Seldom in modern history has there been an avalanche of good news as we witness in the media these days. Newspaper headlines proclaim it, television commentators confirm it, and the people believe it.
And why shouldn’t they? For the average Australian, American, and a few other nationals, things have seldom been better. The era of “peace, progress and prosperity” it seems has finally arrived.
“Dawn of a
Golden Age.” “Shortly after the last Budget, Peter Costelo
saw a vision of the future, or rather a glimmer of a halcyon past. The Treasurer became convinced of the
proposition put by some of his top economic advisers that
A Brave New World?
“Many
investors in the
Onset of New
Era? “A STRANGE contagion is spreading across the
land: the belief that technology and globalisation promise unbounded prosperity
and render old rules redundant has infected
“’US companies do much better then predicted.” “The economy continues to grow more rapidly
than people thought,’ said Mr Mark Vitner, an
economist with First Union Corp. ‘It’s all about the strength of the
And when the American economy is doing well, the whole world
breathes a sigh of relief. Given its
dominant position in the global economy, good news from
“Forget the chess match of Garry Kasparov v IBM’s
Deep Blue. A much more interesting battle between man and machine is playing
out in today’s media. In one corner is the Mars Pathfinder and its roving
companion, Sojourner, which slowly is prodding about on the “Red” planet. And
in the other, the Mir,
“No contest. For better and (largely, I’m afraid) for worse, victory goes solidly to the humans, who handily have trounced Pathfinder on the evening news and on front pages.
“Remember Pathfinder? When it reached the Martian surface on July 4, the intrepid spacecraft rightly was lauded as a triumph of a revitalised space-exploration program. The official Pathfinder Web site logged 80 million hits in one day. And Time and Newsweek made temporary stars out of NASA’s tech nerds. . .”
“Which brings us to Mir’s latest and most ignoble function, a stage for space tragi-comedy. By now, it is hard not to be aware of the staccato sequence of odd and sometimes pathetic mishaps that have struck the Russian space station this year. Unfortunately, the smirks and sad shaking of the head tend to distract from the larger lessons of Pathfinder v Mir. From its inception, NASA has been keenly aware of the enormous public relations advantage that manned missions have over unmanned ones. But Mir’s woes illustrate how easily that edge can turn against you.” (SMH, August 27, 1997).
To illustrate the success of the American science, we gleaned a few comments from a discussion panel analysing the Mars rover expedition:
“We are at the
beginning of another golden age.”
“If we are not looking for life, it is not worth doing it.”
(Newshour with
Jim Lehrer”, SBS TV,
The notion of a new
golden age extends beyond the economic and scientific fields. At a recent NATO Heads of State Summit,
President Yeltsin of
“Yeltsin’s
pledge on missiles stuns NATO”
“
“The End of The Cold War” “Boris Yeltsin’s announcement in Paris that Russia’s nuclear arsenal will no longer target NATO countries is a reminder of just how far the world has moved from the frightening days of the Cold War. ‘Today we can say the Cold War has definitely come to an end’, a NATO spokesman said.” (The Weekend Australian, May 31-June 1, 1997).
There was good news on the environment too. This year,
Then we had tremendously good news in the religious field too. The Pope went to Poland where he blessed that country with yet more ‘saints’; the head of the Anglican Church declared that he had no objection to women being ordained to the priesthood; the Presbyterian Church elected a new Moderator who vowed to make that church “relevant to the kind of society we live in”, and the ministers in the Churches of God rejoiced that our prediction about their impending doom did not materialise.
Which raises the question, where do all these things leave us? Up in the air, someone might say.
Year after year, for seven years now, we have preached that the world is heading towards catastrophe, yet what do we have now? Good news all around. Which explains why we have not been very popular.
The
prophets of doom have never been welcomed by this world. Virtually all of God’s people have had to
contend with mockers – people who did not believe in their prophecies. There is no better example of that than
Jeremiah the prophet. When his
prophecies about the impending doom of
“O LORD, You
induced me, and I was persuaded; you are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I
am in derision daily; everyone mocks me.
For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, "Violence and plunder!''
Because the word of the LORD
was made to me a reproach and a derision daily.
Then I said, “I
will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.'' But His word was in my heart like a burning
fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. For I heard many mocking: “Fear on every
side!'' "Report,'' they say, “and we will report it!''
All my
acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, “Perhaps he can be induced;
then we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him.'' (Jer.
20:7-10).
Jeremiah’s contemporaries did prevail against him, and threw him into a muddy dungeon where he would have died if one of the royal servants, who believed in him, had not managed to save him at the last moment.
He was lucky that at least one person believed in him, but who would save us if we were to face a similar situation? Of all the people we have contacted since the beginning of this work, not one has repented and turned to God.
We know of people who started a religion at about the same time, who have attracted thousands of followers by now. They preach doctrines which are demonstrably un-Scriptural, yet we, who preach nothing but what is in the Bible, have attracted no one. This work started with two people in 1990; seven years later two people are still doing it. But then, this was not entirely unexpected, for we knew what the Bible says about those who would do the work of God at this particular junction of world history: 1) They would be poor people (“clothed in sackcloth” as the Bible puts it), and 2) No one would help them.
How marvellously accurate prophesies which have been written thousands of years ago are proving out to be in our own time. And they say that there is no God, or that He does not care about what happens in the world at present.
Jeremiah’s prophecies proved true shortly afterwards, and those who disdained him paid with their lives in the end. The question is, could this also be the case with us? Could it be that those who rejoiced at our demise, did so a bit too soon?
WHAT
YOU SEE IS
NOT WHAT YOU
GET
“An
astonishing and horrible
thing has been
committed in the
land:
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the
priests rule by their own power;
And
My people love to have it so. But
what will you do in the end?” (Jer. 5:30-31).
Few people have not heard
the song that says: “what you see is what you get, there is nothing more to
it”, or words with that effect. Well,
there is a lot more to it than meets the eye this time, because what you see in
the headlines and hear in the news is not what you get, nor the whole
truth. Let us look at those “good news”
again.
SCIENTIFIC
NEWS
The American scientists who assured us that, “the solar planetary system could become our second homes”, seem to have forgotten that human beings have not even flown to the nearest planet let alone colonise the rest of the solar planetary system. And on which planet would they like settle if they could reach it? Would it be much of a life if they had to live in a space suit or in a closed environment all their lives? There would be no rivers, no trees, no mountains, no pastures, no roaming animals, nothing but barren wasteland. Would anyone call that a “golden age”?
Has it never dawned on these people that this planet was uniquely prepared and positioned to foster and preserve life on it, that no other planet in the whole universe is like it? It has the right distance from the sun, so that we neither freeze nor scorch ourselves; the right size, so that winters and summers are not decades or centuries long; the right gravitational field, so that we do not fall off the planet nor get squashed by its strength; the right length of days and nights, so that we can work during the day and regenerate at night; the right distance from the moon, so that the tides create just enough movement in the oceans to flush the shores without flooding the planet; it spins on its axe at the right speed, so that inertia does not send us into space nor flatten and disorient us; the list could go on and on. Everything is just right on this planet, and there is no scientific or religious reason to indicate that any other is like it in the whole universe.
Our scientists can search for life in the outer space all their lives, they will never find anything anywhere. That is because this planet, and this only, has been created for the purpose of sustaining life, and all the other astral bodies have been placed in the sky for no other reason than to be signs and wonders for this world. That is what our Creator God says, and that is the truth, believe it or not.
The assertion that humanity is on the brink of colonising other planets reminds me of an environmental poster I had in my school library. It showed the globe with the caption: “When we are finished with this planet, we have a whole galaxy to choose from”. Indeed, why should we stop at the solar system when we can colonise the entire universe? Given our prolific rate of reproduction, before long we would run out of space in this planetary system too, so we should not limit ourselves to just one planetary system, or just one galaxy.
The scientists - the people who are telling us that humanity is on the brink of making the solar system our second homes - are the same ones who are telling us that humanity created itself, that God had no role to play in creating the world or life on this planet.
Does that thrill you? Does the thought that 50, 70, 100 or 150 years, is all there is to human life? Would you rather believe that your life is nothing but an accident of nature, than that there is a higher purpose to life, and something exhilaratingly beautiful and promising beyond this temporary existence?
Science does not operate at the spiritual level, the one that reveals the existence of God and a wonderful purpose to human life. Of course, the handiwork of God can be seen at the physical level too, but only if you open your heart to the sixth sense, the inner voice that reveals realities that cannot be accessed through the five senses.
You are doing yourself a great disservice by looking at one side of the coin only. If you come out of your shell and look through history, and acquaint yourself with what the great thinkers of mankind have said, you will discover truths that make you heart jump with joy. Things that can hardly be uttered or explained by human beings.
Those people have given their lives rather than miss out on the things they have discovered through the exercise of all their faculties, not just the five senses. Yet, for some extraordinary quirk of nature, and reasons which only they can explain, scientists are now telling us not to believe anything that is not “logical”; nothing that cannot be detected through the five senses, or cannot be confirmed through empirical research and experiments. The world has taken that as the new gospel. The world is much the poorer for it.
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
A United
Nations report presented at the Second Earth Summit said that conditions in the
world are now far worse than they were five years ago at the first Earth Summit
in
The warming of the planet as
a result of the greenhouse effect is no longer a hypothesis, but a fact. This realisation came frighteningly fast upon
the world. We have played our role in
this too. When we started this work
seven years ago, no one, outside a small circle of scientists, paid much
attention to the greenhouse effect. Yet, there has not been a single edition in
which we have not dedicated page after page of proofs of environmental
degradation, of the greenhouse effect, of warming of the planet, etc. We said all along that things will get worse,
much worse, and they did. Now how did we
know these things? From watching world
developments and correlating these with the biblical prophesies. In other words, we have done what our Lord
told us to do:
“Watch therefore,
for you do not know when the master of the house is coming-- in the evening, at
“And what I say to you, I
say to all: Watch!'' (Mark 13:35-37).
""But as
the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah
entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away,
so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matt. 24:37-39)
And what did the world
leaders do with all those facts, what decision did they take at the Second
Earth Summit? To recommend a reduction
of the greenhouse gas emissions by 15 per cent of their 1990 levels by the year
2010. Now what exactly do they think
they will achieve with that? The natural absorption cycle of carbon dioxide,
the main culprit in the greenhouse effect, is between one hundred and two
hundred years. Which means that what we
see in the world right now, is not the result of gas emissions accumulated in
the last few years, nor indeed in the last few decades, but the effect of
carbon dioxide emissions since the beginning of the industrial revolution,
which occurred in the middle of the last century.
And you know what? They could not even agree on that. In the end, they settled for a reduction in
these gases of under ten per cent. And not all the countries agreed to that
either. You can be absolutely sure that
they will keep these promises just they kept the ones they made at the First
Earth Summit in Rio.
“Greenhouse gap
too wide for bargains” “The 1992 Rio Environmental Summit, which committed
nations to try to stabilise emissions at 1990 levels by 2000, has been an
abject failure – with virtually every nation substantially increasing
greenhouse gas output since then.” (The
Australian, October 24, 1997).
ECONOMIC NEWS
We can do no better on this
topic than to quote world leaders on their view of the future.
“YOU’RE SACKED”
WORLD-CLASS dreams are at home in
At this site
steeped in history, the man welcoming the world's elite in late September 1995
is one of the few who has himself made history: Mikhail Gorbachev. When the Cold War came to an end, American
patrons gratefully fitted out a foundation (with Gorbachev of all people as
president) on an abandoned military area south of the Golden Gate.
Now he has
flown in 500 leading politicians, businessmen and scientists from every
continent - a new "global brains trust", as the last president of the
Soviet Union and Nobel prize-winner calls it, which is supposed to point the
way to the "new' civilisation" of the 21st century.
Such
experienced world rulers as George Bush, George Shultz and Margaret Thatcher
are here meeting the new lords of the Earth - men of the likes of CNN boss Ted
Turner, who has merged with Time Warner to form the largest media business in
the world, or the South-East Asian magnate Washington Sycip. The idea is for them to spend three days in
intensive discussions with the global players in computers and finance, as well
as with the high priests of theoretical economics from Stanford, Harvard and
Oxford. Emissaries of free trade from Singapore and (naturally) Beijing also
want their voices to be heard when the future of humanity is at issue. . .
No one has come
to brag and bluster. No one is allowed to stop the participants from speaking
freely and the hordes of journalists have been screened off at considerable,
expense. There are strict rules designed to minimise rhetorical ballast: those
introducing a subject for debate, are given just five minutes and no
contribution is supposed to last for longer than two.
Not a murmur
passes through the room. The prospect of previously undreamt-of armies of the
unemployed seems to go without saying.
None of the highly paid career managers from the company divisions of
the future believes there will be enough new, regularly paid jobs in any sector
of the economy in the technologically demanding growth markets of hitherto
affluent countries. . .
The Fairmont
pragmatists sum up the future in a pair of numbers and a concept: "20 to
80" and "tittytainment". In the next century, 20 per cent of the
population will suffice to keep the world economy going. "More manpower
won't be needed,” thinks Sycip. One-fifth of all job-seekers will be enough
to produce all the commodities and to furnish high-value services that world
society will be able to afford. This 20 per cent, in whichever country, will
actively participate in life, earnings and consumption--to which may be added
another I per cent or so of people who, for example, have inherited a lot of
money
And the
rest? Will 80 per cent of those willing
to work be left without a job? "Sure," says the American writer
Jeremy Rifkin, author of The End of Work.
“The bottom 80 per cent will have
almighty problems." Gage stirs
things up again and refers to his business head, Scott McNealy. The question in
the future will be "to have lunch or be lunch".
From this point
on, the top-class group discussing "the future of work" concerns
itself with those who will have none. The firm conviction is that these will
include tens of millions who have so far probably felt closer to the everyday
bliss of the
Bay
area than to the struggle to survive without a secure job. A new social order is being sketched out at
the
“In any event, the
business leaders expect that, soon, in the industrialised
countries, people will again be sweeping the streets for nest to nothing or
finding a meagre shelter as household helps. For futurologist John Naisbitt, the industrial age and its mass prosperity will
eventually become no more than a "blip in economic history". The participants in these three memorable
days at the
So, “on the road to a new civilisation . . .
the question will be ‘to have lunch or be lunch"”. A golden age and a brave new world
indeed. And now some “good news” on the
American economy.
“Icemen come in
with the cold. Stephen Roach of Morgan has argued that the
idea that the
Ultimately (early in 1998 according to Roach)
inflation would come surging through, forcing the US Federal Reserve to tighten
monetary policy, with adverse implications for equity prices, and the
non-financial economy.
On the other hand there are “icemen" such as
Martin Barnes, the managing editor of Montreal-based Bank Credit Analyst, who
believes the new paradigm style of market commentary has "been on a par
with the 'What, Me Worry?' of Mad
Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman". Barnes has in
the past focused on the overvaluation of US equities as a result of treating on
off factors such as reduced taxes, low interest rates and reduced depreciation
as being recurrent in estimates of forward earnings. He now sees the recent
global sharemarket upheaval as a symptom of gathering
deflationary forces that will worsen the inevitable correction to Wall
Street. Those forces are already at work
in
While Yardeni is concerned
about
So, is it going to be a
golden age and an era of “peace,
progress and prosperity”, or “the forces of Deflation and Darkness?” We shall see, but I wouldn’t count on the
first. Not in the short term
anyway. That is, not before the
Millennium.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
But, not to worry, we can
always count on “good news” at the international level. After all, who can deny the “good news” that
came from President Yeltsin? No one,
that is, except President Yeltsin himself.
“The
Russian President, Mr Boris Yeltsin made clear yesterday that Russia would no
longer target nuclear missiles at NATO countries, recovering from an apparent
slip of the tongue at the signing of the Russia-NATO pact in Paris when he told
Western leaders that Moscow’s missiles warheads would be removed, effectively
disarming his nation. “In order to strengthen the atmosphere of trust, I took
the decision: Russian rockets will no longer be aimed at NATO countries,” Mr Yetsin said in a radio address to the nation.” (Reuter, SMH, May 31, 1997).
Now why did he
change his mind when his promise drew so much universal approval? This is why.
“The
Yeltsin announcement came as a surprise in
The
Russian decision comes just days after
Do you see now
what we mean by “what you see is not what you get”? People go to bed content in the belief that
the Cold War is over and there will always be a world tomorrow, when in fact we
are now closer to a nuclear catastrophe than we have ever been.
“Yeltsin’s offer does not mark end of the Cold War” “To bill the agreement signed between the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Russia as “the end of the Cold War”
(Yeltsin Ends Nuclear Threat, 28/5), is a nice bit of spin, but, as usual, the
spin is pretty close to 180 degrees from reality.
In
fact it’s probably misleading even to refer to the initiative as a “security
agreement”.
Based
on the work carried out by my organisation’s affiliates in
Despite
making a spur of the moment gesture on disarming weapons aimed at NATO States
(in reality he meant de-targeting, an action that takes minutes and a few
strokes on a commander’s keyboard) Mr Yeltsin had only weeks earlier been
talking about the conditions in which Russia would consider a first use of
nuclear weapons.
What
exactly is NATO thinking? If the Cold War really is over, why continue to
expand a military alliance designed to counterbalance
What happened to the bonhomie
that was evident at the recent meeting between the leaders of the seven leading
industrialised nations also attended by President Yeltsin?
“The
Cold War may be over, but there is no shortage of conflict about the expansion
of NATO and the degree of influence
But
this week, even though Bill and Helmut and Jacques and Tony were at a summit in
For
this was a NATO summit, and as far as Russians are concerned, despite the end
of the Cold War, NATO is still Lucifer incarnate. It used to be capitalism ganging
up against the
Apart
from the populist opposition to NATO expansion on the grounds of cost, there is
the intellectual opposition on the grounds of diplomatic good sense. George
Kennan, a former ambassador to
Dr
Paul Cornish, a lecturer in defence studies at King’s College,
“I
think that enlargement has been, is, and will be a very risky undertaking,
simply because
Alexander Lebed, former
general and presidential candidate, said this about the Russia-NATO accord:
“
And Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the
Russian Communist Party, the largest in the Russian Duma, and another
presidential candidate, called it an “act of treason”.
But it is not only the
Russians that have changed their mind abut
the West.
“Reds are back under the bed.” “When
“The commies are
back! After several years during which
The Pentagon has brought us
its own bundle of “good news” too.
“Pentagon
close to success with Star Wars missile net” “The United
States strategic missile defence program made an important technologic
breakthrough last month, achieving the first successful testing of a
space-based sensor that tracks and identifies incoming missiles, the Pentagon
said yesterday.
The test was designed
to keep within the new limits imposed by the
The latest test
suggests the
What is so important about
this development that we included it here?
Well, when President Reagan announced the feasibility of the Star Wars
technology in 1983, the Soviet Government went into panic.
In a recent television
documentary, Marshall Akhromeyev, Chief of Soviet
General Staff at that time, said this: “We examined the economics of it, how
much an SDI programme [Strategic Defence Initiative – as the Star Wars system
is officially called] would cost the
And Aleksander
Yakovlev, Politburo member at that time, dded: “This
SDI system would have nullified all our nuclear missile capability. . . We needed a programme to crush the SDI…a
block of concrete that would completely flatten it. So we offered total nuclear disarmament by
the year 2000. SDI would be history.”
So they arranged a meeting
between President Reagan and President Gorbachov.
This took place in
But Reagan’s aids, sensing
what Gorbachov was aiming at, told the President:
“This would kill the SDI system because you could never test it shooting down a
missile.” After which Reagan told Gorbachov: “I am not prepared to give up testing the SDI in
space”.
They promptly parted company
without the accord. On the airport
tarmac, Reagan said to Gorbachov: “You’ve sabotaged
our deal”. But Gorbachov
replied: “No, Mr President. If you agree to prevent an arms race in space…we
can go right back in and sign this treaty now.”
“Well, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” said Reagan and took his plane home. (Inside Story: The Reagan Legacy – Star Wars Pt
2, ABC TV, Sept. 2, 1997).
After the fall of the
They say that they need this
system against the Chinese missiles. Who
are they kidding?
The world may no longer think
of
Now both
“
Warning
this was sinister intent in Iran’s military build-up, Mr Cohen said Tehran was
testing Chinese-made anti-ship missile which can be launched from aircraft, in
addition to the cruise missiles Iran already has on shore and aboard ships. .
. “
“
The
“Israelis warn on Iranian
missiles.” The Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr Yitzhac Mordecai, warned yesterday that
Mr
Mordecai based his assessment on intelligence reports from Israeli and
“We
were surprised to learn that the opposite took place: that
RELIGIOUS NEWS
Now some “good news” from the
religious people. We begin with the
“Pressure on Uniting vote as minister outs herself” “One of the
Uniting Church’s most senior office-holders, the Rev Dorothy McRae-McMahon, has
“outed” herself as a lesbian on the eve of the
Church’s crucial vote on the ordination of homosexual clergy. Ms McRae-McMahon, national director of
mission of the
Ms McRae-McMahon,
a divorced mother of four who is now in a relationship with a woman, said her
homosexuality had not been an issue for her at the time of her ordination. “It has been an issue for around 10 years,”
she said. “It is something I recognise in myself which explains many things in
my life going back to childhood.” Ms
McRae-McMahon, 63, said it had been a “hard decision indeed” to talk openly
about homosexuality, and that it had taken a long time to decide to talk openly
to the Church’s eight national assembly.
“I was shaking as I said it . . . I found it a very hard thing to do,”
she told the ABC Radio. Ms
McRae-McMahon, who describes herself as a “radical evangelical”, said that
after she had “quietly and painfully” made the decision about her homosexuality
she had sensed “an amazing sense of the grace of God and her ministry” (SMH, July 10, 1997).
The decision of McRae-McMahon
to “out” herself, was not an isolated case, but a well co-ordinated manoeuvre
designed to influence the assembly into voting for homosexual clergy.
“Homosexual clergy row ravages Uniting Church” “A split within the Uniting Church –
Australia’s third-biggest – is inevitable following its decision to delay
voting on a proposal for the ordination of homosexual clergy. This leaves in doubt the future of 10 openly
homosexual clergy who “outed” themselves during this
week’s
Aboriginal and
ethnic congregations called on the 261-member assembly to defer decision for
three years because they were not ready to discuss the possibility of ordaining
homosexuals.” (SMH, July 11, 1997).
“Assembly defers vote on clergy” “Tears, joy and bitterness as debate on
homosexuals in the
After an emotional
debate yesterday, in which many of the 261-member assembly were in tears, the
Church failed to take a position on homosexual leaders within the Church. Aboriginal and ethnic congregations had
called on the assembly to defer its decision because they were not ready to
discuss the possibility of ordaining homosexuals. In what was described as a “small victory for
gay and lesbian ministers” by the Church’s director of mission, the Rev Dorothy
McRae-McMahon, conservatives have warned many congregations will leave the
Church in disgust. “I think we’ve moved
just a little bit, because most of the Church probably wasn’t aware that there
was a freedom to bring to ordination people of different sexual orientation,”
Ms McRae-McMahon said. In a resounding
show of support from the assembly, Ms McRae-McMahon, who revealed she was a
lesbian during the congress, received two standing ovations during the final
session on the Church’s report, Uniting
Sexuality and Faith (SMH, July 12, 1997).
Is it not interesting that it
was the Aboriginal and ethnic members that prevented their assembly from voting
for homosexual clergy? The most despised
and least privileged people in the country turned out to be the ones with the
courage to stand up for their beliefs and for what is right. Can you sees now what God means when He says
this?
"I was sought
by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I
said, ‘Here I am, here I am,' to a
nation that was not called by My name.
I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who
walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts.” (Isa.
65:1-2).
Now let us hear the “good
news” from the Anglican Church.
In August this year, Dr
George Carrey, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Church,
visited
He said nothing
about the contemporary scourges that afflict our society: unemployment, crime,
homelessness, illicit drug use, violence, etc. Nothing about the warming of the
planet, the unprecedented floods that ravaged the world this year; nothing
about the tragedy at Thredbo in the Australian Snowy Mountains
in which 18 people were buried alive in a mud slide; nothing about the epidemic
of youth suicides, nothing about the suicide bombing in Jerusalem which killed
15 people and injured 170 - all
of these events making headlines in the Australian media at that very
moment.
That is how Dr Carrey obeys the command of
Jesus Christ to “Watch!” and keep himself and his followers informed of what is
happening in the world, and prepare them for the return of their Lord.
He did however make several references to
the “freedoms which we enjoy in the Anglican Church”.
It wasn’t clear then what freedoms he was
referring to, but that became apparent in another television interview. “I do not object to women priests, nor to
homosexuals serving in the priesthood, though the Anglican Church does not
support a homosexual lifestyle” he said.
Surprised by this logic, the reporter asked him to elaborate. The
Archbishop merely repeated that statement and left it at that. The interviewer got the message and changed
the topic. Few people in the audience
would have understood what was going on.
Not long before his visit to
Dr Carrey was caught between defending his
church’s position on homosexuality, with the reality of homosexuals in its
hierarchy. During the television
interview, he made another statement that apparently caused quite a stir in
Homosexuals in his
church’s hierarchy are not an issue, but the Prince’s marriage to a divorcee
would become one. Any wonder that people
are abandoning this church in droves?
Now, in an attempt
to stem the exodus, they are desperately trying to reunite with the Catholic
Church. Like jumping from the frying pan
into the fire.
But let us hear the “good
news” from the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church - the one who is determined
to make his church “relevant to the kind of society we live in”. And what kind of society do we live in?
“These days you
can hear not only the “f” word on television, but that ultimate taboo, the “c”
word, as well. On any night you can see
feature films or drama full of simulated murder and sex. On Network Ten’s Sex/Life, you can even see soft
pornography, marketed under the guise of infotainment.
It looks as if the
boundaries of taste on television are expanding at a faster rate than Elle Macpherson’s
tummy. The question no longer seems to be what we will hear or see next, but
what we won’t.
This increasing
permissiveness is a worldwide trend, says Madeleine Chincotta,
the head of the division of language and linguistics at the
“If you look at
television throughout
Professor Pam
Peters, a professor of linguistics at Macquarie University, says that as
swearing has become more acceptable in public places or in mixed company, so
too is it more acceptable to find them on television.
Chincotta sees us moving
into public domain those that used to be in the private domain, such as sex or
swearing. The flipside is that people’s morality becomes their own
business. “We used to have a culture
which was homogenous, where people shared values . . . but we are no longer
willing, in many cases, to make judgments about other people’s behaviour. And
if you can’t condemn people, then more and more is tolerated.” Professor Peter Putnis,
a professor of communications at the
So how is the new Moderator
of the Presbyterian Church going to make his church more relevant to this
society?
“Female Ordination Moves Back
On Agenda. The controversy over the ordination of women
in the Presbyterian Church is likely to be resurrected following last’s night’s
appointment of a new pro-female ordination Moderator of the
“We
now have to look at making the Christian Church relevant to the kind of society
we live in,” he said.
As
part of the move to modernise the Church, Dr Ferrington
feels it has to deal with the issue of female ordination, which he says is
confronting all Christian denominations.
“My
faith is based on the scriptures, and in 35 years as a minister I have never
found anything in them that says women should not be ministers,” he said.” (SMH,
1 July 1997).
In 35 years as a
minister he never found anything in the Scriptures that says women should not
be ministers. We don’t know what he
means by “the scriptures”, but this is
what Macquarie Concise Dictionary says: “The
sacred writings of the Old and the New Testaments or of either of them (often
called Holy Scripture or the Scriptures); Holy Writ; the Bible”.
Now this is what these Scriptures have to say about women:
“I
desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without
wrath and doubting; in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in
modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or
pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness,
with good works. Let a woman learn in
silence with all submission. And I do
not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in
silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Nevertheless she will be saved in
childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.”
(1 Tim 2:8-15).
“For
God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the
saints. Let your women keep silent in
the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be
submissive, as the law also says. And if
they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it
is shameful for women to speak in church.” (1 Cor. 14:33-35).
And in the Old Testament we
find this:
"A
woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a
woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God.”
(Deut. 22:5).
Now what does this
have to do with the ordination of women?
Well, the terms “priest” and “minister” are gender terms, and refer to
males only. For a woman to become a “priest” is tantamount to her wearing a
man’s clothes. The question is why do
they want to become “priests” and “ministers” instead of “priestesses”, which
would be the correct term for them? The
answer is that God never had “priestesses” in His congregations. The terms
“priestess” and “priestesses” have always been associated with pagan religions,
hence their desire to become “priests”.
Since in many
churches women’s ordination seems to be closely linked with homosexual
ordination, let us see what the Bible has to say on both these topics.
"If a man
lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an
abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
"You shall
therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the
land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the statutes of the
nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and
therefore I abhor them.” (Lev. 20:13, 22-23).
“Therefore be
imitators of God as dear children. And
walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or
covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not
fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man,
who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the
Let no one deceive
you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon
the sons of disobedience. Therefore do
not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in
the Lord. Walk as children of light (for
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding
out what is acceptable to the Lord. And
have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose
them.
For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them
in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light,
for whatever makes manifest is light.
Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you
who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as
fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph.
5:1-16).
“For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is
manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they
did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Professing to be
wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an
image made like corruptible man-- and birds and four-footed animals and
creeping things.
Therefore God also
gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the
truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason
God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural
use for what is against nature. Likewise
also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for
one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in
themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased
mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all
unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,
unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice
such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those
who practice them.” (
Now some “good
news” from the Catholic Church. In this
church it is easier for a woman to become a “saint” than a “priest”. Why?
Because the Catholic saints do not threaten male priests, nor the status
quo.
The Catholic
“saints” are very different from the Biblical ones. The Bible never applies the term “saint” to
dead people, only to living ones. The
God of the Bible “is not the God of the dead, but of the living'' (Matt.
When the Romans converted to
Christianity, they retained most of their old practices. In the ancient Roman
religion, the priests were being served by the “vestal virgins”. After the
advent of Christianity, these became nuns.
The leading priest in the
Roman religion, Pontifex Maximus, used to “deify” important people after their
death. But after Christianity, he makes them “saints”.
The Catholic Church is
notorious for doing the exact opposite of what the Bible says: sanctifying the
dead, acquiring the titles “Father” and “Holy Father”, worshipping images,
changing the Holy Days, restrictions on food, etc. Is it any wonder that the Holy Spirit seems
to be missing from this church, and that its priests fall victim to these kinds
of perversions?
“Evil priest jailed for 12
years” “
Judge
Cyril Kelly said the case, involving 74 counts of indecent and sexual assault,
was one of the most serious ever dealt with by his
In
the United States, a victim’s support group is predicting that a record $US 120
million damages award last week against the Catholic diocese of Dallas, Texas,
for victims of sexual abuse would unleash a flood of claims worth at least $US
500 million from other people molested by priests. Linkup, a Chicago-based organisation which
says it has a database of 3,800
In
“The front-page
news story, “100 Priests Forced Out Over Sex Offences” (
If they were not
allowed to get married, would they be allowed to live in sin? Would the Church
allow them to use contraceptive methods other than the rhythm method allowed to
parishioners? Would any nuns throughout
“One hundred
priests out over sex, and Bishop Robinson’s reported statement that the Church
has now introduced a policy that bars clergy from being alone with children
unless they are chaperoned by an adult, scares me. I am absolutely bewildered when in the next
breath the Church is considering relaxing the celibacy laws to overcome sexual
abuse of mainly male children by allowing priests to marry. Does the church
expect me to believe that priests who abuse boys do so because they don’t have
a wife with whom they would, I assume, have a marriage built on love, trust and
respect?
As the Church
forbids contraceptives no doubt before long there would be the patter of many
little feet, which fills me with horror. It is absurd for the Church to put
forth the hypothesis that priests who have been trusted by the community to
nurture and guide young children – then consciously destroy the very souls in
their care – are fit to be husbands and fathers. These ghastly men are then left in charge of
their own offspring! Where, I wonder,
will the 100 let go by the Church surface? Will the Church provide psychiatric
services for these creatures or will they be let loose on an unsuspecting
community? I fear the latter. (Pamela Macdonnel,
As Jesus Christ said: “There
is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be
known” (Matt.
“
Although Mr
Yeltsin’s action will win praise overseas, it will be unpopular in
the Catholic and Protestant faiths, would face a lengthy bureaucratic
struggle to be registered. Unregistered
religions would be banned from owning property, preaching in public or
publishing religious texts.
The Orthodox
Church, jealous of its territory, is
bitterly opposed to the operation of foreign missionaries in
Before the last presidential
election Yeltsin was way behind in the polls until the Church intervened and
gave him its blessing. Now what do you
think will happen at the next presidential election? Whoever aspires to that position would have
learned to toe the line of the Orthodox Church first. And what is that line? “The Church leader, Patriarch Alexei II,
compared the flood of missionaries into
“Yeltsin backs curbs on religion” “Moscow: The Russian President, Mr Boris
Yeltsin, has swept aside objections from United States officials and human
rights advocates and signed into law a bill to restrict religious practices in
Russia. Critics contend that the law in
effect overturns
Mr Yeltsin’s
action followed a last-minute appeal last week from the
Now remember not all churches
and religions are the same. The Bible
tells us that the true
"And do not
seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.
For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows
that you need these things. But seek the
Do not fear,
little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom. Sell what you have and give
alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the
heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.” (Luke 12:29-34).
"Ask, and it
will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to
you. For everyone who asks receives, and
he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matt 7:7-8).
PROPHECY ALIVE
When NATO
leaders decided to expand their alliance eastward in spite of strong opposition
from
The
Russians know this too, and are not happy about it. What none of them realise though is that the
present international developments are proceeding exactly as the Biblical
prophecies say they should. And not only
in
When the
American Secretary of State, Dr Madeleine Albright, went to the
“
The
Earlier, Albright
urged the Palestinian people in a direct radio address to join in the battle
against Islamic militants bent on wrecking the peace process.
“The forces of
terror simultaneously deny you your dreams for the future while increasing your
present suffering,” she said. “That is why the average Palestinian has no
greater enemy than Hamas or Islamic Jihad.”
Albright also
called on
spokesman, David Bar-Illan, said last night
the settlements would keep growing naturally with growth of the Jewish families
who live there.” (The Sun-Herald,
September 14, 1997).
"O you
children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a signal-fire
in Beth Haccerem; for disaster appears out of the north, and great destruction.
Thus says the
LORD: ‘Behold, a people comes from the north country, and a great nation will
be raised from the farthest parts of the
earth. They will lay hold on bow and
spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and
they ride on horses, as men of war set in array against you, O daughter of
Zion.’'' (Jer. 6:1, 22-23).
“Now the word of
the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the
land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against
him, and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and
Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks
into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all
splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them
handling swords.
"Therefore,
son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On that day when
My people
“Now the number of
the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.
And thus I saw the
horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red,
hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of
the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire,
smoke, and brimstone. [The prophet saw
the modern versions of armoury: tanks, aeroplanes, helicopters, motorised army
carriers, etc. and described them as best as he could. He gave them animal
characteristics from whose mouths and tails came fire, smoke and brimstone.
Ed.] “By these three plagues a third
of mankind was killed--by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came
out of their mouths. For their power is
in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having
heads; and with them they do harm. But
the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of
the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of
gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor
walk. And they did not repent of their
murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Rev
9:16-21)
"For then there will be great
tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this
time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless
those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake
those days will be shortened.” (Matt
24::21-22).
“The burden against
The cities of Aroer
are forsaken; they will be for flocks which lie down, and no one will make them
afraid.
The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
the kingdom from
"In that day it shall come to pass that
the glory of Jacob will wane, and the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
It shall be as when the harvester gathers
the grain, and reaps the heads with his arm; it shall be as he who gathers
heads of grain in the
In that day a man will look to his Maker,
and his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
He will not look to the altars, the work of
his hands; he will not respect what his fingers have made, nor the wooden
images nor the incense altars. In that day his strong cities will be as a
forsaken bough and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children
of
Woe to the multitude of many people who make
a noise like the roar of the seas, and to the rushing of nations that make a
rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; but God will
rebuke them and they will flee far away, and be chased like the chaff of the
mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before
the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and
the lot of those who rob us.” (Isa.
17:1-14).
“Gather yourselves together, yes, gather
together, O undesirable nation, before the decree is issued, or the day passes
like chaff, before the LORD'S fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of
the LORD'S anger comes upon you!
Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth,
who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that
you will be hidden in the day of the LORD'S anger. For
"I have heard the reproach of
This they shall have for their pride,
because they have reproached and made arrogant threats against the people of
the LORD of hosts. The LORD will be
awesome to them, for He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
people shall worship Him, each one from his place, indeed all the shores of the
nations.
"You Ethiopians also, you shall be
slain by My sword.'' (Zeph. 2:1-12).
“And this shall be the plague with which the
LORD will strike all the people who fought against
It shall come to pass in that day that a
great panic from the LORD will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of
his neighbor, and raise his hand against his neighbor's hand;
“And it shall come to pass that everyone who
is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year
to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of
Tabernacles.”
[They
will not go up to Jerusalem to observe Christmas, Easter, Halloween, birthdays
or other pagan holy days, but the Feast of Tabernacles, a Feast of which the
vast majority of Christians have never even heard of. Ask yourself why. If you
can find the answer to this question, you will understand where the deception
that has enveloped the world comes from, and why this world is marching
unstoppably towards its own doom. Ed.]
“And it shall be that whichever of the
families of the earth do not come up to
It is God’s custom to give people a warning before He
sends disaster upon them. He gives them
the chance to change their life, to repent and turn to Him. The warning has gone out to the whole
world. No one can complain that they
have not been warned.
FUNDAMENTALIST “GOOD
NEWS”
When all other
things have failed, we can always count on the fundamentalist Christians to
deliver us the “good news”. Earlier
this year, a number of evangelists went to
The year 1997-98
has an added significance. This is the
6000th year since the creation of the world - according to the
chronology of the Irish Archbishop Ussher (1581-1635) - and as such this is the
last year of the age of man’s (miss) rule on earth. A thousand years of Sabbatical rest is to
follow for the earth – the
Two major
prophecies must occur before this transitional period is over: two witnesses of
God must preach the Gospel as a witness to all nations, and the “abomination of
desolation” must defile the holy place.
Fundamentalist
preachers believe that both these events are connected with a new temple in
The idea of a new
temple in
When troubles
erupted in
Some even went in
pairs and prepared with proselytising literature, believing that the Israeli
people would convert en masse to their brand of Christianity once they began
their work. But then the unthinkable
happened. The conflict ended almost as
soon as it started, and the Israeli Government, sensing what was happening,
passed a law prohibiting the possession and distribution of proselytising
materials in
"You
are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor,
how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and
trampled underfoot by men.
"You
are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a
basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the
house. Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:13-16).
"And
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide
with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and
will be in you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all
things that I said to you” (John 14:16-17, 26).
If Christians are the salt of
the earth, and the Holy Spirit dwells in them, then they are holy people and
perfectly capable of sanctifying a new place for the
The Bible makes it clear that
God does not dwell in temples made by human hands, and that Jesus Christ
returns to this earth to take His people to Himself, not to live in temples
built by people who do not even believe in Him.
"However,
the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands.” (Acts
“For
you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I
will be their God, and they shall be My people.’''2 Cor. 6:16).
"And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to
Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).
Among those who showed up in
We wondered why they kept
sending them to us until we noticed that much of their writings were directed
against us. These educated people have
taken it upon themselves to oppose us and they made sure that we knew about
it.
We are delighted that at
last, people who know what they are talking about have decided to correct us
and show us where in the Scriptures is it that have we gone wrong. Here is part of what they wrote:
“A
few nights ago I sat with Dr Ernest Martin in the lobby of this hotel and we
discussed many fascinating matters of historical and Biblical research related
to the geography of this place. I think
we were both moved by the idea of where
we were as much as with the topics we were discussing. Dr Martin and I both ended up in Jerusalem at
the same time, though we planned our trips separately, and neither of us knew
the other was coming here until a few days ago. He had come to investigate his
latest insights as to the location of both the first and second Temples —that
of Solomon and Herod. As some of you
know, he is convinced both Temples lay to the south of the traditional location
where the Golden Dome of the Rock is today, over the Gihon
Spring in the ancient City of David.
Although
I made my trip for other reasons, related to my own Biblical, historical, and
archaeological research, having heard about Dr Martin’s new theory I was quite
interested myself in taking a new look at the area he proposes, doing some
measurements, and walking all around the parameters of the ancient City of David. All of these matters of history, geography,
and archaeology have great relevance and application in providing an accurate
translation of the Scriptures, both of the Hebrew Bible and the New
Testament.”
(The Original
Bible Project, June 22, 1997).
Dr Tabor and Dr
Martin have been close friends and collaborators for years, yet this time they
failed to tell each that they were going to
After they met,
they wasted no time before getting down to serious business. They discussed
“many fascinating matters of historical and Biblical research related to the
geography of the place”, then walked “all around the parameters of the ancient City of
David . . . to investigate [Dr
Martin’s] latest insights as to the location of both the first and second
“Most
of you have seen my growth into the truth and rejoiced in it. You can easily
observe how I have abandoned (rightly so) some of my previous beliefs written
in some of my early writings. One of the main reasons I put copyright dates on
my books, articles, and cassette tapes is so that you will understand that what
you read or hear is what I believed then.
Most of what I taught was correct, but some was wrong. But I am still growing
in grace and knowledge. Indeed, I have a brand new book coming out in a
pre-publication issue for all of you on the mailing list titled: “The Temples
that Jerusalem Forgot.” I hope to have
it ready for you in two or three months time.
That book will be a bombshell of new historical and biblical truths that
will change the way people understand the history of Jerusalem and the Temples.
It will rock the religious world of Judaism and the Muslim believers. It will
also shock Christians when they find out the truth about the site of the
Temples. . . With this new information
(much of which I only understood beginning in May this year), the world will
finally comprehend the Bible and its prophecies” (The A.S.K. Communicator, September 1997).
It is a sign of a
noble spirit for someone to acknowledge publicly that he made mistakes. The
problem is, one is not “growing in grace and knowledge” from one error to
another. The Holy Spirit does not lead
people into error but out of it. Those who find that they have been in error
all their lives should ask themselves what spirit was it that guided them.
God does not
appoint people to preach His Gospel until He knows that they are capable of
doing it safely; until they have the foundation from which they can
successfully do so. Dr Martin has been
preaching and publishing religious literature most of his life. Now, at a relatively advanced age, he discovers
that he was wrong, but does not have the moral fortitude to say he is sorry, or
to apologise to those whom he has misled.
They bought his
books in good faith, believing that they contained the truth of God and the way
to salvation. Yet, now they are being
told that they contained no such things.
What they might want to know is, do his books, like all good books,
carry the money back guarantee if not fully satisfied?
He offered a novel
explanation why he put copyright dates on his books. He did not do it to safeguard his authorship,
but to show people what he believed at any particular time in his life. Why anyone would want to know that he does
not tell us. But his new definition of
the copyright law entitles him to a prize for originality and inventiveness.
This year he
produced a new publication - a “bombshell” of a book which will rock the
religious world of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. No one could accuse him of false modesty. Now
he wants people to buy his new book too.
No doubt there will be a stampede for it, particularly from those who
bought his previous books.
In his newsletter,
Dr Martin took issue with our preaching on the doctrine of the Trinity. He wrote:
“The
doctrine of the Trinity, however, is not
biblical. It is a strained doctrine that
tries to combine Greek theological opinions (not found within the pages of the
Holy Bible) with statements made in the New Testament that can only be
understood by reference to Hebrew concepts of theology, not Greek. The Trinity
is really a “church doctrine.”
Does this make sense to you?
Does he mean to say that the theology of the New Testament is different from
that of the Old Testament? These two
parts of the Bible complement each other - one is built upon the other.
The word “Trinity”
is not in the Bible because when the Bible was completed this word was not in
existence. The Apostles felt no need to
explain the Trinity in one word because this was not an issue in their time. This became an issue centuries later when
theologians could not explain it, particularly the role of the Holy Spirit in
the Trinity.
The Apostles knew
exactly what Jesus Christ meant when He spoke of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit. This topic became a major
issue in modern times when people denied the personality of the Holy
Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, the
Trinity becomes a Duality.
The concept of the
Trinity permeates the Bible from the beginning to the end, even though it was
clearly enunciated for the first time by Jesus Christ at the beginning of the
New Testament. This is what He told His
disciples before He rose to heaven:
"Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age.'' Amen.” (Matt. 28:19-20).
If this is not a
Trinity then what is it? Dr Martin
said, “The Trinity is really a “church
doctrine””. A church doctrine? Of course it is a church doctrine – a
doctrine of the true
"Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not
go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to
you. And when He has come, He will convict
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they
do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see
Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. "I still have many things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now. However,
when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for
He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak;
and He will tell you things to come.
"He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare
it to you. All things that the Father
has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to
you.” (John 16:7-15).
Dr Martin calls
the Old Testament, “Hebrew theology”, and the New Testament, “Greek theology”,
and says that it was wrong of us to use the Old Testament to prove this
doctrine. Does he not know that Jesus
Christ and the Apostles referred to the Old Testament hundreds of times? The early Churches of God had nothing by
which they could be guided except the Old Testament. Notice what Apostle Paul told the Corinthian
Church:
“Moreover,
brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the
cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same
spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and
that Rock was Christ. But with most of
them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the
wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we
should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.” (1 Cor. 10:1-6).
The experiences of
Moses and the people of ancient
The Apostles would
have had no problem with us using the "Hebrew theology” to prove the
Trinity, but Dr Martin has, and he knows better for he is Doctor of
Theology.
We have said it
before and say it again: denying the Trinity means denying the personality of
the Holy Spirit, means denying one’s own salvation. And it cannot be otherwise, for this a major
blasphemy.
Jesus Christ made
it clear that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven.
"Therefore
I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven
him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him,
either in this age or in the age to come”(Matt. 12:31-32).
Without the Holy
Spirit what is one is left with?
Nothing! Or, better said, with
the self. While making just one passing
reference to the Holy Spirit, Dr Martin could hardly contain his own self: “I have been true”, “I have tried”, “I have
done”, “I didn’t know”, “I finally turned to God”, “I began to learn”, “I began
to grow”, “I have been successful”, “I am still growing”, “I, only,
understood”, “I”, “I”, “I”, on and on he goes, forty-four times in a single
page.
One of the very
first things people learn when they go through a tertiary institution is to
avoid the pronoun “I” like the plague.
Unless absolutely necessary, one simply does not speak in the first
person. Now what academia did Dr Martin
attend that taught him to write this way?
Is that where he learned his theology too? Was that the Ambassador College of the
Worldwide Church of God? We don’t know,
we just wonder. If we knew we would send
them a copy of his newsletter and ask them to comment on it. They might revise their teaching
methods. After telling us how great he
is, he then took the high moral ground and said:
“It is time to
abandon man’s teaching, and return to the real doctrines of the Bible.
Look at that one major principle. It means that one
can be wrong on one’s teaching on a particular doctrine, but still be right in
regard to this proper principle. As
for me (Ernest L. Martin) I have been wrong on a number of doctrines in the
past but I have still been true to the one
major principle.”
Pretty smart, isn’t it! Turning necessity into virtue. Or is it vice into virtue? Not many people can be right and wrong at the
same time. Can one be wrong “on a number
of doctrines” and still be true to the Bible?
What did the Apostles say about those who preach different doctrines?
“As I urged you
when I went into Macedonia-- remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that
they teach no other doctrine, nor
give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than
godly edification which is in faith.
Now the purpose of
the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from
sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,
desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the
things which they affirm.” (1 Tim. 1:3-7).
“I marvel that you
are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a
different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and
want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
But even if we, or
an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached
to you, let him be accursed. As we have
said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than
what you have received, let him be accursed.
For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I
still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. But I make known to you, brethren, that the
gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I
taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Gal. 1:6-12).
Those who preach other
doctrines or other gospels should be accursed, says Apostle Paul. He also says that his Gospel came from the
revelations of Jesus Christ. Where did
the one preached by Dr Martin come from?
He does not tell us, nor is he telling us what caused his sudden spurt
of “growing in grace and knowledge”. But
he angrily denounces someone’s writings as being “highly intellectual and
sophisticated” as if this was a vice.
Unfortunately he does not tell us who that might be, so we will die and
our curiosity will never be quenched.
When one becomes aware that
he has misled people, he has two choices: (1) Repent, go before God and seek
forgiveness, then tell the people about his errors and how they may be
corrected. Or (2) Cover up his mistakes
with self-serving explanations, then come up with new doctrines in place of the
old ones. It is obvious which path Dr Martin has taken. The problem is, his new doctrines are even
more dangerous and more subversive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ than the old
ones. He says:
“1) The Gospel of
salvation, (what salvation is) showing that we humans are destined to become
the very members of the Family of God with Father as the head and Christ Jesus
as the firstborn Son, and that all of us will be “Firstborn” children in the
same Family by being “in Christ”.
2) The New
Testament teaches unequivocally that all humanity (without the loss of a single
person) will eventually through the efforts of Christ Jesus become members of
that Family.”
In the first point
he reinforces his denial of the Trinity.
He speaks of the Father and the Son only, leaving out the Holy
Spirit. We all know what happens to the
people who deny the Holy Spirit: they cut the branch from underneath their own
feet. Salvation is not possible without
the Holy Spirit. Here is Jesus’ promise again:
“Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not
go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to
you” (John 16:7).
The second point
clearly shows what happens to the people who deny the Holy Spirit: they go off
the rails altogether. The idea that all
human beings will become members of the God Family goes against the very
substance of the New Testament. It is contrary to just about everything Jesus
Christ and His Apostles have preached.
It is an entirely new gospel, and a very dangerous one at that.
What one might
want to know is what redeeming features does he find in people like Hitler,
Stalin, Poll Pot, Satanists, evil people who commit serial rape, murder and
cannibalism, that he wants to save them?
Would you like to have any of these people as neighbours in the
I don’t think
anything would be more abhorrent to a Jewish person than the thought of
spending eternity with Hitler? If the
Israeli people knew what he is preaching, I doubt they would let him step foot
in their land, let alone permit him to lecture them on the temples and their
site.
Here are a few
examples of Scriptures which show just how far from the truth Dr Martin has
derailed.
"Therefore
I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven
him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him,
either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt. 12:31-32).
Not so, says Dr Martin. All blasphemies will be forgiven men, and all
people will be saved.
Jesus Christ said
that there would be a judgement which will separate the righteous from the
wicked.
"When the Son of Man
comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the
throne of His glory. All the nations
will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the
left. Then the King will say to those
on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you
gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you
took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I
was in prison and you came to Me.'
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see
You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a
stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick,
or in prison, and come to You?' And the
King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as
you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
“Then He will also say to
those on the left hand, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no
food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not
take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not
visit Me.' “Then they also will answer
Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or
naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying,
"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the
least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life'' (Matt. 25:31-46).
Not so, says Dr Martin. No one will burn in the everlasting
fire. All human beings, righteous and
wicked alike, will become members of the God Family. Apostle John said that there are sins that
cannot be forgiven.
“If anyone sees his brother
sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him
life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to
death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin
not leading to death.” (I Jn. 5:16-17).
Not
so says Dr Martin, no sin leads to death. All human beings will be saved.
Jude said that there are people “like brute
beasts” who will suffer the “vengeance of eternal fire”.
“And the angels who did not
keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom
and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having
given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are
set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these dreamers defile the
flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with
the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against
him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ But these speak evil of whatever they do not
know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they
corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For
they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for
profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are spots in your love feasts, while
they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds
without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit,
twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their
own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness
forever.” (Jude 1:6-13).
Not so, says Dr Martin. All “dreamers that defile the flesh, reject
authority, and speak evil of dignitaries” will be saved. No one will be “reserved for blackness of
darkness forever”.
Apostle Peter said that there are false
prophets who bring upon themselves their own destruction.
“But there were also false
prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who
will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought
them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2 Pet. 2:1).
Not so, says Dr Martin. No false prophet will
perish. All of them will become members
of the God Family.
We already saw what Apostle Paul thinks of those who
preach false doctrines and false gospels.
Dr Martin has decided that he knows better than all the
writers of the New Testament. His
preaching should be popular with a lot of people, particularly with those who
want to be absolutely sure that they will be saved. He guarantees them all that they will be
saved. Unfortunately we cannot give
such guaranty. We can only assure those
who keep God’s righteous commandments that they will be saved. This places us
at a great disadvantage. Who would want
to follow us?
Talking about God and His commandments is a sure way of getting yourself ostracised these days. But then, how many people of God since the time of Jesus Christ have been popular with this world?
BORN
AGAIN OR RESURRECTED?
Since Dr Martin has changed the meaning of salvation, we are not surprised to find that he has also changed the means by which people can be saved. He has done away with the need to be born again. This is what he wrote in one of his books:
“Is
the Christian “born again” now? Peter
said that Christians were “born again” by the word of God.
(I Peter
1:23). Some have thought this may mean
that Christians are only begotten (that is, conceived) but that the process of
spiritual birth has not yet occurred to them. However, in the next chapter
Peter gives a further illustration that surely cinches the fact that he meant
born (that is, out of the womb) rather than a simple conception and still in
the womb. Peter said: “as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word,
that you may grow thereby" (I Peter 2:2).
This context
given by Peter obviously shows that he considered Christians as already
"born again." Indeed, a person cannot partake of his mother's milk
unless the person is truly born.
However, in the Gospel of John (chapter 3) where Christ spoke of being born
"from above" (as the original Greek has it, and not "born
again"), this is the spiritual birth that Christ is talking about that
occurs at the resurrection from the dead. This is because Christ said that
anyone born of the spirit from above is indeed spirit (and he went on to say
that spirit cannot be observed by humans).
John is speaking about something very different. It is the resurrection
to spiritual life that will occur at the resurrection when Christ returns at
the Second Advent.” (101 Bible Secrets
that Christians Do Not Know, ASK Publications, 1993, pp. 93-94).
He quoted well 1 Peter
“There was a man of the
Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know
that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do
unless God is with him.'' Jesus answered
and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the
If being born again means being resurrected to
spiritual life, what does the role of water play in this process? Are people resurrected into the
Jesus Christ clearly said that being born again means
to be born of water and the Spirit. He
even gave us a personal example by being baptised in the
“He came to His own, and His
own did not receive Him. But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who
believe in His name: who were born, not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
(John 1:11-13).
There are people in this world who were
“born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God”. These people are still in the
world and still in their body, not in the
Being born again means to undergo a process of internal
transformation. But you cannot
distinguish a person who has been born again from one who has not been born again
because there is no outward change. In
other words, the spiritual element that causes people to be born again cannot
be seen. You can see the physical person
and you can see the fruits of the Spirit, but you cannot see the Spirit
Himself. When one is born again, or born
from above, God implants in him His own seed – the Holy Spirit – and from that
moment he is a new person.
This is the purpose of adult baptism – to
allow God to change one into a new person through the Holy Spirit.
“As you have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and
established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with
thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat
you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men,
according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to
Christ. For in Him dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of
all principality and power. In Him you
were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off
the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you
also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised
Him from
the dead.
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all
trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against
us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed
it to the cross . . . ” “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as
though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations . .
.?” “If then you were raised with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the
right hand of God. Set your mind on
things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. When Christ who is our
life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are
on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness,
which is idolatry. Because of these
things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you
yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
Do not lie to one another, since you
have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is
renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where
there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.” (
Could anything be clearer? “Buried with Christ in baptism”, “raised with
Him through faith”, “you died with Christ, have put off the old man, and have
put on the new man”. If this is not
being born again then what is it?
GIFTS
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There is something to be said here about the manifestations that accompany the arrival of the Holy Spirit?
“Now when the Day of
Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven,
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. Then there appeared to them
divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews,
devout men, from every nation under heaven.
And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were
confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marvelled . . .
(Acts 2:1-7).
“While Peter was still
speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the
word. And those of the circumcision who
believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the
Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak
with tongues and magnify God.”
(Acts
10:44-46).
There was a very good reason why the first gifts of the
Holy Spirit were speaking in tongues.
Their mission was to take the Gospel to all nations, and they needed to
speak in those languages. But these days
we have different needs. Since the Bible is universally available in virtually
all languages of the world, the Holy Spirit imparts different gifts, such as
wisdom, knowledge, ministering, discerning of spirits, etc.
“Now concerning spiritual
gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were
Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one
speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that
Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are
differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who
works all in all. But the manifestation
of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given
the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through
the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of
healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another
prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of
tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these
things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members,
but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is
Christ. For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-- and
have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one
member but many.” (1 Cor. 12:1-14).
Notice how all these gifts come through
baptism. When you are immersed into a
watery grave, you die with Christ and rise with Him into a new person. Every person who repents and is baptised
receives at least one gift from the Holy Spirit – the gift of spiritual
understanding. Without this gift people
would have no idea what salvation is all about.
We should not be too surprised that Dr Martin does not believe in being
born again. Since he denies the Holy
Spirit, he has to deny being born again too, for without the Holy Spirit no one
can be born again.
The implications of denying the Holy Spirit
are truly horrendous:
- You deny the Holy Spirit, you have to deny that human beings
are the temples of the living God. So what do you do? You look for a temple
built by human hands.
- You deny the Holy Spirit, you have to deny the Trinity. So what do you do? You create a duality of
Father and Son only.
-
You
deny the Holy Spirit, you have to deny that human beings can be “born
again”. So what do you do? You tell them
that their renewal will take place when they are resurrected to a spiritual
life.
-
You
deny the role of the Holy Spirit in the process of salvation, you have to deny
the judgment of God. So what do you do? You tell people that the judgment
serves no purpose for they will all be saved anyway.
-
You
deny the role of the Holy Spirit in the process of salvation, you have to deny
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So what do you do? You invent a new gospel.
TIMES OF THE RESURRECTIONS
Says Dr Martin:
“As
a result of my “growing in grace and knowledge,” I have some brand new biblical
information about the time periods of the resurrections that humans will
experience in the future. . . You will want to find out just when you will be resurrected (and when all
other people will be resurrected, including infants who died, those who did not
express a faith in Christ in this life, or those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit,
etc.). . . Also, I want to offer for the audio lecture this month, my lecture
on Micah. . . If you want a written transcript, please send an extra $7 to help
us cover the cost of transcription.”
We have reached the end of this age and did not know
“the time periods of the resurrections” until Dr Martin came along to enlighten
us. So what are these periods? He does not tell us, but he gives us the
option of buying his book to find it out for ourselves. But there is another way of finding out his
precious “truth”. Given the fact that
almost everything he preaches is identical to what the Worldwide Church of God
used to preach in the days of Herbert W. Armstrong, when Dr Martin was an
evangelist in that church, we can safely assume that this is identical
too. So all we need to do is look into
an old booklet entitled, Is God Trying to
Save the World Now? which speaks about these things.
Before we do that, it is worth pointing out
that Herbert W. Armstrong was very successful at inculcating his ideas into the
minds of those who passed through his school of thought, but he failed in one
particular point: He did not impress on them the need to acknowledge the source
of their ideas and give credit to whom credit is due. Hardly anyone acknowledges a debt to him
anymore, even though they all preach his theology or versions of it. This is not entirely surprising for
apparently he himself was a great plagiariser.
He borrowed from right, left and centre, but mostly from fringe groups such
as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Yet he hardly
mentioned these people in his writings, let alone acknowledge a debt to
them.
The booklet, Is God Trying to Save the World Now? is made up of two parts. The first and smaller part was written by
Roderick C. Meredith and copyrighted in 1986, while the second and main part
was written by Herbert W. Armstrong and copyrighted 1957 and 1973. Since Meredith merely parrots Herbert W.
Armstrong, we will concentrate on the second part.
In order to understand this topic, we need to look into
the Bible first to see what it has to say about the resurrections. Not surprisingly, it does not say a lot. That
is because there is no need to say a lot – this topic is simple and
straightforward. Apostle Paul made the
following general statement about the resurrections.
“But I do not want you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others
who have no hope. For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in
Jesus. For this we say to you by the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord
will by no means precede those who are asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will
rise first. Then we who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1Thes.
Then there are the statements which tell us when the resurrections
will take place and who will be in them.
We assume everyone knows that the first resurrection was that of Jesus
Christ - the Supreme King and Ruler in the
The second resurrection will be that of the “kings and
priests” who will rule under Him. This will take place not far from now, at the
beginning of the
“Then I looked, and behold, a
Lamb standing on
“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to
open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and
priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’'' (Rev. 5:9-10).
The reason these people are resurrected at
the beginning of the Millennium is that they need to be trained to be kings and
priests. One thousand years has been
allocated for this purpose.
The third resurrection will take place at
the end of the Millennium and will comprise the rest of humanity. These people will be judged and assessed
whether they can be entrusted with eternal life in the
““Then I saw an angel coming down from
heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that
serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on
him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were
finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and
judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been
beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not
worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their
foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a
thousand years. But the rest of the dead
did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who
has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a
thousand years.
Now when the thousand years
have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive
the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and
surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from
God out of heaven and devoured them. The
devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where
the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night
forever and ever. Then I saw a great
white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away. And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and
great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works,
by the things which were written in the books.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered
up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his
works.
Then Death and Hades were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And anyone not found written
in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:1-15).
This then is what the Bible says about “time periods of the
resurrections”. But this is not what
Herbert W Armstrong and his evangelists said. They have invented a forth
resurrection which supposedly gives a second life to the wicked people who have
not repented during this life. How they
can escape the judgment of God and reach that resurrection is anyone’s guess,
nevertheless this is what Herbert W. Armstrong wrote:
“And so it follows, now, that
most of our loved ones who have died unsaved in all probability did not die
lost. In all probability they were not
called, during this age. But their call is coming later. They shall be
resurrected back to life, and given their chance. And you, if you are called –
if God reveals this wonderful truth to your one and only chance now – your chance to prepare and fit
yourself to be used of Christ in the labor of helping to save them, then!
Oh, what great meaning we begin to see in the Christian life! What
glorious meaning we begin to see in the Christian life! What glorious purpose!
What grave responsibility! Will you make your calling and election SURE? And
now, in the light of this wonderful revelation of truth, we should be able to
understand this mater of “predestination.” (p. 23).
“Wonderful revelation of truth” he called
it. That it has no Biblical foundation
and goes against the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Apostles never bothered
him. Now how do you think a sinful
person would feel to hear that he has nothing to fear now, that he has another
life in which he can repent of his sins?
And what will Jesus Christ say, when both He and John the Baptist told
their contemporaries that the
“In those days John the
Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of
“From that time Jesus began
to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’'' (Matt.
Apostle Paul was prepared to give his life
for his countrymen if only they repented. He did not have Herbert W. Armstrong
to enlighten him that they would have another chance in a second life.
And as if this was not enough, HWA linked
the second life with the concept of predestination. You may have guessed it, because the Bible
preaches predestination, he denied it.
“PREDESTINATION-Does the Bible Teach It?” “The very fact of wartime casualties and
accidental deaths has caused a great deal of added sorrow and grief that is
entirely unnecessary - if we understand! Many have grieved in the belief that
loved ones died eternally "lost" - when, if they understood the
truth, these probably were not lost at all.
Several years ago, a man, quite worried over the subject of
predestination, went to a certain minister. "Do you believe in
predestination?" he asked. "The Bible teaches it,
brother," was the minister's reply. The minister tried hard to explain.
"But that doesn't really mean," he said, "that you have nothing to do with your own
salvation. It doesn't mean that it is
all set - your decision and eternal fate all determined for you in advance. You are to make your own decision. But God knows
all things, even in advance. And so he
knows beforehand how you are going to decide." This didn't satisfy the troubled man at
all. "If God knows beforehand how I
am going to decide," he reasoned, “then it is all predetermined, If he
knows in advance I am to be LOST, then
that's the way I'll have to decide in the end. And since I’ll lose out anyway,
why try? On the other hand, if he knows
now I'm going to repent and accept Christ and be saved, I'll have to do it in
the end anyway, whether I try or not. Then my ultimate fate is predetermined. Isn't that what
predestination means -that the
ultimate fate of each one is PREdestined - destined,
or determined, in advance? And if that's so, then we simply are not free moral
agents, and we have nothing to say about it..
The poor man was more discouraged than ever. And no wonder. Neither
could convince the other, because both were arguing from a false premise-that
predestination has to do with whether each individual shall be lost, or
saved. Does the Bible teach that your
ultimate fate is already predestinated? Neither the preacher nor his perplexed
questioner had read carefully what the Bible does say. What confusion we are in today-what
In
this passage, HWA is trying to kill two birds with one stone. He is denying
predestination while preaching free moral agency. He is using some clever arguments to support
his theory. If our fate is determined in
advance, “then we simply are not free moral agents”. Now who said that we must be free moral
agents? I do not want to be a free moral
agent; I want God to be in total control of my life, for I know that if He
leaves it to me I will not make it into His Kingdom.
The Bible does
not support either the idea of free moral agency or that of a second life. It so happens that there is one Biblical
passage which resolves both questions: repentance now or in a future life, and
free moral agency or predestination.
“I tell the truth in Christ,
I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that
I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed
from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are
Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving
of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and
from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally
blessed God. Amen.
But it is not that the word
of God has taken no effect. For they are not all
That is, those who are the
children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of
the promise are counted as the seed. For
this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall
have a son.'' And not only this, but
when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the
children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),
it was said to her, ‘The older shall serve the younger.’
As it is written, ‘Jacob I
have loved, but Esau I have hated.’
What shall we say then? Is
there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’
So then it is not of him who
wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says
to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My
power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and
whom He wills He hardens.
You will say to me then, ‘Why
does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?’ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against
God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like
this?’
Does not the potter have
power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and
another for dishonor?
What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known,
endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy,
which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the
Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” (
Apostle Paul decried the fact that his own
countrymen did not repent now in this life. He would have given his own life
for them, if only they believed the Gospel and repented. He knew nothing about repentance in a future
life, and he should have known for he was taught directly by Jesus Christ
Himself (See 1 Cor. 15:8).
As for the question of free will versus
predestination, what does this mean?
“For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of
Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘The older shall serve the younger.’ Did the fates of Jacob, Esau and the Pharaoh
depend on their own free will or were they predestined for their roles before
they were born? Can the Supreme Potter
do what He wants with His clay? HWA says
no; he wants God to make all vessels for honour.
Now what did Apostle Paul say about those
who did not repent? Was it because they were not called, because they have
never heard of Christ, or because they were not children of Abraham, even
though they were born from his lineage?
One can give these people ten lives not two, and they will still be
doing what they do now.
Herbert W Armstrong starts from two wrong
premises: that all human beings are equal, and that salvation is a right not a
gift. He wants to save people not on the
basis of righteousness, but on whether they have been “called” and heard of
Jesus Christ. God desires that all human
beings be saved, but He knows that all cannot be saved. If you use the Scriptures selectively you can
“prove” almost anything. For example, if
you take the following two passages from Apostle Paul’s epistle to Timothy, you
can “prove” that all human beings will be saved.
“Therefore I exhort first of
all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made
for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet
and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight
of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth. (1 Tim. 2:1-4).
“For to this end we both
labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all
men, especially of those who believe.” (1 Tim. 4:10).
But if you put these verses in their proper
context, you get an entirely different picture.
“This charge I commit to you,
son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that
by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience,
which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of
whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to
Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.“
“Therefore I exhort first of
all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made
for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet
and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
For this is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come
to the knowledge of the truth.”
“Now the Spirit expressly
says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to
deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having
their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and
commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with
thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and
nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is
sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
If you instruct the brethren
in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the
words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But
reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward
godliness. For bodily exercise profits a
little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life
that now is and of that which is to come.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer
reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior
of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach.”
(1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2:1-4; 4:1-11).
Did Apostle Paul say that all human beings
would be saved regardless of what they do in this life? He himself delivered two blasphemers to
Satan. You would not want to be in that
kind of salvation.
And do you think that these people will be
saved? “The Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from
the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking
lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared
with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from
foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe
and know the truth?”
This is why one cannot take verses out of
context and create new doctrines. Those
who do so are the very people who preach doctrines of demons, for both HWA and
Dr Martin preached what Apostle Paul called doctrines of demons: abstinence
from foods, forbidding interracial marriages, etc.
The Scriptures tell us that it is impossible to save
those who turn back from the truth:
“While they promise them
liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is
overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions
of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is
worse for them than the beginning. For
it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,
than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the
true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own
vomit,'’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’” (2 Pet.
2:19-22).
“For it is impossible for
those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have
become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and
the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance,
since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open
shame.” (Heb. 6:4-6).
How could these people ever be saved when
they “crucify again for themselves the Son of God”?
Apostle Paul said that: “If you instruct the
brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ.”
Neither Dr Martin nor Herbert W Armstrong
has instructed the brethren in these things. On the contrary, they have
preached the very opposite: they have given false hope to the wicked that they
would have another life in which to repent, and that all human beings will be
saved regardless of the kind of sins they have committed in this life.
The following parables of Jesus Christ
refute both these ideas.
“On the same day Jesus went
out of the house and sat by the sea. And
great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and
sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Then He spoke many things to
them in parables, saying: ‘Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the
wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.
Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they
immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched,
and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns
sprang up and choked them. But others
fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him
hear!’
And the disciples came and
said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them
in parables?’
He answered and said to them,
‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it has not been given.
For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance;
but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables,
because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they
understand.
And in them the prophecy of
Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "Hearing you will hear and shall not
understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this
people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have
closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest
they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.
But blessed are your eyes for
they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many
prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and
to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it,
then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is
he who received seed by the wayside. But
he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and
immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures
only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the
word, immediately he stumbles. Now he
who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of
this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes
unfruitful. But he who received seed on
the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears
fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.’'' (Matt.
13:1-23).
“Another parable He put forth to them, saying:
‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but
while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his
way. But when the grain had sprouted and
produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
So the servants of the owner
came and said to him, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How
then does it have tares?' He said to
them, "An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, "Do you
want us then to go and gather them up?'
But he said, "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also
uproot the wheat with them. Let both
grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn
them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'' ' ''
Another parable He put forth
to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man
took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but
when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the
birds of the air come and nest in its branches.’
Another parable He spoke to
them: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like
leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all
leavened.’”
All these things Jesus spoke
to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘I will
open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation
of the world.’ Then Jesus sent the
multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying,
‘Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.’
“He answered and said to
them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are
the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the
harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and
they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who
practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will
be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then
the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He
who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matt. 13:24-43).
After hearing all these parables, the
disciples came back to Jesus and asked Him to explain to them the one about the
tares. They had no problem understanding
the ones about the grain seeds, the leaven and the mustard seed, but they could
not understand the one about the tares.
Why? Because this contained
elements which were new and radical for them.
Jesus Christ told them that the world was made up of
two kinds of people: children of God and children of the Devil. He elaborated on this when He spoke to the
Jews later on.
“You are of your father the
devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar
and the father of it.” (John 8:44).
Apostle Paul spoke of children of God and children of
the Devil too.
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God.” (Rom.
“O full of all deceit and all
fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease
perverting the straight ways of the Lord?” (Acts
And so did Apostle John.
“But as many as received Him, to them He
gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”
(John 1:12).
“He who sins is of the devil,
for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (I Jn. 3:8).
The children of the Devil cannot be saved
not because God does not want to save them, but because it is not in their nature
to repent, change, and overcome their trials to the end?
So does God know in advance who will be
saved and who will not, who will repent and who will not?
The question should be, does He know in
advance who are His children and who are not?
Of course He does! He sees their heart and knows which ones are
circumcised and which are not. Those whose hearts are circumcised – through
pain and suffering – have the strength and stamina to overcome to the end.
Those who want to be saved must keep “the righteous
requirements of the law” (Rom. 8:4).
Those who do so, will be saved; those who do not will be damned. Now where is there unrighteousness with God
in this?
If the Devil’s children want to be saved let
them keep the commandments too. But
these people are like the seeds that fall on the side of the road, on shallow
ground or among thorns. They just don’t
last. And if they don’t last, they
cannot be transformed into sons of God that could be entrusted with eternal
life in His Kingdom.
This
is why Jesus Christ said repeatedly that only those who “overcome to the end”
would be saved.
"And you will be hated by all for My
name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”(Mat. 10:22).
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which
is in the midst of the Paradise of God.'' ' (Rev. 2:7).
"He who has an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be
hurt by the second death.'' ' (Rev. 2:11).
"He who has an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give
some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the
stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.'' '
(Rev. 2:17).
"And he who overcomes,
and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations”
(Rev. 2:26).
"He who overcomes shall
be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of
Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
(Rev. 3:5).
"He who overcomes, I
will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.
And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write
on him My new name.” (Rev. 3:12).
"To him who overcomes I
will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My
Father on His throne.” (Rev. 3:21).
"He who overcomes shall
inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
"But the cowardly,
unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and
all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and
brimstone, which is the second death.'' (Rev. 21:7-8).
Therefore salvation is attained through
repentance, changing one’s life, keeping God’s commandments, and overcoming to
the end. This message is clear, simple
and universal. The problem is that
Herbert W. Armstrong invented a new definition of salvation.
“The majority of human beings have
never heard of Christ! They simply do
not know about salvation from sin - God's plan for eternal life - have never
heard the true gospel. They cannot be
saved!” (p. 12).
Where did he
get this idea? From the following two
verses probably:
“Then Peter,
filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of
Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by
what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the
people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before
you whole. This is the "stone,
which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief
cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in
any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we
must be saved.''’” (Acts 4:8-12). “For
there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1
Tim. 2:5).
If you look at these verses carefully, you will notice
they do not say that people cannot be saved if they have not heard of
Christ. They say that Jesus Christ is
the only person who can save them, which is not the same thing. There are many examples in the Bible of
people who have repented and been saved before they heard of Christ. The
prophets and the Patriarchs have had the promise of salvation long before Jesus
Christ was even born. Here is a more
recent example:
“There was a
certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the
Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household,
who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.” (Acts
10:1-2).
You could read the rest of this story in the book of
Acts. You will find there that this
devout man was brought to Christ after he repented. He was directed by God to
contact Apostle Peter, who then baptised him and his household, and they all
received the Holy Spirit. Yet Herbert W.
Armstrong assures us that people in the far corners of the earth cannot be
saved because they have never heard of Christ.
“What of the Ignorant
Heathen?” “We know, of course, the Bible plainly says there is but one name
given under heaven among men whereby we may be saved - the name of Jesus
Christ. Over in
When a young man asked Jesus Christ:
"Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?''
(Matt. 19:16), He did not say: “Well
young man, if you have heard of Me there is nothing more you can do - you will
be saved. But if you have not heard of
Me, you are in trouble, you cannot be saved”.
Preposterous to say the least!
This is what He told him:
"’Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.' He said to Him, ‘Which ones?’ Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder,' ‘You shall not commit
adultery,' ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,' ‘Honor your father and your mother,' and,
‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'
The young man said to Him, ‘All
these things I have kept from my youth.
What do I still lack? Jesus said
to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven;
and come, follow Me.’ But when the young man heard that saying, he went away
sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Then Jesus said to His disciples,
‘Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of heaven. And again I say to
you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter the
We are being brought back over and over again to the same
eternal truth: keeping God’s commandments is what saves people. Just by hearing of Jesus’ name will not do
anyone any good. Jesus Christ said that
even calling on His name without doing the will of God, will not save people:
"But why do you call Me "Lord, Lord,' and do not
do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,' shall enter
the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt.
7:21).
So can the people of
“’Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One,
that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to Him, ‘Which ones?'’ Jesus
said, ‘You shall not murder,' ‘You shall
not commit adultery,' ‘You shall not steal,' ‘You shall not bear false
witness,' ‘Honour your father and your mother,' and, ‘You shall love your
neighbour as yourself.' The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth.
What do I still lack?'' Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell
what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow Me.’''
No one can say that the people of
“Then one of the criminals
who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save
Yourself and us.'' But the other,
answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are
under the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due
reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.'' Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember
me when You come into Your kingdom.''
And Jesus said to him,
"Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in
If Herbert W
Armstrong had been there at Jesus’ feet, he would have shouted: “You cannot do
that, You cannot save this man, he has never heard of You.” In the short time that that man hang on the
cross beside Jesus Christ, he not only
repented of
his sins, but saw the monumental travesty of justice that was taking place then
and there. In his anguish, if he could,
he would have shouted at the people below: “You are making a colossal mistake,
you are killing an innocent man”. But
he realised that it would have made no difference, so he
turned to Jesus and said: “Lord, remember me when You come into Your
Kingdom”. Jesus, perceiving that he
understood what was happening and that he had repented of his sins, promised
him: “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in
“Although I heard, I did not
understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the end of these
things?''
And he said, "Go your
way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the
end. Many shall be purified, made white,
and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall
understand, but the wise shall understand.
But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise
to your inheritance at the end of the days.'' (Dan 12:8-10,13),
So how long did it take the thief on the
cross to repent of his sins and be saved?
Minutes or at most hours. That is why people do not need second lives to
repent, be judged and be saved. The
difference between one thief and another was that one’s sins were not too
grievous and had not become too much of a burden to be repented off. The more one sins, and the later he leaves
his act of repentance, the more difficult it becomes to repent. As Apostle John said, some sins lead
irreversibly to death, others do not.
“If anyone sees his brother
sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him
life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to
death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin
not leading to death.” (I Jn. 5:16-17).
It will be the same at the time of the
judgment. All human beings will be
assessed on the merit of their life, and if they are found worthy of eternal
life they will be saved right then and there by Jesus Christ, not by Buddha,
Confucius, Mohammed, Vishnu,
"Oh, that they had such
a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments,
that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Deut. 5:29).
"Then I will give them one heart, and I
will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh,
and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My
judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their
God. "But as for those whose hearts
follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will
recompense their deeds on their own heads,'' says the Lord GOD.” (Ezek. 11:19-21).
"And I will sanctify My
great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned
in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,'' says the Lord
GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations,
gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from
all your filthiness and from all your idols.
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I
will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I
will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you
will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I
gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” (Ezek.
36:23-28).
The land promised by God to the Patriarchs
is in the new world - the
"To the angel of the
church of Ephesus write, "These things says He who holds the seven stars
in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:
"I know your works, your labor,
your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested
those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you
have persevered and have patience, and have labored
for My name's sake and have not become weary.” (Rev. 2:1-3).
"And to the angel of the
church in
"And to the angel of the
church in Pergamos write, "These things says He who has the sharp
two-edged sword: I know your works,
and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and
did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr,
who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”
Rev. 2:12-13).
"And to the angel of the
church in Thyatira write, "These
things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet
like fine brass: I know your works,
love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are
more than the first.” (Rev. 2:18-19).
"And to the angel of the
church in
"And to the angel of the
church in Philadelphia write, "These things says He who is holy, He who is
true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and
no one opens: I know your works. See, I have set before
you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have
kept My word, and have not denied My name.” (Rev. 3:7-8).
"And to the angel of the
church of the Laodiceans write, "These things
says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of
God: I know your works, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you
are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Because you say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of
nothing'-- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and
naked--I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be
rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your
nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you
may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and
repent. (Rev. 3:14-19).
Notice how “works” are associated with
perseverance, patience, tribulation, poverty, truth, love, service, faith,
etc., and how all these come up to nothing when people become lukewarm as a
result of riches, comfort or carelessness.
TAILOR-MADE THEOLOGY
A neutral observer would have an
impossible task in deciding from the myriad of churches in the world today
which ones preach the truth of God and which do not. Few of these churches seem to care that their
theologies are not compatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the
Their doctrines are more a venue
towards attaining wealth for their leaders than a path towards salvation for
their members. One of the most
successful churches of modern times - the Worldwide Church of God – is one such
church. Its evangelists have been very
prolific in devising doctrines which have little to do with saving their
followers and more with saving their own skins. Their doctrines are so
un-scriptural, it makes one wonder whether they really ever believed them
themselves. Yet in spite of this, and of
the turmoil that has torn that church apart in the last few years, they
continue to attract large number of followers. The explanation can only be that
their tailor-made theology taps into something that is appealing to human
beings.
Most people are attracted by
promises of spiritual fulfilment, and this church certainly provided it,
particularly in the days of Herbert W. Armstrong, when I myself was fortunate
enough to have been briefly a member of that church. Now it may sound curious
that after demolishing its theology and after suffering grievously at the hands
of its ministers, I should give it eulogies now. The truth is, had I never been a member of
that church, I would not be doing this work now. And there is nothing in the world that I
would rather be doing than what I do now.
If I had to pick a moment that best
describes the way I feel towards these people now, it would be the moment Jesus
Christ looked down from the cross at those who rejoiced at His demise and
prayed: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.'' (Luke
23:34).
About two and a
half decades ago, while being a dedicated member of that church, I went to its
headquarters in
Now having to
cope with all the burdens of that church: first, second, and third tithing,
mandatory Holy Day offerings, special offerings, etc. it was very hard for me,
as for all members of that church, to save anything. However being a bachelor and holding a
reasonably well-paid job (I used to work as an electrician those days), I
managed to put aside some savings.
On the basis of
those savings, I calculated that I could safely fly to
Unfortunately,
things did not develop the way I expected them.
When I arrived there, they refused to see me. Believing that it was a matter of mistaken
identity, I insisted on seeing someone from the leadership. But the more I tried the more an impossible
task it became. By the time I realised what was going on, I had passed the
critical point and I no longer had enough money to get back. In desperation, I went to their reception area
and told them that unless I saw someone from the leadership, I would go to the
police and there will be a scandal in the media about the way they treated
me. Soon afterwards two evangelists saw
me. As expected, they showed no interest
in what I had to say, but at least I took the opportunity to tell them about my
condition and asked them to lend me some money to get back home. After giving to that church thousands of
dollars in the previous three years, I thought that the least they could do for
me under those circumstances was to lend me some money.
After some
deliberations they agreed to my request.
They told me to go back to my hotel room and wait there until I heard from them. The next day, two people showed up and led me
to a bus stop. There, they asked me to
board the bus, after which they handed the tickets to the bus driver and told
him something that I did not hear. To my surprise, the bus did not take me to
the airport as I expected, but on the way back to
Four days later, and several bus
changes, I arrived home filthy and famished.
All I wanted to do was to have a shower, eat something and sleep. But the church leaders were not yet finished
with me. They had instructed the two "brethren" with whom I used to
share a flat, to lock me out and confiscate my belongings. What happened afterwards is described at
length in The Christian Herald No
3. Sufficient to say here that after
enduring difficulties that might have killed other people, I decided to get
away from them as far away as I could go. So I immigrated to
But God had different plans for me,
and just as He brought Jonas back to finish the job from which he fled, He did
the same with me. But not before He
ensured that I had the base from which I could finish the job this time.
In
Then, unexpectedly, nearly two
decades after leaving that church, God turned events around in such a way that
I came in conflict with those people once again. When I discovered that they were still
preaching the same doctrines and keeping their members in the same bondage, I
could not hold it anymore and I decided to do something about it. It took me a
long time of thinking and debating within myself what I could do to cause a
change in that demonical regime.
In the end, I came up with the idea
of publishing The Christian Herald and sending it to the leaders of all nations. Without me realising it, what started out as
a work of protest against religious deception and exploitation, ended up by being
an important prophetic work - restoring the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and
preaching it as a witness to all nations.
It is not a mere coincidence that Dr
Martin has decided to stand up against this work. He was a leading evangelist
in the Worldwide Church of God when I visited its headquarters in 1973. We have reasons to believe that a number of
evangelists from that time are behind him now in an effort to discredit
us. Apparently they chose him as their
front by virtue of his high profile and claims to prestige and
scholarship. We wish them good
luck!
ORIGINAL BIBLE OR ORIGINAL GOSPEL?
As promised earlier, we are now returning to the Original Bible Project.
“It is not a
matter of arrogance for me, to make this statement because I will present to my
readers some of the most common sense evidence that anyone could ask for. It is time to look at the Bible in a new and
proper way that will dispense with much of the guessing that prevails in the theological world today about this subject. This book concerns the need for people of the
world to take an interest in and to do their part in “Restoring the Original
Bible.”
You might think that these words come from Dr Tabor’s Original Bible Project Newsletter, but
they don’t. They come from to Dr
Martin’s book, Restoring the Original
Bible (ASK Publications, Portland, OR, 1994, p. i).
Why then do we begin with the words of Dr
Martin instead of those of Dr Tabor? This might give you an idea.
“Four years ago, when I officially began work on the Original Bible Project, with the
encouragement and support of people like Ernest
Martin . . . I remember that I began to speak of this particular Bible as a
“translation for the 21st century.”” (The Original Bible Project, November 8, 1996)
“We expect to have the preliminary
translation work on the Hebrew Bible [like
Dr Martin, he calls the Old Testament, “Hebrew Bible”] with notes completed
by the end of this calendar year. 1998 will be devoted to work on the Greek New
Testament
[it is not “Greek New Testament”
it is God’s New Testament. Just because some of the books were written in the
Greek language does not make it Greek].
Our intentions are to have a preliminary edition of the Bible with notes
available by September 1998. As I have
discussed in previous letters, this particular date has a special significance
historically in that it is the actual marker of the New Millennium – 2000 years
since the birth of Jesus of Nazareth (as documented by Ernest Martin in his book, The
Star that Astonished the World).” (The Original Bible Project, April 6,
1997).
“The work that we have began at “
As many of you know, one could hardly ask
for a more precise description of the
We already quoted his
It is clear from these
examples that Dr Martin’s relationship with Dr Tabor goes beyond mere influence
- it borders on possession. The man can
hardly say anything without mentioning his mentor. He is not merely his junior partner, he is
his mouthpiece as well. One would be
entitled to ask why do they publish two newsletters and double their
expenditure seeing that they co-operate so closely? The answer may be found in the fact that
academics get credit by quoting and being quoted by others. So it serves them well to keep publishing two
newsletters. Kind of mutual admiration society: you scratch my back, I’ll
scratch yours. Dr Tabor says that, “by
paying the most careful attention to place names, locations, distances, and
geography, many important matters of theological and doctrinal interest can be
clarified.” Well, given Dr Martin’s
record with the doctrines, we can well imagine how “clarified” one could be by
“paying the most careful attention” to these matters.
There isn’t really much more
we can say about his “Original Bible
Project” than to quote an edited version of a letter which we sent him
earlier this year.
“Dear Sir,
I have just received your newsletter of
I am not an "Original Bible
associate" and do not intend to be one.
At a time when people are called to
wake-up and prepare for the return of their Lord, when the world is on the
brink of unprecedented calamity, this could be nothing but a work of
distraction and deception.
Talking about a new Bible at such a
time is like playing the fiddle on the roof while the house is burning.
I have been able to find the truth
of God in the existing translations. You too could have found it if your mind
was more on the work of God and less on yourself.
Considering that all the major
translations – from the Septuagint to the King James, New King James, New
International Version and others – have been produced by groups of scholars
working together over long periods of time, it is remarkable that you should
think you could produce a better translation in such a short time. Given your theology and that of Dr Martin, no
doubt you will produce a masterpiece.
Just what is the significance of the
“mysterious devout men” and Stephen's burial place as far as the Bible and the
Gospel are concerned? Are you going to turn his remains into religious relics,
as the Catholics do? Your readers could well
get the impression that this is what is required of them.
And what is the significance of the
The Holy Spirit has preserved for us
what we need to know about salvation, and any claim to the contrary is a
deception. I advise you to read Revelation 22:18-19. You are not merely translating the original
scripts, you are adding to them. That is
dangerous and places you on a collision course with Jesus Christ.
Preaching a return to the
“Original Bible”, which you do, is not the same as preaching a return to the original
Gospel which we do. For while the Bible
has been in the world at all times, this has not been the case with the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Over the centuries,
this Gospel has been hidden behind a veil of tradition and deception to the
point that it is now all but completely lost.
This is why Jesus Christ said that before His return, Elijah must come
and restore all things. Restoring all
things does not mean restoring the Bible but the Gospel, for without the Bible
nothing could be restored. Therefore,
since we have no desire to be part of your “Original Bible Project”, we ask you
to remove our name from your mailing list.”
We sent a similar request to Dr Martin, yet
none of them have complied with our request.
Had they done so, this edition would have been written on different
topics. But they were determined to
challenge us, and now we hope they are pleased with our reply. Now we would like to conclude this article
with the words of Dr Tabor:
“In the four years I have
been sending out these reports we have never once resorted to any hard-sale
methods to raise funds. You have never gotten any dire appeals, emergency
letters, or begging pleas from us and you never will. Not only would I be
unwilling to use such methods, but thankfully, they are entirely
unnecessary.”
This was on page two of his
“Finally, please keep our
Project in mind as you plan your end of the year giving and particularly as we
move into 1997 with our increased expenses. All contributions are tax
deductible. As always I thank you for your faithful support and interest in
this vital Project.”
There is nothing like truth and honesty. But then, you wouldn’t condemn a man for not
remembering everything he wrote in a seven-page newsletter, would you?
If I had to
nominate another organisation, which I felt did a reasonable job in spreading
out the World of God, it would have been the Creation Science Foundation.
When I laid my hands on their
publications for the first time some two decades ago, I was pleasantly
surprised by the complementary nature of their work to my own studies of the
Scriptures. But after spending considerable
time on their publications, I began to detect certain cracks in their
foundation, but trying to tell them about it proved to be an impossible
task. You see, the Creation Science
Foundation was no longer an infant organisation, willing to accept criticism
and correction from just anybody, but a fully-fledged religious organisation,
and like all such respectable organisations it had to preserve its
integrity. And so for years I watched
how brilliant scientific work was compromised by a theology that had nothing to
do with science or the Scriptures.
I remember how at one time,
during one of their seminars, which I used to love attending, I brought to
their attention a book written by one J. W. G. Johnson, entitled, The Crumbling Theory of Evolution. I
thought that it was a good book, full of useful information in the battle
against evolutionism, but they showed no interest in it at all. Their attitude remained a mystery to me for
a long time until I understood that the creationist movement was largely a
Protestant offshoot.
The Catholic Church does not
support it because it does not like its reliance on the Bible, particularly its
literal interpretation of the Genesis account of creation. In the Catholic
Church, the Bible plays a secondary role to tradition and the edicts of the
Pope. The problem with J. W. G. Johnson
was not only that he was a Catholic, but that he had no postgraduate
titles. Anyone who has read Creation Ex Nihilo, the magazine of the
Creation Science Foundation, would know how boisterously its writers displayed
their titles until quite recently.
I once asked them about that
too, and they said that it was done not for personal aggrandisement, but to
show the world the high standard of their contributions. That their scientific contributions are of a
very high standard there is no doubt, but unfortunately one cannot say the same
thing about their theological contributions.
To show you what we mean, we go to the most influential book of all the
creationist literature, the “Bible” of creationism as it is, published by none
other than Dr Henry M. Morris, the doyen of creationism, entitled, The Genesis Record (Baker Book House,
1975).
“Origin of evil” “Cause-and-effect
reasoning accounts for the origin of the concepts of goodness, truth, beauty,
love, and such things as fundamental attributes of the Creator Himself. The origin of physical and moral evils in the
universe is explained in Genesis as a temporary intrusion into God’s perfect
world, allowed by Him as a concession to the principle of human freedom and
responsibility, and also to manifest Himself as Redeemer as well as Creator.”
(p. 19).
No such
explanation is found in Genesis, or anywhere else in the Bible, for the simple
reason that it is not true. This goes
against the very purpose of creation and against the Gospel of the
As for “God’s
perfect world”, this does not come from the Bible either. On the contrary, the Bible makes it clear
that this world is not perfect, was never perfect, and that human beings are to
strive to improve themselves and seek a better world.
Regarding “the concepts of
goodness, truth, beauty, love, and such things as fundamental attributes of the
Creator Himself”, Dr Morris assures us that they are a result of human
“cause-and-effect reasoning”. In other words, God’s attributes originate from
human beings. Putting it differently,
the concept of God is a result of human reasoning.
But what does the Bible say
about these attributes?
“So the LORD said
to Moses, ‘I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found
grace in My sight, and I know you by name.’
And he said, ‘Please, show me Your glory.’ Then He said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will
proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’'' (Exod.
33:17-19).
“Oh, that men would
give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Ps 107:15).
Let no one deceive
you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon
the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are
light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and
truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” (Eph 5:6-10).
“I have seen the God-given task with which the
sons of men are to be occupied. He has made
everything beautiful in its time.
Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find
out the work that God does from beginning to end.” (Eccl 3:10-11).
“He who does not
love does not know God, for God is love.”
(I Jn. 4:8).
So then, the concepts of
goodness, righteousness, truth, beauty and love originate from God Himself, not
from human beings. And no, the origin of
physical and moral evil in the universe is NOT a concession to the principle of
human freedom and responsibility. This
statement reflects a belief in free moral agency, and we know now how true and
Biblical this is. A thorough discussion on free will versus predestination can
be found in The Christian Herald no
6.
Why then was evil allowed
into the world? This is what God says:
“The LORD has made all for
Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” (Prov. 16:4).
“Out of the mouth of the most
High proceedeth not evil and good?” (Lam 3:38, KJV)
“I, even I, am He, and there
is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there
any who can deliver from My hand.” (Deut. 32:39).
“The LORD kills and makes
alive; he brings down to the grave and brings up.
The LORD makes poor and makes
rich; he brings low and lifts up.” (1 Sam 2:6-7).
“I form the light, and create
darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
Some of these
statements horrify people, but we cannot dismiss them just because they do not
conform to our preconceived ideas. Yet
no one needs to fear them because behind them is the most noble feeling and
intention human beings could ever hope for.
Our Creator God is telling us that He created the wicked one because He
needed him to chasten us, to bring out the best in us, to create the right
character in us, so that we could become His spiritual children worthy of
eternal life in His Kingdom.
“And you have forgotten the exhortation
which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of
the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord
loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as
with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which
all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who
corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in
subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” (Heb. 12:5-9).
“Behold what
manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children
of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Beloved, now we
are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we
know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He
is.” (I Jn. 3:1-2).
So human beings
are destined to become fully-fledged sons of God in the same way that Jesus
Christ was the Son of God. This idea is
missing in the creationist literature because their theology is based mainly on
the book of Genesis, and this book does not deal with the purpose of creation
or with the destiny of human beings.
Their theology
revolves around the notion that Adam was perfect, the creation was perfect, and
that was it not for the unfortunate intervention of the wicked one, human
beings and the world would have remained forever.
Nothing could be
further from the truth. Adam was neither
perfect, nor was he ever a spiritual son of God. He was a fully-fledged carnal human being,
and as such he could not please God nor attain eternal life.
“There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was
weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the
righteous requirement of the
law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set
their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the
Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to
be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot
please God. But you are not in the flesh
but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone
does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
And if Christ is in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors-- not to the flesh, to live according to the
flesh. For if you live according to the
flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live. For as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (
But if Adam had not sinned, things would
have been different, someone might say.
Not true. Adam had little choice.
He did nothing that was not expected of him.
We will expand on this shortly, but now let’s go back to Dr Morris.
“When God’s six-day work of creation was
complete, everything in the world was “very good”. There was nothing out of
order, no pain, no suffering, no disease, no struggle for existence, no
disharmony, no sin, and – above all – no
death.” (TGR, p. 105).
Here we have a big leap of faith. From
“everything being very good” to there being “nothing out of order, no pain, no
suffering, no disease, no struggle for existence, no disharmony, no sin,
and--above all--no death”. Well sorry,
this is neither Biblical nor scientific.
Where are the proofs for them?
They are non-existent because they are not true. We shall prove all these shortly, but first
let us resolve the problem with Adam being “very good”, one of the main tenets
of creation scientism. If Adam was “very
good” then he was better than Jesus Christ.
“Now as He was going out on the road, one
came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do
that I may inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me
good? No one is good but One, that is, God.’” (Mark 10:17-18).
If Jesus Christ Himself, a Man who was imbued with the
Holy Spirit and had never sinned, did not think that He was “good”, how much
less was Adam, who never had the Holy Spirit, “very good”? What then do we make of the following
statement?
“Then God saw everything that He had made,
and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth
day.” (Gen. 1:31).
To understand this, imagine a man who had just finished
a house. He goes aside, looks at it and says: this is very good. Does he mean that the house itself is very
good, or that everything involved in its creation - the work, the choice of
materials, the colours, the general aspect of it, the conclusion of the work,
etc. - is very good?
It was the same with God. He looked at His creation and
said that everything was very good. That
must be taken as a general statement, applied to everything as a whole, not as
a specific statement applied to any individual item, because if you do, you end
up with all sorts of problems. Would God
have said that Adam was “very good” when He knew what he was made of and was subject
to all the foibles of human nature? What
does this mean?
“But Jesus did not commit Himself to them,
because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for
He knew what was in man.” (John 2:24-25).
Remember, the God of the Old Testament became the
Christ of the New Testament, therefore all these statements - Genesis 1:31,
Mark
The idea that God created a “perfect world” is simply
not in the Bible. A perfect creation
would not have been derailed from its track so easily and so soon after its
inception by the wicked one.
When Jesus Christ told His followers to, “be perfect,
just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48), He did not mean that
they must aspire towards a condition from which they had fallen, but to one in
which no human being had ever been, including Adam and Eve. One becomes perfect as a precondition for
something that human beings cannot even imagine.
“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen,
nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has
prepared for those who love Him.’'' (1 Cor. 2:9).
Has Adam seen those things before he sinned? If he was “very good” and perfect, why
not? Doesn’t this tell you that neither
Adam nor this world were meant to last forever, that God had intended from the
very beginning that human beings must aspire for something higher than the
human level, something that transcends this world? Says Dr Morris:
“The problem of the existence of evil in a
world created by a holy, loving God is one that has exercised the minds and
hearts of philosophers and theologians through the ages. If God is omnipotent and holy, why does He
permit such things? How, indeed, could evil ever have appeared at all? These questions do not have easy answers.
Atheism, in fact, is largely founded on the pessimistic belief that such an
evil world proves either that God is not good (condoning evil as He does) or
not omnipotent (and therefore unable to correct and remove the evil).” (TGR, p. 105).
Atheism is not founded on these beliefs at
all. Atheism is a denial of God for no
logical reason. Saying these things
about God is not atheism, but blasphemy.
The demons do not like God either, but they do not deny His existence:
“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and
tremble!” (James 2:19).
“The philosophy of dualism
tries to solve the problem by proposing an eternal principle of evil in the
universe, as well as one of good. But such answers as these are, of course,
neither Scriptural nor do they satisfy the needs of the human heart. God is
omnipotent and He is perfectly righteous. Only His revelation, therefore, can
enable us to understand the source and significance of evil in the world. The only true and reasonable answer to this
problem is found here in the third chapter of Genesis. The apostle Paul, referring to this chapter,
says, “Wherefore by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and
so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).
But before man could bring
sin into the world, he must be persuaded to sin by an agent external to
himself, since there was as yet nothing within his own nature to lead him in
such a direction.” ” (TGR, p. 106).
Dr Morris berates the philosophers who come
up with explanations that are not Scriptural, yet how Scriptural are his
explanations? First, he is trying to be
nice to God by absolving Him of any evil in the world. In so doing he contradicts
God Himself, for as we saw, God takes responsibility for everything that
happens in the world. God clearly told us that He created the wicked one and
let him lose in the world, not because He liked to torment us, but out of
necessity. He is using him to teach us
lessons, to create the right character in us so that we may qualify for eternal
life in His Kingdom, something Adam failed to do. What else do these Scriptures mean?
“The creation waits in eager
expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice,
but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself
will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious
freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole
creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the
present time. Not only so, but we
ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (
Yes, we groan and wait for the adoption as
spiritual sons. The following Scriptures
confirm this too:
“Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those
who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted
by God. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your
consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings
which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and
salvation.
And our hope for you is
steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also
you will partake of the consolation.” (2 Cor. 1:3-7).
This raises the question, did God know in
advance that Adam would fall? Of course
He knew it. He knew it because
everything was predestined to happen as it did before the world was created,
Jesus Christ Himself being predestined to die for our sins before the world
was.
“Therefore gird up the loins
of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be
brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not
conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who
called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is
written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.' And
if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each
one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;
knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or
gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot.
“He indeed was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who
through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so
that your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Pet. 1:13-21).
“Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus
Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of
the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.” Eph. 1:3-6).
“For we who have believed do enter that rest,
as He has said: ‘So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,’
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
(Heb. 4:3).
Apostle Peter quoted the Scripture that
says, "Be holy, for I am holy.''
Now we know that Dr Morris thinks that Adam was “very good”, but does he
also think that he was holy? Unless one
becomes holy, controls his impulses and abstains from the temptations of this
world, he cannot please God and cannot be saved. Being saved means to be granted eternal life
in the
Adam himself needed to be saved. Saved from
what, if he had not yet sinned? Saved
from himself, from his own nature.
Because he did not place himself totally at God’s disposal (he wanted to
do his own thing, to find out “the truth” for himself), he ended up by cutting
his spiritual link with the Creator God.
If salvation is achieved in heaven, and if
everything was foreordained to happen as it did before the foundation of the
world, how can anyone say that Adam could have lived forever in this
world? This world was not created to
last forever, but only for a relatively short period of time.
“For He will finish the work
and cut it short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon
the earth.'' (Rom.
So
God will finish the work and cut it short.
But has He not finished His work at the end of the creation week?
Creation scientists say that He has; the Bible says that He has not.
The Scriptures tell us that both God the
Father and Jesus Christ His Son are still working.
“But Jesus answered them, ‘My
Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’'' (John 5:17).
“I must work the works of Him
who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” (John
9:4).
"I have glorified You on
the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with
Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John
17:4-5).
Why is God still working? Because although the physical creation was
finished at the end of the creation week, the spiritual creation had only just
began. In other words, this world was
created so that another creation - a spiritual one - may take place. What does this spiritual creation mean? Here it is once again.
“Therefore, my beloved, as
you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who
works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and
disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God
without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you
shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may
rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored
in vain.” (Phil. 2:12-16).
We are not yet, but we become children of
God if we work out our own salvation according to the will of God. This has noting to do with the sin of
Adam. We would still have had to become
children of God, and qualify for His Kingdom, even if Adam had not sinned. What that sin merely showed us is that on our
own, without the Holy Spirit, we can achieve nothing. And the Holy Spirit is not given to those who
love this life, and disobey God.
"Most assuredly, I say
to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
"He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in
this world will keep it for eternal life.
"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My
servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.” (John
12:24-26).
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Rom. 12:1).
Could anything be clearer? In order to produce much grain, the original
one must die. That was true of Jesus Christ, as it is true of you, and me, and
as it was true of Adam.
Adam was never meant to live forever in his
natural human condition, but he was required to present his body “a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” too.
And did he do it? No, he run away
from God.
Dr Morris said that before Adam sinned there
was “no pain, no suffering, no disease, no struggle for existence, no
disharmony, no sin, and--above all--no death” in the world? Once again, this is neither true nor
Scriptural.
What do we make of the following Scriptures
then?
“Therefore, just as through
one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to
all men, because all sinned--for until the law sin was in the world, but sin is
not imputed when there is no law.
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had
not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a
type of Him who was to come. But the
free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died,
much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus
Christ, abounded to many.” (
Can you see the mistake Dr Morris and his
creation scientists have made? They
assumed that the sin of Adam has brought death to all the living creatures,
when the Bible says that “death spread to all men” only. These people have failed to understand that
this passage does not refer to a physical death, but to a spiritual one. This is proven by the fact that Adam did not
die immediately when he sinned, but went on to live for more than nine hundred
years afterwards. Yet God told him that
the moment he sinned he would die.
“And the LORD God commanded
the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat of it you shall surely die.’''
(Gen
2:16-17).
So did he “surely die” when he sinned? Of course he did it! Not physically, but spiritually. From God’s point of view, our physical death
is nothing. He can resurrect us any
time, but when we die spiritually, we are finished, He is no longer interested
in us. To die spiritually, means to die
of the second death.
“Blessed and holy is he who
has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a
thousand years.” (Rev. 20:6).
“Then Death and Hades were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” (Rev. 20:14).
"He who overcomes shall
inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have
their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second
death.'' (Rev. 21:7-8).
The
second death comes after the judgment of God, and it is irreversible. People die of a second death when they commit
blasphemy too.
"Therefore I say to you,
every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the
Spirit will not be forgiven men.” (Matt. 12:31).
Blasphemy means to offend the Father. Adam offended his Father by disobeying Him,
by running away from Him, by not repenting of his sin, and by blaming his wife
for it. He just could not accept
responsibility for what he had done. He could not bring himself to say: “I am
sorry”, which is a major fault with the people in the world today too.
Now let us continue with Dr Morris.
“But things are not “very good” in the world
now! In the physical realm, everything tends to run down and wear out. In the living world, each animal is engaged
in a perpetual struggle against other animals and against disease, as well as
the universal process of ageing and death . . . Something has gone wrong with
God’s perfect creation.”
“The fact that great
physiological changes took place in both the plant and animal kingdoms at the
time of the curse, as well as in man himself, is obvious from Genesis 3:14-19,
and it is obvious also that changes of such degree are quite within the
capabilities of God to produce.” (TGR,
pp. 105, 109).
Sorry, no such a thing is “obvious from Genesis
“So the LORD God said to the
serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and
more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall
eat dust all the days of your life. And
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her
Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.’ To the woman He said: ‘I will greatly
multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth
children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’
Then to Adam He said,
“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree
of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it': “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil
you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat
the herb of the field. In the sweat of
your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you
were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”'' (Gen. 3:13-19).
Where are the great “physiological changes”
in the plant and animal kingdom here?
The snake was a snake before and after Adam sinned, as were the thorns
and the thistles. That there weren’t any
“physiological changes” is proven by the fact that the snake is still not
eating dust. Snakes do not live on dust.
This was a highly symbolic language, and in the final analysis it
referred to the battle between Jesus Christ and the Devil. As for death in the world before Adam
sinned, is it not obvious from the natural world that death sustains life? The chain of life begins with micro organisms
whose life span is minuscule - minutes, hours or days at the most. These
multiply at an astronomical rate, so that if it weren’t for their short life
span, the world would be buried under mountains of them. Other forms of life then build on these. Even whales in the sea feed on marine
microorganisms. Insects have a short
life span too, but long enough to enable other species, such as birds, to live
on them. And so it goes up the chain of
life - some creatures must die in order that others may survive.
Creationists have made the mistake of
equating the struggle for survival, which is evident all around us, with the
evolutionary theory. Some evolutionists
no longer believe in the struggle for survival.
They say that evolution occurred through mutations.
It is not the struggle for survival nor
mutations that uphold this theory, but the time element which the evolutionary
scientists have tampered with. Take that away, and their theory crumbles and
disappears.
This is precisely where the creation
scientists have done a very good job. They have proven beyond doubt that the
millions and billions of years, on which the evolutionary theory rests, are
nothing but figments of imagination.
Unfortunately they did not leave it at that;
they decided to delve into theology, an area of study in which they are
obviously ill prepared. Their aim of
combating evolution is laudable, but they have chosen the wrong ground on which
to do their battle. They try to use the
Bible to prove that because there was no death in the world before Adam, there
could have been no struggle for survival and therefore no evolution. But there was struggle for survival, and
there was death in the world before Adam sinned too. The problem with Dr Morris is that he takes
the Bible literally when it suits him, and interprets it when it doesn’t. Failing to understand the nature of Adam’s
death, he tries to explain his fall and its effect on the world in terms that
have nothing to do with science or theology, and everything to do with fantasy.
“After the temptation and
fall, God altered the vocal equipment of the animals, including the structure
of the speech centers in their brains. He did this in order to place a still greater
barrier between men and animals and to prevent further use of their bodies by
demonic spirits to deceive man again in this fashion. The body of the serpent, in addition, was
altered even further by eliminating his ability to stand erect, eye-to-eye with
man as it were.”
“Had the Fall never taken
place, animal life would no doubt have remained constant at an optimum
population by divinely directed constraints on the reproductive process.” (TGR, pp. 110, 126).
Is this creation science? Where is the science, and where are
Scriptures in all of this?
There is nothing in the Bible to suggest
even remotely that God produced a second creation, or that He changed the
physiological nature of the animal and plant kingdoms after the fall of
Adam. Except for minor environmental
adaptations, all living creatures are now exactly as they were when God created
them in the first place.
“Something has gone wrong with God’s perfect
creation”, says Dr Morris. Indeed it
has, but not what he thinks. It is the lack of trust and faith in God that
brought Adam down and the same that is bringing the world down now.
Under the guise of scholarship and
erudition, Dr Morris and his creation scientists have introduced concepts which
are neither scientific nor Scriptural, but extremely dangerous and damaging to
the Gospel of the
HEAVENLY SUPPER
II
(Continued from The Christian Herald No 6)
“Father,
now that we are coming to the end of an age and the beginning of another, how
are the Churches going to be organised during the
“Just as
they were organised during the early years of Christianity, except that each
Church will bring its contribution to the Headquarters in
“And it shall come
to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against
Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts,
and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16).
“Right,
Father, but what about Ezekiel 40 to 48? These chapters speak of a new temple
in
“They did, son, they did, but the Jews keep to their tradition.”
“Tradition?”
“Yes, tradition! Don’t you know what the Gentile Christians have done in the name of tradition? Have you ever spoken to an Orthodox Christian, for example, and asked him why he observes the things he does? They think that by changing the name of “idols” to “icons” they can fool God. Or that by placing the name of Christ on their pagan holy days they will bring Christ to their feasts. Have you not seen how, in spite of what Apostle Paul told them, they still keep the doctrines of demons?
“Now the Spirit
expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving
heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines
of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared
with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods
which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and
know the truth.
For every creature
of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with
thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim.
4:1-5).
One church does not eat meat
on Fridays, another does not eat meat at all, another keeps the “lent”, another
does not eat “unclean” meats - one wonders whether there is any use speaking to
these people anymore?
Since the Gentile Christians
have made a mess of the Gospel with their traditions, should we be surprised
that the Jews have done the same?
Besides, don’t you know that animal sacrifices served not only as sin
and burnt offerings, but to feed people as well? If they are going to sacrifice animals, they
may as well do it according to the hygienic and sanitary principles set up in
the Bible.”
“But, Father, how could
people sin during the Millennium if Satan will be locked away?
“Then I saw an
angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand. He laid hold of the
dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a
thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and
set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the
thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a
little while” (Rev. 20:1-3).
“Satan will indeed be locked
away during the Millennium, but don’t forget that human beings are not spirit
beings. They will still have to contend with the pulls of their human
nature. What do the Scriptures say?
“For I delight in the law of God according
to the inward man. But I see another law
in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver
me from this body of death? I thank God
– through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law
of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” (
“For to be carnally minded is death, but to
be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot
please God.” (
As log as human beings are
carnal beings, they shall always have to contend with the law that is set in
their bodies, so even though Satan will not be there to deceive them with false
doctrines, they will still have to watch their relationships with each other
and with God.”
“But what about the
Scriptures which say that the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms
of our Lord?
“Then the seventh angel sounded: And
there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever
and ever!’” (Rev. 11:15).
“This is where a lot of
people have gone wrong. They have
equated the
The two worlds and the two
kinds of people do not mix. They cannot
live side by side. Here are Scriptural examples of both Kingdoms:
“And it shall come to pass that everyone who
is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year
to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of
Tabernacles. And it shall be that
whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to
This shall be the punishment of
“Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing
on
The kingdoms of this world
have become the kingdoms of our Lord in the sense that the 144,000 come from
all tribes and nations, and represent all kingdoms of the world. But the ones who are still living on the
earth are normal human beings.
“But, Father, how do we
explain the Scripture which says that Jesus Christ will be “standing on
“Easy son. That Scripture
does not say that Jesus Christ and His followers will be living there. They will be standing there temporarily, and
that’s all. Afterwards they will be
coming up to heaven where they will be trained to be kings and priests over the
whole world. And as you know, one
thousand years has been allocated for this purpose.
Besides, which
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of
angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered
in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to
Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that
speaks better things than that of Abel.
See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape
who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn
away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now
He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also
heaven.’'' (Heb. 12:22-26).
This
“Thus
says the LORD: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the
house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and
all those things exist,’ says the LORD. n‘But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a
contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.’”
(Isa. 66:1-2).
“So then, Jesus will go down
to the earth at the beginning of the Millennium not to live in temples made by
human hands, but to show His glory, to resurrect His people, and to bring them
back up to heaven with Him and train them.”
“Precisely!”
“But Father, why was there so
much confusion about these things in the world at that time. Did You not explain these things to them?”
“Of course I did it, son, but
they did not believe Me any more than they believed Jesus when He was in the
world. Don’t you know what the
Scriptures say? The whole world had gone
after Satan.
“We know that we are of God, and the whole
world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (I Jn. 5:19).
“Then
a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the
sea, saying, ‘Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down,
and shall not be found anymore . . . for your merchants were the great men of
the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets
and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.’'' (Rev. 18:21, 23-24).
“So while the whole world was
deceived, you restored the Gospel, preached it to the world, yet suffered
persecution for it.”
“And what persecution,
son. As the Scripture say: “The wicked
watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him.” (Ps. 37:32). They not only sought to slay Me, they did it at
the end of My mission too.”
“How long did it take You to complete Your
mission, Father? ”
“Seven years.”
“But does not the Bible say
that this was supposed to be done in three and a half years?”
“It does, but what would you
do if your partner cannot, or would not, do his/her share?”
“I see, so three and a half years for two
became seven years for one.”
“That’s right!”
“Did you tell the people why
You worked for seven years instead of three and a half?”
“Of course not! I could not have finished the work if I did -
they would have killed Me before My time.”
“But were You not supposed to tell them the
truth?”
“I never told them anything
but the truth, but where does it say that I had to tell them everything? They could have found it out for themselves
if they had listened to Me and believed the Scripture.
I followed Jesus’ example -
He did not tell the Pharisees everything either, and that for a very god
reason.
“And the disciples
came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’
He answered and
said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given,
and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be
taken away from him.
Therefore I speak
to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not
hear, nor do they understand. And in
them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "Hearing you will
hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; For
the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with
their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I
should heal them.” But blessed are your
eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you
that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not
see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.’” (Matt. 13:10-17).
The Pharisees kept asking
Jesus for a sign, yet when He gave it to them - the sign of Jonah – they did
not believe it. The Christians kept
looking at
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today,
if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in
the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and
saw My works forty years. Therefore I
was angry with that generation, and said, "They always go astray in their
heart, and they have not known My ways.'
So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest.'' Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you
an evil heart of unbelief in
departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called
“Today,'' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb.
3:7-13).
In other words, just as most
of the Jews of Jesus’ time were not My people, most of the Christians of My
time were not My people either. And why not?
Because their hearts were not right before God – they had “evil hearts
of unbelief”.
“You said, “most of the
Christians were not My people”, which means that some were. Where were these people then, why was there
no one with You?”
“They were deceived or
asleep. Remember the parable of the
virgins? They were all asleep when the
call went out for them to wake up. Half
made it to the wedding chamber, the others did not. I personally gave them that call.”
“Yet they still did not know
who You were.”
“That’s right! They trusted their ministers, the “savage
wolves” who kept them in bondage. The
ministers knew who I was, but instead of telling them about it, they fought Me
to the end. They claimed to be the
ministers of Christ, but instead they were a synagogue of Satan. If they had paid attention to the Scriptures
they would have known exactly who I was and in which church I would make My
appearance. Have you ever considered
these Scriptures?
“And to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who
has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one
opens: I know your works. See, I have
set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little
strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of
Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie-- indeed I will make them
come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to
persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon
the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what
you have, that no one may take your crown.
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and
he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the
name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven
from My God. And I will write on him My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches’'' (Rev. 3:7-13).
“You know, before I showed
Myself to this church, they told everybody that they were the Philadelphia
Church of God, but afterwards they repudiated that claim.”
“Why, Father?”
“Because they realised that
if they were the Philadelphia Church of God they could only have been the
synagogue of Satan within it. They
realised that I was the one with a little strength, who kept the Word of Jesus,
who did not deny His name, and persevered to the end even in the face of the
difficulties they created for Me.
They had everything, yet not
only did they not help, but also opposed Me, denigrated My name, and did
everything in their power to make it impossible for Me to finish the job. Did you notice what the Scriptures say of
this man?
“I will write on him the name of My God and
the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of
heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.”
“Do you understand what this
means?”
“I think I do, Father, but I
would rather let You explain it.”
“First, Jesus Christ puts on
him the name of His God. In other words, this man becomes God Himself.
Second, Jesus Christ puts on
him the name of New Jerusalem. This is none other than the bride of Christ:
“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Rev. 21:2).
Third, Jesus Christ puts on
him His own new name. In other words, this man becomes Jesus Christ
Himself.
So what does this mean? What could one in three and three in one
mean?”
“It means a Trinity of three
equal members whose roles are interchangeable?”
“Bravo!”
IMPROVING ON GOD’S CREATION
“Father,
did You know that the Islamists have found a way to improve on Your creation?”
“Oh! How?”
“Like this:
“Ban on female mutilation overturned.
Judge Abdelaziz
Hamada said the ruling “cancelled” the ban by the Health Minister, Mr Ismail Sallan, on female circumcision, which the court labelled an
“abuse of power”.
“God be praised, we have won
and can apply Islam,” said Sheich Yussef
Badri, an Islamic clergyman who was party to the
suit.” (Agence France – Presse, SMH, June 25,
1997)
“O My daughters, what have they done to you? Gabriel, where are you?
Archangel Gabriel, who was sitting nearby with
Archangel Michael, answered:
“Yes, Father, here I am!”
“Is this what you’ve taught these people?”
“No, Father, I did not! These things are not from us,
but from the Devil and their own imagination.”
“What else have these creatures done in My name?”
“This, Father:
“Islamists
massacre 63”
“Algiers: Sixty-three civilians, including
women and children, were savagely murdered with axes, swords and bullets in the
bloodiest such attack in the Algerian capital, Algiers, since the Islamist
uprising erupted five years ago.” (The
Australian, September 8, 1997).
“Algerian
massacre: 200 die”
“
“Enough! We’ve heard enough of this! We cannot allow
this to go on any longer. It’s time to put an end to this madness, to this age,
and to the Devil. Are you all ready for
the final battle?”
“Yes Father, we are”, answered Archangel
Michael.
“Good!
Then be ready to take your positions.
It won’t be easy - the Devil and his armies will fight to the death”.
“No problems, Father! Our armies are stronger, bigger,
and better equipped than his.”
“I am sure you will do well, boys. When all this done and over, we will all sit
down to a great celebratory feast.”
ALPHA AND OMEGA CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION
AND ITS AFFILIATED CHURCHES’
C O N S T I T U T I O N
1. NAME:
The name of the organisation is: Alpha and Omega Christian Foundation
(Hereafter
it may be referred to as ‘the Foundation’ or
‘A.O.C.F.’)
Member Churches from
different countries shall bear the name “
2. OBJECTS
a)
Alpha and Omega Christian Foundation
and its
b) The Foundation and its
c) Each
d) Administrative matters belong to the local
Churches; spiritual matters belong to the Foundation headquarters.
e) The Foundation and its
f) The Foundation and its
g) The Foundation and its
3. MEMBERSHIP
a) A member of any
b) Membership
into this Foundation is obtained through repentance, baptism, and laying on of
hands, and an ongoing commitment to the way of life espoused by Jesus Christ
and His Apostles.
c) Church Pastors are accredited and appointed
by the Foundation headquarters.
d) Church Pastors determine who and when one
may become a member of their Church.
e) The Pastor shall maintain a list of Church
members with their name, address, date of membership, and their ongoing status
in the Church. The confidentiality of
this list must be strictly observed.
f) A copy of this list must be sent to the
Foundation headquarters, and updated accordingly.
g) All members of the Church must be given the
address of the Foundation headquarters, and encouraged to communicate freely on
any matter of concern.
4. MANAGEMENT
a) Overall responsibility for the affairs of a
local Church, and for maintaining the Christian standards according to the
Scriptures, resides with the Pastor.
b) The direct management of the Church however
is vested in a Council of Elders who are selected and appointed according to
the Biblical principles established by the Apostles.
“Now in those days, when the number of
the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring against the Hebrews by
the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
Then the twelve summoned the multitude
of the disciples and said, ‘It is not desirable that we should leave the word
of God and serve tables. Therefore,
brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the
Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will
give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’'' (Acts
6:1-4).
c)
The Council of Elders may vary in
numbers, depending on the size of the Church.
For
registration purposes however an
d) No member of the Council of Elders shall be
appointed to a salaried office in an A.
O. C. F. Church of God. The Church shall
give no remuneration or other benefit to any member of the Council of Elders,
except repayment of out-of-pocket expenses, and interest at the rate charged by
the local Banks.
(e) The Council of Elders shall determine the
remuneration package for the local Pastor in accordance with the possibilities
of the Church. The Council’s proposals
shall be discussed, amended (if need be) and approved by the Annual General
Meeting of the Church.
5. OFFICE-BEARERS
a) The Council of Elders shall consist of a
President, Secretary, Treasurer and such other officers as shall be deemed
necessary by the Annual General Meeting of the Church.
b) The Council of
Elders shall be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting. Any casual
vacancy occurring among the Council of Elders may be filled by the Council and
the person so appointed to fill the vacancy shall hold office for the unexpired
term of the member so replaced.
c)
The
Pastor is responsible for officiating the religious service of the Church, and
maintaining registers of baptisms, weddings, deceases, etc.
6. NON-DISTRIBUTION OF PROFITS
a) The income and property of an
b) No portion of this income and property shall
be distributed, paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend,
bonus or otherwise by way of profit to or amongst the members of the Church.
c) The requirement contained in (b) shall not,
however, prevent the payment in good faith of:
(1) interest (provided it is based on
the prevailing rate of interest charged by banks, building societies or credit unions for unsecured loans) to
any such member in respect of money advanced by that member to the Church, or
otherwise owing by the Church to the member; or
(2) any
remuneration to any officers or servants of the Church or other person in
return for any services genuinely rendered to the Church.
7. PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS
a) The
Council of Elders may meet together for the dispatch of business, adjourn and
otherwise appoint and regulate its meetings as it thinks fit. The President may at any time, and the
Secretary on the requisition of any two members of the Council, summon a
meeting of the Council.
b) Questions arising at any meeting of the
Council shall be decided by a
majority of votes of those present, and a determination by a majority of the
members of the Council present shall for all purposes be a determination of
the Council as a whole. In case of an equality of votes the Chairman of the
meeting shall have a second or casting vote.
8. VACATION OF OFFICE A vacancy in
the office of a member of the Council occurs, if the member:
a) dies;
b)
becomes insolvent under
administration within the meaning of the Corporations Law;
c)
becomes of unsound mind or a person
whose person or estate is liable to be dealt with in any way under the law
relating to mental health;
d)
resigns office by notice in writing
to the Secretary;
e)
is absent without the consent of the
Council from all meetings of the Council held during a period of six months;
f)
ceases to be a member of the Church;
g)
is expelled as a member in
accordance with rule 20;
h)
holds any office of profit under the
Church;
i)
is directly or indirectly interested
in any contract or proposed contract with the Church;
j)
upon resolution being passed by a
two-thirds majority of members present at a properly constituted general
meeting called for the purpose, is removed from office.
9. FINANCIAL
YEAR: The financial year shall conclude
on the date established by national authorities of the
country
in which the Church resides.
10 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: The Annual General Meeting of members
shall be held during the month
following
the conclusion of the financial year.
The Annual Report and audited financial statements shall
be
presented at this meeting.
11. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETINGS
a) Any three members of the Council of Elders may
at any time convene a Special General Meeting of the Church.
b) Special General Meetings shall also he
convened by the Secretary upon the written request of not less than 10 per cent
in number of the members of the Church, and shall be held within a period of
one month from the date of receipt of the request.
12. QUORUM
a) At General
Meetings a quorum shall consist of 1/3 of the members, and at a Council of
Elders meeting a quorum shall consist of 2/3 of its members.
b) Should
within half an hour of the time set down for a meeting to commence, a quorum be
not present, then the meeting shall be adjourned to a place and to a time
within one month of the date of such meeting, to be determined thereat. At such adjourned meeting a quorum shall be
deemed of those present, provided their number is not less than three.
13. PROCEEDINGS AT GENERAL MEETINGS
(a) The President shall preside as
Chairman at every general meeting, but if he is not present within fifteen
minutes after the time appointed for the holding of the meeting, or is
unwilling to act, then the members present shall elect one of their members to
be chairman of the meeting, a simple majority sufficing.
(b) The Chairman may, with the consent
of any meeting at which a quorum is present (and shall if so directed by the
meeting), adjourn the meeting from time to time and from place to place but no
business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting other than the business
left unfinished at the meeting from which the adjournment took place. When a meeting is adjourned for thirty days
or more, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given as in the case of an
original meeting. Except as previously
provided, it shall not be necessary to give any notice of an adjournment or of
the business to be transacted at an adjourned meeting.
(c) At any general meeting a resolution
put to the vote of a meeting shall be decided on a show of hands unless a poll
is (before or on the declaration of the
result of the show of hands) demanded by the Chairman or by at least three
members present. Unless a poll is so demanded, a declaration by the Chairman
that a resolution has on a show of hands been carried, or carried unanimously,
or by a particular majority, or lost, and an entry to that effect has been made
in the book containing the minutes of the proceedings, shall be conclusive
evidence of the vote in favour of or against the resolution. The demand for a poll may be withdrawn.
(d) If a poll is duly demanded it shall
be taken in such manner and either at once or after an interval or adjournment
or otherwise as the Chairman directs, and the result of the poll shall be the
resolution of the meeting at which the poll was demanded, but a poll demanded
on the election of a Chairman or on a question of adjournment shall be taken forthwith.
(e) In the case of an equality of votes,
whether on a show of hands or on a poll, the Chairman of the meeting shall be
entitled to a second or casting vote.
(f) Each member present and voting at a
general meeting shall have one vote.
14. NOTICE OF MEETINGS: The Secretary
shall give at least seven days notice in writing of all general
meetings to the members of the
Church specifying the place, the day and the hour of meeting and the general
nature of the business to be dealt with at the meeting.
15.
FUNDS
(a) The funds of
the Church shall be deposited in the name of the Church in such bank, building
society or credit union as the Council of Elders may from time to time direct.
(b) Funds raised by
means of a fundraising appeal within the meaning of the Charitable Fundraising
Act must be maintained in accordance with that Act.
16. MAINTENANCE OF BOOKS OF ACCOUNT AND RECORD
The Council of Elders shall ensure appropriate books
of account and record are maintained, including those required to be maintained
under the Charitable Fundraising Act.
17. AUTHORISATION OF ACCOUNTS: All accounts shall be presented to and
passed for payment at a
Council
of Elders meeting and full details of all such approvals shall be entered in
the Minute Book.
18.
AUDIT
(a) The auditor or auditors shall be
elected at the Annual General Meeting.
They shall examine all accounts, vouchers, receipts, books, etc., and
furnish a report thereon to the members at the Annual Meeting. Audits shall be conducted at regular
intervals of not more than twelve months.
(b) An auditor shall not be a member or
closely related to a member of the Council of Elders.
(c) Subject
to paragraph (d) hereof notice of the intention to nominate an auditor to
replace the current auditor shall be given to the Secretary at least twenty-one
days before the Annual General Meeting.
The Secretary shall send a copy of the nomination to the current auditor
at least seven (7) days before the Annual General Meeting. The current auditor shall be entitled to
attend the Annual General Meeting and if that person so wishes, will be heard
at such Annual General Meeting.
(d) Where
the current auditor submits a resignation, or notifies the Secretary of the
intention not to seek re-election as auditor, paragraph (c) hereof shall not
apply.
19.
MINUTES The Council of Elders shall ensure
minutes are made:
a) of
all appointments of the office-bearers and members of the Council;
b) of the names and of members of the Council
present at all meetings of the Church and of the Council;
c) of all proceedings at all meetings of the
Church and of the Council;
d) such minutes shall be signed by the
Chairman of the meeting at which the proceedings were held or by the
Chairman of the next succeeding
meeting.
20. EXPULSION OF MEMBERS
(a) If
a disciplinary action is deemed necessary against a member of the Church, the
steps followed are those established by Jesus Christ.
"If your brother sins against
you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you
have gained your brother. "But if
he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every
word may be established.’ "And if
he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear
the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” (Matt.
18:15-17).
b)
A member may be expelled from membership of the Church, by the Pastor,
or by the Council of Elders if in their opinion, after affording such member an
opportunity of offering an explanation of that person’s conduct either verbally
or in writing as the Pastor and the Council may decide, the conduct of the
member is such as to be detrimental to the best interests of the Church,
provided that:
i) such expulsion shall not be
effective unless it is confirmed by a majority of members present at a Special
General Meeting of members convened to consider the expulsion;
ii) such Special General Meeting is held
within a period of one month from the date of the decision of the Pastor or the
Council of Elders to expel the member;
iii) at such Special General Meeting the member whose expulsion is under consideration
shall be allowed to offer an explanation of that person's conduct verbally or
in writing at the option of such member;
iv) the voting of such Special General
Meeting shall be by ballot if not less than five members present thereat so
demand;
v) it shall be in the power of the
Pastor or the Council of Elders to exclude such member from participation in
the affairs of the Church until such Special General Meeting shall be held.
21.
TRUSTEES
a) Three Trustees shall he elected at a
properly constituted general meeting.
b) All property of whatever kind
belonging to the Church shall be vested in the Trustees and they shall have the
custody of all deeds and documents of title relating to the property of the
Church and shall be responsible for the same and shall deal with and dispose of
all the property of the Church for the time being vested in them and the income
thereof in accordance with the directions of the Council of Elders provided
that such directions are not in violation of the trusts upon which the property
is held.
22. DEREGISTRATION
(a) The
Church shall cease to be registered in the event of membership less than 5
persons, or upon the vote of a three-fourths majority of members present at a
Special General Meeting convened to consider such question.
(b) Upon
a resolution being passed in accordance
with paragraph 22. (a) of this rule, the net assets or property available after
satisfying all debts and liabilities shall, upon determination by the members
of the Church be handed over to another
23. AMENDMENT OF RULES
a) These
rules may be amended by a resolution passed by a two-thirds majority of members
present at any Annual General Meeting at which notice of the proposed amendment
shall have been given or at a Special General Meeting convened for such
purpose.
b) The
Foundation headquarters must be notified in advance of the proposed amendments,
and its approval must be obtained before proceeding with such amendments.
24. INTERNAL DISPUTES
The Pastor in consultation with the
Council of Elders shall ensure that a mechanism is established for resolving
internal disputes within the membership. This may include:
(a) the appointment of an independent
person to arbitrate in the dispute;
(b) a
process to bring the parties together to resolve the dispute at an early stage;
(b) a process to ensure that all parties
receive a full and fair opportunity of presenting their case;
(c)where the dispute cannot be resolved
internally by arbitration or mediation, to refer the matter to a Community
Justice Centre which functions as centre for dispute settlement.
25. COMPLAINTS
The Pastor in consultation with the Council of Elders shall ensure that
a mechanism is established that will properly and effectively deal with complaints
made by members of the public and
grievances from members and employees.
HOUSE CHURCHES
When there are too few people to form an official church, or if they
are unable to attend a church service because of distance, illness, or other
legitimate reasons, they can form a small church in their own home. Jesus Christ said that: “Where two or three
are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them'' (Matt.
1. Begin by playing
or singing a hymn or two;
2. Recite the Lord’s
Prayer. Those present should be given the chance of reciting the Lord’s Prayer
too if they so desire.
3. Play or sing
another hymn;
4. Read a couple of
pages from the Bible or such a length as you are comfortable with. You may
comment on them if you want to.
5. Play or sing
another hymn;
6. Read the “Prayer
and Blessings” page.
In a group, we
recommend reading Prayer and Blessings (1) with the audience responding with
‘Amen’ and ‘Alleluia’ as required. If
alone, Prayer and Blessings (2) is more suitable. When you are alone and you
read P&B (1), you do not need to recite every “Amen” or “Alleluia”, but
only the last one.
7. Play or sing
another hymn;
8. Offer your own
personal prayer.
When you have your
family or guests around you, it is advisable to write down the prayer ahead of
time and read it. There is nothing wrong with that. Better that way than to become lost for
words. This gives you the opportunity to
include your guests and to think carefully about what to say. Don’t rush your prayer. Speak slowly and
thoughtfully about what you say.
9. Play or sing the
final hymn(s).
We have used this
formula for many years, and obtained wonderful results. We are sure you will too if you worship God
in Spirit and truth. By the end of the
service you will feel like a new person: relaxed, recharged, and with a glowing
inner feeling of satisfaction and contentment.
This is what Jesus Christ told a Samaritan woman about worship:
“The
woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that
You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped
on this mountain, and you Jews say that in
Jesus
said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on
this mountain, nor in
You
worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the
Jews.
But
the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
God
is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’'' (John
4:19-24)
Therefore you can worship God
wherever you are without fear that you are at a disadvantage because you cannot
attend an official church service.
Points 2, 6 and 8
should be done in a proper worshipful position.
Points 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 may
be done in any comfortable position. You
may sit on chairs, in a lotus position, or may lie flat on a prayer mat. Even
Jesus Christ prayed in that position sometimes (Matt. 26:39).
Regarding the
hymns for the service, there are many records, disks and cassettes on the
market with wonderful music. Choose the
ones you like. Avoid the ones that worship or sing praises to Mary the mother
of Jesus, to angels and dead people. We
know she is not in Heaven, for no one has rizen to
Heaven beside Jesus Christ, and no one will until after the resurrection.
John
3:13 "No one has ascended to heaven
but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”
Neither does Mary
have any mediating role between humans and God. That role is for Jesus Christ
alone.
This formula can
be used as a model for service in large congregations too. The reading from the
Bible would be replaced by a sermon, and someone else would preferably offer
the general prayer.
To create a more devotional
atmosphere, you may transform a coffee table into a little altar. We have nine candleholders in a U format with
a Bible in the middle on a top platform, and the “Prayer and Blessings” page on
a lower platform. At its right there is
a little container with anointing oil, and on its left, a little bell. You may find that, the atmosphere being so
relaxing, some people may doze off. Use
the bell to signal the transition to the next stage if need be.
You don’t need to
light all the candles all the time. One, two or three will suffice, but if
supply is a problem, light them only during important Holy Days services.
If there is no
male in the house, of if he cannot perform it for any reason, a female may
conduct this service.
Let all human
beings worship God in Spirit and in truth, and let every home become a place of
worship.
“Abide
in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bare fruit of itself, unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” (John 15:4).
GOD’S HOLY
DAYS
As you may all know by now, and as we have
proven in The Christian Herald No 4,
Jesus Christ and His Apostles did not change any of the Holy Days given by God
to the people of
But over the centuries, a great apostasy
has taken place, which has replaced the Biblical Holy Days with counterfeit
holy days which have nothing to do with the New Testament or the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Changing the times set by God for His Holy
Days was foreseen in a major Biblical prophecy.
"Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom
on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms [different because this is a religious kingdom, with the power of the
Devil behind it. Ed.], and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and
break it in pieces. He shall speak pompous
words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand
for a time and times and half a time.’”
(Dan. 7:23, 25
Notice how this counterfeit work is associated with
persecutions of the people of God by a “pompous” creature.
Now why did this “beast” target the Holy Days, which
are part of the law of God and are as immutable as the law itself? Because they identify the people of God! By
derailing them from observing the proper Holy Days, they lost their identity,
lost knowledge of the proper Gospel, and no longer knew who they were, or why
they were created. They were then easily
deceived into observing pagan holy days and believing gospels that have nothing
to do with the
"Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths [God used the term ”Sabbath(s)” for all of His Holy Days including the weekly Sabbath] you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
“You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.
"Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
"It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.' '' (Exod. 31:13-17).
In the New Testament, the “beast” which caused the
people of God to lose their identity, is identified as “
“After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.’
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.’” (Rev. 18:1-5).
If you want to identify yourself with God’s people,
come out of
THE
CHRISTIAN HOLY DAYS FOR THE YEARS
|
|
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
The Passover (Pesah - Nissan 14) Unlike the Jews, who used to kill the
Passover lamb “at the twilight” of Nissan 14 (meaning in the evening towards
Nissan 15), we, Christians, observe the Passover when our “Lamb” – Jesus
Christ – was sacrificed. That happened on the afternoon of Nissan 14,
before the twilight of Nissan 14, meaning that we keep it a little earlier
than the Jews. We commemorate His death, not His supper, which occurred
the previous evening, as some churches do. The time when His body was broken,
not when He broke the symbolic bread. |
|
10 April |
31 March |
19 April |
Days of Unleavened Bread (Nissan 15 – 21) On the first and
seventh days there shall be holy convocations. No work
shall be done on these days. |
|
11 – 17 April |
|
20 – 26 April |
Pentecost (Shavuot –
Sivan 6) |
|
31 May |
21 May |
9 June |
Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah - Tishri 1) |
|
21 Sept. |
11 Sept. |
30 Sept. |
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur – Tishri 10) |
|
30 Sept. |
20 Sept. |
9 Oct. |
Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth -- Tishri 15 – 22) |
|
|
25 Sept. – 2 Oct. |
14 – 21 Oct. |
On the first and the eighth days there shall be holy convocations. No work shall be done on these days.
A few words here about the weekly
Sabbath. Some people have made a major
virtue out of observing it in the strictest sense. They forgot that the Pharisees were very
strict Sabbath keepers, yet that did not prevent them from committing the
greatest sin ever. They did not
understand the truth of God because their heart and their attitude were not
right before God.
Jesus Christ said that the Sabbath was made
for man, not man for the Sabbath, and that He was also the Lord of the Sabbath,
meaning that He could make exceptions when these are needed.
“At that time Jesus went
through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His
disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to
Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing
what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!’
But He said to them, ‘Have you
not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how
he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him
to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you
not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the
Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to
you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I
desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you
would not have condemned the guiltless.
For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’'' (Matt. 12:1-8).
There is a great deal of difference between
our modern society and the pastoral and agrarian society of ancient
“Remember the Sabbath day, to
keep it holy. Six days you shall labor
and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.
In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male
servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is
within your gates.” (Exod. 20:8-10).
It is virtually impossible in our present society
to prevent all people from working on the Sabbath day. Your fridge, stove, oven, lights, radio,
television, etc. work because some “servants” keep them going for you. There are electrical power stations that
cannot be shut, programs that have to be broadcast, traffic lights to be
operated, hospitals and emergency stations to be manned, police stations to be
opened, etc.
The world can never return to a pure
pastoral or agrarian society. The society of the future shall always need
people to operate these things during the Sabbath and during Holy Days. These people perform a function that is
similar to that of the priests who work during the Sabbath and during Holy
Days, and take their rest in other days.
Therefore, we would be hypocrites to condemn
those who make it easy for us to keep the Sabbath if they are unable to keep it
with us. So let us worship God and give
Him thanks that we can keep His Sabbaths and His Holy Days at the appropriate
times, but pray for, and be forgiving towards those who cannot keep them with
us. Let them worship God and take their rest in other days, but let these be as
Sabbath days, not as a days of the Sun (Sundays) or days dedicated to other
pagan gods. Let us conclude with the
following words of wisdom:
“Beloved, do not believe
every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false
prophets have gone out into the world.
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [has come in the form of the Holy Spirit to
dwell in us] is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the
Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
You are of God, little
children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he
who is in the world. They are of the
world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he
who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the
spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” (1
Almighty
Father, we come before You in humble worship, knowing full well that we are
unworthy of the love and mercy
You have shown us! Amen! Lord God
Almighty, we thank You that through the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus Christ
You redeemed us from our sins and
gave us the hope of eternal life! Amen! Heavenly Father, we thank You that
through Your Son Jesus Christ You made the Holy Spirit available to us that we may become Your children too! Amen! O Lamb of God, that takes away the sins
of the world, receive our prayer and grant us Your peace and blessings! Amen! Eternal God, we pray that You fill us
with Your Holy Spirit that He may keep us in remembrance of You and our Lord Jesus Christ, and help us to
overcome the trials
and temptations of this world always! Amen! Our loving Father, forgive our sins,
purify our soul, and heal our sicknesses, that we may serve and worship You
and our Lord Jesus Christ with a pure heart always! Amen!
Almighty God, place Your love and fear
in our hearts that we may never depart from Your ways! Amen! Lord God and Saviour, we beseech You
take our heart in Your hand and lead us to Your heavenly Kingdom where there will be no more pain and
suffering! Amen! Our Father, help us grow in grace and
knowledge, and fulfil the command of our Lord Jesus Christ to become holy
and perfect as You are holy and perfect! Amen! Everlasting Father, we pray that You
place our names in Your Book of Life, that at the resurrection of the just You
may grant us a place in Your Kingdom and be with You and our Lord Jesus
Christ forever! Amen! Wonderful Father, we bless You, praise
You, honour, worship, and glorify You and our Lord Jesus Christ for Your greatness and goodness, and Your
wondrous creation! Amen!
Eternal Father, we love You and our
Lord Jesus Christ with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and shall continue to do so for the rest of our
lives and for eternity! Amen! Holy Father, we now humble ourselves
before You, that we may receive Your blessings: - The Lord God bless us and keep us! - The Lord let His light shine upon us
and pardon us! - The Lord grant us His peace and
blessings! Amen! Alleluia!
PRAYER AND
BLESSINGS (1)
Eternal
Father, we come before You with great joy and humility, asking You to
listen to our prayer not because we are worthy of Your attention, but
because we know that You love those who repent and seek Your forgiveness. Alleluia! In Your
greatness and goodness, You have called us to follow in the steps of Your
Son Jesus Christ, and given us the hope of immortality in Your eternal
Kingdom. Alleluia! Now help us
Father be a light to those who seek to come out of the confusion of this
world, and a guide to those who want to follow Your ways. Help us grow together in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the fellowship of Your Holy Spirit. Alleluia! You have
given us a great responsibility in taking Your Gospel to all nations. Now we pray that You bless those who hear Your Word and accept Your Gospel.
Alleluia! We pray for
those who respond to this call and join us in this work of love and service
to the world. We ask that You heal
and strengthen them to overcome the trials and temptations that may come
their way from this world that is hostile to Your Word.
Alleluia! We are
grateful to You Father for Your love and mercy, and for the understanding,
appreciation and enjoyment of Your creation that You have given us. The
world does not acknowledge Your great power and wisdom, but we do Father,
for You have shown it to us.
Alleluia! Now we pray
that You reveal Yourself to all those who accept Your Word, and turn to You
wherever they are in the world. Alleluia! Bless us
Father, and bless everyone who joins us in this worship and service to You
and to our Lord Jesus Christ. Keep us in good health that we may be able to
fulfil our duties to the end. Alleluia! We offer
special prayer for our brothers in Christ around the world who live under
difficult circumstances. We trust in
You and know that You keep Your Word to bless and protect those who keep
Your commandments and follow Your ways.
Alleluia! We also pray
for those who are in authority over us, “that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” Alleluia! Our Lord
Jesus Christ said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may
have it more abundantly”. We are
grateful to You Father for blessing us abundantly, not with the riches of
this world, but with hope of eternal life in Your wonderful Kingdom.
Alleluia! We ask You
to continue to keep us neither wealthy, that our hearts may depart from
You, nor poor, that we fall into temptations. Do the same Father to all who
understand Your ways, who lay their lives in Your hand, and who worship You
in truth and in spirit.
Alleluia! We honour,
worship, and glorify You and our Lord Jesus Christ wholeheartedly, in whose
name we always come before
You.
Amen!
Alleluia!
PRAYER
AND BLESSINGS (2)