Good News 1952 (Vol II No 07) Jul_w

7/28/2019 Good News 1952 (Vol II No 07) Jul_w

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VOL. II, NUMBER 7

The Nat onal Magaztne ofAMBASSADOR COLLEGE

. ~ ~ ~ - ~ - - - . _ ~ - - - - - - ~ - _ . ~ .. JULY, 1952

What Is theSecond "Beast" of Rev. 13?

John saw a beast having "two horns l ik e a la mb ," but it spoke as a dragon!It imposed th e MARK of the first "beast." What is this second lamb-like "beast"?

by Herbert W. Armstrong

STAN has his civil government onearth. He gave it "his power, andhis seat, and great authority."He also has an ecclesiastical organizanon-e-a CHURCH-as his instrumentalityin deceiving the world. In 2 Corinthians11: 14, we find Satan is transformed intoan "ANGEL OF LIGHT." According toRev. 12: 9 and 20: 3, he has DECEIVEDthe whole world. How?Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11: 13-15. Satan has HIS ministers who pretend

to be the ministers of righteousness, butare actually false apostles, deceitfulworkers, calling themselves the ministersof Christ! Therefore they claim to beCHRISTIAN ministers. They are theMANY, not the few, because all prophecies say it is the MANY, not the few, whohave been DECEIVED. Satan's main laborfor six thousand years has been the dec eiving of the world.

The "Two-Horned Beast"Now turn to the 13th chapter ofRevelation, beginning with verse 11:"And I beheld another beast comingup out of the earth; and he had rwohorns like a I:AMB, and he spake as aDRAGON."Who-what - i s this "beast"?Some say it will be the United States

aligned with the Papacy. Some believeit is a federation of Protestant churches.Other s declare it is the Pan-AmericanUnion. MOST church organizat ionsignore this very vital subject completely,or say frankly, "WE DO NOT KNOW!"Why this ignorance, when the answeris so plain? Yes, why indeed?The Bible Interpretation

Remember, first, THE BIBLE INTER-PRins ITS OWN SYMBOLS! When menput the ir OWN' interpretation on Biblesymbols, their conclusions are alwaysfalse!Notice, after John saw one "BEAST,"which we have proved to be the ROMANEMPIRE, he now sees ANOTHER-a different "beast" rise up. We have learnedthat "BEAST" is a symbol for a kingdom,or government (Dan. 7:17,23), and theterm represents e ither the k ingdom orits leader, as the case may be (Dan.7:17,23).So this other "beast" with the twohorns is the prophecy of another kingdom or government. In these prophecies,God pictures to us the earthly Gentilegovernments as the wild beasts whosecharacteristics describe them. This twohorned "beast" appeared as a LAMB. Butactually it spoke as a DRAGON-its true

characteristic-for "out of the abundanceof the heart the mouth speaketh" (Mat.12:34).What does the word "LAMB" symbolize, in the Bible? The answer is, CHRIST

(John 1:29; Rev. 17:14). And "DRAG-ON" is a symbol of the DEVIL (Rev.12:9; 20:2).So here is some kingdom or government masquerading as that of CHRIST, orthe KINGDOM OF GOD, but actually beinga government of SATAN!Christ did not set up a government(kingdom), at His first appearing onearth. After His resurrection the disciples asked Him if He would at thattime restore the KINGDOM (Act s 1:6) ;but He did not. The Church is not theKingdom. Because some thought it was,Jesus spoke the parable of Luke 19: 1127 to show that He first must ascend toHis Father's throne in heaven to receivethe royal power to become King ofkings, and then return, as He now soonshall, to set up the world-ruling Kingdom of God.But Satan is a deceiver, and he has deceived the world into supposing his(Satan's) CHURCH, and system ofchurches, is the Kingdom of God.

Now notice carefully verse 12:"And he exerciseth ALL the pow er of


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Page 1th e first beast before him."The first "beast" is the Roman Empire.

Here is ANOTHER government, also controlled by Satan, pretending to beCHRIST'S government, the Kingdom ofGod, taking, exercising, using, employing, ALL the power of the first kingdom, the Roman Empire.Now WHEN? "He exerciseth ALL the

power of the first beast before him, andcauseth the earth and them which dwelltherein to WORSHIP the first beast, whosedeadly wound was healed" (verse 12).So, it was AFTER the deadly wound (o f476 A.D.) was healed. It was healedwhen Justinian brought about the restoration of the Empi re in the West in 554A.D. Consequently this RELIGIOUS government took over, exercised, by ruling,all the power of the Roman EmpireAFTER 554 A.D.

Did a Church GovernmentRule Rome?

So here we have pictured a government-a RELIGIOUS government, appearing as CHRIST'S government, masquerading as the KINGDOM OF GOD, actuallyrul ing the civil Roman Empire, AFTER' \ ')4 A.D. Was there such a governmentlIndeed there was! And only ONE!!Prior to 554, Justinian had written alet ter to the pope, acknowledging his supremacy. And when he ascended thethrone at Rome in 554, he was crownedby the pope, before whom he kneeled!The Roman Empire, thus restored tocontinue unt il 1814 (1260 years), became known as "The HOLY ROMAN EM-PIRE." We read jn history that the popeswere accepted as the Vicars of Christ,which means "IN PLACE OF Christ." Theteaching was tha t the Second Comingof Christ had occurred-Christ had returned to earth , as KING of kings and asLORD of lords, in the person of the popes.The millennium had begun. For the entire 1260 years, the emperors acceptedthe popes as such, r uling ALL nationswith a "rod of iron" as Christ is to doWHEN He really comes.Consequently they gave over theirpower to the popes. The Church was organized as a GOVERNMENT-as a dual,two-fold government (its TWO "horns"or kingdoms-for the "horns" symbolizekingdoms also-see Dan. 7: 24). It embodied CHURCH government, and it alsowas a STATE, or civil government, alwaysoccupying a certain amount of territoryover which it, alone, ruled as an independent sovereign state-in addition toactually rul ing over the vast civil k ingdom called "The Holy Roman Empire."Even today, it is a separate, independent,sovereign STATE. Most nations send ambassadors to it, just as they do to theUni ted States, or to Italy, England, orRussia

The GOOD NEWSNotice, this second "beast" was towield power over ALL THE EARTH, because it was to CAUSE the earth, and themthat dwell therein to WORSHIP this first"beast" "whose deadly wound was

healed"-after 554.In the Encyclopaedia Britannica, article"MILLENNIUM," you will read the history of this very event--of how the"Holy Roman Empi re" was called the"Kingdom of God upon earth." Theyclaimed the MILLENNIUM had arrived!Notice verse 14: "and DECEIVETHthem that dwell on the earth by themeans of those miracles which he hadpower to do in the sight of the beast."Verse 13 says "he doerh great wonders."

All Nations DeceivedSo notice these three poin ts :( 1) This "beast" performs miracles.(2) He performed them "in the sightof" the "Holy Roman Empire," or firstbeast.(3) With them he DECEIVED all nations.Where else, in the Bible prophecies ,do we find these same identical facts?First, note Rev. 17. Here is p ic tured awoman. In I I Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:22-27,and elsewhere, we learn that "woman" isa symbol-for CHURCH. This woman is afallen woman-s-an apostate church-anda gn::at one, called "the great whore" pic-tured as ruling over many nations, verses1, 15.In verse 3, this great false church ispictured sitting on a "beast" "havingseven heads and ten horns," A woman

riding a horse guides, controls, the horse.It does her bidding. I t is well known byALL who understand Bible prophecy thatthis 17th chapter of Revelation picturesthe Roman Catholic Church ruling overthe so-called "Holy Roman Empire."Notice, verse 18, she is "that greatcity"-"which reigneth over the kingsof the earth." Notice , verse 2, the inhabitants of the earth have been DECEIVEDby this great false church. Also Rev.18: 3, she has deceived all nations.Next, not ice II Thes. 2: 3-4. The clayof Christ-and the Coming of Christshall not come, until there be a fallingaway, and a "MAN OF SIN" be revealed.He exhalts himself above all that is calledGod. AS God, he sits in a Temple claimedto be the Temple of God, shewing himself to deceive people into accepting himAS God. God is our HOLY FATHER. Thisman, then, would claim the same title.This wicked man is to be DESTROYED at,and hy, Christ's coming (vf'rsf' 8). Notice verse 9: "even him, whose coming isa ft er the working of Satan with ALLPOWER and SIGNS (miracles) and lyingWONDERS, and with all DECEIVABLENESSof unrighteousness."Here is the head of a vast ecclesiastical

July, 1952empire, performing miracles and lyingwonders, with which he DECEIVES peopleeverywhere.

At Armageddon!This deceiving religious ruler will stillbe active clear down to the Battle ofARMAGEDDON and the Second Comingof Christ! In Rev. 16: 13-16 are de

scribed three foul spirits. They come fromthe "dragon," which is the devil; fromthe "beast," which is the civil Romanruler; and from the mouth of the falseprophet associated WITH the Roman ruler- the pope. "For" continues verse 14,"they are the spiri ts of devils, WORKINGMIRACLES, which go forth unto the kingsof the earth and of the whole world, togather them to the battle of that greatday of God Almighty." And they aregathered, finally, at ARMAGEDDON! Noteit! Yet future, the Roman ruler , as theRoman Empire is again restored, a longwith the pope-and all in the power andinfluence of the DEVIL! Working MIR-ACLES! All prophecies concerning themshow these powers doing the samethings!Now notice the last battle of ARMA-

GEDDON. It is in Rev. 19: 19-20. Here ispictured the "Beast't--v'and WITH himthe false prophet (the pope) thatwrought miracles before him, WITHWHICH HE DECEIVElJ them that had received the MARK of the Beast, and themt ha t had w orsh ip pe d HIS IMAGE."Note it! Compare with the two-hornedbeast of Rev. 13: 11-17.( I) BOTH perform miracles.(2 ) BOTH pe rform them before, orin the sight of, the "Beast."( 3) WITH them, BOTH the False

Prophet and two-horned Beast DECEIVEthem that have the MARK of the Beast-cause them to receive that mark! (Rev.13:16).Certainly, then, this two-horned beastand the false prophet and the man of sin,and the woman that rode the Beast are allone and the same thing-the ROMANCATHOLIC CHURCH with its Pope, itso ther bishops, its priests and deacons,comprising the hierarchy of order!Now did the two-horned beast deceivethe very ones who have the MARK of theBeast? He did! Continue in Rev. 13:"And deceiveth them that dwell on the

earth"-HOW? ".. . saying to them thatdwell on the earth, that they should makean IMAGE to the beast, which had thewound by the sword and did live. Andhe had power to give life unto the imageof rhe Beast, tha t the image of the Beastshould both speak, and CAUSE as many aswould not worship the image of theBeast should be killed. AND HECAUSETHALL, BOTH SMALL AND GREAT, RICH ANlJPOOR, FREE AND BOND, to receive aPlease c on ti nu e on page 14


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What Is the SIGNof a Christian?

Your Bible proclaims a definite SIGNby which God knows you are one of His children.Yet you may have been blinded to it!

by Rod MeredithH AVE you ever wonde red why allthe "Christ ian" churches claimto follow Christ and yet eachone teaches something different?Did you ever s top to ask yourself why

YOU believe certain religious teachingsand rejecr others? These ideas havebeen planted in your mind since youwere a small child. You probably neverstopped to question them. But now it ist ime to "search the scr ip tures" as Chris tsaid.Prove all things and hold fast to whatis good. (I Thess. 5: 2 I). Diligentlystudy what follows with your Bible. Thisis TRUTH, and truth always bears examination.Be honest with yourself and God!You are about to read a brief butstraightforward explanation of how menhave lost the very sign tha t would setth em apa rt from the rest of the world asGod's children.The God that created you gave a signthat you MUST possess if you are to become His child and inheri t e te rna l life.

It is more important than you realize!So free yom mine! from prejudice, andweigh what is to follow with an openand a searching mind.A Deceived World

This present world is on the road toDESTRUCTION' Honest persons are admitting tha t wor ld condi tions bear thisout. But very few people understandthe great underlying CAUSE of thisworld's trouble.It is not Communism, Fascism, or anyo ther ideology. These are only rhe rnisfortunare end resulrs t ha t occur whengodless, materialistic men try to solvethe world 's problems by human reason.Yes, "science" and "reason" are almostworshipped today in every avenue oflife-and even in many "popular"churches'Men and man-made churches haveforsaken the way of God as expressedin the laws of life contained in yourBible.That's the real CAUSE of all rhis worldchaos' Men have lost right knowledgeof the true God because they have lostthe SJGN by which they could knowthey were the children of their creator.

Paul said that Christ came to "deliverus from this present evil world" (Gal.1:4). This worldly system in which welive is called "Babylon" in the Bible, andChris tians are commanded to come outof it. (Rev. 18:1-4) . The great church(pictured as a woman) which heads thissystem is called "Mystery, Babylon TheGreat, The Mother of Harlots andAbominations of The Earth." (Rev .17: 5) . Not ice tha t this mother churchhas daugh ter s which are called harlots.She is also the mothe r of many Abomi-nations. These abominations, which haveblinded you to God's sign for true Christians, are false doctrines which this falsechurch and her daughter churches havepalmed off as "Christ iani ty ." These arethe doctrines you learned as a child andprobably didn't stop to question.

False Teaching ProphesiedThe apostle Paul told the Christ iansof his day, "For I know this, that aftermy departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock.

Also of your own selves shall men arise,speaking perverse things, to draw awaydisciples after them." (Acts 20: 29-30).This prophecy has been fulfilled!Why do we have nearly three hundred different religious denominations,each teaching something different fromthe others? Doesn't that show that most,if not all of them, have depar ted fromthe t rue faith of Jesus Christ?In the book of Jude we are exhorted:"earnestly contend for the faith whichwas once delivered unto the saints."Jude said to contend for the t rue faithbecause there were already in his dayfalse preachers creeping in and pervert-ing the truth just as Paul prophesiedearlier. In verse 4 of Jude, we read thatungodly men were turning the grace ofGod into lasciviousness, or license todisobey God. They were making God'sgrace or pardon from the penalty ofthe law an excuse to disobey the law.They were turning grace into sin. (IJohn 3:4).These false preachers were beginningto introduce the idea that God's commandments were done away or changed.That is a LIE and the Bible brandsit so' I John 2:4 states: "He that sairh

I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isnot in him." There is a plain statementout of God's word. Do you believe it?It says that the "popular" ministers (whotell you that God's laws are done away)are liars.Chrisr kept His father's commandments. (John 15:10). He set us an example to follow. ( l Peter 2: 21). Paultold the Corinthians, who were mainlyGentiles, "Be ye followers of me, evenas I also am of Christ." (I Cor. 11: 1 ) .There are many human argumentstrying to prove that God's laws havebeen changed. But Christ said that.heaven amI eart]: wuuld pass before theFa ther's laws could cease to function!

He showed that to be great in God'sk ingdom, we will have both to do andteach the least of His commandments.(Matthew 5: 17-19 ) .Especially do the false churches whichare a part of the babylon or confusionof this world seek to hide the SIGN bywhich we might be kept in a right relationship with God for our peace andhappiness.In this way, these false ministers arepart of rhe real CAUSE of all the suffering in thi s sin-sick and de luded world!They have not taught men to "live byevery word of God." Instead, they havesubstituted t heir own ideas and traditions. Chri st said of such, "Howbeit invain do they worship me, teaching fordoctr ines the commandments of men."(Mark 7:7). If you set aside God'slaws, your worship is all in vain-to nogood purpose or effect.God is going to punish these falsepreachers for mis lead ing His peopleIsrael-Britain and America. Read Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34 which showGod's ange r against these false shepherds or preachers. God will requirethe blood of the people at th eir hands!But IF you are honestly seeking thetruth, you may escape all this punish

ment prophesied to come upon thisworldly system. You need to have theSIGN God gave to keep you in a rightknowledge and relationship to Him.

God's SignGod made a certain sign from the


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The national magazine ofAMBASSADOR COLLEGE

ministering to T he Church of Godscattered abroad, andreporting on campus happeningsVOL. II NUMBER 7---------

Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and Editor

Herman L. Hoeh, Executive EditorRaymond Cole, Marion McNair,RaymondMcNair, Norman Smith

Associate EditorsOwen Smith, Campus Editor

Kenneth Herrmann, Science EditorDick Armstrong, Picture EditorRod Meredith, Sports Editor

Sent free on personal request, as theLord provides. Address communications to the Editor, Box 111,Pasadena,California.

very beginning to keep man in continual remembrance of Him as Creator. Thiswas done long before the so-called "lawof Moses" was ever given. As His sign,God pi cked the most endur ing thingthere i s -a certain space of time whichcomes around regularly every sevendays.This sign was a special creation. But

to create it God rested from his otherwork. In Genesis 2: 2-3 we read, "Andon the seventh day God ended his workwhich he had made; and he rested onthe seventh day from all his work whichhe had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because thatin it he had rested from all his workwhich God had created and made." Righthere God sanctified or made holy theseventh day.Later, God revealed His Sabba th tothe children of Israel after they hadcome out of Egyptian bondage. (Exodus 16) _ Then he told them to "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.Six days shalt thou labor and do all thywork: But the seventh day is the sabbathof the Lord thy God: in it thou shaltnot clo :lOy work." Notice rhar Gael roldthem to keep this day holy. They couldnot make it holy. Only God could dothat. But He told them to keep it thatway.In Exodus 31: 12-18, God said, "Verilymy sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a

The GOOD NEWSSIGN between me and you throughoutyour generations; that ye may knowthat I am the Lord t ha t doth sanctifyyou." Read thi s entire passage! Noticethat the sabbath was the SIGN to keepthe people in remembrance of God asCreator. It was to be a perpetual couenant between God and His people. Thissign designated who God's people were.Being made after the old covenant (Exodus 24), this covenant was NOT apart of it.Then how does this apply to Christians today?The Bible says that if you are a Christian, you are spiritually an Israelite! Galatians 3:29 tells us, "And if ye beChrist's, then are ye Abraham's seed (anIsraelite! ), and heirs according to thepromise." Your Bible shows this fromcover to cover! Romans 11 explains thatGentiles must be grafted into Israel tobe saved. You must become a spi-ritualIsraelite to obtain salvation. The Gen

tiles who were not given this SIGN werewithout hope and without God. (Eph.2: 12). As long as you follow the practices and laws of the Gentiles you can' tbe saved.When given to physical, f lesh-bornIsrael, this covenant punished by dea thany breaking of the SIGN. Today, since

RADIO LOG"The WORLD TOMORROW"Herbert W. Armstrong analyzes today's news, with the prophecies ofThe WORLD TOMORROW!SUNDAYS ONLY UNTIL FALLTO THE NATION & CANADA:XERF-I570 on your dial (extremetop of dial) 7:15 P.M. Central Standard time.XEG-I050 on your dial, 8:00 P.M.Central Standard time.XELO-800 on your dial, 9:00 P.M.Central Standard time. (8 :00Mountain Standard time.)HEARD ON PACIFIC COAST:

XERB-50,OOO watts-l090 on dial-7:00 P.M.XEDM-1580 on dial, 8:30 P.M.Pacific Daylight Saving time.KALI-Los Angeles-1430 on dial7:30 A.M.KXL-Portiand-l0,000 watts. 750on dial-2 :30 P.M.KVI-Seattle-Tacoma-570, first ondial-1O:30 P.M.

OTHER STATIONSWAIT-Chieago-820 on dial-l :00P.M.KMAC-San Antonio--630 on dial-7:00 P.M.

July, 1952the admin ist ra tion of the dea th pena ltyby the Levites and judges is not beingdone (2 Cor. 3: 7,8) , and since all raceswhether Israeli te or Genti le are graftedinto spiritual Israel (Romans 11: 24 ) ,the wi lfu l refusal to keep this sign ispunishable by death-the second death."He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:of how much sorer punishment, supposeye, shall he be thought worthy, who hathtrodden under foot the Son of God, andhath counted the blood of the covenant,wherewith he was sanct ified, an unholything, and hath done despite unto theSpi ri t of g race?" (Hebrews 10:28,29)

Was the SIGN Ever Changed?The world has been DECEIVED by the

great false mother church! You probablyhave been taught since you were a l it tl echild tha t the first day of the week, Sunday, has replaced the sabbath Jay, whichis God's SIGN between Himself andHis people. You CAN'T find that anywhere in your Bible!"The sabbath was made for MAN, andnot man for the sabbath." (Mark 2:27).Jesus didn't say the s abba th was madefor the Jew, hut Sunday for MAN' Hesaid the sabbath was made for MAN. Forabsolute proof that the sabbath was never changed to the first day of the weekin the New Testament, write for Mr.Armstrong's booklet "Which Day Is theSabbath of the New Testament?"As God never changed the sabba th,then our present day Sunday observancemust have come about as a result ofHUMAN REASONING.Do you want to live hy the word of

God and have the SIGN which provesyou know and love God (I John 5: 2,3),or the traditions of men which BRANDyou with the MARK of disobedience tothe Creator?You may have been s incere in thinking that you were doing the r ight thingin fol lowing these human ideas. I used

to observe these pagan days myself. ButI have had to repent of th is heathenism!So must anyone to be a true child ofGod.By observing Sunday instead of keeping God's holy Sabbath , you are del iberately flouting the authority of your Creator! You are acknowledging to GodAlmighty that you esteem and worshipthe i nstituti ons and tradi tions of menabove the very Creat or himself. Yourpreachers have taught you that youshould ge t into the ins ti tu tions of thisworld and be a friend of the world. ButGod inspired James to write, "whosoevertherefore will be a friend of the worldis the enemy of God" (James 4:4).How different the word of God isfrom these teachings of men! Don't youPlease continue on page 16


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Is This the ONLY Dayof Salvation?Is there a contest between God and Satan-God doing His bestto get everybody saved-Satan trying to keep them lost-withtime noui fast running out on God?

by Dr. C. P. Meredith

GOD IS A jU.ft God! Paul, in Ephesians 2: 11-12, says Gentiles formerly had no chance of salvation: "Being in time past Gentiles ...at that time ye were without Christ,being aliens . . . and strangers fromthe covenants of promise, HAVING NOHOPE, AND WITHOUT GOD IN THEWORLD,"Could a jU.ft God condemn to thelake of fire those peopl e who died before the gospel was brought to themby Peter (Acts 10) and Paul ( Acts13 ) ?And what about the people livingNOW in Russia and similar countrieswhere religion is suppressed) They didnot choose to be born into those godlessnations. Are they lost forever becausethey never heard the TRUE Bible teachings?Clearly, these people who have notheard the way of salvat ion and the nameof Jesus Ch rist ARE LOST FOREVER IFTHERE IS NO FUTURE OPPORTUNITYOF SALVATIONl They have not receivedthe Holy Spirit, the only means bywhich God will r esurrect anyone toeternal life (Romans 8: 11; I Co rint hians 1S:42).

God's Desire f or MankindIt is God' s desire that all avail themselves of the opportunity for salvation:

"God our Saviour; who will have allmen to be saved, and to come unto the-knowledge of the truth." (I Timothy2: 3, 4.) Some will say, "Oh, so everyoneis going to be saved-universal salvation." The Bible does not teach this.

Notice what 2 Peter 3:9-10 says:The Eternal "is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,but tha t all should come to repentance."It is God's will or wish that all wouldcome to a knowledge of the truth sothey would repent and be saved fromthe penalty of .fin-death. But somepeop le are not going to repent-for ifall repented and met the conditions toeternal salvation the re would be no necessity for casting human beings into the

lake of fire of Revelation 20: 1Sand21: 8 which will destroy the wicked.Malachi 4: 1-3 absolutely disproves thedoctr ine of universal salvat ion der ivedfrom hea then phi losophy, because thewicked will be ashes, nei ther root norbranch. There is no possibility of aresurrect ion from the lake of fire.Yes, God is desirous that ALL of usmay attain eternal life. He is "longsuffering," not being quick to judge us-desirous that all will accept HIS WAYOF LIFE as revealed in the Holy Bibleso we may become his spi rit born children at the resurrection.

The Common Atti tude"Well," many might say, "i t certainlyseems from what the Bible says, that

God would not be fair if he did notgive those peopl e who lived in the OldTestament t imes a chance in the fu tu re;but all of us since Christ, are hav ingour chance now and we must be savedby the time Christ comes again or wewill be lost."Yes, that does SEEM to be the idea andalmost elJeryone today believes it to bea fact! It appears to be so evident thatno one even questions the matter. ITIS TAKEN FOR GRANTED! Did you everhear it quest ioned? No, you probablyNEVER HAVE in your l if et ime! Peopledo not inuestigate! "EVERYBODY CAN'TBE WRONG"-IS THE POPULAR ATTI-TUDE!It would APPEAR from the commonteachings that salvation is open toEVERYONE today and that all one has todo now is to join a church and be"saved." IS EVERYONE FREE TO ACCEPTSALVATION AND BE SAVED ANY TIMEONE WISHbS TO BE? Or are some blind-ed to salvat ion in this day?Let us see what the Bible teachesabout this subject. It is neither discussednor understood by the churches today,yet it concerns everyone of you!

Israel BlindedNote what Moses said to the Israelitesshortly after he had led them out from

Egypt: "ye have seen all that the Eternaldid . . . in Egypt. . . those great miracles: yet THE ETERNAL (not Satan)hath NOT given you an heart to per-ceive, eyes to see, and ears to bear, untothis day." (Deuteronomy 29:4). GOD,HIMSELF, HAD BLINDED ISRAEL! Theywould not have known about this blind-ness EXCEPT THEY HAD BEEN TOLD!Observe also what God said he woulddo to Ephraim, head of the ten tribes ofIsrael, a fter they had sinned: "For withSTAMMERING lips and ANOTHERTONGUE will I speak to this peoplethe WORD of the Eternal was upon themprecept upon precept; line upon l inehere a little, and there a little (thissounds like the way in which the Bibleis written today, does it not? )-THATTHEY MIGHT GO (not come), and FALLBACKWARD (not be rescued), and BEBROKEN and SNARED AND TAKEN."(Isaiah 28: 11 and 13).

What had the t ribe of Ephraim done?It had sinned (verses 7 and 8) - andwhat did God do? GOD HID HIS LAWSwhich, if obeyed, would have preservedthem from being punished. Becausethey rejected knowledge (Hosea 4:6)GOD BLINDED THEM so they would continue to sin and suffer its consequences.Why?

Now notice Ezekiel, chapter twenty.This chapter is VERY IMPORTANT for itis a summary of all of God's dealingswith rebellious Israel. Particularly takenote of verses 11 and 12: "and I gavethem my statutes and shewed them myjudgments, which if a man do, he shalleven live in them . . . moreover also Igave them my sabbaths."

What did God do when they rebelled? Verses 24 and 2S tell us: "Because they had not executed my judgments . . . have polluted my sabbaths... therefore I GAVE THEM ALSO sTATUTES THAT WERE 'NOT GOOD ANDJUDGMENTS WHEREBY THEY SHOULDNOT LIVE." God said he gave them overto other laws by which THEY SHOULDNOT LIVE! Statutes that would bringdeath-"the s tatutes of the hea then ...


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Page 6anc1 of the king s of Israel." ( II K ings17:8; Acts 7:42).ALL THROUGH THE BIBLE, after it

tells of God's puni shment s, it quoteswhat God said was his reason: "THATTHEY MAY KNOW THAT I AM THEETERNAL." This phase occurs over fiftytimes, with s ligh t var ia tions . Ezekiel20: 26 is an exampIe . Yes, God wantseveryone to truly know h im! Whoeverrejects knowledge wil l be punished inorder to learn of God and his ways byhard experience.But what was the reason for blindingIsrael? Because they were lost forever?

Why God BlindsGod has made man's natural mind sothat it wants to do things that arecontrary to HIS laws: "The carnal mind

(with which we are ALL born) is enmityagainst God ." (Romans 8: 7) . Readalso Romans 3:9-18, Galatians 5:19-21and ]ohn 3:19. "The flesh (man's natural heart and mind) LUSTETH againstthe Spirit and the Spirit against theflesh: and these are contrary the one tothe o ther ." (Galatians 5: 17.) ALL, asoriginally born, have a desire-LUST-togo contrary to God's laws! (James 1:14and Psalms 81: 11-12).A person's carnal mind rema in s atenmity against God umil that personbecomes sick and tired of the RESULTSof HIS OWN ways and REPENTS ofthem, and calls on God to CHANGE HIMby glvmg him the Holy Spirit-thevery mind of Chris t (Phil . 2: 5) .God has made it natural for- man

to reject truth and to do what is rightin his own eyes, to want to sin-towant to break God 's laws. It is by man'sown carna l mind that God blinds him,not to destroy him, bu t to b ring h imto repentance. Conce rn ing b lindedIsrael Paul said: "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that herrughr have mercy upon all." (RomansII: 32). So anc ient Israel i sn 't lost forever.Human beings, like Israel of old,

want to do what they think is righr.God, in love and wisdom, b lind s humanbeings who by nature reject the truthso they will unwittingly SIN ALL THEMORE OFTEN and thereby LEARN THEIRLESSON ALL THE MORE DEEPLY-tbelesson that buman customs are wronf(and only by living according to thecommands of the Eternal can one behappy.'The Creation of Character Takes TimeNothing that God has ever createdbegins to compare with the delicatething that he is creating in man CHARACTER. God knows that it TAKESTIME to do this. He, himself, said "0

The GOOD NEWSthat there were such an heart in them,that they would fear me and keep mycommandments always." (Deuteronomy5:29). God is NOT IN A HURRY TOSAVE ALL UNTIL THEY HAVE LEARNEDTHEIR LESSON. That is the reason hehas allowed 6000 years for mankind tolearn it.The Eternal let Israel try variousforms of human GOVERNMENT as the

books of Judges and Kings explain.Human beings are blinded to the Kingdom of God because they believe thattheir own forms of government areright. Today, we have democracies, dictatorships, and other forms of government . NONE HAVE BROUGHT HAPPINESS!God has actually given the a tt itudeof a wild animal to Gentiles becausethey would not accept him as supremeruler (Daniel 4: 16-17 and Romans1:28). They will, by having this mind,

bring increased misery upon themselvesand ultimately will learn that Godrules and that his government and lawsare good.Chris t, in his day, did not try to disturb the blindness that was over man' smind. To the disciples he said: "Untoyou it is given to know the mysteriesof the kingdom of God: but unto them(the vast majority) that are without ,all these things are done in parables:that seeing they may see and NOTperceive: and hearing they may hear andNOT understand:' (Mark 4:11-12).The parables were spoken to HIDE thetruth, not to make the meaning clearer.MAN DOES NOT KNOW HIS OWNINABILITY TO RULE EITHER HIMSELFOR THE WORLD as compared with theability of God! The Father wants usto develop our initiative and abilitybut he also wants us to recognize thatHE is the One to whom we shouldgo with our problems and that his lawsare best, and that he is the true rulerof the earth. He wants us to know thatwe must have his very spirit withinus to fulfill our desires (Acts 2: 38 ) .Job did not recognize God in histrue character, and God took steps tomake him understand. Job was too

self-righteous (Job 32: 1). He spokeconstantly of his own righteousness. Itwas always "my integrity" and "myrighteousness." (Job 27: 3-6). Only Godis completely r ighteous for "All havesinned and come short of the glory ofGod" (Romans 3:23). God finallyhumbled Job and he repented. "I haveheard of thee by the hearing of the ear:but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dustand ashes" (Job 42:5, 6) .Of all things that God has evercreated, man is far s uperior to others

July, 1952in his ab iliry to reason, and also 10his ability to make things. BUT-theseabi li ties are of no value to God-indeedthey are a hindrance-if man's WILLor desire to use these abi li ties is againstGod's will! "Thy kingdom come. THYWILL BE DONE on earth, as it is inheaven." (Matthew 6: 10). GOD wishesHISwill to be done in us!When man has had an opportunityto exercise his own will and seen theevil results of it, he is ready to havehis old self-his own will-killed,"Buried with h im (Christ) by baptisminto dea th" (Romans 6:4), and WILL-ING to present his body as a LIVINGsacrifice to God-a l iving body throughwhich God can carry out HIS WILL!(Romans 12: 1) .

Are t he Major it y Blinded?Paul, speaking to the Romans concerning the ir Genti le forefathers, said:

"As they did not like to r et ain God intheir knowledge, God gave them overto a REPROBATE MIND ... being filledwith all unrighteousness, fornication,wickedness . . . full of envy" (Romans1:28-29). Again, "For God hath concluded them (all mankind) all in unbelief that he may have mercy on all,"Romans 11: 32. The GENTILES wereblinded then and THEY ARE BLINDEDTODAY! ALL NATIONS are blinded today!What about modern Israel-thedemocratic nations of Europe andAmerica? "Even so at this present timethere is a REMNANT (just a remnant)according to the ELECTION OF GRACE"(Romans 11: 5). A FEW had receivedthe chance of salvation-c-but noticeverse 7: "... the REST (the VAST MAJORITY) were BLINDED." The same istrue today: the few, whosoever will,may come to God, bu t the vast majoritywon't because they are blinded to God'struth by thinking their ways are better.]esus never once said that everyone isin this age called to salvation. Paulsaid: "Not many wise men a ft er theflesh, not many mighty, not many noble,are called." (I Cor. 1: 26). Only thosedrawn by the Spi ri t of God and whocome through Jesus can app roach God,]ohn 6:44.So we see that the VAST MAJORITYOF A1. 1 RACES TODAY ARE BLINDED!The PREACHERS are AMONG THESEBLINDED: "MANY shall follow their (thefalse teachers) pernicious ways,"- t heMANY-not the few! ( II Pet er 2:1-2)."... BROAD is the WAY that leadeth todestruction . . .", Matt. 7: 13. Peopletoday are IN BABYLON! Remember, itis Babylon THE GREAT-not Babylonthe small, Revelation 17: 2; 18: 4.The VAST MAJORITY will continue to


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July, 1952

remain so RlINDED that they will evenfight against Chri st at his second coming-NoT RECOGNIZING who he is, forthe devil will have them so deceivedthat they will think Jesus is anrichristand fight against him at Armageddon,Revelation 16: 13-14.People today who are blinded to thetruth can have salvation NOW if aftersuffering the consequences of sin, theywill earnestly ask God (Luke 11:8, 9,13) to SHOW THEM HIS WAYS (REMOVE THEIR BLINDNESS) and t hen BEWILLING TO FOLLOW THESE WAYSAFTER THEY ARE REVEALED!Only a relatively small number willreceive salva tion in this age. These willbe used to teach, rule, and judge thosecalled later, Revelation 1:6; I Corinthians 6:2. Bur what of the vast blindedmajori ty of all t imes who never had anoppor tuni ty? Are they damned becauseGod created them wit h a ca rnal mindwhich blinded them to the ways ofsalvation?

Future Chance for B linded?Now, if God is JUSt and it is He whohas blinded most of the people thatever lived, from understanding his lawsand the grace which they must accept

to be saved, then He will have to remove the blindness to give them "chance-their first chance-will he not?YEs!-and he has PROMISED TO DO IT!"And he will DESTROY in thi s mountain the face of the COVERING CAST

OVER ALL PEOPLE, and the VAIL THATIS SPREAD OVER ALL NAl'IONS," Isaiah.2 5 :7. It is no stigma or disgrace to yourloved ones or others that they areamong those that are blinded now.God's PLAN called for the removal ofblindness from only a few NOW. I t isHIS responsibility!

Salvation in MillenniumGod has allotted six thousand yearsco mankind here on this earth in whichthey can tryout all methods of livingwhich THEY THINK will hring themhappiness. LOOK AT l'HE WORLD TO

DAY FOR THE RESULlS! Now-in thisvery END TIME-man is writing finishto a history of his poor attempt to rulehimself without God's help -a history[hat all may profit by when they havetheir first chance. The world today isfeverishly preparing to drench itself ina bath of blood. What happens afterrhis?"The people that walked in rlarkness(BLINDNESS) have seen a GREAT UGHl'

(the BLINDNESS REMOVED) - f o r untous a child is born ... and the government shall be on his shoulders . . . ofthe increase of his government . . . thereshall be no end." (Isaiah 9:2-7). This

The GOOD NEWStells of Christ's birth and his takingover the rule of this earth for 1000years at his second coming, Rev. 20 :4 ,This is THE TIMP GOD HAS SET TO

REALLY STARl' TO SAVE THE PEOPLE.Blindness will be removed-the peoplewill see God 's mercy and laws clearly.A11 now living who live into that periodwill have their first opportunity forsalvation. Chr is t will come with "tenthousands" of his saints to executejudgment and convince all that are ungodly of the ir ungodly deeds, Jude 14,15. The devil will be chained so hecannot deceive people, Revelation20: 10. Christ will pour out his spirit onall flesh (Acts 2: 17), and the earthshall be full of the knowledge of theEterna l, Isaiah 11: 9. God will cleansethe people and give them a new heartand a new spirit, and cause them towalk in his statutes and judgments,Ezekiel 36:25-27. The whole chaptersof Isaiah 11 and Zecha riah 14 describethis t ime more fully.Bur, the people who live on from thislife into the thousand year period arerelatively few compared to the MILLIONSAND MILLIONS THAr HAVE DIEDBLINDED--WHAl' ABOUT THEM?When Is Vast Major ity Saved?Notice Revelation 20:4. "The restof the dead lived not again until thethousand years were finished." Nowread verses 11-12: "And I saw a GREATWHITE l'HRONE and him that sat on it. . . and I saw the dead, small and great,stand (A RESURRECl'ION) before God;

and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is thebook of LIFE (there is a chance of obtaining El'ERNAL LIFE), and the deadwere judged our of those things whichwere written in the books." They areto be judged by what they HAVE DONEin this life AND by what they WILL DOafter they are resurrected to mortallife!This is THE GREAl' WHITE THRONEJUDGMENT when the VAST NUMBER OFUNSAVED DEAD will be resurrected andbe GIVEN THEIR FIRST CHANCE FORSALVATION-all those millions and mil

lions who have lived and died since thet ime of Adam up through our age, andhave not known the TRUE way to eternallife.Satan will have been cast into thelake of fire, Revelat ion 20: 10, aft er hehad been liberated for a short space oftime at the end of the thousand years;and the earth will have been purged ofthe people who, knowing the truth,allowed him to deceive th em duri ngthis shor t space of time. ALL WILL BEINVIlED to the marriage supper (salvation) and if they refuse, then they are

Page 7LOST FOREVER! (Luke 14:1624).

SALVATION will be open to ALL justas in the thousand year period, onlynow there will be many more to acceptit. This will NOT be a SECOND CHANCEfor if they were blinded by God whenthey formerly liven, they never had achance. The cities of Tyre and Sidonwill be rebuilt and the evil people ofthose cities who were formerly blindedwill be given their first chance, Matthew11: 22. Also, Sodam and Gomorrah willbe rebui lt (Matthew 10: 15), and herevil cit izens have their fint chance. Godis a JUST GOD--he is giving even theWORST OF THE PEOPLE WHO WEREBLINDED BEFORE CHRIST'S SECONDCOMING, THEIR FIRST OPPORTUNIlYTO SALVATION!Ezekiel 37: 11-14 gives a good pictureof how this physical resurrection wi11 beaccomplished for ALL people , for hereit is speaking of Israel as a type. NoteEzekiel 36:25-27 also; this shows howthe SPIRITUAL BEGDTTAL AND GROWTHcomes about at this time. Here arepeople receiving the Father's Holy Spiritfor the first time, just as a few arebeing called today to receive it.People will live for a hundred yearsduring this age, Isaiah 65: 20. Bur allthis information ought not come as asurprise, for man could and would knowof it if they were observing God's command to KEEP THE HOLY DAYS whichshow God's PLAN OF SALVATION forthe WORLD. These are given in Leviticus23. In verse 34, the FEAST of Ingather.ing or Tabernacles represents salvationin the 1000 year pe riod and the EIGHTHDAY in verse 36 represents the GREATWHITE THRONE JUDGMENT periodwhen the VAST MAJORIlY will be saved.No, rhe BLINDED WORLD today DOESNOT UNDERSTAND that the Father isin the process of making from mortalman, here on this earth, a spiril familyof his very own-a family that is beingcarefully trained. His family will consti tute the Kingdom of God, living byand administering his laws of lovewhich are written in the hear t and mind,Romans 7:22-24.AFTER blinded man has har] a life

time of sad experience l iving by hisown way of life, then is resurrectedback to this earth and has his blindnessremoved so that he can SEE and PRAC-TICE GOD'S WAY OF LIFE-the onlyway that leads to happiness , and canSEE HOW MUCH BElTER GOD'S WAYIS THAN HIS OWN-then, AND ONLYTHEN, it is that God REALLY starts tosave the vast majority of mankind andgive eternal life to those who are willingto come under his loving rule and aidHIM in admini st ering wisely the greatpower HE will give to them!


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Is Truth Stranger Than Fiction?Read This and Then Decide for Yourself! The following is a vital summaryof some of the great lessons in Old Testament history. These are lessons you

should have learned, but probably baue not. So-read on!by Rod MeredithHow INTERESTING is the OldTestament to you? Have youfound it rather dry and dull?God in tended for you to get a grea t dealof understand ing from read ing it. Per-haps YOU haven' t been approachingthe study of it as you should.

The Bible is LITERALLY PACKED withideas and princip les tha t you need toapply every day of your life ! Many peo-ple read parts of the Bible and neglectothers. One of the most neglected por-tions of the Bible includes the historicalbooks of the Old Testament. These arethe books from Joshua to Esther inclu-sive. Yet these books are LOADED WITHDYNAMITE! They teach you lessons ineveryday l iving in a rough, straightfor-ward, and forceful way.

The whole trouble in reading thesebooks probably lies in the fact tha t youhaven't been taking these lessons in apenurtal way. When you study thesenarratives-apply them to yourself!

How would you and your worldlyneighbors react to situations like the fol-lowing? Would you measure up anybet ter than those fleshly, unconvertedIsraelites?God is showing HUMAN NATURE atwork in these books, and YOUR carnalnature is just about the same! YourCreator is t rying to show you the terribleresults of relying on your own reasonand impulse.Are you learning these lessons as youshould? Probably not. Then literally putyourself into these true stories and thenvigorously apply them in your own life.You are going to see "life in the raw,"but you will see it through the eyes ofthe Creator.God, looking down through the streamof time, sees clearly the sad results thatman's ideas or actions lead to under dif-ferent circumstances. It is an immeasur-able help to be privileged to get Hisviewpoint on these situa tions withouthaving to learn all our lessons the hardway!In Romans 15 :4, the Apostle Paultells us. "For whatsoever things werewri tten aforeti rne were wri tten for ourlearning, that we through patience andcomfort of the scriptures might havehope." So we find that the Old Testa-ment writings were written for the in-srruction of Chr ist ians today. It is with

this idea in mind t ha t I will point out toyou some of the outst anding lessons inthe historical books of the Old Testa-ment. And I want to encourage you toread these books for yoursel].As we shall find, human nature atwork is sometimes even stranger thanthe imaginations of the fiction writers!

God 's Charge to JoshuaWhen Joshua first became the leaderof Israel, succeeding Moses, God gavehim cer tain basic instructions which, if

obeyed, would have insured a successfuland prosperous rule. Oh tha t these in-structions might sink into the heartsand minds of rulers everywhere!In Joshua 1:8, God said, "This bookof the law shall not depart out of thymauch; but thou shalt meditate thereinday and night , that thou mayest observeto do according to all that is writtentherein: for then thou shalt make thyway prosperous, and then t hou shalthave good success." Here is the way tothe happiness that everyone wants, thenas now.The way is to keep God's law!Let us pu t ourselves in the place ofthese Israelites, and see if we wouldhave obeyed God any bett er than they.Soon after giving Joshua these instruc-tions, God miraculously led Israelthrough the Jordan River, feeding them"manna" all through thei r journey. Is-rael kept the Passover as God com-manded. Then He supernaturally de-livered Jericho into their hands-againwitnessing to them of His mighty pow-er and His love.But, like so many people today, Achantook God's commandment lightly(Joshua 7) . He coveted some of thegold and silver in Jer icho and took somein direer violation of God 's command.

He probably reasoned out in his ownmind that he' would just take a l itt le bit,and tha t God probably d idn' t mean thisto apply to him anyway.How natural such reasoning is to theunconverted human mind!The result? God punished all Israelbefore their enemies. God would likeall men to know that He means busi-ness!

I f we can' t learn anyth ing else fromthese historical books of the Bible, wehad bet ter learn that when God gives a

command, He means exactly wha t Hesays!As long as Israel obeyed God, "theland had rest from war" (Joshua 14:15). There is a way to peace and pros-perity, but today men will have none ofit ! They would rather try in vain to

b ~ i n g it about by their own human de-vHmg.Before Joshua's death, he called Israeltogether and reminded them that Godhad given them a land for which theydid not labor. Then he continued (Josh-ua 24: 15): "choose you this day whomyou will serve; whether the gods whichyour fathers served that were on theother side of the flood, or the gods of theArnorites, in whose land ye dwell: butas for me and my house, we will servethe Lord."

Here was a final warning to the peo-ple to serve the ir Crea tor and obey Hislaws. God had already shown them thatHis way was best. Now it was up tothem!The Results of Human ReasonBefore Israel ente red the promised

land, God had commanded them to com-pletely destroy the heathen nationsresiding there (Deut. 7: 2) . These heath-en nations were practicing a most abom-inable form of idolat ry which was mak-ing their lives a blot and shame tomankind.Archeologists have found the remainsof many chi ldren in these ancient citieswho had been sacrificed to Baal andother heathen gods. These pagans werewrecking their own lives with these vilepractices, and would have drawn Israelinto similar idolatry if they had not beenexterminated. In view of the resurrec-tion, God knew they were bet ter offdead for the time being!So God's command to kill these peo-ple was really not so harsh as we mightsuppose. It was really for their own good,and the good of others.But fleshly Israelites thought , likemany today, that they were more wiseand righteous than God! They spared thelives of many of these idolaters because,to thei r human reason, this seemed best(Judges 1).God was greatly angered by their dis-obedience. He sent an angel to tell themPlease continue on page 14


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New Facts About theImage of the Beast

What is this mysterious 'f image"? You will soonbe compelled to worship it or face martyrdom. Ifyou submit, you will suffer the wrath of God!

by Herman L. HoehMAN Y ministers know the factswhich prove the identity ofthe "image of the beast," butthey are afraid to tell you. This presentgenera tion, confused over the real significance of the "image," is dest ined tobe forced to worship it! Many whohaven't been told the facts are alreadypracticing this species of idolatry.The "image of the beast" (Rev.13: 14-15) can not be unde rstood until

the "beast," described in Reve lat ion13 : 1-10, is known, I t is symbolic of apower whose ident ity is revealed in thesecond and seventh chapters of the bookof Daniel.The June, 1952, issue of "The Plain

Truth" contained the Biblical explanation which conclusively proved that the"beast" John delineated is the RomanEmpire. After receiving its deadlywound, it continued 1260 years from itsrestoration under Justinian (554) tothe downfall of Napoleon (1814). Forone last t ime this Roman system will berevived in Europe by a federation often nations. It is already beginning tosolidify and emerge on the continent .The "dragon" which gave this Empireits authority is the devil according toRevelation 12:9 and 20:2. The adversary told Jesus that the kingdoms ofthis world were delivered to him, "andto whomsoever I will I give ir" (Luke4: 5-7). The Roman Empire and irsrevivals is Satan's citil government onearth.Nor only does the devil have his civilrulers doing his will, but he also has ecclesiastical rulers-ministers who masquerade as the "ministers of r ighteous

ness" (2 Cor. 11: B-1 5). John saw thispictured under the symbol of the "beast"which had two horns like a lamb (Rev.13: 11-17). According to the Bible, itis the hierarcby of O1der-rhe Pope,bishops, priests and deacons of the Roman Catholic Church, the explanation ofwhich is given in this issue of "TheGood News." This church is responsiblefor the creation of the "image of thebeast."What Is the Image?

There are five fundamental points to

consider before fully grasping the Biblical interpretation of rhis "image." (1 )The lamb-like beast, by its miraculousclaims, deceived the people who dwellon earth, saying to them (2) that theyshould make an image to the beastSatan's civil government, the RomanEmpire. (3) The great church figuratively gives life to the image. It wasmade to live and (4 ) to speak. Furthermore, the image (5 ) caused rhatevery person not worshipping itselfshould be killed. It did not martyr, itmerely caused the death of those whowould not submit to such idolatry. Onceagain, in this generation, the alreadywidespread worship of this "image" willbe forced upon the world.What could it be? What is an "image"? According to the dictionary, animage is a "copy, representation, model,semblance, counterpart." It is a "likeness." Therefore the church which Johnmentions was saying to the people;"You should make a model, a copy ofthe civil Roman Government"-for the"beast" is a government (Daniel 7:23).Instead of preaching the gospel ofthe Kingdom or government of God-divine government with divine lawsthis church established human churchgovernment. The church of God is constituted by those saints who are begottenand led by the Holy Spirit. It is not akingdom, for Christ's k ingdom is not ofthis present world or age (John 18: 36).But here is a great church that deceivedthe people into forming a duplicate orimage of the civil government of theRoman Empire.The PAPACY is "the Roman empire,

again extended over Europe by a universal code and a provincial government; by a hierarchy of religious praetors or proconsuls, and a host of inferiorofficers, each in strict subordination tothose immediately above them, and gradually descending to the very lowestranks of society: the whole with a certain degree of freedom of action, but arestrained and limited freedom, andwi th an appeal to the spi ri tua l Caesar inthe last resort" (History of Latin Christianity by Milman, p. 28) .Tbis church government-the PAPA

C y - i s the image of the beast.' It is anecclesiastical model of the pagan RomanGovernment."Long before the fall of Rome therehad begun to grow up within the Roman Empire an ecclesiastical state, whichin its constitution and its administrativesystem was shaping itself upon the imperial model. This spiritual empire,"says Myer's Ancient History, p. 582,"like the secular empire, possessed a hierarchy of officers."The Papacy, according to these historians, is a model, a counterpart-animage of the "beast" which is the Roman Government. This ecclesiastical government compelled people to worshipa man-ruled church organized into aworldly government. Although palmedoff as the government of God, it is inreality an image of a human civil government. And worshipping any imageis idolatry!JUSt as the old Babylonish idolatryspread and altered its form as it propagated throughout the world, so this mod

ern Babylon the Great, a MotherChurch,has propagated daughter churches whichcame out protesting (Rev. 17:5), andall of them have different forms ofchurch government-different "imagesof the beast,"-each pat terned in someway after the human government of theEmpire. When religious people speak of"M Y Church," they mean their humanlyorganized denomination which teachespagan doctrines and customs labeled"Christian." They IDOLIZE theirChurch, believ ing its teaching can 't bewrong. This is idolatry and God callseveryone of his people our of it (Rev.18:1) .Where did this practice of humangove rnment in the churches develop?And how? What is the historical proofthat most of you haven't been told because minis ters are afraid to let you understand that their churches are notgoverned by Chris t as the head, bur byh,J,man boards or "spiritual Caesars"?

Government in the EarlyTrue Church

Unl ike any denomina tion of today,the Christians in the early inspired


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Page 10Church were governed by the will ofGod expressed in the Bible. The Father set Christ to be the cont inuous, living Head of the Church, the Head ofthose individuals who are led by theSpirit of God. Under Christ were thoseministers He chose. They were notelected; the ministers of the gospelwere never voted into office. They wereordained according to the Biblical specifications because the ir fruits provedthat God had already chosen them.Compare John 3:27, Acts 13:2,3 and 1Timothy 3.Every office of service in the churchfor spreading the gospel was and oughtto be today according to the gifts ofGod proven by the fruits (Eph. 4: 1113). Jesus has always been the absoluteHead of the Church, not any board, manor vicar ruling in the place of Christ(Eph.5:23).Edward Gibbon rightly says "that theapostles declined the office of legislation." (Decline and Fall of the RomanEmpire, chapter 15.) The laws governing the lives of true Christians are nothuman canons or traditions sanctionedby boards or Church councils, but theinviolate laws of God revealed in theScripture.There were elders in every city to instruct, correct and to be examples to thechurches (1 Peter 5: 3). The originalGreek word for "elders" is also translated"presbytery" in I Tim. 4: 14. From Acts20: 17, 28 it becomes obvious that presbyters or elders were also called overseers or bishops-"two appellationswhich," according to Gibbon in his excellent fifteenth chapter on church history, "in their first origin, appear tohave dis tinguished the same office andthe same order of persons. The namePresbyter was expressive of the ir age,or rather of their gravity and wisdom.The title of Bishop denoted their inspection over the faith and manners of theChristians who were committed to theirpastoral care."How vastly different church governments are today! What happened thatchurch offices are so radically altered?When did it happen?How t he Peopl e Began to Formthe "Image of the Beast "The Roman Empire in the days ofthe apostles was authoritarian, and theuse of elections for many offices was anhonored practice. After the death of theapostles, the prophesied great aposracyser in (7 Thess. 2) . Some of the veryelders or bishops to whom Paul talkedat Ephesus (Acts 20: 30) were ringleaders in deceiving the people intoholding public church meetings andelections of officers following the pat-tern of Roman municipalit ies, Each 10-

The GOOD NEWScal congregation took for itself, withvariations, the form of the Roman col-legia, associations, which were modeledafter the Roman municipal government.(Boak, A History of Kame to 565 AD.,pp. 398, 364.)Here was the beginning of the "imageof the beast"--ecclesiastical leaders deceiving the people into creat ing a government in the church after the modeof the Roman civil adminis tration andattributing to it divine origin.In various congregations were numerous people, unconverted, who wantedthe "say-so." They elected teachers whosanctioned elections and pleased theirwhims and who led them back into thecustoms of pagan Rome and Greece (2Tim. 4: 3, 4) . Gradually those ministerswho were chosen of God were rejectedand forced out of the visible churchcongregations (3 John 10) . The visiblechurches were ceasing to be governedby Jesus Christ. A universal or catholicapostacy permeated almost the wholeChristian world.'The order of public deliberationssoon introduced the office of a president,invested at least with the authority ofcollecting the sentiments, and of executing the resolutions, of the assembly,"says Gibbon. Here were local congregations, making their human resolutionsinstead of following the Bible, and causing the formation of human governmentin the churches.

The Bishops Grow in PowerOccasional elections induced the apostatizing Christians to constitute permanently one of the elders or presbyterswith the office and "duties of an ecclesiastical governor. It was under thesecircumstances that the lofty title ofBishop began to raise itself above thehumble appellations of Presbyter; andwhile the latter remained the most natural distinction for the members ofevery Christ ian senate, the former wasappropriated to the dignity of its newpresident."Did you notice? Each local congregation in its legislative practices developed in to a little "senate" with oneof its elders, elected to the permanentoffice of president , styled a "Bishop."From this time forward, only the leadingelder, the president, was called "Bishop." The people were following the pattern of the Roman civil government,introducing it into the churches in placeof the government of God. They foundthat voting on resolutions was a verysatisfactory way of get ting pagan "religious ceremonies, which imperceptiblyincreased in number and variety" intothe churches. Rather than receive thecorrection of the Bible, the congrega-

July, 1952rious wanted to have their own wayand the leaders were glad to have it so,because it invested them with legislativepower over the flock.In the same fifteenth chapter of Gibbon's Decline and Fall we read: "Whenever the episcopal chair became vacantby death, a new president was chosenamong the presbyters by the suffrage ofthe whole congregation." No longerwere the ministers being chosen byChrist and ordained by the elders andapostles. Instead, in the Catholic churchesthe elders were elected and one of them,specially elected to preside over the local meetings, appropr iated the title of"Bishop" above his equals.Coupled with the advancement ofthe "Bishop" or president in each localcongregat ion, was the rapid tendencyto form local dioceses "by the union ofseveral country churches with a churchin a city" after 100 A.D. (Milman'sfootnote in Gibbon's Decline and Fall).Toward the middle of the ensuing century, numerous churches within a cityuni ted under the leadership of the mostimportant Bishop of the leading churchin each local diocese. Thus far, the"image"--church government shaped according to the model of the Roman civilinstitutions-was formed only after thecity government and its municipal officials and jurisdiction, There was as yetno supreme leadership over all thechurches.The Image Called a Divine InstitutionThe episcopal form of governrnegtwas adopted within a hundred yearsafter the death of the apostles by ALLthe congregations scattered over theRoman Empire. It soon acquired the decept ive sanction of a divine institutionbecause the bishops styled themselvesthe "vicars of Christ." Bingham's An-t iqui ties of the Christian Church givesseveral cases in the early Catholic writings wherein "every bishop is vice Chris-ti, Christ's vicar or viceregent" (Bk. II,ch. II, sect. 10).The Bible nowhere teaches that manrules in place of Christ. Christ has noone ru ling in his place. Every minister

in the Church is ruled by Christ andcarries out Christ' s will, not his own orthe people's! But those early bishops deceived the gullible, unconverted "Christian" into believing that they stood inthe place of Christ and that the episcopal form of church government was aholy institution which the people shouldhold in reverence. The congregationsvoted those beguiling leaders into officesince they taught what the people desired to hear in order to gain authorityand prestige over them'. (2 Peter 2: 3;Jude 16). This is how the worship of


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July, 1952the image-till: i,Lulizing of church government-developed!

The Roman "Province" AdoptedWith the progress of time the development of jurisdiction increasedapace. Not only had a local elderusurped authority over his fellow elders,thus receiving the exclesiue title of"Bishop," but he had also acquired the

dominion over all church congregationsper taining to a city-termed a diocese.The next step that occurred was theadoption of the Roman civil division ofthe "province" in order to unify the dioceses and the conflicting traditionsthat were developing in church customs.Bingham, page 342, says: "A provincewas the cities of a whole region subjected to the authority of one chiefmagistrate, who resided in the metropolis, or chief city of the province. Thiswas commonly a praetor, or a proconsul . . . so likewise in the same metropolis there was a bishop, whose power extended over the whole province,whence he was called the metropolitan,or primate , as being the principal bishop of the province."The government of the churches, theepiscopate, was no longer a local association of bishop and elders, but monarcb-tal. "The bishops were now regularlynominated by the clergy, approved bythe congregations, and finally inductedinto office by the ceremony of ordination." (A History of Rome to 565 AD.,p. 398.) Toward the close of the secondcentury irregular synods in Ephesus, Jerusalem, Ponrus and at Rome were heldto assist in substituting the heathenEaster for the passover (Milman's footnote to Gibbon's Decline and Fall). By250 A.D., these synods were held regularly, especially in Greece and AsiaMinor.From where did this practice come?Not from the Bible.Says the historian Gibbon: They"borrowed the model of a representativecouncil from the celebrated examplesof thei r own country...."

"I t was soon established," he says further, "as a custom and a law, that thebishops of the independent churchesshould meet in the capital of the prov-ince at stated periods of spring and autumn." The proceedings were moderated "by the presence of a listening multitude. Their decrees, which were styledCanons, regulated every important controversy of faith and discipline...."The church government was beginning to issue decrees' The IMAGE wasbeginning to SPEAK with the force oflaw! Faith and discipline ceased to proceed from Scripture. Pagan traditionsand customs became "the law."

Th e GOOD NEWS"Suited to Private Ambition"

With uncanny accuracy Gibbon explains that the "institution of synodswas so well suited to private ambition,and to public interest, that in the spaceof a few years it was received throughout the whole empire . . . and the catholic church soon assumed the form, andacquired the strength, of a great federative republic."Synods were universally accepted.Each local diocese, like a republic withits elected representatives and an ecclesiastical governor, joined together toform a province in the "public interest,"It was the people who permi tted theministers and bishops to deceive theminto modeling church government afterthe civil government. From the provincial councils there poured forth an everincreasing flow of correspondence fed-erating all the provinces of the catholicor universal churches.Exactly as the bishops had so recentlygrasped authority over every presbyter-who now became a priest-so in theseprovincial synods the difference in rankof the city from which each came causedthe bishop of the metropolis or chiefcity of the province to pn:pare secretlyto usurp authority over his fellow bishops and to acquire "the lofty titles ofMetropolitans and Primates."By now the mutual alliance of thebishops enabled them to attack theoriginal "rights of the people" in havingtheir "say-so." The participation of thepeople gradually ceased amid the su-perstitious reverence for the "divineauthority" of the assemblies of the bishops. The bishops owed no allegiance toany higher human authority than theirown assemblies in which they voted onmatters of faith.Constantine Begins Universal CouncilsAfter permitting the Catholic Faith tobecome the State religion of the RomanEmpire, Constantine found it essential

to unify conflicts within its ranks. Tothis end he called universal or ecumenical councils. Says Boak: "Procedure inthe councils was modelled upon that ofthe Roman Senate; the meetings wereconducted by imperial legates, their decisions were issued in the form of imperia l edicts, and it was to the emperorthat appeals from these decrees weremade." (A History of Rome to 565AD.) p. 492.)There was as yet no Pope. The RomanEmperor was head of this Church. Thelaws of the councils were laws of theState. The Roman Senate, not a Biblicalexample, was the model. The "image"was gradually being fashioned more andmore like the Roman civil government.

It was also during the age of Con-

Page 11sranrine that the Roman Empire wasdivided into great dioceses, thirteen innumber. These were made up of numerous provinces over which bishopswith the titles of Metropolitan or Primate presided. With the enforced universal councils being the highest assembly ruling the churches, Gibbon says itwas not "long before an emulation ofpreeminence and power prevailedamong the Metropolitans themselves,each affecting to display . . . the temporal honors and advantages of the cityover which he presided. . . ."Naturally the Metropolitans who resided in the capitals of these great dioceses were to dominate all the otherPrimates over the provinces in hisrealm. Thus was the title of "Exarch" or"Patriarch" acquired by less than a dozengreat bishops. There were now fourgrades of bishops: country bishops whobecame parish priests, city bishops, Metropolitans, Patriarchs.

Who would eventually be the Universal Bishop? We shall soon see.I t is notable that the title vicarii(vicars) was given by the Civil Government to the civil administrators ofthe great dioceses. Although the Patriarchs of the Catholic Church were reallythe vicars of the Emperor, who washead of the Catholic State Church, theyclaimed to be the vicars of Christ, as allbishops had done decades prior in order

to gain their eminence.The Roman Empire was also dividedinto four Prefectures. While the Catholics did not insti tute any ecclesiastical

office to compare to the prefects) theydid soon lind that among the Patriarchsover the dioceses, there was a rivalrythat brought forth four dominant Patriarchs in the East and one in the West.These were of Constantinople, Antioch,Jerusalem and Alexandria in the Eastand Rome in the West.Bingham, pages 344, 345, and otherauehors point our a highly importantfact. The dioceses in the West, with theexception of Africa, lacked Patriarchsin Spain, Gaul and Britain, or else faileclto send them to the councils. ROME WASTHE ONLY WESTERN PATRIARCHATETHAT REPRESENTED THE WEST INDEALINGS WITH EASTERN BISHOPS,says Boak in the aforementioned book,pages 492, 493. It was easy to forseethat the bishop at Rome would be thedominant Patriarch since the Romanchurch was the greatest and its bishopsclaimed the inheritance of the attributesof the office of the apostle Peter by progressive traditions.

Was the Roman Bishop Alwaysthe Head of the Church?That the bishop at Rome was notfrom the time of Peter the head of the


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Page 12Church is admitted by the Roman Catholic Du Pin, who states, to the later embarrassment of Catholic doctr ine , tha tGermany, Spain, France, Britain, Africa,Illyrcum and seven of the Italic provmceswere NOT UNDER THE JURISDICTIONOF THE BISHOP AT ROME during theearly ages (D u Pin de Disciplin. Eccles.Dessert. 1. n. 14. p. 92, quoted in Bingham's Antiquities, p. 348).The bishop of Milan, Italy, was neverordained by the bishop of Rome, as hewould have been if he were under hisjurisdiction. This is even admitted byPope Pelagius in one of his epistles(Bingham, p. 348) . The African Churchunder the Patriarch of Carthage wasoriginally independent as Justinian declares. In the nnd canon of the Councilof Milevis, the African churches prohibited appeals to the bi shop at Rome.For centuries , Baluzius declares, theFrench synods "never allowed any appeals from their own determination tothe pope" (Bingham, p. 349). TheBritish or Celtic Church did not comeunder Roman dominion until the Synodof Whitby (664) brought about Britishconformity to the Roman Catholicmode of Easter observance. (E. R. Edman, The Light in Dark Ages, p. 184.)The advancing star of the RomanBishop developed rapidly with the transference in the fourth century of thecapital of the Empire to "New Rome"

-Constantinople. Up to this time therewere no great pontiffs that provokedjealousy, ne ither were the re such factions that split the East. The bishopsof Rome were carried upward by thesweep of dominant opinion. Easternfeuds disrupted the patriarchates in thatarea and left only the most recent, Constantinople, in the leadership. The domination of the Emperor in Constantinople was a disastrous handicap for theEastern churches. The bishop of Romewas immeasurably freer to expand.In 343 the Council of Sardica, COM-POSED OF WESTERN LEADERS ONLY, nota universal or ecumenical council, confirmed the Western feeling that thebishop of Rome ought ro be the Headof the Church by sanctioning PopeJul ius as the final arbiter in disputes resulting from the Arian controversy.Thirty-five years later the bishop atRome became the "Pontifex Maxirnus"or Supreme Pontiff. This t it le once belonged to the high priest of the paganRoman priesthood before Julius Caesar,the first Emperor was granted it. Thereaf ter, the office was r ~ ~ s f ' d to succeeding Emperors unt il Gratian refused itin 376. Two years later Damasus, Bishop of Rome, was declared SupremePontiff by imperial edict, (Bower's Lives0/ the popes.) The pagan Roman College of Pontiffs la ter became the Catho-

The GOOD NEWSlic business," wrote Boak in his pl eviPonti lex Maximus "had charge of thecalendar, fixed dates of the public festivals, and announced each month whatdays were open and what closed to public business," wrote Boak in his previously mentioned work, page 67. Littlewonder that the Catholic Supreme Pontiff should "think to change times andlaws" (Daniel 7:25) in opposit ion toJesus Christ who is the actual HighPriest of the Church (Heb. 7: 21;10:21).

Th e Papacy Finally DevelopsMany early writers and the populacetermed the bishops in the CatholicChurch "princes" in imi ta tion of Isaiah60: 17 which they read: "I will makethy princes peace, and thy bishopsrighteousness." It became the customaryview tha t the Church was the Kingdomand its leaders the rulers therein-aview exactly oppos it e to the gospel of

Jesus which spoke of the Kingdom ofGod yet to be esrablished (Bingham,p. 22).With the rapid decline of the Western

Roman Empire, the bishop of Romerose in respect with the people. He determined to be the King of Kings in thegovernment of the Church. We shallnow see how the Roman bishops soughtby their claims and obtained by popularapproval the position of EcclesiasticalCaesar.At the close of the fourth centuryAugustine wrote the "City of God," abook envisioning a Universal CatholicEmpire of which the Roman Empirewas the pat tern. A few yeals la ter Innocent I pushed the claims of the papacyvigorously. Following him came Leo I,styled by many the first Pope. He wasthe first Latin preacher; for prior to himthere seem to have been no publicpreaching by Catholics in Rome according to Sozomen (Milman, Latin Chris-tianity, p. 56). Leo claimed to be theheir to Peter 's primacy, advocated thecomplete "organization of the Churchon the model of the Empire, with thepope as its rel igious head." He said resistance to his will was worthy of "hell,"and advocated the death penalty forheresy.Boak wrote in his book: "It was Leoalso who induced the western emperorValentinian III in 455 to order the wholewestern Church to obey the bishop ofRome as the heir to the primacy ofPeter" (p. 493). Despi te this decreethat made the bishop of Rome the heauof Western Christendom, the Councilof Chalcedon, 451, a universal councilclaiming divine authority, placed the Patriarch of Constantinople "on an equality with the pope, a recognition againstwhich the Pope Leo protested in vain."

July, 1952By this time, too, the term parochiae-parish-began to be applied specifically to individual churches in theepiscopal dioceses, rather than to the dioceses themselves. Within another fiftyyears the common term "papa" fromwhich "pope" is derived was appliedalmost exclusively in the West to thebishop of Rome, although, in prior years,

"i t was a common title of all bishops."However, the Eastern Catholics did notrecognize this papal title, for in thetime of Pope Gregory I, 590-604, thePatriarch of Constantinople claimedthe tit le of "Universal Bishop." Againstthis Eastern usurpation of authority,Gregory stormed. He refused to appropriate the title to himself for obviousreasons, yet he exercised all the authorityof a universal bishop.After the Counci l of Constantinoplein 869, the Roman and Eastern Churchesceased to meet together in ecumenicalcouncils. In 1123 it was decided thatthe popes should appoint all bishops.The head of the "image of the beast"now governed with absolute power theentire ecclesiastical government. About750 years later (1871), the Pope secured the declaration of infallibilitywhen speaking "from the chair."To assist the Roman Pontiff therehave been developed through the centuries certain agencies. The College ofCardinals (Cardinals are bishops of dioceses) collectively advise the Pope.Under them are twelve Congregations,three Tribuna ls and five Offices of theRoman Curia (bureaus, boards andcourts) organized to administer Churchaffairs.The "image" or "model" against which

John warns is the hierarchy of jurisdic-tion, "the governing body of the Catholic Church-the Pope and the otherbishops throughout the world." Theypossess according to Catholic sources"the power to make laws, to sit in judgment, and to fix spiritual penalties whennecessary."Its attributes belong ONLY TO GOD.To att ribute them to any organizationof men is to set that organization in theplace of God-to commit idolatry-toworship the image of the beast! No tonly does the Roman hierarchy claimsuch powers, but also millions of PROT-ESTANTS ARE WORSHIPPING SIMILAR IMAGES OF THEIR OWN M A K I N ( ' ~ h l l m a nchurch gove rnments which pretend toexercise the powers of God.Everyone committing such idolatrywhich will soon be forced on the wor ldwill suffer the wrath of God, the sevenlast plagues without mercy! Your onlyhope is to COME OUT OF THIS IDOL-ATROUS SYSTEM THATIS GRIPPING THEWORLD. "Come out of her my people,"says God (Rev. 8:4).


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Thou Shalt Not!Are the Ten Commandments tlNEGATIVE" and

therefore a WRONG form of law?by Herbert W. Armstrong

O FTEN we hear the basic Law ofGod impugned as negative, andtherefore not good. God is oftenconceived as a stern, wrathful God, whoangrily says to us: "THOU SHALTNOT!" God's truth is sometimes lookedupon as "a religion of FEAR," andtherefore not desirable for modern, advanced, enlightened man. It ought to bePOSITIVE, they say, not negative.Thus God, the Truth of God, thepurpose and plan of God, the method ofGod, and the Law of God are relegatedto the primitive, the imperfect-something enlightened man has now Outgrown. Modern man thereupon looksupon himself as elevated to a plane ofrational thinking, and knowledge higherthan God, or Christianity, or God's Law.Of course, when we UNDERSTAND,God's TRUTH is the most positivereligion or philosophy there is- i t eradicates fear! I t is the way of FAITH!But is the negative form, "Thou shaltnot," then, wrong? Is it outmoded?Should a PERFECT law contain only"OO's" and no "DON'Ts"?Just what is TRUE CHARACTER?Just what is the perfect life?I have defined character-that is, true,righteous, holy character-as 1) comingto the KNOWLEDGE of the true, asopposed to the false values-the right,instead of the wrong way; 2) making,of one's own free will and volition,the choice to do the r ight instead of thewrong; 3) the exercise of the will inactually doing the right instead of thewrong.Character, then, once the true knowledge is acquired and the r ight decisionmade, involves SELF-DISCIPLINE. Thetruly educated persall is a self-disciplinedperson.

What, then, does this SELF-DISCIPLINE involve?Two things: 1) self-restraint to resistthe lower impulses and pulls in humannature-to restrain the self from desires,impulses, habits, or customs which arecontrary to the RIGHT WAY; and 2)self-propulsion or determined initiativeto drive theself to do those things whichought to be done. In other words, in truecharacter in action there is the POSITIVE and the NEGATIVESuppose one rejects the negative asfaulty and something to be discarded

altogether. Suppose one applies thepositive only. He impels the self to DOthose positive things to be done, but heexercises no restraint to resist thosethings which, by habit, impulse, desire,or custom of others ought not to bedone. Because human nature is what itis, the very nature in such a man willpull him constant ly in the wrong direction. Thus CHARACTER is destroyed.He is out of balance.We find present in NATURE boththe positive and the negative. Electricityfunct ions and performs its work by useof both the positive and the negative.All elements are either alkaline or acid.All living things and beings in thisworld of marter are male and female.There are SINS both of OMISSION andCOMMISSION.Frequently we read the pitiful, feebleefforts of a man who fancies in hisignorant egotism he is wiser than God,setting forth his idea of TEN POSITIVECOMMANDMENTS. Ten "do's," andno "don'ts." And what do we find? Howmuch character would such a list of"commandments" produce? Just aboutasmuch character asan electric light bulbwould produce light with merely the onepositive wire leading into it. Just aboutas much character as the male alone,without the female, could reproduce hiskind. He might 00 a few good things,but all his good things would be nullified and cancelled out by the unrestrainedevil he would commit.No basic LAW OF LIFE, forming thebasis of perfect CHARACTER, could bea perfect law unless it contains, in perfect balance, both positive and negative.Examine now again God's basic code,upon which all His laws, social, economic, civil, and religious, hang:1. "THOU SHALT have no othergods before Me." This is actually statedin the positive form, implying weSHALL worship and obey the true God.In a sense, this commandment containsboth the positive and negative, directingus positively, "Thou SHALT," to thetrue God, and res training us from falsegods.2. "THOU SHALT NOT make untothee any graven image, or . . . bowdown thyself to them, nor serve them."

This is negative, restraining from eithermaking or worshipping any THING as

a gud; also from either worship, orobedience to, such false god. To the trueGod we owe both worship and obedience. Notice the principle of GOVERNMENT in this, as in all the commands.THE WHOLE ISSUE IS ONE OFGOVERNMENT. Adam and Eve rejected God's go-uernment, refused Hisrule over their lives, disobeyed four ofthe Laws of His government. Christcame preaching the "KINGDOM ofGod," which is the government of God-commanding men to repent of theirrejection of that government and thetrangression of its laws (sin is therransgression of the l aw- l Jno. 3 :4 ) providing the way of atonement for thattransgression, and reconciliation to theworship and government of GOD.3. "THOU SHALT NOT take theNAME of the Eternal thy God in vain."This is a restraint-negative-to preventcu tt ing man off from the POWER andBENEFITS of the right use of GOD'SNAME. I f we repent of sin, and cometo God by Jesus Christ, He puts with inus the impregnating gift of His HolySpirit, and thus we become His actualbegotten children-begotten into HISFAMILY-bearing HIS NAME (thetrue name of His Church is Church ofGOD) -and having access to all theBENEFITS, BLESSINGS, and POWERof that name. This command is a negative, making possible the POSITIVEand vitally needed blessings thru thatNAME!4. "REMEMBER the Sabbath Day, toKEEP IT HOLY. ... the seventh dayis the Sabbath of the Eternal thy GOD."Here is another POSITIVE commandthe only one God specifically commanded us to "REMEMBER," and thevery one mankind insists above all uponforgetting. Is it not an indicting commentary on the unrestrained human nature, and irrational thinking of the selfprofessed RAnONAlS who imaginethemselves superior to God, and who insist His Commandments ought to be allPOSITIVE and nor negative, that thismost positive of all the Commandmentsthey flout and disobey with greatest impuni ty. Again, notice the perfectionhere again is a command including bothpositive and negative, for while it isprimarily positive, yet it includes negative restraints to make possible that


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Page 14poairivc-c--Yin it thou SHALT NOT doany work," etc.5. "HONOR thy father and thymother." Do you see any negativestatement in this command? Here is aPOSITIVE command, with a definitepromise of blessing. This heads the sixcommands regulating man's relationshipwith neighbor. However, the negativeopposite is implied, tho not stated.6 thru 10. "THOU SHALT NOTkill, commit adultery, steal, bear falsewitness against, or covet." Here are thefamous negatives, yet each implies theopposite POSITIVE: as, THOUSHALT love and have charitable tolerantpatience toward your neighbor; BETRUE to your wife and RESPECTyour neighbor's wife; BE HONEST;TELL THE TRUTH, and RESPECTyour neighbor's property.Here is a PERFECT LAW (Psalm19: 7 ). It outlines, in broad detail, mao'sr ight relationship with the true GODthat he may have all the needed guidance, help, and blessings from God; andalso man's right relationship towardhuman neighbors - inc luding parents,children, husband and wife, and allneighbors This Law provides for bo thWORSHIP of God, religiously, andOBEDIENCE TO God, and BLESSINGSFROM God-every need of man for hisown good in a living, active, continuousrelationship with the all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving God.This perfect Law forms the basis ofALL human relationships, as well asman's God-relationship. I t provides thewide, basic general rules affecting everyphare of his J ife-a) Religious, in his relationship toGOD;b) Family, in his relationship to parents, children, wife and husband, and isdesigned to preserve the blessed sanctityand digni ty of the HOME;c) Next-door and personal neighborsand friends;d) Civil relationships-here arefound the very BASIC civil laws respecting murder, larceny (theft), adultery,perjury;

e) Economic life-honesty, not coveting other 's money, goods, or propertyor possessions, which coveting is thevery root source of roday's economicprinciple of competition;f) Social life - such commands asthose respecting adultery, false witnessagainst, coveting, stealing, form thefoundation principle of a right social attitude and relationship with neighbors.This Law, in its basic principles, defines THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN(Eccl. 12: 13 ). It is the basis, in principle, for ALL THE BIBLE. The entireBible is, so far as its TEACHING isconcerned, a magnification in specific

The GOOD NEWSdetail of these basic principles,This Law is COMPLETE. It contains,in bri ef summation-principle, all thepositive and negative obligations of thePERiECT, rightly-balanced life. It expresses and reflects the very character ofGod.The whole Law is summed in oneword, LOVE. It is like God, for Godis LOVE, just as His Law is LOVE.It was given in love for us, and LOVEis the fulfilling of the l aw-LOVE INACTION.It is love to GOD, and love toNEIGHBOR. I t is PERFECT. It isCOMPLETE.

2nd Beast of Rev. 13Continued from page 2MARK in their right hand, or in theirforeheads: and that no man might buyor sell ( trade, earn a living, hold a job),save he that had the mark, or the nameof the Beast, or the number of his name"(verse 14-17).So, notice: This two-horned "beast"not only CAUSED people to receive theMARK of the Beast ( compare Rev. 19:20) , but also perpetrated the forming ofan image that caused the martyrdom ofsaints. As many as would not worshipthis image were caused to be kiiied. Thisfalse church did not kill them-sheCAUSED them to be killed. History showsthat the civil government of the RomanEmpire martyred nearly 50,000,000 whowere declared "anathema from Christ,"or "heretics" by the Church.Compare with the WOMAN who rodethe Beast in Rev. 17: "And I saw thewoman DRUNKEN WITH THE BLOOD OF

THE SAINTS, AND WITH THE MARTYRSOF JESUS" (verse 6).Certainly these are one and the same!

A Worke r o f Miracles!The false prophet which John sawworked miracles. In ancient Italy, thehigh priest of the Etrurians called Tagesclaimed to work miracles and was said tobe born out of the ground. He supposedly brought lightning down from theheavens. In Egypt, the same high priestwas represented with the head and hornsof a ram, says Hislop in The Two Baby-lons, P. 256. The second beast of Revelation 13: 11 appeared from the earth orground and had the horns of a lamb!

And he brought fire down from heavento the earth in the sight of men! Theyare the same power.No wonder this religious system iscalled "Babylon the Great." It is simplythe paganism masquerading under theguise of a "Christ ian Church."Throughout the centuries, the Popesand the Church have claimed the powerto wield the "spiritual fire" of God's

July, 1952wrath in passing judgment against "heretics." At present the Pope does notclaim to have the gift of prophecy orthe power to work li teral miracles, hnrthe time will come when such wonderswill be performed!In Revelation 11: 5 the two witnesses,who are yet to prophecy and be killedby the coming civil ruler in Europe, willhave the power to devour their enemieswho would kill them for the truth theywill declare. In order to deceive theworld, the Pope will also have to worksimilar wonders by the deception of thedevil. He will utter [alse prophecy. TheVatican, then moved to Palestine (Dan.11:45), will claim to be the kingdomof God that will bring "peace" to theworld. This time is coming and many ofyou will live to see it!Stranger than Fiction

Continued from page 8that the heathen nations "shall be asthorn! in your rides, and their gods shallbe a snare unto you," Judges 2:3.Soon, "there arose another genera

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Good News 1952 (Vol II No 07) Jul_w