good news 1960 (vol ix no 05) may

8/10/2019 Good News 1960 (Vol IX No 05) May

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I n t e r n a t i o n a l M a g a z i n e o fT H E C H U R C H O F G O D

VOL. IX, NUMBER~~

MAY, 1960

Should We Listen to Others?Is i t wrong to listen to a fel low-member who disagrees with theministers? T o attend other churches? T o listen t o other religious

broadcasts? T o adm it lehouah W itnesses?

FTER you have come to a knowledgeof the TRUTH, have repentedA and been hapti7ed, a n d hy the

Holy Spiri t been put into the t rueChurch of GOD, is it all right to atte ndsome other church

Well, you might reply, heres theway 1 look at it-.

But wait Stop right thereIf you have truly reflented, you have

stopped using human reason and actingaccording to the way you look at it Ifyou had the faith in Christ as personalSaviour to be bapti .4 into Hiin, youwere accepting HIM as your Lord andMaster, to obey what HE says-not theway I O U look at it. If you have receivedGods Holy Spirit, it is to lead you intoall TRUTH-which means unde rstan dingof GODS WOR D,and what it instructson all thcsc qucstions, so that you knowiuhat to obey.

Th e S c r i p t u ra l An s wer

Ther efore you will look into th e Biblefor your answer.

Suppose you live in an area whereGODS Church has not yet established rtlocal congregation. There isno place inreach for you to attend services iinlenj ou attend some other church.

It has seemed to many in this mud-tion that, since Seventh Day Adventistskeep the r ight DAY, t would be all righttn attend the nearest church of theirdenomination. Besides, is it not neces-sary to keep your children in Sabbathschool?

by H e r b e r t W. A r m s t r o n g

It has come to our attention that sev-eral of our members have reasoned inthis manner. Isnt it +zoca~sary, as aChristian duty, to attend regular churchservices?

T h e WORLD has its churches. TheWORLD has its religions, replete withfalse teachings, false doctrines, and paganpractises. O ne of its basic beliefs andpractises is that it is necessary to yoursalvation to ATTEND CHURCH. You seethe slogan: ATTEND CHURCH alongthe highways on billboards. You readthat slogan on the Saturday Churchpage of your daily newspaper. You seeit in signs or bulletin boards posted ou t-side church buildings. You hear it onradio and TV. You have been told bythe world ATTEND CHURCH so manytimes you have cometo assume, withoutthinking, that this is the tenchiiig ofyour Bible.

But IS IT?You may be surprised to know that

there is only one passage i n all the N ewTestament giving any direct instructionto assemble together with others:. . .and let us consider onc another topro-voke unto love and to good works: notforsaking the assembling of ourselveitogether, as the manner of some is; butexhort ing one another: andso much themore, as ye see the day approaching.( H e b . 1 0 : 2 4 - 2 5 ) .

Even there, it is nota direct commandthat you must assemble together withothers in the church-for the simplereason that God knew, when He in-

spired His instruction to us, that somewould be living where there is no churchto attend. Notice, the coiiiiiiaiicl ib. h uforsaking the assembling of ourselvestogether. If there isno church in whichto assemble, you are not forsaking theassembling together. The very words:not forsaking mean you are not toabandon-not to refwe assembling-not to desert assembling. (See dic-tionary). It implies running uway from,o r refusing o assemble.

If you live close enough to on e ofGODS hurches to attend His Sabbathservices, and you refuse to attend, desertattending, abandon attending,or neglectit, then you are breaking this command.

But if you live where God does nothave a church near enough to attend,then you are certainly not refusing,abandoning,or deserting attendance, be-cause that attendance is not in yourpower.

Local ChurchesDoes this mean that God makes ligh

of church attendance-that it is notimportant-that we ough t not to at-tend Not a t all. The Sabbath is a h o lyC O ? ~ L ~ O C U ~ ~ O ? ~Lev. 2 3 : 2 ) , which is iiL ommanded assembly-one you arecommanded to attend. But of course thiscommand applies within realm of yourability. If you are confined to bed withsickness, y o u are uizuble to attend. Ifyou live two hundred miles away fromGODSChurch, you are zmnble to attendwith regularity.


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Page 2 T h e GOOD NEWS May, 1960

International maga zine ofTHE CHURCH OF GOD

ministering to i ts members

scattered abroadVOL. IX NUM BER 5

Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and Editor

Garner Ted ArmstrongExecutive EditorHerman L. HoehMmugging Editor

Roderick C. MeredithAssociate Editor

Address communications to the Editor,ox 1 1 1 Pasadena, California.

Copyright, May, 1960By the Radio Church of God

Be sure to notify us immediately ofchange of address.

During apostolic days many localchurches were established. Andso werethe churches established . . . (Acts1 6 : 5 ) ; So ordain I in all churchessaid the Apostle Paill ( I Cot. 7 : 17 .Noth ing is said about whether they hadlarge and ornate buildings, but the im-plication is that they did not. Somemerely met in the houses of members.T he churches of A sia salu te you.Aquila and Priscilla salute you much inthe Lord, with the church that is irztheir house. ( I Cor. 16:19). I n Col.4 : 15 you read of the church in Nym-phas house in Laodicea-and this evi-dently was one of the importantchurches. There was a church in Phile-mons house (Phile . 2 ) .

However, Scripture teaches againstbrethren assembling in small groups inprivate homes withou t a min i s te r t o leadt h e m You read in Acts 1 4 : 2 3 that Pauland Barnabas ordained elders in everychurch. There were no churches withoutordained leaders. If you did not read thearticle in The GOODNEWS on thispoint of a few brethren in a localitymeeting together when there is no min-ister, write in for it. THIS O U R MEM-

A t t en d i ng O T H E R C h u r c he s ?

BERS A R E FORBIDDEN TO DO

But now what about attendingsome/,ther hurch?

H O W does God say we must worshipHim ? Yot i see signs : i d slogans in theworld t o this effect: Let every manworship God accordili?zg to the dictateJof bi.r ozii i co?zscience. But that is con-trary to GO DS nstruction.

T o a wom an of the w orld, Jesus said:Y e worsh ip ye know not what. The nH e said: G od is a SPIRIT: and theythat worship Him must worship Himin SPIRIT A N D IN TRUTH. ( J o h n 4 . 2 2 ,2 4 ) . God will not accept worship ac-cording to the dictates of mans con-science. To be acceptable to Him youMUST wo rship H im in SPIRIT-that is,

you must have within you HIS HolySpiri t , which He gives only to themthat OBPY H i m A c t s 5 . 3 2 ) and youmust worship Him IN TRUTH. What i sTRUTH? Jesus said Thy Word is truth.You must worship Him according to~ht: IBLE

W ith whom are we to haveFELLOW-SHIP?

The Apostle John, in his first letter,declared Gods TRUTH in order that yealso may have fellowship with us . . .showing we can have fellowship ONLYwith those who know and obey theTRUTH. Do you know any other Church

that knows, believes, preaches, andOBEYS th e TRUTH?-that keep s thetrue Sabbath, and also Gods Holy daysand Festivals; that knows the Resurrec-tion was on the Sabbath and the cruci-fixion on Wednesday; that knows GodsPURPOSE is that we, now mortal, are tobe begotten, and then, after a life ofovercoming, growing in knowledge ofChrist and in grace, developing godlyCHARACTER,re to be BORN of God atwhich t ime we BECOME divine membersof the very God family; that the soulis mortal; that this is not the time Godis trying to save the world, but only

His first-fruits; that Christ is comingto rule all nations with Gods WORLDGOVERNMENT,n earth, for a thousandyears; that the Gospel is the Message oft he KINGDOMOF GOD , which is boththc world-GOVERNMENT of God andthe FAMILY of God into which we maybe born; and many other TRUTHS heldand proclaimed O N LY by this one andonly TRUE Churc h of G od

No other church on earth knows,obeys, and proclaims this TRUTH ofGod

Y O U are to have fellowship onlywith those who know and obey theTRUTH

fellowship: . . . that ye also may havefellowship w ith us: and truly our fe l low-rhzp is with t h e Father, and with HisS o n Jesas Christ. ( I Jno. 1 3 ) .

Our fellowship is, first o f all, WITHGod the Father, and WITH Jesus ChristIf I have fellowship with Christ, andYOU have fellowship with Christ, thenH E oins you and m e tog ether in fellow-ship. You can not have true Christianfellowship with afzy, except those whoalso have fellowship with God theFather and with Christ.

NOW oiitiiiur What Johil Says about

But WHO does have fellowship withGod? Just anybody? Members of world-ly churches? LISTEN If we say that wehave fel lowship with H IM ,and walk indarkness, we lie, and do not the TRUTH:but if w e walk iiz the light, as He is inthe l ight ( t r ut h) , we have fel lowshipone with another. (Verses 6-7) .

Brethren , that narrows fellowship-

assembling together for worship-downto ONLY those who are in GodsTRUTH-the t rue I.IGHT--and who D R F Y it.And that means ONLY those whom G odhas, by H is Holy S pirit, put intoHIST R U E CHURCH. W e are barred f romIelluwsliip ur worship with ariy others.

The Church of God at Corinth wasthreatened with division. It needed correction. WHY? ne preferred Paul as aminister, another wanted to followApollos, another Peter, and some ChristListen to Pauls correction:

God is faithful, by whom ye werecalled u n t o t h e felloiuship of His S o n

Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseechyou, brethren, by the name of our LordJesus Christ, 1HAl YE A L L SPEAK THESAME THING,and there be no divisionsamong you; but that ye be perfectlyjoined together in the same mind andin the same judgment. ( I Cor. 1:9-10 .

W e must have fellowship only withJesus Christ, and those who are joined

all speaking thesame TRUTH.

Now suppose you try to find fellowship with members of a Seventh DayAdventist church. They may worshipo nthe r ight day, but they do not keepGods annual Sabbaths and Festivalsthey do not proclaim the true Gospeof the KINGDOMOF GOD which is torule THE EARTH for the mil lenniumthey do not believe we are to be actually born into the divine, glorifieFA M I LY or Kingdom of God; and theydo break the second Commandmenwith their many idolatrous pictures oa long-haired man they falsely calChrist; they do believe lies and errorsuch as their Sanctuary Question, Investigative Judgment,Mrs. Whites in-spiration as Gods Prop het; going theaven, etc., etc.

Suppose you try to find fellowshipwirh Baprists, Church of Christ, Methodists. They believe in the immortalitof th e soul-if they have not go nModernist-they do not OBEY GodsLaw and therefore cannot have His H olSpirit. There is no basis whatsoever fofellowship with them. They are deceiveand carnal. They are of the UNFRUIT-FUL WORKS OF DARKNESS

God coinmands you: Beye not un-equally yoked together with unbelieversfor ,what f e l lo w sh ip hath righteousness(keeping of Gods Commandments)with z/nvighteoz,mzess? am1 what c o m-

together in the TRUTH


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Map, 1960 The GOOD NEWS Page 3

group standing on the Tabernaclegrounds-that he is not quite sure heagrees w ith som ething one of Godsministers said-r with something saidon the WORLD TOMORROW program-or with something in one of our mag-azines or booklets or articles.

Several times-in fact, almo st everyFestival-someone on the grou nds willapproach one or two members, with anargument , or interpretation of his ownof som e poin t or question of Scripture,which is contrary to the doctrine of

TJsually a crowd begins to gatherquickly. It seems muny are such dumbsheep-so naive and unthi nking , andready to be deceived by Satan-thatthey are ALL EARS at once This sortof thing seems to stimulate a certainexcitement-an interest, to see whatthis fellow has to say, that m any of youmembers just cant resist crowding upto hear him It seems to fascinate you

N o w LISTEN TO GODS EACHINGTh e Apostle Paul, speaking his fare

well to the elders of the large Churchof God at Ephesus, said:

I kno w th is ,that after my departing,h t l l grievous wolves enter in amongyou, not sparing the flock. Alsoof yourown selves shalt men arise, speakingperverse things, to draw away disciplesafter them. (Ac ts 20:29-30).

GODSOWN CHURCH.

THAT ID HAPPEN 1N THAT CHURCHThe greatest danger of ull is when

one who is among us, supposed to beone of us, approaches you with somedoctrine or interpretation CONTRARY to

that of Gods Chu rch, and of G odiiiiiiiswrs.Whether i t be a so-called Jehovah

Witness or even one supposedly amember of Gods own Church, remem-ber THIS COMMAND:

If there come ANY unto you-itdoes not say member of another church-it says if A N Y com e un to you--andbring not th i s doct r ine , RECEIV E HI MN O T I N T O Y O U R H O U S E . . .DONT LISTEN TO HIM

I F you see a little group gatheringaround a man or woman on the Taber-nacle grounds-or at your local church

-and this person is disagreeing withGods ministers or Gods Church, re-p o r t this t o a minister or deacon ATONCE

There have been at least two diffcrcntWOMEN who have come to the Tabernacle either at Passover time or theFeast of Tabernacles, who devoted themselves busily to trying to teach dilferenand false doctrines-especially to thewomen. WE H AV E H A D TO PUT THEMOFF THE GROUNDS, and forbid them toreturn. One woman tried to argue contrary doctrines privately, in the tentsand steel booths of members, hoping no

vturtion huib L I G H Z TRUIH) withdurkness? . . . WHEREFORE COME OUT

ARATE, SAITH THE LORD, (11 Cor.

IN, But Not OF t h e WorldAll this does not iiieaii that we can-

not have any contxts with the world,orpeople of other beliefs. It does not m eanthat you cannot buy groceries or mer-chandise ill a b w r e srnffeci with unbe-lievers, or with professing Christians ofother beliefs.

Paul clears this up: 1 did not meanyou were literally to avoid contact withthe immoral of this world, with thelustful and the thievish, or with idol-aters; in that case you would have toleave the world altogether. W ha t Inow write is that you are not to asso-ciate with any so-culled brother. . . .Associate with him? Do not even eatwith him. ( I Cor. 5:lO-11 Moffattt ranslat ion).

W e a re n ot to have social or religiousFELLOWSHIP-c1ose friendship-withany except those who know and OBEYthe TRUTH. W e must not try to WOR-SHIP with them-attend their churches.

In Jesus last prayer for His Church-- F O R Us -He prayed the Father: Ihave given them THY WORD nd theworld hath hated them, because theyare not OF the world, even as I am notOF the world. I pray n o t that thoushouldst take them out of the world, butthat Thou shouldst keep them from theevi l . (John 17:14-15) .

Again God instructs through Paul:Have NO FELLOW SHIP with thc un-fruitful works of darkness. (E ph.5 : l l ) .

You can WORSHIP GOD hree times aday-in a private room, behind closeddoors-on your knees , in praye r. DOYOU?

You can have FAMILY WORSHIP inyour own home-husband, wife, andchildren-every morning. DO Y O U ?

You can join THOUSANDS of our ownChurch brcthrcn in D A I LY WORSHIP, bysitting quietly before your radio w hileThe WORLD TOMORROW program is on

the air. Do YOU?If you hunger for fellowship, remeni-ber you can, and MIJST, for t rue wor-ship, have regular daily fellowship w ithChrist, and with God t he Father, towhom Christ has given y o u direct accessin prayer

S hou l d You A d m i tJehovah Wi tnesses?

When the so-cal lcd Jehovah Wit-nesses come to your door, should youadmit them?

W ell, the way I look a t it, somemight say, is this: i t would be dis-

FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE YE SEP-

6: 1 4 -17 ) .

courteous not to admit them, and thatwould not be Christian, wouid i t?

B UT HOW DOES GOD LOOK AT IT?God says My thoughts are not your

thoughts, neither are your ways myways, sa ith the LORD. (Isa. 5 > : 8 ) .

What does God COMMAND?For inany deceivers (including

Jehovah Witnesses) are entered intothe world. . . . Wh osoever transgresseth,and abideth not (obeys not ) in thedoctrine of Christ, hath not God. . . . I fthere come any unto you, and bring notthis doctr ine (of Christ, and of tiodstrue C,hurch), eceive him not into yourhouse, neither bid him God-speed: forhe that biddeth him God-speed is par-taker of his evil deeds. (11 Jn o.7 - 11 ) .

Thcsc Jchovah Witness people DONOT OBEY GOD They argue againstGods Commandments, and especiallyagainst th e Sabbath. Reports reacnus ofscores of them who lie when they sayI was formerly a member of their sect.So do som e Seventh Day Adventists lie,or at least willingly misrepresent, whenthey say I formerly was one of them.

Both of these sects will argue Scrip-ture, in a spirit of content ion, whichyour Bible forbids. Jehovah Wirnrsspeople especially will argue againstGods Law. They DO transgress GodsLaw, and they abide not in the doctrineof CHKLJI. Therefore their deeds areE V I L . God says you, also, are partakerwith them of th eir evil deeds if youre-ceive them into your home.

Shall you, then, be discourteous or un-Christian? Of course not. When these

people come to your door, just smile andtell them politely, bui FIRMLY, yuu arenot interested-you do not discussre-ligion-and be closing your door as yousay it, and be sure you DO close it assoon as you have said merely that shortsentence. DONOT give them any chanceto talk back, or continue the conversa-tion, or get you into an argument.

cannot talk them into the TRUTH Ifyou already KNOW the truth, they can-no^ deceive you with their false teach-ings, or talk y o u into anything. Anyfurther conversation with one of these

people are IDLE WORDS, for which youshall have to give account in the judg-ment

T h e G R E AT E S T D a n g e r of A L LBut all these temptations to ensnare

you into the world-into false doctrines-into forb idden fellowship o r falseworship are mild compared to theo n ein oar oery midst HARDEST OF ALL TORESIST

That is the impulse to listen to theprofessed BROTHER in the Church-onesupposedly of our own membership-wh o begin s to say to you-or to a

YOU CANNOT CHANGE THEM YOU


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Page 4 The GOOD NEWS May 1960

to be seen, or caught by one of theministers.

It is your duty to report such an ac-tivity to a minister or deacon IMMEDI-ATELY

Didnt I Say, LISTEN?But some will say, But didnt you

say, over the air, for us to LISTEN toYOU, and also to LISTEN to all others,bur not to believe you, and not to be-lieve the others, but believe what wesee in the Bible?

BRE T HRE N Wh e n I speak on thet i ir, I am speaking to the outsideWORLD-to thc unconvcrtcd.I am not spcakingjust to those who should alreadyKNOWthe truth.

These people all around the world,who l isten to me on the radio, do notknow whether I am a false prophet, aminister of God , or WHAT. T o the m,YES, I say, DO NOT BELIEVE M E N -BELIEVE YOUR BIBLE

That is what you should have done-before you knew the TRUTH. Probablyit was because you did do that , thaty o usaw the TRUTH with your own eyes inyour Bible. Perhaps THAT is whatbrought you into the truth, and led youto Gods one and only true Church

To people who do not KNOW thatthis is the ONLY true Church of God, Ic1 1 qay those v e r y things.

But to you who have PROVED this isGODSCHURCH,t is different.

BUT, you say, are you no lon ger sup -posed to PROVE ALL THINGS, by yourown BIBLE? Yes, of course you are

Then is it wrong for you to PROVETHESE THINGS FOR YOURSELF,n yourown Bib le? No t a t all W ha t we say is,d o n o t listen any longer to those whobring a DIFFERENT doctrin e If youhave already seen these truthsfor y o u r-self-already PROVED them in your ownBible-already proved this is the trueChurch of God, then GODSTEACHING,:IS I have s h o w u you in this ariicle lroiiithe BIBLE , s, DO NOT LISTEN to thosewho bring a different doctrine.

In Gods Church, we ministers do nottell you what to believe, and commandyou to believe US, without even lookinginto your Bible. Th at is what th e Roma nCatholic Chu rch does-but not GodsChurch.

Of what does the preaching of Godsministers consist? Do we not PREACHTHE W O K U , just as we are commanded?(11 Tim. 4 : l - 2 ) . Do not our sermonst o you in the Church consist of EX-POUNDING the Scriptures---af PROVINGto you, in your own Bibles, the truecloctrines of G o d ?

What about thr ilrtic1t.s w c write?Do they not consist of expounding theScriptures, P R O V I N G the truth by theScriptures, so you can see these things

for yourselves in your o w n Bibles? Isnot that what I am do ing NOW, in thisvery article? Am I now asking you tomerely believe ME-to take my wo rd,without proving i t to you by GODSWORD?

But suppose, when you study yourown Bible, you come across somethingyou feel is contrary to the teachingof

the Church? Must you hide your eyesfrom what you see in your Bible? CER-

Well then, can you go to othermembers with it, to set them straight?CERTAINLY NOT-that wo uld only tendto cuuse division. The Bible teachesthat we must all SPEAK THE SAMETHING.

TAINLY NOT

Well, what shall you do, then?LISTEN UND ERSTA ND HIS You

m u s t not go to any other inember withwhat you feel you have found is con-trary to the Churchs teaching. Instead,YOU MUST B R I N G IT TO THE MINISTERS

If you are a member of a local congre-gation, take it to your pastor. Go intoit WITH HIM-but with N O O N E ELSE,lest you foment division, and be castout of the Church If there is no localpastor, brin g i t to one of Gods minis-ters, or write it to HEADQUARTERS.

Gods ministers will go into it withyou. If you are right-if you have found

in error, then WE WANT TO KNOW IT.W e hate error, and love truth, eventhough the truth correct and reproveus Bring it to us. If YOU a rc wrong,we will patiently show you, and explain

it more perfectly to you. IfWE

arewrong, we will correct it BEFORE THEWHOLE CHURCH, so that ALL the Churchmay, with on e mind, believe theTRUTH,and speak the SAME THING

If any other member comes to y o uto point out where the Church is wrong--Do NOT LISTEN Rather, tell him t ot ake it t o t h e C H U R C H And thenreport him to Headquarters.

This, Brethren, is the ONLY way wecan have unity

a n y place i n the Rihle wh e re we Rre

A U T H O R I T Yof the Church

When you repented, you repented ofrebellion against God and His govern-ment. You surrendered to OBEY Godsgovernment. And God carr ies out Hisgovernment THROUGH HIS CHURCH

Has G od given His ChurchAUTHOR-ITY to determine DOCTRINE? Yes, in-deed H e has.

In the Apostolic days God set up HisHEADQUARTERS Church at Jerusalem.There are some matters of doctrine, o rprocedure, which do not appear plainco all members alike in the Scriptures.One such example was the matter ofwhether physical circumcision was stillto be practiced. The Church at Antioch

was divided, and in doubt. This couldhave split up the church. But they tookit to the Headquarters Church at Jeru-salem, where the largest number ofhighcst ranking ministcrs was locatcd.

God, through His Holy Spir i t , LEDTHIS CHURCH to settle this doctrinaldispute GODSWAY. The decision of theHeadquarters Church WAS NOT THE

DECISION OF PETER AND THE APOSTLE-it was the decision of GO D, s H e ledthem to understand, and to settle itThe brethren a t Antioch WERE RE -QUIRED TO ACCEPT T H IS DECISION, andact accordingly They did, and theChurch was kept in UNITY, all speakingthe same thing-and the thin g inspired

Today God has His HeadquartersChurch, where the largest number okhighest ranking ministers are located

One subject the members could notall see alike, or agree on, was that o fwomen wearing lip-stick and make-up

The leading ministers of Gods Headquarters Church went into a very thorough study of this question. W c had n oset opinions of our own. W e soughtonly GO DS ruth.

God led His Church into HisTRUTH.But we did not command the womento follow O U R personal ideas, like hu-man dictators. W e rendered GODSde-c-iqion, as Hr rrvmlrd ir r o His Chiirch-and we published a long article in ThGOODNEW S, xp laining fully the Scriptural teaching so t ha t every membercould see this in his o r her Bible. Butwhen the C H U R C H sett led it-or rath er

when GO D ett led i t through His Church-that is FINAL, unless one can bringto the Church evidence of error, andthe CHURCH o f i c z d ~ ~lters its decision.

Another example: One of MANYthings th e Church M I JST do, where thereis no definite Scriptural direction whatsoever regardin g some phase of it , ith is: W e are COMMANDED to take thePassuver. We are ~cirn.rl~nncledu takethe wine, as well as the unleavenedbread. That much is P L A I N TO ALL.Butone phase of doing this which is NOTmade plain in the Scripture is HOW,or by WHAT METHOD, the wine is to bepassed and taken by each one.

Many will say: Since Jesus took thecup, and gave thanks, and said, Takthis, and divide it among yourselves(Luke 2 2 : 17 , herefore Jesus meant todivide it into several small glasses, andeach drink of it fro m a separate glas

But this year at the Passover, onemember declared there should be justhe one great big Texas-size cup, and al792 who took of it should have put thelips to this same big cup-no mattei f it to o k all night and all the next dayto pass the one cup to so many

(Please conti?me o n page 1 2 )

by GOD


5/12

SbouZd W e Pray to GOD,or Only to ChriJt?

D o w e h u e access t o t h e Futber, OY nly t o Christ? W h d t does i t

mean to ask in the name of Jesus Christ?

ODs hurch has been accused oferror in addressing prayers toG od the Father. Two supposed

former m ember s of Gods Church haveset out to speak perverse things, todraw away disciples after them. (Acts2 0 : 3 0 ) .

Rejecting the truth, after it was pa-tiently pointed out to them, this couplenow is going farther and farther intoerror. They have begun sending typedor mimeographed accusations and doc-trinal arguments to such brethren asthey may know, attempting to discreditGods Church. W e now m ust markthem as God co mma nds, that all mayAVOID THEM (Rom. 16:17-18).

Accus ing Gods C h u r c h

One such 8-page t i rade against T heChurch of God is captioned: THE RA-DIO CHURCH OF GOD IS THE CHURCHOF LAODICEA. No accusation could bemor e false. in it this dissenter statesfalsely: Th e work that the R adioChurch of God is doing i s n o t t h epreuching of t h e Good N e w s t o t h e

world o say that Gods Church isnot preaching the t rue GOSPEL to thcworld is a point-blank LIE Many otherfalse accusations and misrepresentations,and reflections against the Ch urch , weremade.

However, the main content ion is theaccusation that Gods Church is in errorin obeying Christs instruction regard-ing prayer. This couple says it is wrongto address prayers, as Jesus taught, tothe Father, in Jesus name. Their basicargument is that to ask in Jeszts nunzemeans to ASK JE SUS HIMSELF

As this misguided man himself

wrote: It revolves around the questionof what is mean t by Jesus instructionto ask in His name . . . I became con-vinced that Jesus meant a different man-ner of prayer than what is usually used.H e was ascending into heaven, to beourhigh priest at the right hand o f God theFather. Therefore, wc are t o come di -rcctly to Him with our rcqucsts. Tlicwords Ask in my name are not ablanket powe r of attorney, but have adifferent meaning entirely.

1 he Scriptural teaching about 1 0WHOM our prayers should be addressedis so plain that a few Scriptures very

by Herbert W. Armstrong

plainly set forth the TRUTH. Ten thou-sand pages of arguments cannot coun-termand, disannul, or explain awaythese plain basic Scriptures.

Shal l We Obey C hr i s t ?

Thc Church of God obeys the HEADof th is Church, wh o is Jesus Christ.W hat did H e teach and command?

On e of His disciples said to Jesus.Lord, teach us to pray.

And H e said unto them, Whe n yepray, say, Out Father which art inheaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thykingdom come. Thy will be done. . .(Luke 1 1 : l - 2 ) .

NOTICE esus, teaching H is disciples,instructcd W he n ye pray, say, OURFATHER which art in heaven. Thisfalse accuser says we areWRONG if weobey that instruction. IF JESUS CHRISTbe your Saviour, Lord and Master, andHi gh Priest, FOLLOW HIM f this dis-senter be your lord and master, thenfollow him.

Notice again, from Matthews ver-sion of the sermo n on the mount.

But when thou prayest, enter intothy closct, and when thou hast shut thydoor, pray to thy FATHERwhich is insecret: and t h y FATHER which seethin secret shall reward thee openly.(Mat thew 6 : 5 - 6 ) .

NOTICE When thou prayest . . .pray to thy FATHER. This is a com-mand. This is the teachingof the Headof our C hurch. W il l w e l is tento Christ,and obey Him, or listen to misguidedand self-willed dissenters bent on ac-cusing, discrediting, dividing GodsChurch, and drawing a personal fol-lowing after themselves?

Notice, further, there is promise ofTHE ANSWER,when we address THEFATHER n prayer: . . . and thy FATH ERshall reward thee. . .

In verse 8 Jesus adds, further: . . .for your FATHERknoweth what thingsye have need of, before ye usk Him. tis God the FATHER who knows whatwc h a v ~ s k d HIM-IIUL asked ofChrist

Next, Jesus instructed us HOW TOPRAY:

After this manner therefore pray ye:O U R FATHERwhich art in heaven, hal-lowed be thy name. THY Kingdom

come. THY will be done . . etc.(Verses 9-10).

If you can tear that teaching of Jesusout of the Bible, you might as wellthrow your Bible away Ye t this dis-senter says we mustNOT obey tha t teach-ing H e says that was all CHANGED,after the crucifixion and resurrectionIf it was, the next step is to say theSabbath was changed, and everythingJesus taught

This dissenter hasARGUMENTS Long,voluminous arguments . But this is aplain and simple THUS SAITH THELORD Can ARGUMENTS, or twisting andmisapplying other Scriptures, knockthese Scriptures in the head? Can youcall Jehus a false teacher, and yet claimto honor Him?

Did C h ri st C H A N G EI t ?This man asks why are no prayers

recorded ufter the four Gospels that areaddressed to THE FATHER T he tru eanswer, of course, is that there wereYet, he argues, The simple explanationis that Jesus Christauthorized a change

in the manner of prayer He had taughr,j u x before H e was crucified. J o h n16:24: Hitherto ye have asked lzothingzn my name: ask, and ye shall receivethat your joy may be full. His namewas not given for men to call upon untiHis ministry was completed. When thiwas finished, H e instructed us to askin His name and f rom th i s t ime , the reare no recorded prayers that be gin withthe words, Our Father.

Th at is the crux of his argu me nt Iis based on his assumption that to askin Jesus name does NOT mean whatGods Chu rch teaches-that is,by Hisauthority-by H is permission-but toask Jesus Himself direct.

Now le t us look at the Scripture hequotes, and understand it IN ITS CON-TEXT. He has put into this Scripturean exact opposite meaning from itplain and sim ple meaning, w h e n w ereud it all. He quoted only the PARo f i r he could twist and misapply Wh aiuas Jesus saying

Read it ALL:Jesus was telling His disciples, th

night of Hi s last Passover, just beforHe was seized to be crucified:

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; i


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Page 6

is expedient for you that go away:for if 1 go not away, the Comforter willnot come unto you; but if I depart, Iwill send him unto you. . . . Howbei twhen he, [he Spiric of [ruth is come,lie will guide you intoall truth. . . . Alittle while, and ye shall not see me:and again a little while, and ye shallsee me, because I go unto the Father. . . .Verily, verily I say unto you, That yeshall weep and lament, but the worldshall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful,but your sorrow shall be turned intojoy . . . but 1 will see you again, andyour heart shall rejoice, and your joyno man taketh from you. And in thatday ye shal l ask m e nothing. Verily,verily, I say unto you, whatsoever yeshall ask the FAT H E R in my mme, H Ewill give it you. Hithertoye have askednothing in my name: ask, and ye shallreceive, that your joy may be full.( J o h n 16:7, 13, 20, 22-24.)

NOTICEIT Jesus disciples had been

with Him almost day and night forthree and a half years. During that timethey had asked HIM, direc t, many things .Was that ask ing in His name? Hesaid that up until then they had askedNOTHING in H i s n a me . But you canfind countless Scriptures recording in-stances when they asked HIM, DIRECT,many things.

Asking Jesus DIRECT

Notice just a few examples of how,prior to this time, Jesus disciples hadasked H IM , direct, many things:

And Hi s d iscip les askedH i m , saying,

Wh y th en say the scribes that Elias mustcome first? And Jesus answered a ndsaid unto them. . . . (Mat . 17 : l O . )But this was not asking I N HIS NAME,because later, Jesus said: Hitherto yehavc asked no ihing in m y nalne Johii1 6 : 2 4 ) . So when His disciples askedHim, they were not asking in Hisname.

And when He was entered into thehouse froin the people, His disciplesirsked H i m . . . (Mark 7 : 17) . Asking i n His name did not mean askingH I M direct here, because they did askHim, ut they had not, as yet, askedin His name

And Peter answered and said toJesus, Master, it is good for us to behere. . . . ( M a r k 9: ) . Peter addressedChrist direct-but speaking to H im di-rect was NOT speaking in His name

And when H e was come into thehouse, His r1i.tciple.r usked H i m private-ly. ( Mark 9 : 2 8 ) . But they did not ask

And in the house Hi. i.sci&s dskeclinr L i g ~ i i i i . . (Mark 10: 10) . Asking

HIM direct was not asking i n His

Peter and James and John and An-

in His name.

I1 a 111 c .

The GOOD NEWS May, 1960

drew askod Him p i u a t c l y . . . (Mark13:3). But they did not asking in Hisname.

Asking HIM, then-praying to, orspeaking to HIM , is NOT asking in H i sndme For plainly, Jesus said in John1 6 : 2 4 , that all these many times theyhad asked things of HIM, direct, inperson, was NOT asking in His name Hitherto, He said, ye have askednothing in my name.

N o w JCSUS had, previously, instructedthem to address their prayers to THEFATHER, as I have shown above. ButHe had not, previously, instructed themto ask in His name, or by HIS AUTHOR-ITY, or as having power of attorney toask FOR Him , in His place. But now H edid authorize them to ask in H i s name.

And OF WHOM did He instruct themto ask in His name?

Whatsoevery e shall ask THE FATHERin m y nume, HE will give it you, in-structed Jesus (Verse 23 ).

ONLY VERSE 24, AND PUT AN OPPOSITEMEANING INTO IT, and O M I T V E R S E23, WHICH PLACES A MEANING ON

MANS A.RGUMENT?

Did he not know verse 23 was there?Did he omi t it purposely?

In this Scripture-Jesus par ting Mes-sage co His disciples before His cruci-fixion, HE DID NOT C H A N G E His pre-vious com mand to prayto THE FATHER.H e REPEATED IT

But n o w H e gave them authority toask in His name. There is POWER in the

nam e of Christ His name carriesA U -

THORITY. He assured them that whenthey prayed to THE FATHER,by thisAUTHORITY of HIS NAME, the Fatherwould give them what they asked

Notic e further Did Jesus say here,Do not pray any longer toTHE FATHER-but from now on pray only to M Edirect? NO Just the opposite H e said- N O TE IT--In tha t day-after H isresurrection-after He has gone fromthem, and to the Fathers throne inheaven.-ye shall ask ME nothivzg

Until then, they had asked Him manythings continually. But now-in OURDAY TODAY-He said to ask HIM NOTH-ING, but to ask THE FATHER, n Hisname

Th e words in His n a me do not tellLIS WHOM to ask. They tell us HOW t oask-that is, by Christ s aut hor ity. Jesustold WHO to ask. H e commanded Askthe FATHER

Chris t s Comm and to US

This accuser states, falsely: JesusChrist authorized a change in the man-ner of prayer H e had taught, just beforeH e was crucified.

H e quoted-or rathe r MISquoted-

W H Y DID THIS DISSENTER QUOTE

VERSE 24 EXACTLY OPPOSITE TO THIS

John 16:24. t is shown above, so plain-ly a little child can see, that Jesus didnot authorize any change but ratherconfirmed what He had taught, nowmerely adding authority to ask I N HISNAME.

EVERYTHINGesus taught and com-manded His disciples s a teaching andcommand for LIS today

AFTER His resurrection, just beforeascending to heaven, Jesus last spokenCOMMAND was: Go ye therefore, andteach all nations, baptizing them in( o)the name of the Father, and of theSon,and of the Holy Spirit: teaching themto observe ALL THiNGS WHATSOEVER Ihave commanded you. (Mat. 28: 19-20.)

Jesus had taught and commandedTHEM t o praj t o the Father. He hadauthorized them to address the FATH ERin H i s name. Now, just before partingfrom them in Person, He commandedthem to go into all the world-teaching

those whom they baptized to observeALL THINGS WHATSOEVER H e had coin-manded them. H e had commanded themto address their prayers toTHE FATHER.So now they were to teach all converts,likewise, to pray t o G o d th e Fd t he r.

M e a n i n g of in Jesus Nam e

This man argues that the words inJesus nanze--or, as Christ Himself in-structed us, in praying to the Father,to do it in m y name-does not meanby H is authority-by His instruction orpermission-but, rathe r, he argues thatto ask in Jesus name is TO A S K

Now let us look a t a fcw Scripturesand see how ridiculous this contentionis.

Notice Jeremiah 14:14: Then theLORD said unto me, the prophetsprophesy lies in my name: . . . If inm y name means ask ME, then thesefalse prophets were prophesying L IE Sdirect t o the LORD Were these falseprophets preaching their lies t o t h eEternal, trying to mislead and deceiveH I M ? How foolish He says, sameverse: . . . they prophesy un to Y O U afalse vision. They w ere addressing,NOTthe Eternal, but the PEOPLE. utHOW?IN CHRISTS NAME-for H e is theLORD spoke n of in this verse. Ofcourse they claimed t o preach B Y HISAlJTHORlTY, but they were lying. Hehad not sent them. The very fact thatthe context shows The ETERNAL(C h r i s t ) had not sent them. and thatt h e y were L Y I N ~ ~ hen they claimed tobe speaking I N HIS NAME shows defi-nitely a nd positively and finally that theyC L A I M E D to speak by HIS ACJTHORITY-only they were lying. I n ruj name,here, then, means BY MY A U T H O R I T Y

Consider the 23d chapter of Jeremiah.

JEsusHIMSELF DIRECTLY.


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May, 1960 The GOOD NEWS Page 7

Quoting Acts 4 : 2 4 this man admits :Port ions of this prayer appear to bespoken to the Father. Then why contra-dict himself, saying: W hy aretherc n oprayers recorded after the Gospels. . .with any indication that the prayer isbeing addressed to the Father?

Isnr i r absurd that a man with a col-lege education, as this man claimstohave, would claim that Jesus CHANGEDwhen H e says H e has never changed,and that Chris t d id away with His ownteachings and commands, just before H isdeath-and that he would argue that inJesus name means TO Jesus; and thatno prayers were addressed ro theFATHER, fter the writings of Matthew,Mark, Luke, and John?

Jesus thanked God that these truthsare revealed unto BABES, and hiddenfrom the wise and prudent. A collegeeducation in this worlds colleges canbe a very great HANDICAP, rather thana help. Still, ANYONE can unders tandthe TRUTH whose heart is willing

Access to the Father

This ma n would deny God s ownchildren access to their heavenlyFATHER. But what 1s the very WAY ofGod, by which we are converted?OurSINS have cut us off f r o m God (Isa.59: 1-21. Sin is the transgression of theLAW. There is ONE Lawgiver-God theFATHER (Jas . 4 :1 2 ) . Sin cuts us offfrom the FATHER.Wh e n w e r e p e n t ofsin, our repcntance is toward GodtheFATHER (Act s 2 0 : 2 1 ) . But savingFAITH is toward Christ (sa me verse).

W he n we repent , and receive Chris tasLord and MASTER, and are baptized asthe symbol of ourFAITH toward Christ,then what happens? T he bloodof Chris tRECONCILES us to t he FATHER (Rom .5 : l O ) .

And, once reconciled to the FATHERH e p u ts HIS SPIRIT into us, BEGEITING

not be gotten by CH RIST o become sonsof C hrist. Jesus is our elder B rother-the first-born of many BRETHREN. T obe reconciled to th e Father for transgres-sion of HIS Law is to have ACCESS di-rect to HIM.

Now not ice: For through HIM(Chr i s t ) we bo th ( Jew and Gen t i le )have access by one Spirit UNTO THEFATHER. Eph . 2 : 1 8 ) .

Christ has purchased forcis and givenLIS direct access to the Father He hasAUTHORIZED us to go direct to theFather in PRAYER. Notice again: . . .according to the eternal purpose whichH e ( th e Father) purposed in Chris tJesus our Lord: in whom we have bold-ness and dccess with confidence by rhefaith of Him. . . . For this cause I bowmy knees ( in prayer) UNTO THEFAT H E R of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .

us as HIS BEGOTTEN CHILDREN. we are

I t pcii iuti i ices woes on the fak e preach-ers. I t is a prophecy fo r OUR DAY,NOWTh e Eternal tells us, verse 16, not tolisten to the preachers who flatter theircongregations, t o inflate their congre-gations vanity, speakingtheir own ideas,but NOT the Word of the Eternal. Yett h e y C L A I M E D o be represent ing Chris t .

They say . . . The Eternal hath said. . .-that is, tha t they are sent BYChrist , as His representative, with Hiswords, and therefore by H i s aivthority.B ut God says (verse 16 ) : . . . theyspeak a vision of their own heart, andnot out of the mouth of the Eternal.They were ly ing about represent ingChrist-speaking FOR Him-by His au-thority.

I have NOT scnt these prophets,preachers) , says Chris t (Verse 2 1 .

Yet they CLAIMED to speak BY HISAUTHORITY: I have heard what theprophets said, says the Eternal (verse2 5 ) , that prophesy L I E S in my name.

Here again, in m y rzume means asmy authorized representative, or byiny authority. If i t means, as this de-ceived couple argue, prophesyto oraddress ME direct, then you read in toit the ridiculously foolish meaning u lthese false preachers preaching liesT oCHRIST DIRECT-but NOT to the people

Not ice Jeremiah 2 6 :9: Why has tthou prophesied zn the name of theLO RD , saying . . . Jeremiah was notprophesying TO THE LORDDIRECT. H ewas not speaking TO CHR IST. Chris t(T he Eterna l ) had spokent o him, andJeremiah had spoken Christs words, as

C H R I S T A U TH O R I ZED ,o the geopleHere, so plainly all can sce, im the m u m eof the LORD means by the LORDSauthority-by Hi s permission-by H iscommand. I t does not mean T O theLORD. eremiah spoke TO the people.

Need w e go fu r ther?Jeremiah continued to warn these

people: . . . for of a t ruth the L O R D hathsent rue unto you to speak all thesewords in your ears. Then said theprinces and all the people unto thepriests and t o the prophets ; This i l lanis not worthy t o die: for he hath spokenTO U S in t h e izarm of the L O R D oarGod. (Verses

15-16.)Jeremiah did not speakTO the Eternal-he spoke TO the people. But theEternal sent him. Th e Eternal authorizedhim to address his spec-h to the people,and spe aking by this autho rity is plainlydesignated as speakingto them in thci i m z of the LORD. Speak ing in Hisname is N O T >pcakiiig TO Christ-butBY HIS AUTHORITY

Rem emb er th e disciples had addressedmany questions to Jesus direct. Yet H esaid, Hitherto have ye asked NOTHINGiiz 7/21 ?ume. ( J o h n 16: 2 4 . ) Hithertothey had asked H I M , direct , on thei r

OWN initiative-NOT by Jesus direc -t ion or authority-but by their own. But,af ter H e lef t them and ascended toheaven, ye shall ask ME no th ingWhatsoever ye shall ask THE FATHERin my .name HE will give it you.(Verse 23.) H e was here and nowAUTIIORIZING t hem to ask in 11;s nuvm,but commanding them to address theirprayer t o THE FATHER.

.

Nothing could be plainer.

Apos t l es Prayed to t h e FAT H E R

Now just oneor two points more, andwe shall have an END to these nonsensical and p erverted argum ents againstChrists commands. This man says,asquoted above, that no prayers were ad-dressed to rhe Father af ter the FourGospels-that is, as recorded in theBook of Acts, and other Books of theNe w tes tament fol lowing.

H e even had the audacity to quo teActs 4 : 2 4 , 2 9 ,and say they were prayingto Jesus, and not to the Father

Peter and John hadbeen put in prisonovernight , and threatened.

And being let go, they w ent to thei rown company, and reported all that thecliief priesrs and eld ers had said untothem. And when they heard that theyl i f ted up thei r voice to GOD wi th oneaccord an d said, Lord, thou art GOD. . .(Acts 4 : 2 3 - 2 4 ) .

N o w TO WHOM were they praying?This dissenter says that G od sometimesmeans Christ-wh ich is true-but ap-parently does not know that the wordLord also sometimes refers to THE

FATHER, s i t does hereLets icad on r becomes very PLAINas TO WHOM they are praying:

For of a t ru th aga ins t THY HOLYCHILD JESUS, whom thou hast anointed,both H erod and Pont ius Pi late, wi th theGentiles . . . etc. (Verse 27 ) .

Jesus is called the holyCHILD of theO n e to whom they were praying. Jesuswas the child of GOD THE FATHER.Sothey were praying to the FATHER,whom,they said, THOU hast anointed. Theywere praying to t he One who hadanointed Jesus wi th the Holy Spir i t . Th eFATHER anointed Jesus (Ma t . 3 : 1 7 ;

Mark1

1 0 - 11 . Therefore they wereaddressing this prayerTO THE FATHERNo w not ice verses 29-30. Th e prayer

continue s: An d now, Lord, behold theirthreatenings: and grant unto thy serv-ants . . . that signs and wonders may bedone by the name of THY HOLY CHILDJESUS.

Again, they were addressing theirprayer to THE FATH ER of Jesus. Th eywere NOT asking that signs and wondersmigh t be done TO Jesus direct-butthat they might be doneby the nameof G od s So n, Jesus-BY HIS AUTHOR-ITY


8/12


rhac He would graiir you, accurdiiig LOthe riches of His Glory, to be strength-ened . . . (Eph. : 11-16). The Apos t lePaul bowed his knees ( bot h knees) inprayer direct to THE FATHER

Why did this man say no prayerswere addressed to the Father after theFour Gospels?

Col. 1.3: W e g i ve t h an ks to God andthe FATHERof our Lord Jesus Christ,PRAYI NG always for you. WHY doesrhis I I I ~ I I tmy rliis Scripiure?

Eph. 5:20: Giving thanks always forall things unto God and the FATHERinthe nume of our Lord Jesus Christ.Praying TO the FATHER.Yet by author-ity from Christ, who gives us access tothe Father.

In 5 1-52 A D . Paul and Timothy gavethanks to God the Father ( I Thes .1 1-2) .

W e are to cal l on God the FATHER( I Perer 1:17) .

Col . 1:12-73: Giving thanks unto the

FATHER . . who hath . . . delivered usfroin the power of darkness, and hathtranslated us into the kingdom of Hisdear Son.

If w e have the Ho ly Spir it, w e cry( p r a y ) Abba, FATHER (Rom. 8 ~ 1 5as Jesus prayed ( M s r k 14 :36 ) .

Our Hi gh P r ie s t

Finally, what aboutChrist as our HighPriest?

WHY s Jesus Christ, the livingHEADof our Church, now appearing beforeGod the Father, atGods r i gh t han d? H eis there to make intercession for us.

Where fo re He is able also tosave themto the uttermost that come unto GODby Hi m, seeing H e ever livethto makeintercession for them. (Heb. 7 : 2 5 ) .Yes, Jesus Christ is able to save thosewho c o me t o GOD t h e Futher-andwe have been given access to come tothe Father I N PRAYER-+ C h r is t. W ecannot approach the Father by our ownmeri ts . W e have none. Christ is the door-the way. On e does not go t o a doorand STOP. He goes on through the door.Christ gives us access to GOD. And HeINTERCEDES with God fo r as

This intercession of our blessedHIGH

PR IEST does not meun tha t toe pruy t oChrist und that H e then carries ouri q u e s t t o the Father.

No tice Scriptural proof of this : Like-wise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmi-ties: for IW k m z i ?pot what we shouldpray for as we ought: but t h e Spirit; t~d f M A K E T H INTERCESSlON for us

Rom. 8 : 2 6 ) . Nowhere does the Biblegive any teaching or exampleof Chris-iiaiis praying TO the Holy Spiri t . Here is;L plain exam ple of Christiansi zo t Rnou,-i u g W H AT t o pruy for-but Gods HolySpirit intercedes for them. They do notprny TO the Spiri t , and then the Spiri t

traminit their request to Gud; but rather,the Spiri t itself moves upon God forthat which they did NOT ask, since theydid not know WHAT to ask

In like manner, we have access directto the Father, to pray direct to H i m byCHRISTS PERMISSION. Christ , our HighPriest at the Fathers side,also petitionsthe Father for us -offer ing HIS SACRI-FICE in lieu of our unworthiness.

Elijah made intercession to GodAGAINST Israel (Rum. 2 ) . This wasnot act ing as a go-between to t ransmitTHEIR prayers to God. Paul taught thatwe HUMANS should make intercessionfor ALL M E N ( I Ti m . 2 : l ) .

Our FELLOWSHIPMany of our brethren huizger for the

fe l lowsh ip of other brethren. They longto be able to TALK WITH others of likemind a nd the same Spiri t .

But our FELLOWSHIP is first of allwith the FATHER, and with the SonJesus Christ . ( I John 1 3 ) .

How d o we h av e FELLOWSHIP? Bymee ting with-conversing with

W h e n w e pray to the Father, and/orto Christ, we are speaking to them.W h c n we read and study the Biblc,they are talking to us. The Bible is theW ord of GOD. Althou gh Jesus is theWORD-the direc t au tho r of th e Bible-yet H e spoke only as the FATHERcommanded Him. So the Bible is theWORD to US from both the FATHER ndthe SON.

When Jesus Christ, our Saviour, HighPriest and Lord, reconciles us to the

FATHER-gives us direct access to theFather, we have the great HONOR, paidfor by Christs very life which H e gave,to speak directly to the Father.

But our fellowship is also with JesusChrist, Gods divine SON. Christ is nowon the Father s throne with Him, atHis r igh t hand as our H igh pr ies t. W ehave fellowship with Jesus ChristALSO.

PRAY T O I E SU S CHRIST Ye t t h eteaching and examples of the Bible placeoverwhelming main emphasis on pray-ing to the Father.

Gods Churc h does not forbid any to

pray to Ch rist. It is notso much a matterof to WHICH Person w e are to p ray. W edo not condemn this couplefor prayingto Christ. Rather, they condemn GodsChurch for praying to the Father. Butwe Do SAY that o w who has no fel low-.ship with th,e FAT H E R by pruyer is

Our accuscr quotcd Scriptures to showthat the apostles (Acts1 : 2 4 - 2 5 ) prayeddirect to Jesus to show them, by lot,which of HIS DISCIPLES who had fol-lowed with them in Jesus personal min-istry H e had chosen to take Judas place.Of course An d so should Gods minis-

WE DO, WE MAY, WE SHOULD, ALSO

cur OFF f r v n 1 God

iers uf tuday, L L I I ~ ~ Ilie saiiie ci i iu in-stances Jesus had taught these can di-dates persoml ly. God gave Him th i sministry personally. Jesus is GoD-andthe FATHER s God. Jesus is worthy ofour worship-and that of angels Butthe FATHER s the H E A D even of Jesus

This dissenting couplc accuse GodsChurch of by-passing, and insultingJESUS. W e do neither-we OBEY H I M ,and honor Him in so doing. It is ratherTHEY who are by-passing and ignoringTHE FATHER.We are to WORSHIP GOD,as well as Christ. They quote Acts7:59-60, where Stephen called out to JesusChrist. Gods Churc h knows that, andalways has taught it

This couple falsely accuse GodsChurch of piitring them n i i t for no morethan calling on the name of the LordJesus Christ. That is a deliberate falsehood an d effort to discredit Gods Churchand draw a following after themselves.W e TEACH all members to CAL L ON

THE NAME OF THE LORD E SU S HRIST.Since all mem bers do, how absurd w ouldi t be to put two supposed members oufor doing what we teach should bedone?

They were p u t o u r for t h e wrongspirit they allowed to possess them, andfor false doctrines, and for having disfellowshipped themselves from THEFATHER, thereby cuiting themselves uflfrom God, His fellowship, and ours.

I Thes. 3:6: Now we command you,brethren, in t he n u me of our Lord JesusChrist, that you withdraw yourselvesfrom every brother that walketh dis

orderly, and not after the tradition whichh e received from 11s.Here, by AUTHORITY OF JESUS

CHRIST is a comm and for all members of Gods Church to WITHDRAWFROM this couple W O walk t l ~ u sdis-orderly, and n ot after GO DS rue tradition they did receive from us. ThesScriptures have been gone into with thicouple personally, in long sessions, andthey rejected them and set out to mislead God s people and discredit G odChurch.

If there come any unto y ou , andbring not this doctrine (of Christ and

His Church) receive him not into youhouse. ( I Jno. 10 ) .Let us realize that this is not a hars

or unkind command. It is God s punis hment of them, and His mercy and pro-tection for His Church. God punisheevery son whorn He loves. To be C U ~oI.I; I:HoM GOD s the most severe cursthat can wine to any person or peopleTo condone such a crime and make l ighof it by remaining in the friendship anfellowship of those who commit it is t1 ) harm i d iizjzre them, by encourag-ing them to be deceived into thinkin

(Please coiztinae on page 12)


9/12

Greatest PASSOVER EverThe greatest Passover observance in modern times has just endedMeanwhile, Gods local churches continue to grow. Local church

baildings are n o w almost a REALITY

by Roderick C . M ered i t h

HILE the worst spring stormsand floods in decades continueW o rage across the country, Gods

church is still beingBLESSED.W e are to be the l ight of the world

(Mat . 5 : 16) , and that light is destinedto shine with increasing POWER as theend of this age approaches.So, in spi teof the temporary trials and setbackswhich we all have, we need t othafzk Godthat the overall picture is one of bless-ing and progress for Gods Church-a n d for ~ ho arc used a s human instru-ments in it

Tho usan ds of us were recently blessedin the wonderful Passover and FestivalULlleitveiied Bread observed as a full

eight-day festival in NINE differentplaces throughout the world W e hadreported to you last month that seven ofthese occasions would be held, but wordhas just arrived from Australia thatMr.Gerald Waterhouse conducted a fulleight-day festivalof preaching a nd Biblestudies fo r our brcthren down there aswell

And, just as this is being written,word has arrived f r o m the Philippinesthat a ful l eight-day festival was ob-served in that far-off land Also, we arecertain that several ministers who haveaccepted Gods Tr n t b have held Passoverservices in Africa, on Formosa and per-haps in other parts of the world.

Truly, this was the G R E AT E S T Passovcrezer to be held in this modern era ofGods true Church

The Passover Observed in Aus t ra li a

From the continent down under,Mr. Gerald Waterhouse reports that thebrethren there had a wonderful spiritualfeast during the Passovcr and Days ofUnleavened Bread. To our knowledge,this was the FIRST time that Gods HolyDays have been observed by Hi s peo plein Australia

Many problems arose to hinder thisobservance, but God showed His bless-ing and power in helping overcomeevery obstacle to the observance of Hiscoininanded festival days. Mr. Water-house reports that LIP until t w o weeksbefore the Passover nothing suitable hadopened L I P in the way of a hall whichcould be used for the Passover and Dayso f Unleavened Bread there in Sydney,Australia. How ever, right at that time-j m t iti t i me t o i i z f o r n ~h brethren-a

very fine hall was made accessible to useduring the festival season

Mr. Waterhouse relates: To ourutter surprise, the hall was one whichwas totally unfamiliar to us and in clearview from my office wiridow In spiteof all the inquiries I had made and thenumber of different places which I hadvisited, not one person even mentionedthis particular hall. God surely broughtthese things about to let us know H e isin charge of operations here and willprovide for us if we will just trust Him.Just why this hall has gone unnoticed

and unrented by the organizations inthis vast area is beyond me unless it isj u x [hat God reserved it forus as H e didthe ofice space we use and the home inwhich we live.

Mr. Waterhouse writes that this hallwas built by the Australian Institute ofBuilders and especially designed forlectures up to three hours duration Ithas softly cushioned, arm-supportcdchairs which were specially built, anacoustical system effectively installed,and very appropriate indirect lightingthroughout the building with spotlightsespecially for the speakers platform.It will sear up to 250 people and in anadjoining room there is a nice kitchenwith a stove and refrigerator and allfacilities necessary for Gods festivals

On Sunday before the Passover serv-ice, Mr. Waterhouse reports , I held ameeting about twenty miles out ofSydney in Blacktown to discuss baptismwith several who wanted to be baptizedbefore the service and most of whomwere staying at this particular placeduring the festival. After going intohaptioi i and related topics for a fewhours, I found that eight were ready forbaptism and we proceeded with thes e n -ice. In spite of our t ime being l imitedand without a knowledge of where thebaptizing could be performed, Godworked circumstances outso that every-thing had been done and we could allreturn to Sydney in time for the Pass-over. Wi th the add ition of these eightpeople to the members in Sydney, 29 ofiis took the Passover.

H e a li n gs a n d G R O W T H i n A u st ra li a

Du ring the course of the festival,Mr.Wa terhou se relates, God allowed severalof the brethren to be confronted withvarious sicknesses, afflictions and infir-

mities. But in every single case Godraised each person affected andn o t oneperson missed a single meeting becauseof any of these complications.

It seemed God was letting the sig-nificance of the unleavened bread takenat the Passover service be impressedup-on our minds indelibly, Mr. Water-house stated.

Mr. Frank Longuskie andMr. CharlesHefner-both from Ambassado r Collegeand assisting Mr. Waterhouse in Aus-tralia-were a great dcal of help in allof the physical work and counseling the

people throughou t the e ntire festival, hereports. In closing, Mr. Waterhousestates: The brethren were so encour-aged through the festival that they arenow looking forward to Pentecost andthe meetings which will be conductedfor three full ays. And, on beyond thisfestival, many are making preparationsto be in attendance through out the entirecight days during the Pcasi ul Taber-nacles and great High Day festival. Inaddition, we are encouraged that othersunable to be here for the Passover willbe here for the Feast of Tabernacles.Several have written to this effect. Too,by the time of the Feast of Tabernacles,there should he a good number added tothe Church in Australia as they come tofull repentance and are baptized.

As the broadcast penetrates the m indsof niofe people and they are brought torepentance by theTRUTH set forth in theliterature, I am confident that as thepeople in Gods church throughout theworld pray fervently for the people inthis vast continent, Mr. Tony Hammerand I will have some fruitful baptizingtours later this year.

Brethren, we hope that this detailedreport of how Gods people clear aroundon the othe r side of the ear th are observing His feast days just as we in thiscountry are will be as interesting andinspir ing to all of yo u as it is to us Youhave already heard that Mr. TonyH a m -mer-son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Hammerof the big Tabernacle i n Gladewater-and accompanied by his able wife,Natalie, is bcing sent to Australia i nJune to assist Mr. Waterhouse and thework of God on the Australian continent . Wi l l yo be PRAYI NG that Godwill bless the work of His Church inAustralia?

Wil l o t ~ ray earnestly t h a t God will


10/12


STOP the hand of Satan and his per-secutors in that area ? Wil ly o u ask Godshlrssiizg and guidance for Mr. Water-house and the men and women who areassisting hiin in this outpostof Godswork?

Now , a decision has just been made ina ministerial conference here at Godsheadquarters that Mr. and Mrs. DexterFaulkner-a young married couple inGods Church who are zealous Ambas-sador students-are to be temporarilypul led ozct of Ambassador College andrushed by plane to Australia as soon asthey may obtain passports and air pas-sage Thi s emergency measure is beingtaken because of the OVERWHELMING;m ou nt of work in the Australian oficeand Church. The work o f Jesiis Christ-the living HEAD of this Church-hasgrown to t r e m e n d o u s proport ions onthat continent just within the last fewmonllls

But this growth is already bringing

with it persecut ions by religious pressuregroups in that area as Mr . Armstrong hasreported to you Be sure your ferv entP R AY E R S are with Gods servants andHis work in that continent And letusREJOICE in the wonderful growth andblessings that God is continuing toshower upon His worka r o w d this earthin spite of every persecution a nd op-position of Satan the Devil and hishuman instruments

The Passover Observed inB r i t a in a nd t he P h i l ipp i nes

Mr . Raym ond McNair-evangelist in

charge of the work in the British Isles-reports that our brethren in Britain hada wonderful Passover festival this spring.Starting with a Passover observance par-ticipated in by only about 15 peoplethree years ago, the converted member-ship of Gods Church in London hasmultiplied fk l e t imes so that this yearthere were 75 baptized adult memberswho partook of the Passover service inLondon In addition, 14 brethren par-took of the Passover in Bristol, England.

M r. McNair reports that there wereabout 120 present for the feast day andseveral dozen remained for regular Biblestudies and pr eaching services durin g theentire period of the Days of UnleavenedBread.

Th e wonderful and beautiful grounds2 n d biiildings o f o i i r future AmhassadorCollege campus there had proved to beii perfect setting for Gods feast days inEngland Mr. Mc Nair states that ourLirethreri iri Erig1;irid are feeling contin-u l l y closer and more a part of Godswork f rom hrndquarters here in theUnited States, and they send greet ings( o all o f y o i i brethren here.

Let us r e m e m b e r our brethren inBritain in earnest prayers of thanks-

giving for the many blessings God hasgranted Hi s church there-and suppli-cation that H e will continue to bless,strengthen and keep them unreprovableunti l the day of Jesus Christs coming

From the Philippine Islands, Mr.Pedro Ortiguero reports that they hada full quota of daily preaching servicesduring the Days of Unleavened Bread.A total of 23 baptized adult membersof Gods Church in the Ph ilippines par-took of the sacred Passover service. Mostof these remained throughout the entireeight-day period for a spiritual feast ofdaily preaching and Bible study. Mr.Ortiguero was assisted in conductingthese services by Mr. Dionicio Descargar-a dedic ated serva nt of God who hasproved an able assistantto Mr. Ort igueroin ministering to our small congregationin the Philippines.

Mr. Ortiguero reports: I surely be-l ieve that the Church in the UnitedStates was mentioning us many times in

their prayers during the feast that wemigh t experience a very wonderful tim e.For this we are here sending our thanksto all of you who have remembered us inprayers during the spring festival.

Let us all, brethren, pray more fcrvcnt-ly that God will g u i d e and bless thosewho yield to Him in the Phil ippineIslands and oth er me n in scattered areasthroughout this e arth who are beginningto see His truth and walk in it-andteach others as a last witness before theend of this age.

Passover Observed a t the BigTabernacle , near Gladewater

Here in the United States, the largestsingle gathering for the Passover tookplace at our own big Tabernacle nearGladewater and Big Sandy, Texas. Asusual, Mr. Armstrong and Mr. TedArm strong we re present to conduct theseimp ortant services which lasted thro ugh-out the entire eight or nine-dayfestival.

A total of 792 baptized adult memberstook the Passover and about 1500 peo-ple, including children, attended thefeast and m o s t of these stayed thruugh-out the ent ire period for the preachingand Bible studies Lending valuableas-sistance in the p reaching an d counselingwere Mr. Jon Hill, pastor this semesterof the churches in Gladewater and Min-den, Mr. Allen M anteufel and Mr. Rich-ard P rince, who are respectively pastorsin the San Antonio-Corpus Christ i andDallas-Houston church areas. Also, Mr.Tony Hammer and Mr. Cecil Battlesassisted in bringing helpful and inspir-ing sermonettes during the services.

Mrs. Armstrong stated that she felLthat this was undoubtedly the best springfestival which has ever been held at theTabernacle, and many commented thatthe m inisters there g ave especially help-

ful and powerful seliiions on everydayChristian living.

It was nored that Mr. Tony Haminershowed tremendous growth and poten-tial in preaching, and he will undoubted-ly be of great help to Mr. Waterhouse inGods work o n the Australian continen t.

Passover in New York City

and P i t t sburghThis year, for the second time, the

Passover and a fuil eight days of serviceswere conducted in New York City. Theattendance there was nearly double thato f last year since a local church has nowbeen established. A total of 150 adultmembers partook in the sacred serviceof Gods Passover, and about 220 werepresent for the feast.

Mr. Raymond Cole, evangelist andsupervisor over the field ministers in theUnited States, flew back to New Yorkto help conduct these services. H e wasjoined by M r. Carlton S mith , pastor of

the New York church, and for part ofthe festival by Mr. Wayne Cole, hisbrot her, who is pastor of G ods churchesin Pittsburgh and Akron. Mr. Cole re-ports that the church in New York isstrong and enthusiastic and that thcy hada most inspiring eight days of preachingservices during the festival of Un-leavened Bread.

Before coming to New York, Mr.Wayne Cole conducted the Passoverservices in our church at PittsburghPennsylvania, with 168 baptized mem-bers partaking of the Passover there.Also, Mr. Bob Hoops, who is acting as

assistant pastor in these two churchesconducted the Passover service inAkron,Ohio, with 45 adults partaking. Withboth churches joining together for thefeast in Pittsburgh o n the first Holy Daythere were over 400 in attendance.

The Passover in ChicagoAnother f u l l festival with eight days

of preaching services was held in Chicago, Illinois, with Mrs. Meredith and meflying back to join Mr. Dean BlackwellpasLor of h e churches in Chicago, Mil-waukee, and El Paso, Illinois. W e wereably assisted by Mr. Frank McCrady andM r. Ha rold Jackson-both ordainedlocal elders in this area. Also, outstanding sermonettes were given by MrAr thu r Mokarow-a zealous me mb er othe Chicago congregation, and Mr. R ichard Pinelli and Mr. Richard Plache-both advanced students in AmbassadorCollege who were visiting home duringthis season.

A total of 383 adult mem bers partookof the Passover service and about 650people, including children. attended onthe first Holy Day. There were threeto four hundred present throughout thentire eight days for preaching service


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May, 1960 The GOOD NEWS Page

each night, and a smaller number forafternoon Bible studies. This wasa realspiritual feast and the brethren in the111inois-Wisconsin-Indianaarea becamem ~ i c h etter acquaintcd with each otherin love and Christian fellowship.

A Busy TimeThis trip also gave me a much better

opportunity to get acquainted with thehuge ministerial area which is the re-sponsihility of Mr. Dean Blackwell,Gods minister in that area. Flying fro mPasadena, our plane touched down atOHare field, just outside of Chicago,aboui 3:30 Friday afternoon and wewere greeted at the terminal by Mr. andMrs. Blackwell and Mr. McCrady. Fromthe airp ort, we drove immediately toMilwaukee, Wisconsin, for the Sabbathservices there which have to be held onFriday nights in this most busy circuit.

Refore the services, we had time foronly a brief eve ning meal and then drove

immediately to the hall and began theservices soon after arrival. The Mil-waukee church is young and small butvery eizthusiastic. However, with slowbut steady growth, its membership isnow approaching 100. Aft er th e service,we visited for some time w ith the b reth-ren, and then drove t o the outskirts ofthe city to our motel to gain a few hourso f sleep hefore t h e heavy schedule thenext day.

Arising early after only about five orsix hours sleep, we ate a hasty breakfast,j u n i p d in lie car and headed for Chica-go to preach to the brethren there. TheChicago congregation has grown to beour second largest church outside ofPasadena headquarters. In this church,God has called an unusual mixture ofnearly every race which is found in theUnited States We have brethren therewho are English, Irish, Scotch, Polish,Czech, Russian, German, Italian, Ar-m en ian , M exi can, N e g r v a n d even oneor iwu Jewish brethren

It was a memorable experience topreach for the first time to this warm andresponsive cong regation, to visit w iththem briefly, and then take off againto another church This time we drovesouth to a quaint little country churchbuilding near El Paso, Illinois.Mr. Blackwell has been able to secure this littlechurch edifice for our services in thatarea because the other local churcheshave simply not put itto any use and itis completely community property-available to any i n that area who willkeep i t up.

W h a t a change from the big cityatmosphereof Chicago Here inEl Paso,we found brethren who were farniersand small town business men and w o r kers in various trades. After the servicethere, we had a baptismal service in a

p n r tah le tank situated just outside thechurch and in the almost icy cool ofthe evening, ezght new brethren wereimmersed into the nam e of the Father,the Son a i d tlic Huly SpiTit-lN rhename, or by the authority, of Jesus Christ,our Savior and livingHEAD

These brethren were so enthusiasticthat most of the church stayed until

after 8:00 P.M. that evening in Christ ianfellowship and visiting W e finally left,ate ou r f ir s t real meal of the day on theway home, and a rrived a t Mr. Blackwellshome in Joliet, Illinois, about 1:00A. M. Sunday morn ing.

Relating ihesc details, brethren,should give all of you a better idea ofthe tremendous load of WORK which iscarried by many of our ministers and ofhow they have to drive themselves onin order to accomplish the job God haslaid upon them. Also, perhaps this willgive all of you an idea of the churcharea in and around Chicago and encour-

age all of you to pray more for the breth-ren and Gods ministers in that area.

Passover Servicesin D e n v e ra n d P o r t la n d

Coming west from Chicago, the nextarea where we had a full eight-day Fes-tival of Unleavened Bread was in Den-ver, Colorado. Here, Mr.Burk McNair-local minister in the Colorado-Kansasarea-was joined by M r. A1 Po rtu nefrom Pasadena to conduct the preachingservices and Bible studies. They werevery ably assisted in this by Mr. RogerFoster-recent grad uate of Amb assadorCollege and assistant pastor in this area.

Mr. McN air reports that an outstand-ing festival was enjoyed by everyonethere and that a great deal of love wasshown by everyone throughout the en-tire Passover season. Mr. McNair andMr. Roger Foster bo th gave very helpfulsermons on Christian living. And Mr.McNair said he was very thankful tohave the help and outstanding messagesbrought by Mr. Portune during his staythere.

Mr. McN air reports: W e had a greatblessing having Mr. A1 Portune and hisfamily with us and wish it were possiblethey could be here for the three daysduring the feast of Pcntccost, but knowthat might be a bit selfish on our part.W e enjoyed some inspiring sermonsfrom Mr. Portune. Many have com-mented about the good they receivedfrom his messages and how wonderfullyhe had been inspired.

A total of 217 baptized memberstook the sacred symbols of the bread andwine in the Passover service. About360remained for the first Holy Day serv-ices, and nearly 200 remained steadilythroughout the entire eight-day festivalin Denver.

Further west, in Portland, Oregon,another full eight-day festival was en-joyed by the brethren in the Oregonand W ashing ton churches. Mr. BenjaminRea, minister and also professor inAmbassador College and now slated tobe the first Dean of our new college inBritain, drove up to Portland to takecharge of the services there. Accom pany-

ing him were Mr. Dale H a m p t o n - e l d e rfrom the Pasadena church-and thewives of both men. Mr. Hampton isslated to take over as pastor of thePortland church in June.

220 adults partook of the Passoverthere and over 475 were present for thefirst Holy Day service. Over 100 stayedthroughout the entire period for theweek-day preaching services and Biblestudies. Assisting and conducting thepreaching and Bible studies were Mr.Jim Friddle, pastor of Gods churchesin Seattle and Tacoma,Mr. Lcs McColm,local elder in the Portland church, and

Mr. David A ntion, graduate of A mbas-sador College and now actingas assistantpastor to Mr. Raymond Cole of thePortland Church of God.

Passover Observance in Pasadenaand o ther Cal i forn ia Churches

At Gods headquarters Church inPasadena, 747 baptized members par-took of thr Paxmver ubservance, andabout 1000 were present for the feast.As you brethren can see, Pasadena hasreally GROWN

Mr. Herman Hoeh remained at head-quarters and took charge of the servicesin Pasadena, assisted by Mr. NormanSmith, Mr. Ernest Martin, and Mr.Leroy Neff. Bible studies were held eachevening throughout the entire festivalseason, and very enlightening sermonswere given by MI. Hoeh and Mr. Martinrelated to the theses on which they areboth w orking for advanced degrees fromAmbassador College. Also, Mr. NormanSmith brough t a very moving sermon onthe persecutions that are beginning toset in against Gods work. While thiscomes to m i n d , brethren, let me remindyou that Gods work NEEDS your prayersthat He will withstay the hand of Satanand protect the doors of radio and ofthe printing piess which H e has openedfor His work to use as instruments inreaching this world with His gospel

Because our hall in Pasadena couldnot even accommodate all those in thisarea, the Passover was also held in G odchurch at Long Beach, California, withSj p a r t a k i n g nf the Passover and about160 brethren attending the feast. Mr.Leroy Neff, Long Beach pastor, con-ducted these services and stated that theyhad a fine fcstival ~ I K Ian enthusiasticgroup there.

Elsewhere in California and around


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Page 12 The GOOD NEWS May, 1960

the nation, Passover observances wereheld in San Die go, California, w ith89partaking of the Passover there andabout 140 present for the feast. Mr.Normm Smith was in charge and someof the brethren report that he preacheda most inspiring and helpful sermon onwhat Ch rist ian love really is-as wellas other helpful and important messagestha t were delivered on the Sabbath andHoly Days.

Mr. Kenneth Swisher-here a t Am -bassador this semester for work in thegrad uate school-took char ge of thePassover observance at Fresno with150brethren partaking of the Passover andabout 210 present for the first HolyDay.

In Houston , Texas, 109 took the Pass-over w ith 173 brethren in at tendanceon the first Holy Day. Mr. Prince, min-ister of the Houston and Dallas churches,took charge of the service assisted byMr. Cecil Battles.

In Springfield, Missouri, Mr. BryceClark conducted Passover services with178 adults partaking, and over250 pres-ent for the Feast. This shows realGROWTH in our new church in Spring-field

As this goes to press, final reports onthe Passover and feast are not in fromother local church areas or from someo f our co-operating pastors abroad. Butfrom every report, this has undoubtedlybeen the GREATEST Passover observancein mode rn times-with a total attend -ance of converted, baptized adult mem-bers of Gods t rue Church ranging wellover 3600 brethren-plus hund reds ofchildren and young people who sat in onthe preaching and Bible studies butwere not yet able to take the PassoverIn addition, of course, literallyhundredsof you brethren across the nation andaround the world observed the Passoverquietly in your own homes if you weresimply unable to assemble with Godspeople in one of these great convoca-tions God has made possible.

Listen t Others?( Co n t i n n e d from age 4)

In such cases, the individual memberdoes NOT have authority to determineGods will-THE CHURCH has authorityto determine the procedure fo r THE

God did not give us one absolutelyplain Scripture on HOW this wine wasto be divided among us. Jesus did say:DIVI1)E it amo ng yourselves. Th erefore.GOD his shown His CHURCH that, sinceGod is not the author o f confusion,,ind all things must be done decentlya n d in order, that the ORDERLY way toD I V I D E the wine among 792 people isto divide it into 792 sinall glasses, pro-

WHOLE CHURCH

vided specially for this very purposc.There is NO BIBLE TEACHING saying,as this man said, that all must put theirmouths to the same one and only cup

Therefore, the CHURCH HAS RUL E DThat rul ing has the AUTHORITY OFGOD Every member is commanded,by the government of GO D in H isChurch, to partake of the Passover asthe Church has been inspired to rule.Any member is perfectly free to cometo the Headquarters Church to prcscntany reasons he may have why he thinksthe Church ought to rule otherwise.

But, so long as he remains a memberin the fellowship of Gods Church, heis NOT free to voice his contrary doc-trine to any other members, or to dootherwise, but obey the Churchs com-mands, which, in such a case,ARE THECOMMANDS OF GOD Otherw ise, he iscoming with a different doctrine-heis causing division, tending to st i r upstrife and introduce confusion-and he

must be MARKED, and disfellowshipped,and refused permission to be in thefellowship of any of our brethren

This is GODSWAY of preservingUNITY This is GODSWAY of leadingus all to SPEAK THE SAME THING, andinsuring that i t be the very thing GODwills, not our hum an w ill.

The Church at Eugene, Oregon, wassplit over n division of human opinionon HOW to cou nt 50-and on settin gthe right day for all the Church toassemble for the Feast of Pentecost. Thissplit was started by TWO WOMEN Onlythe CHURCH has authority to determinesuch matters for ALL THE CHURCH.Otherw ise there is confusion. Those car-nal minded members who rebelled areno longer in Gods Church. But TheChurch of God goes joyfully on, and on,constantly GR OWIN G, nd as Gods in-strument , doing the Wor k of GodWORLD-WIDE,producing FRUIT, havingGods continued and abundant BLESS-INGS

These thin gs, dear B rethren, we speakto you, that all may understand, andthat we may be drawn closer and closerto the TRUTH, in harmony, and theSPIRIT OF GO D and GODS LOVE Thus,and only thus, do we have Gods bless-ing

Pray On4 to Christ?( C u r L h u e d / r o w @age 8 )

they do right; and 2 ) to cut ourselvesoff from God-for whoever even bidsthem God s eed is PA RTA K E R of their

and also L OVE GOD,we will do as Godsays.

A G r a v e D A N G E RThis totally unscriptural doctrine,

based on erroneous human reason, pro-

evil deeds. IP e truly LOVE these people,

mulgated by this couple is a sacaiiirdoctrine of great DANGER

W ha t is the essence of all pagandoctrines? How did Satan deceive theworld with heathen doctrines? Theancient pagans knew there was oneS U P R E M E GOD and FATHERover ALL.But, like this misguided couple, theyreasoned that H e zias unapproachableH e was totally INA CCE SSIBLEhey hadto appro ach only a go-between-a lessergod. Satan represented his demons asdemi-gods, to whom people should ad-dress their prayers. THAT S THE WAYTHE IDEA OF THE M A N Y GODS of thepagans originated. Th e Rom an Catholicsmake Mary such an intermediary. T h e ypray t o her Also to dead saints.

To turn Jesus Christ i n t o such a demi-god IS HERESY,nd AN INSULT to JesusChrist.

Jesus Christ paid THE SUPREME PEN-A L W for us-,why? To purchase for usaccess direct t o G o d the Supreme

FATHER over all T o DENY that accessis to DENY the very blood of Jesusdhrist Far from honoring Christ, thiserring couple, in the smug conceit oftheir own supposed intellectual humanreasoning, are DE NYING Him-disobey-ing Him-insulting Him

Jesus C hrist, who is very G OD, salsoour ELDER BROTHER He made i t pos-sible for us to have accesb tu die Farherso that we might be begotten by theFATHER.W e are not begotten by ourelder BROTHER. brother does not be-get and sire brothers W e are begottenby our FATHER nto HIS FAMILY.

My sons and daughters have alwayshad a FAMILY R E L AT I O N S H I P wi.th, andfull access to, ME. All of us who areGods begotten children have ACCESSto GODTHE FATHER.And, w e also haveaccess to our Elder B rothe r, Jesus Christand to our still human but begottenbroth ers and sisters It isa WONDERFULfamily relationship

Yes, PRAISE GOD for it W e haveaccess direct to th e FATHER-and alsoto J ~ S L I S Christ Many times DAI LY w emay go into int imatr COMMT.JNION withBOTH Go d and Christ-our FATH ER ndour BROTHER Our GOD and ourSAVIOUR HOW WONDERFUL to reallycome to KNOW the great supreme GODHow grateful to Jesus we should be fomaking this blessed privilege possibleT h e MOST JOYOUS thing in life is tohave this COMMUNION-this close andintimate FELLOWSHIP with both theFATHE R nd Christ the SON

Gods Chiirch rertainly does not fo r-bid members to commune with andpray to Chr ist Jesus-but neith er mustwe leave UNDONE the communion andfellowship with a i d prayers to THEFATHER,who is the H E A D of Christ, andof all that is

good news 1960 (vol ix no 05) may

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