L THE iving - lcg.org · Dear Brethren and Friends, As the Passover season approaches, all of us in...

Dear Brethren and Friends,As the Passover season approaches, all of us in God’s Church must truly

“examine ourselves” as God commands us to do. For the Apostle Paul was in-spired to write, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Testyourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unlessindeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Indeed, if Christ is not genuinely living within each of us, we are, in fact,“disqualified” from being part of the Kingdom of God. We are, in fact, dis-qualified from being taken to a Place of Safety before the Tribulation begins. Weare, in fact, disqualified from becoming those kings and priests who will assistJesus Christ in ruling this entire earth and bringing genuine peace and joy toa war-torn, starving and sick world.

So, we must each do our part to go “all out” in genuinely examining our-selves, overcoming our carnal human nature and growing toward the fullnessof Christ.

Somewhere on this earth, a true Church of God exists where Christ is notmerely present, but where His Spirit is energizing the members—where they areactually growing in grace and in knowledge while powerfully doing His Work!Surely, most of you who are reading this are part of that Church right now. Youare part of it in a physical sense, obviously, but have you really examined your-self to be sure that you are part of the “inner core” that is truly growing towardthe fullness of Christ, and is qualifying to receive the ultimate reward God haspromised?

God inspired Peter to give us this warning, “For the time has come forjudgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, whatwill be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now ‘If the right-eous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?’” (1Peter 4:17–18). As this present age of human society comes to a close, Godwill certainly be judging each of us to see if we are genuinely prepared and“qualified”—through Christ in us—to be full members of His coming Gov-ernment. Do we really appreciate how wonderful—and how important—mem-bership in the very Family of God actually is? Do we really go “all out” inpreparation for our part in Christ’s soon-coming Kingdom?

The Apostle Peter described one of the many tests we will all be requiredto pass: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is totry you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the ex-tent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed,

THE

Volume 12, No. 2 March–April 2010Volume 12, No. 2 March–April 2010

Inside:Christ WorksThrough InspiredHuman Leaders . . . . . . .3

Whose Fault Is It? . . . . .7

Seven Keysto GodlySuccess . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Lessons fromFour Passovers . . . . . .14

Let God FightYour Battles . . . . . . . .17

As God Sees Us . . . . . .19

Local ChurchNews . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Commentary . . . . . . . .24

Let Us Examine Ourselves!

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Living Church of God

you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12–13).Brethren, as this Work grows in power and impact, the worldwill certainly “come down on us” with a vengeance! Satan willbe furious at what God is doing through us—so he will inspireblinded and confused men to persecute us terribly! Are we shal-low Christians who will quickly give up under these trials andtests that are surely coming? Or will we be so dedicated and soclose to Christ that we will overcome and truly hold fast theTruth and continue to do the Work with all of our hearts?

The early Christians had many such tests—as will we. Weshould all remember the inspired account about how “greatpersecution arose against the Church which was at Jerusalem”(Acts 8:1). For Saul—later the Apostle Paul—had led in thepersecution of the Church in his early years, before Christstruck him down. Notice as the inspired account continues,“As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering everyhouse, and dragging off men and women, committing them toprison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywherepreaching the word” (vv. 3–4).

Think!Dear brethren, if some of us were beaten and “dragged off”

and put into prison, how many of you would become afraid orconfused—or even decide that maybe God was not with usafter all—and turn aside to the world? Each of us needs to thinkthrough what we might do in the above scenario, or other sim-ilar situations that no doubt will come to pass within the nextseveral years!

Is God truly real to you? Can you honestly say that you are“walking with God” and are daily committing yourself to gen-uine Bible study, meditation, prayer and regular fasting in orderto “seek God” and draw close to your Creator? Are you gen-uinely preparing yourself, by walking with God, to be a real kingand priest in Christ’s soon-coming Kingdom?

God inspired John to tell us that He has “made us kingsand priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev-elation 5:9–10). As Christ stated directly, “And he who over-comes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will givepower over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron;they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as Ialso have received from My Father” (Revelation 2:26–27).

Remember, brethren, being an “overcomer” does not meanmerely attending Church regularly and being part of the “phys-ical” body of Christ. It means truly conquering your human na-ture, the world around you and Satan the Devil through yourconstant contact with God, and your deliberate and ferventyielding to Christ to live His life within you. To “overcome” isnot to merely “hold your own.” It involves changing and grow-ing unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ—therefore qualifying in that way to be a ruler over entire citiesand nations. This process is real, and it is leading to a genuine

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round us, we again and againsee many “Church of God”groups “splitting” or comingapart in various ways. Often

this is because they do not have theright kind of leadership—a leadershiptruly guided and inspired by JesusChrist, the true Head of God’sChurch. We in the Living Church ofGod understand that to be an effective“team” to do Christ’s Work in thishectic world—and to prepare to be to-tally loyal kings and priests in Christ’scoming Kingdom—there must be rightleadership and genuine unity.

As true Christians, we are calledto be totally “at-one” with God the Fa-ther, and with Jesus Christ (John17:20–23). Jesus prayed for all trueChristians “that they may be one justas We are one” (v. 22). God inspiredthe Apostle Paul to exhort us to en-deavor to “keep the unity of the Spiritin the bond of peace. There is onebody, and one Spirit, even as ye arecalled in one hope of your call-ing; One Lord, one faith, one bap-tism, One God and Father of all,who is above all, and through all, andin you all” (Ephesians 4:3–6). Later inthe same chapter, Paul describes howChrist gave the ministry to edify theBody of Christ, “till we all come to theunity of the faith and of the knowl-edge of the Son of God, to a perfectman, to the measure of the stature ofthe fullness of Christ; that we shouldno longer be children, tossed to andfro and carried about with every windof doctrine, by the trickery of men, inthe cunning craftiness of deceitfulplotting” (vv. 13–14).

Most of you reading this have“endured” through much strife anddivision by misguided or deceptiveleaders among God’s people. Truly, asGod’s word—and much experience—has shown us, where there is a lack oftrue Christian leadership in the min-istry, countless brethren have beenand will be “carried about with everywind of doctrine.” We must neverallow this to happen in the LivingChurch of God—the Church that theliving Christ is primarily using to doHis Work at this time!

Sadly, from time to time, we maysee newer members—or even self-willed or confused older brethren—come up with “different” ways toobserve the Passover, and Pentecost,different ways to observe the weeklySabbath, different ideas about theneed to use the so-called “sacrednames” and other such topics. So,what does God’s inspired word tell usabout how to handle these disagree-ments—which are potentially divisivefor the whole Church? Is it “everyman for himself”? Joe Blow may say,“Here is the way I look at it!” ThenJohn Doe testily replies, “But here isthe way I look at it!”

What to do?The genuine answer, of course, is

that from the beginning Christ hasput leadership in His Church. In theOld Testament Church—the “Churchin the wilderness” (Acts 7:38, KJV)—Christ placed Moses as the primaryhuman leader. Although Moses obvi-ously made a few mistakes, Christtook care of Moses—and made surethat Moses’ occasional mistakes didnot do serious or permanent damageto the “congregation of Israel” or pre-vent them from fulfilling God’s pur-pose at that time. Guided by God’s

Holy Spirit in the New TestamentChurch of God, we today should befar more willing to follow Christ’sproven human leadership than werethose carnal Israelites. For we shoulddeeply realize that our primary mes-sage to this confused world is the“good news”—the Gospel of thecoming Kingdom (or Government!) ofGod. Obviously, we are here in thislife to learn and to practice the samekind of government we will be ad-ministering over the entire world in afew years!

A VITAL Teachingand Practice

So it is absolutely vital that wegrow in unity and loyalty, and that wedevelop a spirit of humble coopera-tion and submission to Christ’s gov-ernment through His Church today!

Of course, if we in the LivingChurch of God leadership somedaycompletely turn aside from God’s lawsand His ways, God’s people may needto do what we all did when He raisedup this Work! If the Council of Elderswere to fail to put apostate leadershipout of the Living Church of God,brethren might need to break off andstart an entirely new physical organi-zation, whose leadership God had vis-ibly selected by “fruits”—and whoseleaders and members would all befully willing to surrender to God, toteach His Truth, to do the Work andto learn and practice God’s govern-ment fully in preparation for becom-ing kings and priests in His Kingdom.

However, brethren, as long as wein the LCG leadership today teachand practice the basic principlesabout the key doctrines as mentionedabove, there is really no excuse for

Christ Works ThroughInspired Human Leaders

EditorialBy Roderick C. Meredith

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people to break off in a self-willedmanner—thereby causing division inthe Body of Christ and in the Workwhich God is using—and thereby ac-tually undermining the ability of theChurch to grow and more powerfullyreach out to this confused worldwhile there is time! Just look at the sadfruits of those who have tried—evenwith the best of intentions at first—to humanly “fix” problems theythought were more important thanthe unity of God’s people to do theWork!

Yet many confused and often self-willed men who simply want to be“important” or “in charge”—manywho are not “servant leaders” andhave had no training and virtually noexperience at higher-level leader-ship—still continue from time totime to break off in order to be the“head” of their own group. In nearlyevery case—without naming specificnames—their work begins to dimin-ish rather quickly after a few monthsor years—and usually ends up com-ing to nothing! All they have done iscause confusion, hurt God’s people,and in fact damaged the very Work ofGod! Obviously, Jesus Christ and Godthe Father are not pleased with thatkind of attitude and approach. ForChrist is now developing a loyal“team” of ministers and brethren andis trying and testing them to makesure that they can become a unifiedbody under His leadership, and thatthey are loyal to Him and to one an-other in carrying out His Work bothnow and in Tomorrow’s World!

Please do not underestimate theimportance of proper loyalty toChrist and to His human leadership!For the Bible is full of examples ofhow God looks on those who causedivision, and who in various ways“water down” the degree of supportand loyalty they ought to give to Himand to His true servants.

Witness how even Moses’ brotherand sister rose up against him—say-

ing, in effect, by their actions: “Wedon’t need you! We can decide thesethings for ourselves.” Yet Jesus Christseverely rebuked Aaron—even thoughhe was God’s High Priest—andMiriam was stricken with leprosy todeeply humble her and make her seewhat a grievous error she had made inturning against her brother Moses asthe human leader whom Christ hadinstalled (Numbers 12:1–16)!

What if 250 top “leaders”—men of “renown”—were to turnagainst me personally, or againstthe overall human leadership of theChurch, today? That is exactly, intype, what happened when Korah,Dathan and Abiram took it uponthemselves to challenge Moses’leadership! Brethren, please readcarefully the account in Numbers16. They were given a number ofopportunities to repent. But theydid not. So, God created a “newthing” and “the earth opened itsmouth and swallowed them up.”Then “a fire came out from theLORD and consumed the two hun-dred and fifty men who were offer-ing incense” (vv. 28–35)!

It is very clear—from dozens ofexamples in your Bible—that Godhates the act of rebellion against Hishuman leadership! And He rejectsthose causing division among Hispeople! It all started back when Lu-cifer began to “feel his oats” and de-cided to rebel against God. He stated,“I will ascend into heaven, I will exaltmy throne above the stars of God”(Isaiah 14:12–14)!

So, Lucifer was “brought down”!For his rebellious thoughts and ac-tions, he and his demons will bethrown into the Lake of Fire(Matthew 25:41)! Dear brethren, thebook of Proverbs is literally filled withteachings and exhortations about theimportance of each one of us hum-bling ourselves! Notice: “A man’spride will bring him low, but thehumble in spirit will retain honor”

(Proverbs 29:23). And, as we shouldall remember, Jesus Christ Himselfgave very similar instructions againand again in the New Testament. Hesaid, “And whoever exalts himselfwill be humbled, and he who hum-bles himself will be exalted”(Matthew 23:12).

God Hates “Division”

The living Christ inspired theApostle Paul to tell us, “Now I pleadwith you, brethren, by the name ofour Lord Jesus Christ, that you allspeak the same thing, and that therebe no divisions among you, but thatyou be perfectly joined together inthe same mind and in the same judg-ment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

It is vital that we all learn to “speakthe same thing,” and that we learn tofollow the teaching and godly exam-ple of the inspired leadership Christhas put in His Church—unless, as Ihave stated, you find the Church goingtotally contrary to God, not preachingHis word and not doing His Work.Short of that, it is not right for eachone to start promoting differing ideason all kinds of basic teachings andpractices that in many cases were dis-cussed and settled by Mr. Herbert W.Armstrong and Church leaders manydecades ago—and, in other cases,have been settled by the LivingChurch of God Council of Elders aftermuch prayerful, heartfelt discussion!

Brethren, God’s word is veryclear on this basic principle! “ForGod is not the author of confusionbut of peace, as in all the churchesof the saints” (1 Corinthians14:33). So, it should be obvious toall of us that God will be very dis-pleased if every Tom, Dick or Harrytries to come up with different ideasand approaches as to how to keepthe Sabbath, how and when to keepthe Holy Days, whether to use theso-called “sacred names” and othersuch matters. For people who like

Living Church News March–April 2010

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to follow their “own ideas” usuallyforget completely one vital fact:Jesus Christ is right now the living,active Head of His true Church! Hisinspired word tells us that God hasseated Christ at His right hand inthe heavenly places, “far above allprincipality and power and mightand dominion, and every name thatis named, not only in this age butalso in that which is to come. AndHe put all things under His feet, andgave Him to be head overall things to the church, whichis His body, the fullness of Himwho fills all in all” (Ephesians1:21–23).

Remember, God’s word tellsus that Christ is the Head over“all things” to the Church!Even though we might have dis-agreements—from time totime—about when and where tohave Sabbath services, how theYouth Program ought to be ad-ministered and any number ofpractical details, we have to re-alize that Christ Himself willguide and orchestrate matters,overall, so that His Work is car-ried out and His will is donethrough His true Church whichkeeps His commandments.When the apostate leaders ofour former association turnedaway from God, of course, Christ’sblessing and direct guidance werediscontinued. That is obvious. But,again, now that we have truly “re-vived” the Church and the Work ofGod for some 17 years—with bal-anced and loving servant leadership,overall—it should be obvious by the“fruits” that we are being led by theliving Christ. As we approach theend of this age, we must fully real-ize this, and must grow in our abil-ity to work together in unity andharmony and love—so God’s willand His Work can be carried outwith deep faith, cooperative team-work, love and zeal.

Christ “Guides”His True Servants

Most of us understand that thevery “mind of God” is revealed—often in great detail—throughout theentire Bible. Notice how God de-scribes Jehoshaphat, a righteous kingof Judah. Jehoshaphat made somemistakes—as all human beings do—but overall God’s word speaks verywell of him. And so we read: “Then

he set judges in the land throughoutall the fortified cities of Judah, city bycity, and said to the judges, ‘Take heedto what you are doing, for you do notjudge for man but for the LORD,who is with you in the judgment’” (2Chronicles 19:5–6).

Today—in the Spirit-led Churchof God, with deeply converted minis-ters leading—it should be obviousthat Christ will also be with us “in thejudgment” as His true ministersprayerfully direct the Work, and en-deavor to make sound and godly de-cisions based upon His word.

This is a vitally important “key”issue! If any of us fail to fully realize

this, we will simply multiply confu-sion and division in the very Churchand Work of God. Such confusionand division will greatly hinder thecompletion of God’s Work being donethrough His human instruments inthe Church at this time! Please study,meditate and earnestly pray aboutthis and strive to understand this fully,brethren! For your eternal life maydepend on it!

As you know, God’s word tells us,“Dare any of you, having a matteragainst another, go to law beforethe unrighteous, and not beforethe saints? Do you not know thatthe saints will judge the world?And if the world will be judged byyou, are you unworthy to judgethe smallest matters? Do you notknow that we shall judge angels?How much more, things that per-tain to this life?” (1 Corinthians6:1–3). It should be obvious fromthis scripture that true Christiansare now “in training” to becomekings and priests—assisting JesusChrist in His Kingdom in rulingover cities and nations on thisearth (Revelation 5:9–10). God’speople—especially those of us inthe Living Church of God—dounderstand this and are conscien-tiously trying to follow the formof government God has revealed in

the Bible—better preparing us to as-sume those positions of rulership inChrist’s soon-coming Kingdom. So,we should all try to be more sensitiveto this vital part of our training andpreparation for the Kingdom. Weshould welcome the knowledge thatChrist is the living Head of HisChurch—and that He will guide andorchestrate things through Hishuman instruments today, despiteour occasional human mistakes.

One basic scripture that shouldhelp us better understand Christ’sgovernment is in Colossians 2:13–17.Paul describes how Jesus Christwiped out the “handwriting” or “note

It is vital that we alllearn to “speak the

same thing,” and thatwe learn to follow theteaching and godly

example of the inspiredleadership Christ has putin His Church—uunnlleessss,

as I have stated, you findthe Church going totally

contrary to God, nnoottpreaching His word and

nnoott doing His Work.

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of guilt”—the record of our sins “thatwas against us, which was contrary tous”—and “nailed it to the cross” (v.14). Then he goes on to explain thatwe should not let another humanbeing “judge” us regarding how wekeep God’s festivals or Sabbaths“which are a shadow of things tocome.” Then Paul finishes the sen-tence by saying that it is not anotherman that should judge us, but thebody of Christ (v. 17).

Those of you following alongwith your Bibles will notice thatmany English-language translationsof verse 17 use the word “substance”instead of “body.” However, as youcan verify by looking at the Greektext or any “interlinear” Bible, theoriginal God-inspired word used hereis soma—which always means “body”and is the exact Greek word Paul alsoused in Colossians 1:18 to describeJesus Christ as the living Head of thesoma (the “Body,” meaning theChurch).

So, although we must not let out-siders—or even confused fellowbrethren—“judge” us regarding howto keep the Sabbaths or Holy Days, itis the responsibility of the leadershipChrist has appointed in His Churchto make those decisions under Hisleadership! For, as we have seen,Jesus Christ has committed Himselfto guide His faithful servants in mak-ing such decisions.

Yes, it would be correct to ob-serve that human leaders even in thetrue Church do make mistakes fromtime to time. But the mistakes theymake are nothing compared to thechaos and confusion a church with-out true Christian leadership willcontinue to cause—even to the de-struction of the brethren! As Mr. Her-bert Armstrong said a number oftimes, “God has allowed me to makehundreds of mistakes, brethren! ButHe has never allowed me to make anyreally serious mistakes that woulddestroy the brethren or destroy the

Work!” And that is certainly truetoday!

Therefore, all of those who aredeeply converted and have surren-dered to Christ’s leadership will sub-mit to the decisions of God’s trueministers—especially in administra-tive details of how to keep the Sab-bath or Holy Days, whether to use theso-called “sacred names” and otherspecific details that do not involvewhether or not we keep God’s basiclaws such as the Ten Commandmentsor the weekly and annual Sabbaths. Ifwe see by the “fruits” that Christ hasestablished truly converted leader-ship in the Church—however imper-f e c t , s i n c e a l l h u m a n s a r eimperfect—we should joyfully acceptthis leadership, praying that God willlead and guide and orchestrate all thedecisions for good for His own name’ssake! This is the attitude Christ isseeking in every one of us!

Realizing that the Bible revealsthe “mind of God,” we should notecarefully God’s mind regarding indi-vidual judgments or decisions withinHis Church. God inspired Moses towrite, “If a matter arises which is toohard for you to judge, between de-grees of guilt for bloodshed, betweenone judgment or another, or betweenone punishment or another, mattersof controversy within your gates,then you shall arise and go up to theplace which the LORD your Godchooses. And you shall come to thepriests, the Levites, and to thejudge there in those days, and in-quire of them; they shall pronounceupon you the sentence of judgment.You shall do according to the sen-tence which they pronounce uponyou in that place which the LORD

chooses. And you shall be careful to doaccording to all that they order you”(Deuteronomy 17:8–10).

God then told His people thatthey were not to “turn aside to theright hand or to the left from the sen-tence which they pronounce upon

you. Now the man who acts pre-sumptuously and will not heed thepriest who stands to minister therebefore the LORD your God, or thejudge, [today’s faithful ministers],that man shall die. So you shall putaway the evil from Israel” (vv. 11–12). Certainly, God’s Church todaydoes not invoke a physical deathpenalty on anyone as did ancient Is-rael. But the principle of having a pro-found respect for those whom Christhas placed in authority is somethingsubstantiated throughout the Bibleand, frankly, must be heeded bythose who are truly converted inGod’s Church!

Dear brethren, any one of us whodefies or turns away from this basicprinciple of how God directs HisChurch will likely not make it intothe Kingdom—the Government—ofGod. At most, if we do make it, wewill have a greatly diminished rewardbecause of our weakness and confu-sion and selfishness in not havingbeen willing to submit, in faith, toChrist’s leadership in His Churchtoday! Please think this through!

Truly, brethren, God is preparinga family of deeply converted men andwomen who will respond to the di-rection of Jesus Christ. For He ispreparing a “team” of kings andpriests to be dedicated, loyal leadersunder Christ’s direction who can be“counted on” always to followChrist’s leadership—whether directlyor through those whom He has ap-pointed as leaders under Him—in HisChurch today and later in His King-dom. The attitude of Satan the Devil,in wanting to turn aside and exalthimself, is in total contradistinctionto this basic principle of submittingto Christ and His leadership. Eachone of us who is sensitive to Christ’swill and His direction in our livesshould study, meditate and ask God toguide us in this and sincerely want tobe “on Chr i s t ’s t eam” now and forever!


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hose fault is it?” we often ask,when we face a serious problem

or a real challenge.Whose fault is it, indeed, when

we have an accident or become ill? Whose fault is itwhen we feel lonely or depressed, when we have fi-nancial problems or are out of work? Life is full ofsurprises and seemingly unexplainable events thatcan prompt us to exclaim, “Whose fault is it?”

Adam and Eve

If we are honest with ourselves, we must admitit—we often tend to blame others when we find our-selves in serious difficulties. It is usually someoneelse’s fault, not our own. This human weaknessstarted with the first couple. Adam and Eve dis-obeyed God and were cast out of the Garden ofEden. But before being expelled, they blamed some-one else for their disobedience—and, ultimately,they blamed God, their Creator (Genesis 3:12–13).Their first son, Cain, also sought to justify himselfafter killing his younger brother Abel (Genesis 4:9).

Human nature has not changed since. Not onlydo we make excuses, we seek reasons to shift theblame to others. We do not find it difficult to inventexplanations to clear ourselves of guilt, rather thanadmit culpability, because the carnal mind is selfishand egotistic (cf. Romans 8:7). We defend our posi-tions and justify our feelings, which we consider tobe more righteous than those of others. Most of ushave this propensity.

Complaining about his wife, a man once told me,“She never understands me. She has her own ideas,her own way of doing things.” Most married couplesunderstand those words of self-defense. We all havedifferent personalities—different sensibilities. Yet wemust all understand, tolerate and, above all, forgiveone another. This is essential to happiness in marriage.

Some people have succeeded financially but,sadly, have failed miserably in their family relation-ships. Billionaire J. Paul Getty, for example, statedthat he would gladly give away all his wealth for justone lasting marital success. Instead, he could haveasked himself, “Whose fault is it?”

This haunting question is at the core of ourproblems. In a way, we often create for ourselves cir-

cumstances that prevent us from leading a success-ful life. We insist on doing things our own way, inspite of the counsel we receive. Afterwards, whentrials overtake us, we tend to accuse others insteadof examining ourselves.

The Unprofitable Servant

Comparing ourselves to others is not onlywrong, it is also misleading. As the Apostle Paulwrote, “they, measuring themselves by themselves,and comparing themselves among themselves, arenot wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12). We have all beengiven different talents and abilities. God has calledus to improve ourselves, to grow, to use the very tal-ents He has given us—not to try to “fill the shoes”of another. You might dismiss your talents as “unim-portant” and presume that if you had someone else’stalents you would be more successful. But such de-duction is deceptive.

In the book of Luke, we read the parable of theten minas, in which Christ reveals His plan to re-ward His servants in proportion to their yieldednessto His direction. But does Christ make things “eas-ier” for some and “harder” for others? Not at all! Inthe book of Matthew, the parable of the talents(Matthew 25:14–30) reveals a fundamental andmost encouraging truth that should help us endureour trials and setbacks. Christ explains to us thatGod is always good and fair, and that He never re-quires of us more than we are able to give—and thatit is His will to see us enter His Kingdom.

In this parable, Christ is pictured as the “mantraveling to a far country” (v. 14). He shows us theway to success and to eternal life. He also distrib-uted to us His “goods.” He gave us His talents, “toone he gave five talents, to another two, and to an-other one, to each according to his own ability” (v.15). Notice this short but key phrase: “to each ac-cording to his own ability.” Each received accord-ing to his own ability, not according to the ability ofanother. Consequently, if you were someone elseand not yourself, God would not require of youwhat He does. God has His specific plan for work-ing with you.

The servant who received five talents strove toproduce a good return (v. 16). We do not read that

Whose Fault Is It?By Dibar Apartian

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he was expected to produce 20 or 50 talents—Christwas pleased that he doubled his five. This servantwas diligent and worked hard; he appreciated thefive talents he had received. He did not comparehimself to others, nor did he look for excuses. Heproduced what he could produce, and he did whatwas expected of him.

Likewise, the servant who received two talentsdid his best (v. 17). He did not produce five more tal-ents like the first man; rather, he only gained two.But like the other servant, he doubled what he hadbeen given, as his master expected. His effort wassufficient to please Christ.

Fulfilled Expectations?

The first two servants fulfilled their master’s ex-pectations. When working with their talents, theydid not pause to ask themselves, “Whose fault is it?”And notice: Christ gave them the same reward (vv.21–23). He told them both, “Well done, good andfaithful servant; you have been faithful over a fewthings, I will make you ruler over many things. Enterinto the joy of your lord.” Do you understand whatit means to enter into “the joy of your lord”? It con-cerns the gift of eternal life. Indeed, the joy of ourLord is the Kingdom of God in which we will enter,you and I, if we do our part, if we produce the fruitsthat Christ requires of us, if we grow daily in Hisgrace and knowledge.

As for the third servant, who received one talent,he did not produce anything at all. He “went and dugin the ground, and hid his lord’s money” (v. 18).Strange! What was his reasoning? When you exam-ine his attitude, you understand the answer to thequestion, “Whose fault is it?” He sought argumentsto excuse himself, to justify not making any efforts toproduce results. This is the case with many peopletoday, even with some in the Church of God. It is thecase, too, with those who seek to rationalize theirfailure to act upon the Truth. They do not even real-ize that God wants to help them. The excuses theyprovide for their lack of action are baseless, as theunprofitable servant, who said, “Lord, I knew you tobe a hard man, reaping where you have not sown,and gathering where you have not scattered seed.And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in theground. Look, there you have what is yours” (vv. 24–25).

What senseless and unjustifiable reasoning! Andyet, if this servant actually believed what he said, heshould all the more have driven himself to work hard

and produce! He should have rejected his evilthoughts and labored industriously.

If you know the real God and His true love foryou, you will never think or reason like this un-profitable servant, even during hard suffering, tri-als, setbacks or failures. You will never have toask, “Whose fault is it?” On the other hand, if youhave the mindset of an unprofitable servant, thequestion “Whose fault is it?” will constantly be onyour lips. Ultimately, you will hear Christ’s sen-tence, “You wicked and lazy servant, you knewthat I reap where I have not sown, and gatherwhere I have not scattered seed. So you ought tohave deposited my money with the bankers, and atmy coming I would have received back my ownwith interest. Therefore take the talent from him,and give it to him who has ten talents. For toeveryone who has, more will be given, and he willhave abundance; but from him who does not have,even what he has will be taken away. And cast theunprofitable servant into the outer darkness.There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vv.26–30).

By meditating on this parable, you will cometo realize that your success depends on what youdo with your talents. It depends on the decisionsand efforts you yourself make. It does not dependon comparing yourself to others—but to Christ. Ifyou were in someone else’s shoes, you could noteven enter God’s Kingdom. Every time you feeltempted to ask, “Whose fault is it?,” rather say toyourself, “What would Jesus do? What would Hehave done in my place?” That is what truly mat-ters. So, do not look for excuses—and do not jus-tify yourself!

Israel

God chose ancient Israel to be His people, andHe taught them the way to lasting happiness. Whenthey were under slavery in Egypt, they cried out toGod for deliverance (Exodus 2:23–25). God an-swered them and made to them numerous promisesof protection, prosperity, abundance and health, ifthey obeyed His laws. He also warned them againstdisobedience (Deuteronomy 8:1, 11, 14–17).

Nevertheless, as was the case with Adam andEve, Israel turned away from God. When Moses de-layed his return from the top of the mountain wherehe met with the One who became Christ, Israelquickly turned to pagan gods (Exodus 32:1–2, 4).The people did not trust God or His word. They did


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not keep their promise. God had to intervene and tellMoses to descend from the mount to witness the people’sabominations (vv. 7–8). Moses interceded for the Is-raelites (vv. 31–32). God heard Moses’ intercession andforgave them. He repeated His promises, as well as Hiswarnings to the people. On numerous occasions, He de-livered them from their enemies and continually forgavethem. God warned the Israelites against the consequencesof asking for a king, but they dismissed those warnings (1Samuel 8:5–7, 11–22). Despite their promises of obedi-ence to God, they turned away from Him, time and again.

Once again, let us consider the question: Whose faultwas it if they suffered? Whose fault was it if they turnedaway from their Creator, andreaped what they sowed? Whosefault is it if their descendantstoday continue to suffer?

A World Deceived

We live in a world that hasbeen deceived by Satan the devil.We can attest to the effects andconsequences of Satan’s influenceall around us. However, we un-derstand that Satan cannot doanything without God’s permis-sion or knowledge. Our Creator,as part of His Master Plan, has al-lowed Satan to “blind” most peo-ple in our day. Does that absolvehuman beings and make it onlySatan’s fault? In fact, humanityhas willingly drifted away fromGod—and is now reaping theconsequences by choosingSatan’s way instead of God’s. The Apostle Paul wrote:“‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none whounderstands; there is none who seeks after God. They haveall turned aside; they have together become unprofitable;there is none who does good, no, not one… Their feet areswift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in theirways; and the way of peace they have not known. There isno fear of God before their eyes.…’ for all have sinned andfall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10–18, 23).

Even if some would want to blame Satan instead ofself for the sin and problems in our world, we in God’sChurch cannot make that excuse for ourselves. We whohave had our minds opened to the Truth—who have re-ceived the Holy Spirit and have been instructed to put onthe armor of God (Ephesians 6:11–17)—should under-stand our personal responsibility. Is Christ to blame for

our suffering? Or are we to blame for His? Whose faultis it?

The fact that human beings are suffering because of sincan be seen by the naked eye. Look around. Reflect onhuman misery and the atrocities around us. Why our warsand holocausts? Whose fault are they? Once again, theApostle Paul explains: “because, although they knew God,they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, butbecame futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heartswere darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools….For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. Foreven their women exchanged the natural use for what isagainst nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural

use of the woman, burned in theirlust for one another, men withmen committing what is shameful,and receiving in themselves thepenalty of their error which wasdue” (Romans 1:21–22, 26–27).

This is the story of mankind.We are witnesses of the conse-quences of sin, of our turningaway from God, of our rejectingHis laws. And being witnesses toall these things, do we still dareask, “Whose fault is it?”

Puzzlingly, people and nationsthroughout history have blamedGod, directly or indirectly, fortheir problems and suffering. Theyblame God, though it is they whobear the responsibility for yieldingto Satan’s temptations. Once again,we need to ask ourselves, “Whosefault is it?”

Most human beings todayhave totally drifted away from God—yet continue to blameHim. Yet we in God’s Church should know the Truth. Whynot wake up? Why not open our eyes? Why not stop ask-ing whose fault it is, when the answer is so plainly right be-fore our eyes?

We human beings are to blame, not the EternalGod. We are the ones who should change our way oflife, and not expect God to change His commandmentsthat are good and righteous. We should be courageous.We should submit to God at all times. Do this, and youwill see how your life will improve! Whatever our pres-ent circumstances, remember that God is always good.He will always provide us the way to find the right so-lution to our difficulties (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:13). Hegives us the help we need to solve our problems at alltimes.

Most human beings today have totally drifted

away from God—yet continue to blame Him.Yet we in God’s Churchshould know the Truth.Why not wake up? Whynot open our eyes? Whynot stop asking whosefault it is, when the

answer is so plainly rightbefore our eyes?

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Seven Keys to Godly Success

By Richard F. Ames

e all know ambi-tious individuals

who drive for successat all cost. We also

know people who consider them-selves failures, who constantly feellike giving up and are convinced theycan never be successful. But what istrue success? There is a stan dard ofgodly success given in Scripture—and there are proven principles thatcan help us achieve success. Mr. Her-bert W. Armstrong outlined theseprinciples through what he called the“Seven Laws of Success.” Appliedproperly, these vital principles canhelp Christians find true success inlife. Yes, you can have the successGod wants you to have!

The Bible gives valuable insightsinto mankind’s desire for money andwealth. King Solomon, a man towhom God gave great wisdom, hadeverything a human being couldwish for, yet he gave this warning:“Do not toil to acquire wealth; bewise enough to desist. When youreyes light upon it, it is gone; for sud-denly it takes to itself wings, flyinglike an eagle toward heaven”(Proverbs 23:4–5, RSV).

King Solomon was striving to ex-perience “life to the full.” Yet he re-tained his wisdom in examining theconsequences of what he had done.What was the result? “Whatever myeyes desired I did not keep fromthem. I did not withhold my heartfrom any pleasure, for my heart re-joiced in all my labor; and this wasmy reward from all my labor. Then Ilooked on all the works that myhands had done and on the labor inwhich I had toiled; and indeed allwas vani ty and grasping for the wind.There was no profit under the sun”

(Ecclesiastes 2:10–11). In otherwords, all his possessions and plea s-ure amounted to nothing—becausethey produced nothing of lastingvalue!

Some look for success in status,power and position, rather than inwealth. Are those the true measures ofsuccess? The mother of Jesus’ disci-ples James and John came to Himwith a request: “She said to Him,‘Grant that these two sons of minemay sit, one on Your right hand andthe other on the left, in Your king-dom.’ But Jesus answered and said,‘You do not know what you ask’”(Matthew 20:21–22). He then toldthem that those positions were forthose cho sen and “prepared by MyFather.”

Success Through Service

Jesus then shared a great key totrue success, an approach in starkcontrast to the arrogance and vani tyof rulers who delight in lording overothers. “You know that the rulers ofthe Gentiles lord it over them, andthose who are great exercise authorityover them. Yet it shall not be soamong you; but whoever desires tobecome great among you, let him beyour servant. And whoever desires tobe first among you, let him be yourslave— just as the Son of Man did notcome to be served, but to serve, andto give His life a ransom for many”(Matthew 20:25–28).

The greatest is one who is a trueservant—one who truly cares for andhelps others! Notice that the Son ofGod, Jesus of Nazareth, took littlechildren up in His arms. He stoopedover to wash the feet of His disciples.As you reflect on the upcoming

Passover service, reflect on that foot-washing service, described in John13. Ultimately, of course, it was Jesuswho gave up His life for us all, as ourPassover sacrifice! As the ApostlePaul wrote: “But God demonstratesHis own love toward us, in that whilewe were still sinners, Christ died forus” (Romans 5:8).

Jesus’ constant example was oneof ser vice, sacrifice and love. “For ifwhen we were enemies we were rec-onciled to God through the death ofHis Son, much more, having beenreconciled, we shall be saved by Hislife” (Romans 5:10).

Whatever positions we may holdin this life, we must use those posi-tions to serve others. One of themeasures of true success is the degreeof godly service we are willing to giveto those around us. False success de-pends on the get principle, the stan-dard carnal condition—or “defaultcharacteris tic”—of human nature. Bycontrast, true success depends on thegive principle.

Success Through Knowledge?

Can we find success through thepursuit of knowledge? Certainly, Godwants us to use our minds to learngodly values and true knowl edge. Butunless we practice gen uine humility,material knowledge may lead to in-tellectual vanity—to feelings of supe-r i o r i t y a n d e v e n a r r o g a n c e .Knowledge puffs up, as the ApostlePaul wrote (1 Corinthians 8:1). With-out God, education and learning arelittle more than vanity. As Paul wrote:“Let no one deceive himself. If any-one among you seems to be wise inthis age, let him become a fool that he

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may become wise. For the wisdom ofthis world is foolishness with God.For it is written, ‘He catches the wisein their own craftiness’; and again,‘The LORD knows the thoughts of thewise, that they are futile’” (1Corinthians 3:18–20).

Ask yourself: how many timeshave you seen so-called history ortheology “experts” on television,using their “expertise” to twist or per-vert the plain truth of Scripture? Howoften have you seen the “enter -tainment” industry demean God’s lawand Jesus Christ’s sacrifice? Truly,“the wisdom of this world is foolish-ness with God.”

Can we find success through thepursuit of physical pleasure? KingSolomon, who “had it all,” had this tosay: “I said in my heart, ‘Come now, Iwill test you with mirth; thereforeenjoy pleasure’; but surely, this alsowas vanity” (Ecclesiastes 2:1).

Today’s society promises pleasurethrough sexual licentiousness, drugabuse, alcohol abuse and almostevery imaginable form of stimulation.The Apostle John summed it up: “Donot love the world or the things in theworld. If anyone loves the world, thelove of the Father is not in him. Forall that is in the world—the lust of theflesh, the lust of the eyes, and thepride of life—is not of the Father butis of the world. And the world is pass-ing away, and the lust of it; but hewho does the will of God abides for-ever” (1 John 2:15–17).

Billions have been deceived bysexual temptations. They are sowingto the flesh, and of the flesh they willreap corruption (Galatians 6:8). ButGod intends human beings to enjoysexu al pleasure in marriage; He wantsus to enjoy life to the full within Hislaws and His precepts.

King Solomon, after all his exper-imentation, came to a final conclu-sion: “And further, my son, beadmonished by these. Of makingmany books there is no end, and

much study is wearisome to the flesh.Let us hear the conclusion of thewhole matter: fear God and keep Hiscommandments, for this is man’s all.For God will bring every work intojudgment, includ ing every secretthing, whether good or evil” (Eccle-siastes 12:12–14).

The NRSV states it a little differ -ently, reminding us that we should“fear God, and keep his com mand-ments; for that is the whole duty ofeveryone.”

Seven Laws of Success

Once we understand what suc-cess is—and what it is not—we stillneed to devise a plan to achieve it.Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong did exactlythis, by pioneering what he called the“Seven Laws of Success”—a series ofsteps, or guidelines, for achievingsuccess in a Scripture-based andChristian framework. As we reviewthese laws, consider how you canapply them in your own life.

Law 1: Set the Right Goal

Successful people know that toaccomplish anything of value, weneed to set goals. Unless we knowwhere we are going, we will never ar-rive there!

Perhaps you are about to finishschool, and you have a specific careerin mind? Or perhaps you are think-ing about changing careers? Learn allyou can about the career you may beconsid ering. And ask God to guideyou. Remember Jesus Christ’s won-derful promise: “Ask, and it will begiven to you; seek, and you will find;knock, and it will be opened to you.For everyone who asks receives, andhe who seeks finds, and to him whoknocks it will be opened” (Matthew7:7–8).

Remember, no matter what ourshort-term goals, we must alwayspursue them in the context of the

right ulti mate goal. Jesus told His fol-lowers that they should not becomeanxious about food and clothing; Hesaid that just as God provides food forthe birds of the air, surely He willmuch more provide for His children.His point was that all the necessitiesof life, about which we so oftenworry, are secondary to the most im-portant goal of all. As Jesus said:“Seek first the kingdom of God andHis righteousness, and all thesethings shall be added to you”(Matthew 6:33).

In order to be successful, wemust set the right goal. A Christian’sultimate goal is the Kingdom of God.Our smaller goals along the way mustbe preparing us for that ultimate goal,if we are to achieve true success—inthis life and for eternity!

Law 2: Educate (or Prepare) Yourself

What knowledge do you need togain in order to achieve your goal?What prepara tions must you make?If you are choosing a career as acraftsman, you will need to work asan apprentice before you can be ajourneyman. Many professions todayrequire at least a college education, ifnot an advanced degree. More thanever, we human beings need to in-crease our knowledge just to keep upwith our goals. As God told theprophet Daniel, concerning the end-time: “But you, Daniel, shut up thewords, and seal the book until thetime of the end; many shall run toand fro, and knowledge shall in-crease” (Daniel 12:4).

We should never stop learn ing.But we need to be sure that we are ac-quiring true knowl edge, rather thanfalse education. Scripture teaches usthat true education begins with an at-titude of awe and reverence towardGod, and with the acknowledgementthat He is the source of wisdom andtruth. “The fear of the LORD is the be-

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gin ning of knowledge, but fools de-spise wisdom and instruct ion”(Proverbs 1:7).

We find a similar instruction inProverbs 9:10. “The fear of the LORD

is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

True Christians apply the secondlaw of success by preparing for thecoming Kingdom of God. Are youpreparing? Are you growing in thegrace and knowledge of Jesus Christ(2 Peter 3:18)? To reach the goal youhave set, you need to educate your-self and prepare to achieve that goal,both physically and spiritually.

Law 3: Maintain Good Health

How healthy are you? Do youhave the energy and vigor to sustainhard work? Do you have the well-being to achieve and to reach yourgoal? Nowadays, even our very envi-ronment may be detrimental to ourhealth. We have come to expect pol-lution in our 21st century. We havepolluted our air, water and food. Itmay be difficult to obtain unpollutedfood and pure drinking water, but weshould do the best we can. You mightconsider starting your own vegetablegarden. A steady fast-food, high-fat,high-sugar diet is not the diet God in-tended for human beings.

In addition to a good diet, regu -lar exercise is important. The ApostlePaul told the evangelist Timothy:“For bodily exercise profits a little,but godliness is profitable for allthings, having promise of the life thatnow is and of that which is to come”(1 Timothy 4:8). Of course, the Bibleemphasizes the spiritual dimension inour lives as priority—but we have aresponsibility to honor God in ourbody as well as in our spirit (1Corinthians 6:20). Other principlesof good health include maintaining apositive and tranquil mind and avoid-

ing accidents. You will be able to pro-duce more effectively and efficientlyif you maintain good physical fitness.

Yet we also need to understandour limitations, and to do the best wecan within them. Because of ourphysical limitations, we may need toaccept that others—with differentstrengths and weaknesses—can servein ways we cannot. But we can beconfident that, no matter what ourpersonal circumstances, God willprovide ways in which we can effec-tively and meaningfully serve Him,and serve our neighbors.

Law 4: Drive Yourself

Mr. Herbert Armstrong called thisan “all-important” law. He wrote:“You will always find that the execu-tive head of any growing, suc cessfulorganization employs drive. He putsa constant prod on himself. He notonly drives himself, he drives thoseunder him, else they might lag, letdown and stagnate” (The Seven Lawsof Success, 1974, p. 40).

Yes, we need to put a prod onourselves to move. Scripture pro videsa graphic illustration. “Go to the ant,you sluggard! Consider her ways andbe wise, which, having no captain,overseer or ruler, provides her sup-plies in the summer, and gathers herfood in the harvest. How long willyou slumber, O slug gard? When willyou rise from your sleep? A littlesleep, a little slumber, a little foldingof the hands to sleep—so shall yourpoverty come on you like a prowler,and your need like an armed man”(Proverbs 6:6–11).

Proper rest is essential, but Godwarns against being lazy and slothful!The ant, in this case, keeps movingone tiny grain of food or grain of sandat a time, and by this consistent effortaccomplishes much over a long pe-riod of time. We all need focus, driveand purpose. We need to disciplineourselves to work effectively.

Law 5: Apply Resourcefulness

Mr. Armstrong called this the“emergency law.” Perhaps the roadahead to your planned career or goallooks clear and smooth. But life oftenbrings us unexpect ed obstacles. Youmay suddenly face a financial prob-lem, or a health emergency. Howwould you respond?

Whatever you are doing, alwaysbe sure to investigate alternatives andoptions. What resources are available?What agencies or individ uals might beable to assist you? Of course, the firststep to take in any serious emer gencyis to ask for God’s help. Consider thetime when Jesus came walking on thewater to His disci ples. The ApostlePeter wanted to walk out on the waterto meet Jesus. So, Jesus told Peter:“‘Come.’ And when Peter had comedown out of the boat, he walked onthe water to go to Jesus. But when hesaw that the wind was boisterous, hewas afraid; and beginning to sink hecried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’”(Matthew 14:29–30).

When we are in trouble, we some-times panic, and we often overlookthe obvious. In this case, Peter quicklycried out for help. So, what did Jesusdo? “And immediately Jesus stretchedout His hand and caught him, andsaid to him, ‘O you of little faith, whydid you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:31).

Ask God to deliver you from yourpredicament. But be sure to do yourpart and search out all the resourcesavailable. Never just give up withouttrying. Ask for wise counsel. “With-out counsel, plans go awry, but in themultitude of counselors they are es-tablished” (Proverbs 15:22).

Law 6: Persevere Toward Your Goal

Always have perseverance—stick-to-it-iveness. During World WarII, when the future looked gloomy for

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Great Britain, Prime Minister Win-ston Churchill inspired his audiencesto persevere. Here is what he told stu-dents at Harrow School on October29, 1941: “Surely from this period often months this is the lesson: nevergive in, never give in, never, never, never,never—in nothing, great or small, largeor petty—never give in except to con-victions of honour and good sense.Never yield to force; never yield tothe apparently over whelming mightof the enemy. We stood all alone ayear ago, and to many countries itseemed that our account was closed,we were finished.”

Those who respond to God’s call-ing are in a spiritual race to per severe.Hebrews 11 is often called the “faithchapter.” It mentions success ful menand women of faith. Chapter 12 en-courages us to remember their exam-ple, and to look forward to the finalgoal. “Therefore we also, since we aresurrounded by so great a cloud of wit-nesses, let us lay aside every weight,and the sin which so easily ensnaresus, and let us run with endurance therace that is set before us, looking untoJesus, the author and finisher of ourfaith, who for the joy that was set be-fore Him endured the cross, despisingthe shame, and has sat down at theright hand of the throne of God” (He-brews 12:1–2).

Apply the sixth law of success.Run the race with endurance, or “pa-tience” as the KJV has it, or “per sever-ance” as the NRSV translates it. Nevergive up! Run the race of life with perseverance.

Law 7: Seek God’s Continual Guidance

In order to practice the first sixlaws successfully, we need the vitalseventh law. We need to seek God’scontinual guidance. Billions of menand women may carnally be practic-ing some of the first six laws. But un-less they seek God’s continual

guidance, their efforts are just van-ity—striving without value.

You may wonder: “How can Ihave God’s continual guidance?” Theanswer is that if God is calling you tounderstand His truth, you need to re-spond to that calling and seek Him.When you read your Bible, you willfind many priceless promises. Isaiahurges us: “Seek the LORD while Hemay be found, call upon Him whileHe is near. Let the wicked forsake hisway, and the unrighteous man histhoughts; let him return to the LORD,and He will have mercy on him; andto our God, for He will abundantlypardon” (Isaiah 55:6–7).

As you draw closer to God inprayer—as you begin to change yourwhole way of life more and more tofollow God’s way of true success—He will sustain you through the Sav-ior of the world, Jesus Christ. Godhas promised that He will have con-tinual mercy on you—and will par-don you, if you repent and seek Him.

God gives us many promises ofHis continuing and loving guid ance.For example: “Trust in the LORD withall your heart, and lean not on yourown understanding; in all your waysacknowledge Him, and He shall di-rect your paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6).Yes, God promises that He will directour paths, and that He will guide usthrough life to fulfill our human po-tential and ultimate destiny. Whenyou come to a crossroads, and arefaced with a decision, pray and askfor God’s will to be done in your life.Jesus promised each of us: “I willnever leave you nor forsake you”(Hebrews 13:5).

Can You Really Succeed?

As we previously saw, the ulti-mate goal of a successful Christian isthe Kingdom of God! As Jesus said inMatthew 6:33: “Seek first the king-dom of God and His righteousness,and all these things shall be added to

you.” Any success a Christian desiresin this life must be in harmony withthat ultimate goal.

True success comes at a price—but not the kind of “price” manymight expect. As Mr. Armstrongwrote: “You can’t buy it with money.It comes to you FREE—with outmoney and without price. There is aprice, of course—your own applica-tion of these definite laws. It is notguaranteed to be the easy way—but itis guaranteed to be the only way toreal success!” (The Seven Laws of Suc-cess, 1974, p. 10).

Can you really achieve suc cess?As the Apostle Paul stated in Philip-pians 4:13: “I can do all thingsthrough Christ who strengthens me.”The Bible reveals the unseen, im-mutable laws of life. When we are inharmony with those principles andinstructions, we are blessed. In fact,from the beginning of the Bible to theend, you will find that obedience toGod’s way of life brings blessings,and disobedience to God’s way of lifebrings curses. The world’s cri teria forsuccess: possessions, power, positionand pleasure— only bring pain, suf-fering, failure and death. Those whodefine suc cess as “getting ahead” ofothers, and engaging in selfish indul -gence, will not only harm others—they will ultimately harmthem selves. True success comes onlythrough the Savior of the world, whotaught us to love our enemies, laydown our lives for one another andlive by every word of God. When wedo this through the power of theHoly Spirit, we can live truly happy,productive and successful lives, be-cause we will be helping others intothe family of God, and into the King-dom of God.

So, apply all seven laws of suc-cess. If you do, you will come to findthe true abundant life Jesus promised:“I have come that they may have life,and that they may have it more abun-dantly” (John 10:10).

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ur celebration of God’s annual festivals plays amajor part in helping us really understand Hisgreat plan. That plan begins with the Passover

and the Days of Unleavened Bread, which comein the early spring. While the importance of the finalPassover season of Christ’s life is easily recognized, fewfocus on how significant were each of the four Passoversduring His ministry. Did you know, for instance, that Jesus’public ministry both began and ended in Jerusalem duringPassover seasons three years apart?

During His lifetime, Jesus Christ observed all of God’sFestivals, and often traveled to Jerusalem to keep them.His words and actions at various Festival seasons arerecorded throughout the Gospels, particularly in John.However, of all the Festivals, it is only the Passover seasonfor which the Bible records all four that occurred duringJesus’ ministry.

This record of the four Passovers during Christ’s min-istry serves several purposes. It provides a time frame forHis ministry, and helps us harmonize the four Gospel ac-counts. But, even more importantly, it records Jesus Christ’swords and actions at each of these Passover seasons! Haveyou ever wondered what sermon Jesus would give if Hewere speaking on a particular Holy Day? Thanks to Scrip-ture, we can actually know some of what He did preachduring each of the four Passover seasons of His ministry!It is vitally important that we understand what Jesus Christwas teaching!

In this article, we will examine each of the fourPassovers of Jesus’ ministry, and will see the lessons thatHe taught during the Passover.

Identifying Four Passovers

How do we know that there were four Passovers dur-ing Christ’s ministry? No single Gospel writer records allfour.

From the prophecy in Daniel 9:25, we know that therewould be exactly 483 years from the decree to rebuildJerusalem until the appearance of the Messiah. We arrive atthis figure by using the day-for-a-year principle (Numbers14:34; Ezekiel 4:6), after we have calculated the numberof prophetic “days” that comprise the 69 “weeks” (69 x 7= 483). Ezra 7:7–26 locates the issuing of the decree in457BC, in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. Shortly be-fore the fall festivals of 457BC, Ezra arrived in Jerusalem

and read the decree. During the fall of 27AD—483 yearslater—Jesus came to where John the Baptist was baptizing.John, who had begun preaching and baptizing six monthsearlier, proclaimed Jesus as the promised Messiah (John1:29). At Jesus’ baptism, God the Father supernaturallyconfirmed Jesus’ Messiahship when a dove descendedupon Jesus and a voice spoke from heaven (Matthew 3:16–17).

Jesus’ ministry lasted three-and-a-half years, from Hisbaptism in the fall of 27AD until His crucifixion in thespring of 31AD. He was “cut off” in the midst of a prophetic“week,” as we learn from Daniel 9:26–27. During His min-istry, there were four Passovers. Soon after His baptism,Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting andprayer, during which He resisted Satan’s temptation. Afterreturning from the wilderness, Jesus began working withHis disciples. In Galilee, while attending the wedding feastat Cana, He performed His first miraculous sign (John2:11). Soon afterward, He and His disciples traveled toJerusalem for the first Passover of His public ministry—in 28AD.

Fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 that the Lordwould appear as “Messenger of the Covenant” and wouldcome “suddenly” to His temple, Jesus arrived in Jerusalemshortly before the Passover celebration. Seeing how a cor-rupt and venal priesthood had commercialized God’sHouse, He wove leather cords into a whip, and strodeboldly into the outer courtyard of the temple complex.Quickly, He opened the gates of the corrals and pens, anddrove out the cattle and sheep that were destined to be soldat inflated prices to Passover pilgrims seeking temple sac-rifices. In the process, He threw over the tables of the mon-eychangers, and told them to leave!

Needless to say, this provoked quite a stir among thepriests and religious leaders. Even so, the miraculous signsthat He performed in the temple, as He taught the crowdsthat gathered around Him, were enough to convince thesereligious leaders that He was not some self-appointedprophet, but was indeed sent from God (John 3:1–2). ThisPassover season of 28AD marked the dramatic opening ofChrist’s ministry.

What took place during the second Passover season ofJesus’ ministry? Mark 2:23–28 (there are parallel accountsin Matthew 12 and Luke 6) tells the story of Jesus and Hisdisciples walking through the grain fields, and the disci-ples plucking heads of grain to eat. From the arrangement

By John H. Ogwyn (1949–2005)

Lessons from Four Passovers

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of the story, especially in Mark’s and Luke’s accounts, it isclear that this occurred very early in Jesus’ ministry. Luke,alone, makes clear the exact timing of this event, telling usthat it occurred on “the second Sabbath after the first”(Luke 6:1). What does that mean? The Greek term is sab-bato deuteroproto. This refers to the second Sabbath of firstrank; in other words, the last Holy Day of the Days of Un-leavened Bread. Luke, therefore, places this event in thesecond Passover season of Jesus’ ministry, 29AD.

What do we know about the Passover season of30AD—one year before Jesus’ crucifixion? Matthew 14:13–33 recounts Jesus’ miraculously feeding five thousand menand their families, and His walking across the water thatnight to join His disciples in the boat during a storm. Thereare parallel accounts in Mark 6, Luke 9 and John 6, butonly from John’s account do we learn that the feeding ofthe 5,000 took place immediately before the Passover(John 6:4). John is also the only Gospel writer to recordwhat Jesus taught the people whom He had miraculouslyfed. He records the sermon that Jesus gave just a shortwhile later, in a synagogue in Capernaum, to many of thesesame people (John 6:24–59).

Scripture describes Jesus’ final Passover season—31AD, when He was crucified—in great detail. All fourGospel accounts describe the time from Jesus’ arrival inBethany (a small suburb of Jerusalem) about a week beforethe Passover, up through His crucifixion and resurrection.Almost one-third of the Gospel text is devoted to theevents surrounding Jesus’ final Passover.

Now, we will look at each of these Passover seasons inmore detail.

Passover 28AD: For GodSo Loved the World

Thousands of people from Judea and the surroundingarea had gone out to the wilderness near the Jordan Riverto hear John the Baptist. From the time that John hadbegun preaching a message of repentance, his reputationhad spread. He baptized many, and great crowds hung onhis every word. When John’s reputation was at its height,Jesus of Nazareth came to see him and requested baptism.After the baptism, John acknowledged Jesus as “the Lambof God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)and as the Son of God (v. 34). Soon afterward, Jesus leftfor the Judean desert, and disappeared from public viewfor several months.

When He walked into the temple complex on a brightspring day just before Passover in 28AD, Jesus very quicklybecame the talk of Jerusalem. He challenged the religiousestablishment by cleansing the temple and driving out themoneychangers, and by doing miracles in open view of

temple crowds (John 2:23). Even many religious leadersacknowledged privately that this teacher from Galilee mustbe someone sent by God (John 3:1–2). On one eveningduring the Days of Unleavened Bread that year, Nicodemus(a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin) came privatelyto Jesus, who gave him an important message about salva-tion—explaining much of the real meaning of the Passoverceremony God had instituted more than 14 centuries earlier.

Jesus told Nicodemus that in order to inherit the King-dom of God, he would have to be “born again.” This newbirth could only come from above—from God—not frombelow, as in physical birth. It would be a birth of theSpirit—an actual entrance into the spiritual realm. Further,Jesus went on to explain that He—the Son of Man—wouldhave to be lifted up, as had been prefigured many centuriesbefore when Moses lifted up the serpent in the wildernessto stop a plague (John 3:14).

However, the real meaning of the Passover is summa-rized in one of the best-known verses in the entire Bible:“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begot-ten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perishbut have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The message of thePassover is, first and foremost, a message about God’slove—and about the redemption He offers us because ofHis great love. This was a major theme of Jesus’ messageduring the first Passover season of His ministry.

Passover 29AD: Mercy Rather Than Sacrifice

The Pharisees became outraged when they saw Jesusand His disciples emerge from the footpath and come intotown. The disciples were chewing on kernels of fresh grainthey had plucked from barley stalks that bordered the pathwhere they had walked. Although the Torah explicitly al-lows travelers to pluck fruit or grain to satisfy their hungeras they pass by a field (Deuteronomy 23:24–25), the Phar-isees objected to the disciples doing so on the Sabbath.Though Matthew and Mark also recount the incident, onlyLuke records that it occurred during the Passover season—on the last Holy Day of Unleavened Bread (Luke 6:1).

Jesus undoubtedly knew what the Pharisees’ reactionwould be, so He purposely allowed His disciples to dosomething that would provide a setting for a very impor-tant lesson. During the Days of Unleavened Bread, wefocus on righteousness and putting away sin. The Phar-isees’ approach was to think themselves more righteous byadding human rules to God’s law. In fact, in their quest toachieve righteousness, they became “more ‘righteous’ thanGod”—and actually lost sight of what God really sought.Jesus defended His disciples’ behavior by quoting exam-


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ples from Scripture, and by asking the Pharisees to explainthe meaning of those examples. On the Last Day of Un-leavened Bread, through those illustrations from Scripture,Jesus explained what God truly wants of us.

One of Jesus’ main examples was from 1 Samuel 21,where David and his men came to the Tabernacle at Nob.They were tired and hungry, and David asked Ahimelechthe priest for something to eat. The priest explained thatthey had no ordinary food to give him, only showbread—the holy bread that had just been removed from the table inthe Holy Place. According to the law, this bread, once it hadbeen presented to God as an offering, was not to be usedfor ordinary secular use. Since the bread was consecrated,it was to be treated with respect even after removal from thetable of the Lord. As such, it was to be eaten only by thepriests who were serving the Tabernacle (Leviticus 24:5–9). Yet Ahimelech understood something that the Phariseessimply did not grasp; he understood the spirit of the law,and how to apply the principles of God’s word in making ajudgment with which God would be pleased. Since God al-lowed the priests to consume the bread as food, Ahimelechrealized that God would not be displeased if the bread wereshared with the hungry David.

Jesus then quoted Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy andnot sacrifice.” Had they really understood what thatverse means, Jesus told them, they “would not havecondemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7). The peopleof Hosea’s day had substituted mere ritual formality inplace of a genuine life of heartfelt obedience. Jesusknew that most of the Pharisees of His day had falleninto the same trap. They did not understand the truerighteousness God seeks in our lives. Understandingthis concept properly is a vital lesson for the Days ofUnleavened Bread.

Passover 30AD: Feed on the Bread of Life

One notable miracle of Jesus’ ministry was His feeding5,000 men (and also the women and children present) withfive barley loaves and two small fish. After the discipleshad left by boat, Jesus dismissed the crowd and withdrewto the hills for a time of private prayer. Late that night, thedisciples’ boat was still at sea, caught in strong winds.Jesus came down to the now-empty shoreline, then beganto walk on the water to cross the lake and catch up to Hisdisciples! Though at first frightened as they saw Him ap-proaching, the disciples were then overwhelmed with asense of who He really was—the very Son of God (Matthew14:25–33). John tells us that this occurred immediately be-fore the Passover (John 6:4), and is the only writer to re-count what happened on the following day (vv. 22–25).

Many whom Jesus had fed found Him in Capernaum, andHe began to teach them.

John records the discourse that Jesus gave in the syn-agogue to many of those whom He had miraculously fedthe day before. Taking advantage of their desire for physi-cal food, He began to teach about the importance of seek-ing spiritual food. Jesus declared to them that He wasindeed the “bread of life” that came down from heaven (vv.33–35). He emphasized that He was the “living bread” andthat the only way to receive eternal life is to believe in Him(v. 40). Believing in Christ involves truly “feeding” onHim—that is, seeking to live as He lived (v. 57).

His audience was thinking about bread. They had justeaten bread that had been miraculously provided, and theywere entering the Days of Unleavened Bread, when theywould be very conscious of avoiding leavened productsand eating unleavened bread throughout the seven daysof the festival. Jesus took advantage of their thoughts ofphysical bread, to teach them about the true bread. Whenyou really study and meditate upon Jesus’ message asrecorded in John 6, you realize that the unleavened breadwe eat throughout the festival points us toward JesusChrist. Just as we sustain our physical lives by feeding onphysical food, we sustain our spiritual lives by feeding onJesus Christ. We are to be nourished and fed by Him, dayby day.

Passover 31AD: In Remembrance of Me

Almost one-third of the Gospel text is devoted tothe events surrounding Christ’s final Passover. Theseevents begin with His arrival in Bethany about a weekbefore Passover (John 12:1), and a detailed account isgiven of Jesus’ words and deeds over the days follow-ing. We read of His encounters with the Pharisees andother religious leaders, and His triumphal entry intoJerusalem. We also have the account of His finalPassover meal with the disciples, His subsequent arrestand crucifixion and, finally, His resurrection from thedead and appearance to the disciples. All the previousPassover celebrations pointed toward these events ofJesus’ final Passover.

By dying on the Passover, Jesus Christ fulfilled His roleas the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of theworld. By being resurrected at the end of the Sabbath afterthree days and three nights in the tomb, then being pre-sented to the Father the next morning, Jesus fulfilled Hisrole as the wavesheaf offering, becoming the “firstfruits ofthem that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20, KJV).

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n every job or trade, workersneed certain qualifications inorder to be effective and suc-cessful. Yet the qualifications

vital for one job may be entirely un-helpful for another. For instance, anindividual who is certified in all ele-ments of welding may not fare toowell as an accountant. This is no lesstrue for the calling of a “Christian sol-dier” who never picks up a weaponfor the armies of this world.

What are three characteristicsthat effective Christian soldiers musthave? They must be willing to fight,they must use the right weapons, andthey must have a good strategy.

Consider the account of Davidand Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. Goliathwas almost ten feet tall and his armorweighed 125 pounds. He was a giant,especially compared to small David,the youngest son of Jesse. Goliathtaunted the armies of Israel and de-fied any man to face him. It is no sur-prise that those who saw Goliath,including Saul, were afraid of him. Yetnotice David’s response to the tauntsof this great Philistine giant: “ThenDavid said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heartfail because of him; your servant willgo and fight with this Philistine’” (1Samuel 17:32).

David pressed on with courage,willing to fight, because he knew hewas not alone. “The LORD, who deliv-ered me from the paw of the lion andfrom the paw of the bear, He will de-liver me from the hand of this Philis-tine” (v. 37). David knew God wouldhelp him fight the battle. And in read-ing the rest of 1 Samuel 17 we seethat David did indeed defeat Goliathwith God’s help—setting an examplefor us today. “He who overcomesshall inherit all things, and I will behis God and he shall be My son. Butthe cowardly, unbelieving, abom-

inable, murderers, sexually immoral,sorcerors, idolaters, and all liars shallhave their part in the lake whichburns with fire and brimstone, whichis the second death” (Revelation21:7–8). Few of us will ever fightbears, lions or giants, but we can beencouraged by our faith that the Godwho helped David is the same Godwho will help each and every one ofus today. No matter what the battlemay be, God will help us if we arewilling to fight!

Christians must also use the rightweapons. David was fighting a physi-cal battle against a carnal Philistine.He defeated Goliath with a simplesling and a stone, but Christians todayfight with very different weapons.Christian soldiers fight a spiritualwar! As the Apostle Paul explained,“For the weapons of our warfare arenot carnal but mighty in God forpulling down strongholds, castingdown arguments and every high thingthat exalts itself against the knowl-edge of God, bringing every thoughtinto captivity to the obedience ofChrist” (2 Corinthians 10:4–5).

Satan, who is presently the“god” of this world, broadcasts neg-ative images, thoughts and valuesthrough the air to all who will listen(Ephesians 2:2). Did you ever workwith an old-fashioned television an-tenna? I remember one time when Iwas sitting on the couch while mywife adjusted the “rabbit ears.”When she held them, we had a greatpicture. But the moment she let go,the picture would again becomefuzzy.

As human beings, we are likewalking antennas, picking up what-ever messages are being broadcast tous. To resist wrong messages, wemust use the key Christian weaponsof prayer, fasting, Bible study and

meditation, as God’s people havedone through the ages These are ourweapons of spiritual warfare—andunless we use them well, we cannotexpect to win our battles. As we drawcloser to God, we will develop moreof His mind and His character—andwe will be able to more fully use Hispower.

We are engaged in a spiritual war,and we cannot afford to make ex-cuses: “I’m too busy!” “It’s too late!”“I’m too tired!” No. We must use theweapons God has given us; they areour defense, and our very lives de-pend on how fervently we use them.“Finally, my brethren, be strong in theLord and in the power of His might.Put on the whole armor of God, thatyou may be able to stand against thewiles [tactics] of the devil” (Eph-esians 6:10-11). Though we may beweak in the flesh, we know we arenot alone. The more we use God’spower, His strength, and the spiritualweapons He has given us, the moreHe will intervene to bring about vic-tories in our lives.

Consider the millions of “NewYear’s” resolutions people in theworld make every January 1. Howmany of their firm promises or grandideas last more than a few days orweeks? Consider the thousands ofpeople each year who decide theywant to be entrepreneurs. Fired upand “gung ho,” they start a new busi-ness—yet many soon find that theyhad not planned properly or countedthe cost (Luke 14:28).

As Christian soldiers, we mustcount the cost, have determination—and have the right strategy. It is onething to say, “I’ll let God fight my bat-tles”—but unless we really under-stand how to do this, we cannotexpect to succeed. What practicalsteps should we take? God’s word in 2

Let God Fight Your BattlesBy Michael Elertson

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Chronicles 20 outlines an excellentseven-step battle strategy that wasused thousands of years ago, and canstill be effective for Christians today.It involved Jehoshaphat, the king ofJudah, who was trying to restoreJudah from the idolatrous apostasyinto which it had fallen.

In the midst of setting his nationstraight, Jehoshaphat faced imminentdestruction. A great army, consistingof Moab, Ammon and others, gath-ered to do battle. These enemies ofJudah greatly outnumbered thearmy of Jehoshaphat—at facevalue, the odds were greatlyagainst him. What strategy did heuse? A strategy that is still valid forChristians today who want God tofight their battles (1 Corinthians10:11).

Step one (2 Chronicles 20:3) isto have a proper fear of God—standing in awe. “The fear of theLORD is the beginning of knowl-edge” (Proverbs 1:7). Most mod-ern psychologists teach that fear isonly negative, but the Bible teachesthat a proper fear is healthy. Aproper fear keeps us on the righttrack and reminds us of our placecompared to God.

Step two (2 Chronicles 20:4) is toask God for help. It seems obvious,but this step is all too often missed orassumed. Paul instructs, “Pray with-out ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)!All of the patriarchs in the Bible arenoted as having a powerful prayerlife—daily contact with God. Thepower of prayer can never be under-estimated. It is through prayer thatwe build a genuine relationship withour Father. We can approach God’sthrone boldly, for He is faithful togive, but we must always ask for Hiswill to be done (1 John 5:14).

Step three (2 Chronicles 20:7–15)is to seek God’s counsel. “Withoutcounsel, plans go awry, but in the mul-titude of counselors they are estab-lished” (Proverbs 15:22). This means

constant and fervent Bible study(Matthew 4:4). This means going toparents and ministers, depending onthe circumstances. In any case, we areadmonished not to lean on our ownunderstanding (Proverbs 3:5).

It is interesting to note that thePresiding Evangelist of the LivingChurch of God follows this principleby relying on the Church’s Council ofElders. The duty of the Council is torender advice on all issues concern-

ing doctrine, Church organizationand all major plans and programs. Weall, whatever our duties, need to takeheed and seek wise counsel.

Step four (2 Chronicles 20:12–13) is to wait on God. For most of us,this can be very difficult. However,patience truly is a virtue. King Davidwas inspired to write, “Rest in theLORD and wait patiently for Him”(Psalm 37:7). One of the hardestchallenges we will face in life is learn-ing to wait on God. Quite often, ourtimetable is not God’s timetable. Wehave to learn to trust His judgmentand set His will above our own.

Step five (2 Chronicles 20:20) isto do our part to accomplish what isneeded. Yes, we need God to fight ourbattles. But make no mistake, we dohave personal responsibility, contrary

to what is taught by many of the“mainstream” religions of our world.Note these words from the ApostlePaul: “For as many as are led by theSpirit of God, these are sons of God”(Romans 8:14). Paul clearly explainsthat the Holy Spirit leads us—it doesnot force us to do anything. It em-powers our right decisions. We arefree moral agents and we need to doour part (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Step six (2 Chronicles 20:21) isto give God thanks during thebattle. Our lives are filled withmany battles, and at any giventime it is easy to become preoc-cupied. We can become socaught up, absorbed and in-volved with the “now” that weforget to recognize our Deliverer.King David, in his heartfelt way,admonishes us: “Give thanks tothe LORD! Call upon His name;make known His deeds amongthe peoples” (Psalm 105:1). No-tice, too, the wonderful exampleof the angels at the throne ofGod, “Amen! Blessing and gloryand wisdom, thanksgiving andhonor and power and might, beto our God forever and ever.

Amen” (Revelation 7:12). God prom-ises to help us, and we should giveHim thanks all the while!

Step seven (2 Chronicles 20:27)is to give God credit for the victory.This may seem like an obvious point,but all too often people forget whenthey think their “need” for God’s helpis past. It is a relief to emerge from ahard-fought battle, and we shouldnever fail to give credit where credit isdue!

True Christians will face manybattles in this life. But if we are faith-ful, obedient and thankful to God,notice the conclusion of the matter:“But thanks be to God, who gives usthe victory through our Lord JesusChrist” (1 Corinthians 15:57). Whata wonderful result we will have if welet God fight our battles!


What are three characteristics that effective Christian soldiers must have? They must be willing to fight, they must use the right weapons,

and they must have agood strategy.

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ow much does God value each and every humanbeing? Do you see others as God sees them—asGod sees you?

We know that God’s final work of creation,before He rested on the seventh day, was man. On the sixthday, “God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creatureaccording to its kind [genus]: cattle and creeping thing andbeast of the earth, each according to its kind’ and it was so”(Genesis 1:24).

God the Father and the Word proclaimed what was to bethe pinnacle of their great plan of salvation, a creature thatwas to be made “in Our image, according to Our likeness”(v. 26). And so, the greatest project God had ever devisedbecame a reality. As this new being rose from the dust of theground, God breathed into his nostrils the “breath of life.”

We learn that he became a living being [KJV “soul”] or,in the Hebrew, nephesh. Scripture reveals that there is a vitalingredient differentiating human beings from the animals.This potential son of God was to be given “a spirit in man.”Job said, “But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of theAlmighty gives him understanding” (Job 32:8).

Only human beings have the destiny of entering theFamily of God as full sons in His Kingdom. Only they cancommunicate spiritually with God because of possessingthis precious gift—the spirit in man.

Who Else Watched?

Who else was watching this incredible act of latentgreatness? The fallen archangel Lucifer (whose name hadchanged to Satan) was watching, along with his cohorts—the fallen angels, now the demonic host. And they did notlike what they saw. They loathed man. They hated this newbeing. They would destroy him, if they could.

Within a few short years, Satan’s evil spirit of murderhad festered in the mind of Cain, and he rose up to kill hisbrother Abel, in spite of God’s warning of “sin at the door”(Genesis 4:7). Within a few generations, violence andwickedness had become so widespread that God repentedof creating mankind (Genesis 6:5–7).

Thankfully, Noah found favour in God’s sight—andthrough his descendants the human race continued.

Contending with an Evil Spirit

For nearly six thousand years, human beings have beencontending against Satan’s evil spirit of hatred and disgustfor all of us. We are all targets of the despising attitude he

broadcasts. We may even watch movies that portray in gorydetail the shooting, stabbing and hacking of God’s futuresons. Sometimes, we may even find ourselves caught up in aspirit of vengeance where we silently cheer on the murderer!

Is God pleased by this? No, He is not!As we consider our great calling, it behooves us to ask

the question: “Do I see others as God does?” We all wantto receive God’s favour and forgiveness. We all hope forHis grace and mercy, but do we extend it to others—espe-cially those we do not like, or who do not like us?

This is a serious problem, and we need to face it squarely.We need to examine our perspective and our mind-set. If weretain this wrong attitude from Satan, we are in trouble.

“Raca” and Fools

When our Saviour began His ministry, He consideredthis problem to be so serious that He included it in His firstsermon.

The Sermon on the Mount is recorded for us in Matthew5. After outlining the basis for Christian living in the Beati-tudes, Jesus Christ began to magnify the law of God by re-vealing the spirit that underpins each commandment.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘Youshall not murder’ and whosoever murders will be in dan-ger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angrywith his brother without a cause shall be in danger of thejudgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shallbe in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’shall be in danger of hell fire” (vv. 21–22).

What does this mean? Here we see three derisive epithets.Each represents a decrease in the worth we perceive in theother person, culminating in an expression of great loathingeven for the existence of the hated one, as if to imply that thisis a person not even worthy of God’s grace. By the third stage,the one uttering such despising words is in the spirit of Satan.Even within recent historical memory, we can recall examplesof societies and cultures that harboured collective hatredagainst individuals they came to consider “sub-human.”

God does not want us to be naïve regarding others whomay want to hurt us. With the help of the Holy Spirit, wecan discern the fruits of another person’s words and deeds(Matthew 7:16–20). God pronounces “woe” on those whocall evil good, and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). Yet even when werecognize the bad fruit that another’s choices are produc-ing, this does not exempt us from our Christian responsi-bility to love that person as a potential future son of God.

Toward the end of his life, the Apostle John penned hislast thoughts in three epistles. In one of them, reflecting

As God Sees Us...By Rod King

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on the lessons he had learned in his long life, we read, “Forthis is the message that you heard from the beginning, thatwe should love one another, not as Cain who was of thewicked one and murdered his brother… Whoever hates hisbrother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer haseternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:11–12, 15).

What is the solution to the problem of hatred? To over-come hatred, we must see ourselves for what we really are,and we must see others as God would have us see them.

Almost all deeply converted Christians will recognizethe experience of finding a fault in someone else’s charac-ter—then realizing that this fault is in fact a part of ourown human nature! It can be disarming to see in others’words and deeds a mirror of our own impure motives andthoughts. We must not deceive ourselves—human nature,with all its capacity for self-deception, lies deep withineach one of us.

But there is hope! God’s righteousness, and the life ofJesus Christ in us, can give us the eyes to see our failingsand the ability to change them for the better! We really canbecome like our heavenly Father, but unless we see othersas He does, we will remain in darkness.

Speaking Well of One Another

God recognizes that we cannot conceal our true feel-ings and deepest thoughts from others for long. Our wordsbecome a measure of our heart. Jesus Christ knew thiswhen He addressed the Pharisees with these words, “Broodof vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? Forout of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”(Matthew 12:34). He continued, “A good man out of thegood treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and anevil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak,they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For byyour words you will be justified, and by your words youwill be condemned” (vv. 35–37).

You are the only one who can control your tongue. Tocontrol your tongue, you must control your thoughts. Tocontrol your thoughts, you must firmly determine in mo-ments of meditation and prayer that you will only speakwell of others. To do this is hard—and it takes a deep commitment.

“But if I am to stop speaking evil of my brother, doesthis mean I will sometimes have to be silent?” Yes, it does!But we should not be silent when we must calmly tellsomeone that we cannot continue in a conversation thatinvolves accusing, degrading and even destroying the rep-utation of another person through slander and gossip. Thisdoes not mean we must be rude or self-righteous, but

sometimes we must wisely remove ourselves from suchconversations.

Scripture tells us: “Where there is no wood, the firegoes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases”(Proverbs 26:20). My grandfather practiced a well-knownold saying, “If you cannot speak well of someone, say noth-ing.” We would all do well to live by that motto.

Of What Spirit Are We?

As Christians, we understand where evil thoughtscome from. They originate from that being who was “amurderer from the beginning” (John 8:44)—Satan thedevil—whose wiles are so great that we may sometimesthink we are acting in a godly manner, doing God’s will,even though our motives are far from godly. Notice whathappened to Jesus’ disciples John and James: “And as theywent, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to preparefor Him. But they did not receive Him, because His facewas set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disci-ples James and John [also known as ‘sons of thunder’] sawthis, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire tocome down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijahdid?’ But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You donot know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son ofMan did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them’”(Luke 9:52–56).

Are you and I always sure what “manner of spirit” weare of? Perhaps you have noticed, at times, that you can bethinking kind thoughts toward one person, then in thevery next moment be thinking or speaking ill of another?How fickle we are! How unlike God we are! How earthlyare our thoughts, when His thoughts are higher thanheaven above.

The Solution

So, what is the solution? It involves a frank aware-ness of our natural, carnal mind. It requires constant andvigilant prayer to pray for your enemies and do good tothose who are against you. And be assured, if you prayfor good things for those who despise you, your attitudewill change. You will at the very least experience a calm-ing change of mind toward them—and God may evencause your situation to change in ways you cannot nowimagine!

Are you struggling with marital or family discord? Areyou contending with a Church member—even a minis-ter—whom you believe does not respect or value you? Arepeople persecuting you? Pray for them! Speak well ofthem, and notice what God will do in your mind. This isGod’s solution, and will bring you peace of mind.


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reward in Christ’s coming World Government to be set upon this earth.

We say this. But do we really believe it? Each of us hasto answer that question, and make sure that we actuallydo.

The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy to let him, “knowhow you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God,which is the church of the living God, the pillar andground of the Truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Many scholarsagree that the term “ground” here is better translated as“bulwark”—which gives a more specific picture of God’sChurch being a powerful barrier—protecting the Truthfrom error and from Satan’s confusing devices.

Remember, somewhere on this earth, there is one Churchthat teaches not only about the commandments—as many“Church of God” groups do—but that powerfully empha-sizes and explains how vital it is to understand God’s lovingGovernment and to practice it in a balanced way!

Some groups have wrongly used the concept of gov-ernment to tyrannize their members, employing a kind ofhuman dictatorship in which they cow individuals into sub-mission by various threats, and by disfellowshippingdozens and scores of people for any kind of disagreementor even for asking questions of the leadership. That is notGod’s Government—as I trust all of us in the LivingChurch of God understand.

Yet some of the larger “splits” from the original Churchunder Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong have virtually done awaywith the entire form of government the Bible describes,which Mr. Armstrong taught and we must learn and prac-tice in order to be those kings and priests Jesus Christ

talked about! In some of these groups, instead of tyranny,we find a different misunderstanding—a great deal of laxityand neglect of the basic concept of the entire Kingdom ofGod, the Government for which we must be preparing.

By contrast, as most of you reading this certainly know,there is a Church of God somewhere that teaches the truthabout the Government of God, that practices it through-out its congregations in a loving and balanced way overall,and that is trying wholeheartedly to prepare its members tobecome kings and priests in God’s Kingdom. Brethren, weought to be—and to remain—that Church!

But, even in that Church, there are people who are veryweak or Laodicean in their approach. Therefore, when Godspeaks to us throughout Revelation 12 in describing aChurch of God that is taken to safety, this inspired passagedescribes some who are “left behind” and are obviously notprotected: “And the dragon was enraged with the woman,and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring,who keep the commandments of God and have the testi-mony of Jesus Christ” (v. 17). So, even though many thou-sands of people in the various Church of God groups may,in general, “keep the Commandments,” they will not allbe taken to safety! Though they are part of God’s Church,they obviously do not have Christ fully living within themand helping them live as the “overcomers” whom Christ ispreparing to be rulers in His Kingdom.

In Revelation 3, God tells those who do not just “callthemselves” Philadelphian, but really are Philadelphian,“Because you have kept My command to persevere, Ialso will keep you from the hour of trial which shallcome upon the whole world, to test those who dwell onthe earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast whatyou have, that no one may take your crown” (vv. 10–11). So Christ is pleased that the true Philadelphians

Let Us Examine Ourselves!(Continued from page 2)

In addition to fulfilling the OldTestament types that pointed to Hisrole as our Savior, Christ also used Hisfinal Passover to teach His disciplesmany lessons. He taught them the im-portance of serving and helping others(Luke 22:24–27, John 13:1–17). Notonly were they to serve one another;they were to love one another with thesame kind of love with which ChristHimself loved (John 15:12–13). Jesustold them about the Father’s great lovefor them (John 16:26–27) and of the

promised Comforter—the HolySpirit—that He and the Father wouldsend them (John 14:16–17; 16:7).

In an upper room in Jerusalem,gathered together with His disciplesafter sunset at the start of Abib 14, Jesuscelebrated the final Passover of Hishuman life. On that night, a transitionwas made from the Old Testament ob-servance to the New TestamentPassover. At the close of the traditionalmeal of roasted lamb and bitter herbs,Jesus took some unleavened bread fromthe table, blessed it, broke it into smallpieces, and told the disciples to eat it asa symbol of His body broken for us.

Then He took a cup of wine, blessed it,and told them to all drink of it, as asymbol of His blood, shed for us. “Dothis in remembrance of Me,” He toldthem (Luke 22:19).

As you prepare for the Passover andthe Feast of Unleavened Bread, thinkabout the lessons that Jesus Christtaught us by word and deed throughoutHis ministry. When you gather at thePassover service to share with otherbrethren in the symbols that “proclaimthe Lord’s death till He comes” (1Corinthians 11:26), be sure to realizedeeply that this commemoration isbeing done in remembrance of Him.

Lessons from Four Passovers(Continued from page 16)

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Upcoming Tomorrow’s World Telecasts

AIR DATE BROADCAST TITLE

March 7 Seven Signs of the AntichristMarch 14 Benchmarks of ProphecyMarch 21 Hope for the FutureMarch 28 Is God Unfair?April 4 Jerusalem: City of Peace?April 11 Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled!April 18 Christian Babylon

“persevere” in keeping the basic approach and trainingmany of us had under God’s servant, Mr. Herbert W.Armstrong. This would obviously involve learning andpracticing God’s Government as a vital part of true prepa-ration for Christ’s Kingdom—as Mr. Armstrong empha-sized again and again. Christ tells us, “Hold fast whatyou have, that no one may take your crown.” We mustnot be among those who turn aside from the basic train-ing God has given us, which should have been prepar-ing us for God’s Kingdom. We must not drift into theattitude of “watering down” true Christian practices andteachings, of falling into “politicking” and self-promo-tion, and “voting” for Church offices—which Mr. Arm-strong so strongly condemned—and other practices thatwould certainly corrupt our entire approach to theKingdom of God!

Brethren, we must not be ashamed to “hold fast” tothe Truth we have been taught about the Kingdom ofGod—and the vital importance of learning and practic-ing right, balanced, loving Church Government! Andwe must not try to be so “understanding” that weallow—without even warning them—some of our sepa-rated brethren to be led into the confusion and divisionthat this turning aside from God’s kind of Governmentwill bring! For each of these organizations that fails toproperly practice the Government of God will suffer forit!

The Eternal God says to all who are willing to learnand grow in Christ, “He who overcomes, I will make hima pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out nomore. And I will write on him the name of My God andthe name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, whichcomes down out of heaven from My God. And I will writeon him My new name. He who has an ear, let him hearwhat the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:12–13).We in the Living Church of God must wholeheartedly “ex-amine” ourselves in every way. We must make sure thatwe are overcoming our selfish, vain, lustful and foolishhabits. We must literally give ourselves to Christ and “walkwith God” in our daily way of life. We must be genuine“overcomers” and we must persevere so that we may havethe wonderful reward of being pillars in Christ’s comingGovernment and, finally, even in the New Jerusalem thatwill come down from heaven!

As we approach the sacred Passover season, brethren,we should truly meditate on all these things. We shouldhumbly examine ourselves and determine to go “all out” tobe true overcomers and eventually pillars in the soon-com-ing Kingdom of God.

With Christian love,

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Mr. Paul Niehoff was ordained an Elderon the Sabbath of November 7, 2009 byAustralasian Regional Director Mr.Bruce Tyler and elders Mr. Michael Gilland Mr. Zig Svalbe. He serves thebrethren in Melbourne, Australia.

ocalChurchNews

BirthsKate Michele Joffrion was born August 30, 2009 to Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Jof-frion (Krista) of the Birmingham, Alabama congregation. She weighed 6pounds 7 ounces and was 19½ inches long. Big brother Brant is delighted tohave a baby sister. Her grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Ray Joffrion of BatonRouge, Louisiana and Mr. and Mrs. Mark Elder, also of the Birmingham con-gregation. Kate is the first granddaughter on both sides of the family.

Ordination

In Loving Memory...L

Mr. Robert Bruce Barnett died peace-fully at Clare Holland House on Octo-ber 27, 2009, after a long battle withcancer. He was 58 years old. His wife,Patricia, survives him. People camefrom all over Australia for his funeral

service, which was conducted by Mr.Bruce Tyler. Mr. Barnett was well re-spected in his field of form design andoffice management and organization.Many members will remember himfrom his visits to Sri Lanka and

Malaysia. He always served the Churchwillingly, especially with his musicaltalents. His example of endurance andconviction to serve God impressedthose who knew him and he will begreatly missed.

We want to hear more about the happy milestones in the lives of our brethren. If your family has had a birth, mar-riage or major anniversary, please ask your local pastor to send word to the Living Church News, PO Box 3810,Charlotte, NC 28227-8010 (or to send e-mail to [email protected]).

WeddingMr. Aaron Lee Vice of the Monroe, Louisianacongregation, and Miss Shelby ChristineWatkins of the Little Rock, Arkansas, con-gregation, were joined in marriage on May17, 2009. The ceremony was conducted byMr. Davy Crockett, the grandfather of thebride, on the front steps of historic TrapnallHall on a beautiful sunny day in Little Rock.The bride’s parents are Phillip and AudreyWatkins and the groom’s parents are DonnaVice and the late Wendell Vice. Many familyand friends gathered to witness the ceremonyand enjoy the reception afterward. The cou-ple now resides in Monroe, Louisiana.

Forty Living Church of God brethren, including visitors fromthe United States and Canada, kept the 2009 Feast of Tabernacles in Martinique. On the Last Great Day, they gath-ered for a group photo on the grounds of the Les Amandiershotel, where they met for services.

NON-PROFIT ORG.US POSTAGE PAIDCHARLOTTE, NCPERMIT NO. 4081

Commentary

By James Sweat

To Tend and KeepWhenever I visit my doctor—as reluctantly as that is—the nurse will inevitably take my vital signs, including

my blood pressure. In an effort to skew the results in my favor, I typically close my eyes to envision a warm, whitesandy beach, and the sounds of surf on a pristine emerald shoreline as I sit under a beach umbrella, savoring thebouquet of an ice cold beverage! Ahhhhh!

I do not know if there are any scientific trials that prove this actually works—but it seems to work for me. Well,not long ago I was privileged to experience that precise idyllic setting. My blood pressure must have been lower thanever as my family and I captured the perfect beauty and serenity of God’s wonderful creation.

As most things go in this life, nothing remains perfect for long. While peacefully sitting there in an almostdreamy state of tranquility, enjoying the aquatic warm breeze and deeply breathing in the glorious sea air, I inhaleda noxious puff of cigarette smoke from a neighbor predisposed to violate what should be a basic right of all indi-viduals, to breathe fresh clean air—hence the resultant rise in my blood pressure.

So, to escape the nauseous cloud of toxic smolder and the ensuing cigarette butt flipped out onto the otherwiseflawless water’s edge, I decided to take a dip in the azurite hue of sparkling sea water, when my eye was drawn to-ward something out of place just under the surf—a discarded beer bottle.

Almost anywhere you go, if man has been there he has left his destructive mark in one way or another. Fromcasual littering to farming pesticides to industrial pollution, mankind is virtually swimming in his own disgustingdebris of noxious wastes.

Yet in the beginning, God set His creation in order, created human beings and gave them dominion over theearth—thus, the ability for good or bad to influence their own environment. One of the first commands He gaveAdam and Eve was to “tend and keep” the garden (Genesis 2:15). To “tend” (or “dress,” KJV) means to take atten-tive and nurturing care, as one would a valuable possession. To “keep” involves preserving and maintaining whathas been given. This means being involved in progress that improves and genuinely makes things better. It meansleaving our surroundings in better condition than they were when we arrived—which requires a hands-on approach.It involves a fundamental principle all of us should have learned in kindergarten: if you make a mess—clean it up!

The Bible foretells of a time when all of God’s laws will become a natural part of man’s thinking (Hebrews 8:10–11). Nations and individuals will be instructed openly, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:20–21). Dodging re-sponsibility to tend and keep the earth will no longer be tolerated by a loving Creator. An era of restoration is comingby the hand of the Creator Himself—a time, finally, when our environs will resemble their original pristine condi-tion, as in the Garden of Eden (Ezekiel 36:35–36). God speed that day!

The above is adapted from one of the many commentaries, discussing vital topics facing our world, available at thewww.lcg.org and www.tomorrowsworld.org Web sites.

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