUSINESS MANAGER

Albert

J.

Portune

ADDRESS

LL

C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

o the Editor, P.

0

Don 111, Pdsadcm,

Caliruruia 91109.

Canadian members should address P.

0 Box 44 ,

Station A , Vancouver 1,

B.

C., Canada.

O ur

members in United Kingdom,

Europe,

and

Africa

should

a ddr rs s rhe E d i ro r ,

P

Rnr 1 1 , St.

Albans, Hefts.. England.

South Africa: P. 0 Box 1060, Johannesbu rg ,

Transvaal. R. S. A.

Members in

Australia and Southeast Asia should

address the Editor. G .

P .

0

Box 345.

bydney.

NSW

2001, Australia.

In the Ph i l ipp ines . P 0 B o x 1111, Makari ,

Rizal D-708.

BI:

X:RI: TO rirsrIr-i

1.5

~ M M L I > I A T E L T

of r h n n g c

in your address. Please include both old

a n d

new

a dd re ss . I M P O R T A N T


3/20

WHICH OLD

TSTAMNT LAWS

ARE IN

FORCE

TODAY?

Here

i s

how you can know wh ich

laws

in the Old Testa-

ment w er e changed, or are no longer necessary, and

wh i c h

w e are commanded to observe tod ay

by Herman L Hoeh

E W M E M U ~ K S n Gods Church

of ten ask , When I read the

O ld Testament, how can I

know the difference between the cere-

monia l laws no longer b inding on the

Ch urc h, and those laws which we are

to observe today?

This question is absolutely BASIC.

Chr is t ian growth depends in no

small measure on understanding the

answer to this question.

N

T e n C o m m a n d m e n t s B i n d i n g

a t C r e a t i o n

Th e patr iarch Abraham kept the

c o m m a n d m e n t s .

.

Abraham obeyed

my voice,

sa id God,

and

kept

my

charge,

my

commdndments,

my

s 1 ~

UTES, and my LAWS (Gen. 26:5) .

Gods basic spiritual Law which regu-

lates human life existed from creation.

I t is holy, just and goo d, said Paul in

Romans 7:12-14. This Law is summed

u p i n t h e T e n C o m m a n d m e n t s G o d

gave to Moses on Mt . S ina i. The Te n

C om m a ndm e n t s w er e no t ne w n ly

the writ ten, codif ied form in which

G o d s p o k e a n d w r o t e t h e m w a s

new. (Write for the repr int , Were the

T e n C om m a ndm e n t s i n

Force

Bcforc

Moses?

i f

you havent read it.)

Th e entire Bible was writ ten to illus-

tra te the l ives of individuals who

repented of sin and kept the spir i tual

laws God set in motion from creation.

David was inspired

ro

wrirc: All

his commandments are sure . They

stand fast for ever and ever, and are

done

in

truth and uprighrness (Ps.

111

7 - 8 ) .

Jesus said, Think not that

I

am

come to destroy the law, or the proph-

ets: I am not come to destroy, but to

fulfill (Matt. 5:17).

Gods Church believes David. It also

believes Jesus. It does wh at He com-

mands.

He

is, after

all,

the Head of the

Church of God

O t h e r L a w s B a s e d on

Ten C o m m a n d m e n t s

Abraham kept the l en Comm and-

ments. He

also kept

Gods

STATUTES

and LAWS. W h at were these s ta tu tes

and laws?

Statutes

are

expressions of a

law-

maker , usually commanding

or

forbid-

ding that cer ta in things be done. In

addi t ion

to

the broad pr inciples of the

T e n C om m a ndm e n t s , G o d ga ve to the

patriarchs STATUTES for the general

well-being of the people ogether

w i t h JUDGMENTS for the protection of

everyones legal rights. Judgments are

binding decisions of judges based on

Gods previously revealed Law. These

decisions are used to settle similar

future disputes and

to

render

a

sentence

or verdict .

I n ge ne ra l t he T e n C o m m a nd m e n t s

apply to individual conduct, the sta t-

utes to national or church affairs, and

the judgments to decisions rendered

according to the pr inc ip les of the Te n

Com man dm ents and the s ta tu tes .

T he world had strayed

so

far from

the truth by the days of Moses, tha t

G o d ha d to reveal His

laws

and sta tutes

anew

to

the Israelites. Ancient Israel

had lost m uc h of the knowledge of

Gods ways while in Egyptian bondage.

Notice , however , that God was reveal-

ing laws which

were

already in force.

In E xodus 16:28 Go d cha l lenged

Israel:

How

long refuse ye to keep my

commandments and my laws?

Israel could not refuse what

did

not

exist

In Exodus 18:16 we read that Moses

explained

to

his fa ther- in- law what he

did when the people had a dispute: I

do make them know the s ta tu tes of

God, and his laws.

Both these instances occurred

e j o ye

the nation reached Sinai efore the

Old Covenant was made .

As these statutes and laws existed

before the Old Covenant, they were

not thereby abolished in A.D. 31 when

the Old Covenant marr iage agreement

ceased ar rhe death of C hri sr . T h e O ld

Covenant could not destroy what i t did

not br ing in to force . The Old Cov-

A G R E E M E N T in which Israel promised

to

obey the Eternal (Christ) who

was

rhr Husbarid, and Hc, iri zurri, yrorri-

ised

to

provide

for

the na t ion . To obey

the Husband m eant to keep Gods laws

which wr rc

alrrady

i r i

furcc (Our

fine

repr in t The NEWCovenant Does

I t Abolish Gods Law? explains that

rlic Ol d Cuvcrialir wa s

a

I i i a i i i a g c

agreement. )

enanr , rcmrmbcr,

WdS a

MA K K IA G b

M a g n i f y i n g

the

Law

T he sta tutes and lesser laws

of

G o d

m a gni fy t he T e n C om m a ndm e n t s. T h e

Fir s t Commandment

says,

for example,

Th ou shalt have no ot her gods before


4/20

L

The

GOOD NEWS August 1972

me. T he statures regarding annual fes-

tivals magnify this principle xplain

how, in a positive way, to ensure that

onc worships thc onc

true

G o d : Three

t imes [in the year] thou shalt keep a

feast

UNTO

M E .

(Ex. 23:14). Those

who obey keep

i n

special

contact with

the Creator God.

Many add itiona l laws such as

Exodus

2 2 : 1 6 ,

19, for exam ple pec-

ify in greater detail how the Seventh

Com mand ment , Thou shal t no t com-

m i t adultery

[o r

moral uncleanness],

is to be applied.

Notice also that God made pro-

vision for additional judyments

to

be

established over the centuries (see

N u mb er s

2 7 : G - l l

for example). The

judgments are binding decisions based

on Gods previously revealed law.

But when did the carnal ceremonies

and sacrifices of the Levitical priest-

hood begin? When did they cease to

have force and effect? And how can we

dist inguish them from the s tatutes and

laws that existedprior

to

t he Old Cov-

en an t ?

When Did Sacrificial Laws

Begin?

When God brought I s rae l to t he

foot of Mt. Sinai , He gave the Ten

Co mman d men t s

to

t hem. He a l lowed

Moses to declare

to

Israel the statutes

and judgments which the people didnt

want

to

hear (Exodus, chapters 20-24).

These s tatutes and judgm ents

M A G N I F Y

t he Ten Commandments .

Now notice carefully. There is only

on e sacrifice me ntione d thus far in the

book uf the l aw

he

P auuver sacrifice

(Ex. 23:18). G od called it M Y sacri-

fice. The Passover was instituted in

Egypt, weeks

before Sinai. It had to b e

inc luded in the Old Covenan t , bu t i t

was not inst i tuted by the Old Cov-

enant .

Next , tu rn

to

Jeremiah 7:22-23. Lis-

ten to what the Eternal inspired Jere-

miah to write:

For

in the day that I

b rought them o u t o f the l and o f Egypt ,

them concerning burnt oferings an d sncri-

fices.

But this COMMAND I

G A V E

T H E M :

OBEY

y vo ice . . and walk in A L L

i t may be wel l wi th you

(Revised

Standard Version)

1 DID NOT S P E A K . . . O R

COMMAND

TH F W A Y

T H A T C O M M A N I ) YOIT, t h a t

G o d did not command these sacri-

fices to be offered originally. This

explains why none of those temporary

sacrificcs wcrc pcrpctuatcd

by

diffcieiit

s y m b o ls i n t h e N e w T e s t a m e n t

Church. Only the Passover is contin-

ued with the different

New Testa-

men t

SY M BO L S

of unleavened bread and

wine. W h y is the Passover cont inued

today? because

it

began

before

t he

Old Covenant was made (See its insti-

tut ion in Exodus 1 2 before the Israel-

ires left Egypt

)

Th e very fact that Jesus substituted

unleavened bread and wine for the

Passover lamb only, and not for the

temporary Levitical offerings, is proof

that the ceremonial Old Testament

offerings are not bindin g today ut

that the Passover, in its New Testa-

ment fo rm,

is

binding

Paul explains that the temporary

rituals and sacrifices were afterward

added because of transgressions (Ga l.

3:19) because Gods spiritual Law

was being broken

to

last until

Ch r i s t s h o u l d co me . T h ey fo r e -

shadowed the sacrifice of Christ and

were a reminder of s in to teach the

people the need of the Messiah he

true Passover Lamb wh o would pay

the penal ty

of

human transgression

(Heb. 10:3-10).

Notice that these temporary rituals

did not define sin. The y were rem inders

of sin. Gods spiritual laws define sin.

T he laws which define sin which

explain wh at sin is hese laws we are

to keep today.

Sacrifices

F O REVER?

The principle of voluntary offering

of sacrifices existed before Moses.

Christ voluntccrcd

to offcr

IIimsclf

f rom the beginning to pay for the sins

of mankind. Cain and Abel made offer-

ings

to

G o d (G en . 4 : 3 4 . ut in the

period from Moses to Christ the prac-

tice of giving offerings was reduced to

a ritualistic plane and regulated in great

detail . W hy ? Because the chi ldren of

Israel were a physical, carnal people

wi thou t t h e promise of the Holy Spirit

They could not offer themselves in spir-

itual obedience

to

God (Deut . 29 :4 ) ,

so they performed ritualistic wa


5/20

August 1972 The GOOD NEWS 3

behalf of men in relation to G o d (H eb .

5 : 1 and 8:3 ). But h ow long do physical

offerings as reminders of sin need to be

made? Paul tells us: N ow where

remission of these [sins) is,

there

is

no

more offering f o r szn (Heb. 10:18).

To offer sacrifices today as reminders

of sins already paid for by Jesus, who

gave His life in full payment for all

s ins , is needless aftei A.D. 31 wlien

Jesus died

to

pay for the sins of the

world. God signalled this fact

to

the

Jews in A . D .

70

by allowing the

destruction of the temple.

Moreover, since the Holy Spirit was

made available

to

mankind beginning

Pentecost Monday, June 18,

A.D.

31,

physical offerings and various washings

which

are

types of the Holy Spirit

are

no longer needed and hence no longer

bind ing. T h e factors involved ceased

to

exist.

The ritual laws were subject to change

because thqi were only

p e s of the prom-

ised seed. Christ (who was

to

take

upon Himself the s ins of the world)

an d

of

the Holy Spiri t which would

regenerate men spiri tual ly . W he n the

circumstances were altered in A.D. 31,

at the crucifixion, and on Pentecost,

the obl igation

to

practice the ritualistic

laws ceased. These rituals had no fur-

ther use when the Lamb of God died

for our s ins and when the Holy Spiri t

became available for men in general.

But note that they did not cease

because they were part of the Old Cov-

enant. They were added

after

t he Old

Covenant or marriage agreement was

ratified (Exo dus 24). T he rituals ceased

to be needed because the true sacrifice

for sin had been offered.

But what about Gods spir i tual

laws?

God ALONE

C h a n g e s L a w s

Perhaps some have failed to realize

tha t God

A L O N E

has the r ight

to

add

to

or al ter His laws, and that HE W I L L

NOT

ALTER

HIS

SPIRITUAL

LAWS.

T h c

spiritual laws describe the very charac-

ter of God. They enable us to k n o w

what

G o d

is

l ike. Since the character

of

Go d remains unchanging I change

not, says the Eternal (Mal. 3 : 6 ) and

yesus Christ , the

same

yesterday, and

today, and for ever (Heb. 13:8)

Gods spiritual laws cannot change.

R i t u a l L aw s D i s t i n g u i s h ed

from O t h e r s

In Hebrews 9:9-10 we read of the

material gifts and sacrifices which

included ONLY meats and drinks and

diverse washings and carnal ordinances,

imposed unt i l the t ime of reforma-

tion:

Notice that these temporary

laws

did not pertain to murder or theft or

sabbath breaking, but were ONLY those

ordinances regulating meat and drink

offerings and different washings or

ablutions of the unclean. (These exter-

nal washings were a type of the Holy

Spirit cleaning us up from within.)

Any other laws not included in

Hebrews 9:lO were

not

part of the r i t -

uals added because of sin

Remember this point

It will help you to know which rites

in the Old Testament were added to

the statutes and judgments already in

existence.

What Is the Law of Moses?

Some people are easily confused by

the t r ick argument of some that the

Ten Commandments a re the l aw of

Moses. They read in Luke 2:22-24 that

the ordinances

of

the law of Moses

are also called part of the law of the

Lord.

W h y is the law o f Moses also

called the law of th e Lord ? Because

all law comes from G od Moses was

not the lawmaker H e merely told

the

people the laws that Go d set in mo tion

(John 1:17).

However, the Bible N E V E R calls the

law of Moses the Te n Comm andments .

The law of Moses comprises statutes

and judgments which God gave h im to

communica te

to

the people. T he differ-

ence between th e law of Moses and the

T en co m man d m en t s is t h a t G o d s p ok e

the Ten Commandments , bu t

Moses

delivered the statutes and judgments.

N u w , lei

us

r e d l [ha t when Moses

first delivered the statutes and judg-

ments ,

the

law of Moses had no sacrz$ces

connected with it.

Jercmiah said

so

Ucr.

7:22.) The law of Moses was originally

the civil law, based o n th e principles of

the Ten Commandments .

These

civil

statutes and judgments are also right

and good (Ps . 119 :7 ,8 ) .

Some of these c iv i l l aws

were

included in the O ld Covenant (Ex. 21-

24) and others were promulgated at

later t imes (Deut .

1 2 : 1 ,

and fol lowing

chapters for example).

After

the ratification of the O ld C ov-

enant (Ex.

L 4 ) ,

the Levitical priesthoo d

was established and the laws regulatirg

o f f e r i n g w e re ad d ed tn thc- ILW nf.

M o m ( Ex . 2 8 :l ) . ( P ri or to this time

offerings were voluntary and young

me n were priests Exod us 24:5.)

Thcrcforc thc law of

Moses

hus more

than one part

N o t i ce Gods definition of t h e origi-

nal part

of

that law

in

Malachi

4 : 4

(RSV): Remember the law of my ser-

vant Moses, the statutes and ordinances

that I commanded h im at Hore b for all

Israel.

This

law we are not

to

f or ge t. W e

arc tn

k e ~ p t

But added later to this law were

other statutes regulating material rit-

uals, such as sacrifices, lighting of can-

d l e s , b u rn i n g i n cen s e an d v a r i o u s

washings for the unclean.

This almost unnot iced fact that the

law of

Moses

was composed of

two

dis-

tinct parts he civil and the ritual-

is t ic is wh at causes so m u c h

difficulty in understanding.

P a r t of L a w of

Moses

St i l l

in

Force

Jesus said the two great command-

ments were love to God and love to

neighbor.

Do you

know

from

where

H e quoted these laws?

O ut o f the book of the law

he

laws that

Moses

spoke to the people.

Read it in Leviticus 19:lS (RSV):

Y O Ushall love your neigh bor as your-

self . And Deuteronomy 6 : 5 : Y o u

shall love the Lord your God with all

your heart, and with all your soul, and

with al l your might .

In I1 John

5

and

6,

God commands

Christians to obey these two basic laws

wliich

He

curmnuliicarcd

ro

the people

by Moses In I1 Ki ng s 23:25, Josiah is

praised because he did so. H e tu rned

to the

Lord with all his hcart, and with

all his soul, and with all his might,

ACCORDING TO ALL

T HE

LAW

OF

MOSES

Notice

how plain i t is. The civil law

of Moses expounds the Ten Comm and-

(Continued o n page

1 G


6/20

Behind the Iron Curtain,

i n

East Germany, you have a

number 0.f h r m

wbo

me

rraf

d i e fa meet on a

reqular basis because

of

unique problems and

d iR

culties. Here i s a special

report on Gods Church

behind the Berlin

Wull.

by John Kar l son

: A L L the Iron Curtain countries,

East Germany is the strictest.

And yet, impossible as it may

seem in mans eyes, God has called a

miall group of fourteen people bchind

~ 3 kiUIT


7/20

August 1972

The GOOD

NEWS

5

these

doors

to

be

closed

for

the

time

being.

However, of those who were receiv-

ing t he magazines and literature, a few

scattered families and individuals were

really willing to live by the Bible.

These people began writing for visits.

Alth ough the doors for get t ing l i ter-

ature into East Germany seem tightly

closed at present, on e door is stil l open

he door of personal contact. God

has made possible periodic visits by

some of His minis ters to baptize and

teach the brethren behind the Iron

Curtain, so that even though they are

no t ab le to meet on a regular basis,

they have been able to meet wi th

Gods ministers four or five times per

year, and have services durin g th e Days

of

Unleavened Bread and the Feast of

Tabernacles.

Needless to say, wi thout Gods

direct intervent ion, none of this would

be possible, and the same t hin g is t rue

i n the individual lives of these breth-

r en . O n e man , for instance, who had

been the secretary of the Communist

Party in the city where he lived and

had a preferred job because of his posi-

t ion, qui t the party (which caused n o

small uproar, s ince nothing l ike that

Iiad

cvcr

happcncd before), trusting

G o d

to

help him find a new job. Today

he stil l has the

sume

preferred job he

had back then as party secretary, has

the Sabbuth o and gets o f o r all the

Feasts

and Holy

Days

O u r

brethren behind the Iron

Cur-

tain have problems

to

overcome and

trials

to

endure, being no different in

this than m y other members o f Gods

Church. Their biggest disadvantage,

however, i s that of not being able

to

gather with the

rest

of their German-

speaking brethren in England for the

l in W a l l

and rhr Iron Curtain

are

more

than ipst names:, they a re actual- l imk

i ng

burriers

which keep them from

being able to meet with the rest of

Gods Church.

W e have t ri ed to compensate for

this as much as possible. For example,

the Diisseldorf office staff, plus breth-

4 . w ~ f i k ,

d

Y d h ~ d , w k t rdK rim-

eled to East Germany to at tend the

weddings of some of our brethren

~ Y L ? T ~ A T I T ~ v ~

~ T

ihx iik

Jh

i i ~ ~

~YXTh * G ~ ~ i v ~ ~ Y ;~?titrl~slrrr,

there, conducted by Gods ministcrs. I n

these cases the brethren were able

to

fellowship from early morning until

late a t night under the very best of

conditions.

What You Can

Do

Often the quest ion arises , What

can we do for our brethren behind the

Iron Curtain?

There is one request which they

have voiced over and over again:

Ask

the brethren topray for us

T h i s is the

one th ing we can do to really help

them.

C u t off as they are from regular con-

tact with our li terature, and regular

fellowship with Gods people, our

brethren behind the Berlin Wall fer-

vently desire

your

continuing,

carncst

prayers on their behalf. They believe in

the m iracle-working power of prayer as

you do . They know, as the Apostle

James wrote, that the effective fervent

prayers of righteous men avail

much

(James 5.16)

Pray t h a t God will

dgnln

make it possible for the broadcast and

our l i terature to reach the brethren

behind the Iron Curtain.

Th e next t ime you hear The WORL

TOMORROWroadcast, or receive

The

PLAINTRUTHr GOOD

NEWS,

h e

Correspondence Course or some booklets

through the mai l ; the next t ime you

at tend

a

Sabbath service, a Bible study

or a Spokesmans Club meet ing,

remem-

ber your brethren behind th e Iron Cur-

tain. They will surely appreciate it

English-German sign located at a barbed wire section

of

the Berlin Wall.

Ambos sodo r

College Photo


8/20

PEOPLE

LPDa?

Did God really mean for us

t o be peculiar ? (Titus

2:14.

Or

d i d

He mean

someth ing e l se en t i re l y

t h a n t h e u su al m o d e r n

meaning of the word?

This

amusing article wil l help

you see

i n

wha t way you

should

NOT

be pecul iar

specially at the Feast

of Tabernacles.

N

THE Ki ng James translation

of

the

Bible, Gods people are referred

to

as a

peculidr

people (Titus 2 : 1 4 ) ,

an unfortunate wording almost as

unhelpful a s the

one

which mentions

Easter

instead

of

Passover

Actually, the original Greek says we

are a peop le special to G o d . W e a re a

purchased people ( I Pet. 2 9 ) ur-

chased by the blood of Christ

( I

Cor.

6 :20 ) .

But that doesnt mean we are PER-

FECT Some of us, perhap s especially a t

the Feast of Tabernacles, engage in

some ludicrous behavior.

W e

do

things or say things we

ought not . Tha t s to be expected of

course, knowing human nature , but

some of these situation s cast a bad lig ht

on Gods Church, and they are all

so

unnecessary. Wi th a l i t t le forethought,

most

of

these situations can be easily

and totally avoided.

Th os e w ho cause these little inci-

dents dont si t up nights planning

I

Its always easy to tell

in which

direction

a

careless

coat dragger

just

moved.

them. Sometimes the perpetrators are

part-time inconsidcratcs. At bcst, thcir

antics are ridiculous and even a mus ing.

When Feast time rolls around, are

you sometimes peculiar in the sense

of being odd? Check yourself and

your behavior against that

of

the

fol-

lowing compiled and categorized

care

causers:

D O M E

DUSTERS are the people

who walk along

a

row

of

seats a t the

Feast and heedlessly drag coats, blan-

kets, bags, Bibles, notebooks and even

small children across the heads o f th ose

seated in the row just in front. Hairdos

are harried, toupees twisted, scarves

pulled loose and general hirsute havoc

created as

a

result . Then just about the

t im e the v i c t im s ha ve s t a r t e d to

recover, the offenders have decided that

there is better seating back somewhere

w he nc e t he y c a m e . T he y r e tu r n ,

repeating their destructive perform-

ance, this time brushing all hair

in the

opposite direction

The

conversation

crasher always makes his

ent rance

when

a

conversation

is in

prog-

ress.


9/20

August

1972

The

GOOD

NEWS

7

Ab out the on ly way

to

av oi d d o m e

dusters , who always seem to strike

wi thou t warn ing , i s to stay hunched

forward in an awkward posture that

would ind ica te to o thers tha t a s tom-

ach ache is in progress. This could be

deeply fascinating to onlookers

~

unti l

they are suddenly aware that dome

dusters are passing over

them

G o d s W o r d

says,

An d

a s

ye would

t h a t m e n s h o u ld d o to you, do ye also

to

them l ikewise (Luke 6:31). N o n e

of us likes

to

have our do me s dus ted .

So

don t become a dome dus ter a t

the Feast this year.

A I S L E I D L E R S Having picked

their seats and s taked them out with

piles of personal property , they spend

the last twenty minutes or so before

services knotting in the aisles to visit

with other ais le id lers while s treams of

peop le s t rugg le to get a round them.

binally aisle traffic becomes

so

in tense

t h a t

i t

breaks up the c lumps of daw-

d lers . W i t h mos t o f e igh t days fo r

visiring, these busy spo ts wo uld seem

t o be poor places to renew acquain t -

ances and talk over old t imes, but hav-

ing been deprivcd

of

the oppor tun i ty

to

finish their conversations, the aisle

idlers can

look

forward to reun i t ing

next day, same time, same place.

The Bible says there is a t ime and

a

place

for

al l th ings (Eccl . 3 : 1 ,7 ), but in

th e aisle,

just

before

services,

is NOT the

p lace nor the t ime for las t-minute fel-

lows hippin g Don t you be an ais le

idler.

W A I T E R W O R RI ER S are those few

w h o u n t h i n k i n g l y c re a te a w k w a r d

Creating a scene is not the mark

of a true Christian.

scenes in restaurants by loudly inform-

ing the he lp abou t unclean foods o r

o ther p rob lems .

To

m u d d l e m a t t e r s

even more, some waiter worriers

have a peculiar, groundless bel ief that

members o f the Church shou ld expect

special t reatment and service from

others , especial ly those working in

public places. They tend

to

b e i m p o -

l i t e, bo im ruu s , dcrnand ing and noisy .

Of

course

all

this causes embarrassment

t o n o rm a l C h u rch m em b er s wh o h ap -

pen to be present , and may hclp con-

vince waiters , waitresses and other

on look ing s t rangers tha t

all

Gods

people are frant ic fanat ics

Do you abide

by

the admoni t ion of

the Apos t le Paul: Let al l th ings be

d o n e

dwntly

and in O Y ~ P Y (I C o r

14:

40)

C O N V E R S A T I O N C R A S H ER S

are

Restroom goers cause some to react as

though they

had

never before seen

a

the enthusiastic, super-sociable ones

wh o t ry to spread themselves out in all

social d irect ions at the same t ime. They

have an uncanny adroi tness for barging

in for long visits with friends just

when those friends are vis i t ing with

othcr fricnds, whether they

are a t a

d in ing tab le , in a mote l room or a

pho ne boo th . T rue , everybody shou ld

be happy to see everybody

else,

b u t

there are favorable times for every-

thing. Surprise visits can perforate

plans previously made with o ther

friends.

D on t be a b utt-in-ski type. Co n-

trol that urge

to

say hello until you

have a f i t t ing oppor tun i ty . Remember

and apply the principle: The tongue

of the wise useth knowledge aright:

b u t t h e m o u t h o f fo o l s p o u re t h o u t

foolishness (Prov.

1 5 2 .

R E S T R O O M R E S O R T E R R E G A R -

DERS W h at i s there abou t peop le

walk ing to restrooms during services

that is

so

profoundly fascinat ing to so

many others A weary m oth er carrying

or dragging an offspring out for rel ief

can unwi l l ing ly command the a t t en -

t ion of a host of heads, turning in s low

unison, as though they were al l hooked

to the same set of neck muscles. Shes

starcd at as if thc bcholdcrs had never

befo re beheld a human be ing . One

mig h t wel l imag ine tha t

all

those fixed

eyes do precious l i t t le for the watched

woman , who unders tandab ly migh t

never recurn to those parts.

These

starers

also have their counter-

parts in B A B Y B A W L E R BEHOLDERS and

COUGHER

C O N T E M P L A T E R S ,h o s e

Its a mystery why the loudmouth feels

that

he is

admired.


10/20

8 The GOOD NEWS

August 1972

unswerving attention can be seized and

held by the most commonplace sounds

and sights.

Again, the w ords of Solom on

come

to mind: Let thine eyes look

right on,

and let thine

eyelids loo strazgbt before

thee (P rov . 4 : 2 5 ) . So don t a llow your -

self to be distracted from the sermo n o r

speaker a t the podium.

T K U M P E T -T O N G UE D T A L K E R S

speak out loud and clear , even during

sermons when its seldom necessary

to

cornmunicatc with othcrs. Thcsc arc

generally the same ones who speak in

stentorian tones in still, silent restau-

rants

so

that everyone present

is

forced

to

take in their remarks, regardless

of

how personal, painful or unscinti l la t-

ing. Captive audiences must in sup-

pr e s se d pa in be a r up unde r t he i r

resounding jokes, always emphasized

by their

own

laughter of jolt ing vol-

ume. Of course all this

is

heightened, if

possible, anytime theyve had one drink

too

many.

Do

you heed the scr iptural admoni-

t ion , Whoso keepe th h is mouth and

his tongue keepeth his soul f rom trou-

bles (Prov.

2 1 : 2 3 ) ?

O r a re you a

Lin lV-

- c r g u d cdlKrr:;I

D E A C O N D I S R E G A R D E R S

are the

innPymdmr. nuxx w h , hg,llrsip, xx

rules and regulations apply to all

except

them,

a n d

t h a t

their

decisions are best,

regardless of how much planning and

work has been done

by

others for their

benefit. They prefer

to

choose their

own park ing p laces and know how to

most effectively

clog

the a isles and rows

with their belongings, especially their

babies and baby beds.

To

and from

services they take shortcuts by striding

across roprcl-off

arras.

At lunch t ime they become

PEOPLE

P L U N G E R S by

dashing out fur iously

so

that they can be

f i r s t a t

their favorite

eating places. They have a me-first

att itu de and disregard rules, regulations

and the feelings of other people . They

have forgotten the words

of

Paul who

said: Obey them that have the rule

over

you, and submit yourselves: f o r

they watch for your souls [deacons are

str iving

to

protect and benefit your

soul

o r

life

in a

phyJicdl

sense),

a s

they

tha t must g ive account (Heb .

13 :17 ) .

N O T E S N OT ERS

the cur ious

ones who peer out of the corners of

their eyes a t what others are writ ing

dur ing services mu st suffer som e

insufferable frustrations whenever they

find themselves seated beside people

with completely i l legible penmanship.

To discourage these notes noters

wh o a lmost shove the i r v ic t ims ou t

of

their seats in their a t temp ts to g et c lose

e n o u g h

to

read as much as possible, its

generally effective to boldly jot d o w n :

Y k

orry you% hamng

so

much

d$fkdty

reading

this,

but it

isnt easy

to

write when

Cm e I.ewmd.

agz.iv~ct

A scr ipture which might apply

to

these zealous peerers and peepers is

found in the Proverbs: I t is an honour

for a man to cease from strife: but

every

fool

will be meddling

(

Prov.

2 0 : 3).

FRIENDLY

SEAT

SAVERS

are

those who dont feel inclined to arrive

One trouble with being first

to

lunch

is

having to wait longer for dinner

at the site for services sooner than the

last possible moment. Obtaining seats

doesnt worry them. Sometimes they

r111ploy t h a t subtle

( to tliem)

bu t ariti-

quated (to the deacons) device of send-

ing their children to claim the seats far

in advance. Unattended youngsters

arent very prone to calmly sit for half

an hour or an hour or even for ten

minutes. Theyre more likely to make

a

playground out of the audi tor ium.

Another hackneyed reservation prac-

tice is that of friends holding

seats for

premeditated late arriving by other

friends. Maybe those friends never

make

i t ,

and valuable seats are held for

noth ing . O r pe rhaps the tw o pa r tie s

end up in different parts

of

the audi to-

r ium and n oth in g turns out a s p lanned

except that som e usher isnt as happy as

he otherwise would

be.

Exa mine yourself.

Do

you

fit

in one ,

two, three or even

all

of

the above

categ ories ? Perhaps youre a card-carry-

i n g m e m b e r o f

Peculiar Peoples

Anonymow.

Should your name, because

of the way you sometimes act , be

c h a n g e d t o

A . Pecul iar Fanat ic ,

Esquire.

All of

Gods

peq~leshidd .b

holy, well-mann ered, friendly, consider-

arc

pcoplc.

We should follow the

example

of

Jesus Christ in all things

( I

Pet.

2 : 2 1 ) .

W e s ho ul d

NOT

be

peculiar hat is, in the sense of

being queer, weird, odd, o r

strange.

W ha t k ind of Chris tian example d o

you intend to set this year at the Feast

of Tabernacles?

To some,

there is nothing more interesting

than somebody elses sermon notes.


11/20

Study the

Prof i tab ly

Many have expressed the fact that they have difficulty in

buckling d own and really studying their Bibles

as

they

should.

Heres what you can d o to make Bible study more

interesting, profitable and inspiring.

W

E N GOD irst began

to

open

ou r m inds

to

the under-

standing of the Bible , most

of

11s

7ealoitsly began to st i idy it hni irs

on end. There d idn t seem

to

be

enough oppor tuni ty or t ime to read

the W or d o f

God

The c tudy was

thrilling and exciting, as well as educa-

t iona l . W e devoured the broadcast , The

PI.AINTRITH nd the Correpondence

Course.

hungrily.

Then came that never- to-be-forgor-

ten t ime when Gods minister made his

first visit to your home. Ques t ions

gushed forth, answers were eagerly

absorbed. only to be followed by more

que st ions . T w o

or

three hours flew by.

And when the visi t was over , you anx-

iously awaited another opportunity to

learn more. direct from Gods minister.

F i r s t Zeal Begins to

Wane

These are things that took place in

ou r own personal lives only a few short

years ago. and in s om e cases on ly a few

shor t months ago .

If someone had told

you

at that

t ime you would ever have trouble with

Bible study, you would have said,

Not

me, I l l nezer run ou t of th ings to

s tudy.

Yet what has happened? The sudden

flush of zeal often begins to wane.

Many of us have indeed begun

to

r un

into difficulty with personal Bible

s tudy: not onlv how

to

study, but a lso

w h a t to study. Oth er interests creep in.

We

begin to make excuses about not

ha v ing e nough time for Bible study.

by

Dean

R .

Wilson and

Richard Wiedenheft

S om e even conclude they dont need to

study the Bible anymore. Having read

i t t h r ough onc e

or

twice, they think

thats enough. Now they

can

slack off

and spend tha t t ime on other pursuirs.

W h at is the cause of such Bible

s tudy problems? And wha t can we d o

a bou t i t ?

It is not necessarily true that mem-

bers

so

plagued have lost their first love

for Gods truth. Many have just not

learned how

to

proceed from the basics

to

t he more derailed meat o f Gods

W o r d .

We

are

to

begin studying Gods

W o r d a s

a

l i t t le child, hut eventually

we must progress f rom that point to

where we can absorb stronger meat.

For every o n e that useth milk is

unskil lful in the word of r ighteousness:

for he is a babe. But strong meat

belongeth to them that are of full age,

even those who by reason of use have

[had] their senses exercised to discern

both good and evi l (Heb.

5 :13 -14 ) .

So how a re we to

GROW

in Bible

study

Learning

t h e S t o r y

Flow

Th e simplest way to study the Bible

is the way those of you who have read

the Book have already used yo u

just read the Bible as you would any

o the r book .

To

ge t the most f rom th is me thod,

ge t the overview and remember the

highlights. Become familiar with the

main characters and events

of

th e scrip-

tures. Dont take t ime

to

worry about

specific words or verses

~

a im a t g e t

t ing a panoramic view of a particular

book,

oc

of the entire Bible .

A modem translation may make this

type of Bible study much more inter-

esting for you ince your main con-

cern is not the technical meaning

of

specific verses or words.

T h e s tory

flow

approach is especially

good for children and beginners in

Bible study, who are generally not

interested in the explanation of diffi-

cnlr verscs o r the harmonization of so-

called Bible difficulties. They

will,

however, be fascinated by the examples

of men and women with whom

t hey

can identify as they learn about the

promises given to Abraham, the wis-

dom o f S o lom on , t h r trials of Job, t h e

adventures of Elijah, the life of Christ.

Thus the overall lessons and principles

of God5 W o r d will he ingrainrd in

their minds.

Brethren, that is one way to study

y o u r

Bible and the way

to

commcncr

to experience the excitement and thr i ll

of grow ing in the knowledge of God

and Jesus Christ . But

i t

is not the only

way to study. There are several keys to

more effective, interesting Bible study.

Lets examin e them.

Line Upon L i n e

Th e Wor d o f God was inspired to

be writ ten unlike

a

textbook, for

exam ple, where all the basic knowl edge

and unders tanding on a given subject is

gathered together in one place. In the

Bible , bits of the truth about a subject


12/20

10

The GOOD NEWS A u g u s t 1972

are scattered

all

throughout i ts pages.

To clearly understand a particular

subject, we must study all that Gods

Wuicl says abuut i t i l l cliUcrc~iiplaces.

adding one point to another . This is

the

way

to learn, as the Prophet Isaiah

wrote:

For

prcccpt must bc upon pre-

cept, precept upo n p recept; l ine upon

line, line upon line; here

a

little, and

there a little ( Isa .

2 8 : l O ) .

The Bereans were seeking for these

scattered but related parts of the truth

when they . searched thc scriptures

daily, whether those things were

so

( A c ts 17 : l l ) . T he y tu r ne d f r om book

to

b o o k

( o r

scroll to scroll) , comp aring

different portions, reading parallel

accounts confirming the trut h of

Pauls teaching.

Had the Bereans access

to

a modern

concordance, topical Bible,

or

o the r

Bible helps, they would certainly have

made use of them.

An Outstanding Example

Consider an example of this f rom a

Canadian l istener :

I havc

studied

your article The

Answer to Unanswered Prayer. A t

first I thought that

the

writer of the

article jumped

the

gun

a

little

bit.

I thought

that

he got carried away

a

little with

enthusiasm and idealism. I

had the impression that

he

was over

doing

the

subject.

I

decided

to

find

o u t

for

myself

he subject

being

important

as

it is. I

checked

up on

every scripture quotation in the Bible

and studied it in

i ts complete context.

Then

I looked up in the concordance

to find every passage in the Bible

referring

to

prayer

or

texts dealing

with the subject

of asking, sup

plication, err Ir was a rremendoris,

time-consuming

task. But it

was

worth i t . I got the answer. I had

written each verse or

group of verses

on

a

separate slip

of

paper. Then

I

sorted these slips according to the

subject

as given

i n the article,

like

believe,

be

fervent,

fear,

etc.

This

way

I

found

out first-hand

that

the Bible does say

everything

the

writer claimed in the article. And in

the

process

I

gained

invaluable

side

benefits.

This listener read the article, then

did as the Bereans did. He,

too,

searched

the Scr iptures

to

fincl o u t i f t h e x

things be

so.

But not ice

bow

he searched H e

looked up every scr ipture quoted and

read i t in i ts complete conte xt. T h e n he

went further and used

a

concordance,

which i s almost a must for all who

really intend

to

dig in to the B ib le on

any g iven subject . He dug ou t eve ry

scripture he could find that could

pos-

sibly have anything

to

do wi th the

subject, and listed them on pieces of

paper according ro subjecr and word.

After this, he compiled

all

the informa-

tion he had found.

A s thc listener said, i t was time-

consum ing. But he was more than will-

i n g to spend his precious t ime digging

out the va luable word of God

on

this

subject.

Bible study that is really goi ng

to

be

profitable

will

be t ime-consuming and

will take work. But God says in I1

Timothy 2:15, Study [be dil igent) to

shew thyself approved. A W O R K -

M A N ,

,

W e m us t be willing

to

pu t

in effor t , spend t ime,

to

be approved of

Gnd

F o r o n l y hy

put t ing for th

effort

will we ever be able

to

rightly divide

the word of truth (11 T im . 2 :15 ). T he n

Bible study will really produce fniit,

become profitable, thrilling and inspir-

ing.

What Such Study Produces

For an illustrative example of how

the Bible provides us a bit of the t ru th

here and a bit there, lets reconstruct

the events surrounding the death and

resurrection of Christ.

John 19:31 and 42 explain very

clearly that Jesus was crucified o n th e

prtparation day ( the day preceeding a

Sabbath) . That Sabbath was an high

day (an annual Sabbath rather than the

regular weekly Sabbath).

N ow not ice Mark 15:42-43. And

when evening had come, since i t was

the day of Preparation, that is, the day

before the sabbath, [ there came) Joseph

of

Arimathea , and asked for the

body of Jesus (RSV).

Mark 16: l cont inues , And when

the sabbath was past, Mary Magda-

lene bou ght spices, that they mig ht

go and anoin t h im ( K S V ) . lhe

women bought sp ices ,

A F T E R

the Sab-

ba th .

Luke

Zj :54-56

reads, I t was th e day

of th e Preparation, and the sabbath was

be g inn ing . T h e w o m e n . s aw the

tom b, and how his body was laid; then

they returned, and prepared spices and

ointmen ts. O n th e sabbath they rested

a c c o r d i n g to t h e c o m m a n d m e n t

(RS V) . T he w omen prepared spices

H E F O R E

they rested on the Sabbath.

But Mark says they hadnt even

bought the spices until after the Sab-

ba th

Purr ing i t

all

together emember-

ing that John pointed o ut that the day

following the death of Christ was an

high day w c I n us c onclude tha t

two

Sabbaths were involved: an annual

high Sabbath and the regular weekly

Sabbath. Thc women watched

where

the body

was

laid just before the

annual Sabbath began. After the annual

Sabbath, they purchased and prcparcd

spices, o n the preparatio n day nd

then rested again on the weekly Sab-

bath. T hen ear ly

on

the morning

of

the

first day of the week they came to the

tomb.

It is fascinating to put a ll

the

pieces

of the puzzle together . (For more

information on this particular subject,

write for niir hnnk l e t ,

The

C w c i f i x i o n

Was Not

on

Friday.)

Hezekiahs Passover

Ano ther interesting piece

of

Biblical

detective work involv es the captivity

of

Israel while Jud ah still con tinu ed as a

nation.

I1

Ki ngs 17:18 sta tes, Therefore the

Lord was very angry with Israel, and

removed them out of his sight: there

was non e left b ut the tr ibe of Judah

only

W e r e all the Israelites taken cap-

tive? many have asked. What about

I1 Chronicles 30 and the Passover kept

by Hezekiah?

I1

Chronicles

30:

11 states, Never-

theless divers of Asher and Manasseh

and

of

Zebulun humbled themselves,

and came to Jerusalem

o

keep the

Passover.

H ow c ou ld

all

the Israelites have

been carried away as captives by the

Assyrians if some were keeping the

Passover with Hezekiah?

A little Bible sleuthing reveals the

answer.

Hezekiah kept this Passover in the

second month

of

the first year of his

reign (see

I1

Chron . 3O: l -13) .

I1 K ings 1 8 : y - l ~ ta tes, And it

came

to

pass in the fourth year of king

Hezekiah , that Shalmaneser king of


13/20

August 1972

The GOOD

NEWS

11

Assyria came u p

against

Samaria, and

besieged it. And a t the end of three

years they took it: even in the sixth

year o f Hezek iah Sam ar ia was

taken.

T he answer is simple he siege

against Samaria didnt even begin until

the

fourth

yeur

of Hezekiah. The Israel-

ites had attended the Passover in

Jerusalem in his brst yedr

This kind of Biblical detective work

eading, studying and searching -is

the exci tement of this type of Bible

study Try i t sometime you may

again find yourself engrossed in the

pages

of

Gods Word fo r hours a t a

time.

Study Helps

Now how can one f ind the comple-

mentary verses or passages that add to

or explain another passage? The first

and most obvious method of locat ing

such verses is by simple reading of the

Book nd thinking dbout what you

read so you will recognize and

remember such points .

Next,

perhaps,

is

the use of rhr

notes and references in the center col-

umn of your Bible. (If you have a

Bible with

o n l y

the

text,

i t will prob-

ably be worth your while to b u y o n e

with center column or marginal refer-

ences.) Though these references

can

sometimes be misleading, they are

often helpful in poi nt ing you

to

related

vcrscs.

Then i f you want to become a bit

mor e technical, there are the exhaustive

concordances in which you can check

every occurrence of

a

certain key word

say you want

to

study faith, or

prayer, o r fasting, or t i thing, the Holy

Spirit , sin, law, baptism, soul, Sabbath,

judging, dancing,

Day

of the Lord, etc.

The small lexicons in the back of these

concordances will also show you how

the same or ig ina l Hebrew or Greek

word is translated elsewhere in the

Bible.

In addition, a topicul Bible may list

other

verses on the same subject but

which do not contain the actual key

word you are using. Compare them

and notice the obvious, overall picture

these verses paint.

Another aid

to

comparat ive and

problem-solving type Bible study is

what is known as a

harmony.

Har-

monies of the four Gospels and of

Kings, Chronicles and Samuel utilize

parallel columns

to

place the separate

accounts of the same events together.

Realize that these harmonies were

arranged by men nd they may no t

always be correct; but

for

the most part

they provide considerable help in trying

to piece together Biblical history.

Commentaries can also be a help,

bu t t ake them wi th a gra in of salt.

They were written by men and are not

inspired by G od. Tho ugh their techni-

cal, hisrorical and etymological

buck-

ground muterzul may sometimes be

accurate, they should never be relied

u p o n

to

cstablish do ctrine.

But owever you s tudy the Book

keep in mind your purpose and

reason for studying.

Meditative Study

A purely intellectual and academic

study of Gods Word is worthless by

itself. It is of no value at all unless

translatcd into a r ight way

of

life

O ne of th e reasons that David was a

man after Gods own heart (Acts

13:22) was that he learned

to

p u t

Gods Word

in action.

David exclaimed: how love I

thy law It is my meditation all the

day

(Ps.

119:97). David read and

studied the Law, he thought about i t

and he APPLIED i t to himself. He used

i t as a mirror to com pare himself wi th

Gods character.

Paul wrote to Timothy that All

scripture is given by inspiration of

Go d, and is profi table for doctrine, for

reprooh

for

correction,

for instruction in

righteousness

(11

lim. 3:16).

Gods Word is the yardstick by

which you should measure your life.

And the only way you can effectively

d o this is

to

read

und know

the

yardstick

nd compare yourself to it

That takes

m r d i ~a ~z u n

uiitrullcd tlihikiiig with

a positive purpose.

I Corinthians 13, the love chapter,

is an excellent place

to

start. Read it

though tfully ocusing each verse o n

yourself. Charity [love) suffers lo ng ,

and is kind

.

(verse

4 . Ask

yourself,

How pat i enc am

I ?

How to leran t am

I of others actions and at t i tudes? Am I

always kind and understanding, or do I

often speak sharply and impatiently?

Substitute your own name for char-

ity and

see

how well you measure up

to the

Word of God.

Other chapters that are good for

self-analysis and correction are Romans

1 2 ,

Galatians

5,

Matthew

5-7

and John

14-17. The en t i re book of Proverbs is

ch o ck - fu l l o f u se fu l w i s d o m an d

instruct ion. But do not think that only

certain chapters or passages are profit-

able in this way. Whatever part of the

Bible you read, wherever you study

make a deliberate effort to learn from it

principles

to apply

to

your own life.

This type of Bible study can be do ne

effectively on your knees n conjunc-

tiou w i t l i piayci.

Ask

Gucl tu hrlp y u u

understand His W or d o show you

His nature and will .

Pruy

for under-

s tanding

of

h o w

y o u can

be

a

better

Christian a better person, a more

helpful neighbor, a more loving parent.

And then

study

and meditate on Gods

W or d expect ing and looking for

correction and instruction in how

to

Gods Word was also intended for

encouragement and inspiration. Many

of t he Psalms are effective for uplifting.

meditative study . Psalm 1, for example,

speaks of the blessings G od promises

to

those who obey him and

meditate

o n

His law. And he [the righteous} shall

be like a tree planted

by

the rivers

of

water, that bringeth forth his fruit in

his season; his leaf also shall not

wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall

prosper (verse 3).

Throughout the Bible you can read

of the tremendous miracles God has

worked for His people he deep love

and compassion

He

has for all human

beings.

Through regular Bible study you

can be

inspired to

serve, obey, and trust

Go d You can be moved

to

change

to get in harmony with His wil l

Effectivc Diblc study

iiicms iiioic

than a simple scholastic effort.

A

lot of

head knowledge can put one in the

same

boat with Satan

he

believes

an d t r emb l e s , b u t h e w o n t o b ey

games 2:19).

G o d wants you

to

fear and tremble

before His W or d and to USE that

Con t imed on b ck cover)

CHANC.F


14/20


15/20

August

1972

The GOOD

NEWS

13

t o m s i n v o l v e d n u m e r o u s t uboos

(Touch not ; ta ste not ; handle not ,

etc .). Bu t they were merely th e ideas

and rcachings

of

M I N (vrrsc 2 2 )

hey

did not

come

from the Bible

W e

will

see later just what thest

ordinanccs, conimandmcnts and doc-

tr ines of

men

were. So now lets exam-

ine Colossians

2:14-17 ,

and understand

i t i n its proper context .

Is Gods L a w AGAINST Us?

In Colossians 2:13-14 we read: And

you, being dead in your sins and t he

uncircumcision of your f lesh, hath he

q u i c k e n d togcthrr with h i m , h a v in g

forgiven you all trespasses;

blotting

out

the handwriting

o i

ORDINANCES

that

was

aguinst

us, which was

contrury

to

us, and took i t out of the way, N A I L -

Just what do these verses mean? r f .

as

certain fundamentalists assert, the

Ten Com man dm ents are aga ins t us ,

and contrary to us, then the Bible

must contradict itself, because the same

Apostle Paul wrote elsewhere of the

Law of God: Wherefore the law is

HOLY,

a nd the c om m a n dm e n t

h I y

and

just ,

a ndgood ( R o m . 7 :12 ) . H e w r o t e :

For we know that the law is spiri-

t u a l . . .

(verse 1 4 . H ow the n c a n

Gods Law be against us

or

contrary

to us?

IN G

11

TO

H I S CROSS.

The clear answer is t

isnt

T h e T e n C o m m a n d m e n t s w h ic h

summarize the Law of God

are

GOOD for us. They show us how to

love and worship God, and how to

love our ne ighbor . Read the Ten Co m-

mandments in Exodus

20 .

Do you see

any

one

of them which is against us?

O f course not Each one of the Ten

C o m m a n d m e n t s is a GOOD command-

ment, ordained for our welfare, estab-

lished for our eternal benefit

This

is

why Jesus told a young r ich

m a n , .

.

. b u t i f thou wi l t en te r in to

l i f e , K E E P T H E C O M M A N D M E N T S

( M a t t . 19:17).

Which commandments d id Jesus

m e a n ?

He w e n t r i gh t on

to

te l l us: Thou

sha l t do no murder , Thou sha l t not

com mit adul te ry , T ho u sha l t not s tea l ,

T t i u u

hair

~ i u l car f a l s r wiriirbb, H u n

our thy father and thy mother: and,

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy-

self (verses 18-19).

He was clearly talking about the

Ten C ommandm ents , because H e went

r i gh t on to list several of them, point-

ing out which law He was ta lking

about

Now Jesus could have told the

you ng rich ma n, Listen There is

no th ing you m us t do to gain eternal

l ife . Just believe o n me. Th e Ten C om -

mandments are (or will be) done away

hnlished But

He

didnt

say

that .

W h y ? Obviously, because i t is not true.

Because Jesus knew tha t to inherit eter-

nal life a man must

KEEP

THE COM-

M A N D M E N T S

If we believe th e words o f Jesus, our

Savior , then the Ten Commandments

are still in effect and in force today

But th is be ing t rue , then wha t

ordinances was the Apostle Paul

talking about in Colossians 2:14?

The

Handwriting

of

Ordinances

First, notice that what was blotted

out was the H A N D WR IT IN G of ordi-

na nc e s . W h y d id P a u l u se th i s

s t r a nge - so und in g exp r e ss ion i f he

merely meant the Ten Command-

ments?

T he original Greek word here trans-

la ted handwrit ing is

cheirogruphon

and actually means

a

(hand-wr i t ten)

document, specif. a

document

of

indeb-

tedness, bond A r n d t - G i n g r i c h ,

A

Greek-English

Lexicon o f The New Testn-

ment).

T he A rndt-Gingr ich lex icon

translates the expression in Colossians

2

:

14,

the

bond

thdt

stood aguin-it u i t

Thus, the or iginal Greek, according

to the most up-to-date scholars and

author i t ie s , shows tha t a bond or

note of indebtedness was against us.

W ha t was this pa rt icu la r bond

or

I .O .U.

no te ?

Again, notice the or iginal Greek.

Th e whole express ion

is: cheirographon

tois

dogmusin.

The whole expression in

English should-be translated the note

of indebtedness in the decrees. The

last word,

dogmusin,

is the d ative plural

o f

dogma,

w hic h a c tua l l y m e a ns

de c r e e , o r d ina nc e , de c i s ion , c om -

man d (Arnd t , Gingr ich) . I t i s used in

Luke 2:1

in reference

ro a decree from

Caesar Augustus. It is also used in Acts

17:7, again referring

to

the decrees

of

Caesar. In Acts 16:4 it is used in

reference to decrees. ordained of

the apostles (obviously Paul wasnt

r e f e r r i ng to THESE de c r e e s be ing

blo t ted out ) .

The same Grcck word is also found

in Ephesians 2:15, where we find that

Christ has reconciled Jews and Gen-

tiles: For he is our peace, who hath

made both one , and ha th broken down

the middle

wall

of par ti t ion between

us; having abolished in his flesh the

E N M I T Y

[hostility, hatred that existed

between Jews and Gentiles), even the

law of commandments contained in

ordinances [dogmas] . .

(Eph.

2 : 1 4 -

1 5 ) .

But here again the question comes

up: What i s th is law of command-

ments contained in ordinances? The

original Greek is ton

nomon ton entolon

en

dogmasin. Literally, it should be

translated the law of commandments

in decrees. Some have assumed falsely

that i t refers to Gods Law, or the Ten

Com mand ments bu t, as we have

already seen, Gods Law is S P I RI TU A L

and endures forever (read Psalm 111:7-

8; Rom . 7 :14) . Whatever this law is

it is subject

to

abolit ion, and one that

ronsisrs of roiIiniaiidrricnts ur dmws

the S A M E

DECREES

mentioned in

Colossians 2:14

So this br ings

us

back to Colossians

2 .

The decrees (or ordinances) are

mentioned both in verse

14

and in

verse

20.

As we have already

seen, vetse

20 plainly refers

to

M A N - M A D E regu-

lations, restrictions, decrees or ordi-

nances not the laws of God Lets

notice i t once again: Paul wrote ,

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ

from the rudiments of the world. why.

as though l iving

in the world,

are ye

subject

to

ordinances [Greek

dogmati-

zesthe,

literally bind yourself with

decrees]

. after the comrnundments

and doctrines

o f

M E N ?

Isnt it plain?

These particular ordinances, or

decrees, were NOT those o f the apostles,

or of God, but r e s t r ic t ions , or regu-

lations and taboos imposed by MEN

But precisely what restrictions,

or

regulations? The parenthetical expres-

sion in verse 2 1 explains. Thes e decrees

consisted of various ascetic dos and


16/20

14

The GOOD NEWS

August

1972

du~i ts

c l i

as T o u ch not , tastc not,

handle not agccn religious injunc-

tions and teachings of non-Christian

philosophers.

Some of these pagans, of course,

were masquerading AS Christians (com-

pare 11 Cor. 11 :13-15), but had substi-

t u t ed t h e i r o w n r eg u l a t i o n s an d

practices for the teachings of Christ

T h e O r d i n a nc e s of God

The word dogma is never used in the

New Tes tament

to

refer

to

the statutes

or Old Testament ordinances of God,

or the Ten Comm andments . You can

check this for yourself in the English-

mans Greek Concordance of

the

Bible.

When the Old Tes tament o rd inances

of the Levitical priesthood are men-

t ioned in the New Testament , God

inspired the Apostle Paul

to

use other

words.

You may notice the word ordi-

nances in the King James Version of

Hebrews

9:10.

Paul wrote of the rites

and ceremonies

of-

he Levitical priest-

hood: W hic h s tood only in meats and

drinks [meat and drink offerings), and

divers washings, and carnal [fleshly]

ORDINANCES, imposed on them until

the t ime of reformat ion. The Greek

word here is dikaiomasi, not dogma.

The same word is used in Hebrews

9 :

speaking of ordinances

Gdikaiom-

ataH of divine service, and

a

worldly

sanctuary, referring to

the Levitical

priesthoods ordinances and service of

rlic cabernaclc. Thcsc arc supcrccded

today, since they were only imposed till

the coming of the Holy Sp i r i t ( the

t imc of reformat ion), which made

them unnecessary spirit-be gotten

Christians now being able to worship

God in spir i t and

in

truth (John

4:24). However, nowhere in the New

Testament are these ordinances called

dogma.

T h e King James Version alsq uses the

word ordinances in Luke

1:6,

speak-

i n g

of

thc parcnts of John the Bapt is t ,

Zacharias and Elizabeth: And they

were both righteous before God, walk-

ing in

all

t he commandments and

ORDINANCES

GdikaiomasiH of the Lord

blameless.

Ordinance also appears in the

King James Version in Romans 13:2,

Whosoever therefore resisteth the

[governmental] power,

resisteth

the

ordinance o f G o d . But the Greek

word here is diatage, not dogma.

I Peter 2:13 reiterates: Submit

yourselves to every ordinance of man for

the Lords sake.

.

Greek ktisis.

Finally, ordinances is used in

I Corinthians 11:2: Now I praise you,

brethren, that ye remember me in al l

things, and keep the ordinances para-

dosis], as

I

delivered them to you.

O n the other hand, when Paul refers

to dogma in Ephesians and Colossians,

he

means

H U M A N RELIGIOUS

D E C R E E S

-ascetic regulations or at best pseudo-

Christian taboos

T h e

Way of

D e a t h

T h e o rd i n an ces dogma

referred to in Colossians may have

seemed g o o d to the natural mind ut

there is a way which seems right and

ends in DEATH (Prov. 14:12; 16:25).

These religious decrees were perver-

sions of the truth

of

Go d. They led to

DEATH. lhese ordinance s a nd com -

mandments o f M E N caused people to

break GODS co mman d men t s to

S I N . And the wages of s in is DEATH

(Rom. 6 :23) .

What , then , was the cheirographon

( b o n d of i n d eb t ed n cs ) uf ordi-

nances?

It was the debt note that was

incurred as a result of having followed

human religious taboos and decrees

W ha t was the debt incurred from

following those ordinances?

The deb t o f forfeiting ones life

Now note this carefully. Obedience

to

t he

Ten

Commandments never led

anybody into S I N . Rather, as David

said to God , All thy comm andments

are

ripbeozisness (Ps. 119:172). Rather,

as the Apostle Joh n said: Sin is the

TRANSGRESSION of the law (I John

3 . 4 )

Sin

result5

f rom

B R E A K I N G

the

T en Co mman d men t s

Not

from keep-

ing them.

These human religious ordinances

caused people

to

break Gods com-

mandme nts , thereby leading the m in to

SIN. And the penalty was DEATH

So

now lets recapitulate:

Obviously, the Ten Commandments

are not against us. Keeping them,

through the power of Gods indwell -

ing Holy Spirit , is the way to eternal

L I m

What i s against us is the debt

note associated with man-devised dog-

mas, religious decrees, or command-

ments which take us A W A Y from

keeping the commandments of God,

and cause us to break Gods Law. These

religious

derrees

were

the ordinanres

Paul wrote about.

Legal is t ic Ascet icism

T he Pharisees of Jesus tim e had also

fallen into the same ascetic spiritual

trap as the Gentiles. They had strayed

away from properly keeping the Law of

God. They added a rigmarole of reli-

gious taboos and stringent decrees of

asceticism

to

the law of God. They

developed a whole system of religious

regulations and traditions which, not

uncommonly, were against the law of

God, but which appeared holy and

righteous in the eyes of the co mm on

people.

Chr i s t rebuked them for these

human -devised laws a nd decrees, Well

hath bsaias prophesied of you hypo-

crites, as it is written, Thi s people h on-

oureth me with their l ips, but their

heart is far from me. Howbeit I N V A I N

do they WORSHIP me, teaching for doc-

trines the

COMMANDMENTS

OF M E N ,

Fur laying

a d e

he Lommandment of God,

ye hold the tradition of

M E N , as the

washing

of

pots and cups: and

many

other such like

things

ye do (Mark

7 :6-

8 ) .

These human inventions and addi-

tions

were

included in the decrees Paul

condemne d in the epistle to the Colos-

sians. Whether added by Jews, Gen-

tiles, Pharisees, ascetics, philosophers or

whoever, such dogma was wrong

W h a t W a s N a il ed to t h e Cross?

That which was really nailed to the

cross was NOT t he Ten Command-

ments at all Rather,

i t

was the

fig-

urative record of o ur indebtedness due

to sin which we incurred as a result

of breaking Gods Laws in order to

follow hum an precepts which was

nailed to the cross

Before

we

knew the t ruth of God,

we followed the wron g way of life. W e

became slaves to sin (R om . 6:12-14, 16,

23) . Due

to

false teaching, we broke

Gods Laws and incurred a debt

we owed God our LIVES ecause we


17/20

August

1972 The

GOOD

NEWS

15

had

sinncd,

w c

w r i r

ah guud

;is dcad

i n t h e s i g h t o f G o d . W h e n w e

repented of having broken Gods Law

we acknowledged our dcbt.

I t

is as i f

we

had sent God an I .O.U. , a legal certifi-

cate, stating : Because

I

have followed

wrong teachings, and the tradit ions of

men, I have broken your Law. There-

fore,

I

owe you my life. I have incurred

the death penalty

fo r

my sins,

S igned: John Do e .

But when Christ died for our sins,

H e took tha t dea th pena lty up on H im-

self. In His Person, OUR

S I N S

were

nailed

to

the cross,

or

stake.

As

the

Apostle

Paul

wrote: For he hath made

him [Christ)

to

be

.rin/or Z/J

w ho kne w

no s in ; tha t we might be made the

r ighteousness of

God

in h im (I1 Cor.

5 : 2 1 ) .

H e ransomed

us from

the grave. He

pa id our debt -note due

to

sin

I O R

us,

in our stead He D I E D for us Thcrc-

fore , God tore up the I .O.U.

Consequently, when we repent

of

o u r sins and accept Christs payment

for them, we are no longer under the

death penalty. W e have been forgiven.

T h e p e n a l t y o f d e a t h h as b e en

R I . M O V I Lsu-

lute ly not

Read carefully what Paul wrote,

word for

word; Let no

man

[or, no

one) therefore judge you in meat or in

drink [Greek: eating or drinking) , or

in respect

[merei,

part)

of

an

holyday

[ i t . ,

in connection with the observance

of a festival], or of t he ne w m oon , or

of the sabbath days: which are a

shadow [foreshadowing, or prophe t ic

type]

of

th ings to come; but the body

[is is in italics in the King James

Version. and was inserted by the trans-

lators

t

doesnt belong in the verse)

of

Christ (Col. 2: lG-17) .

In more modern English, we could

translate the verses this way: Let no

one judge you regarding eating or

drinking,

or

[other] par t

of

a holy

d ay , but [le t] the body of Christ .

In othei wuiJ s , P a u l

w a h

tellirig

r l i r

brethren at Colossae not to be worr ied,

anxious, or concerned about Gentile

neighbors or o the r hum a n be ings w ho

dared

to

s it in judg ment on them for

eating, drinking and rejoicing instead

of

being ascetic, in observing Gods

annual Holy Days and Sabbath days.

They were not to allow outsiders to

judge them, but ra ther to le t the

body

of

Chr is t , the Church of God,

which is in tra ining to judge even

the angels ( I Cor .

6:2-3).

God tells us how

to

observe His

H o ly D a ys t h r ough H i s W or d a nd

throug h the guide l ines of His Church .

His ministers instruct the people how

these days are

to

be

observed. Th ere-

fore , brethren should be concerned

w i t h h ow t h e C H U R C H F

GOD

would

view cer ta in activit ies o n

or

connected

wi th the Holy Days ,

or

Sabbath days,

and not with the ignorant opinions

and goss ip of unconverted neighbors

or

surrounding people .

Doesnt that make this scr iptural

passage clear?

A Modern Application

Now

lets apply this principle, bret h-

ren. During the Feast of Tabernacles

each

year,

some unconverted people at

various festival areas have misunder-

stood wh at we were doin g there . Some-

times ignorant rumors

were

circulated.

Several years ago in Big Sandy, a rumor

circulated that G ods people were hav-

ing

a drunken orgy

a t

t he Feast. T h e

supposed evidence? T he large num -

ber of beer cans and bottles which were

collected in the trash IJnfortu nately,

the rumor -mongers d idn t s top

to

think that where several thousand

people

were

gathered at a single site , in

the co urse of several days a considerable

number o f cans or bottles would natu-

rally accumulate

T h a t

is

one example of unconver ted

ne ighbors pass ing judgment on Gods

people for the way they observed the

festivals. Another example was even

more ludic rous : somehow the rumor

was circulated that we were performing

anima l sacrihces at the Feast site O n e

person even came and asked

to see

the

channel that drained away the blood

O f course, such gossip, rumors and

evil speakings should not cause us to

Lrcuriir

uriduly upsrr or

ro

cease

ro

observe the annual festivals W e are

no t

to

let these unconverted people

who don t haw the fac ts judge us.

Rather ,

we

should le t the body of

Christ he

Chuvch of God

UDGE

T H E h 4 A N N E R in which we observe the

annual festivals.

As

we are always

instructed, we should observe moder-

ation in all t h i n g s , and never g o to

excess. W e should never unneces

Good News 1972 (Vol XXI No 05) Aug

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