Good News 1959 (Vol VIII No 06) Jun_w

7/28/2019 Good News 1959 (Vol VIII No 06) Jun_w

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InternatIonal MagazIne ofTH E C H U R CH OF GOD

VOL. VIII, NUMBER (, JUNE, 1959

See the BIGGERTabernacle!Erervuibere members are planning to see the BIGGER Tabernacle

this autumn at th e Feast o f Tabernacles. Here's h o w you can affordto be there, too!

by Roderick C. MeredithHow joyous the coming Feast ofTabernacles will be. What a tre-mendous inspiration and bless-ing it will be to see the BIGGERTabernacle and meet the thousand newmembers being added to God's Churchthis year!It is your money which is makingthe Tabernacle possible. You won'twant to miss it, and you'll want to hearfrom Mr. Armstrong and his son Tedabout their vital t rip to Europe!What Feast of TabernaclesMeans TO YOU

Think how much more real meaningthere is in the annual festivals God hasordained than in the continual round ofholidays the chi ldren of this world arebusy observing. Most of you bre threnknow this-because you have attendedGod's annual festivals before. And youhave undoubtedly compared them withthis world's holidays.No comparison, is there?No, because God's annual holy dayspoint ant-step by step-the greatPLAN of God and His method of work-ing out that plan. But the holidays ofthis babylonish world picture only afalse Christ and a counterfeit plan ofsalvation devised by Satan the Devil!But while most of you brethren havealready proved this to yourselves, manyof you wonder bou: it is possible to keep

these joyous festivals God has givenHis people.So here is the answer-in w ri t i n g to the questions so many of you newlybaptized members are asking about theFeast of Tabernacles.

A GOD-Given BlessingAre you commanded to leave yourhomes and assemble with God's Churchdur ing His annual festivals? Are thereany exceptions to this command? Andhow can you afford to take such a trip?While the world is busy observing thepagan holidays of Christmas and Easter,and devising "campmeetings" accordingto human reason-the "way which seem-erh right unro a man" (Proverbs 14: 12 )

-it sneers at the days God has madeholy. The world ridicules these days as"Jewish"-forgetting that Jesus and theapostles kept these days in the Ne wTestament. These days are never referredto as be ing "holy to the Jews." But Godcalls them "MY sabbaths"-"holy untothe Lord!"These annual festivals are holy to theEternal Creator, who gives you everybreath of air you breathe! He commandsyou to keep them-for your own good.You are defying Hi m if you refuse tokeep them. In so doing you will loseknowledge of the true God and of Hisplan which is pictured by these days.And you will be missing Out on the most

happy, joyous, and really worthwhilevacation opportunity there is.God's annual fesrivals truly are a greatblessing to those who are yielded to God.Many of you brethren have come our ofthis world, and then found yourselvesunable to fellowship with any of God'speople. It is often impossible to meetwi th other t rue bre thren on the weeklySabbath. BUT God's annual Sabbaths orholy days provide an opportunity totravel even some distance and have thatneeded fellowship with other membersof the true Church of God.For many brethren who have attendedbefore, the annual festivals are eagerlyanticipated as an opportunity to renewthe wonderful fellowship with brethrenfrom all over the nation-and to drinkin spiri tual food in the inspiring meet-ings which are the highlights of the en-tire year.In His wisdom, God has ordained thatwe should take time each year to makethe trip to attend His anuual festivalswhere we can relax f rom our daily rou-tine, rejoice with other brethren, andlearn more spiritual truth in a few daysthan we ordinarily would in months.This is God's way!Inevitably, many brethren will say,"But we can't afford to attend God'sfestivals."

The truth is, you cannot afford not toattend! And God has inst ituted a plan to


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Page 2 The GOOD NEWS June, 1959

ministering /0 its membersscattered abroad

International magazine ofTHE CHURCH OF GOD

Be sure to notify us immediately ofchange of address.

Tabernacles, what should you do withyour second tithe? Many that we havemet on the baptizing tours, and others byletters, have asked about this problem.Now let us notice where the secondti the was to be spent. "Thou shalt trulytithe all the increase of thy seed, that thefield bringeth forth year by year. Andthou sha lt eat before the Lord thy God,in the place which he shall choose toplace his name there . . . that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.And if the way be toO long for thee, sothat thou art not able to carry it; or if theplace be too far from thee, which theLord thy God shall choose to set hisname there, when the Lord thy God hathblessed thee: then shalt thou turn it intomoney .. . and shalt GO unto the placewhich the Lord thy God shall choose . . .and thou shalt eat there before the Lordthy God, and thou shalt rejoice." (Deut.14:22-27).The second t i the-the tenth that God

wants us to use, which is another andseparate tenth from the first tithe that Hereserves for Himself for the carrying outof the gospel-the second tithe we areto use to a tt end the festivals. But let usread further: "Thou mayesr NOT eatwithin thy gates the t ithe of thy corn, ofthy wine ... but thou MUST eat thembefore the Lord thy God in the placewhich the Lord thy God shall choose,thou, and thy son, and thy daughter"(Deut, 12:17-18).Here is a positive command not touse the second tithe at home if you areunable to attend. You must use it to

enable you to attend the festivals at theplace which God chooses. I f the moneyis spent for any other purpose, then youare breaking a command of God-youare not learning to fear His authorityand you are cheating yourself of thewonderful blessing of fellowship withothers of like faith.Let's use the minds God has endowedus with to carry out these commands ina reasonable manner. Deuteronomy 14:22 states that you shall t ithe the increaseof your seed. Then it is certainly permissible for you who are farmers to bringsome of your produce or canned goods tothe feasts instead of money.I f for unforeseen circumstances youare unable to attend the festivals, and ifyou are prosperous, it would be the rightand brother ly duty to enable others touse your tithe. It can be sent to Pasadena,wit h an explanation that it is to enableothers to at tend the festival. But if youare like most of the brethren, not havingmany worldly goods, and a small incomeor none at all, and if you are unable tocome to the festival, you should SAVE ITUNTIL THENEXT YEAR or for two years,if necessary, when you will then have(Please continue on page 6)

food. As the purpose of this second titheis to enable us to attend the festivals, wewill often spend a good portion in transportation.Not the First Tithe!

Please do not confuse this secondtithe, especially for these occasions, withthe first tithe, which God has commanded us to render to His true ministers forproclaiming to the whole world the gospel. Unlike the second tithe, the firstt ithe or ten th of our income belongs toGod. He created all things and is onlypermitting man to use this materialworld anyway. "The ear th is the Lord's,and the fullness thereof ; the world, andthey that dwell therein" (Psa. 24: 1) .In Numbers 18:21 we read tha t Godgave a tenth or tithe of Israel's income tothe Levites for an inheritance. This tithedoes not belong to us; it is the inheritance of God's ministry. Today thepriesthood has been changed (Hebrews7: 12), so we now pay our t ithes to God'srepresentatives, Christ's true ministers,for the gospel work ( l Cor. 9:14). InMalachi 4:8-12, it says tha t we are rob-bing God if we fail to render to Him( through His true servants) our tithesAND offerings. Most people in this confused world don't even realize this. Butonce we have the knowledge of the truth,we had bet ter r epen t and begin to obeyGod in this matter. And , as we just readin Malachi, if we do obey God by paying our t ithes and giving offerings, Hewill bless us.In Deuteronomy 14:22-27, we findthat our Creator commands us to lay bya second r ithe of our increase or incomeand go to the place which God has chosen. From this t ith e we ourselves are toeat, drink, and rejoice in this place-theplace where God has chosen that Hisannual holy days are to be held. We setaside this special tithe (o r tenth) of ourincome every yearin order that we mighthave the expense money to attend and torejoice with the brethren. Not ice that itsays in verse 23: "and THOU shalt eatbefore the Lord thy God . . ."

This t ith e is to be spent on yourself-not for the ministry. Since there is acommanded t ithe for the minist ry, thismust be another, different tithe.In the 12th chapter of Deuteronomythis special t ithe is mentioned in verses6, 11, and 17 along wit h the sacrificesIsrael used to bring. Here again thisspecial or second t it he is for you to useAT THE PLACE which God has chosen foryou to appear before Him on these holydays.Should You Spend Your SecondTithe at Home?If for some unforeseen circumstanceyou are unable to attend the Feast of

NUMBER 6OL. V1I1

ensure that you CAN attend-if you willdo your part.How to Afford It?

But HOW can we afford it?These festive occasions are command-ed to be kept in the place that Godchooses. Deuteronomy 16: 16 shows particularly that the days of unleavenedbread, including the passover (verse 6),the day of pentecost, and the feast oftabernacles are all to be kept where Godwould choose.How do we do it?God has nor only provided , bu t alsocommanded, a way to make it financiallypossible for us to keep His holy days!It is a way which requires cont inualEFFORT and determination. If we are tobe OVERCoMERS-and they only will bein the kingdom of God-then we willhave to exercise enough s treng th ofcharacter and will to obey this commandof God. Actually it works no real hardship, but brings a great blessing to ourselves and others. I t is a way tha t buildsfaith and hope and patience and love.What does God command?God commands us in Deut, 14:22-27

to save each year a special or secondtithe, to go to the place God selects foreach of His festivals, and to rejoice inthem. This second ti the is for expensemoney to enable us to keep God's annualholy days. In ancient Israel most of themoney was spent for food there, as theexpense for traveling was almost norhing. Today, however, our greatest expense is often transportation rather than

Address communications to the Editor,Box I l l , Pasadena, California.Copyright, June, 1959

By the Radio Church of God

HerbertW. ArmstrongPublisher and EditorGarner Ted ArmstrongExecutive EditorHerman L. HoehManaging Editor

Roderick C. MeredithAssociate Editor


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Is it Wrong to HavePICTURES of Christ?

Here is an eye-opening article from one of our ministers 111Great Britain. You wil l find it vitally interesting.

by Ernest MartinDECENTLY a very popular book has.L\.... been published in which a lead-ing Protestant minister advocatesconcentrat ing upon a small pic ture ofChrist while you are praying in orderto give you the proper inspi rat ion forprayer.Today, God is so far off to most people, so it is thought , that one must havesome representation of Christ, theFather, or some saint in order to praywith reality. There are thousands ofimages, idols and pictures throughoutthe world-in homes, in Bibles, inchurches-which are to remind peopleof Christ or some Biblical personage.Do we need such images?Are Images or Pictures Sanctionedby God?The Bible expressly forbids the useof images in any form in the true worship of God. Notice Exodus 20:4,5:"Thou shalt not make unto thee anygraven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above [note, the

command is against any likeness, nomatter what form], or that is in theearth beneath, or that is in the waterunder the earth. Thou shalt not bowdown thyself to them [i t does not sayworship them, but merely to bow beforethem}, nor SERVE them [or, to use themin service to the true God}". This Second Command is primarily against theuse of intermediate, mater ia l images,idols or pictures with which to worshipthe true God mentioned in the FirstCommandment. The worship of Godmust not be through images.Most of you brethren have understood that the usage of images waswrong, but what about pictures? Doesthe Second Commandment specificallyinclude them? Yes, it does! Notice thatit says no likeness shall be made ofheavenly beings to be used in the worship of God. Likenesses are portrayedin pictures as well as through idols orother images. Pictures of Christ, then,are definitely forbidden.Israel Told to Destroy Images andPictures of HeathenTo carry out the enforcement ofGod's Second Commandment, notice

what God commanded the Israelitesjust before they entered the PromisedLand: "Then ye shall drive out all theinhabitants of the land from beforeyou, AND DESTROY ALL THEIR PICTURES, and destroy all their MOLTENIMAGES, and qui te pluck down all the irhigh places" (Num. 33:52). Theirpictures of heavenly things and theiridols were considered one and the same.Idolatrous pictures and images are bothforbidden by God. The Israelites werecommanded to destroy them all.Although the Israelites after movinginto the Promised Land did not totallyabolish these forms of idolatry, we findthat the Jews, after the Babylonian Captivity, about 450 B.c. did, in general,remove idolatrous worship from theland. They had been told by the prophetsthat their captivity was because of theiridolatry and Sabbath breaking (Neh.13:18). And, after the Captivity, theRabbis made the Sabbath one of themain commandments. Also, they legislated laws which were designed to separate the Jew from all appearances ofidolatry. In fact, by the time of ourSaviour, the making of sculptures orpictures was so unknown among theJews that Caligula, the Roman Emporer,had to employ Phonecians to make astatute of him to be pu t in Jerusalembecause no Jew knew how to make one(Edersheim, Life and Times, pp. 89,90). This was the condition of the piousJews regarding image and picture making during the time of Christ. Theycarried the meaning of the SecondCommandment to an extreme.Early Christians Forbade Images

and PicturesNot only did Jesus teach the cornmandments of God (Mat t. 19:16-22),but His apostles also did ( I John 2: 3,4).It is not any wonder that those individuals converted by Christ and the apostles kept the commandments-includingthe Second. Dr. Farrar in his monumental book "The Life of Christ asRepresented in Art," pages 5 and 6 saysthat early Christians of all ranks regarded the paint ing or representat ionof Christ as profanity and an act ofirreverence. There is ample evidence to

show that they took the same stand asthe Jews as far as Art was concerned.They needed no images or pictures toremind them of Christ or the Father.Jesus had said that those who worshipHim must do so "in Spirit and truth."The only mediator between man andthe Father is Christ-there is no needof intermediate pictures or images.This early abhorrence for images andpictures of the Father or Christ was soindelibly planted upon the minds ofearly Christians that for over 300 yearsafter the death of the apostles, therewas no official representa tion of deitymade. It is true that a few heretical individuals (undercover-not openly) hadsketched outlines of Chris t in variousplaces (to be mentioned later), but thevast majority of professing ChristiansCatholics or otherwise, refrained fromportraying anything connected withGod until about the Fourth Century.Early Catholic Officials Denounce

Imagery As IdolatrousHere is an example of how earlyCatholics looked upon the use of imagesand pictures of Christ.In the year 326 AD., one of thegreat Catholic leaders, Eusebius ofCaesarea, showed great distaste for therequest for a picture of Chris t from thesister of Emporer Constantine. She hadrequested a picture to see how Christlooked. Noti ce what Eusebius wroteback to her. "And since you have written about some supposed likeness orother of Christ, what and what kindof likeness of Christ is there? . . .Such images are forbidden by the sec

ond commandment. They are not to befound in churches, and are forbiddenamong Christians alone" (Farrar, p. 56).This is striking testimony that even theCarholic Church at this time understoodthe laws of God on this matter. Farraralso records that Irenaeus, Clement,Origen and Lactanrius, all of whom werehigh ranking Catholic officials, sternlycondemned their use in any fashion.And, Irenaeus and Clement dis tinctlyappeal to the Second Commandment asauthority (p. 60).Later, there was another Bishop ofthe Fourth Century, whom Catholic his-


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Page 4rorians regard as one of the saintl iestand most orthodox, who had an energetic abhorrence for anything resembling a sacred picture. This wasBishop Epiphanius uf Salamis. Farrarrecords an excerpt from one of hisletters to the Bishop of Jerusalem. I tconcerned a condition he found existing in the Jerusalem area. I t appearsthat on a journey to Jerusalem, nearBethel, he had come upon a buildingin which he saw a lamp burning. Onbeing informed the building was achurch, he entered to pray . . . He sawthere a curtain which had on it (as hegoes on to write), "an image, as it were,of Christ, or of some saint, for I cannotqui te remember whose likeness it was.Horrified to see the likeness of a man,hanging contrary to Scripture, in aChristian Church, I tore it down andordered the vergers (attendants) to useit as the shroud of some pauper" (Seealso Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, vol. 14, p. 272).Yes, even in the Fourth Century, themajority of Catholic officials werevehemently against the violation of theSecond Commandment. Although, fromthis example, you can see that someBishops were beginning to allow pictures even in the churches.By the end of the Fourth Century,because of the increased influx of paganinfluence, the tide was beginning to bein favor of the use of pictures for worship. Augustine, at the beginning of theFifth Century, "complains that he knewmany worshippers of superst it ious pictures" (Far ra r, p. 59). Still, however,the majority was opposed to their use.Farrar goes on to say that about the year600 AD., there was one Serenus, Bishopof Massilia who "broke up pic tures andimages in churches." This act of theBishop's reached the ears of Pope Gregory who disapproved "of his breakingthem, though he commends his opposition to their idolatrous use" (p . 59).Yes, there was still opposition to suchviolations of God's law even this latein the Catholic Church. Even the Popehad to commend this Bishop for hismotives. This plainly shows that aknowledge of what was right was knownto the ones in authority. However, eventhis praise of opposition was soon toleave the officials in the Catholic Church.So strong had paganistie influences entered the Catholic Church, that a Council of Catholic leaders was called inConstantinople in 691 A.D. in whichthey officially sanctioned the use ofimages and pictures in churches (Farrar,p. 100). There were some Bishops dissenting from this form of idolatry, bu tthe majority carried and the decreepassed. This decree of the CatholicChurch was in direct antithesis to the

The GOOD NEWSbeliefs and practices of the same Church300 years before when the early Church"Fathers" were in authority. The reasonfor this about-face was because of theunbridled paganistic ideals and philosophies th at crep t into that Church afterthe "convers ion" of Constant ine in thefirst part of the Fourth Century. So manydoctrines of pagani sm had entered theChurch, along with many Pagans themselves being converted, that she wasforced to submit to the use of Paganimages and pictures, if she was to remain popular with the people. This , ofcourse, she did. However, it was not untilanothe r Council of Cons tant inopl e in842 A.D. that the last vest iges of opposition to images and pictures wasstamped out. From that time, until thepresent, the Catholic Church has sanctioned images and the like in theirchurches. Some Protestants made afeeble artempt to reform the Cathol icChurch from this imagery in the reformation, bu t this they failed to do. Infact, the bulk of Protestan ts carried therepresentations of Christ in pictureform, which came from Catholicism,directly into their churches. The pictures, mosaics and pa in ti ngs of Chr istyou see today in Protestant churches andin their li terature, are direct derelop-ments of the ones used by the Catholics.How Was Christ Represented in

Early Christian Art?The Chr is t you see portrayed in pictures and images today is an effeminatelooking individual with long hair and

a beard. There are some differences inportraying Him among the differentartists, bur generally He is the same.But, is the common picture we areused to and the one the Protestantsadopted from the Catholics, the wayChrist actually appeared while on thisearth? Did He have a beard and longha ir?The very first pictures found of Christare painted on the walls of the Catacombsof Rome. Most of these pictures were

painted during the Second and ThirdCenturies and, it might be added, Outside of the approval of the CatholicChurch. That Church, we have seen,did not allow such representations atthis early date. And, it is true, theyshould not have been drawn, but stillthere is something interes ting in themfor us today, for they show Chr ist in anentirely different form than we are accustomed to seeing Him.What Early Paintings Looked LikeThe earliest pictures in these Catacombs, date f rom about 100 years af terthe apostles. And, whoever sketchedthem were undoubtedly acquainted withindividuals who were famil iar with the

June, 1959general appearance of Chris t tha t cameby word of mouth from the apostles.The most ancient of these pictures isdescribed by Roderic Dunkerley in hisbook "Beyond the Gospels." He says:"In particular, there is a painting of theResurrection of Lazarus in which Christis shown-'youthful and beardless, withshort hair and large eyes ... Althoughit is now only barely recognizable, thispicture is of great interest since it is theoldest representation of Jesus that ispreserved anywhere'" (p . 57).

Did you notice any difference f romthe common por trayals today? Chr is tis here depicted as young (He wasaround 33 when crucified) and He iswithout a beard and with short hair.Farrar, also speaking of these early portrayals of Christ, says, "He is almost invariably boyish and beardless ... Hishair is short, His eye full of tenderness"(p. 43). These pic tures are s tr ikinglydifferent from the "Christ" we see todayin the churches of this land.But, let us go on.These early representations of Christ,being beardless and with short hair ,persisted for a number of years. Dunkerley continues, "Reference may be madeto anothe r por trayal of Chr ist, datingfrom early in the third century. It wasfound on the wall of a house-chapel atDura-Europos in the Syrian Desert in1931-2 during excavations of Yale University and the French Academy ofInscriptions and Letters.... Here tooHe is young and without a beard andwearing the ordinary costume of thetime" (p. 58). This picture was foundnear Palestine, and it corresponds withthe portrayals of those found in Rome.The general appearance of Christ seemsto have been known throughout theRoman world, and that Christ's appearance was nor as we know it today. Infact, Farrar says, "During the first fourhundred years there is probably no representat ion of Chris t as bearded, or as aworn and weary sufferer" (p . 52). Dunkerley also agrees with this deduction,when he states, "It is not until the fourthcentury (after Christ) that the familiarbearded face appears" (p . 58). Theseare amazing statements. I t took about400 years to evolve the "Christ" thatwe had been brought up to believe in.And, this "Christ" is not the one theearly Christians thought of-the Christof the Bible. This is the picture of afalse Christ-the one the whole worldworships.

Bible Proves Chr ist Did NotWear Long HairThe foregoing evidence should notsurprise you brethren who have studiedyour Bibles, for God's word plainlyshows that a man should not wear long


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June, 1959hair-v-ir is a shame ( I Cor. 11:14).Christ did not wear long hair, and-asthe first pictures show-even the Catholics knew He did not wear a beard.Some have erroneously assumed thatJesus was under a Nazarite vow (thiswas a vow of extreme humility) inwhich the hair should, for a period oftime, grow long, but this is not so!Jesus was from the small town of Nazareth in Gal ilee and was called "Jesus ofNazareth," but this had nothing to dowith a Nazarite vow! And, the Scriptureplainly shows that Christ was not aNazarite while on this earth, for inMatthew 11:19 Jesus, Himse lf, statedthat He came drinking wine. This wasforbidden one under a Nazarite vow(Num.6:3) .Also, another proof of this is Matthew26:48,49. Here it says Jesus had to bekissed in order for the soldiers to knowwhich one He was. I f Chris t had beendressed as a Nazarite, with long hairand old clothes (in other words, out ofthe ordinary), the soldiers would haverecognized Him without his beingpointed am.

The disciples were also dressed likenrdin"ry men because they were notfasting or under a Nazari te vow (Matt .9: 14,15 ). The Bible is plain on thismatter. Christ and the disciples dressedlike ordinary men, Christ did not havelong hair, and the early pictures of Himshow Him withour long hair and witham a beard.Isaiah 50:6 refers not to Jesus but toI-aiah the prophet.\Vhere Did False Representations ofChr is t Come F rom?The first paintings of Christ were JUStsimple sketches. There seems to havebeen no outside inf:luences directing how

He should look. His general appearancewas apparently common knowledge.Bur, soon there began to creep into theCatholic Church a number of peoplewho had been reared pagans. Along withthem they brought many symbols oftheir art. These pagans began to blendtheir ideas with Biblical events. "EarlyChristian art," says Professor Woltmann,"does not differ in its beginnings fromthe art of antiquity" (Farrar, p. 29).Concerning this fact, Farrar continues,"Christians had to baptize, as it were,all that could be baptized of the ancientheathen types. They themselves hadbeen Pagans, and were unaccustomedto any but Pagan decorations, into whichtbey infused a neu spirit" (p. 29).Notice it! The pagans brought withthem into the Catholic Church theirold ideas on art and infused into themChristian significance. Yes, the paganseven went a step further than merelyrepresenting Christ in outline form (and

The GOOD NEWSeven that was wrong). They brought indirect pagan decorations.Of course, this was at first done undercover in the Third Century, because theCatholic Church at this time still didnot allow such things. But, nevertheless,paganism began to thrive throughout theRoman world under the guise ofChristianity.

Pagan Gods Became DirectRepresentations of ChristYes, this subt it le is a shocking one tomake, but it is fact! The pagans, insteadof destroying the ir gods, tu rned theminto Christ or other Biblical characters.They kept right on worshipping them,but calling them now by Christiannames. "Of these types of Christ, bor-rowed from Pagan antiquity," says Farrar, "the favourite was Orpheus tamingthe wild beasts with his lyre" (p . 30).When the pagans were converted toCatholicism, they quit calling the pagan

god Orpheus by his name of antiquity.Now, they called him Christ. Theyreasoned that it was all right becauseChrist will tame the wild beasts in themillennium as Orpheus does. So, thepagan god Orpheus became Christ. Theycontinued to paint the image of Orpheus, but now it was Christ."No P a ~ a n symbol, therefore. betteraccorded with their tone of mind thanthat which represented the youthfulOrpheus bending the listening treesand charming the savage lions by hiscelestial harmonies, It indicated Christas the King of Love and Peace, as the

Law of life, and the Harmony of theworld" (Farrar, pp. 33,34).Another authoritative work entit led"Wonder s of the Past" pp. 1118,9 alsohas some informat ion on this subject.It states, "For the Christians, even inthe earliest days, observed the customsof their ancestors, though with a newintention." Continuing, "I t (Art) remains as it were transformed, seen withnew eyes, and drawn into the service ofChrist." Now notice this statement fromthis work: "Orpheus becomes a prophecyof Him (Christ); and the Good Shepherd (Christ) bears the lamb on Hisshoulders preci.rely as H ermes (a pagangod) had been wont to do, but witha new tenderness. The portrait of Christ,"the book continues, "is but seldomfound, but when we do find a presentation of Him, He is represented as youngand BEARDED, with a smile on Hislips, splendid AS APOLLO" (p. 1119).Oh brethren, notice this! Here is Christrepresented with a BEARD--as you seeHim portrayed today-and it is exactlyas some anc ient portrayals of the chiefpagan god APOLLO. Need any morebe said? Here is where the Christ oftoday comes from! It is nothing more

Page 5than a portrait of a heathen god.Farrar goes on to say, "Other Pagansymbols adopted by Chris tianity werethose of the winged Psyche, the Sirens,and Hercules feeding the dragon withpoppy seed. The story of Cupid andPsyche, of which there are several instances, was chosen as the emblem ofGod's love for the soul" (p. 34). Yes,there were many pagan gods of theheathens and they brought t hem righ tinto the Catholic Church when thepagans were "converted." So numeroushad these representations of Chr is t become, that by 691 A.D. (as stated before) , the Catholic Church finallyallowed them by official decree to become a part of the religious service.Because there were many of thesepagan gods, they could not all represent Christ for all of them had slightlydifferent appearances. Augustine, theCatholic official in the Fourth Centurystated that there were "in his time, innumerable pictures of Christ, whichwere all different" (Farrar , p. 73). Wefinally see the solidification of thesevarying pictures ( represent ing manypagan gods) into the common one to-day.Actually, roday's representation isthe blending together of the chief characteristics of major pagan gods. Thewisest and most powerful of the godswere portrayed with beards and longhair. The hair and beard representedtheir ancient wisdom and godliness.This uniquely blended portrayal wasthe one finally sanctioned by the Catholic Church-it satisfied everyone. Thisis the very presentation of Christ that isextant in Catholic and Protestantchurches today. Few realize that it is adirect representation of the chief ofpagan gods. Truly, Satan has deceivedthe whole world (Rev. 12:9).

How Does Christ Actual lyLook Today?Christ does not look like the pagangods of Greece or Rome and as theworld portrays Him today. There is noresemblance whatsoever. If you want atrue Biblical picture of our Saviour,turn to Revelation 1: 13-16). There isthe real Christ. It is a descript ion thatno artist could paint nor any sculpturormold. This is the Christ who has a facethat shines as the sun in its full s trength.He was so bright that John fell at Hisfeet as dead when he saw Him (Rev.1:17) .Here is Chr is t in His full power andglory-the Christ of the Bible. And thisis the way He will appear when Hecomes back to this ear th with all Hisglory (Matt . 24: 30), Most people willbe looking for a false Christ-the onepictured today. What a shock they will


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Page 6have when the RFA L CHRIST is revealed!Violating the Second Commandment?In the light of these facts, we shouldask ourselves if we are violating God'scommandments. Do we have picturesof this false Christ-the representationof pagan gods in our homes?-in ourBibles?I f we do have, we should do as Godcommanded the ancient Israelites inNumbers 33: 52. "Dertroy all their (theheathen's] PICTURES, and destroy alltheir molten images, and qu it e pluckdown all their high places." Yes, brethren, let us rid ourselves of any form of

idolatry-this form of violating theSecond Commandment . And, let us beabout our Father 's business, by alwaysbeing in obedience to His commandments ( I John 2: 3,4) .

See TABERNACLE!(Continued from page 2)

enough to assemble where God haschosen to place His name. Meantime,you will be observing the festivals athome just as you would at the feast.Sad as it sometimes is, with somefamilies, the second tithe just ham'tbeen ellollgb to bring them to the feastof tabernacles. Tn rhis case, those havingmore than enough second tithe shouldhelp those who lack. Remember , Goddoesn't expect the poor to save more thantheir small tenth, but tht:y must do theirpart.' God often blesses others, however,with a larger tenth so they can help thosewho have less.We find in Acts 4:32-35 that the earlyChurch of God helped its needy members and we follow this principle.In many caseswe try to aid the poorerbrethren through the extra second titheof those few who have more thanenough. But only those who have faithfully saved their insufficient second tithedeserve the extra help. If you haven'ttried to save your little, God can notdeem you worthy of His extra assistance.Yes, God has provided a method bywhich we can keep His festivals IF weare willing to do our part! I t isn't difficult once we try. God has promised tocare for our every need (I Peter 5: 7 ) .And if we love the brethren we won'tfail to do it.Are we going to follow Christ? leteveryone examine his own heart!

I f there is not enough second tithe totake the entire family to the three greatfeasts, then just the man, as head of thefamily, should go (Deur. 16: 16). Theother members of the family are expected if circumstances permit, and God willhelp us work it Out in time if we do ourpart. Of course, if the husband is an un-

The GOOD NEWSbeliever, the wife should certainly try tocome anyway.

God's Insurance ProgramIn reading the reference given inDeuteronomy 14:22-27, some of youmay have wondered about the meaningof verses 28-29. In these verses, God iscommanding another, altogether differ-

ent tithe.You may not have known it before,but God wants us to save one more titheevery third year to help the orphans andwidows.In both Deuteronomy 14:28-29 andDeuteronomy 26: 12-15 we find this tithecommanded. It used to be set aside inevery walled city, "within thy gates"(Deut. 26-12). But now many widowsand orphans are so far away that wesimply send it wherever needed. Thisthird tithe is to be saved only every thirdyear.Since the laws of let ting the land restand releasing the poor debtors werebased on a cycle of seven years, we areto save this special t ithe in the third andsixth years out of every seven year period. Compare the story flow in Deut,14:28-29 with 15: 1 for proof .NUlIe of you were really God's children-spiritually Israelites (Gal. 3: 29 )-unt i l you were converted and baptized.So you wont' need to save this third titheunti l the thi rd year after you were converted.Some of you may think that payingGod's (not your!) first tithe to Hiswork, saving a second tithe with whichto attend His feasts, and, every thi rdyear only, saving an additional third titheis going to be impossible. That's whatthe uiorld believes! But we are not of theworld but of the household of faith.Do you think God has commandedyou to do something which He knowsyou will be unable to perform? No !Those of us who have saved these threetithes know by experience that God isable to bless us sufficiently that weabound to every good work (I I Cor.9: 6-8). He is doing it this moment forhundreds of the brethren and He willdo it for you. You do YOUR part andGod will be faithful to perform HIS!

Historical ExampleA most convincing example from areliable historical source of how theJews paid these tithes is given in thebook of Tobit. This book is found inwhat is known as the Apocrypha-acollection of Jewish history and wr itings covering and extending beyond theperiod between the Old and New Testaments.These writings were not inspired, butthey do give us a great deal of reliableinformation. Tobit was a man of thetribe of Naphtali, which was among the

June, 1959ten tribes taken captive by Assyria.Prior to the captivity, he kept the commandments of God even after the restof his t ribe began offer ing sacrifices toBaal.In the thi rd pa ragraph of the book ofTobit, he tells us, "But I alone wentmany a time to Jerusalem for the festivals, as the Scrip ture commands all Israel with an everlasting decree, takingwith me the first fruits and the tenthpart of my crops and my first shearings,and I would give them to the priests,the sons of Aaron, at the altar. 1. tenthpart of all my produce I would give tothe sons of Levi, who officiated at Jerusalem, and another tenth I would sell, andgo and spend the proceeds in Jerusalem each year, and a third tenth I wouldgive to those to whom it was fitting togive it, as Deborah my grandmotherhad instructed me-for I was left anorphan of my father."Thus we see that the Israelites hadalways understood that they were tosave three tithes, and that each onewas to be used for a different purpose.God' s commandments are not hiddenfrom anyone who sincerely desires toknow the t ru th .

Let' s Be ThereAre yOli living by every word of God?Let us obey our OWll spiritual Father bykeeping His annual holy days and saving the tithes that He has commanded!God's annual festivals represent Hisvacation plan for YOU. God wants us tolive happy and prosperous lives. Jesuscame to teach men the way to an abun-

dant life. He kept Goers annual festivalsfrom His youth (Luke 2:41-42), andHe rejoiced in them as God directs.This is certainly the kind of vacationJesus took. And it is the happiest possible solu tion to your vacation problem.As most of you know, the Festival ofTabernacles is held in the United Statesat our large Tabernacle near Gladewater,Texas. The location there is beautiful ,the climate is ideal, and Gladewater islocated in the very center of our heaviestl istening area for the broadcast.Make your plans now to a ttend theFeast of Tabernacles this year which begins at sunset, October 16, and lasts foreight days. Write us for informationimmediately. It is an experience youwill never forger!God in His infinite wisdom knewthat His children should congregatewith instruction and Christian fellowship. That is why God BLESSED us bygiving us His annual festivals! Weshould appreciate this love God haslavished on us by saving the t ithe thatHe commands for His holy days.God has made your presence possibleIF you do your part! Are you willing?


7/12

SATAN ,S FATE!Here is the truth about Satan, and the startling proof about his final judgment!

by Garner Ted Armstrong(Reprinted from th e July 1957 Good News)

T H1S WORLD is total ly deceived. InHis very first words to His disciples in the Olivet Prophecy, Jesussternly warned, "Take heed that no mandeceive you, for MANY shall come in myname, saying, I am Christ, and shalldeceive many! (Mart. 24:4-5).Most of you brethren are well awareof the false doctrines circulated about inmodern "Churchianiry" about Satan theDevil. The familiar tunes of the"preachy-toned" tent-camp evangelistshouting, "We're sure gonna twist oleSatan's tail tonight!" is just one of manyexamples.Some believe he is merely the embodiment of all that is evil, and thereforenot a real being, but just a BAD "idea"in the minds of men. Others believeSatan appears as a red dancing monsterwith wings like a bat, horns, a tail anda pitchfork. Still others believe Satan is

merely the lustful and evil part of human nature.Hut What Is the Truth?

Surely most of you know, after havingstudied your Bibles, lis tening to TheWORLD TOMORROW broadcast and reading the articles in The PLA1N TRUTHand GOOD NEWS that Satan is the godof this present world.Paul expressly calls him that! "Inwhom the god of this world {Greekaion.. or "age"} hath blinded the mindsof them which believe not, LEST THElight of the glorious gospel of Christ,who is the image of God, should shineunto them" (I I Cor. 4: 4) .In trying to over throw Christ, Satanboasted, "All this power will I give you(all the kingdoms of the world), andthe glory of them, for that is deliveredunto me, and to whomsoever I will Igive it" (Luke 4:5-6).

Had Satan made this statement falsely,Chris t would certainly have refuted it!And yet, Christ said not one word tocontradict Satan's presumptuous remarksabout the kingdoms of this world. Jesusdid, however, rebuke the Devil fortempting Him by means of the kingdoms of this world.Jesus warned His disciples tha t themajority would be deceived, and goingin the broad, wide, easyway-the way offollowing that which seems right to aman-to destruction! (Matt. 7: 13 ) .

The deceiver is called the "prince ofthe power of the air" in Eph. 2: 2. John' s

vision plainly showed Satan as the deceiver of the WHOLE WORLD, who wascast down with his angels, who are nowcalled demons (Rev. 12:9).How I t Happened

God reveals how Satan became thegod of this world-and why! Perhapsmany have falsely assumed the Devilis the god of this world against the willof God! Many, perhaps, have unknowingly followed another deception ofSatan by believing the false idea of thisworld of some k ind of GREAT


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Page 8religious doctrines-which are NOTfound in the Bible!Listen!Satan (Lucifer) wan ted to go toheaven! The churches teach a doctrineof going some day to heaven! Luciferis a spirit, and is therefore immortal!The churches believe man has an immortal spirit! Christ said an everlastingfire awaits Satan and his angels. Thechurches teach an everlasting fire awaitsall "sinners." Satan FELL from his attempt to overthrow God. The paganmisconception is that man FELL!These are only a few of the moreprevalent doctrines that Satan haspalmed off as truth to this gullible world.

Satan's WorkGod shows that fully one third of allthe multipl ied millions of the angelsfollowed Lucifer in his rebellion, andwere cast down to the earth with him!(Rev. 12:4 with Rev. 1:20). These

fallen angels, remember, are SPIRITS, nothuman beings! To accomplish his workuf deception, with the ult imate goal ofdestroying human beings, Satan utilizesthese millions of disobedient spirits!He is called the PRINCE of demons(Matt. 12: 24) .Cont rary to the bel ief of some, Satanthe Devi l does not have some kind ofspiritual essence which is a counterpartof God' s Holy Spirit! Satan cannot beeverywhere present, as can God throughHis Spirit. Satan cannot act directly uponnations through a spirit! Instead, heutilizes the natural pull s of human nature, and his demons!Satan himself is always concerned withthe top level jobs in his attempt to destroy God's plan. Notice how he began- b y trying to destroy Adam and Eve- the very FIRST (and therefore a pri -mary aim) humans on the earth. Again ,when God sent His own Son, Satantried by many clever subtlet ies to causeChrist to SIN against the law of God.All through Christ's ministry, Satan triedto have Him killed-to thwart His everypurpose! Finally, when it was time according to God's purpose to ALLOWChrist to be killed, Satan the Devil wasa DIRECT instrument in executing Christ.He entered personally into Judas! (John13:27).It is nor at all inconceivable that Satancould personally, individually tempt oneof God's people! However, many peoplea ttr ibute many insignificant things tothe Devil-not real iz ing that he is concerned with the top level jobs in hisevil plan! Many of these things are nothing more than the pulls of their ownhuman nature!But make no mistake about it!Peter warns us that Satan is as a"roaring lion, walking about, SEEKING

The GOOD NEWSwhom he may devour!" ( I Peter 'i: R) .Perhaps more often than any of usrealize, a demon is attempting to influence us-either directly, or throughanother person.Since the Devil is concerned directlywith the primary targets in trying to upset God' s plan, it also follows that theMOST IMPORTANT TARGET ON EARTH ISCOD'S TRUE CHURCH!God thunders a warning at everyoneof us tha t the Devi l is yet to come downto this earth in GREAT WRATH-knowinghe has bu t a shor t time left-to PERSECl'TE God's Church, OURChurch! "Andthe dragon was wroth with the woman,and went to make war with the remnantof her seed, which keep the command-ments of God, and have the testimonyof Jesus Christ!" (Rev. 12:17).Paul said he was not IGNORANT ofSatan's devices (I I Cor. 2: 11).Are you?\Vhat About the Everlasting Fire?The time is rapidly drawing nearerwhen Satan the Devil will no longer be

permitted to deceive the nations! At thispresent time, God is directly ALLOWINGSatan to be used as His instrument inblinding the world, so the lesson ofmankind will be so firmly and completelyetched in its own blood that there willnever again be a society exist ing in totalrebellion aga inst God' s government!God is the One who has "concluded(shut up ) them all in unbelief, thatHe might have mercy on all" (Rom.II: 32). He says He is not willing thatANY should perish, bu t that ALL shouldfinally come to repentance! (I I Pet. 3:9) .At the beginning of Christ's millennialrule over the nations, Satan is to beBOUND, and cast into an abyss (Rev.20: 1-3). This condition of restraint willlast during the thousand years, and thenthe Devil will be momentari ly allowedfreedom to deceive the nations again!(vs, 3).But consider what occurs next!Jesus said He is going to cast unrepentant, carnal minded HUMANS into"everlasting fire, p repa re d for the d ev iland his angels" (Matt. 25:4 I ). Thisparable of the sheep and the goats is

another example of a parable of Christthat makes no special reference to thetime element, bu t is showing a spiri tuallesson and principle to be learned! Theseparation described in verse 32 takesplace ove r a period of 1,100 years!-tothe end of the 100 year period after themillennium.Notice, however, that these wickedHl'MAN BEINGS are cast into an everlasting fire prepared for the Devil andhis angels.Fire is a physical, chemical thing!Fire is the combus tion of physical ob-

June, 1959jeers with oxygf"n which cham.ges thephysical objects into ashes and gaseousvapors!Notice that the wicked (the sameones Christ referred to ) are to be ASHES

under the feet of the righteous! (MaL4: 3 ) . Therefore, this fire Chr ist spokeof in Matthew 25 is a fire that CONSUMES human beings! But Satan is aSPIRIT being! And spirit beings are nota ff ec te d by fire! They are not material.Yes- i t may be possible that Almighty God could create a fire thatwould perhaps consume a spirit-sinceALL THINGS are possib le with God!(Matt. 19:26). But it is not a questionof wha t God CAN do- i t is a quest ionof what has God WILLED to do!Let's continue!The word "everlast ing" in Matthew25:41 is "aonian" in the Greek language. "Aonian" comes f rom the root"aion" which means age! The correcttranslation into the Engl ish language

should be "AGE-LASTING fire."Does the Bible bear this up?Yes, it does!The "Age-Lasting" Fire

Next, let's notice carefully some signif icant facts about the fire Chris t willuse to destroy His enemies!When Jesus returns to this earth asKING, His first act Wil l be to destroy,NOT ALL the wicked, bu t that "wickedONE" who is going to be working miracles and deceiving the world! (I I Thess.2: 8). Together with this great falseprophet , Christ will lay hold of the Beast

who is yet to arise, and throw them bothinca a lake of fire, burning with brimstone! (Rev. 19:20).These two are human beings-physical, breathing men, who are alive anddrawing breath at this instant! The firewill CONSUME them. This lake of fireis going to be burning all dur ing themillennium! (Isaiah 66: 23-24).During Christ's time, the Valley of

Hinnom, just outside of Jerusalem, wasthe place where refuse and the bodiesof criminals were thrown-inca fires thatwere kept constantly burning. God usesthis as a type of the coming lake of fire!My father, mother and brother saw thisvalley, called "Gehenna" in the Bibleand thus were actually looking intoHELL, believe it or not!During the millennial reign of Christand His saints, this valley will oncemore be kept perpetually burning-andthe incorrigibly wicked ones who WILLto continue in rebell ion against God 'slaws will be THROWN INTOthis "lake offire" as a stern witness to all the rest ofthe world!Next, turn to Revelation 20: 10. "Andthe devil that deceived them was castinto the lake of fire and brimstone, where


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June, 1959the beast and the false prophet WERECAST." There is 110 verb "are ," in theoriginal Greek, as the King James revisers have added in italics! See the Companion Dible, Diaglotl, or any concordance!Notice th at t he Devi l WILL BE CAST

into THE (not just "a," bu t the definitearticle "the" is in the Greek) lake offire where the Beast and False ProphetWERE CAST!TI-llS IS THE SAME FIRE!I t was burning at the precise begin-ning of the millennium when the Beastand False Prophet were thrown into itsflames; it will be burning at the END ofthe millennium, when Sa tan is throwninto the same fire!That's WHY it is called an AGE-LASTING fire in Matthew 25 :41-because itdoes, literally, LAST for an age-the

millennial age!\Xfhat About th e Demons ?

Christ said the fire was being preparedfor the Devil AND his angels! So they,too, are to be thrown into the lake offire!A commonly misunderstood explanation of this is found in I Peter 3: 19-20.People have assumed, because they basetheir religious philosophies on the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, thatChrist was hnsy PRFACI-lING to somesupposed "souls" of men in hell! Whatfolly! Let's understand what really happened!Your Bible plainly states the TIME

element in these verses . Christ did thepreaching, NOT during the three daysand nights of His tomb when He wasDEAD (I Cor. 15: 3 and 20) but "WHENonce the longsuf fering of God waitedin the days of Noah, while the ark wasa preparing .. . " ( I Peter 3;20).But notice to whom Christ witnessed

about the flood! "By which also He wentand preached unt o t he SPIRITS IN PRISON!" (vs. 19).Who were these "spirits?" Certainly

not MEN-nor the "souls" of men, sincemen do not have immortal souls!Turn to II Peter 2: 4 for the answer!"For if God spared not t he angels [spirits} that sinned, bu t cast them down toPRISON ("hell" is a mistranslation fromt he Greek tartaroo which means a condition or position of restraint, as animprisonment! ) and delivered them intoCHAINS uf darkness to be reserved untojudgment."The "spirits in prison" are the sinningangels, or the DEMONS that have perverted their ways and followed Satan,

and are BOUND to the earth-imprisonedhere by the power of God unt il the irday of JUDGMENT.The final enemy of Christians is deathitself. When the plan of God is finally

Tbe GOOD NEWScompleted, even death is to be completely destroyed! (I Cor. 15:26). Just beforethe establishment of the new heavensand new ear th , all that is corrupt, allthat is physically combustible, will beconsumed in a vast, WORLD-WIDE lakeof fire!

The Lake of FireThis tremendous conflagration will beso intense, so whi te ho t, tha t the surfaceof the whole earth will l iterally melt

with the fervor of the flames! Peterdescribes this awesome time as a melting of the very elements, a time whenall t he works on the ear th a re bu rn edup-dissolved! (I I Pet. 3:10-11).Christ shows t hi s t ime occurs afterthe final Great White Throne Judgment

when God's plan is complete-and allwho have been added to His family arealready born of Him. After thi s finaljudgment, even death and the graveare destroyed (Rev. 20: 13-15).The surface of the ear th will becomefor a time just as if it were the blazingsurface of the sun! This is the great

Gehenna Fire t ha t Chri st talked of,that will destroy the wicked.It is into this vast, seething lake offire that Satan and his angels will havebeen cast.But remember! This fire is PHYSICAL!It conseemcs the bodies of the wicked,and is so intense it even melts the rocksand elements of the earth until they

ate liquefied.But Satan and his angels are spiritbeings! Fire is PHYSICAL, and cannotBURN spiritual beings! Spirit IS NOT

COMBUSTIBLE!Now notice an important verse!The New Heavens and New EarthIn the glorious picture of the newheavens and new earth, John wrote a

description of the temple, and the beautyof God's new creation. A key scripture isRevelation 21: 27! God expressly showsSatan and his angels will not BE in thenew heavens and the new earth! "Andthere shall IN NO WISE ENTER INTO ITanyth ing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh alie, bu t they which are written in theLamb's book of life." Sat an will not bethere! And the fire will BURN UP thewicked, and the works of the earth(Rev. 20:14, 21:8).Peter tells us we can look forward tothe new heavens and new earth whereindwells righteousness! (II Pet. 3:13). Itis evident from GOcl's word tha t Satanand his angels wi ll not be anywhe re inthe new heaven and new earth!Then where are they to be?Let 's go on-and see what your Bibleactually reveals!Since fire cannot consume spirits-

Page 9then how can they be punished? Manypeople fail to realize that mental torment is far worse than physical torment!

How a Spirit Can SufferGod ..:reated our bodies with a type of"safety device" against too much pain!

When the physical human body is subjected to extreme pain, it will reach acertain point and then lapse into unconsciousness! The mind does not continue to register the pain-s-even thoughthe body cont inues to suffer! Mothersrecognize the truth of this immediately.The thought of seeing their childrensufter-having to stand the mental agonies of see ing their own children beingtortured-would be far worse than having to suffer physical pain themselves.A disembodied spiri t-one that cannot any longer physically manifest itself-is an uncomfortable, miserable spirit!Jesus described this condition of mentaltorment when He said, "When the unclean spirit is gone ou t of a man, hewalketh through dry places, seeking rest,and f inding none , he sairh, I will returnunto my house whence I came out"(Luke 11:24).Th is is further i llustrated by the ac

count of Chr is t' s exper ience with themany demons who had entered the manin the country of the Gadarenes. Jesuscommanded the spirits to come out ofthe man , and they "besought him muchthat he would not send them away ou tof the country" (Mark 5: 10). "And allthe demons besought him, saying, sendus into the swine, that we may enter intothem" (vs. 12).When Philip was performing miraclesat Samaria, he cast ou t many demons,

who came out of people "crying withloud voice" (Acts 8: 7) showing theirfrustration and anger at being deprivedof their dwelling place! (Luke 8: 28.)God says t he demons know of Hispower-they are aware of the great

AUTHORITY of God! We are told thatwillful sinners are going to be left witha certain FEARFUL looking for of judg-ment (Heb. 10;26-27) and t ha t it is aFEARFUL thing to fall into the handsof the living God! (vs. 31).James said, "Thou believesr that there

is one God? Thou doest well, the demonsalso believe, and TREMBLE!" (James2: 19). They FEAR the awesome judgment awaiting them, and are thereforein TORMENT! "There is no f ear in love,bu t perfect love casteth out fear, becauseFEAR HATH TORMENT" ( I John 4:18).When Satan comes down to the earthin great wrath, it is because he knowshe has bu t a SHORT TIME left! (Rev.12:12).His punishment wil l p la in ly be men-tal, spiritual, NOT PHYSICAL!Many have misunderstood verse 16 of


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Page 10Ezekiel 28. Notice that God is speakingof the beginning of the creation in thisaccount of Satan's original rebellion. But,just as the Bible so often uses DUALmeanings, so THIS is history and prophecy at the same time! God refers to the"stones of fire" in verse 13. Notice howthese same stones are used in the description of the Holy City! Comparewith Revelation 21: 18-21. Remember,the "mountain" (nation, or government)of God is ultimately going to be ONTHIS EARTH! God CAST LUCIFER OUTof that mountain, throwing him DOWNfrom his attempt to be above God'sthrone! God's throne is then to be ONTHIS EARTH! God will again cast Satanout of His presence!" . . . therefore I WILL (both past andfuture) cast thee as p ro fane out of themountain of God, and I will destroy thee,o covering cherub, FROM the midst ofthe stones of fire" (Ezek. 28:16). Theword destroy is explained by the wordFROM! God does NOT say Satan is tobe DESTROYED! He DOES say Satan is tobe DESTROYED FROM a certain placethe midst of the stones of fire, or thelocation of God 's seat of authori ty .

Satan Will Not Be Destroyed!Now. let's notice fur the r proo f thatSatan is NOT to be destroyed. Turn toRevelation 20, and verse 10. I did notexplain this verse sooner for a definitepurpose, as you will see.Notice that the Devi l is cast into thelake of fire where the Beast and False

Prophet were cast, AND he and hisdemons shall be tormented day and nightfor ever and ever!This expressly states Satan will betormented for the AGES OF THE AGES!(See Critical Commentary, Ivan PaninNT., and Diaglott.) This expression inthe Greek means for all eternity-fortime everlasting!

BUT!Notice carefully the verse states Satanwill be thrown into the lake of fire ANDtormented forever! It does no t say thathe will remain in the fire forever! Thefire is on this earth! The fire is an AGE-LASTING fire, which will not be burningafter God's new heaven and new earthare established! Since Satan is to be tormented FOREVER, and the fire is to finallyconsume the physical objects it is burning until it burns out, Satan does notremain in this lake of fire forever!Satan is a spirit! Fire cannot consumespirit-and A SPIRIT CANNOT DIE!Jesus Christ said so!For a clinching proof, turn to luke thetwentieth chapter. In verse 34, Chr is tbegins to explain to the hypocriticalSadducees about the resurrection. "...The children of the world marry, and aregiven in marriage, but they which shall

The GOOD NEWSbe accounted worthy to obtain thatworld(age), and the resurrection from thedead, neither marry, nor are given inmarriage, NEITHER CAN THEY DIEANY MORE, for they are equal untothe angels . . ." (vs. 34-36).Jesus tells us the angels cannot die! Satan is a fallen angel! Therefore Satancannot die!

"Reserved unto Judgment!"Remember, Peter and Jude both attestto the fact that the sinning demons arereserved unto a time of JUDGMENT!

Without realizing it, many people haveassumed the "judgment" is a final SENTENCING that is passed in one instantat Christ 's coming!Such is not the case.'A judge must investigate the meritsof each case and ARRIVE at a decisionbased on the facts! God is cal ling OutHis children to become Kings andPRIESTS with Christ-and to RULE THISEARTH!A vital part of the job of each ofGod 's chi ldren wil l be JUDGMENT! Believe it or not, the Creator of all thatexists is actually permitting us to havean opportunity to become judges of thisworld! Many have not understood thescriptures already mentioned in I Peter3: 19-20 and II Peter 2:4, simply becausethey have not understood an importantphase of that judgment!

The Apostle Paul gives us the amazinganswer in I Cor inthians 6:2-3! "Do yeno t know that the saints shall judge theworld? And if the world shall be judgedby you, are ye unworthy to judge thesmallest matters? KNOW YE NOT THATWE SHALL JUDGE ANGELS?"

There it is!We shall judge angels! Remember,the wicked spi ri ts , inc luding Satan, arepresently being reserved, being kept inrestraint, unto judgment! That judgingis yet to be done!Now do you see?The Bible plainly reveals Satan will becast into the lake of fire, bu t the lakeof fire will end when the new heavensand new earth are established, and Satanis to be tormented unto the ages of theages! It also shows his torment while intha t lire is going to be MENTAL, at see

ing all he has strived toward, workedfor, plotted for, burned up. Christpreached to the spi ri ts on this earth dur-ing the time of the flood as a WITNESSto them! The flood was a type of the yetfuture destruction of the earth-thistime by FIRE! Christ was warning themof the impending destruction of all theirworks-and their everlasting banishment from this earth! The exact natureof their ETERNAL punishment is YET toBE DECIDED!YOUR BIBLE REVEALS YOU MAY BE

June, 1959INSTRUMENTAL IN DECIDING THATPUNISHMENT!Jude gave a slight indication of thepossibility of the nature of that punishment when he used the demons as a

tyre in warning Christians about falseteachers who had crept in unawares.In read ing through the book of Jude,you come to verse 6, where the demonsare men tioned, to the next few verses,wher e these "filthy dreamers" are described. Notic e how their error is EXACTLY tha t of the sinning angels in thatthey toO tried to usurp authority! "They. . . ran greedily after the error of Balaamfor reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core . . ." (verse 11). SeeNumbers 16, where Korah tried to usurpthe pos it ion of God' s chosen servants.Jude continues to describe, "Ragingwaves of the sea, foaming ou t their ownshame, wandering stars [see Rev. 1:20,where stars are symbols of angels} TO

WHOM IS RESERVED THE BLACKNESS OFDARKNESS FOR EVER!" (verse 13).Notice, in Enoch's prophecy, he spokeof coming judgment, "... Behold, thelord cometh with ten thousand of hissaints, to execute judgment upon all. . ." (verses 14-15).As has already been proved-the an-gels (demons) are definitely included

among those to be judged by the saints!Could this be an indicat ion of their finalfate? They are miserable when disembodied-wandering through "dry places,seeking rest!" Could this s ta tement inJude give us a picture of their punishment? "... wandering stars, to whomis reserved the blackness of darknessfor ever!" (Jude 13).

Your ResponsibilityPart of our awesome responsibility is

going to be the judging of angels! Satan 's ult imate destination apparently isyet to be decided-by the saints!Are you preparing yourself for such ajob?Such an overwhelming responsibilitydemands a tremendous amount of wisdom and knowledge! God Almighty hascalled you and me to much more thanjust some inactive, "fluff-fluff" eternity

of laziness and ease! We are going tohave the responsibility to rule the universe with Christ-to do what the fallenangels were unwilling to accomplish. Sogreat is that responsibility that God saysit has not entered i nto the heart of manthe things He has prepared for us! (ICor. 2:9).

Correction: The Sacred Calendar inthe May issue was mistakenly laheled"lth," "2th," "3th." It should have been"Lst,' "2nd," "3rd."


11/12

Should You ASSEMBLEWithout a Minister?

If/e know you brethren long for local church fellowship. W'e knowyou need it. BUT, should you assemble by yourselves without aminister whom God has sent to feed the local flock?

by Herman L. Hoeh(Reprinted from the October 1957 Good News)

T H IS YEAR hundreds of new members are being added to God'sChurch. Many will attend theFeast of Tabernacles for the first timethis year. They will return home filledwith the joys of personal fel lowship.Soon they begin to vis it with nearbybrethren. With social fellowship comesthe inevi table des ire to assemble on thesabbaths for round-table discussions.Many feel the necessity of social contact with brethren. They equally desireto learn more about the Bible. Whatcould be bet te r than meeting each sabbath for Bible study, it is reasoned! Andthink of the social fellowship!Immediately some will think of Hebrews 10:25. "We should assemble ourselves together," they will say.But what happens?Whereve r groups gathe r togethe r a

dominant individual inevitably arises.By force of personali ty others begin tolook to him-even though he may notunderstand the Bible as well as they. Hebecomes a leader. Yet he may not becapablc of keeping order. He is usuallythe center of arguments, doubts anddivisions. Dissension and errors gradually arise. Some brethren leave in disgust-soured on the truth.Is this God's way of feeding the flock?

New Testament ExampleThere are two methods by which wecan LEARN the solution to this problem:1) by New Testament example, 2) byJesus' instruction.First. let us understand the example ofthe Bible itself. We are experiencing

today the same problem which confronted the early, inspired, Spirit-filledChurch of God. The apostolic Churchwas a scattered Church (Act s 11: 19).So are you brethren today! But what didthat early scattered Church do?Open your Bibles to Acts 11. Noticethat some "which were scattered abroad"(verse 19) "came to Ant ioch ... anda great number be lieved, and turnedunto the Lord. Then tidings of thesethings came unto the ears of the churchwhich was in Jemsalem." What didthey do? Notice it! "They sent forth

Barnebas, that he should go as far asAntioch" (verses 20-22).Barnabas was a trained teacher (Acts13:1). Barnabas also sough t out Paul(Acts 11:25-26), who had already beentrained personally by Jesus Christ (Gal.I: 17-18). They were eminently qualifiedto feed the flock.Jesus Chr ist di rec ted His apostles atJerusalem to send pastors lest the Amioch bre th ren would assemble wi thou tleadership. The SAME example occursin Acts 14.The apostles, Barnabas and Paul, fled

the city of Iconinrn because of persecution (verses 1-5), They came to Lystrawhere the Jews soon attacked them asthey were conducting their evangelisticwork Thereupon they leu to Derbe(verse 20). In each of these cities theapostles were prevented momentar ilyf rom continuing the ir mini stry. Theysoon returned, however , to confirm thedisciples in the fai th (verse 21). Nowobserve verse 23: "And when they hadordained them elden in EVERY church,and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the lord:'Paul did no t establish churches without pastors! EVERY local church had itspastor. Jesus called His people sheep.They need a shepherd. Paul thereforegave them pastors, or shepherds, whowould feed the flock. We are NO different today. God's people stilI need pastors to lead them into truth.And notice, too, that they were ordained, with prayer and fasting, by theapoJtles. God did not leave it to the

brethren to gather together and to follow anyone who had a desire to becomean elder. In these cities, where hundredswere being converted, Paul establishedlocal churches and orda ined elders forEVERY church! But before ordainingelders, Paul's practice was to teach thempersonally, both in public and in theirhomes. He said so in Acts 20: 17,20.This is God's pattern-God's WAY.

If we are to ent er t he Kingdom ofGod, we must come under the government of God. We must learn to conductourselves God's WAY. Chri st iani ty is aWAY of life.

Joined to ChristTo many people, a local congregationbecomes a place of social rather thanJpiritual fellowship. People join themselves together, instead of being joinedto Christ, In John 15:5, Jesus said: "Iam the vine, ye are the branches." Whatwould you think if the branches wouldsay to themselves, let us bundle ourselves together? Yet that is exactly whatyou arc doing when you meet of your

own accord without ministers.'To be a Chri st ian you need to "abide"in Christ-you need to live by His instruction. Do the branches of a grapev ine receive the ir sap f rom each other?Or do they receive it from the centralstump? You need to receive your spiri tual power from Christ-the vine. Notfrom a branch-an individual whothinks he would like to hold a studygroup on the sabbath.Your spiritual fellowship is not merely with one another, bur "with the

Father, and with H is Son Jesus Christ"through the Holy Spirit (I John 1: 3).Not ice what John writes in verse 6: "I fwe say that we have fellowship withHim, and walk in darb-ness, we lie, anddo not the truth." If you claim to havereal fellowship with God, and "walkin darkness"-disobey the instructionof the Bible-you are not doing thetruth. You are actual ly cur off from realfellowship with the Heavenly Father."But if we walk in the l ight"-if weobey the Biblical instruction-"we havefellowship with one another" (verse 7).

How plain! In order to have real fellowship with one another , you need toabide in the teachings of Jesus and Hisapostles-you need to follow the example and the instruction of the Bible,which is ABSOLUTE and FINAL AUTHORITY!

New Testament InstructionNow let us turn once again to Hebrews 10:24-25. What is the purpoJeof assembl ing in local churches? "Toprovoke unto love and to good works . . .

exhorting one another."Notice carefully that Paul explains the


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Your questions answered in these columns.' Your opportunity to havediscussed those problems pertaining directly to members of God's Church.

[j2yestion

Page 11pttrpose of our assembling, but he doesnot explain HOW the local assemblyshould be conducted. To understand this,we must turn to othe r verses which explain this phase fully.In Eph. 4: 11-17 Paul explains thatChrist gave evangelists, pastors andteachers and other ministerial offices "forthe perfect ing of the saints ... for theedifying of the body of Chr ist: till weall come in the unity of the fai th, andof the knowledge of the Son of God,unto a perfec t man . . . that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to andfro, and carried about with every windof doctrine, by the slight of men, andcunning craftiness . . . bu t speakingthe truth in love, may grow up into himin all things."What is the purpose of the minis try?To ins truct the brethren to grow inlove and in good deeds-exactly as Heb.10:24 mentions. Then God intends thepastors to set the right example and toinstruct the flock which should assemblewith a minister. IF BRETHREN COULDACCUMPLISH THIS BY ASSEMBLINGWITHOUT A MINISTER, THEN JESUSWASTED HIS TIME TO TRAIN INDIVID-UALS TO BECOME PASTORS OR ELDERS.Then He was mis taken in training thedisciples to preach and to feed the flock,if the flock could feed itself!The very fact tha t the minis try is FORthe edifying of the church is PROOFPOSITIVE that assembling without ashepherd will NOT lead to unity andperfect ion in knowledge. Withum apastor , disunity, content ion and errorwill inevitably arise in a local group.Experience proves it.'Where Two or Three Gather TogetherBut didn' t Jesus p romise that wherever two or three brethren gather to -

Should Christians Serve On Juries?ANSWER: From time to time members are called upon by the courts toserve on juries. As jury members weplace ourselves in a position-alongwith others--of passing judgment onfellow human beings.This means of a rr iving at a verdict isdeemed fair in the eyes of our civil law.But what does God say about it?God is allowing the nations in thisage to rule tbemselies. God intends thatthe nations should judge in mattersaccording to their law. Bur, t he ir laws

The GOOD NEWSgether, He will be in their midst?The common misapplication of thistext comes from careless reading. Christwas discussing with His apostles thematter of making binding decisions inthe church (Mat. 18:17). He promisesto back every decision-even where onlytwo or three are gathered together INHIS NAME!What does "in His name" mean?It means "by His authority"! We baptize "in the name of Jesus Christ"-"by

His authority." But Jesus never gaveauthority for His converts to hold meetings by themselves without a pastor!Any who do so are not acting accordingto Jesus' commands. They are going contrary to Christ's authori ty. He does notpromise to be in their midst. Besides,according to the pattern laid down inLev. 23:2-4, God orders His ministersto convoke assemblies-tO order meetings. God tells us upon which days wemust meet, and He orders His ministersto tell the people when and where Hewants the assemblies held. It is God'sdoing, l lU l man's. Minis ters are G u J ' ~bond-servants and the shepherds of theflock.Now we can also understand clearlyother New Testament passages. In writing to Philemon, Paul spoke of "thechurch in thy house" (Philemon 2).This is not speaking of brethren gather

ing for discussion groups or Bible studies. I t is speaking of a church-an organized body of saints-over whomPhilemon presided. Notice that Pauladdressed him as "fellow-laborer" (verse1 ). In verse 24 Paul lists "Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my [elloui-laborers," These men were elders andevangelists laboring with Paul in theministry. Philemon was also a "fellowhborer"-a minister. Paul even calls him

'Boxare not according to the Bible. Theirways are NOTGod's ways (Isaiah 55: 8).Juris ts today do not consult the Lawof God to determine the gui lt or innocence-or the penalty that should beimposed. The laws by which thoseindicted are judged today are man madelaus! To par ticipate on a jury we mustassociate ourselves with, and become apart of, the nations and laws of thisworld. But, our "kingdom is not of thisworld" (John 18:36). We do not meddle with the politics of th is world.Two points should be kept in mindconcerning this question. One is

June, 1959a partner" ( verse 17). The churchin his house was NOT without a pastor.Another important considerationmany brethren still overlook is that thelocal church is for the instruction ofthose who are converted. It is not theplace to convert outsiders.' Yet it seems

that some, not understanding this important principle, want to hold sabbathstudy groups to convert outsiders. Andsometimes the unconverted are the veryones who dominate the meeting!Mr. Armstrong has learned by experience that every group needs competent spiritual leadership. It cannot be leftto zealous, bu t unwise, desire to haveChristian fellowship. True fellowshipcomes by obedience to God's WAY. Eventhough many of you are scattered andhave no regula r sabbath service, yet bethankful that you are being instructedthrough two magazines, The PLAINTRTTTH and The GOOD NEWS, andThe Correspondence Course.You can hear the daily broadcastsyou actually hear Mr. Armstrong andhis son on the radio in your own homes.'

When "The World Tomorrow" broadcast is on the air, you are attending, ina sense, a church service with a min-ister. This is how God is feeding Hisflock!Let's realize our blessings and berha nk fn l , no marre r where we 'Ire Burlet's be obedient and doers of God'sWAY. He knows best!Instead of murmuring about the lackof trained miriisterial help-we are trying our best to train those whom Godgives-why nor do as Jesus said: "Theharvest indeed is plenteous, bur the laborers few: PRAY therefore the Lord ofthe Harvest"-Jesus-"that he sendforth laborers into his harvest"? (Luke10: 2 ). That is your duty, brethren!that a prejudiced person automaticallydisqualifies himself for jury duty. Allprospective jury members are asked ifthey are already pre judiced in the case.Any true Christ ian must answer that heis! The knowledge of God 's truth andHis ways prejudice us against man'slaws to the exten t tha t it is impos-sible to judge a fellow man based onman' s law. Such par ti cipat ion is di rectdisobedience to the command to "judgerighteous judgment" (John 7: 24).Secondly, those chosen for jury dutyare selected from the list of registeredvoters or volunteers in each area. Thosewho do not register or who do notvolunteer, are not called to participate.Me. Armstrong's article, "How WouldJesus Vote For President," which appeared in the October 1956 issue of thePlain Truth, fully explains what Godthinks about voting. Write for this issueif you have not already read it.

Documents

Good News 1959 (Vol VIII No 06) Jun_w