Good News 1953 (Vol III No 10) Nov

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T h e

N a t i o n a l M a g a z i n e o f

T H E

C H U R C H O F

G O D

Greatest

Feast

of

Tabernacles

in 1500 Years

W or ld history w s made. Hundreds

came,

looked

with we

at God’s

B iq Tabernacle, partook of the greatest spiritual

f eas t

in a rnilletz-

iiirrnz

mid a

h a l f , re turned

bonze

i m p i r e d , d e t e rmi n ed t o STUDY

G od ’s W o r d , to P R A Y , auld t o grow spiritually s never before

N

VER

before in modern t imes

has such

a

festival been held

It was

a siiiall

foret aste of the

t ime now soon to come when all na

timu

shall go

u p

from year to year to

Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Taber-

nacles (Zech.

14:16-19).

Jesus Christ will be there in P e v s o ~ ,

then.

He

was there, in Spirit , at this

Festival.

Bigger, Better, Every w a y

Everyone in atteridnnce seemed to

feel this Festival was bigger and better

riian

those of

the previous

years in e v e r y

Way.

The big Tabernacle is not completed.

‘The carpenters, plumbers, electricians

2nd other workers just

laid

off

work for

these eight days. Onl y two of th e booths

in which we are to dwell i t

is

also

c d / c d the “ Feast of Booths,”-Lev.

2 1 : 14

--hioffatt tran slatio n), were built--rind

they only as samples to show the brerh-

ren what the future housing colonies of

booths

will

be like. The

grounds were

not yet landscaped. and Lvere just dry,

dusty sand. Yes, there were all these

.h.indicaps. The beautiful plnygrounds

for children of various ages which are

designed by 1:indscape nrchitects were

not yet constructed.

But

in

spite of all these handicaps

there was better order and less confu-

sion than any Festival we have held

these past twenty years.

More people attended than any Feast

of Tabernacles held by the Church of

God ,

so

far as

we

know, for more than

1,500 years. Altogether, approximately

ONE

THOUSAND

PEOPLE

were there.

The first few days fifty or more people

paid for meals and left without register-

ing, and more than

800

registered during

the first half of the Festival. Another

hundred

or so

came for the last two

days, so that approximatcly a thousand

people were i n attendance . It is to be

regretted, however, that not more than

about

650

were in continuous attend-

ance for the entire eight days. God com-

mands our presence for the entire eight

days-not pa rts of

it

There was more and better preaching,

more and better music, a better spirit

than any festival of our time, and no

triction or opposition

or

lack

of

har-

mony. There was PEACE, and GREAT

JOY

Two W e d d i n g s

On the last Great Day of the Festival,

two beautiful we ddings were solemnized

in the Tabernacle. Thi s was the first t ime

many

of

our brethren had witnessed one

of God’s own weddings, solemnized the

Bible way.

At 7 : 3 0

i n

the morn ing Herman

L.

Hoeh and Isabel1 Kunkel were joined

together

by

God as husband and wife,

Dr.

C .

Paul Meredith officiating. It was

a beautiful, sacred ceremony.

A t

2:30

in the a f te rnoon Norman

Smith and Charlene Glover were princi-

pals

in annther impressive an d beautiful

service officiated by Herbert W. Arm -

strong,

in

which God bound them for

life as one flesh.

hfa ny ~ o i i i i i i r i i t b

were heard that these

marriage ceremonies surely revealed the

sacredness and irrevocableness of mar-

riage, popularly taken so lightly and

carelessly by the world today. Many re-

membered H erman Hoeh’s article in

a

recent issue of this magazine setting

forth reasons w h y mrmbers of God’s

church should never be unequally yoked

together with those who do not believe,

and OBEY, God’s T ru th , or ever permit

a

ceremony

to be performed by a n y

L L I L

our own ordained ministers in the true

Church

of God.

He had suggested, in

that article, that i f it were impossible for

L IS

to send

a

minister to perform

a

cere-

mony in some distant place, that God

commands the presence of every one

of



Page

2

T h e GO011

NEWS

NoLember, 1953

proved a big surprise to nearly every

one. Th e great high cei ling-38 feet

high-and the large audi toriu m, 105

feet wide and nearly 100 feet long, with

the beaut iful wide redwood ros trum,

brought awed looks from many. Every

comment overheard, o r uzli c h

came

to

o u r

atrent ion, was favorable m d en-

thusiastic.

But th e principal reason for the grea t

feeling of

sarisfactioii a i d joy over the

big Tabernacle and grounds is the

fact

that it is

GOD'S VERY OWN,

deeded

n t

the county court house in His name,

and therefore is OVRS-since w e ar e

His begotten chi ldren. Yes ,

for

t h x

reason i t is

O U R

V E R Y o w ~ - G o d ' s

House-and

i t

is clear ( i f all encuni-

brance. It

is

all paid for , except for

current bi l l ing on the construct ion work.

Of course

i t

was sandy and dusty. Th e

circular, winding one-way roadway ftoiii

the highway in and out

of

the g rounds

wa s also dus ty. W e feel sure all the

brethren unders tood this

was

due to the

fact the work is f a r from finished.

W h e n finished the roadw:iys will proh-

sbly be hnrd surfaced.

The landscape archi tects and the

building architect have planned special

playgrounds for child ren of various age-

groups. These will be under beautiful

Je trees, a i d carpeted

with

b c , i u t i f u l

lawns. The playground for the l i t t le

tots

will

be fenced in. Adequate play-

ground equipment wil l be ins ta l led.

'rhelt. will even be

a

baseball or

a

soft-

b d l d i a m o n d

for

older chi ldren and

young people of college age. There will

be

wide s idewalks between main points

ot toot

traffic, and grass or ocher groun d

covering to e l iminate the dus ty sand.

The exis t ing ki tchen, des igned orig-

inally only

tor

feeding

a

smaller num-

ber a t the

Pnssover

time, proved entirely

inadequate for such a large number of

peop e. It

was

decided that the only

satisfnccory solucioii wil l be the bu i ld ing

of a

large separate dining bui lding and

kitchen. How ever, due to the cost of this

project, it will not be undertaken unt i l

after the 1954 Feast of Tabernacles,

ready for the Festival

of 1955.

W e s ha ll

liave to make out one ni:ire year wi:ii

present kitchen nnd dining Facilities.

But ultimately, perliLipj two yenrs

f rom now, when a t

lenst

three or four

housing coionles

of

booths are buii:.

the

grounds Lindscnpcd.

the lake

: i d

baptis t ry bui l t . 2nd the new dining and

kitchen bui lding cornplered,

i t

will be

c n e

of

the most wonderful and efficient

and beautiful projects

for

large

S.lt ;ei-

ings of people mywhere on t ie h ce of

the earrh. Yes,

THIS IS GOD'S

CHI RCH

-it is THE

D O I N G

OF GOD Let us

be

glad and re joice , and give Go d T H A N K S

-and pu t our shoulders to the wheel

\vith Z E A L

us three times a year at His Festivals,

and o u r ministers are always in attend-

ance and nvailable

for

solemnizing niar-

riages

a t

these timrs 2nd places.

It

seemed fittins thitt he should be the

first to set the example, and

to

practice

what he preached, by having one

of

our

o w11 o r d a

ned

in

nis ters

o

fhciate a[ his

wedding.

These t\vo young couples are aii i >lig

the most able and competent young

people

God

has sent to Ambassador

College, xid very important servants

n

the work

of

God. All

of God's

people

rejoice

in these two God-f ormed i inions ,

and pray that they may be productive of

very grea t f ru i t fo r God ' s g lo r ious King-

doni, niid i nay bring, not only blessings

to

countless othe rs ove r the wor ld , bu i

abundant happiness to these fine, con-

secrated young couples themselves.

Better Preaching

Th e inspir ing and powerful preaching

by the

seven

i i inis ters ordained s ince

the Festivnl at Seiglrr Springs , Cal ifornia ,

a

year ago, was of course the greatest

contributi ig factor in m aki ng this the

grea te st F ex t

of

Tabernacles of m odern

times.

A

few ycnrs ago

chese

Festivals w ere

carried by God's called and chosen min-

ister with

.I i iu i i ibe r of

proinis ing young

m rn , s t i l l s tudents , helping with ser-

monettes , but with real preaching

from

only one minister.

Gradual ly those young men devel-

oped, matured, and grew in experience

and abi l i ty into preachers who have not

only the l R L r T H , b u t the earnestness, the

s inwri ty, and the inspired

firc

and

pow-

er in delivery to

c : q

deep convi , -rion

into the minds and hearts of hearers.

This year. perhaps for the first time,

the g i e x conclave

of

brethren came to

realize that this is not jusc a one-m:in

work of God-but we are the true

CHUKCH

OF GOr)---the ver y C hu rc h Jes us

said

He

would bui ld, and did bui ld in

3 1

AD.--a

Church led by

Christ

work-

ing in and through H is called, educated,

consecrated,

: ~ n d

xperienced minis ters .

Th is

year

we heard inspir ing, dynamic

sermons from several of God's minis ters

-sermons it red m oving convic t ion

and

POWER:

Many espressed n thrilled sense of

gratitude and rejoicing in the realiza-

t i o n , r e c e i v e d f r o m h f r . A r n i s t r o ~ ~ ' s

message and Mr. Hoeh's recent articles,

o n the ident i ty and his tory of our

Church, that W E A R E

TRIJ1.Y GOD'S

(;HlJRC€I--Chat we are a c t u n l l y idcnt i-

fied in Hible prophecy

as

the "P h i la -

delphia" C i i a r c h , f o r w h o m God

has

opened the door for the p roc la im ing of

His t rue Gospel to ALL

T HE

W O R L D , as

a

'W'ITNCSS

I'NTO A L L

NATIONS

Perhaps the grenrest surprise to most

was the powerful and dynamic preach-

i n g of Raymond McNair and the earnes t

pleading and conviction of D ick

Arm-

strong's

mcssages.

But scarwly

less sur-

pris ing, and certa inly no less po\verful

and m oving ,

was

the im proved and

ma-

ture preaching of Rod hieredi th, Ray-

m ond ,Cole, Herm an Hoe l i and Mar ion

McNai r .

Very vital and irilportant messages

were brought in sermonettes by five

Ambassador College seniors , Dean

Blackwell , Norman Smith, Wayne Cole ,

George Meeker, and Paul Smith; one

graduate of the college, Kcnneth I I e r r -

m ann; on e sophom ore , Ted Arm s t rong .

heard for the f i rs t t ime; and the sermon

by Gene Carter

of

St. Louis. Thes e mes-

sages rounded ou t the d ie t and m ade

the conclave one complete , well-bal-

anced spir i tual

FEAST.

Superior Music

Th e musical port ion of the great Fes-

tival,

so

important in any spir i tual

gathering, planncd

by

Sister Eckrrc and

Professor Leon Ettinger and Lucy

H.

Mart in of the Mus ic Depar tm ent o f the

college, was certainly supe rior in quality.

and more abundant in quanti ty. t l inn

any previous meeting.

Mrs. Martin, head of the Music De-

p.irtmenc,

.uiJ

Professor Ectinger. i n -

structor in voice, flew over

from

PasLi-

dena Friday afternoon, remaining unt i l

after the Sunday morning service .

U n d e r Mr. Ett inger ' s inspir ing

and

bri l l iant direct ing the 30-voice Ambas-

sador College Chorale, accompanied by

Mrs.

Martin, sang

rwo

numbers a t each

service

Friday evening, Sabbath

m o r n -

ing and Sabbnth afternoon, and three on

Sunday morning.

Solos

were sung by Beverly Gott ,

Ted Arm s t rong ,

H.

L. Morley, Gene

Car te r , and He len Ham m ond; due t s by

Beverly

Gott

and Ted Arm s t rong , and

violin

solos

by Dwight Arm s t rong .

It was

a

most inspir ing experience to

see and hear the Ambassador Chorale .

It is difficult to believe that a large PO:-

t ion

of

these young people had never

sung before , unt i l entering Ambassador

College a year ago. Their beaut iful har-

mony, perfecc unison, and splendid

technique and dramatic express ion have

been made possible by two facmrs-

the experienced and superb mastery of

Prof. Et t inger ' s direct ion, and the zeal

and whole-souled applicat ion of the s tu -

dents . The Chorale is certa inly

a

sp en-

did trib ute to the success of Ambassador

College.

Tabernacle Impressive

While the Tabernacle i tse lf was far

fro m finished-and non e

of

the g rea t

lounge

room to

b e b u i l t

on

the f ron t

erected-yet it was most impre ssive and



JUDGING and

in Gods

DISCIPLINE

Church

What

is

Christ‘s

w y of

pro tec t i t zg H i s

church ram troublemakers?

s

t h e

a

ztlrry

w e

Cali

“judge” ci i ldoers

ulho

creep

in to

local

b y

Rode;-ick

C . Mered i th

M

LLIONS

of since re but mis guid-

ed people are

mixei l - z ip

about

’

the m eaning of JCSLIS’ ords

recorded in Matt.

7 :

-5.

How often have you heard someone

reprimanded for stating his belief that

someone else had done wrong by t h e

exclamation, “Judge not, brother. Jesus

s.iid w e shouldn ‘t judge ot her peop le,

you know.”

What about this

Is

i t wrong, for ex-

ample, to warn your friends about a

cerr.iin vouch in the neiehborhood who

is a thief and whom you

k m z u

is

a

thief

because you have caught him in the

very act of stealing?

The Bible commands us

n o t

to bear

false witness against another (Exodus

20:16).

A talebearer i s condemned in

God’s v.Tord (Lev. l9: l6; Prov. 18:6 .

You should always t ry to help others

overcome their sins, and not expose

rsarilj,.

But is warning your

O U ~

persistellt rliicf

“tale-

bearing”?

Of

course not W ha t, then, did Jesus

mean when He said , “Judge not , that

you

be not judged”?

Read En t i re Passage

The way

this

passage of

scripture h a s

been misapplied is a good example of

how most

professing Biblc scudents of-

ten

perz ’cr t

the intended meaning

of

God‘s

word. Their principal trouble is

th:it

t h e y s / o p / o o .rooti.

They read just

pnrt of a

passage of scriptu re, and th en

bcj interpret

it.

T h i s

leads to

c - o / / f r c s i o u

and

d.iferiii,q

/ i w ~ i , ; i z

d c ~ x .

ou

should l c t t h e Bible

j i2 iL , rpwt the' Bible.

Read

A L L

the

pas-

sage

in which

a

verse

is

contained. and

then read the other places i n the Eible

which further cxplain the subject. This

n - a y

you will

s e t God’s

interprct:ition-

no: somebody’s human opinion.

Using this “key“

to

unlock the

m e x i -

inp of

scripture. n.e

find

thnr Jesus

wns

referring primarily

to

pe~p e

like :he

hypocriticd

Pli::risees

wlio

n.ere

accus-

ing others

of

the very things t iey

rl:emsclves

\yere

doing

(

verses 3 - 5 ) .

stlid th;it such people should not

e“

o r “condemn” others.

e

Fe n ton tr.insIntio:i renders this

phrase

“condemn

not” instead of “judge

not.”

In the Old T estament , God gave civil

statutes to Israel and the judges had the

authority to condemn evildoers to

a

death sentence. Later, God sent Christ

to b ring “g race and t ru th ’ (Joh n 1 17

) .

“Grace” is the free, unmerited pardon

extended by God to sinners.

Jesus showed that instead of pro-

nouncing sentence upon sinners, as Is-

rael’s judges had in the pasr, it was now

the duty

of

God’s representatives to

teach them the right way and command

them to repent of the

wrong

way.

In the case

of

the woman taken in

adultery (John

8:

3-10), Jesus showed

the Pharisees that they were not

fit

to

condemn anyone (verse

7 ) . He

was

ushering in the dispensation when God’s

people would no longer be fleshly Is-

rael, but Spirit-begotten sons who would

be held accountable by God for obeying

even the Jpiri6 of

the law (M att.

5 : 2 S ) .

Jesus did not “judge” or

proaozmce

seate-lzce

upon the woman at that mo-

ment. But H e commanded, “Go, and

siiz n o more.”

Human beings are not capable of

reading another’s mind and heart. But

by

first o,t’cvcorn.i?7g

your own

major

faults, and acquiring spiritual wisdom

and

experience, you

cmz

become quali-

fied to help others recognize and over-

come their sins.

Speaking

of

one still laden

wit i

faults, Jesus said, “Thou hypocrite,

f i r s :

c m

ut the beam out of thine own eye;

and

theit shalt than

see

clearly to c m t

oirt

the m o t e oztt

of

t h y brother’s q e ”

( R f a t t .

7 : 5 .

F i r s t ,

overcome your own major

faults

and

grozo

spiritually.

Thrrt you

will be

able to rightly discern other people‘s

. r ;nr

and

he lp cast I”WTIZn t .

Christ-

r ie living

H c a d o f the t rue

church

Col.

1

:

18)

-Expected His children to

xl p each other o r ’ e x o m e sil l Wh en you

read all of this passage where Jesus

spnke

about

“judging,” you get a fa r d i f -

ferent meaning than those who just

read and then

l i/?izaizl;, iuterpret

the

first

verse.

The real meaning of this passage,

then,

is

that Christians must first grow

in the character of God before they are

qualified to discern the sins of others

and help them to be overcomers as well.

But mature Christians

should

help their

weaker brethren overcome their

sins.

Th is will naturally involve

poiiztiizg oat

sins

in others and giving advice and

help in overcoming them. Jesus I J Z ~ U ~

what

He

said. But this must all be done

God’s way.

Old

Tes tament Examples

If

you study the subject

of

“judging”

throughout the entire Bible, you will

see clearly’why

Jesus

said what He did

on this subject.

Glancing back into the Old Testa-

ment, you will find that one of Moses’

principal duties was to “judge” the chil-

dren of Israel (Exodus 18:13-27).

He

became so over-burdened with this re-

sponsibility that he was forced to ap-

point other God-fearing men to judge

the minor cases (verses 17-22).

After Moses died, Joshua acted

as

a

judge in Israel. But later (Judges

2 : 10-

1 7 ) ,

a generation arose which rebelled

against the judges God set over them.

The result was the bloodshed and na-

tional suffering described all through the

book of Judges. Twice God gives us

the

major cause

of all this suffering: “In

those days there was no king in Israel,

but

every man

did

that

which wns

r ight

ia

hiJ own

ight” (Judges

17:6; 2 2 : 2 1 ) .

Since they

reftrsed

to hearken to

God’s judges, Israel sz~f fered because

every man acted on human reason-do-

ing what he thought was right. Relying

on human reason instead of

on

God’s

chosen representatives always leads to

di.ra.rtcr.

“There

i s

way

t h a t

seemeth

right

unto

a

man, but the end thereof

are the ways of death” (Pro v.

16:

25 )

.

The congregation of Israel is

a

fleshly

type

of

the spirit-begorten chuxcli

o f

God today. The leaders in Israel

jrci ,qed

the people, but trozible c a n e when the

people refused to hearken u n t o those

whom God had set in aurhority. Speak-

ing of the children of Israel, the apostle

Paul was inspired to write.

“Now

all

these things happened un to them fnr

examples: and they are written for

ORY

admonition, upon whom the ends of



7 h e GOO11

NEW’S

The na t iona l ma ga z ine

of

T H l CHURCH

OF

GOU

nrirristeriiig

to

i t s

members

scattered

abroad, aird

rrport i i ig

nir rlinipzis

bnpperiirigs

n t Ari ihassdor

Col lege

NI

ThII3FR 1 0

~~ ~ ~

V O I ~ .

11

~~

H e r b e r t

W.

A r m s t r o n g

Publisher ant1 Ed i t o r

Herman 1. . Iloeh

l:.veL.utii cJ

d i t o r

I<odcrick (:.

h l e r e d i t h

A s s o r i i i

e

2 t

o r

r\ddress

c omniunic a t ions t o

the Edi:or,

<:op> igh t . Novc m wr , 1953

By

t h e R a d i o C h u r c h of God

13ox 1

I

I , Pa sa de na , Ca l i forn ia .

the world are come”

( I Cor . 10:

11).

A

Look Ahead

Looking toward the tuture , you wil l

find that the reward

of

the Chr i s t im i s

a

pohition of r i / h / , y

i d

jiidLySing rhe n;i-

riuns.

In Rev.

2126-27 ,

Chrisr

w y s thnt

those who

ov e rc om e

wil l be g iven

r t h

w e t the na t ions . Th e s cene dep ic ted in

Rev.

EO:4-6

shows that the resurrected

saints

wil l be g iven pos i t ions of ju t lg-

itieiit and rzde under Chr i s t dur ing the

millenniiini. This thousand year rule of

Chris t and the saints wil l take place

old

the

earth Rev.

: 1 0 ) .

A

brief glance a t

I

Cor.

6:

1-7

reveals

that the saints wil l not only judge the

world, but

zoc

will

ei’eii j i d g e nngrl.r

If

th i s be

so,

“how m uch m ore th ings

pe r ta in ing

to

th i s l i fe?”

wrote

Paul.

Both the exam ple of ancient Israel

and the

prorniscs of our

futuLe

reward

clearly reveal t hat Go d’ s servants

iiz nll

tiiiicr

are called

on to

“judge” and to

direct those under their charge. Our

whole Chris t ian l i fe is

to

prepare 11s to

make wise decis ions when we are cal led

on

to

he lp

ji/d,cy

and r d e the wor ld un-

der Chris t .

Our

willingness to accept

God’s judgm ents and d i rec t ions in our

personal lives-and, wh en called on , to

render them wisely

a n d

justly-will be

one

of

the deciding factots which will

de te rm ine our pos i t ion in the k ingdom

of God.

H o w d o e s G o d ’ s j u d g m e n t w o r k

at

this present rime? How does

i t

func t ion

in His church?

C h u rc h Discipline

Jesus said,

“I

will bui ld

hfY

church”

(hl . i t t .

16:

1 s ) . hrist is the living, ac-

tive head of

God’s

cliurch (Col. 1:18).

H e ru les the church th rough Hi s ca ll ed

servants

to

w h o m H e h a s c o m m it t ed

the keys of the kingdom

of

heaven

He

has

g iven them au thor i ty

to

“b ind”

or

forbid certa in things , and

to

“loose” or

permit certa in things . This “binding”

or “loosirig”

may also be applied

to

per -

m i t t ing o r fo rb idd ing

the

admission

of

persons into the fe l lowship of the

church.

Chris t gave himself

for

the church

and is c leans ing i t “ that i t should be

holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5 : 2 5 -

2 7 ) .

Jesus

is

going

to

purge s in

out of

his church that i t may be spotless be-

fo re God .

H o w ?

The answer reveals the process

of

judgm ent or discipl ine which God has

ins t i tu ted in His church .

Jesus taught the disciples how to

keep s in ou t of the church in Mat t .

18:

15-20.

Read these verses carefully.

V e r s e 15 con ta ins an

error

in t r a n s l a -

(Please continue

ow

page

6

RADIO LOG

“The WORLD TOMORRO\XJ”

I I ~ I ~ J I X L

. A r m s t r o n g a n a l y z e s

to-

da y’s ne ws , w i th the prophe c ie s

of

T h e

W O R L D

TOMORROW

TO ALJ. OF ELTROPE:

RADIO LUXEhIBOURG-4:

15

P.I\I .

-Thursdsys 1-use nibourg t ime .

TO

THE

N A T I O N

&

C A N A D A :

St1.0-800 o n

dial,

e \ e q n i gh t, 9:00

P.hl. C e n t r a l S I ‘ : n t l d

t ime.

8

OO 3lountain

St‘zntLrrd

time.)

1570

on dial (entreiiir top

of

dia l ) Sunda ys ,

- :15

P.hf .

Cen-

t r a l

Standard

t ime.

XEG-1050 on dia l , Sunda ys only ,

8,:30

P.M. C e n t r a l S t m d a r / l

t ime.

S E R F

~~

___

H E A R D ON

P A C I F I C C O A S T :

XERB-50,000 watts--1090

o n

d i a l

- ’ : I ) P.31. e ve ry n ight .

XEI)M-1580

on dial G:?O

P.M.

Sunda ys .

KGER-Los

Angeles-1390 k.c.-

12:30 P.hI. Mon.

thru

Fri.

K B L A - -

Rurbank 19r) k.c. 7 30

A.M. daily.

KXL-Portland-10,000 watts.

750

on

dial-2:30 PM., Sunda ys .

K P D Q - o r t l a n d 00 on dial

8 :30

A . M .

daily.

KVI-Seattle-Tacoma-570, first o n

dia l-10:30 P.M. Sund ays.

~

OTHER S T A T I O N S

WAIT-Chicago-820 o n dial-1 : O D

KMAC-San Antonio-630 o n d i a l

P.M. Sunda ys .

? : OO P.M.

Sunda ys .

And

N o ~ v

. . .

ABC

N E T W O R K

,OD NOW

opens another door-a

G

Perhaps this is the greatest

news we have ever had

to

announce Be-

ginning Sunday, October 25th,

The

W O R L D T O M O R R O W g oes o n o ne

of

the

great

major radio networks , ADC,

Transcontinentnl

This means ini l l ions of new listeners

every week. I t means t remendous pres-

tige. It means approximately 175 addi-

tional radio stations.

THINK OF IT-

175

additional radio stations-including

the great bas ic 50,000-n,att ABC sta-

t ions in New York, Chicago, San Fran-

cisco, Kansas City, Buffalo, Toronto, and

other major c i ties.

As

w e

go to

press the

exact

n u m b e r o f stations w h i ~ h ill re-

lease the program is not known.

W e were a l lowed to select

ABC

sta -

tions in those cities we desired, and

om i t any we d id no t wish to cover . W e

selected all

of

the largest s ta t ions , omit-

t ing only

a

n u m b e r

of

the smaller ones.

Near ly

2 0 0

stations w e r e approved by

us. As

w e

go

to press we are await ing

word from the Hollywood offices

of

the

ne twork

as

to which

of

these stations are

oblc to ~ 1 t . a ~

lir ciiw specified. It is

expected that around 175 stations will

carry the program, a l though i t may drop

somewhat below that .

Some of the greatest, most powerful,

bes t-know n s ta t ions in America wil l now

broadcas t The W O RL D

TOMORROW.

The Hol lywood

office

has

indicated that

they expect siich great stations as

W A B C , N e w

York,

WLS, Chicago, and

K G O , San Francisco, to carry it-and

also

in

rlie

50,000-watt class,

KEX,

Portland,

KING,

Seatt le, K G A, Spokane.

bes ide 50,000- watt s ta tions (mo st pow-

erful allowed in the

U.S.)

in Kansas

City. Tulsn, Water loo , Iow;i, Buffalo, and

Toronto. Includ ed wil l be s t rong s ta t ions

in Philadelphia , Bal t imore, Washington

D.C., R

ictiruond, Atlanta , Birininghain,

Louisville, Cleveland, Detroit, Cincin-

nati, Tol edo, Indianapolis,

St.

Louis, Mi n-

neapolis-St. Paul, Omaha, Lincoln,

Wichita, 0kl;ilionia City, Little Rock,

Dallas , Houston. Memphis , Nashvil le ,

Chattanooga, Denver-in fact, just about

every major c i ty in the

USA.

There wil l

be several stations in each

of

such states

11s

Florida, North Carol ina , Indiana,

Ohio , Mich igan , Wiscons in , Minneso ta ,

W y o m i n g , : in({

others.

The TIME: Eas te rn S randud t im e ,

11 : 3 5 to

1 2

noon on S undays ; Cen t ra l

S t an d x d

time, 1

1:05

to

11

30

A.M.;

M o u i i i a i i i States,

1 2 : O i

noon to

1 2 : i O ;

Pacific Co ast,

11 05

to 11

:

30

A. M. Tu ne

in

o n

your nearest ABC station.

i ’er j ,

great door



Why Is Remarriage Wrong?

N

THE

baptizing tour this past

summer, we encountered a large

0

unibe r of d ivorce m d remar -

riage problems.

I t i s the common concept ion that

God would not be f a i r t o condemn

adultery. This reasoning is faulty, be-

cause people do not unders tand the pur-

pose of h u m a n existence.

Huni:in

be-

ings were put

on

this earth not just to

please the five senses only, but

also

to

develop into memb ers

of

t he Go d family

to

inherit the powers nnd preroga-

tives of God. Before anyone can ever be

born into the God family, he must f i rs t

possess the chr‘ccter of God. Al l the

power in t l ie universe would become a

curse if i t n.ere in the hands

of

o n e w h o

Iiad not developed the c h m t e r

to

con-

t r o l

it.

So let’s tinclerstand

WHY

adultery is

contmry

t o

tlie chm.~~.tcrf

Gocl.

iMarriage is

FOR LIFE

\VIIY

does God forbid remnrri‘ige ;is

long .IS there is still a l iving mate

Also, W H Y does GOD join together as

o i / ( /1ctb

.I I i u s b d

nnd

wife I -OR

L I V I . God

is .ictually r e pr o d uc i ng H i m -

sel f. H e formed m a n i n His image .

R u r m:in \\‘:is ninde

of

the dust

of

t he

grounci

nortal

uman Hesh nnd

blood.

God is

a Spirit , nnd innn cannot

become God unt i l he is

h r 7 7

of God.

Bur,

further ,

i n

order thnt there be mil-

lions and niill ions of humans who may

be begot ten

a n d

t hen

bor.ii

into the

Kingdom of God, the Eternnl wisely

made I I L . h I A N reproduc t ion the ex :m

type of divine reproduct ion. or sdva t ion.

In orde r tha t humans might repro-

duce,

as

Cod proposes, and further i n

order that chi ldren might be

t‘ncght

from bir th on through b:tbyhood and

childhood b y loving pnrents , God’s

P I A N c:illed

f o r

the ins t i tut ion

o f

t he

h u m m FAhlILY-which itself is ;i type

of

t he C O D - F A M I l . Y , \ v h ic h i s the King-

d o m

of chi.

God’s whole purpose nnd Plan, there-

fore, revolves around the divinely-or-

dnined inst i cut ion of h l X R R 1 A G E

3nd

the h u m a n FAhl lLY. M‘ijor

points in

God’s Spir i tual Law, such as “Hono r thy

father and thy mother ,”

a n d

“Tt i o~ i hn lt

not commit adul tery,” are based on the

immutabi l i ty xnd integri ty of t he FAhl-

ILY. Theref ore God , in Hi s wisdoni-

bec,iiise it is

~EST f o r

humnn hnppiness

now, 3s xvell :IS our J e \ ~ e l o p m e n t n to

thc very charncrer of God-decreed that

m‘irriage is

,I B O N D

FOR

L I F E .

by Herrrzzatt

L .

N o e h

God la id down the laws respect ing

the mar r iage un ion . No mat t e r wha t

your human reason may feel in respect

to

the circumstances of any particular

divorce and remarriage case, G O D BOUND

U N T IL

S E P A R A T E D

BY DEATH.Any sep-

aration, except by death, i s unnatural and

contrary to the very

L A WS

God set in

motion.

It

does violence to the M A R -

RI A G E INSTITUTION. It

does violence

to

God’s ins t i tut ion of the FAMILY-the

very type of the Kingdom

of

God. I t

brings abomination, pollution, defile-

ment , into hum an rela tionships and into

the lives of those who are potent ia l born

chi ldren of GOD.

God made the family t ies SO B I N D -

ING-and th e mar riag e tie

SO

B I N D -

ixc-that any unfaithfulness to it.

ONCE B O U N D

BY

GOD, s a MAJOR SIN.

Sin is the transgression of God’ s spiritual

Law. That law says “Thou shalt not

commit

adultery.” Cod dcfincs

A N Y un-

faithfulness to a mate

to

w h o m HE had

joined one for l i fe as ADULTERY, nd

therefore sin.

No

matter how various

circumstances may

appeni.

to hunian

eyes and human reasoning. IT DOE S

V IO L E N C E

to God’s purpose for h uman

existence,

introduces confusion and sin,

and THE P E N A L T Y

IS

DEATH-being

permanent ly

CUT OFF

f rom salvation

and the Kingdom of God and

E T E R N A L

One who does violence

to

t he human

F A M I L Y

relationship, which is a type of

t h e K i n g d o m o f G o d - o n e w h o d o e s

despi te to the M A R R I A G E t ie, which

is

a

type

of

our relationship to Christ-has

done despi te to the spir i t of G RACE, nd

m a d e a mockery

of

CHRIST

A S SAVIOUR,

a n d

o f

THE K I N G D O M OF GOD

God had great divine PURPOSE, nd

eternal ly b inding R E A S O N for making i t

:i SIN

to violate the marriage union or

the family relationship by remarriage to

mother-which in Hi s sight is actually

not remarriage

at

all , but

PLAIN

A D U L -

T E R Y

Sometimes children are born of these

adul terous unions involving one or two

divorced persons.

People

reason out that

it is not fair

to

the chi ldren of this

adulterous union to separate. B U T WH A T

A B O U T

THE

INNOCENT

CHII.DRCN

THAT

H A V E B E E N HARhIED RY T H E S E

D I V O R C E S OF PERSONS WHOhI

C O D

THE VKIGINAL

HUSBAND AND WIFE

1.1 FE

B O U N D FOR L I F E ?

Tha t i s where the

greater harm has been caused. And i t

is

i n orde r

to PROTECT

those children that

God has la id down a rule which men

are forbidden to alter: that a so-called

“marriage” of or to any divorced person

is ADULTERY,nd the penalty is

D E A T H

-and GOD i s the f inal judge, not huma n

reason. But

WHY

no exceptions

Remember , t he ca rna l mind never

can see that God is r ight . It always

seems that Go d is wrong.

First

Lesson

to Learn

Now, first , let us remember t1i:it

the marriage covenant is a zozo. T h e

partners promise

Almighty

G o d

t o

ye-

m a i n

fairhful t o o m

aizother till death.

Adultery is the breaking of this vow

T he ques t ion is not whether the other

party proved fai thless . What is impor-

tant i s that Y O U

remain faithfztl

t o 3o.w

part

of

the

covenant

with

God.

He wants

you to rema in fa i thful to your vow even

if you have to undergo suffer ing to per-

f o r m it. Notice tl ie words of David:

“Lord, who shal l abide in thy taber-

naclc?

. . .

He

t l u t swcarcth to his own

hurt , and changetl i not” (Psalm 15

:

1 , 4 ) .

God never backs down on His prom-

ises You can always rely on what H e

says Th e one reason that we

KNOW

God will answer you i f you ask accord-

ing to H is wi l l i s that

God

does n o t

chu izge “ J e s ~ ~ s ,he same yes t e rday , to-

day , and foreve r” (Heb. 13 :8 . “For I

am the Lord,

I

change not” (hia l .

3 : 6 ) .

This is God’s

character-fnithfulile.rs.

A i d if yvu arc

to

becur~ ieGod, you

must develop that same character in

yourself now. You must learn to keep

your word.

Moses instructed the Israelites about

this same mat ter : “This

is tlie

t h ing

which the Lord hath commanded.”

No-

t ice, i t was not just

Moses,

but the

Eternal who cornmanded: “If a man

vow a vow unto tl ie Eternal, or swear

an oath to bind his

soul

with a bond; he

shall m t break his word, he shall do ac-

cording to al l that proceedeth out of

his n o i i t h ” ( N u m b e r s 30:

1 - 2 ) .

T h e

same instruction is repeated in Ecclesi-

astes 5 : 4 : “W he n thou vowest

a

vow

unto God, defer not to pay i t ; for he

hath no pleasure in fools: pay that

which thou has t vowed.”

Observe that it is the foolish who

think they are getting by easily by not

pe r forming the i r vows.

If you are going to be God, then i t is

t ime

to

lenrn to be faithful to whatever

you have vowed. The hardships that

might Sometimes result in being faith-

f u l

to

the marriage vow a re no t wor thy

to be compared to tlie lesson of faithful-



Page

T h e GOOD NEW’S

ness which develops in you the charac-

ter of God (Rom. 8: lS) . No matter

what the hardship

or

the temptat ion,

“God is faithful who will no t suffer you

to be tempted above that ye are able;

but wil l with the temptat ion

also

make

a way of escape, that ye may be able to

bear it” ( I Cor.

10:

13). This is God’s

promise. H e won’t break it W ill you

rely on it

i f

yours is the problem of

divorce and remarriage that seems to

difficult

t o bear?

Lesson Number Two

Second, marriages ending in divorce

result from the fact that marriage vows

are often taken without counsel and ad-

vice from those who are older and more

experienced. “Foolishness,” said Solo-

mon, “is bound in the heart of a child”

(Prov. 22 :15 )-- bu t sad to say, most

of that foolishness is not removed today

because parents do not correct their

children as they ought to. It is little

wonder that when young people imag-

ine they have fallen in love their foolish

ideas often lead them into trouble.

“The way of a fool

is

right in his own

eyes,”-young people too often think

their infatu ation is love--“but he that

hearkeneth unto co i mr e l is wise” (P rov.

1 2 : 1 5 ) .

How mmy t imes the proverb is re-

pt.iteJ:

“For

lack of counsel the people

perish.” Think of the number of ruined

lives, all because human beings have

not learned to take advice and counsel

from those who are experienced. God

wants us to realize the terrible mistakes

that can result from failure to take ad-

vice.

If

God would permit remarriage,

human beings w ould

never

learn the

lesson. They would go 011making snap

decisions, which

would

bring cver-in-

creasing retribution. How much wiser

is God’s plan, thnt

we

learn the lesson

once and for

all,

so

we

won’t have to

continue l iv ing a life filled with mis-

takes and heartaches. The small amount

of

suffering that a few parents would

h w e to endure by not remarrying

would

not conipnre to this fundamental lesson

which exery child needs to learn.

Let’s understand divorce and remar-

riage clearly. God will nev er. tolerate

aciultcry

because

we

would

not

learn

these nvo fund:imental lessons: c L L

i ( ~ i ~ i i . ~ e lm l o b t i i i (r l thc fncts po.r.rib c.

h i ’ f 0 i . c

ncirki?i<q

.t

r/i>ci.iio;?: hen O U C ~

i i ’ i i j i-isilii f d L i . \ i o t i

i.

t / i t i i / c i ici’er d e v i u f e

i l0

l .hdtz<yl, .

How plain i t is that divorce and re-

in,irriage cheat

u s

out

of

the c . hr t z c - I i r

of

G o J

\vli ich

we must have to inherit

the

POWERS

of

God.

Let’s

quit trying to use human reason

r ( i

ev:ide

the Inws o f God becaiise

none

w h o

persist in living in adultery will

ever enter the kingdom of God

Judging and Discipline

in

God’s Church

(Con t inued f rom page

4 )

tion. Instead of “if thy brother shall

trespass against thee,” the verse should

read “if your brother sins, go and tell

him his fault

. . .”

Thorough investiga-

t ion into the Greek text proves that the

words “against thee” should be left out.

Jesus was simply teaching his dis-

ciples how to bring back

a

brother who

was sinizi?zg-whether against the m, or

someone else, or God only. Notice the

three steps

Jesus

said to

t a k e

in suc i

3

cnse.

Jesus’ Instruct ions

First, tell the other person his

f a u l t

between you and him aloize. Don’t

gos-

sip

or

tell others. Do n’t become upset or

bitter over your brother’s sin. Just

go

aiad tell him about it privately. Don’t

pick at your brother or pester him about

trivial matters. But if he .rim,

go

and

tell him about it with the attitude

of

helping him. If he hears you, you have

gained your brother.

S e c o d l y ,

if he will not hear you then

take with you one

or

two other brethren

and rehearse the matter again in their

presence. Be sure they are mature Chris-

iians--Inrri of

understanding who will

be able to make your sinning brother

realize the seriousness of his mistake.

Third ly ,

if he

will

not heed their

warning to repent , then tel l the matter

to the church. Since there is order and

government in God’s true church, you

should take the matter up with the pas-

tor. H e will carefully review th e case,

probably have a long talk with th e party

in error, and wil l then bring th e matter

before the entire congregation if he

deems this wise.

If

after all this the sinning party still

refuses to repent, Christ said that you

are to treat him as

a n

unbeliever. Does

this mean you are to hate him or to

hold him in contempt.

certainly d9e.r

no t .

It simply means

t h t

you

are

to

treat

h i m

as an unconverted outsider and

have

a o f e l loush ip with him.

Naturally, you should continue to lor’i.

your erring brother and

prny

that God

will bring him to repentance. But you

are

?zot

to talk to him about it or fellow-

s iip with him any more until he zc-

knowledges his error and gives evidence

t h a t

he ha s repea ted . If your brother

finally does repent and turn from his

errorj we will find later chat he m a y

then be readmitted into church fellon-

ship. So his expulsion from t ie congre-

gation is simply to wake

inz

z ip before

it is too late.

Bound

in Heaven

Notice that in this same passage about

church discipline, Jesus said, “Verily

I

say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind

on earth shall be

bozL?zrl

i?2 heaveiz: and

whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall

be loosed in heaven” (Matt.

18:

1 8 ) .

Jesus gave His called servants the au-

shority to make binding decisions in

such cases. But he went on to say, “For

where two or three are gathered to-

gether in my name, there am

I

in the

midst of them” (verse

20).

Speaking of exercising church disci-

pline, Jesus promised that H e would

be with His servants in carrying out

this function. Christ himself will inspire

and direct His chosen ministers in all

such decisions. It is really Christ

who

is

governing and judging God’s church.

Even the judges in the Old Testa-

ment were promised divine guidance in

rendering their decisions. In I1 Chroni-

cles

19:l-7

is

an

account of how right-

eous King Jehosaphat appointed judges

over the land. He was inspired to in-

struct them, “Take heed what

ye

do:

for ye judge not

for

man, but

for

the

Lord, w h o is with 3 o u

in

t he

jiLdg?ne?it.’’

Seeing this example

of h o w God

directed liis flcshly pcuple, how much

more wil l He direct and i m p i r e

His

servants today in directing and judg-

ing matters within

His

Spirit-begotten

church? Christ will certainly guide His

ministers in judging His people todny.

H e intends to present the church

, ;ol~

and blnnzele.rr before God

Thr

Rihle

form of church discipline is one of the

means Christ

is

using to keep His

church free from corruption. All

such

judgmen ts by G od’s servants w ill be

bomzd

iiz heni’eu. Christ directs His

ministers

in

governing

His

church. Then

H e

backs

thein t ip with His divine ; iu-

tkority and pourer.

Are there further instructions on es -

actly ho\v this should be carried out?

Paul’s Instruct ions

The apostle Paul was inspired

t )

write further instruciions abollr chur;il

discipline

to

the churches

under

h i s

cu e. H e instructed the Galatians. “R:eth-

ren,

i f

a

m a n be.

o ier taken

i i n f c ~ u l r .

ye

w hi ch

are

spiritual, restore

stich :in

one in the spirit of I:?

iii,c thyself, lest thou also he

tempted"

Notice that Paul admonished t h e m t o

b:

m e e k

or biiii?ble when helping n

brother

to see

am1

overcome

>I

sin.

W e

iiiiist never be overbearing o r

sf :-

rigiiceoiis in

such R

c ~ s e .b:lt

s ioul,l

Iiumbly

t ry

to help our brcrhtr correct

h i s

error-realizinp thnt

\ye

oursel..-cs

(Ga l . 6 : 1 .



The

GOOD NEWS

Page 7

to shun this man, he might have coni-

initted suicide

or

perhaps yie lded him-

self to a demon. In e i ther case i t would

only w u i k l i s r i i i to the

m a n a n d b r i n g

reproach on the work o f Go d .

Her e we have found in God’s word a

com ple te exam ple of how church disci-

pl ine should be carried out . It m u s t b e

strict

with pers is tent s inners o r t rou-

blemakers , but mercy and complete for-

g ivenes s m us t he ex tended to

those

who learn their lesson and repent.

P u r p o s e

T h c

p z ~ r p o s r

of

this

f o r m of cliurch

discipline is to

pur~.ent

God’s ch i ld ren

f rom becom ing ca re le s s and lukewarm

ab ou t SIN-which G od bates-and to

pro t ec t

God’s church f rom becom ing in -

filtrated with sinners

or

false teachers

who wil l lead others into

siiz.

T h e

ob jec t

of

church disciple should be

LOVE-

the des ire to protect any of

God’s

chil-

drer , from being led as tray.

Jesus-the living Head

of

G o d ’ s

Church-gave

the over-al l principles

of

church discipl ine to p;.o:ect the

church He WJS beginn ing

to

bui ld . If

God’s ministers

and

people today love

o n e m o t h e r a n d t h e m : h , they wil l

w a n t to ca r ry ou t God’s fo rm

of

judg-

m ent in His church to m utua lly p ro tec t

each other from fal l ing into the snare

of

Satnn.

N o true C1iristi.m

hLis

anyth ing to

fenr

from this

c o i n m a n J of

G o d .

I t

is a

procedure designed

t o

protect God’s

ch i ld ren and keep them bound toge the r

in truth and 10z.e.

S c o p e

I n I Cor in th ians

6:1-7,

the apost le

Paul commanded the saints

n o t

to

go

to law before unbel ievers , but to b r i n g

any disputes before the saints for judg-

m ent . Th i s would inc lude d i sputes ove r

materia l matters

as

well

2s

the spir i tual

prob le ms

which we ha\re alrendy dis-

cussed. Paul wrote , “Know ye not that

we shal l judge angels?

bow v m c h

m o r e t h i n gs t h x p e rt ai n to this life”

(ve rse

3 .

Paul is

?lot

writ ing about cases in-

volving outs iders who are unconverted.

This chapter deals with converts only.

So

w h e n

two

converted brethren

hxve

:I disagreem en: ove r som e m a te r i d m a t -

ters-even con vert ed people are still

hzmnn

you know-they should brin g

the m a t te r be fore

t he

l e d e r s

in

God’s

church. Verse of this passage is in-

correctly translated and

iiiost

m odern

translations

show

tha t i t

should

bc in

the fo rm

of 2

quest ion. P i id

wns

asking

thein

zc,t j’ t hey

were bringing their dis -

putes before those who were Ii:tle es-

teemed by the church . H e con tinues,

“I speak

to

p u r shame.”

(

Because t iey

were do ing th i s )

“Is

it so, that there is

m.iy be tempted in the s;inie inanner.

P:id

gave inspired instructions

to

the

Tliessalonian Chris t ian s in his epistles.

K n o w i n g t h a t

sonic

obs t ina te

persons

in

the congrega t ion m ig h t re fuse to recog-

nize

his

,iLithority nnd instructions,

he

wrote, “ i f nny

m an obey no t our word

by

t h i s

epis t le , note that

min, a n d htrzre

):o

L - O T / / / ) ~ ; ; Z ~

w i t h h i ? / / ,

ha t he m ay be

;ishaiiied.

Y e t

count h i m

not as a n

enemy, but admonish hi in :is a bro the r”

11 Thess.

3 :

14-

1 5 ) .

If

J person ge t s i n ;i w u / i i L y cpiuit :ind

retiises

to heed the ins tructions

of God’s

calle-d serv ants, Pat11 sliowc d th,it they

a r c

10

b e

disfell~)\\,sliippect r h r t b e j

Learning to obey the

g o i ~ c r ~ ~ m c ~ / t

f

God

is the very bas is of t rue Chris t iani-

ty. People ?uu.rt b e t u g l i t t o r e s p e c t

a n d

fea r the au thor i ty God wie lds

th rough His m in i s te rs .

If a

person re -

fiises

to

obey God’s governm ent now,

how can

lie be expected to obey

it

i n

[ li e k ingdom ?

I n Roinans 16:17-18, Paul

warned

the s. iints: “ N ow

I

beseech you, breth-

ren, m i i r k them ic,hii.h

cl i i /. je

iliL,isions

m d offences contrary to the doctr ine

\

Iiicli

ye h~ive

ea rned ;

mi l lzi,oiil

t /k?/i .”

Troub lemake rs and fa lse teachers are

to be m arked , and ,

i f

they persist,

to

b e

pic:

ON^

of

God’s church and

avoided

How m uch t roub le and

mguish

c,in

bi.

avoideci

i f

God’s

people

n i l 1 / I

i i , m i & g

/ / / qe

//c/ 7‘1111ei/.

An Esample

I n the third and fourth chapters of I

Corinthians , P ; id w:is war ning th e saints

agfiinst fol lmving a n y inclividu:d instead

of Christ

; in

p o i n t i n g o u t

some

of the

f ru i t s

of ;I

t rue apost e . H e warneJ

them no t

t o

tiike his xitliority

;is

God’s

seivaiit liglitly.

Paul

h a d

undoubted ly henrd t h x

some

of

them had become

fullou.ers

of

inen

and were denying his npostol ic authori-

t y . They were re fus ing to recognize

God’s

governm ent th rough h im .

So

P:iul

\vrotc‘, “Now some

.ire pukfed up.

as

though I

would no t com e to you .

But I will

c o m e to you shortly,

i f

the

Imrd

tvill,

~ind i l l knolv. not the speech

of

them n.hich ;ire puit’ed up, but the

power.

For

the

k i n g d o m

uf

God

is

not

in ao rd , bu t in power . W ha t wi ll ye?

Shall

I

com e un to you wi th

a

rod,

or

in

love, and

i n

the sp i r i t

of i ne e kne ss? “

( I Cor. 4:18-21).

Do you see th;it P.iul \vxi d l i .

1’

a t -

rention

to

the fact

t h x

God gr:ints

nz i thnr i t l ,

and

p o i m i ’ to

H i s t r u e se rv -

ants? Paul knew he

l i d

the au thor i ty

to come “lvi th ;I rod”-to chasten

o z

/?tit

c,vt

s tubborn s inne rs f rom the i r

m i d s r . TI:e K“:R of

Alrnig ity

God

u:oul:l b:ick

h i m

up

in this

Any

w h o

resisted

\ v o a l J h c rt~.; .b ,Ii’o. :is . n.i-

nias

and S apphi ra

if

necessary.

God’s

governm ent

is

w i t h

diviize p o w e r

and

it

is well for all

of us to

realize this

Paul continued in his le t ter

( I Cor.

5 : l - 7 ) to

note tha t

a

k i n d of aboni ina -

ble fornicat ion was being pract iced

a m o n g t h e C o r i n t h i an s . H e c o m m a n d e d

them

to

p i i t ont

o f tbeir

m i d s t t h e o n e

who was com m i t t ing th i s s in . He said

they should “Deliver such

a n

one un to

Satan for the des truct ion of the flesh,

that the spir i t may

be

saved in the day

of the Lord Jesus” (v erse

5 ) .

The clear implicat ion of this passage

is that once an obs t inate s inner

is

p u t

o u t

of

the church , God wi l l pe rm i t

Satan

to

afflict

him

until he repents-

if

he wi l l repen t . How

f e a r fu l

is the

judgm ent

of God on

those

who

k n o w

the t ruth and then le t themselves be led

in to

s in

and rebellioiz agains t God’s

gov-

e rnm ent

But s t r ic t discipl ine is uecessnrj . to

p r e s e w e

t h e

cbzirch.

Tole ra t ing

a small

a m o u n t

of

s in

will

only lead to more.

“K no w ye not that a l i t t le leaven leaven-

e t h t h e w h o l e l u m p ? ” ( V e r s e 6 ) .

P aul com m anded , “ P i i rge on t there-

fore the old leaven, that ye m ay be

3

n e w lump”

(verse

7

1.

Out and out S I N

nzzlst not be to le ra ted wi th in God’s

church

Our

human reason might te l l

11s otherwise,

but God knows best.

R e i n s t a t e m e n t

Some

churches of this

world

have

form s of “excom m unica t ion”

wlierrby

the object seeins to b e

to h u r t

a n d

de-

f a m e t h e o n e

who

has been put out

of

church fe l lowship. This is

izot

God’s

way.

A s we have seen before , a s inning

brother is to be dis fe l lowshipped in

or -

der “ tha t

he ma y

be a sham ed” and ccm e

t o

repentance. The object is

to help

these people-to

icnke t je i l l

up-not

to hur t them .

I n

I1

Cor in th ians

2 : 1-11, we

find

tha t P au l a sked the b re th ren a t Cor in th

to accept the repentance

of

the fo rn i -

ca to r he had com m anded them to pu t

out.

“Sufficient to such a m n n is this

punishment , which was infl ic ted

of

n:anp. So

that contrariwise ye ought

ra the r to fo rg ive h im , and com for t h im ,

ks i pe rhaps such a one should be sn-al-

lolved

LIP

with ove rm uch

sorrow”

(

verses 6-7 .

These verses indicate that the man

d

ow repented and w‘is sorrowing

great ly over

his

e r ror . He had l ea rned

his lesson.

So

now he was to be b rought

b:ick

into the

fe l lowship of the church

iind com plete ly forgiven-just as God

forgave him.

Paul sa id they musi forgive h i m

“lest

Satan should

get i t t i

adbailrage

of us:

fo r we a re no t ignoran t

of

his

devices“

(

verse

11 . If

God’s peop le con t inued



Page

T h e

GOOD NEW’S

November,

1953

not a wise

nmz

among you? no, not

one that shall be able to judge between

his bre thre n?” verse 5 ) .

It is the wise men, rhen, the ministers

and elders in the church, to whom these

problems should be brought. Instead of

going before worldly courts, Christians

should want to have their disputes set-

tled God’s way, according to th e pr in-

ciples

of

God’s righteous laws. They are

cnmmnndtd tn b r i n g n l l siich disputes

before the church for judgment.

God’s judgment will ensure full jus-

tice for everyone concerned, and will

save rhe church from bearing any re-

proach over such matters in the outside

world.

The apostle Paul specifically states

that Christian leaders should be best

qualified to judge these matters because

they are training to judge the world-

tn judge

uizgds.

Don’t you see the

great wisdom of God’s governm ent and

judgment in His church? H e is prepar-

ing s to rztle

the

world by giving us

practical experience in administering

and obeying God’s government now.

Th e scope of G od’s judgment includes

physical as well as spiritual matters. It

is designed to promote and preserve

harmon y and righteousness am ong God’s

people, and to prepare

us by

experience

to

become kings

and

priests in the king-

dom of God.

The Reward

U p until recently most of us didn’t

fully understand the necessity

of purg-

ing the evil out of God’s church. W e

thought that perhaps God would take

care of i t without us doing anything.

And i t seemed like it would be showing

more love if we just tried to tolerate

evildoers in our midst and hoped for

the best.

But can we show more love than

Go d? Are ou r ideas wiser than God’s

plan?

The answer is obviously “no.”

In his early ministry among God’s

people, Mr. Armstrong found by hard

experience that if sinne rs are not p z ~ t

oi/t

of God’s church as Christ comm and-

ed,

a

little leaven does leaven the whole

lump. Sin spreads like wildfire if it is

tolerated. W e m u s t o b e y Jesus’ com-

mand to disfellowship those who persist

in an outr ight violation of God’s law

after they have been warned.

False teachers must be “marked” and

refused further admittance and asso-

ciation in God’s church. This is the com -

mand of Almighty God. People who

rely on human reason may think this is

a lack

of

love. But this is God’s way-

and God is love.

Each of you brethren will have a part

in carrying out God’s judgment and

discipline in the church as H e directs.

You must be very careful to d o it God’r

way.

Be sure to follow all the steps

Jesus gave when you warn a brother of

L~

sin he is committing.

Church discipline must be exercised in

LOVE.

In any such matter, always try to

help

the other parry-not injure him.

Ask God to give you wisdom and to

help you do everything His way.

Study carefzclly all the scriptures in

this article. Realize that you have

n o

CX CZ ~ J C for continually criticizing or

“picking

at”

anyone in God’s church.

The GOOD NEWS

P r in t ed i n th e U S A .

Box 1 1

1-Pasadena California

R E T U R N P O S T A G E G U A R A N T E E D

You are only to

go

to them in love and

point out their mistake if they are lit-

erally and definitely breaking

God’s

law.

In material d isputes , you are to go

directly to God’s ministers instead of a

worldly court. If you love God, this will

always be to joci r best iiztarests in the

end. This is God’s uJaj-God’s

com-

nzaizrl.

In all cases, remember that the final

respomib i l i t y for all decisions rests

with God’s minis ters whom H e has

called. Christ has promised to “b e with ”

and guide them in every judgment. The

judgment is of G o d . It will be “bound”

in heaven.

You may be tempted to criticize

or

disagree with some decision that God’s

ministers will bind.

B e w r y

carefzd lest

you let this turn you against God. You

may not understand all the facts. But

God’s called ministers probably do and

they are responsible to Him-not som e

human-for their actions in directing

His church.

I t is human nature to disagree with

God. When the children of Israel re-

jected Samuel as their judge and leader

( I

Sam.

8: 1-9),

Go d told Samuel, “They

liavr IIOI rejected rhee, bur they have re -

jected ME, that I should not reign over

them.” Be fearful lest you reject God

by rebelling against His called servants.

God holds His ministers responsible

for teaching you His word, and for

direct ing His church and carrying out

chzmh discifiline.

By

following G o d r

way of church discipline and judgment,

the church of God may go forward in

peace and love-and will be purg ed

of

all sin to

be

prcsented “holy and with-

out blemish” to Christ a t His coming.

(Sec. 34.65 e),

P.L.&.R.)

U S POSTAGE

P A I D

Permit No. 703

Pasadena , Cal i fornia

CORM 3547 REQUESTED

Documents

Good News 1953 (Vol III No 10) Nov