Good News 1953 (Vol III No 04) Apr

8/10/2019 Good News 1953 (Vol III No 04) Apr

1/16

T h e N a t i o n a l M a g a z i n e o fA M B A S S A D O R C O L L E G E

Tito Forms StartlingAlliance

Because of th e dea th of Dictator Stal in , very s ip i i f icant new si s going unnot iced.A f t e r months of deliberation a D efe ns e Pact has been signed between Yugoslavia,Greece UTLJ ~f tXey.; C J j o t m c u ) L O cii t l i :Ac cxpansi;,:; 6: Rusx m =L?S:*C: i?z theFactern Medi twrnnenn . HO W to il l this net0 nllr nnce a f f e c t ,4merican defense@am and European unity? H a s T i t o really become a n a l ly of t he W e s t or i s beplot t ing t o build a THIRD FORCE in Europe t o counterbalance East and West?

by Herman L . H o e h

TALIN i s deadWh a t ' s g o i n g t o happen f romS o w o n ?

Th e wor ld was momentar i ly s tunnedby the news that the i ron-fis ted Dictatoro f Russ i a met sudden dea th , bu t ou rleaders are beginning to realize that

Communis t i cRussia s t i l l in tendst o L O Wy a e r the world .

Th e n e w C o m m u n i s t i c G o v e r n m e n tcont inu es to wage i t s cold wa r againstthe Wes t . it s t i l l keeps the "hot" wargo ing in Korea .

Meanwhi l e , rap id changes a re t ak ingplace in American foreign pol icy asaresul t of the inaugurat ionof the Eisen-hower admin i s t ra tion .

American officials have threatenedEurope ans that we wil l reduce muchof our economic and in i l i tary aidun1e.r.iEuropeuns uni te and d i rec t i no re ofthei r budget toward mutual securi ty.

Amer ican rep resen ta t ive Lodge hasfinal ly chal lenged Russia in the Uni tedNat ions to d i sp rove the fac t s tha t Rus -sia instigated the Korean conflict andhas del iberately kept the war goingbyg iv ing the communis t a rmies in tha t

RUSSIAN POLICIES HAVE NOT CHANGED.

war-torn country a large percentageoftheir arms.

Pres ident Eisenhower and his admin-is t rat ion, especial ly through the helpofSecretary of StateDulles, have been ar-t e m p t i n g to seize the in i t iat ive fromRussia. Our government has decidedthat w e have t o ma k e the first move.

But Russia Is Not A s l e e p

At the same t ime tha t we a re t ry ingto induce o ur al liesto do what we th inkis best, Russia is actively plotting tomaintain i t s control in world affai rs .Russia is bringing heavy pressure on

India in an effort to prevent that greatreservoir of inanpower from fal l inginto the hands of the West . India 'sPr ime Min i s t e r Nehru has becomesodeceived by the ly ing peace propa-g a n d a o f t he Sov ie t Un ion tha t he hasopenly expressed fears that America isbeing guided by militarisrsl

The Indian representat iveto Moscowhad a long personal talk wi th Stal in be-fore he died. This was a highly unusuala c t i o n for Sralin co take, you canbe sure,unless he were .leeking t o influence 112-diu against the West. Russia is vitally in-

teres ted in India and Pakis tan wi th theinearly 400 mil l ion i l l i terate and oppressed people. Russia covets the useofthat manpower in i t s effortsto seizeworld control.

But whi le the eyesof the world arefocused on the act ions of the Uni teStates and Russia, manyH I G H LY IM-POKI'ANT MOVES BY EUROPEANS AREBEING OVERLOOKED,

Despite four years of constant pressure, America has been unableto fo rm'I workable union in Europe. Mutuafears and the running soresof territorialdisputes st i ll remain in the pa thof unity.

But t c v h t ' 3 g o i n g t o hupfen.?T i t o Forms Vi ta l A l l i ance

Ac the end of February highly signif icant news arr ived from Ankara, Tukey. Tito's representative signed am u -tau1 defense pact wi th Turk i sh andGreek representat ives . T h i ~ ~ Z L J J1more zrnportunt than you m a y reulize.

ION OF TEN NATIONS THAT WILL

IT IS ANOTHER STEP TOWARD A LIN-

SHOCK THE WORLIkA UNITED FAS-

CIST EUROPE THAT WILL FRIGHTEN

RUSSIA AND ATTACK AMERICA AND


2/16


3/16

The TONGUES Questions t h e s p e u ki n g in t on gu es t h e B i b l e e v i d e nc e o f t h e b a p t i s mwith t h e H o l y

Sp i r i t ? lu s t wha t I S t h e b a p t i s m with t h e H o l y S p ir it ? W h a t a b o u t t ar ryttieetitigs? W e cou t iv iue mak ing the truth P L A l N f rom the p reced ing u r t i c le

in t h e M a r c h n u m b e r.by Herber t TV. A r m s t r o n g

PA RT ZZW h a t IS t h e B a p t i s m w i t h t h e

H o l y S p i r i t ?

c1s1 what I S th is b a p t i s m ? T h every crux of the whole question-J the basis of the errorso inany have

bee n led into-is aM I S U N D E R S TA N D I N Gof what the t ru e bap t i sm wi th the Ho lySpirit really is

The who le e r ro r comes f rom one e r-rcincoiis i d e s which i s g e n e r a l l y A S -SUMED-carelessly tak en fo r gran ted -never so much as QIJESTIONED, leta lone be ing PROVED

I t is the genela1 idea t h a t one is fiistconverted, in which heVEZSpirit--nc.ril~lly tm t he Holy Spi r i twi thin-and then, AFT ERW ARD ,s a nent i rely separate and later special actorblessing froinGod, i f he seeks it dili-gen t ly enough , he may rece ive thebap t i sm wi th theHoly Spiri t .

Th i s b a p t i s m is supposed to b e aspecial enduement wi th POWER. This

power is supposed to be powerto wi t -ness for Jesus. Actuallyi t is regarded inpractice as a sort of loosening of t hetongue.

The reach ing i s t ha t one ulwaysspeaks in tongiies-that is, un kn ow nlanguages , ,it t he t im e th i s bap t i sm isreceived. Often thri l l s and sensat ionsare fe l t su rg ing in overpower ing wavesth ru the body. Fro in tha t t imeall t imid i -t y and bashfulness in witness ing forChr i s t is gone . Th e tongue i s loosened .Th e recipient now tes ti fies in o p e nmeet ing boldly, loudly, often in a jazzyinann er and wi th a f luency and f l ippancy

of speech never before poss ible.Pe te r, J ames , John , and the o therapostles, they believe, all wereCON-VERTED. and rece ived the Ho ly Sp i r i teither when first called by Jesus,or d u r-ing His minis t ry andh cfo rc Pentecost .Then , hav ing a l ready rece ived thegiftof th e H oly Spir i t , these disciples ,so it:s believed, hnd t o tarry, and p r a ydown Pentecost , unt i l , f inal ly on Pente-cost , t hey go t the i r bap t i sm. Tha t s thecommon be l i e f .

B U T 1 H A T IS N O 1 T H E TRUTH

And th i s e r ro r causes thousands whomay al ready have received the Holy

Sp i r i t t o SEEK and SEEK and SEEKth is supposed ADDITIONAL experiencecal led the bapt ism. Worse, i t leadspeople by hundreds to become dis-couraged and to decide therc is no hopefo r them, and to g ive up even t ry ing tolive a Chris t ian l i fe

Was P e t e r C o n v e r t e d B e f o r e P e n t e c o s t

Lets not A SSU M E this idea. Lets notr ak e it carelessly fo r granted. T.etslook in to the Scr ip tu re fo r theTRUTH

T h e TRUTH i s that nei ther Peter,James, John, nor anyof the disciplesofJesus had ever so m u c h as RECEIVEDt he Ho ly Sp i r i t a t a l l un t i l t ha t dayofPentecost

U n d e r t h e o l d C o v e n a n t , G o d h a daCHURCH. Israel was botha nation, calledthe Ki ngd om of Israel , anda CHURCH,cal led T he Cong regat io n of Israel . Butthat church was aFLESH-born church. I twas wholly MATERIAL, fleshly, physical.I t was not spi r i tual . On e becamea m e m -

ber by FLESH-birth.Now hcrc is thc p o i n t so many have

never rea l ized . Und er th e Old C avenan tTHERE WAS NO SALVATION T h e peo-p le of t ha t church wereNOT CONVERT-ED. T h e y d i d not have the Holy Spiri tThat i s , none excep t the p rophe t s spe-cially called of God. David, El i jah ,Je remiah , had the Ho ly Sp i r i t . Theywere called for very special missions.

But the rank and f i le members of theOld Tes tamen t Congrega t ion N E V E RHAD THE HOLY SPIRIT.You cant f indany p lace where the Holy Spiri t waspromised Israel under theOLD cove-

nan t . Or where salvat ion and eternall i fe was promised. Their animal sacri -fices did NOT take away their sins.Forit is not possible t ha t t he b loodof bul lsand goats should take away SINS,( H e b . 1 0 : 4 ) . But ra ther, as explainedin Heb rews, the anim al sacrif ices of theOld Covenan t were mere lya reminderof sins There was n o remission o s i m ,and therefo re no sa lva t ionpossible, U N -TIL t h e o n e a n d only gre at Sacrifice wa smade on Calvarys cross

Dur ing Jesus min i s t ry He to ld Hi sdisciples: I t i s expedient for YOU t ha tI go away: for if I go no t away the Com -

forter (Holy S p i r i t ) will no t comeun to you ; bu t if I depart, I will sendh im t in to you . ( Joh n1 6 : 7 ) .Notice, i twas expedie nt for THEM.H e was ta lk ingto Peter and the other d isciples on thvery eve of His crucif ix ion, at theLASTSUPPER. If Peter and the other Apostlalready bud the Ho ly Sp ir i t , Jesus woulnot have to ld them, His very last n iga l ive on ear th wi th them befo re be incrucified, i t was needful forthem t ha tH e d e p a r t , go to heaven, in order to.rend the Holy Spir i t . And this was onls o m e 50 days before Pentecost

Again, Jesus said that same nigh B u t W H E N the Comforter i s comew h o m I iuill send unto you f r o m t h eFather ( FROM HEAVEN), H e shall testifyo f m e . ( J o h n i 5 : 2 6 ) . Again the samen i g h t H e s a i d: If ye love me, K E E PM Y C O M M A N D M EN TS ,n d I will praythe Fa ther, and H e sha ll g iveyou anotherComfor t e r, t ha t he may ab ide wi th yoforever; E V E N THE SPIRIT of t ru th. . . for he dwel leth WITH y o u ( i n t h eperson of C h r i s t ) , a n d SH A L L BE znyo ( i n t h e person of thc Holy Spiritwhom the Fa ther wou ld send f roh e a v e n ) . ( J o h n 1 4 : 15 - 1 7 ) .

Notice i t careful ly I t wasnt the disc ip les who p rayed down theHoly Spirit .I t was JESUS wh o prayed, and the Fathesen t them the Ho ly Sp i r i t who was to IN THEM-and th e Sp iri tCAME o n t h eday of PentecostAFTER Jesus had GONEAWAY, to heaven

Earlier, on the last day of the FeastofTaberna cles, ,Jesus stood and cried, saing, If any man thi rs t , le t h im comunto m e and d r ink . H e tha t be l ieve

on me, as the Scriptu re hath said , out ohis belly shall flow riversof l iv ing water. (B u t th i s spake H eof the SPIRITwhich they tha t be l i eve on Himshould( i n fu tu re ) rece ive : fo rthe H o l y spiritwas not yet g iven ; because then Jesuwas no t ye t g lo r i f i ed . ) ( John7 : 3 7 -3 9 ) .

Not Ye t G i v e n

Study tha t Th e Holy Sp i r i t was nyet g iven. W h y ? Jesus had not . yGUN^ A w AY-ascended to heaven-

B E E N GLO RIFIED t was exped ien tfort hem tha t H e go away. Otherwise t


4/16

P a p 4 T h e GOOD NEWS April, 1 9 5 3

The national magazine o f

A M B A S S A D O R COLLEGE

n t in i s te r in g to Th e Church of G o dscattered abroad, and

report ing o n cdmpus happenings

VOL. 111~~

NUMBER 4~ ~~ ~~ ~

Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and Editor

Herman L. Hoeh, Execu t ive Ed i to r

Rod Meredith, Norman Smith,Raymond Cole, Marion McNair,

Raymond McNair, Wayne ColeAssoc ia te Ed i to rs

Dick Armstrong

Fore ign Corresponden tCalvin Allen, C a m p u s E d i t o r

Kenneth Herrmann, Science Ed i to r

Sent free on personal request, as theLord provides. Address communica-tion\ to the Fdiror. Box 1 1 1 , Pasadena.California.

~~~

Copyright, April, 1 9 5 3H i Arnbas5ador Col leg e

H o l j Spir i t t i , ~ ~ / l dot h a v e come No-t ice the fnturc tense-out of his inner-most being shall f l o w t h e Holy Spirit

T h e Holy Spirit had never yet come

from heaven ro enter and dwel lW I T H -I N converted Christians. The Holy Spir-i t had never been here during OldTestament t imes. But the prophet Joelhad prophesied it shall come to passu f t e r u ~ a d .h ar I wil l pourow M Y S P I R I Tupon all flesh. (Joel2 : 2 8 ) .

And Jesus gave them theP R O M I S EH e w o ~ i l d rend the Holy Spir i t f romheaven, i f and after He went to heaven.And, af ter H is resurrect ion, on the veryday and hour of His ascend ing up toheaven , Jesus commanded them tha tthey should no t de part fr om Jerusalem,BUT WA I T f o r t h e p ro mise of the Fa-ther which, sai th He, ye have heard ofme. Acts 1 :4 . es , the promisesquoted above, that unlessHe went toheaven they could not haveor be filledwi th the Ho ly Sp i r i t. T he p romise tha tH e would pray the Fathe r and the Fa-rher would SEND t he Ho ly Sp i r i t.

And then, on the day of Pentecost,

This was hi. fir.rt c o m i n g f r o m heat-en And on that day , the newly inspiredPeter said T H I S is that which wasspoken by the prophet Joel, quotingthat prophecy. Now, at last , God hadsent His Spir i t ,a.r promi.red. for all flesh

TH E H O LY S P I RI T CA M E

-all who wou ld r ep en t , and acceptJesus as Saviour, in fai th believing

Before receiving the Holy Spirit ,Peter was weak. H e lacked fai thto castou t a demon ,or walk on the water. Hedenied Jesus three times.He went fish-ing ins teadof a t t end ing to Gods work.A t th e Last Supper Jesus said to him,WHEN thou art converted s t rengthen

thy brethren. (Luke2 2 : 1 2 ) .Some believe Peter received theHoly

Spiri t when Jesus breathedon him. A n d w h e n He had said this, Hebreathed on them, and sa ith un to them ,Receive ye the Holy Spir i t . (John.20 :22 ) . But H e mere ly b rea thed thebreath of air-wind. Tha ts wha tbreathis, always, in th e Scriptu res.After breath-ing on them Jesus d idnor say Youh u m n o w r e c e i ~ e d he Holy Spirit .

If H i s breathing o n them is whatgave them the Holy Spirit , they wouldalready have had the Holy Spiri t i nthem when Jesus afterwards spoke-

but they did not , because H e said , r r * ~ I I .

RADIO LUXEMBOURG-4: 1 5 P.M.

TO THE NATION & CANADA:

XERF-1570 on your dial (extremetop of dial) every Sundaynight, 7 : 1 5 P.M. CentralStandurd time.

XEG-1050 on your dial, e v e r y night,-8.:OO P.M. Central Standardtime.

XELO--800 on y o u r dial, er ery night,9 :00 P.M. Central Standardtime. - 8 : O O Mountain Stand-ard rime.)

HEARD O N PACIFIC COAST:XERR-50,000 watts-1090 on dial

-7 : P.M. er ery night.XE1)M-lSXO on dia l-6 :Jo P.M.

eoery night.KALI-Los Angeles-1430 on dial-

7 :30 A . M . eaery morning.KBLA-Burbank- 1490 k.c.- 7 : 3 0

A.M., week days, 9 : 3 0 A.M.,Sundays.

KXL-Portland-10,000 wacts. 7 5 0on dial-2:30 P.M., Sundays.

KPDQ ortland 800 on dial8:30 every morning.

KVI-Seattle-?acoma-570 first ondial-l0 :30 P.M. Sundays.

KVSM-San Francisc-o-I050 o n dial-3 :0 0 P.M. Sundays.

OTHER STATIONSWAIT-Chicago--820 on dial-1 :OO

KMAC-San Antonio-630 o n dial

-

P.M. Sundays.

-7:00 P.M. Sundays.

and the FATH ER sent the Spir i t f romheaven. And it was after this that Jesustold them to wai tin Jerusa lem for t heSpir i t to come.

The personal experiences of s o m ehave led many to accept this erroneousassumption that onefirst receives theHoly Spirit , and then,A F TERWA RD , asan entirely separate experience, receives

the bap t i smof the Spir i t . But experi -ence is a poor guide, and these dearpeo-ple are in terpret ing theWORD OF GODby thei r experience. Whether these dearsouls who say so emphatically theyknow they had th is experienceof re-ceiving their bapt ismaf ter being con-verted and receiv ing t he Ho ly Sp i r i tdonot unders tand what i t i sto be reallyconverted, and had onlyt h o u g h t theywere converted previously; or whetherthis experience, impress ive tho i t mayhave been, was merely an additionalanoint ing or receivingof a greaterfullness of the Spir i t ; or whether they

were deceived as to th is bapt ismal -together and received only a counterfeiexperience or even a demon sp i r i t ; orwhether there is some other explanat ionstill, I canno t of course, and do not ;judge. Brit the SCRIPTURE IS P LA I N ,and all such experiences should be explained by th e Scr ip tu r e, and not v iceYt.:Sa

B l B L E D E F I N I T I O N of SpiritBap t i sm

There is onlyone t ex t in all the Biblethat a c tua l ly defines thisbaptism.

I t is in I Cor. 12 :13: For by o n eSpiri t are we all BAPTISED in to one

body,-the BODY OF CHRIST, the t rueChurch of God.Let us unders tand th is . What is the

mean ing of the word bapt ise? It isaGreek w ord, untranslated. in ourEng-l ish Bibles. Had rhe translators renderedi t in to the Engl ish language, i t wouldhave read I M M E R S E . For t he Greekword bapt iso mean sto immerse.Top lunge into. The person bapt ised isplunged in to the th in g he is bapt ised inWhen bapt ised in water, the candidatis plunged into , or immersed, in water

Consequently the b apt ism with , or bythe Holy Spir i t i s not our immersioi n to the Holy Spir i t , for the Scripturetell us it is the entrance of the Spir i ti n to 11s.

And in Romans 8 : 9 , Paul tells usplainly that unless t he Sp i r i t of Godd w e h I N ZLJ., we are none of ChristsW e become Chris ts , then,when theHoly Spirit comes INTO us And whenw c arc Chrisrs, w e are [hen O theBODY OF CHRIST, the Church. There-fore, i t is rhe receiving of the HolySpiri t which plungesus, immerses orpu t s us znto the Church . And th i s im-mersion i n t o t h e Church BY the HolySpirit the Scriptures call the baptism


5/16


6/16


7/16

HOW TO TRAIN CHILDRENMost parents are neglect ing the GOD-GIVEN responsibil i ty oft ra in ing thei r chi ldren. T h e sad resul t m ay W R E C K O U RSOCIETY H e r e i s the Bible insight into this serious problem.

b y Raymond and Myra Cole

OR nearly three generations manymodern psychologists have taughtF hat children should not be re-

strained but given complete liberty ofaction and self-expression. Children,according to this kind of reasoning, doby nature what is best for them.

But the results have been provingotherwise

If todays children were properlytrained, there would not be the delin-quents, the social misfits, the financialfailures that fillour land today.

Have you ever stopped to considerthe terrible lack of emphasison childtraining? Were you taught to realizethe grave responsibility involved inrearing children? Yet there isno greaterparen tal duty-nor indee d could there be-than the duty of rightly train ingourchildren.

Young Feople and old people alikeneed this knowledge.

T h e M o s t -O f t e n- O v e rl o o k ed D u t y

Very few children have a reallyfriendly and congenial home life-anatmosp here of love and understanding.

Much of the tender warmth of anyhome is dependent upon the congenialatti tudeof husband an d wife toward eachother. If children are reared in an at-mosphere of continual strife, quarrelingand turmoil, worrying and fretting, theywill not have the happy home life sonecessary for their complete emotional,mental and physical development. Wer eyou reared in this kind of home?

As parents, you need to ma intain atall times happy and peaceful attitudesso your children can dcvclop healthymental atti tudes. W ith out this influence,you can neuer command the respect and

admirat ion of your children.Children are proneto copy the exam-ples of their parents and others aroundthem. If yours is a home of love andu n -derstanding without quarreling and hick-ering, your children are sure to absorbmuch of this homey spirit which, inturn, molds their character.In too manyhomes parents raise their voices, andthere is lack of understanding for thechildren. In such homes filled with con-stant confusion. the childrenwill u n -tcirtunately imbibe these bad qualitiesinto their characters. Victimsof unhappyhome life stand a 1 - A chance of join-

ing the ever-increasinglist of juveniledelinquents.

And yet are such young men andwomen to be wholly blamed for the evilthey do? Isnt much of th e blame restingupon the shoulders of th e parents whodid not properly train their children-parents who didnt keep their childrenoccupied with constructive and creativeactivities, but permitted them to get intomischief?

Ch i ld ren H ave H uman N a tu re ,Too

Children are not little angels Youparents know that.Ho w ofte n little children, even babies,

have fits of temper when their wantsare not satisfied immediately. They seemto enjoy quarreling with each other overtoys that dont belong to them.

No, the truth, when fully understood,is diametrically contrary to todays per-verted teaching that children naturallydo right. Th ey are no t sinless little crea-tures though we love them dearly. Chil-dren do not just naturally do what isbest-THEY MUST BE TAUGHT the rightfrom the wrong , t ru th f rom error.

Chi ld Tra in ingIs Charac te r Tra in ingHu ma n beings are creatures of habit.

Whether we are conscious of itor not,we are con tinually form ing habits-goodones and bad ones. The longer the habitis retained the more deeply rooted it be-comes. The time to establishg o o d andlasting habits is not after you havegrown up, but WHILE YOU AREYOUNG-in fact, f r o m the v e r y t i m eyou are born.

Good habits formed during childhoodcan become permanent characteristics.But bad ones sometimes prove to be

very dificult or almost impossible togive up later. It is of funda menta l im-portance to see that your children es-tablish proper habits since those habitswill be their bosom com panions through-out life.

It is very easy for little children toget in to bad habits. Thats their natureH u t i t is q u i t e a different problem t ou f i ro o t those bad habits and to supplantthem with good ones, isnt it? Remem-ber, it does no good to attempt to re-move a bad habit if you dont a t thesame time R E P L A C E IT WITH A GOODHABIT.

Correction, a M ani fes ta t ionof Love

Would you spank your childrenifyou loved them?

Solomon said, Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beateshim with the rod, he shall not die (Pro2 3 : 1 3 ) .

Sounds harsh? But it really isnt Hthat spareth the rodHATETH his son, buthe that loveth him chasteneth him betimes ( Pro. 13 24 ) .

If you love your children,you wil l

p u n i sh t h e m w h e n t h e y h a v e b e e n d isobedient . A good illustration of this ithe story many of you may have heardMr. Armstrong mention over the airSeveral years ago when his little granson had been disohedient--as every childwill be at times-he was goi ng to spanhim. T o which the little fellow repliedYou wouldnt spank me i f you lovedme, would you?

Then Mr. Armstrong asked himifhis father ever spanked him.

Yes, he said.W ell, your father doesnt spank othe

little boys, does h e? No.Th at is because h e doesnt love the

a5 much as he loves you.Th is little story ough t to illustrate th

point very plainly. If children are per-mitted to go their ow n sweet wathey will inevitably become a curse anconstant source of trouble for their paents. Foolishnessis bound zn the heartof a chi ld , but the rod of correction shadrive i t far f rom him (Pro . 22:15 ) .

This evil tendencyof the human heartis the part that can not be uprootefrom the hearts of children exceptbyinstruction coupled with chastisemenEven Gud punishes those whom Hloves. In Proverbs3: 11-12 we read, Myson despise not the chastening of thLord: neither be weary of his correctiofor whom the Lord LovETH HE COR-KECTETH; even as a father the son inwhom he delighreth.

Ye s , God corrects 311 those he loves.Correction ~ t h e WAY OF LOVE ( H e -brews 1 2 : 5 - 1 1 ) .If we are to be like ouheavenly Father, we, too, will have tochastise o u r rebellious childrenfor theirown profit.

O ne of rhe main causesfor todays


8/16


9/16

W h y F I N A N C I A L W O R R I E S ?Perhaps yo u a re und e r a CURSE Heres t h e sure w a y to s o l z ~y o u r m o n e y p r o b le m He r e is an e y e - o p e n i n g art icle on (I much

misunderstood subject.

b y Herbe r t W . Armst roug

N TH E last Book of the Old Tes ta -ment is a r emarkable prophecy. I tI oretells the financial difficulties and

worr ies that have cometo most Amer i -cans today. Nothing in the Christ ianlife-or even the non -Ch ristia n life-so plagues the average family today asthis financial problemof making bo thends mee t .

This is rea lly a problem in Christ ianliving Perh aps very few ever thoughtof i t in that way. But par tof the Chr is -t ian l ife of growth in f a i th and in g raceis the ove rcomingof this very financialsi tuation

P r o p h e c y f o r TODAYT h e t r u e Ch u r c h o f G o d is founded

on the Apostles and the Prophets. It isthe Church Jesus buil t . I t is GODSChurch , and God made Je sus the Headof it-and it i s bu i l t upon the founda -t ion of the PROPHETS as well as theaFostles ( Ephesians 2: 2 0 )

One of those prophets is Malachi.Listen to H i s N E W Tes tament teach ing :H e quote s God, who i s speak ing toUS

I will come near to you to judg-m e n t . . . Even f r o m the days of yourfa thers ye are gor ie away from mineordinances. and have notkept t h e m . . .Y E A R E CURSED WITH A CURSE: for yehave robbed me, even this whole na-t ion . (Ma l . . 3 : 5 - 9 ) .

Bu t why? W h a t h a s b r o u g h t o n t h i snational curse of financial worries innear ly eve ry home? W e a re the wea lth i-e s t na t ion on ea r th . W e a re the wea lth i-est nation of all history. Yet nearlyevery family is cursed with money trou-bles in the despera te struggleto m a k eends meet. God says 7 1 1 ~ hlr?fe robbedH i m

But ye say, continues the EternalsMessage to us, W her e in have we

r o b b e d t l ~ e e ? And God replies, inTITHES and OFFERINGS

Was T i t h in g D o n e Away?

Now a l l th i s , we know, doesn t makemuch sense to the ave rage Amer icantoday. Many d o no t even know wha tt i thing is . Others ask , Wasnt t i thingjust for Jews of a long-d ead past?Or,Wasnt t i th ing done away? Wasnt i tjust par t of the ceremonial system in-troduced by the Old Covenant Law ofMoses?

Othe rs, today, are taug ht and believe

today:

t i thing was merely a formof nationaltaxation in the civil government ofthe one - t ime na t iono f Israel. Still othersreach that the t i the supplied the ma-terial needs of the poor, and was neverput into the ministry.

WHAT CONFUSION today W ha t ig -norance of the revealed laws and co m-mand s of God

Since this WHOLE N AT I O N is undera curse, soon to suffer unprecedentedtotal national disasterbecause of a lackof understanding as well as for disobe-d ience to the laws of God, its certainlyabout t ime we opened our Bib le s and

began to study honestly, diligently,prayerfully, exactly what the Almightyhas declared on this much-pervertedsubject

For nd inark this well venthough God scnds a cataclysmic descruc-t ion upon the na t ionas a whole, yet theindividual who seeks understan ding, andwho heed> Gods warnings, shall btgiven full protection, and ESCAPE allthese things to come to pass.

W h a t th e T I T H E Is

But first, before look ing to theN E WTESTAMENT TEACHING to see whether

or not C hrist ians must t i the , let usmak e c lear just wha t that wordtzthemeans.

God says to Brita in-Americao f t o -day: Ye are cur.red with a r u r t e . for yehave robbed me, even this whole na-t ion . . . I N TITHES and offerings.

Wh a t , then , does God mean by tha tword titbe.c?

I t is an old English word, cornmonlyused i n England th ree and four hun-dred years ago. Todayi t is seldom used,except in this scriptura l connection. T hisold expression tithe has been pre-served in the Author ized, or K i n g

James transla t ion, o f thc Bible-trans-lated in 1611.T h e w o r d tithe means TENTH. A

t i the o f anything is the tenth par tof it.I t i s we l l known tha t the na t ion

Israel , dur ing Old Testament t imes, wasrequired to tithe, that is, pay in oneten th of income. But the matter of towhom each Israelite paid this tenth,which tenth was paid,why and for whatpurpose, seems to confuse a great manytoday. And the New Testament teach-ing fo r Christ ians about t i thin g is under-stood only by a few.

T h e P r i n c i p l e of Ti t h i n gTh e subject is mentio ned m any places

in the New Testam ent, as well as in theOld. But first, a simple explanation ofthe scriptural P R I N C I P L E of t i thing wil lmake it more understandable .

Lets bring the subject home to eacho n e of us, in a pla in and personal man-ner.

Suppose you own a farm. Does tharfa rm, and all you raise from i t . realljbelong to you?

Suppo se you work for wages,o r asalary. Or you clip coupons, or re-ceive dividends, profits, or a pension.When you receive rhe money, isi tr e d l y Y O U R S ?

This may seem a bit foolish. Nearlyeveryone will answer immediately, W h y, of course But i f you do, yourewrong And this only goest o show thatour people as a nation have strayed50f d r f rom God and His revealed TRUTHthat we a re a r f o i ? i t b r c / w h en th e r ru r t iis explained

Do you know what the Bibleis It isa revela t ion f rom Godt o ma n of thingsboth material and spiritual which manothe rwise coiild never know. God le tNewton discover and reveal to mankind

the law of gravity. H e has leftit for ourchemists with their test- tubes and technical equipment in their laborator iestodiscover the laws of chemistry. Butthere arc laws and truths wliicli ~iianever could discover. God has not lefus in ignorance o f these, but has re -iw / t h e m thru the Bible Thats whythe B1BI.E is the very BASIS of rightand soun d education-the fearof theEternal is the beginning of wisdom.And thats why there is so little r e dunderstanding and T R C J E education to-day, in a world whose schools and col-leges almost universally ig nor e this basifmindation o f TRUTH

Who OWNS What You H a v e ?So now in the simplestof language,

le t me make pla in t o you the PRINCI-PLE of tithing, as revealed in the BibleThen we shall look to the Scr ipturethemselves, from which this explanation is derived.

First , then, Y O I I , or I , actually ownnothing

?he earth is the Eternals, and t hfullness thereof ; the world, and thethat dwell therein. ( 1 Cor. 10:26, and


10/16


11/16


12/16

T h e GOOD NEWS April , 1953

h e Gentiles, understood that this annualsabbath was st i l l commandedto be o b -served once a year for the New Testa-men t church. H e determ ined to sai l byEphesus. because he would not spendrhe t ime in Asia : for he hasted,i f itwere possible for h im, to be a t Jerusalemthe day o f Pentecost (A c ts 20 :16 ) .This desire on Pauls par t to keep

Pentecost wasthirty years after the d,eathof ChrzJt. At anothe r t ime Paul spen t theday o f Pentecost in Ephesus, a Gentilecity ( I Cor in th ians 16:s).

T h e passover and daysof unleavenedbread were kept by the churches inJ U -daea ( Acts 12 :3 ) . These churches werean example to all Genti le conver ts; forLuke, inspired by theHoly Spir i t , wro tein Acts 20:6 tha t th e daysof unleavenedbread occurred in faroff Phi l ipp i . Thedisciples sailed from th i s Gent i le com-munity af ter the days of unleavenedbread.

In I Cor in th ians5 : 8 Paul commanded

Gent i le conve r t sto observe the feast ofunleavened bread after the passoverFor even Christ our passover is sacr ificed for us: therefore letus keep thefeast, not with old leaven. . . but wi ththe unleavened bread of sincer i ty andtruth. These Genti les were ordered noto use old leaven on these days. ButiiisteLidc:f . akii .,g un le av er d bread a

Documents

Good News 1953 (Vol III No 04) Apr