AUGUST 1982--i~lJ~

CIRCULATION: 110,000

Contents:

J us t What Is a Co-wo rker?

This Is the Life! Real Abundant Living

How to Be Truly Happy

Great Is the Name of Our God

Q&A

The Feast of Trumpe ts and YOUR Future

VOL. XXIX, NO.7

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LettersMany called, but few chosen

I must mention the article in the Apri lGood Ne ws by Raymond F. McNair ,"What Did Christ Mean - ' Many AreCalled , But Few Are Chosen' ?" Aft erreading the article it will be much easierto exp lain thi s scripture to someone else.And just to make sure that I don't forgetany of it I have put the scriptures in theback of my Bible for refere nce.

Bernita HoardPitt sford, Mic h.

Be sure to notify us immediately of any change in your address. Please inctude your old mailing label and yournew address. U.S. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: The Good News, Box 111, Pasadena, Calif.,91123.

The Good News is published mont hl y (ex cept combined June-July and October-Novemberissues) by the Worldwide Church of God , 300 W. Green St ., Pasadena, Calif., 91123. CopyrightIII 1982 Worldwide Church of God. All rights reserved. Reentered as second-class matter at theMan ila Central Post Office on Jan . 18, 1974.

COVER: Satan the dev il is alive and well on plane t ear th . God 's Word dep icts him as aroa ring lion, seeking whom he may devour - and he woul d especia lly like to devour trueChr ist ians ! " Do You Know Your Enemy?", beginn ing on page 14, expla ins Satan 's tact icsand how to defe nd aga inst him. Photo by Roland Rees.

ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO THE GOOD NEWS OFFICE NEAREST YOU.PRINTED IN USAUnited States: 300 W Green SI.. Pasadena, Calif., 91123. For literafure requests you may call

toll tree 1-800-423-4444 ; in California, Alaska and Hawaii call 213-577-5555 collecf.Canada: P.O. Box 44, Station A, Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2M2. For literafure requesfs you may call

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Herts., WD6 lLU EnglandZimbabwe: P.O. Box U.A.30 Union Ave., SalisburySouth Atrica: P.O. Box 1060. Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa 2000Ghana: P.O. Box 96 17, Kotoka Inl. Airport, AccraKenya and the rest ot East and Centrat Attics: P.O. Box 47135, Nairobi, KenyaMauri/ius and other tndian Ocea n Isles: P.O. Box 888, Pori Louis, MauritiusNigeria: P.M.B. 21006, Ikeja, Lagos Stale, NigeriaAustralia. India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia : GP.O. Box 345, Sydney, NSW 2001, AustraliaNew Zealand and Pacinc tstes: P.O. Box 2709, Auckland 1, New ZealandThe Philippines: P.O. Box 1111, M.C.C., Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines 3117Canbbean: P.O. Box 6063, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936Switzerland: Case Postale 10,91 rue de ta Servette, CH-1211, Geneva 7Scandinavia: Box 2513 Solli, Oslo 2, Norway

ReaderMissou ri

Hank BergerDiana, Tex.

Dori s M . Age rsLawton, Okla .

" Ho w to Handle Conflict"Th ank you, Mr. [Neil] Earle, for your

very time ly and helpful article in theApril, 1982, GN, "How to Handle Con­flict." I guess it would be difficult toascer tain , but I believe you have set arecord in the num ber of scriptural refer­ences used in an article of this particularlength. Don't get me wrong, I' m notcom plaining - I'm bragging about yourarticle. You made me haul out my Bibleand look up the scriptures for myselfbecause you didn 't quote man y of them ,After I finished your article, I realizedthat I not only had read a very helpfuland inspi ring article, but that I had com­pleted a rather comprehensive Bibl estudy on the subject.

Articles appreciatedPlease tell all of the writers on the

Good Ne ws staff that there are peopleout here - such as me - who reallyappreciate wit h all the ir hear ts thearticles in the GN in rece nt months,

I particularly enjoyed " How to HandleConflict" and "A Matte r of Perspective"in the Ap ril issue. Th e latter reminds meof the say ing, " Two men look outthro ugh the same bars: One sees themud, and one the stars."

I am also thri lled that the GN is nowbeing printed in German, French , Sp an­ish and Dutch for those who cann otunderstand English.

Good News exceptionalI would like to take th is opportunity to

tell you how exceptional I thought thelatest Good N ews was. I received it andstarted to read it and cou ldn' t put itdown. It was a great help and inspirationto me. I hope you keep up the goodwork.

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Published by the Worldwide Church of GodPUBLISHER: Herbert W. Armstrong

TREASURER: Leroy NeffPRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Roger Lippross

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Boyd Leeson

EDITOR-iN-CHIEF: Herbe rt W. ArmstrongMANAGING EDITOR: Dexter H. Faulkner

ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Sheila Graham, Norman ShoafGRAPHICS: Greg S. Smith, Minette Collins Smi th

CONTRIBUTORS: Dibar Apartian, Neil Earle, John Halford ,Selmer L. Hegvold, Herman L. Hoeh, Shirley King Johnson, George Kackos,

Ellis LaRavia , Richard Rice, Richard H. Sedliacik, Clayton Steep

Ministudy: How Christ Will Rule the World Tomorrow

A Joyous Marriage - Putting All the Pieces Together

Do You Know Your Enemy?

Stories From the New Testamen t, Chapter 10: Jesus St ills a Storm

Sharing: Money Problems?

Just What Is aCOWORKER?

A personal explanation bythe founder and editor-in-chief

By Herbert W. Armstrong

T H E GOOD NEWS hasbeen made availableto many other than

members of the WorldwideChurch of God - in fact, ayear's subscription is avail­able free (no subscriptionprice) to any interestedenough to subscribe andread - although it is theofficial organ of theChurch.

Many who are not membersmay have noticed we often usethe term "co-worker," andmay wonder what we mean .Let me explain.

And let me first say that theWorldwide Church of God isnondenominational and non prose­Iyting. It does not solicit or urgepeople to become members, or tojoin.

In fact , one cannot "join" thisChurch. One enters only by beingbaptized by the Holy Spirit intothis, God's Church. Of course wejoyfully welcome all whom Godthrough Christ baptizes into HisChurch.

The great commission

This Church has a very greatworldwide Work to which wehave been called - the greatcommission to proclaim Christ'sGospel of the Kingdom of God inall the world for a witness to all

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

nations (Matt. 24:14) just priorto Christ's glorious return asKING of kings and LORD of lordsover all nations . And, second, to"feed the flock " and prepareChrist's Bride (the Church) forHis soon coming (Rev. 19:7).

How is so vast an operation ­so great a worldwide organization- financed? This Church is atithe-paying Church. Its mem­bers observe God's command oftithing - and 10 percent ofincome is paid by members intothe Church.

Beside this , many nonmembersvoluntarily have become regularcontributors of God's tithe ortheir freewill offerings. Roughly,about 75 percent to 80 percent ofall income for the Church's oper­ations comes from the tithes andofferings of members - the bal­ance from co-workers or occa­sional contributors.

So what is a co-worker? Letme explain.

Volu nta ry contributions

First, we do not solicit the pub­lic for contributions or financialsupport. But if one voluntarilysends a contribution, it isrecorded at our Data ProcessingCenter as a "donor."

But when one sends in contri­butions or tithes two or moretimes in two or three months, wesend a letter explaining that wehave assumed he or she wishes tobecome a regular contributor,

whom we designate as a "co­worker," and co-workers receive aregular monthly letter from mepersonally, telling them of theprogress of the Work, and oftenor frequently, as the need may be ,reminding them to send in theirtithe or offering.

However, the first letter to anew co-worker explains our poli­cy saying that if we have misun­derstood the donor' s intentionand he does not wish to receivethese monthly letters, we wouldappreciate being so advised ­and they will not be sent.

The monthly "co-worker let­ters" are sent alike to all mem­bers and co-workers.

This, we feel , is God's way.Moses sent a proclamation to thepeople of ancient Israel for a spe­cial offering for the building ofthe tabernacle - and the peopleresponded over-generously. Buthe did not ask for offerings orcontributions outside Israel , but"whosoever is of a willing heart"- that is, those who voluntarilydesired (Ex . 35 :5, 21 -22) .

That was the Church of theOld Testament, but it illustratesGod's way in principle. Of courseIsraelites paid the 10 percenttithe. Moses' request was for aspecial offering.

This, then, explains our finan­cial policy for the conduct ofGod's Work - based on the bib­lical example, principle andway. 0

This Is theLife!

RealAbundant Living

Do you know how to live fully - abundantly?In this article you will learn how you maytaste the joys of real abundant living.

By Herbert W. Armstrong

W hy do religiouspeople often seem

to feel that theirreligious life must be one ofgiving up all the fun andthe enjoyment of living ­that in order to please God,they must endure a life ofmorbid gloom?

Sin to many of these peopleconsists of things that manyother people consider to bemost desirable.

To them, sin is going contraryto a number of "don'ts." "Don't

smoke." "Don't dance." "Don'tplay cards." "Don't go to thetheater." "Don't ever touch adrop of alcoholic beverage.""Don't do this!" "Don't dothat!"

What 's wrong w ith relig ion?

A prominent lawyer's wifeonce said to me: "I couldn't everbecome a Christian. Why, if 1had to give up smoking, dancing,card playing, the theater and allthe pleasures of life, what wouldthere be left to live for any­way?"

A world-famous philosopher,

editor and lecturer whom 1 knew- and who also had no use forreligion - said that he did notdesire to be repressed or to live alife of painful penance. "Idesire," he said, "to be radiant,cheerful, friendly and to meetpeople with a smile." ~

Apparently he assumed that ~

such a happy life could not be a ~

religious life.rBut strangely, none of these ~

people KNEW HOW TO LIVE. lVery few have ever found or '2

tasted the true abundant life. c3Now the Creator, who gives ~

cyou the breath that you breathe, tf.

2 The GOOD NEWS August 1982

does not desire for you to live anempty, depressed or an unhappylife.

You never please the Eternalby giving up happiness or any­thing that is good for you.

God wants you to be happy

God Almighty has never givenyou a single "don't," except thosethings that are going to harm you,tear you down, bring on unhappi­ness later.

Oh, of course, some of thesethings give you a thrill or a littlekick out of life temporarily, butthere is always a boomerang.They exact a great penalty later,and the price is too high. It isn'tgood business.

God forbids those things thatare bad for us, the things that aregoing to bring on unhappinessand bring on a life of emptinessand gloom.

But never does God Almightyforbid one single thing that is foryour happiness , your welfare,your real well-being.

I'm reminded of an elderlyman who was of the "shoutingkind" of religion . He rose up onetime in a church meeting and heshouted out a question to thoseassembled. He said, "Brethren,are you enjoying it, or are youonly enduring it?"

Some people endure a solemn,stiff and formal church service.And some, emotionally inclined,will go to the kind of church meet­ing where there is much shoutingand much emotional response,merely to have a good time duringthe meeting. The rest of the weekreligion doesn't seem to have agreat part in their lives.

Others feel that if they become,as they call it, "saved," they mustforever after live a gloomy life ofgiving up everything that theyformerly enjoyed, and that theirsolemn, unhappy lives will some­how please their Creator . Ofcourse, that kind of religion ismore or less a superstition!

Christ broughtabundant living

Let's get this matter straight.

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

The founder of the Christian reli­gion, Jesus Christ, said that Hecame to this earth for a purpose."I am come," said Jesus, "thatthey might have LIFE, and thatthey might have it more abun­dantly " (John 10:10). JesusChrist came to bring us the"ABUNDANT LIFE. " Do you knowwhat that is?

God Almighty intended thereal Christian life to be one ofjoy.

Do you know that if you havethe real Christian life, if you havethe Spirit of God within you , it'sgoing to bring about this result?It's going to, as we say, "producefruits. "

Now what kind of fruits will beproduced in a real Christian life ?Not the morbid, unhappy life.Here is the fruit. Here is whatwill emanate from a real Chris­tian life. It is found in Galatians5, beginning with verse 22. "Thefruit of the Spirit" - this is theSpirit of God. This is the HolySpirit that God imparts only tothose who are truly converted."The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE"

- first of all is love - and thesecond is "JOY." Joy is happiness,brimful and running over.

That doesn't sound like anunhappy, empty , morbid life,does it? Here's love that will justflow, spontaneously, out fromyou!

The first "fruit of the Spirit"of God is LOVE. Love will meanthat your face is beaming. It'sgoing to mean that you are reallygiving out. It's going to mean thatyou are radiant and happy. Loveresults in JOY, the second productof the Spirit of God. The third is"PEACE." Instead of going aroundquarreling, resentful, bitter, un­happy and arguing - that's notpeace, that's a kind of war ­you'll be at peace in your mindand with your neighbor, and withyour God!

And the next is, in the KingJames Authorized Version of theBible, "Iongsuffering," which inmore modern English is " P A­

TIENCE." Impatience makes morepeople unhappy than almost any-

thing else! If you can really learnthe lesson of patience, you'relearning one of the things thatwill make you happy, and makelife worth living.

The next is "gentleness," andthen "goodness, faith, meekness,temperance: against such thereis no law ." That is the fruit ofthe Spirit. It will spontaneouslyspring forth from you . That, youwill be emitting from yourself,radiating from yourself, all thetime, if you are a real Chris­tian.

But most people are notChristians

You read in Romans 8:9 thatunless you have received, fromwithout, the Holy Spirit of God,you are not any of Christ's! Youare not a Christian.

There are millions of peoplewho profess Christianity who arenot Christians according to God'sdefinition. They're not Christiansat all!

Of course, in a Christian life,there are troubles . There aregoing to be even persecutions.Jesus Christ was persecuted. Hesaid, "If they have persecuted me,they will also persecute you"(John 15:20). That comes fromwithout. That's something thatcomes from other people. Thatdoesn 't necessarily need to dis­turb you inwardly.

And the person who does havethis inward peace, the person whohas this joy and this love and thispatience - and who has this tol­erance for other people - isn'tgoing to be too much disturbedbecause other people don't agreeand perhaps persecute.

Yes , you're going to face prob­lems and trials. Those things aregood for us . They come upon usfor a purpose - to help us devel­op character. And a real Chris­tian understands. It doesn't makehim unhappy.

We all have trials

We are going to have troubles,problems and trials just likeeverybody else. They come to test

(Continued on page 27)

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re you happy? Are you- really?

P er h a p s n o ot he rqu e sti on p en etr at e spast o u r s u pe rfic ia l

inasks of contentment as thisone does.

For, when asked if we are hap­py, we are for ced to d ig deep intoou r hearts, past our goals, ourproblems, ou r possessions , ou rhopes and our dreams, into th em ost pr iva t e recesse s o f ourbeing . Here, de ep insid e ourselvesin places whe re we ra rely let thesearching eyes or ears of othe rstravel, we hold th e answer .

A nd tha t answer, wh ile it maybe a joyous " Yes!", all too ofte n isa somber "Sometimes" or a per­plexed "I don 't kn ow " or anem barrassed and depressed "No,I guess not. "

So, what about you? A re youhappy? Do you have a right to

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ex pect to be ? And, if you shouldor can be happy, how should yougo about it ?

Just what should our att itudeas Christians be toward this topicof "being happy" ?

What happiness is not

It might seem that the place tobegin explaining this importantto pic would be with a definitionof th e word happiness. But anunderstanding of what happinessis not will take us far indeedtow ard gaining a godly perspec­tive of this subject.

De ep within the human heartlurks the erroneous belief that " IfI just didn 't have these problemsor these worries, then I'd be hap­py!" But freedom from problemsor worries would not make youhappy because happiness is notfreedo m from these things.

Re alize this : A person cannotbe truly happy unless he is fulfill-

By Bernie Schnippert

ing t he purpose for whi ch Godput him on th is earth. And thatpurpose is not just to be hap py asthe world views happiness.

No, God pu t you here to gothrough trials and t roubles andproblems! Why? For the purposeof building with in you the cha rac­ter neces sary to ente r His King­dom. Trials and problems se rve tohelp develop you into a very sonof G od! For more informationabout the purpose of life - abo utwh y you were put here - requestour free booklet , Why Were YouBorn?

If yo u so mehow escape alIproblems, you will also " escape"becoming a son of God , and th atis not a satisfacto ry alternat ive. ~

No, happiness is not the oppo- ~

site of probl ems - bor edom is! ~And boredom is one of the big- ~gest cau ses of unhappiness in th e tworld today. ~

Neither does having wea lt h a:The GOOD NEWS August 1982

mean happiness. Money can solvethe problem of paying your lightbill or the problem of buying gro­ceries, but it cannot solve yourmarital problems, your problemsof depression, your problems withyour teenagers or your friends. Infact, many times money can causea whole new set of problems thatthe person with meager meansdoes not face .

As Christ said, "A man's lifeconsisteth not in the abundanceof the things which he posses­seth" (Luke 12:15) .

We live in the get generation.But happiness is not somethingyou can get for yourself by pursu­ing it or trying to grab it fromsomeone else. Indeed, the very actof trying to get happiness foryourself drives it away becauseGod designed life to work to ourgood only when we operate on theprinciple of giving rather thangetting (Acts 20 :35).

Happiness is not somethingyou can get for yourself. It issomething that comes to youautomatically, but only when youobey the principles of life thatproduce it.

The pillars of happiness

Happiness can be viewed ali aspiritual shelter in this stormylife . Like the stately ceiling of afabulous building, it stands aboveand overshadows us while restingupon pillars that give it support.

The more of these pillars weemploy, the more sturdily ourhappiness will stand. But if weneglect these pillars and allowthem to fall into ruin, the roof ofhappiness they support will alsotumble.

Viewed in this light, then, whatis happiness? Happiness is thepositive, serene state of mind thatresults automatically from livingin accordance with the God­ordained laws and principles onwhich our lives and the worldaround us function.

Here are seven pillars of happi­ness that deserve our specialattention .

The purpose of life

The first pillar is an under­standing of why you were born

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

and of the true God who set thatpurpose in motion.

No matter how materially suc­cessful one may become - nomatter how many possessions hemay acquire or how intellectuallydeveloped he is - he will alwaysflounder in life and not know truehappiness until he knows the pur­pose of life .

True Christians have thatknowledge and that hope, andtherefore that happiness . AsGod's Word says, "Happy is hethat hath the God of Jacob for hishelp, whose hope is in the Lordhis God" (Ps. 146:5) . And else­where God says, "Happy is thatpeople, that is in such a case: yea,happy is that people, whose Godis the Lord" (Ps. 144:15).

We are that people,if we aretruly converted . We have thegreat God as our Lord. We knowwhy we were born and where weare going. And we can know truehappiness.

Family

The second pillar of happinessis a close, loving family.

God Almighty Himself knowsthat having a family is one of thegreatest thrills that can be known.He has shown this truth in Hisdesire for His own Family to beexpanded to include a wife (theChurch) and sons and daughters(the members of the Church, tobe born into God'simmortal, spiritualFamily at JesusC h r i s t ' s r e­turn).

This world to­day does notbenefit much from the happinessproper family relationships pro­vide. Divorce, broken homes,family squabbles, husband-wifeand parent-child conflicts aremain sources of heartache in thissociety. But when functioning asa loving, caring unit, the familygives probably the greatest satis­faction and happiness of anyphysical institution .

The companionship and love ofa strong family relationship notonly picture God's future Family,in which God Himself will findgreat happiness, but serve as a

foundational pillar of happiness inour own life.

Achievement through work

The third pillar of happiness isa satisfying, challenging job, roleor career in which you can giveby contributing of yourself.

Solomon wrote : "There isnothing better for a man, thanthat he should eat and drink, andthat he should make his soulenjoy good in his labour. This alsoI saw, that it was from the handof God" (Eccl. 2:24). Solomonsaw the value of work. He under­stood that men and women weremade to be productive and to givesomething to their society.

But be careful. Your job orother responsibilities in life willonly give happiness if your effortsare aimed at contributing insteadof taking. Any person who oper­ates by pulling rugs out fromunder others, while seeking tobuild and build and build forhimself in a selfish, coldheartedmanner, will know only miseryinstead of happiness. For, asstated earlier, happiness is drivenaway by the get frame of mindbut is increased by giving.

If your role or career is one inwhich you can give, then you canfind happiness in it.

Of course, ideally, your careeror job should also challenge youand give you physical satisfaction.

But what if you find yourself in ajob that offers no satisfactionbecause you dislike it? First,make sure that the job is indeedwhat is at fault - that you arenot dissatisfied merely because ofyour own wrong values.

But what if your job truly is atfault, and you find yourselfunable for financial reasons orother constraints to change to amore satisfying job? Read on.

Character growth

The next pillar of happiness isthat of growing in character.

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Here we see the value of trialsand tribulations. Trials and tribu­lations may strain us, but theynonetheless contain the germ oftrue happiness, for it is throughthese trials that we build charac­ter . And with character, wereceive a dual blessing.

First, the very process of grow­ing in character tends to give hap­piness and satisfaction. This isbecause God designed the charac­ter-building process to produce asense of accomplishment and sat­isfaction - and happiness.

Second, building character isprerequisite to qualifying for theKingdom of God. And the knowl­edge that the character we havebuilt sets us in good stead forGod's Kingdom, brings joy.

As the apostle Paul stated,"Therefore I take pleasure ininfirmities, in reproaches, innecessities, in persecutions, indistresses for Christ's sake: forwhen 1 am weak, then am Istrong" (II Cor. 12:10).

The apostle Peter proclaimed,"Beloved, think it not strange con­cerning the fiery trial which is totry you, as though some strangething happened unto you : Butrejoice .. ." (I Pet. 4:12-13) .

Good works

Doing good works is a powerfulbuilder of happiness. Wise KingSolomon wrote, " He that despis­eth his neighbour sinneth: but hethat hath mercy on the poor, hap­py is he" (Prov. 14:21) .

Doing good works brings ushappiness for more than one rea­son . When we do good works, wepractice God's character, for Godis the giver of every good gift(Jas . 1:17). When we imitateGod, we gain the happiness thatcomes from being like God andliving the way of outgoing con­cern.

Also, the act of giving sets inmotion a series of domino-likeevents that bring good back uponourselves:

"Give, and it shall be givenunto you; good measure, presseddown , and shaken together, andrunning over, shall men give intoyour bosom. For with the samemeasure that ye mete withal it

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shall be measured to you again"(Luke 6:38).

What are your good works?Can you point to them? Can yousit down and make a list of themand get past one or two smallitems? If not, then perhaps youare not doing good works as youshould and therefore cannotexpect the happiness that comesfrom doing so.

Wisdom

Wisdom is the sixth pillar ofhappiness. Wisdom is the abilityto know what path to choose toreach the right goal. Wisdom alsoimplies character, since theknowledge of the right path orroute to take in life has no lastingvalue without the character totake it.

Notice these poignant wordsfrom the wisest man who everlived, Solomon: "Happy is theman that findeth wisdom, and theman that getteth understand­ing ... Length of days is in herright hand; and in her left handriches and honour. Her ways areways of pleasantness, and all herpaths are peace. She is a tree oflife to them that lay hold uponher: and happy is everyone thatretaineth her" (Prov. 3:13 -18).

Happy is the person who findswisdom - therefore, seek wis­dom and be happy.

Active accomplishment

The seventh pillar of happinessis active accomplishment.

The human machine was madeto be active, to produce, toaccomplish. To the old maxim " torest is to rust" we could add "torest continually is to be bored andunhappy."

Too many people in this worldwork at building houses upon thesand, houses that will fall when thewinds and rain of future catastro­phes occur. But we as true Chris­tians should be actively engaged inbuilding upon the right foundation(Matt. 7:24-27).

And just as there is no wisdomin building upon sand, there isalso no wisdom in not building atall . Merely knowing the properfoundation is not enough. Weshould try to busily build in every

aspect of our lives - our educa­tion, our physical bodies, ourmental health, our homes, ouryards and our physical goods. Weshould be the example of busybuilding activity - whether it bein activities of God's Church, ofour families, of our homes or ofour possessions.

The fact that we are not mes­merized by the materialisticthings of this world - that wedon't seek them as our primarygoal - is no excuse to let ourphysical possessions fall into dis­repair, or to live slovenly. No. Weshould be bursting with activity,constantly striving to build ourminds, our bodies and whateverelse constitutes our "house" uponthe proper foundation, as anexample to others and a physicalaid to our happiness.

A warning

Please do not be misled. It ispossible to get the wrong impres­sion from reading an article likethis one. It is possible to slip intothinking that being happy is themost important thing in theworld. It is not. There is more tothis physical life than being hap­py. Read that again: There ismore to life than being happy!

Our purpose in life is reachingthe Kingdom of God! Perhaps wemight better say that there ismore to life than being happynow. For our true goal in life isnot necessarily to be completelyhappy now, but to seek happinessin the world tomorrow, in theKingdom of God. We achievethat goal by going through what­ever is necessary now.

So if you must suffer trials thatmake you sad, do not be dis­mayed. There is more to life thanbeing happy. Happiness is a mereside effect, a temporary result ofproperly seeking our great goal ofeternal life, when we will enjoynever-ending, blissful spiritualhappiness.

Therefore, ask yourself, "Am Ihappy?" No matter what youranswer is now, you can know forcertain that, if you obey God'slaws and reach the goal of God'sKingdom, someday you will be ­truly! 0

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

IS THE NAMEOF OUR

Do you always use God's name with properreverence and respect? Here are guidelines

everyone should know and use.

By Selmer L. Hegvold

E veryone wants life- happy, excit­ing, challenging

life here and now, and theassurance that such abun­dant life will continue evenbeyond this physical exis­tence.

How to have this kind of lifewas on the mind of the man whocame and asked Jesus Christ,"Good Master, what good thingshall I do, that I may have eter­nallife?" (Matt. 19:16) .

Jesus' stated purpose for beingon earth was that mankind"might have life, and that theymight have it more abundantly"(John 10:10) . He answered:"Why callest thou me good?there is none good but one, thatis, God: but if thou wilt enter intolife, keep the commandments"(Matt. 19:17).

Here Christ revealed the wayto the happy, fulfilling life every­one desires, the way that willactually produce every good

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

result man could want: the way ofobeying God's commandments.

Christ made clear in verses 18and 19 which commandments Hewas talking about: "Thou shalt dono murder, Thou shalt not com­mit adultery, Thou shalt notsteal ... " Christ was talkingabout the Ten Commandments.

God's Ten Commandments arethe foundation of the way leadingto the full, abundant life we canenjoy now, while qualifying forreal, eternal life in God's King­dom.

The Third Commandment

Notice the third of God's TenCommandments: "Thou shalt nottake the name of the Lord thy Godin vain: for the Lord will not holdhim guiltless that taketh his namein vain" (Ex. 20:7, Deut. 5:11).

The name of God has pro­found, wonderful significance.How that name is used in prayer,in conversation and in casual dai­ly activities is of great concern tothe Being who created and rulesthis entire universe!

Prayer is a profoundly effectivetool with which we can achievesteady, strengthening spiritualgrowth from God. Casual or vainprayer can be compared to tele­phone messages spoken or sentover broken wires - they accom­plish nothing.

Yet even sincere, heartfeltprayer could be in vain, if we haveused God's holy name irreverent­ly day in and day out.

Have our well-intentionedprayers gone unanswered? Is thisa reason for a lack of blessings,prosperity and spiritual growth inour lives? Unless we approachGod's heavenly throne in greatawe and humility, we could bepraying useless prayers.

And are awe, reverence andhumility for God and His name tobe reserved just for prayer? Whatabout the rest of the day - therest of the week - the rest of ourlives?

Christ's own example

Christ was a perfect, livingexample to His disciples. They

7

"Thou shalt not take thename of the Lord thyGod in vain" (Ex. 20:7).

watched and listened to Him andmust have begun to perceive agreat lack in themselves.

The more they considered theirMaster's manner of living - Hishumility among the people H etaught and healed, and especiallyHis approach to God in prayer ­the more they re alized how mean­ingless were the rote prayers ofthe influ ential religious leaders oftheir day.

As this convict ion grew in theirminds, they expressed their frus­tration to Jesus: "One of his di sci­ple s said unto him, Lord, teach usto pray, as John also taught hisdiscipl es" (Luke 11 : 1) . AndJesus began to teach them thefundamentals of prayer that wecan now re ad in th e Bible.

But notice the importanceChrist placed on G od 's name:" A nd he sa id unto them , Whenye pray, say, Our Father whichart in heaven, Hallowed be thyname" (verse 2).

The first thing we should do inprayer is to express our awe andrespec t for the great God towhom we are praying. God ' sname is so great th at we musthallow it in our minds as wepr ay.

Can we com p re he nd God 'stranscendent glory, Hi s majest y,His unlimited power? U nless weunderstand how great our Savior ,the Son of God the Father inheaven, is, we stand in jeopardyof the very salvat ion we seek, andwe could be sh aming Jesus ChristHimself.

Moses and th e burn ing bu sh

Even th e very ground is sacredwhen occ upied by G od 's di vin eperson. God is so hol y that noman can look on or at Him andlive (Ex. 33 :20) .

When an astonished Moses sawa bush burning but not being con­sumed by the fire , he began toapproach it , intending to examineit. But a powerful voice spoke out:" M oses, Mose s. A nd he said,Here am I. And he sa id, Draw notnigh hither: put off th y sh oesfrom off th y feet , for the placewhereon thou standes t is hol y

8

ground. Moreover he sa id, I amthe God of th y father, the God ofA braham, the G od of Isaac, andthe God of Jacob. And Moses hidhis face; for he was afraid to lookupon God" (Ex. 3:4-6) .

Everything about God is holy- His person , Hi s Word andeach of the various names bywhich He has chosen to describe

Himself. W e should, like Moses,sta nd in awe of G od and th atwh ich pertains to Him.

King David continuall y glori­fied God by extolling God ' sco m mand m en ts (Ps. 119 :97) ,and understood how specia l wasGod's name: " H oly and reverendis his name. The fear of theLord is th e beginning of wis­dom: a good understanding haveall they th at do his command­ments" ( Ps. 111:9-10). Davidfeared to use God 's nam e invai n .

Notice how Adam Cl arke, inhis Bible co mmentary, ex pressesthe importance of the ThirdCommandment:

"This precept not only forbidsall false oa ths, but all commonswearing where the name of Godis used, or wh ere He is appealedto as a witness of th e truth .

" It also necessarily forbids alllight and irreverent mention ofGod, or any of Hi s att ributes ...eve ry pr aye r, ejacu la t io n, etc.,that is not acco mpanied with deepreverence and the genuine spiritof piety , is here condemnedalso.

"In how many thousands ofinstances is this commandmentbroken in the pr ayers, whetherread or ex te m pore, of incon sider­ate, bold and presumptuou s wor­shippers! A nd how few are therewho do not break it , both in their

pu blic and pri vate dev otions! . . ." W hatever the person himsel f

may think or hope, ho wever hemay plead in his own behalf, andsay he intends no evil , etc., if hein any of th e above ways, or inany other way, takes the name ofGod in vain, God will not holdhim guiltless - He will accounthim guilty and punish him for it "

(Clarke's Commentary , Vol. I, p.404).

God 's name is reverend

The earl ies t biblical record wehave of God is not found in Gen­esi s , as m ost people mightass ume. It is recorded in th e gos­pel of John .

Notice the names of G od thatJ ohn was inspired to use: "In thebeginning was th e Word, and theWord was wit h God, and theWo rd was God. The sa me was inth e beginning wit h Go d . A llthings were made by him; andwithout him was not any thingmade th at was made. In him waslife ; and the life was th e light ofmen . . . . And the Word wasmade flesh , and dwelt am ong us,(and we beh eld his glor y, th e glo­ry as of th e only begotten of th eFather ,) full of grace and truth"(John 1:1-4 , 14) .

The "Word" in th e origi nalGreek wa s L o g o s , m e aning" S pokesma n." The W ord, noneother th an J esu s C hris t, was thefir st begotten/ of the " Fat her"(God) . '

Nowhere does the Bible men­tion any other great, ruling per­sonages of equal rank with theLogos and th e Father. Only thesetw o. A nd C hrist said these twower e one, two in one, forming th eG od Family into which we maybe born (John 17:20-21 ).

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

The Father's name is holy andreverend (Ps. III :9). For thisreason no man should be called"Father" in a religious sense. AsChrist commanded, "And call noman your father upon the earth:for one is your Father, which is inheaven" (Matt. 23:9).

Likewise, neither should anyman take to himself the title"Reverend." Only God is rever­end. Hi s name alone is worthy ofreverence. Using the title "Rever­end" in any other way violates theThird Commandment by takingone of God's names in vain. God'strue ministers do not do so.

On the other hand, some buildentire religions around certain" sacred" names for God. Theyinsist that salvation itself is basedon special terms for God or pro­nunciations of God's name. Thisextreme is just as much in erroras the common, obvious misusesof God's names. For more infor­mation on the " sacred names"question, write for our freereprint article, "What Is the Sav­ior's Name? "

Your example to others

God predicts that we will havea real struggle on our hands toovercome ourselves and live Hisway (Matt. 7:13-14).

Life is much too difficult tocope with when we are apart fromGod. We discovered early in ourChristian lives how much betterthings go when we turn to God inearnest prayer first.

If we can diligently control thelanguage we use in our conversa­tion and in our prayers to God,and avoid using irreverently anyterm that refers to God or to any­thing about Him, how pleasingwe will be to God!

If we are truly converted, weare members of God's Church,called by God's name. Twelveplaces in the New Testamentidentify God's Church by thename Church of God, and Christprayed, "Holy Father, keepthrough thine own name thosewhom thou hast given me, thatthey may be one, as we are"(John 17:11).

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

Our example as servants ofGod is constantly under observa­tion by those around us . How welldo we hold up under that dailyscrutiny? Can a Christian defilehis godly calling by using crass orcoarse expressions, even if suchexpressions do not directly castaspersions on God's name? Bath­room terms, locker-room slangand "gutter language" do notbecome a servant of God.

Using such language in yourvocabulary brings great discreditto the Church. Yet many haveallowed such expressions to creepinto regular usage. Let's not kidourselves - we are not firmlywithin the Body of Christ if weare not controlling our language.

As Paul wrote, "Let no corruptcommunication proceed out ofyour mouth, but that which isgood to the use of edifying, that itmay minister grace unto the hear­ers" (Eph. 4:29) . Any poor exam­ple we set lowers the opinionothers have of God's Church andtherefore God's name.

What about swearing?

The common, obvious misusesof God's names are evident to,and zealously avoided by, trueChristians. We should be just asdiligent to erase from our conver­sations and thoughts wrong wordsand phrases substituted for God'snames, though these terms maybe harder to recognize.

Perhaps some feel that certainspontaneous expressions of emo­tion or the use of colorful lan­guage is harmless. But God is notdeceived by camouflaged word­ing. Such expressions simply takeGod's names carelessly - "invain," uselessly.

Notice Christ 's living adviceto His followers about swearing:"But I say unto you, Swear notat all; neither by heaven; for it isGod's throne: Nor by the earth;for it is his footstool: neither byJerusalem; for it is the city ofthe great King. Neither shaltthou swear by thy head, becausethou canst not make one hairwhite or black. But let yourcommunication be, Yea, yea;

Nay, nay: for whatsoever ismore than these cometh of evil"(Matt. 5:34-37) .

A simple yes or no should suf­fice to affirm or deny. Manypeople, unfortunately, have lim­ited vocabularies and are proneto use various conversation fill­ers - meaningless words orphrases, slang or profanity - tomake their statements soundcomplete. We simply lack ade­quate word power that wouldenable us to use proper, meaning­ful, effective expressions, so wefall back on weak terms that inmany cases put us at odds withour God.

Our desire to please Godshould be strong incentive todevelop our vocabularies andincrease our personal word power.This doesn't mean we should tryto use big, complicated words orsound like we are smarter thaneveryone else, but that we shouldlearn to express ourselves clearlyand effectively without usingterms that are offensive to God .

Use God's name properly

When we realize how greatGod is, magnificent beyond any­thing we have understood before,and how broadly God's law coversevery aspect of successful livingtoday, we can see the tremendousimpact of the Third Command­ment. That third point of God'swonderful Ten Commandmentsclearly indicates an urgent needfor us to revere and honor God,and especially His name, ineverything we say, do and think.

When we do - when we cometo God in complete agreementwith the third of God's greatcommandments - we will expe­rience tremendous results. Whenwe wholeheartedly obey this andGod's other laws, we will havediscovered the powerful, funda­mental keys to happy, abundantliving, now and in the future.

Let's strive to put a watch onour tongues in the future andremember Christ's words ofencouragement: "And I knowthat his commandment is lifeeverlasting" (John 12:50)! 0

9

What is the name of thetrue Church? Does it have adefinite title?

The Bible reveals the name ofGod's Church in 12 differentplaces; J2 is God's number fororganizational beginnings.

In five scriptural passageswhere the true name of theChurch appears, the entire Bodyof Christ - the Church as awhole, including all individualmembers - is indicated:

1) "Feed the church of God"(Acts 20:28).

2) "Give none offence, neitherto the Jews, nor to the Gentiles,nor to the church of God" (ICor. 10:32) .

3) "Or despise ye the church ofGod, and shame them that havenot?" (I Cor. 11:22) .

4) "Because I persecuted thechurch of God" (I Cor. 15:9).

5) "Beyond measure I perse­cuted the church of God" (Gal.I: 13).

Where one specific congrega­tion is mentioned, the trueChurch is also called "the Churchof God." Usually the term is usedin connection with the place orlocation of the specific congrega­tion:

6) "The church of God whichis at Corinth" (I Cor. 1:2) .

7) "The church of God whichis at Corinth" (II Cor. 1:1).

8) "For if a man know not howto rule his own house, how shallhe take care of the church ofGod?" (I Tim. 3:5).

9) "Behave thyself in the houseof God, which is the church ofthe living God" (I Tim. 3: 15) .

In speaking of the congrega­tions collectively - not as onegeneral Body, but as the total ofall congregations - the Biblename is again "the Church ofGod." Here are the final threeverses:

10

10) "We have no such custom,neither the churches of God" (ICor. 11:16).

11) "For ye, brethren, becamefollowers of the churches of Godwhich in Judaea are in ChristJesus" (I Thess. 2:14).

12) "So that we ourselves gloryin you in the churches of God"(II Thess. 1:4) .

Since Christ is the Head of theChurch (Eph. 5:23), Paul alsocalled the various congregations"the churches of Christ" (Rom.16:16). But the actual name is"The Church of God."

In some New Testamentinstances, a descriptive adjectiveis added to the name, as in thecase of the Church of God atCorinth or the churches of God inJudaea, to show the location ofthe Church.

Today, the name of God's trueChurch is "The WorldwideChurch of God." This denotesthe worldwide scope of God'smodern-day Church.

Would you please explainMatthew 11: 12? What, exact­ly, did J e sus Christ meanw hen He said "the kingdom ofheaven suffereth violence,an d the violent take it byforce."

Two possible explanationsexist.

One apparent explanation isthat violent men, especially thescribes and Pharisees, were perse­cuting those who were seeking toenter God's Kingdom. At thattime, the persecution was mostviolent against Jesus Christ andJohn the Baptist, the personalrepresentatives of God's King­dom at that time.

Jesus and John were emissariesfrom the Father, sent to bear wit­ness of the soon-coming Kingdomof God. Both were ridiculed,threatened, persecuted and finallymurdered.

They suffered violence at thehands of untoward, unconvertedmen who did everything possibleto keep anyone from entering theKingdom of God (see Matthew23:13) .

Another possible explanation isthat only those who strive violent-

Iy will enter God's Kingdom.In other words, only those who

are energetically driving them­selves to qualify for God's gift ofeternal life.

The Goodspeed translationrenders this verse, "Men havebeen taking the Kingdom ofHeaven by storm and impetuous­ly crowding into it." Now com­pare Matthew 11:12 with Luke16: 16, which states, "Since thattime the kingdom of God ispreached, and every man pressethinto it."

Both of the above explanationsare in agreement with the te xt inMatthew 11: 12 and with the restof the Bible.

What is the meaning ofLeviticus 19:27 and 21 :5? Dothese passages imply that it iswrong to shave or cut one'shair?

Notice a modern rendering ofthese verses in an Americantranslation by Goodspeed.

Leviticus 19:27, in the Good­speed version, says: "You mustnot shave around your temples,nor do away with the corners ofyour beard."

And this is how the Goodspeedtranslates Leviticus 21 :5: "T heymust not shave part of their headsbald, nor shave off the corners oftheir beards, nor make incision sin their bodies."

It was the ceremonial customof the heathen peoples to shapeand trim their beards and hair inspecial shapes to honor a particu­lar pagan deity - th e su ngod.

For example, the ancient Egyp­tians cropped their dark locksshort or shaved with great care, sothat what remained on the crownof the head appeared in the formof a circle surrounding the head(the "halo" symbol was derivedfrom this) , while the beard wasdressed in a square form. Or around bald spot might be shavedon the head.

Shaving your head and cuttingyour hair for normal good groom­ing are something entirely differ­ent from these pagan ceremonialcustoms and not at all condemnedin the Scriptures. 0

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

away with the need for us tokeep the Feast of Trumpetstoday. This Holy Day ofGod is relevant now, andvery much so.

The warning messagefor today

The Bible shows that duringIsrael's later history, which was

---4¥ o u may haveheard the term"planned obso-

lescence."People often use this

term to describe productsthat, seemingly by design,outlive their usefulnesswithin a given period oftime.

Origin of theFeast of Trumpets

God first introduced theFeast of Trumpets to an-

Th}4l tcient Israel after the dra-e eas matic Exodus from Egypt,

We've all had ex peri- commanding them to keepences with manufactured this day as a Sabbath, a holy

~~o~~p~¥~~c:~,a~~:70biles f 11 tconvo~~t;.on (Lev. 23:23-

function for only a 0 rumpe S Notice that theshort time and then Israelites were to

ce~~nt~d:~~\or in- ~~~t~i:n~~~~~~I~~stance, the car that breaks down d the meaning trumpets had foreven before it is completely paid an their nation, both physically andfor . It's as if the manufacturer symbolically.wants you to be forced to buy God instructed them to useanother! silver trumpets to gather the

Is God's law outdat ed? ~OUR ~~~e~:~~ ~~s:,:~li~:n:n~ot:~:~It's unfortunate, but some who during their migration to the

consider themselves Christians promised land. The Israelitesare under the impression that were to blow the trumpets whenGod uses "planned obsolescence" Fi they were preparing to attack orwhen it comes to His law and His t to defend against an attack.plan for mankind! U u~e Moreover, trumpets were blown

Millions believe that Christ's .L l during God's festivals and at thecrucifixion "did away with" the beginning of each month. Eachneed to keep God's By George Kackos use of the trumpetscommandments, in- gave added meaningeluding God's Holy to the festivals as theDays, which outline Most of Christianity believes that God's Israelites understood

His plan. Holy Days, including the Feast of them (Num. 10:1-It's true that God 10).

no longer requires Trumpets, were "done away with" - Since the Israel-certain acts of His ites, awestruck andpeople. For example, that they have no relevance today. But trem bling, had al-

Christ's sacrifice nothing could be further firom the truth! ready experiencedeliminated the need J I God's tremen dousfor God's people to use of a blaringperform animal sacrifices (Heb. God's law, including those trumpet when God gave them10:1-6). instructions that concern God's the Ten Commandments at Mt.

But man has taken it upon Holy Days, is in' force today. Sinai (Ex . 19: 19), they werehimself to declare obsolete other One of the festivals God com- familiar with the use of trum-areas of God's instructions that mands us to keep is the Feast of pets in correlation with momen-God definitely has not (Mark 7:6- Trumpets, which this year falls taus events in their lives!9). Christ Himself said: "Think on September 18. Most profess- God continued to associatenot that I am come to destroy the ing Christians have not even trumpet blasts with importantlaw, or the prophets: I am not heard of it. They have been events after that era as well -come to destroy, but to fulfil. For blinded to this important Festival and He does so for us today.verily I say unto you, Till heaven of God, though the Feast ofand earth pass, one jot or one tit- Trumpets is designed to havetie shall in no wise pass from the important meaning for us in thelaw, till all be fulfilled" (Matt. 20th century.5: 17-18). Christ's death did not at all do

The GOOD NEWS August 1982 11

12

a ft er t h e wo rld h as e nd u redSat an 's wrath and the heaven lysigns ( Rev . 6:9- 14) .

Notice what happens whe n thefirs t four trumpets are blown : Atthe sound of the firs t trumpetsupe rnatural fire will burn thegrass and one thi rd of the ear th 'st rees . A t th e so und of the secondt ru m pet God will kill a th ird ofall sea life. People will no lon gerfreely sai l t he oceans . Dead ,bloat ed , st inki ng ca rcasses of sea

cr eatu res will abo und .Afte r thi s, a th ird t rum­

pet is blown and a thi rd oft he ea rth 's fresh water willtu rn bitter. The result ?The death of many hu­m ans. F inall y a fou rthtrumpet is blown, and onethi rd of th e ligh t from thesun, mo on and stars wi llbe eliminated (verses 7­12) .

Th ese terri ble plag ues a rereleased on the ea rt h by an angry,righteou s God, wh o will be forcedto sha ke ca rnal, rebell iou s h u­mani ty to its se nses!

W e co me now to the final threetrumpet plagu es or "woes" (Rev.8: 13) .

When th e fift h trum pet isbl own , t he bo tt om less pit iso pe ne d ( Rev. 9:1 - 1 1). Whate m e rges is the b ea st po werdescribed in R evelat ion 17:8-14,th e fina l resurrection of the HolyRoman Empire. This beast wi llhave ens na red the wo rld in itssa tanically ins pi red, Bab ylon ishreli gious and pol it ical system.

If you have no t already don eso, why not request a co py of ourinformative bookl et, Who Is th eBeast? It 's abso lute ly free.

H orrible weapons , sy m boli zedby locu sts, are unl eash ed . T heyhave th e power to torment menfor five mon ths, perhaps throu ghthe use of che mical, biological orradiological weaponry . The beastpower will use these weap on s onth e nati ons to th e northeast ofPale st ine ( Da n . I 1:44 ) .

T his attack wi ll result in aco u nte rattac k. The six t h angelso unds and an army from east ofthe Euphrat es Ri ver - an armyof 200 m ill ion men! - emerges,wielding more frighte ning weap-

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

The book .of Revelationoutlines God's futureuse of trumpets....

These terrible plaguesare released

on the earth by ...God, who will be

Jrorced to shake carnal,rebellious humanity

to its senses!

the modern descendants o fa ncient Israel are, and how theyare identified in Bib le prophecy,wri te for a free copy of our book­let , The Unite d S tates and Brit­ain in Prophecy .

Ezekie l's message is reachingthe mo dern Israel ites. God has seta mod ern-day wa tc h man to thun­der to our peoples the impendingcon sequences of their sins . Thatwa tc hman is Christ' s present-dayapos t le, Herbert W. A rms t ro ng ,and thi s W ork .

The trumpets of Revelation

The book of Revelati on out­lines God's fu ture use of t rum­pets. This message is for theent ire world, and concerns eve ntsbefor e and incl ud ing th e re turn ofJ esu s Ch ris t, who will soo n returnto ru le th is ea rth with God's gov­er nme nt.

This message about G od's end­time use of trumpets begins withth e ope ning, in heaven , of R evela­t ion's seventh seal ( Rev. 8:1-2) .Seven a ngels a re gi ven sev e ntrumpets to blow. The blowing ofth ese t ru m pe ts re presents G od 'sinter vention in world affai rs j us t

heavily punctuated with conflictsand rebellion , trumpet s continuedto be used as warning devices, toca ll to arms or as preludes toimporta nt messages - always toma rk a n eve nt of tremendousimport to th e whole nat ion .

G od used th e prophets, amongthem Isaiah, Ezekiel , H osea andJoel , to warn Isr ael about punish­ments He would bring up on th emfo r th e i r co ns ta n t re be l lio nagains t Hi s laws . These pr ophet swe re to use their voices like trum­pet s to blare th eir warnings toGod's people.

Not ice, for exam ple, G od ' sin struct ion to Isa iah: " Cryalo ud, spa re not , lift up thy ••~•••voic e like a trumpet , and shew ,,,my peopl e th eir tran sgression ,and the house of J acob their sins"(I sa. 58: I ) . See also Hosea 5:8and J oel 2: I.

Portions of th e pr ophet s' wa rn­ings we re fulfilled, in type, byancient Is rael ' s ca ptivi ty . Yetman y o f th ese propheci es a redu al, havin g both a ncie nt a ndmodern fulfill ments . S uc h is th ecase wit h the message of theprophet Ezekiel.

G od set Ezekie l as a wa tchmanto Israel. Ezekiel, t hr ou gh hi smessage, sy m bol ica lly bl e w at rumpet o f warn ing to G od 'speople (Ezek. 33:1-7).

Eze kie l's warnin g , however ,did not reach th e hou se of Is rael ,becau se th ey had already go neint o ca pt ivi ty! Ezekiel's visions ofIsrael ' s impend ing destruct ionwe re given " in th e fift h day of themo nth, which was th e fifth yearof kin g J eh oiachin ' s capt ivity "(Ezek. 1:2). J eh oiachin went intocapt ivit y in 597 B.C. , or about125 years after th e removal , toAssyria, of th e last of th e north­ern tribe s, whi ch occurred from721-71 8 B.C.

If Ezekie l's message did notreach ancient Israel - could nothave reached th em - for who mwas it intended?

God 's wa rn ing throu gh Ez ekielwas in tended fo r th e m od erndescendants of t he ancient Israel- th e peoples of th e Un it edStates, Britain and , in gen eral ,northwestern Europ e tod ay!

For mor e information on wh o

ons . This conflict will destroy onethird of mankind (Rev . 9: 13-19,Isa.13 :4-10)!

And yet , as unbelievable as itmay seem, mankind st ill will notrepent ( Rev. 9:2 0-2 1). The third" woe" - G od 's final trumpetplagu e - is ye t to occur.

The seventh trumpet

"A n d th e sev e n t h a n g e lso u nde d ; and th ere were greatvo ices in heaven , say ing, Thekingdom s of this world arebecom e the kingdoms ofo u r L ord , and of hisC hris t ; and he shall reignfor ever and ever" (Rev.II :15) .

Jesus Christ will returnin power and resplendentg lory to seize control ofthi s world ( Rev. 19: 11­2 1) . The sa ints will be res­ur rected to et ernal life torul e with C hr ist (I Cor. 15:51-52,Rev. 5:10) .

But it will take the seven lastplagu es, whi ch compose the sev­enth trumpet , to complete the jobof br inging mankind under th eco nt ro l of G od .

These final plagues a re de­sc r ibed in Revelation 16. First ,pain ful so res will appear on thoses t i ll s u bse rv ie n t to the beast(verse 2) . The second and thirdplagu es turn the seas, rivers a nds p r in gs o f w ater into blood(verses 3-7) .

The fourth plague turns thenormall y life-gi ving sun into alife-destroying power as the sunheat s th e ea rth to incred ible tem­per atures. This fourth plague willst ill not bring mankind to repen­tanc e (ve rses 8-9 ). The fifthplagu e plunges the beast 's realminto darkness (ve rs es 10-1\.)

Wi th these nightmarish plaguesco mpleted, mankind will be unitedto fight C hris t at H is return . Sat anth e devil , working through thebeast (t he end-ti me militar y lead­er) and th e false prophet ( religiouslead er ) will gather the "kings ofth e east " to join the armies th atrem ain from the devastated beastpower. The gathering location willbe A rmageddon (verses 12-16) ,th e site of anc ient Megiddo, in thevalley of J ezreel about 20 miles

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

south of the modern port of Haifa.Many wars have been fought atthi s site.

But the co m bined effo rts ofthese Satan-inspired powers willbe to no avail. The seventh and lastplague will seal their fate. Themightiest earthquake in historywill occur. Dormant volcanoes willerupt. Hailstones weighing 100pounds (the modern equivalent ofa "talent") will fall from the skies(verses 17-21).

Christ 's climactic battle with

.._-"And the seventh angel

sounded ..." God'sgovernment

will be established.A new age

will dawn upon mankind- an age filledwith happiness,

abundanceand true peace ...

these armies will occur at Jerusa­lem: " Behold , the day of the Lordcometh, and thy spoil shall bedivided in the midst of thee. For Iwill gather all nations against Jeru­salem to battle; and the city shallbe taken, and houses rifled, and thewomen ravished; and half of thecity shall go forth into captivity,and the residue of the people shallnot be cut off from the city.

" T hen shall the Lord go forth ,and fight against th ose nations, aswhen he fought in the day of bat­tle. And his feet shall stand inthat day upon the mount ofOlives, which is before Jerusalemon the east, and the mount of

Olives shall cleave in the midstthereof toward the east andtoward the west, and there shallbe a very great valley; and half ofthe mountain shall remove towardthe north, and half of it tow ardthe south" (Zech. 14:1 -4).

God 's government will beestablished. Those of us wh oqualify to be born into the Fam­ily of God will start the processof reconstructing the world ­the right way, this time ­through the remaining humanbeings.

A trumpet will be blown togather Israel from the places in

which they have been captive .The Israelites will be broughtto the land of Israel to live andworship God (lsa. 27: 12-13).

A new age will dawn uponmankind - an age filled withhappiness, abundance and truepeace, which the world has notknown since creation .

Meaning of this Feast

The meaning, then , of theFeast of Trumpets, which pic­tures Christ 's return to establishGod ' s Kingdom on earth, isrevealed by the various uses oftrumpets throughout the Bible.

Old Covenant Israel had alimited, physical understandingof the Feast of Trumpets. Butthe Philadelphia era of God 'sChurch understands, throughGod's Word, and with the helpof God's Holy Spirit, its com­mission to offer this dying worldthis tremendous news about thefuture . We are to provide thetrumpet blast that gives theGospel of Jesus Christ to thisworld .

The Feast of Trumpets is notobsolete at all. God has placedgreat meaning in it. We need torehearse that meaning each yearby keeping this Festival.

By doing so, we show our obe­dience to God's Word. We pro­claim our belief in God's warn­ing messages, the return ofJesus Christ and the resur­rection of the saints. In addition,we prepare ourselves for theFamily of God .

Truly, God has been graciousto give us this Festival! 0

13

By Malcolm Tofts

The Bible depicts Satan the devil as aroaring lion. Do you understand Satan'stactics and know how to defend yourself

against this evil, devouring force?

DoYouKnowYour Enemy?

because of the rocks and trees.Nor could I quickly back alongthe winding road and, in any case,backing up might only trigger hischasing instinct.

Once his powerful musclesexploded into acceleration Iwould have about two secondsleft. I slammed my car into lowgear and hovered my foot abovethe accelerator. I was going toresist. If the charge came I wasgoing to charge right back.

It would have been a strangespectacle - two clouds of dust ateither end of a short stretch ofroad, rushing toward each otherlike knights at a jousting tourna­ment. At one end would be thelion, roaring and charging. At theother would be me in my car,accelerating and blaring the hornfor good measure.

lion attacking a car. Then, sud­denly, the tense silence was shat­tered by a reverberating, deep,throaty roar. The sound diedaway, leaving the land - and me- shaken and subdued.

Just my luck, I thought tomyself. I've probably met themost bad-tempered creature onthe African continent. Today,he's probably missed a kill,stepped on a porcupine, beenstung by a swarm of bees and hada fight with his mate. No doubthe's determined to attack the firstthing that moves. I know thatlions don't attack cars. But doesthis lion know that?

As perspiration trickled downmy face, the blazing sun sparkledoff the lion's cruel, amber eyesand the razor-sharp teeth he gen­erously displayed to me .

I've seen lions in films. But afilm image can't convey what it'slike to have 400 pounds of angrymuscle, teeth and claw comingyour way. A moment like that iswonderful for helping you con­centrate. I've heard how people indanger can have their whole livesflash before them. But I am apragmatic person, and in a secondor two I was hastily figuring allthe angles.

What would I do if the catcharged? I would be the endan­gered species. It would be good toget to someplace else, and fast.But I couldn't swerve off the road

I received a shock when Idrove around the bendin the dusty African

road. There, straddling mypath, was a lion!

You may not find anythingabout such a situation in yourdriver's manual, but it's bestto give way to lions. It's notworth arguing the toss withthe brutes. So I braked my carto a stop and waited.

The big, powerful cat wasclearly agitated about something,and was glaring at the source ofhis annoyance. Actually, theobject of his irritation was worry­ing me, too. You see, he was glar­ing at me. It wasn't even my carthe lion was watching. He waslooking angrily through the wind­screen at me. I froze. My legsturned to jelly.

I don't like zoos much. I enjoywide-open spaces myself, and getdistressed at seeing animalscaged. But right then it wouldn'thave bothered me one bit to haveseen bars between that brute andme. Wild lions emanate a fero­cious quality that caged lionslack. It's one thing to see a lion ina cage. It's another to be 40 feetfrom one in the open.

For a long moment, heat wavesdanced across the ground be­tween us. I consoled myself bythinking that I had not heard of a

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

If the lion 's nerve failed him,he'd mistime his leap and I'd nailhim with the business end of myautomobile . If not, I had onehand on the handle of the drivingdoor. If the lion did get inside thecar , I intended to leave for thenearest tree.

I was going to do everythinghumanly possible to survive. I wasgoing to put up a terrific fight forlife.

The lion started pacing backand forth in front of me, scruti­nizing the menu and tremblingwith the de sire to attack.

A lion normally begins itscharge from about 40 feet - justthe distance th at separated thislion and me. The moment beforeits charge begins, a lion raises itstail and flicks it back and forth .The lion is then set to kill.

As the an imal's tail began tomove I began to pray. As thelion's tail rose so did my fervency .In terms of sincerity that was one

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

of my best prayers. I know we allhave to go sooner or later, but Iwanted it to be later rather thansooner . Besides, there 's some­thing about being eaten alive thatcould ruin one's day.

To m y great relief, after somemore growling and snarling andglaring, the lion lowered its tailand, with a final, mean growl,slunk away. Thus I lived to tellyou the story.

Know your enemy

The apostle Peter likenedSatan to a roaring lion seekingwhom he may de vour (I Pet. 5:8) .Peter 's contemporaries knewwhat he meant, as there were wildlions in Palestine at that time.

But most of us in the 20th cen­tury have been cut off from theland and nature. Unless our studyis diligent, therefore, we can losemuch of the Bible imagery that isbuilt around nature. The apostlePaul said he was not ignorant of

Satan's devices (II Cor. 2: 11) .Are we ?

You may have heard the say­ing, "Know your enemy." Whenyou know your enemy, it is easierto defeat him. We need to knowhow our adversary Satan operatesso we can guard against him.

Here are several ways in whichSatan resembles a roaring lion .

Camouflage

Lions are wonderfully camou­flaged . They blend perfectly intothe bush. Their amber eyes andgolden bodies merge into theundergrowth so they can sneak upon their quarry. Soldiers use asimilar tactic when they doncamouflage uniforms.

Is it any wonder th at Satan, the $father of warfare, uses the same ~

technique? The devil has the per- ~

feet camouflage. He is invisible. ~

And what's more, many people Edon't even believe he exists. One .E

oof the devil's most clever tricks is a:

15

to persuade someone that he isn'treal. Then he can roam unde­tected, wreaking havoc a n ddestruction .

But as Pastor General HerbertW. Armstrong has said on manyoccas ions, there is a cause for everyeffect. Look about you at thisworld . There is a cause for all theevil. The Bible tells us that cause.

Genesis 1:2 tells of a time,before the creation of Adam ,when the world was "withoutform, and void ." Did God bun glethe job of making this g lobe? Ofcourse not. God is not the authorof confusion ( I Cor. 14:33). Sowhat happened to put t he worldinto that sorry state? Read Eze­kie l 28: 12-17 .

The archangel Lucifer, la te rrenamed Satan, was given controlover a beautiful earth. But in adi splay of astounding arrogancehe soug ht to take to himself thesupreme position of authority inheaven . He was overcome by hispride (interestingly, we refer to a"pride" of lions).

But pride comes before a fall( Prov. 16:18). Satan apparent lyreally believed he could knockG od ofT God's throne. With allGod 's talk about serving and car­ing for others, maybe Satan re a­soned that the Ancient of Dayswas soft and senile and would be apu shover.

Perhaps, before this re bellion,there had not been a reason forGod to get angry. Bu t Satanlearned a lesson. EI Shaddai, theA lmighty God, blast ed Satanback to earth (L uke 10:18) .Before Satan's re bell ion there'sno mention that Satan had a fearof God. Bu t si nce the rebellionSat an and his demons are in fearand trembling (Jas. 2: 19) .

S at an is here on this earth now ,and he knows his time is short( Rev. 12:12).

Despite his camouflage of in­visibility, Satan is a real being.Don 't be deceived . Satan is aliveand well on planet earth.

Lions look cuddly

The facial expressions of thesebig cats are no rmally mi ld andpleasant - seem ingly full of

16

warmth an d gentleness. In photo­graphs lions often appear sweet,cuddly and playful.

But reali ze thi s: Lions cannotbe trusted. You may have read ofstories of people who , whilevisiting animal parks, loweredtheir auto windows to pat lionsand lost their arms. People whohave befriended these creatureshave ended their lives locked in alion 's jaws.

Lion handlers know that work­ing with lions is always risky.Lions can turn on their handlersat any moment. Even when theyappear doci le, lions may attack .

Li kewise, Satan doesn't alwaysappear as a ferocio us beast. Hisferocio us nature may on ly displayitself whe n he is goi ng in for thekill. He and his grisl y gang ofwicked cohorts like to palm them­selves off as a ng e ls of light(I [ Cor. I I :14 ).

Satan likes his part of the bush- this world - to look attractiveand appealing. And this world ­its cares, its entertainments, itspursuits - can certainly lookenticing a nd enjoy able. Butremember: Beneath the pleasantand friendly exterior a re theinstincts of a furiou s beast readyto bite and kill and gorge itself onits victims . Satan wants us tosnuggle close to his lair so he cancatch us off guard.

Territoriality

A pri de of lions has its ow nterr itory, a specific area in whichit lives and hunts . A pride willroam to and fro through this area,looki ng for ki lls .

Satan also has hi s killi nggrou nd . H e was cast down to thisworld and is confined here. Thisis his turf. An ywhere on thisplanet is lion ter ritor y, spir itually .Every nation is S at an 's killingground. And just as lions hunt inpacks, so Satan leads a host seek­ing what suffering they can cause(Mark 5:1-13, Jude 13).

In Bib le imagery the govern­ments of this world are likened tobeasts ( Dan. 7: 17) . Just as thelion is referred to as the "king ofthe beasts," so Satan is able toinfluence and lead, withi n the

limits God allows, all human gov­ernments. He can raise to th eruler 's chair the very dregs ofmankind . The de vil , as "king ofthe beasts, " can play nation algovernments like puppets.

Thi s world 's ideologies a ndphilosophies all show a sa tanicinfluen ce . C utthroa t competit ionin the marketplace, the struggleto " get while th e getting is good ,"national and individual jealou siesand rivalries - all stem fro mSatan, the king of the beast s. T oput it another wa y, S at an is th egod of this world, as surprisin g asthat may seem (II Cor. 4:4) .

Lions love darkness

The prey animals, over a longdistance, can usually outrun alion . During daylight the preyspot the lion and run away be for ethe lion gets close enough tobegin its ch arge. So most daylighthunting att em pts by lion s fail.

Darkness gives the lion a nadded advantage over his quarry;this ad vantage often tips the scalein his favor. So lions, in ge ne ral,prefer to hunt at night.

Similarly, S at an is so me t imescalled the prince of darkness. H ealso likes to sta lk at night. T oavoid hi s attacks we need to stayin spir itual daylight. Jesus Christsa id , "I am the light " (Jo h n8: 12) . When we are close to thatlight source S atan will not be ableto take us. But what if we wanderaway from the light ?

The African bush is a hardland . At night, without light ,even the most heavily armed manst ands little c hance agains t amarauding lion.

In the sa me way, no matterhow mu ch knowledge or abilitywe think we ha ve, no matter howst rong we feel we are, if we arewandering aro und in darkness weare easy pickings for S at an . With­out light we will not break thech arge.

Method of kill

A male lion usuall y wei gh sfrom 350 to 400 pounds; so mereach 500 pounds. Mal es a reusuall y about 9 feet long fromnose to tail and stand about 3'/2

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

feet tall. Females are slightlylighter and smaller. Lions have 30teeth and sharp claws to match.At night they prowl proudlyacross their domain, seeking prey .The male is dominant and guardsthe territory, but the femaleusually makes the kill.

Lions pad softly along, silentlysurveying their prospective vic­tims. Their amber eyes see well inthe dark as they patientlyapproach prey. And they have anuncanny knack of appearing onthe scene when least expected.

They prefer large victims tosmall ones but will go for both.Zebra, buffalo and waterhog areamong their favorites . And theywill single out the weakest ani­mals in herds. A zebra with alimp is in great danger.

If the victim raises its head, thelion will freeze in his tracks . Hehas to wait patiently, though hemay be dribbling with greed.Then , when the animal beingstalked is again unwary, the lioncreeps forward, its body huggingthe ground. It has to get close toits prey.

A lion can travel at tremendousspeeds over short distances (lionshave been timed at crossing 100feet in just over three seconds,from a standing start). But a lioncan't maintain that speed forlong. Consequently it must move,undetected, close to its prey, orhealthy animals will outrun -it.

From about 40 feet the ' lionexplodes into action . Its tail goesup , it lets out a paralyzing roarand it begins an incredibly fastrush . It hurls itself onto the prey,inflicting deep gashes andwounds. It will bite and claw andcuff the thrashing victim, oftenappearing to play with it.

The victim's death does notcome quickly. A killing may take10 minutes or more. The lionstraddles the animal, biting into itshide and ripping away chunks offlesh . Then the lion goes for thethroat. Its steel-like jaws clampdown hard on the neck, choking offthe air supply and strangling theirvictim . Then they drag the carcassaway to gorge greedilyon it.

The GOOD NEWS

It's rare for a man without helpto survive a lion attack. Butbecause it takes time for thebrute to go for the throat, there istime to shout for aid. Someonewho can drive off the beast maybe nearby . If assistance comesquickly enough, there is hope.Victims of lion attacks need med­ical attention immediately.

The lessons here are clear .Satan stalks stealthily throughspiritual nighttime, using cunningand deception to get close to hisprey (Rev. 12:9, 13:14,20:3). Hetries to catch us off guard. Like alion, Satan is willing to attackanything but prefers large gameto small and prefers the weak tothe strong.

In other words, the members ofGod's Church are especiallyappetizing . Their part in God'splan makes them big game. And amember who has some besettingspiritual weakness is like a ze brawith a limp.

But if any of us do stumble andare attacked by a spiritual lion,there may still be time to cry outto God for help. God is farstronger than Satan. Satan mayroar but God thunders . God canpull Satan off you. Then you needexpert help - the balm of God'sSpirit - to heal the awfulwounds from the mauling.

But isn't it much better not toput yourself into a situationwhere Satan can dig his fangsinto you?

The lion put down

From time to time some lionmay taste human flesh and devel­op a liking for it. Such a beast hasto be tracked and destroyed. Buttracking down a lionrequires an expertwith superiorweapons. Once thelion is destroyed,the local peoplecelebrate at beingrid of the beast.

Satan is a man­eater. He willdestroy any

man who puts himself in a posi­tion to be taken. And the Bibletells us that Satan's destructiveactivities will increase at the timeof the end - the time in whichwe are living (Rev. 12: l2)!

So Satan needs putting down.And that is precisely what isgoing to happen . Satanic in ­fluence will be stopped andremoved from the world - ifneed be, blasted off every part ofthis planet. Christ will leave nocorner for Satan and his cunningcohorts to skulk in. The devil'sultimate downfall is prophesied inthe Bible - Satan's fate isalready sealed .

Revelation 20: 1-3 prophesies ofthe time when a mighty angel willstop Satan in his tracks - willbind him with a great chain. Thiswill occur just after Christreturns to rule the earth . Satanwill be caged to prevent him fromcausing further damage.

This putting away of Satan ­his binding and banishment tothe bottomless pit - is picturedby the Day of Atonement, oneof God's seven annual HolyDays. God's Holy Days picturewhat is to happen from nowuntil the end of this age andafterward . For more informationon these Holy Days, why notrequest our free booklet, PaganHolidays - or God's HolyDays - Which?

Yes, one day we will be rid ofthe beast. But in the meantimewe have to be vigilant.

Occasionally, when I perceiveSatan attacking me, I rememberthat lion straddling my path inAfrica. It was a time to resiststoutly and pray fervently.

When you sense Satan on theoffensive, will you fight foryour life and shout to Godfor help? If you do, Godwill help you.

Or, when the lion roars,will you accept his

invitation todinner? 0

By Richard Rice

Broken marital relationships are becoming the rulerather than the exception. Here are seven areas in which

you can strengthen and improve your own marriage.

A JOYOUS MARRIAGEp~ A~ 1kPw&TeqdA

I t'S tragic, but it's true!Many marriages todayare in deep trouble!

Like jigsaw-puzzle piecesthat seemingly defy solution,many marital troubles appearto be beyond resolving .

Personal problems, financialpressures, child-rearing difficul­ties , society's decreasing respectfor marriage itself - these andother factors are contributing to

18

more and more marital failuresand breakups.

In the United States, close toone in two marriages now ends indivorce, and the number ofdivorces is increasing in othercountries.

The following letter illustratesthe sorrow of this worldwideproblem of marital decay.

"Dear Mr. Rice,"I am writing to you as a last

resort to save my marriage. I

don't know what has happened tothe beautiful romance that Jimand I once shared. We laughed alot, did things together and spentmany evenings after dinner justsitting and talking at the table.

"We were so much in love for 5the first few years of our mar- ~

riage, bu t something has hap- iipened to us . ~

"We were married in the sChurch abo ut nine years ago , and ~

have three beautiful young chil- it

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

Respect God-ordained roles

God ordained specific roles formarriage partners that, if per­formed responsibly, upbuild andstrengthen marriage.

Ephesians 5:25 states, "Hus­bands, love your wives , even asChrist also loved the church, andgave himself for it." This admon­it ion is a basic precept of Chris­tian family structure.

God places great responsibilityon the man, because he is theleader. He should be showing theway, setting the example, servinghis family and looking out fortheir interests. When he has donethese things first, the love hiswife and children should have forhim will naturally follow.

This is the precedent that JesusChrist set, and that He is stillpracticing today. He not only

19

a much higher position of respectin society. Divorce was virtuallyunheard of and premarital sexualactiv it y was taboo. Today, insharp contrast, adultery, divorce,sexual promiscuity and pornogra­phy are rampant.

A raging devil is pumping hisperverse ideas into homes andmarriages through the media ofradio, telev ision, movies andpr inted materials. The media alsoinfl uence us - negatively ­with a deluge of advertisementsfrom merchants who use subtletechniques to convince us thattheir product is not only the best,but also a necessity. Many fall forsuch st rategies to the point ofbuying what they cannot afford,and end up in serious debt.

The inevitable anxiety andstress in such a situation oftenspawn bitter conflict. Each matepoints an accusing finger at theother. The wife thinks the hus­band is not prov id ing wellenough, and perhaps this is thecase. The children ar e unhappybecause they have to wear hand­me-downs , don't have nice toysand lack recreat ional and educa­t ional opportunit ies .

Is it an y wonder that oneBr igham Young University sur­vey concluded , "The couple thatsta ys out of debt is more likely tostay together" ?

Keep God at the center

The power to really love anoth­er human being with an enduringlove comes from God's Spirit(Rom . 5:5). When we walk in fel­lowship with our Father the greatGod, He gives us a love withwhich we can love even our ene­mies (I John 2:5, Matt. 5:43-44) .How much more, then, should welove our friends , and, most impor­tant , our own wife or husbandand our children ?

One reason for fighting andbickering is lack of prayer andBibl e study. Frequent commu­nion with God is vital in tappingthat great reservoir of love thatcan smooth out any rough spots inhuman relationships.

The husband who will get onhis knees and ask for God's helpto love his family - who will rootout selfishness and think of othersfirst - will , through his God­guided actions, inspire his wifeand children to return love andaffect ion to him.

Similarly, a wife who does herpart - who keeps close to Godand acts on what God leads her todo - will inspire her husband.

The action of God's Spirit in afamily builds a marvelous, beauti­ful unity. The absence of God'sSpirit leads to a breakdown incharacter and respect.

Praying together can be a won­derful exercise for you and yourmate . Your children can alsospend time in prayer with you.Teach them how to pray and askGod to keep you all happytogether, to guide your actionsand to give you a right attitude,so your marriage and family willalways remain st rong.

Keep God in your marriage,making Him an integral part ofyour relationship.

Guard against worldlyinfluences

Years ago marriage was held in

culties, there are steps you and Ican take to promote joy and har­mony in ou r marriages.

Here are seven areas in whichwe can concentrate our efforts tobuild the kind of happines s Godmeant every marriage to have.

dren. I desperately want them togrow up in a happy home - andours sure isn ' t.

"As I now think about it, thisfright ful change in our rel ation­

ship began happening aboutfive years ago and our

marriage has steadilygon e f r om b ad to

worse . Our atti t u destoward each other to­

day, compared to whatthey were then, are as differ-

ent as light is from dark ­ness.

"By th e t im e Jimgets hom e from work

every night, I am com­pletely worn out fromclean ing , work in g ,

cooking, chan ging diapers , set ­tl ing squabbles and all th e dozensof chores that mo thers mu st tendto.

"Jim is also tired when he getshome and just wants to relax , havea beer and read the paper. I'd like

for him to entertain th echildre n for a while so Ican pr ep are dinner,

but they get on hisnerves and he yells

at th em . Then I getmad and yell at Jim.

" T he only time J imever kisses me or shows any affec­tion is when he wants to go tobed , and that really turns me off.I can't rem ember the last time heto ld me he loved me.

"We hardly ever go out any­more, and just don 't see m to haveany co mmon interests except thechildre n, and even here we can 'tagree on how t hey sh ould betrained.

" Every ti me we try to discusst he problem , we just end upblaming each ot he r. Ji m gets madand I start to cry. This ma kes himeven madd er . Yeste rday, he final­ly asked for a divorce.

" Is there any hope for ou r mar­riage? I reall y don't wa nt adivorce, but I can ' t go on livinglike this . Can you he lp us?

S incerely ,A T roubled Wife"

There are specific reasons whymarriages cru mble. But there is acause for eve ry effect. J ust asth ere are ca uses for ma ri ta l d iffi-

ga ve H is life for us, but is nowlooking out for our needs andblessing us in manifold ways .

If you as a husband will followthis instruction and view you rposition as head of th e family asan opportunity to love and serve,you'll find that your wife will re­ciprocate and do everything shecan to help you .

The other part of God ' sinstruction about th e functions ofmarital partners is found in verse22: "Wives, submit you rse lvesunto your own hu sb ands, as untothe Lord."

The word submit means torespond, to uphold your husbandand to honor him. It is anotherway of saying to love him. Itmeans showing concern for him,responding to hi s needs andencouraging him to face life'schallenges and be a success.

You as a wife should want todo these things because your hu s­band loves you, strengthens you ,complements you and gives youall he has to offer - his time,energy, thoughts , spiritual helpand encouragement - his life .

Keep your first love

When young people are dating,they are very careful to "put theirbest foot forward. " They willdress nic ely, make su re they areclean and neat and alw ays showcourtesy.

But once into marriage, whenthe radiance of that first lovewanes and those excited feelingsof newness and romance star t tofade , sta ndards begin to slip andlethargy creeps in.

When hu sband and wife letdown on their appear ance, be­come slovenly and neglect person­al st andards, their marriage willstar t suffering. What was onceexciting adventure for both part­ners becomes dull routine.

The hu sband begins to take hiswife for granted - she may nolonger seem to be the lovely,rom anti c , de sirable girl h ecourted . His compliments get far ­ther apa rt , and he doesn 't fullyappreciate the effort she puts intothe responsibilities she handles.He may not even notice the nic elittle things she does for him.

20

The wife becomes di sen­chanted with her job as housewifeand homemaker. The man whowas once her " P rince Charming"begins to lose his ch arm. She mayremini sce on those rel ativelycarefree, fun-filled days beforemarriage and , when she com­pares, her present life may seemlike imprisonment.

In such a situation , an atmo­sphere of hostility easil y devel­ops.

God is the author of marriage.Maintaining personal s ta nd ardsnot onl y shows respect for yourpartner, but also for Him. Yourmarriage relationship will greatlybenefit if you will always be cour­teous, thoughtful and well-man­nered. Seek to please each otherin areas of dress and grooming.Continue to show appreciat ion forone an other. Try to be moreaffect iona te, grateful and under­stand ing .

Communicate

Waiting until emotions havebuilt up steam usually lead s to anexplosion . If something is reallybothering you, get it out in theopen and talk about it.

A basic key to marital harmony- and a source of many maritalproblems - is communication .

Never get angry at the sametime. When you and your matedisagree, keep your temper undercontrol. Curb your own anger.Let the other "blow off steam" ifneed be. One of you shouldalways remain calm when theot her is upset. Self-control helpsgreatl y in coming to a peacefulsolut ion.

Choose th e right moment todiscuss your feelings. For exam­ple , the wife should n' t bring upirritations when her hu sbandcomes home tired, exhausted orworried, or when he is feelingpressure from other areas. Heprobably will not be able to listenwith attention and patience. Waitto bring up problems or differ­ences until he 's more relaxed andin the right mood.

Really list en to wh at your mateis say ing. G od does not change,but we human beings are cr ea­tures of temperament. We need

to be awa re of our mat es ' moodch anges and not misread them. Ifyou find your mate is havin g the" blues," don 't pr y, but be sy m pa­thetic and willing to list en if he orshe wants to talk.

Likewise, if your mate is irri­tated by something you are doing,listen patiently to the complaint.Listen with your heart and mind aswell as your ea rs and show th at youare willing to resolve the situa tion.

Don't retaliate or point the fin­ger of blame. Justifying oneselfdoes not solve the problem, nordoes accusing the other. Rather,adm it where you ma y be wrongand express a desire to correctyour mistakes and make peace.Then follow up with a det erminedeffor t to change.

A major key to pr om oting mar­ital harmony is found in Christ 'sin struction in M atthew 7: 12 :" T herefore all things wh at soeverye would th at men should do toyou, do ye even so to them."

And remember, the standardswith which you deal with or j udgeyour mate are the same standardsby which you yourself will bejudged (verse 2).

Stimulate each other

Ment al s t i m u la t io n is apowerful tool to keep a marriageexcit ing and healthy. Husb andsand wive s will experience some oftheir happiest moments whenthey talk about ideas and con­cepts they have been thinkingabout and want to share withsomeone else .

This sha ring of ide as is differ­e nt from so lvi ng confl icts o rresolving differences. It has to dowith he arty exchanges on a widerange of uplifting and educatio nalsubjects .

In order to be st im ulat ing toeach other in this manner, cou­ple s would do well to read widelyand to keep their minds att unedto what is happening in the world.Be aware o f news and soc ialtrends. Becom e knowled geable ona wide var iety of su bj ec ts .

Share your th oughts with eachother and ask for feedback. Thesesc int illa t ing con versations willtruly endear you to your mate and

(Continued on page 29)

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

2 1

Will He come with great power and glory?Matt. 24:30, Rev . 19: 11-16. How will Christbegin to rule the earth? Rev . 19: 15.

The glorified Christ is coming to restorethe rule of the government of God over allthe earth. God 's government was takenaway from the earth when the archangelLucifer (now Satan), whom God had maderuler over our planet, rebelled. Satanattempted to dethrone and replace God asruler of the entire universe (lsa . 14: 12-14).

In previous ministudies we covered thedramatic return of Jesus Christ and the awe­some, earth-shaking events of the " Day ofthe Lord," which will precede Christ'sreturn. We learned that earth's inhabitantswill refuse to yield to Christ's authority whenHe returns. Therefore Christ will have topowerfully subdue the world and force man­kind, at first, to submit to His rule.

Christ will use a "rod of iron," symbolizingabsolute authority. He will rule with power,not hesitating to use it when necessary.Men , influenced by their old habits and atti­tudes formed in this present evil world of thedevil (II Cor. 4:4, Eph . 2:2), will have to beforced to learn the positive fruits of livingGod's way .

3. Will Christ rule supreme in the cominggovernment of God? Rev . 19 : 16. Where willHis throne - His headquarters - be? Jer.3 :17.

The coming government of God will not bea democracy. Government will be from thetop down, with Christ reigning supreme.From His headquarters at Jerusalem,Christ's rule will spread over the entireearth.

4. Will the born-again sons of God - thoseChristians who voluntarily came under thegovernment of God in His Church and provedtheir loyalty to God during their mortal lives ­assist Christ by reigning with Him in the worldtomorrow? Rev. 2:26-27, 3 :21, 5:10, 20:4.What did God insp ire Daniel to prophesy?

How ChristWill RuletheWorld lOmorrow

Prepared by Richard H. Sedliacik

Great statesmen and leading scientistshave openly stated that man's only hope forworld peace lies in world government - oneuniversal government wielding supremepower and authority over all nations.

But these same leaders also admit thatthe nations could never bring about a world­ruling government. Agreement on who wouldrule and how would be utterly impossible.

Yet Bible prophecy tells us that worldgovernment will soon be established . JesusChrist is coming again to restore and admin­ister the government of God on earth . And averitable utopia will result!

Exactly how will God create and maintainworld peace once Christ returns? This studywill answer that question, as we review sev­eral basic scriptures describing whatChrist's government will be like in the worldtomorrow.

1. Where did Jesus Christ go after Hisresurrection? Acts 1:11, Rev. 12:5. Will Hecome again? John 14:3, Acts 1: 11.

2. How long will Christ remain in heavenbefore He returns to earth? Acts 3:20-21.

The Good News, in conjunction with theCorrespondence Course Department, pre­sents brief excursions into the study of theBible, delving into topics relevant to thedevelopment of future members of the GodFamily. Bible study is one means by whichChrist ians are renewed daily (II Cor. 4 : 16),so let's refresh ourselves with more of theprecious truths of God's Word!

Instructions: The format of these mini­studies is similar to that of the AmbassadorCollege Bible Correspondence Course . Lookup and read in your Bible the scripture refer­ences given in answer to the questions.Comments following the questions elaborateon the scriptures just read. That's all thereis to it! (These studies are based on theKing James Version of the Bible , unlessotherwise stated.)

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MINISTUDY------------------- ---- ----- - - ---- - -

Dan. 7 : 13-14, 18, 22 , 27 . Will many also berulers over cities? Luke 19: 16-19.

5. How will these immortal spirit rulersserve the people? Rev . 1:6 ,5:10, I Cor. 6:2.

In the United States today, the executive,legislative and judicial branches of govern­ment are separate. Then there is the teach­ing field, which , in democratic countries , isseparate from (though in most cases over­seen by) the government.

In God's coming Kingdom on earth , how­ever, these four functions will be united. TheGod Family establishes the laws (the legis­lative function). The God Family will enforcethe laws (the executive function) . It will alsointerpret those laws and judge cases con­cerning them (the judicial function). And theGod Family will be responsible for the edu­cational function - it will faithfully teach thepeople God 's law, which is the way topeace, prosperity and happiness.

Each divine ruler will serve his subjects ingenuine love and concern (I John 4 : 16), nev­er acting selfishly.

6. How much power will each ruler exer­cise, under Christ , in his own area? Rev.2 :26-27.

Absolute and definite authority will existon the spot in all parts of the world. Yet allgovernmental policies will be based on thepattern laid down from world headquartersby Christ Himself , and each ruler underChrist will be responsible directly to Christ.God 's government will be perfectly orga­nized , devoid of useless red tape andexcess-baggage bureaucracies.

7. Will this divine government be perma­nent? Dan. 7: 14, 18.

No time or money will be wasted on cam­paigning and elections. There will be no pol­iticians to cater to special , organizedgroups or classes to get votes. In the worldtomorrow God will appoint His resurrectedsaints as the rulers and educators, and nolobbyists or other pressure groups will beable to unduly influence or corrupt them .

There will be no insurrections, no rebel ­lions - God can 't be overthrown. Satan'sfailed coup proved that! Nor will any memberof the God Family ever turn into anotheradversary (I John 3 :9).

8. Will the nations finally begin to seekChrist and ask for instruction in God 's way oflife? Mic. 4 : 1-2. Will people learn the way topeaceful productivity? Verse 3.

Not ice again that in God's pattern forworld rule, religion and government are notseparate. In add ition to ruling as supremeking over all the nations, Christ will also besupreme educator.

To bring mankind to repentance, Christwill reeducate the world in His way of life ­the way of God 's law of love - so peoplemay, of their own free will , decide to followHis way to physical and spiritual blessings.

9. What will happen to those nations thatrefuse to be reeducated in God's way?Zech. 14: 16-17. And if they still won't obey?Verses 18-19.

Christ will start immediately to reeducatethe people of the world through His HolyDays. The world will come to know thatChrist is the Lord , and that God's masterplan teaches the way to physical blessingsand spiritual salvat ion. Those who stubborn­ly refuse to keep the Feast of Tabernacleswill suffer from drought and plagues untilthey submit to God and keep the Feast.

10. Will God's spirit teachers take a per­sonal part in bringing about complete com­prehension of God's law, and in directingpeople to take right action? Isa. 30:20-21 .

God's spirit-born children will be able toappear suddenly or speak as if fromnowhere - lawbreakers will freeze in theact and potential crimes will be prevented.Thus , with proper guidance from Christ andwith Satan's sinful influence restrained (Rev.20: 1-3) , violence and crime will be stampedout.

11. How successful will the priest-teach­ers be in teaching the knowledge of God'sway to the world? Jer. 31 :3 4 , Hab. 2: 14, Isa.11 :9. As a result, will the Millennium becomelike one cont inual Feast of Tabernacles ­one great feast of rejoicing? Isa. 25:6-7.

During the Millennium no religious confu­sion will exist because Satan will have beenrestrained at Christ 's coming . Humans willthen be teachable - their eyes will beopened to God's revealed truth .

People will begin to live God's way of love- the way of giving and outgoing concernfor others - the way of true values - theway of peace, of happiness, of well-being , ofjoy and, ultimately, spiritual salvation.

Next month we 'll study conditions onearth after all nations have been reeducatedto God's way of life . We'll learn what utopiawill really be like! 0

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•22 The GOOD NEWS August 1982

MONEY PROBLEMS?By Brian D.L.R. Smith

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"

and only suffers want" (Prov.22 :9, 11:24) .

Which way of life are you fol­lowing?

We need to change our way ofthinking and living to one of help­ing others and being generous,whether it 's with money, time,comfort, love or work. As Solo­mon said, here is our responsibili­ty: "Do not withhold good fromthose to whom it is due, when it isin your power to do it " (Prov.3:27).

Of course, there is no guaran­tee we'll be as rich as Solomonwas , but there is a guaranteewe 'll be richer than we are now :"He who sows sparingly willalso reap sparingly, and he whosows bountifully will also reapbountifully... . for God loves acheerful giver. And God is ableto provide you with every bless­ing in abundance, so that youmay always have enough ofeverything and may provide inabundance for every goodwork. . . . You will be enrichedin every way for great generosi­ty" (II Cor. 9:6-11).

Can you resist trying this law?There is no need to remain inignorance. Gravity, centrifugal 5force and other laws exist wheth- ~

er we know about l5them or not. So ~

does the law of sgiving and re- ~

ceiving. 0 &.

law of generosity. Yet he waspracticing t he law, in principle,for years before I became awareof this Bible statement. I wasstruck by his practice of "leavingsomething in a deal for the nextperson." He would, if anything,slightly underprice things heoffered for sale.

About 10 years ago he cameacross a run-down property ­some land for sale at a particu­larly low price. He bought theproperty and renovated thehouse on the land. He thenresold the house, along with aspace for a garden, at a pricethat recovered his initial outlayand costs.

The rest of the land, some 65acres, became the basis of a high­quality golf and country club,which has produced quite a prof­it! Generosity certainly paid offfor this man.

The most truly successfulpeople in the world have been themost generous.

King Solomon is reputed tohave been the richest man whoever lived . He said: "He who hasa bountiful eye will be blessed"and "One man gives freely, yetgrows all the richer; anotherwithholds what he should give,

Most of us, it seems, would liketo have more money. From thepoorest of us to the richest, we all" need" that extra hundred, thou­sand or million that will "get usstraight." Yet even when we dohave extra money, it doesn't seemto solve our problems. Why?

Perhaps we are extremely costconscious, carefully guardingevery last coin . Yet somehowprosperity always eludes us.

But does a penny-pinching,miserly approach really work?Can we achieve financial stabilityand success by trying to get asmuch as we can and giving awayas little as possible?

No! If this is our approach, it'sno wonder we do not make anyprogress toward prosperity, be­cause this selfish way of life isdirectly against the law!

What law? The law that says:"Give, and it will be given to you;good measure, pressed down,shaken together, running over,will be put into your lap. For themeasure you give will be the mea­sure you get back" (Luke 6:38 ,Revised Standard Versionthroughout).

In other words, if we give, allthat we give will be given back tous, and with interest! Impossi­ble?

I have a friend who , asfar as I am aware,knows nothing ofthis biblical

•TORIESFROM The

NEW TESTAMENT

Chapter 10

Jesus Stills a StormBy Shirley King Johnson

F or a second time, Jesus toured all thevillages of Galilee. Recognized wher­ever He went, He announced to the

c assembled crowds that God's government¥was going to be restored to the earth. He~ als o healed the sick a nd cast out demons~

~ from those who were demon possessed.s Demons are evil angels who are underc

~ Satan the de vil's domination.~ The 12 disciples wondered how Jesus

24

managed to keep up such a pace. All thisactivity exhausted them! And yet J esu swas known to rise well before dawn to findplaces to pray privately.

Jesus' many followers contributed goodsand money to His work (Luke 8:1-3). Thisaid provided for Jesus' and the disciples'

Gale-force win d s and turbulent wa ves vio len tly shook the boa tca rrying Jesus and His discipl es across Ga lilee. While Jesus slep tsoundly, the discipl es grew more and more fearful.

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

"You will be given no sign ... except one ... Jonah was in thebelly of a fish three days and three nights, and the Son of manwill be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

needs, including food and lodging duringtheir travels.

Mary comes to see Jesus

M ary, Jesus' mother, went down toCapernaum to see Jesus when He returnedfrom His tour. As Mary and her youngersons neared the house, they saw that amultitude of people, waiting to get in, hadgathered in the street outside. Mary andJesus' half brothers managed to press theirway to the open door.

Mary heard Jesus' voice as Jesus spoketo the crowd seated before Him in thecourtyard. Surely if He knew that she hadcome, He would want to see her, shethought to herself.

A group of scribes and Pharisees hadjust accused Jesus of using satanic powersto accomplish His healings.

"Blasphemy against the Holy Spiritwill not be forgiven ," Jesus warned in anangry tone. The disciples had often heardJesus say that the Holy Spirit is thepower of God. To blaspheme that Spiritis to speak in derision of it. And thePharisees did just that when they saidSatan's power, and not the Holy Spirit,performed Christ's healings and cast outdemons. "Rabbi, give us a sign!" calledout a scribe (Matt. 12:38). He wanted tosee another miracle.

" Y ou will be given no sign," Jesusreplied, "except one."

Silence fell. Some leaned closer to hearJesus' next words. " J onah was in thebelly of a fish three days and threenights, and the Son of man will be threedays and three nights in the heart of theearth."

Jesus continued to talk to the crowd,mentioning the Queen of Sheba's visit tohear Solomon's wisdom. The Pharisees

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

should have realized that they were in thepresence of someone greater than Solo­mon! Jesus went on to comment ondemons. Someone in the crowd noticedthat Mary and Jesus' brothers were pres­ent, waiting to see Jesus. The listenerstepped up to Jesus. "Sir," he said , " yourmother's here, and your brothers. Theywant to see you."

Jesus took this opportunity to emphasizethat the Family of God takes precedenceover human families. "Who are really mybrothers, sisters and mother?" He asked."My brothers, sisters and mother are thosewho obey my Father in heaven" (Matt.12:50, Mark 3:35, Luke 8:21).

Jesus concluded His sermon with thatstatement. He dismissed the crowd andbegan to pass through them out to thestreet. At the door He warmly greetedand embraced His mother and half broth­ers.

Jesus speaks in parables

Taking the 12, Jesus led the way to theshore of Galilee. This spot was one of Hisfavorite places to teach. The crowd trailedbehind, increasing in numbers along theway. Jesus sat down in a small boat andpreached a sermon made up of parablesabout the Kingdom of God (Matt. 13:1 ,Mark 4:1, Luke 8:4).

Jesus concealed the parables' truemeanings from the audience because thetime had not come for God the Father tobegin to call many into His Church. Jesu swas on earth only as a witness. He hadcome, this first time, to announce theKingdom of God, to die for the sins ofmankind and to start the New TestamentChurch.

One of the parables He used was abouta tiny mustard seed that eventually

25

A giant wave caught the boat broadside .... "Wake Him!" Petershouted when he saw the rudder wrenched from the hands ofJames and John ... "We're going to the bottom if you don't!"

became a huge plant. The purpose of thisparable was to show how the Church ofGod would grow from one person, Jesus, toeventually fill the whole earth.

Jesus teaches the disciples privately

Dismissing the multitude, Jesus re­turned to the house. The 12 tried to dis­courage the crowd from following , but thepeople wanted to see more miracles andhear more parables.

When they were inside, the disciplesbegan to question Jesus about His dis­course. They wondered why Jesus spoke inparables to the crowds. The truth was thatthe disciples themselves didn't understandwhat the parables meant.

"What, for instance, did you mean bythe weeds in the field? " asked one. "Whois the enemy who sowed the tares?"

Jesus explained that His message - thetrue Gospel - was meant to be understoodonly by a select few at that time. Then hewent over the parables one by one andexplained them (Matt. 13:36).

That evening Christ and the disciples setsail across Galilee toward the Gadarenesarea, aboard a large boat. Before long darkclouds billowed in the west and obscuredthe sun. A sudden gust of wind filled thesails, swinging the craft around.

John stepped up to his brother James. "Ithink we'd better postpone the trip. Astorm's coming."

"Ask Jesus if we should turn about,"J ames instructed, his eye on the boilingsea.

Stepping over the feet of Matthew,Judas, James the Second and Philip, Johnfound Jesus sleeping soundly in the stern ofthe boat, His head on a sheepskin pillow(Matt. 8:24, Mark 4:38, Luke 8:23). Jesus'face was relaxed, and John thought to him-

26

self that Jesus needed this rest. John wentback to James. "He's asleep. Why don't wekeep going? We'll be all right."

Soon, however, the wind increased togale intensity, screaming across the lakeand violently shaking the boat. Jamesyelled to Andrew, "Get those sails in orthey'll be ripped away!" Thunder rolledover the blackened heavens. All talking inthe boat had stopped. Amid the noise ofthe storm Jesus slept on .

Waves splashed in over the bow. Then agiant wave caught the boat broadside.Shuddering, the craft pitched helplesslyinto a trough of the sea, but just as quicklyit was tossed up again. Water continued tocome into the boat. The situation lookedprogressively grimmer to the disciples, andsome became openly fearful.

"Wake Him!" Peter shouted when hesaw the rudder wrenched from the handsof James and John together. "We're goingto the bottom if you don't!"

Someone bent over Jesus. "Sir, wake up!We're sinking! Don't you care?"

Jesus sat up, rubbing sleep from Hiseyes. He heard the screaming of the windand saw the terror in the disciples' faces."Why are you afraid? Where's yourfaith?" He asked. Leaning into the wind,He rose and raised a hand in a gesture ofrebuke. "Be still! "

The storm immediately lost its vigor.The howling wind died away and the seacalmed to gentle, lapping waves. Flecks offoam that clustered here and there on thesurface of the lake were the only evidencethat there had ever been a storm.

Now, however, the disciples were evenmore fearful than they had been before." W hat kind of a man is this?" asked one ofthem. "Even the wind and the sea obeyHim!" 0

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

Living(Continued from page 3)

us . They come to strengthen, tobuild our character. And that'sthe ver y purpose of our being ­to make us like God. We, likeJesus Christ, can be born into theKingdom of God. Notice I Peter4:12-13 :

"Beloved [this is speaking toreal Christians], think it notstrange concerning the fiery trialwhich is to try you, as thoughsome strange thing happenedunto you."

Some people, when some ofthese trials and these problemscome, think nobody else has everhad anything come upon themlike that. It's some strange thingthat is peculiar to them. That isnot true!

Every other person on earth ishaving problems. Everyone ishaving troubles. They have thingsto meet and to overcome, solu­tions to work out, the same as youdo. It's not strange. And so hereis the teaching of God. He says :"But R EJOIC E," yes , rejoiceinwardly in these things, " inas­much as ye are partakers ofChrist's sufferings."

Christ suffered, but Christ alsosaid to His apostles, " M y joy Ileave with you. " "I am come,"He said, "that you might havelife, and that you might have itmore abundantly."

He came to give us THE ABUN­

DANT LIFE. He had that kind oflife . He was happy. He was filledwith joy, even though at the sametime He was a man of sorrows ­and why?

Because He LO VED all humanbeings, and He saw the way theywere going. He saw how theywere destroying themselves, howthey were bringing unhappinessand emptiness, fear and worry,poverty, sickness, disease and suf­ferings on themselves. He there­by shared their sufferings. Hewas a man of sorrows. He wassorrowful for them.

But He was a man who washappy inside. He was setting usan example of the kind of life thatwe should live. So we read here:

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

"Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are par­takers of Christ's sufferings; that,when his glory shall be revealed,ye may be glad also with exceed­ing joy."

Why we can alwaysbe happy inside

" Blessed be the God andFather of our Lord Jesus Christ,which according to his abundantmercy hath begotten us againunto a lively hope by the resur­rection of Jesus Christ from thedead, To an inheritance incorrup­tible, and undefiled" (I Pet. 1:3­4).

There isn't one person in10,000 professing Christians whoreally knows and understandswhat that incorruptible inheri­tance really is. It is far greater ­filled with far more splendor andglory, and far more happiness ­than you probably ever imagined.That is what is in store for you ifyou will surrender your life toGod.

It's up to you!Peter continues, saying that we

are kept by the power of Godthrough faith unto salvation,ready "to be revealed in the lasttime."

That means a time yet future,ahead of us just now, only a fewyears future in our time, at theSecond Coming of Christ. JesusChrist is coming back to thisearth once again!

"Wherein," continues thisscripture, "ye greatly rejoice,though now for a season, if needbe, ye are in heaviness throughmanifold temptations" or trialsand troubles that come upon us,"That the trial of your faith,being much more precious thanof gold that perisheth " ­because this trial of our faith isdeveloping character that willnever perish. It 's more valuablethan gold.

What do you dowhen troubles come?

When a trouble comes uponyou, instead of griping, grum­bling, moaning and being unhap­py and miserable about it, realizethat something is come upon youto try you, to develop character,

to develop something real andgenuine in you that you will carrywith you for all eternity.

But when troubles come, doyou rejoice in them? Do you real­ize that something is come that ismore valuable to you than a greatsum of gold?

Or do you grumble and com­plain and wish that such thingshad never come?

Jesus Christ came so that ourlives should be changed fromwhat they are. They are to bechanged from drifting, going theeasy way, acting according toimpulse - which builds no char­acter, which is putting nothinginto us that we can take with us ,nothing that is real, that is lastingand permanent - to the life thatfinds the true values.

He gives us a life that doesmeet and overcome obstacles andtemptations, a life that is justfilled with happiness, brimful andrunning over with joy, the realabundant life. We realize what isbeing accomplished, where we'regoing. You have a goal if you areChrist 's . You have an objective.You know where you 're going;you see the progress you're mak­ing. It gives you a thrill of happi­ness.

Material blessings, too

And, incidentally, if your life isthe right kind that God desires,which is for your good, if youseek first the Kingdom of God,which is your objective in life ­or should be - and His righ­teousness, the right ways of life ,He says that all these materialthings shall be added.

God, perhaps, may not addmaterial things early in life . Hemay not add them right away . Itmay be some little time, but Hewill give you all the materialgoods and necessities that youreally need, and even a greatmany of the luxuries, if your lifepleases Him. Yes, you can havethose things when you know howto possess them and how to usethem.

What is an abundant life ?What is abundance? Here is thedefinition: "possessing an over­flowing fullness." It means great

27

plenty - great plenty of life andreal living. It means exuberance.It means abounding. That's th ekind o f life th at Jesu s Christca me to reveal that we couldhave .

Not ver y many people under­sta nd it. N ot very man y peopleunderst and what real Christianityis . N ot very many professingC h r is t ia ns know wh at a realChrist ian life is. They're makingth em selves so unnecessarily un­happy .

The true Christian life, then,possesses an overflowing fullnessof the things that are the fruits ofth e Spirit of God - an overflow­ing fullness of LOV E (it 's God'slove - it's a genuine, spirituallove) , a fullness of J O Y, and ofP EA C E, and of faith. of m eekness.of temperance. Does YO UR lifeposses s those things? Have thosethings come into you r life to fillyo u?

I know th at you fall a greatdeal sh ort of all of that. Every­bod y does. We all still fall shor t.But th at 's our goal! That is thelife th at we shall live in the King­dom of God . That is th e life th atwe should st r ive for , and withG od 's help we can graduall y growmore and more into it.

That is th e ch all enging life wegrow into, th e life of God's Spiritwithin us - that is the H APPY

life, that is the J O YO US life, andth e A BUN DANT life .

The abundant life mu st be alife th at h as a b u nd a n t R E­

SO U R CES . If yo u h ave th eseresources, th ey have to co mefro m somewhe re, becau se if youlook within, you will find thatth ey are not th ere! W e have so meresources within , but they fa ll far ,far shor t from th e kind of abun­dant living th at Christ reveals andI'm telling you ab out. You don'thave th ese kinds of resourceswithin and you ca n' t obta in themfrom th e "aro und."

Look around you. You can'tobta in them from other peopl ebecau se th ey don 't possess thesethings ei ther.

God above is the source

We ca n have a b u ndant re­sources if we know where to go to

28

obtain those resources. But mate­rial wealth does not give anyonethose resources. It can only add toth em.

You don 't have th em within.You can't get them from thearound. But you can receive themonly from the above, from GodAlmighty.

God Almighty is the great Giv­er , not only of life , but of lifemore abundantly. God is th e Gi v­er of th e grea t resources. He isth e Almighty.

God Almighty has a great de alof power to give you, to impartinto you. You ca n receive fromHim abundant FA ITH, th e re­sour ce of P OW ER , faith to driveout fear and worry, faith to driveout di scouragement befor e obsta­cle s, to kn ow th at it's going towork out every problem, powerwhere you are now weak, to giveyou love to cover up and to driveout the bitterness and th e resent­ment when other people do youwrong.

The LOVE of G od will cover allof th at and drive it out. G od willgive the resource of W ISDO M thatyou now lack. G od has all knowl­edge and all wisdom. G od says ifan y man lacks wisd om , let himask of G od th at givet h to all menliberall y . i f. ¥o u eaU~

e ie",e, i s'Jiall 1i g v.en. andunderstanding , too! A nd thenze al and energy - real livin g,driving energy th at is needed tod o th e work th at you mu staccomplish.

It can happen to you, too

I am going to ment ion some­thing personal. To conduct thi sW ork I lead a very busy, drivin glife, and expend a great de al ofen ergy.

A physici an friend of mineonce asked me : " M r. Armstrong,I don't see how you do it. Wheredo you get th is ene rgy? How doyou keep going so long and underso man y hours of strain andst ress, and st ill have th at drivingen ergy?"

I told him, "I t' s one of ther e source s that I g et fromab ove ."

Of course, I find it necessar y toobserve the laws of health and

practice moderation in all things.It requires self-d iscipline.

Y ou , too , c an h ave theseresources th at make you happy.These are the things that we allneed. These are the re sources th atcan come only from God. Andthese are the resource s th at willproduce th ose fruits of love, andj oy, a n d of peace, and o fpatience.

M ost lives today are empty,absolute ly em pty! They are filledwith boredom, with fru strationsand fears.

It is as you read in Isaiah 55 :1:"Ho, every one th at thirsteth ,come ye to th e wate rs, and hethat hath no money; come ye,bu y, and eat ; yea, come, buy win eand milk without money a ndwit ho ut price."

Everyone is reall y thirst y forthe good things of life , for thehappin ess, th e pleasant thingsand, to some exte nt, eve n excitingand thrilling things in life th at wecould and should have. But mo stlives seem empty. The well is dry,and th ey're thirsty.

" W here fore do ye spend mon­ey for that which is not bread ?and your labour for that whichsat isfieth not ?" (verse 2).

What do you drink in ? Jesu ssa id th at if you drink of Him," H e th at believeth on me, as th esc ripture hath said , out of his bel­ly [innermost being] shall flowrivers of living water" - notstagna nt water, but living water,spa rkling water. "But this spakehe of th e Spirit , which th ey th atbelieve on him should receive" ­the Holy Spirit of G od (John7:38-39) .

You need God's Spirit

The Holy Spirit of God is pic­tured as living water. It comesinto you . You go to Christ toreceive it. You don 't bottle it upand put a cork on it. It flows outfrom you. The H oly Spirit flowsout in love , peace and joy, radiat­ing from you. There is no othe rway t o f ind th ese resources .There is no other way to live ahappy life.

The laws of G od are a way oflife. The Bible in its whole is away of life. J esu s Christ said th at

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

we must live by every word ofGod. If you live by every word ofGod , you will live according toth e way of life that God has laiddown in Hi s Book, th e H olyBible.

It is th e way of life that is theabundant life. It's the way of thehappy, the cheerful life th at sim­ply radiates. It radiates sunshineand happine ss, and it's alwayshappiness with in. The well is notdry. It 's filled!

Now here is what this kind oflife will mean. It means that youwill be RADIA NT. It means thatGod's Spirit in you will radiatecheerfulness and smiles, friendli­ness tow ard others, love, sinceri­ty, vigor, calm courage, goodwilland interest in others, instead ofbeing so se lf-conscious, with somuch overinterest in your ownself.

If th e Spirit of God is in you,you will be plain and simple. Youwill put on no airs . There will beno posin g, as mo st people do inthe world . You will be natural,and not pr et ending. You will behonest and frank and un affected,clean in mind and in bod y. Youwill be humble. There won 't bese lf-co n fide nce . There will bef aith in God. instead .

You will be humble, but youwill have THE FA ITH and THEPOWER OF G OD, whose power isunlimited. You will be st ro ngthrou gh this faith of God. Therewill be no weakness, but greatst rengt h. You will have wisdom ,and you will have courage. Youwill h av e ev e r y t h i ng, everyresource you need .

You will be ready always to say" I don 't know, " if so it be. Youwill be read y, always, to ad m iterror wh en it is so proved, to con­fess wrong and to change to whatis right , wherever you are wro ng.You will be read y to accept cor­rection and reproof, and to actupon it no matter how humiliat­ing or painful. You will dili gentlystudy to learn th e right way andto live it , and you will study theBible to find it.

You will face ever y obstacleth at com es along - ever y diffi­culty, eve ry problem and trouble- un afraid , in the full faith of

The GOOD NEWS August 1982

G od , looking to Him for wisdomand knowing that He will guideyo u a nd del iver yo u out o fit.

The attitude of a Christian

Here is th e kind of attitude youwill have. You will wish others tolive their lives , too, up to th eirhighest, their full est, their best.You will be concerned for theirwelfare.

You'll try to help others eve ryway you can, never to hurt or toinjure. You will never meddle.You will never dictate, interfereor give unwanted advice, or speakill of, nor give gossip aboutothers. Never will you go aroundgriping, complaining and mur­muring things that make you andothers unhappy.

You will alw ays be willing tohelp others by g iving th em acha nce, and mainl y you can helpothers by helping them to helpthemselves , by enco ura gement,by setting a good example, bythus inspiring a nd upliftingothers, giving advice only wh enit ' s welcomed , and when theywant it and are willing to ope ntheir minds to receive it.

You will hew to th e line of theone supreme goal of life, wh ichshould be to inh eri t the Kingdomof God , to be reall y born of Godinto the very Family of God . Youwill be relentlessly pursuing thisgoal with zeal, with enthusiasm,with drive and with ene rgy firedby godly ambition , with hope,with faith , living by ever y word ofGod.

The Bible will be th e authoritythat you obey, the autho rity th atyou look to for eve ry thing in yourlife .

You will be overcoming yourown human nature and the world ,resisting Satan, drawing near er toGod by con st ant dail y Bibl e studyand by prayer , and by occasionalfas ting and pr ayer. That is theChristian life. It 's th e happy , theabundant life.

It 's you rs for th e asking . It'syours for the willingness to con­fess your sins to God and torepent of breaking Hi s laws. It'syours if you 're willing to DO whatHe says. 0

MARRIAGE(Cont inued f rom page 20)

vice versa, and expand your mind.This will do much to keep yourmarriage bright and vibrant.

A lso, invite people out or toyour hom e for visits as you canafford it - perhap s just for a cupof coffee. These get-togethers willbuild and sha rpen your powers ofobservation and mental alertness.

Make a total commitment

Work is the one ingredient th atis often mis sing when marriagescollapse and disintegrate. It tak eswork to build a positive rel ation­ship and to keep commitmentstrong.

King David 's prayer, after hewas caught in sin, can be encour­aging. It is found in Psalm 51.David was very sorry for his m is­take and bitterl y repented of it.H e cri ed out to hi s M aker ," C rea te in me a clean heart, 0God; and renew a right spiritwithin me" ( Ps . 51 :10) .

Like David , you can take yourprobl ems to God. Ask Him tocrea te in you a clean heart. Prayfor a right spi rit and the courageto st e p out a nd turn thingsar ound. Husbands, take the leadto initiate a reconciliation . Re­solve to sit down together in pri­vate to iron out differences andstart a new life together.

Kneel down together beforeGod in prayer and confess:"We're tired of all this fightingand argu ing, and all these con­flict s th at make us unhappy andmiserabl e. We're tired of doing itour way and end ing up total fail­ures. Ple ase , Father, we want tolive your way. Restore our loveagain . Gi ve us love for eachother. "

Begin now to work at buildingth e love G od will pr ovide. Yourmarriage, with th e problem s itmay have , needn 't be lik e anun solvable pu zzle.

Renew your marriage commit­ment, founded on God and H isgreat love , and sta rt, together, tobuild a marriage that is overflow­ing with happiness, love, acc om­plishment and success! 0

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