WhoIs Lord? Caesar or Christ? Truth 19… · THE [P[ill~[(] UrnrnUrn Vol. 44, No. 10 ARTICLES a magazine o f understanding ISSN 0032-0420 December 1979 The Plain Truth-SUPPORTEDBY

THE

[P[ill~[(] UrnrnUrnVol. 44 , No. 10

ARTICLES

a maga z ine o f understand ing

ISSN 0032-0420 December 1979

The Plain Truth-SUPPORTED BYYOUR CONTRIBUTIONS

The Pla in Truth has no subscription or newss tandpr ice. This magaz ine is prov ided free of chargeby the Wor ldw ide Church of God. It is madeposs ible by the voluntary . freely given tit hes andoffer ings of the membership of the Church andothers who have elected to support the work ofthe Church. Contribut ions are grat efully welcomed and are tax-deductible in the U.S. Thosewho wish to voluntarily aid and support thisworldwide Work of God are gladly welcomed asco -workers in th is major effort to preach andpublish the gospel to all nat ions. Cont ribut ionsshould be sent to our oflice nearest you (seeadd resses below).

- What Is the True Gospel?

Beh ind the Pope's Histo ric Vis it to Amer ica

The Arab World in Prophecy

Ten Reasons Why I Don't Keep Christmas

Where Will Christians Rule ?

Were the Ten Commandments in Force Before Moses?

Are All Ten Commandments in the New Testament?

Even the Gospel Polluted?

- An Open Letter . . . On the International Year of the Child

FEATURES

Personal From Herbert W. Armst rong

" The World Tomorrow" Radio and TV Logs

Letters : Orch ids & Onions

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Founder and Editor-in-Chief:HERBERT W ARMSTRONG

Senior Editors: Jon Hill, Herman L. Hoeh, RaymondF. McNair. Roderick C. Meredith

Managing Editor: Brian W. Knowles

Assistant Managing Editor: John R. Schroeder

Associate Editors: Lawson C. Briggs, Robert A .Gmskev, Richard H. Sedliacik

Contributing Editors: Elbert Atlas. Charles V.Dorothy. Lester L. Grabbe. Robert C. Smith

Editorial Staff: Pamela Hart. Linda Mart ens ,Janet Schroeder

Copy Editors: Peter Moore. Clayton Steep

News Editor: Gene H. Hogberg

News Research Staff: Janet Abbott , Jeff Calkins,Werner Jebens , Donald D. Schroeder. Keith Stump

ABOUT OUR COVER

On a whirlwind tour of the United States during the first week of October, PopeJohn Paul II drew massive crowds of excited onlookers . It was also the biggest" media event" in American history, measured by coverage in the nation's newspapers as well as television. For the significance of the pope's visit to America andhis emerging role as the world's " moral spokesman," read the article beginning onpage 4.

Dirck Halstead - Liaiso n

Art Director: Greg S. Smith

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The Plain Truth is published monthly (excep t combined June I Julyand October /N ovember issues) by Ambassador College, Pasadena.California 91123. Copyright OJ 1979 Worldwide Church 01 God. Allnghts reserved. Second-class pos tage paid at Pasadena. CA , and ataddit ional mailing offices.PRINTED IN U.S.A.Uniled States: 300 W. Green, Pasadena, Californ ia 91123Canada: PO. Box 44, Station A. Vancouver, S.C. V6C 2M2.Mexico: Institucion Amba ssador . Apartado Postal 5-595 , Mexico 5,D.F.Colombia.' Apartado Aereo 11430, Bogota I, DE.(Jmlect Kingdom. Ireland. Europe . and tne Middle Eas/: P.O. Box 111.51. Albans. Herts.. AL2 2EG England.Rhodesia: P.O. Box U A.30 , Union Ave ., SalisburySouth Afr ica: P.O. Box 1060, Johannesburg , Republic of South Africa2000Ghana: P.O. Box9617, Koloka Inl. Airport.Accra

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Personal from...

Who Is Lord? Caesar or Christ?

N ow politicians trying to take over and run theWorldwide Church of God are saying that I,as a n apo stle, have no voice or authority inhow Church fund s a re expended, but only in

what th ey term " ecclesias t ica l functions"-while on theother hand Mr. Stanley R. Rader, because he was notyet orda ined, has no a uthority in the Church's"ecclesias t ica l" a ffairs.

In other word s, the politicians a re tr yingto tell us onwha t basis the Church of God must be organized.

Thi s C hurch was founded in 31 A.D . by Je sus Christ. Thepresent era of that sa me Church was founded in the autumnof 1933, according to the biblical pattern as ordai ned by theAlmighty God. The present era was sta rted in Oregon, not inCa liforn ia. Yet Cal ifornia politicians a re now tr ying to tellus how it should be administered.

First , a lthough it is organized accord ing to God 'spattern in th e Bible , it is not a secular organization, buta spiritua l organism.

In I Corinth ians 12, the Word of God tells us that inaddition to spiritua l GIFTS, " there a re DI FF ERENCES OFADMI NISTRATIO NS, but the same Lord .. . . But all these[spiritual gifts] worketh that one and the selfsa me Spirit,dividing to every man severally as he [God] will. . . .' For thebody is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say ,Because I a m not the hand, I a m not of the bod y; is itth erefore not of the body? . . . But now hath God set themembers every one of them in the body, as it hath pleasedhim [not polit icians] . . . . And God hath set some in thechurch, fi rs t a post les, seconda rily prophets, thirdly teachers,after that mi racles . . ." (verses 5, II , 14-15 , 18,28).

In Ephesia ns 4 th ese ranks a re apost les, prophets,eva ngelis ts, pastors a nd tea chers. They a re for theC hurch's WOR K ( Ephes ians 4:11-1 2).

Very evidently the se officers are listed as ranks inauthority . For example, only four proph et s a rement ioned in the New Testam ent, a nd not one set a nychurch doctrines or belie fs. No t one exercised a nyauthority. There are no prophets in the Church today,and no record of any for 1900 yea rs .

Th e word " apostle " mean s, literally, " one sent forth "

The PLAIN TRUTH December 1979

with the gospel message. However, Matthew 16:18 a nd18:1-2,18 show that an apostle carries top authority onthe human level, under Christ. For example, he is inauthority over finances for spreading the gospel thoughfinanci al details ma y be delegated to one under him.

When the Church of God was founded in 31 A .D ., itwas founded, NOT on an y "form enforced by civil polit icalgovernment, but founded on the apostles (NewTe stament) and prophets (Old Testament), Jesus C hristbeing the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20) . The livingJe sus Christ was the HEAD of the Church. It was aspiritua l organism, not a secular organization. From th every beg inning it was opposed by civil politicalgovernment. Its original membership of 120 (Acts 1:15 )sta rted that day of Pentecost. That same inaugural day,God added ab out three thousand members to thechurch- a ll baptized that da y.

For some two years the membership, under theleadership of the apostles, and of Christ from hea ven,multiplied.

Jesus had commissioned His apostles to be sent forthproclaiming Christ's gospel message of the Kingdom ofGod . In spite of political secular government, theystarted going into all the world with this Kingdommessage . By what means? By the means then availableto them-afoot, and by sailboat. They certainly did notconsult the political governments regarding their mannerof going forth into all the world with the gospel.

After two years, severe opposition set in. Much of itwas by false apostles, but these soon sought politicalgovernment persecution and opposition againstprocla iming Christ's gospel. Peter, John, Paul and otherswere thrown into jail overnight-but God bysuperna tura l power released them. Though persecuted,even as the same Church is today, the Work ofprocla iming the Kingdom of God went on.

In our da y Jesus Christ prepared and rai sed upHerbert W . Armstrong as His chosen apostle to carryonth e proclaiming of the gospel worldwide, and mini steringto the membership in local congregations.

In our day we live in a totally (Continued on page 44)

uISTHE

TRUE GOSPEL?Jesus brought big news-the most important news announcement ever reported to man. It is the

advance news of how world peace will come.

by Herbert W. Armstrong

Some may wonder, what possible connection could there bebetween the problems of governments and the message of

Jesus Christ? .Neither religion nor government

nor education has found the cause ofthe frightful evils in today's world,nor have they found the solutions tothe tragic problems of suffering humanity. They fail utterly to point theway.to or to produce peace! The evolutionary theory gives no explanationfor the real vital problems of today'svery sick world. It offers no solutions.But the gospel of Jesus Christ-ifthey only knew what it is-does givethe rational and true explanation,and it outlines the solution that willbe made!

But, one may ask in bewilderment,. doesn't everybody know what is thegospel of Jesus Christ? Hasn't it beenpreached for more than 1900 years?

Incredible or not, the answer is anemphatic NO! Christ's gospel was notproclaimed to the world for over 18l/2centuries!

That, I know, is a staggering statement. It may sound absurd.

People will ask, "But haven't theypreached Christ to the world? Haven't they pleaded BELIEVE ON CHRISTand ACCEPT CHRIST? Haven't mil-

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lions believed on Christ? Haven'tmillions accepted Christ-professedChrist? Do not millions call their religion after His name-the Christianreligion? And isn't Christianity oneof the largest religions on earth?"Quite true.

Christ Is Not the Gospel

But preaching Christ is not preaching Christ's gospel! Christ was themessenger who brought the gospelthe messenger God sent with a MESSAGE for all mankind-and that message is the gospel. The very word"gospel" means "good news ." .

Jesus Christ, the person, is thegreatest, most important person everto walk on this earth. But He, as aperson, is not the gospel. The miracles He performed are not the gospel.The things Jesus did are not the gos- .pel. What He preached-the tremendous good news He announced-isthe GOSPEL.

Tune in your television set anySunday morning, and you'll see theweekly religious diet and hear nearlyall preachers telling you aboutChrist-urging you to believe onChrist-to accept Christ-tellingyou what a wonderful person He was.They will be called "gospel programs." They will talk about getting

out the gospel. But Christ the personis not the gospel! I know that soundsincredible-because they call whatthey are saying "the gospel."

Millions of viewers and listenershave ASSUMED they were hearing thegospel. People have heard all theirlives the preaching about JesusChrist the person which has beencalled "the gospel." People have simply taken it for granted that theywere hearing the gospel. So they accept what they have heard as thegospel when, in actual fact , they havenever heard the gospel of JesusChrist-the message-the news announcement.

Beli evers Wanted to Kill Christ

What they have accepted withoutquestion as the gospel offers no solution to humanity's sufferings, frustrations and indescribable evils! Thetrue gospel Jesus brought proclaimsthe solution to the world's troubles,but men rejected that gospel and crucified Jesus for preaching it!

There were those who BELIEVED onChrist, just as millions do todaymillions who have not heard His gospel!

Notice! Read it fully in the Bible.It's an eye-opener-for the Bibledoesn't SAY what you've supposed.


Jesus was speaking in the Temple atJerusalem: "Then said Jesus to thoseJews which believed on him, If yecontinue in my word, then are ye mydisciples indeed " (John 8:31) .

Understand it! Jesus' word wasHis message-the gospel He wasteaching. He was saying, in otherwords: "If you continue DOING whatthe gospel teaches, you will be mydisciples."

But they refused to believe whatHe taught-His gospel-or to dowhat He taught. They believed onHim-they believed in His identity-they believed He was the Mes-

- siah-the Christ-but they did notBELIEVE HIM-what He said!

Continuing, " . .. but -yeseek to killme, because my word hath no placein you. I speak that which I have seenwith my Father .. ." (verses 37-38).These very people who BELIEVED ONHIM sought to kill Him because theyhated what He said-His gospelthe very solution to mankind's troubles-the way that will usher inpeace, prosperity, happiness andevery good state.

These who believed on Him continued to argue. Then He said: "But ,now ye seek to kill me, a man thathath told you the truth, which I haveheard of God " (verse 40). Jesuscontinued: " I proceeded forthand came from God; neither came Iof myself, but he sent me" (verse 42).Further: "And because I tell you thetruth, ye believe me not" (verse 45).Millions today believe on Christ, butdo NOT believe His gospel in mostcases because they have never heardit. They have heard of Him-of whatHe did-but not His message of thesolution to all man's troubles andhow to gain eternal life in joyful happiness, abundance and accomplishment.

A Messenger and His Message

You will have noticed, above, howJesus stressed the fact that God, HisFather, had sent Him. What Hetaught, He had received from God .

Notice now this prophecy in Malachi: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the waybefore me .. ." (Malachi 3: I). He isspeaking here of John the Baptist(Mark 1:2), but primarily as a type


of another to prepare the way beforeHis second coming (Malachi 4:5-6).

Continuing, " ... and the Lord,whom ye seek, shall suddenly cometo his temple, even the messenger ofthe covenant, whom 'ye delightin . .." (Malachi 3:1). Jesus came asa messenger-the messenger of the 'COVENANT. This is speaking of theNew Covenant. Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant, an agreement between God and the people ofIsrael, which set them up as one ofthe kingdoms on earth named aftertheir earthly father, Israel (Jacob).

This prophecy leads us directly tothe beginning of the gospel of JesusChrist, in Mark I: I: "The beginningof the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Sonof God; As it is written in the proph ets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy .face, which shall prepare thyway before thee. The voice of onecrying in the wilderness, Prepare yethe way of the Lord, make his pathsstraight" (Mark 1:1-4).

This shows John preparing theway before the beginning of Jesus'announcement of His gospe!. Thenext nine verses describe John's baptizing and his announcing of thecoming of the Messiah, the baptismof Jesus and Jesus' head-on confrontation with and conquering of Satan,by which He qualified to restore onearth the government of God.

Then, verses 14-15: "Now afterthat John was put in prison, Jesuscame into Galilee, preaching . . . ."What? What gospel? " .. . preachingthe gospel of the kingdom of God,and saying, The time is fulfilled . .. ."How fulfilled'l J esus had just qualified to restore and rule that government. It could not have been announced sooner-"the kingdom ofGod is at hand: repent ye, and believethe gospe!." Believe what? He saidwe must believe the gospel-the goodnews of the Kingdom of God.

But since late in the first century,that gospel has not been preached tothe world! Almost nobody todayknows what the Kingdom of God is!Millions think it is a church! Othermillions think it is some etherealnothing "set up in men 's hearts."Some have even thought it was theBritish Empire. (For a full explanation, write for the free , eye-opening

booklet Just What Do YouMean . . . the Kingdom of God?)

The word "gospel" means "goodnews." It was an advance NEWS announcement. It was tremendous,wonderful news-the biggest, mostimportant news ever announced tomankind! Yet it has been suppressed!Your Bible says ALL NATIONS havebeen deceived.

The leaders in Judaea and Galileein Jesus' day 'rejected that wonderfulnews. Many of those who BELIEVEDON CHRIST rejected it, sought to killHim for teaching it, as shown above,and finally did have Him killed. Theapostles who went out proclaimingthat wonderful news were martyredfor preaching it-with the possibleexception of John. After 31/2 years ofJesus' ministry and preaching to asmany as five thousand men at a time,only 120 were still accepting the gospel and continuing in it by the time ofHis ascension to heaven-forty daysafter His resurrection (Acts 1:3, 1415). Soon a great persecution set induring the 'time of the apostles'preaching (Acts 8:1). After the Romans took Jerusalem in A.D. 70, Roman persecution virtually snuffed outall true gospel preaching. For thenext 18 1/2 centuries, Christ waspreached to the world , but NOT HISGOSPEL!

What Is That Kingdom?

lust what IS a kingdom? If I tell youthat King Hussein is the king of theHashemite Kingdom of Jordan, youunderstand what I mean. It ,is notsome nonexistent, ethereal nothing inHussein's heart.

A kingdom is a government. It isruled by laws. The function of government is to administer and enforcethose laws.

Did you ever hear of a nation or itsgovernment without laws? Of course

, not! The Kingdom of God once ruledthis earth. It ruled with the laws ofthe Creator God. As long as it ruled,the whole earth was filled with peace,with HAPPINESS and JOY. Then thatgovernment was taken away, and Ido not mean in the time of ancientIsrael-but all that is another story.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is aNEWS announcement about GOVERN

(Continued on page 42)

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4 The PLAIN TRUTH December 1979


BEHINDTHEPOPE'SHISTORICV ISITTOAMERICAMillions ofpeople wereswept off their feet by themagnetic personality of JohnPaul II. After only oneyear in office the Polish popeis emerging as the moralleader of the hero-starvedWestern world. Where doeshe go from here?

by Gene H. Hogberg

I t was one of the mostextraordinary weeks in Americanhistory. Rarely had any

individual, visitor or native,commanded such crowds.Everywhere Pope John Paul IIwent-to Boston, New York City,Philadelphia, Des Moines, Chicago,

THE POPE'S WHIRLWIND TOUROF AMERICA (counterclockwise fromtop right): Vendor sells souvenirs(including "pope buttons ") on the Mallin Washington, D.C.; John Paul II iswelcomed by President and Mrs.Carter and Vice-President and Mrs.Mondale at the White House; thepontiff delivers an address to the U.N.General Assembly in New York; hegreets tumultuous crowds inmotorcade in Boston; the pope isgreeted at the United NationsSecretariat building by UN SecretaryGeneral Kurt Waldheim.

Clockwise from top left: Dirck Halstead-Liaison, GeneHogberg-PT, Gene Hogberg-PT, Steve Liss-Liaison.l.ocnonr-Lieison, Fsverty-Liaison (center)

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Washington, D.C.-millions ofpeople strained for fleeting glimpsesof the man who captured the imagi

.nation of Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

The pope's mere physical presenceseemed to mesmerize the hugethrongs. Often it took only the slightest gesture of his hands or the utterance of a quaintly mispronouncedword to draw rounds of thunderousapplause.

The jam-packed seven-day affairalso turned out to be the biggest mediaevent in the nation's history. Coverageby the news media was phenomenal.Over 14,000 journalists were accredited to report on various aspects of thepope's "pilgrimage" to the U.S. fromOctober I through 7. I was part of thatsea of reporters, and the following is afirsthand observation.

"Moral Leader" of the West

From the point of view of the Vatican , the timing of the pope's trip toAmerica could not have been better.

The United States and, for thatmatter, the entire Western world issuffering from a gaping void of leadership. The political giants that dominated the postwar world have nearlyall faded from the scene. Widespreadantiauthoritarian, antiestablishmentviews have reduced the appeal of andthe respect for political office in recent years. Government scandalshave further taken their toll.

Into this vacuum is stepping, by· subtle yet well-orchestrated design,the leader of the oldest Christian professing body. This visit did not occur

· by happenstance."All this reflects conscious deci

sion and a major development,"wrote the editors of Time magazine,analyzing the pope's performance in

· the United States. "John Paul, who isperfectly aware of his charisma, isquite deliberately converting the papacy into a personal office.... It is astrategy . . . well adapted to JohnPaul's personality and the world'seagerness for leadership."

Almost losing themselves in theemotional impact of the pope's trip,the editors of Time added: "The Pontiff is emerging as a kind of incandescent leader that the world so hungersfor .. .. He was [in America] a manfor all seasons, all situations, all

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faiths, a beguilingly modest superstar of the church."

Many other editors, reporters, andeven television news anchormen-allof them normally an unfazed, hardbitten bunch-were also swept up inthe emotions of the day. Not a fewappeared to temporarily lose theirusual reportorial objectivity by whichthey scrutinize other important personalities.

The pope was somehow different,beyond the journalists' cutting edgeand probing pen. They had no yardstick by which to gauge him, so theyjust joined in the euphoria. For example, one well-known columnist,himself a Catholic, said that "JohnPaul embodies the real meaning ofcharisma, which is from the Greekand indicates the presence of God .His manner is quite effortless .... Hesays exactly what he believes, andwe're starved for that."

Another journalist, James Reston,one of America 's most respected.news analysts, asked himself (in acolumn entitled "God Lives in Boston") why the visit of John Paul engendered such an outpouring of enthusiasm. He answered: "It is due, Ibelieve, to the disenchantment of somany people with the secularworld .... Pope John Paul II hasemerged, above all the contendingraces and nations, as a solitary figure-but with the ability to speakwith great moral authority.

"Accordingly it's no wonder thathe has emerged, not only as a spiritual .but as a political force in theworld. For all the other political andeconomic gods have failed, and he isspeakirig to the widespread sense ofregret in the Western world aboutthe spiritual heritage it has lost."

Yet perhaps the nearly universalappeal of the 59-year-old Polish popewas best expressed not by a leadingjournalist but by a middle-class Philadelphia woman. While waiting sixhours on a Philadelphia sidewalk toget a glimpse of him, she exclaimed:"We don't have heroes, and he iswhat we need-a hero."

U.N. Message

Nearly everyone, from the small upto the great, was so awed by the manthat few, it seems, paid particularlyclose attention to what the pope said,especially during the first half of his

trip, when he addressed himself primarily to world and national ratherthan church-related issues. This wasvery much in evidence with regard toJohn Paul II 's speech at the UnitedNations on October 2.

During his 62-minute discourse atthe General Assembly, the popeshowed he understood his audiencewell, displaying here as everywhereelse a savvy for selecting the appropriate message for each group.

He was fully aware that ThirdWorld countries, the socialist andcommunist camps and the so-callednonaligned nations dominate the activities of the General Assembly. Tothem, therefore, the pope shed, as itwere, his clerical garb and displayedhis "humanistic" side (he was once ateacher of philosophy at the CatholicUniversity of Lublin). He interspersed his carefully chosen words(he writes his own speeches) withpatently Marxist egalitarian themes.

.Remarked Murray Kempton of theNew York Post: "There were curiousechoes of Karl Marx's arraignmentof the 19th Century capitalism."

The pope went far beyond criticising the materialism that permeatesAmerican life. He aligned himself inspirit with the demands of the devel oping nations for restructuring theworld economic order .

Later in that day, in a mass atYankee Stadium, John Paul drovehis point home deeper, stating: "Thepoor of the United States and theworld are your brothers and sisters inChrist. You must never be content toleave them just the crumbs from thefeast [a reference to the parable ofLazarus and the rich man.] Youmust take of your substance and notjust your abundance in order to helpthem. " .

In this very political address, thepope asserted that the standard ofliving of the rich countries was beingmaintained by "draining off a greatpart of the reserves of energy andraw materials that are meant to servethe whole of humanity."

Throughout the first two days ofhis visit the pope repeatedly returnedto this "exploitation" theme. Thissame theme reverberates often in thehalls of the General Assembly, where"excessively rich" (the pope's words)countries-specifically the United


The PLAIN TRUTH December '1979

THE ARAB WORLDIN PROPHECY

Events soon to occur in the Arab world will bring mankind to the very brink ofannihilation! Here isthe story-and the good news beyond.

by Keith W. Stump

\\To ho are the Arabs? Is theArab world mentioned in

Bible prophec y?Toda y the Arab world is an area of


vital concern to nations around theglobe. Both political and economicconsiderations place that vast region-stretching from the Atlantic

to the Indian Ocean- at the very focal point of world attention. CouldBible prophecy overlook the Arabs?Assuredly not!

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The Arab peoples are destined toplaya significant role in the development of future world events. Theywill be at the very center of a series ofcrises which will plunge the MiddleEast into a major war-ultimatelydrawing in all the nations of theearth!

What Is an Arab?

But first-just what is an Arab? Thisquestion has plagued scholars forcenturies. Peoples of many differentethnic groups, often exhibiting widely differing physical characteristics,consider themselves or are consideredby others to be "Arabs." Expertsplace the number of "Arabs" in theworld today at well over100,000,000.

The Arabic term al-Arab orrginally referred only to the wanderingBedouins (Badawis) of the Arabian

' Deser t. The Bedouins considerthemselves to be the original Arabsand the only true Arabs remainingtoday. Scattered from Morocco toIran-but concentrated in the Arabian Peninsula-the Bedouins maintain a lifestyle which has changedlittle since the time of the Old Testament.

But the meaning of the term"Arab" has changed over the centuries. During ' the Moslem militaryconquests of the seventh and eighthcenturies A.D., widespread Bedouinintermarriage with the indigenouspeoples of conquered North Africaand other areas of the Middle Eastserved to blur earlier ethnic distinctions.

To this day, no standard or "official" definition of an Arab has yetbeen agreed upon, or is likely to be.The best criterion of who is an Arabis probably language . Thereforemany use the term "Arabic-speakingpeoples" instead of "Arabs" to designate a linguistic group composed ofmany diverse peoples.

Where Did the Arabs Come From?

Nations are merely families grownbig. In general, the Arab peoples aredescended from one man-Ishmael(called Ismail by Arabs), the son ofthe biblical patriarch Abraham (orIbrahim) . The Arabs themselves acknowledge this. The story is found in

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the ·book of Genesis, beginning inchapter 16.

Abraham's wife Sarah was unableto have children. Sarah suggestedthat Abraham take Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, and obtain anheir by her. Abraham agreed, andHagar conceived a child .

As could be expected, friction soondeveloped between Sarah and Hagar.Sarah began to treat Hagar harshly.

.When she could take it no longer,Hagar fled into the desert. There anangel appeared to her, telling her toreturn to Sarah. The angel declared:"Behold, thou art with child, ' andshalt bear a son, and shalt call hisname Ishmael [meaning "God willhear"]; because the Lord hath heardthy affliction:' (Genesis 16:11). Theangel also revealed that her progenywould be multiplied exceedingly,that it would "not be numbered formultitude." So Hagar returned andsoon afterwards presented Abrahamwith a son.

Thirteen years passed. God thenappeared to Abraham and announced that Sarah-then age 90would soon bear Abraham a son!Abraham was incredulous. Moreover, he had grown to love Ishmaelgreatly and desired that he be hisheir and receive the birthright blessings. "0 that Ishmael might live before thee!" Abraham entreatedGod.

But God replied: "Sarah thy wifeshall bear thee a son indeed; and thoushalt call his name Isaac: and I willestablish my covenant with him . . ."(Genesis 17:19). But God understoodAbraham's concern for Ishmael's future, and assured him: "And as forIshmael, I have heard thee : Behold, Ihave blessed him, and will make himfruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget , and I will make him a greatnation" (verse 20).

After the -birth of Isaac, Hagarand Ishmael were cast forth into thedesert at the insistence of Sarah.There God miraculously preservedthem and reaffirmed His promise tomake of Ishmael a great nation(Genesis 21:18). "And God waswith the lad," the account continues, "and he grew, and dwelt in thewilderness, and became an archer.

And he dwelt in the wilderness ofParan [the modern Negev Desert]:and his mother took him a wife outof the land of Egypt" (verses 2021) : One or two additional wiveswere later added.

As God had prophesied, Ishmaelbecame the father of 12 sons, whosenames are recorded in Genesis 25:1316: Nebajoth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar,Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. Ishmael also had one daughter,called Mahalath or Bashemath(Genesis 28:9; 36:3), who marriedEsau, the son of the patriarchIsaac.

A Great Nation

Ishmael died at the age of 137 (Genesis 25:17). As God had promised ,his twelve sons grew into a "greatnation "-today numbering scores ofmillions!

The specific genealogies of each ofthe modern-day Arab tribes, sub- ,tribes, families and clans are virtually impossible to trace back in everycase to their ultimate biblical origins.But some of the major lines of descent are known. For example : FromIshmael's son Kedar (Qaidar inArabic)-dated approximately 1840B.C.-can be traced a line of descentto Adnan (or Qais)-122 B.c.-andfrom him (21 generations further on)to Mohammed (A.D. 570-632) of theKoreish tribe, the founder and prophet of the Islamic faith.

Though Ishmael is considered tohave been the progenitor of the majority of the Arab world, there areindications of some intermingling 'ofIshmaelites with other relatedpeoples-specifically the Joktanitesand Keturahites.

Joktan (called Qahtan or Kahtanby the ' Arabs) was the son of thepatriarch Eber (Genesis 10:25), wholived many generations before Abraham and Ishmael. This Joktanwhom authorities consider to have

. been the ultimate father of all southern Arabs-had 13 sons, named inGenesis 10:26-29. One of them, Jerah (Yarab to the Arabs), is believedto have founded the kingdom ofYemen in the southern part of theArabian Peninsula. Some authoritiesbelieve his name was the origin of the


word "Arab," the meaning of whichis thought to be "arid."

Yarab's brother Hadoram (Jorham to the Arabs) is believed to havefounded the Hejaz, an importantkingdom along the western coast ofArabia, containing the cities of Mecca and Medina. According to Arabhistory, the daughter of Mudad, adescendant of this Jorham, becameone of the wives of Ishmael. It is fromthat union that Ishmael's illustriousson Kedar is said to have come.

Another of Joktan's sons, Hazarmaveth, is claimed by the presentday tribesmen of the Hadhramaut (aregion in the southern part of theArabian Peninsula) as their ancestor.

The other line with which the Ishmaelites are said to have intermarried is that of the Keturahites. TheKeturahites were descendants of Keturah, whom Abraham married afterthe death of Sarah. Abraham andKeturah had six sons (Genesis 25:2),whose progeny, like that of Joktan,gradually became incorporated intothe house of Ishmael.

Thus, after making due allowancefor mixture with Joktanites and Keturahites, the Arabs may be regardedas essentially an Ishmaelite race .

In Bible usage , the name Kedar isoften employed as the collectivename of all the nomadic Arab tribesgenerally, as Kedar apparently hadbeen the largest and most conspicuous of all the Ishmaelite tribes. Thetribe's importance can be inferredfrom the mention of the rich "princesof Kedar" in Ezekiel 27:21 and elsewhere.

The prophet Isaiah, in his "burden[or denunciation] upon Arabia"(Isaiah 21: 13-17) prophesied thedemise of the "glory of Kedar"-areference to the invasion of Arabiaby Sargon in 716 B.C., during thewars between Egypt and Assyria.The glory of Kedar did fail, and theArabs slipped for many centuriesinto obscurity.

The Conquests of Islam

Through the period of the Medo-Persian kingdom and on into Romantimes, the Arab tribes lived in semiisolation from the rest of the world,breeding camels, goats and sheepin


the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula.Their principal interest appears tohave been fighting wars amongthemselves-an activity designed notso much with the intent of eradicating or enslaving rival tribes but rather to break the wearisome monotonyof watching animals graze in the vastemptiness of the desert.

When it came to religion, theArabs were idol worshipers. Thegreat temple of Mecca-overseen bythe influential Koreish tr ibe-wassaid to have contained 365 idols.

Ironically, it was from the Koreishtribe that Mohammed arose early inthe 7th century A.D.-six centuriesafter Christ. He succeeded in abolishing the idolatry long prevalent inArabia and bringing his fellow Arabsa new faith, Islam ("Submission toGod"), based on belief in one god,Allah. Moreover , Moharnmed 's

~~

The Arabpeoples aredestined to playa

signGficant role infutureworld events.

"teachings forged the divided Arabtribes into a socially and culturallyunited people. Islam provided themfor the first time with a powerful unifying force, making itpossible forthem to aspire to greatness as a nation.

A little history will be useful hereto show how the stage has been setover the centuries for the propheticevents which lie just ahead.

Following Mohammed's death in632, the leadership of the Moslemnation passed to a succession of caliphs ("successors"), ruling initiallyfrom Medina. They completed theunification of the Arabian Peninsulaand began to push outward, eventually bringing the entirety of the Middle East under their rule.

In the early 7th century, the Nearand Middle East were divided between two great rival powers: theEastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire

(called Rum by the Arabs) centeredat Constantinople, and the SassanidEmpire of Persia. These two adversaries had exhausted each other bylong and destructive wars, and thuswere "sitting ducks" for the vigorousnew Islamic power sweeping out ofArabia. ,

To the frenzied cries of Allah Akbar! ("God is Great!"), camelmounted Arab tribesmen swept withlightning speed into neighboring territories, taking Syria in 635, Iraq in637, Palestine in 640, Egypt and Persia in 641. Jerusalem was taken in638. Not since the days of Alexanderthe Great had such swift and farreaching ' conquests been seen. "TheBelievers smote and slaughtered tillthe going down of the sun," recordedone contemporary Arab historian,"and the fear of the Arabs fell uponall kings."

The supreme office of caliph, originally elective, soon was made hereditary-first in the Omayyad family(from A.D. 661 to 750) and then inthe Abbasid family (750 to 1258).The Omayyad dynasty, ruling fromDamascus, was responsible for theconquest of the remainder of NorthAfrica and most of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). In theEast , Omayyad armies swept overCentral Asia toward India and China. In less than 100 years , theOmayyads had built an empire largerthan that of Rome at its height. Millions were added into the fold of theMoslem faith.

It was the great Omayyad caliphAbdul Malik, incidentally, who constructed the great Dome of the RockMosque in Jerusalem in 69 I-692 onMount Moriah, the former site of theillustrious Temple of Solomon.

The Abbasid dynasty, ruling fromBaghdad, consisted of 37 caliphs,among them the famous Harun alRashid (786-809) of Arabian Nightsfame . The first two or three centuriesof Abbasid rule marked the GoldenAge of Islamic culture and literature.While Europe lay engulfed by the"Dark Ages," the Arabs kept thetorch of knowledge burning throughout their far-flung domains.

Increasingly, however, the Abbasid caliphs grew soft, succumbing tothe ease of sedentary palace life and

9

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COMING MIDEAST WAR will pale previous conflicts into insignificance. Above: Israelisoldiers hold position in Gaza Strip region during June 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Both sidesare better equipped militarily today than ever before.

pendent Arab states did at lastemerge. Iraq became independent in1932; Syria and Lebanon in 1941;Transjordan in 1946; Egypt in 1951.In Arabia, King Ibn Saud of Nejd(central Arabia) succeeded in conquering the Hejaz in 1925, and inI932-after uniting other areas underhis control-formed the soon-to-beoil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Calls soon began to issue forthfrom various quarters for these newlyindependent Arab states to unite intoone giant Arab Nation. Many Arabsbegan to look back with a sort ofnostalgia to the first few centuriesafter Mohammed, when Islam waspolitically united as a single worldempire, extending from the AtlanticOcean to the Indus River. Why not,they asked, seek to re-create the political and theological unity of theearly Islamic caliphate-beginningwith the unification of the Arabworld? The possibilities would be tremendous, they suggested.

losing their martial vigor. Internalweaknesses resulted in a gradualbreakdown of the political solidarityof the Moslem Empire and its disintegration into autonomous or semiautonomous states. Eventually Baghdad itself was conquered by invaders,and the Abbasid caliphs becamemere figurehead or "puppet" rulers.

In addition, the Islamic faith itselfbecame split and fragmented intodozens of sects, sub-sects and offshoots, as it remains to this day. Infact, modern Islam is as divided asmodern Christianity!

War and Independence

Early in the 16th century, the majority of Arab lands came under thesway of the Ottoman Turks, rulingfrom Istanbul. For the following fourcenturies there was no independentArab state. The Arabs bristled underthe corrupt and despotic rule of theOttomans.

During World War I the OttomanEmpire (Turkey) sided with the Central Powers of Germany and AustriaHungary against Britain. An opportunity thus presented itself to Britain. The British believed that a rebellion of Arabs against their Turkishoverlords would enable Britain, while

10

fighting Germany, simultaneously todefeat Germany's ally Turkey. Britain consequently encouraged andgave assistance to a rebellion of theArab tribes.

The rebellion was proclaimed inJune 1916 by Hussein ibn Ali, theillustrious Sherif of Mecca (a descendant of Mohammed) and self-proclaimed "King of the Arabs." In exchange for his revolt against theTurks, Hussein received a promisefrom Britain to recognize the independence of the Arab countries afterthe war.

Assisted by the legendary T. E.Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia")in the field, the "Revolt in the Desert" was successful. With Turkey'sdefeat, Ottoman rule in Arab landscame to an end.

But the free and united MiddleEastern Arab empire promised byBritain did not materialize. The majority of Arab lands were instead given to Britain and France to rule asmandates. The Arabs felt betrayed,claiming Britain had duped them,had made false promises and hadshown bad faith. After centuries ofOttoman rule, they were now to beruled by Europeans!

Eventually, however, various inde-

Elusive Dream

This idea (called "Pan-Arabism") ofa single united Arab Nation with oneflag and one capital was not new.Throughout the centuries, the goal ofa single political entity embracing allArabic-speaking peoples has been awidely held dream among Arabs. Butit has proved to be as elusive as themirages of the desert. Indeed, thepages of Arab history brim with stories of tribal feuds, national conflictsand personal rivalry among Arableaders.

The common historical origin,common faith, language and cultureof the Arab peoples-factors thatwould seem at first glance to providean excellent basis for Arab solidarity-prove to be a mere facade of unity. In actuality, the Arab peoples aredeeply divided by often fierce political, ideological, economic, theological and territorial rivalries. Thoughthe desire for unity is strongly felt,there are wide and almost irreconcilable differences among Arab nationsover the manner in which that goal isto be achieved.

Even more hopeless has been thecenturies-old quest for the widerscope ideal of Islamic unity. Multiplemillions of · non-Arabic-speaking


peoples also follow the Moslem faith,including those of Iran, Afghanistan,Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, andparts of India and Africa. In fact , oneperson in six in the world today is aMoslem. The concept of the unity ofthe entire Islamic world-both Araband non-Arab-is called " Pan-Islam." Though all Moslems recognizethe tremendous possibilities thatmight be realized through greater cooperation, such ideals often clashwith the pragmatic interests of individual Moslem nations. Like the lesser-scope concept of Pan-Arabism,Pan-Islam's chances for success-inthe estimation of most observers-are small. .

Religious Upheaval

What hope remains, then? Will thelong-sought unity of the Arab andMoslem worlds ever be realized? Ifso, most observers feel, it will probably have to come through swift andpossibly violent change-in the wakeof tumultuous political or religious 'upheaval.

The Moslem world today is ripe forsomething new. After centuries of divisive religious and political infightingand frustrated ambitions, Moslemsentiments are coming to a head . Moslems are ready for a new concept toprovide the catalyst toward realizingtheir long-thwarted dreams. Theywant to again become a powerful forcein world affairs, in a role befitting theirsize and glorious past.. Increasing numbers of MoslemsArab and non-Arab alike-believe itis time for a rekindling of the fires oftheir faith , time for a wide-scale religious and spiritual revival in the faceof growing secularization, materialism and Westernization (witness recent events in Iran, for example).From Morocco to Indonesia, "backto-the-Koran" sentiments are growing, along with calls for a united,fundamentalist Islam.

The lacking vital ingredient isleadership. "There have been manyattempts at a pan-Islamic policy,none of which has made much progress," observes Bernard Lewis , aBritish scholar of the Middle East."One reason for this lack of success isthat those who have made the attempt have been so unconvincing.


This still leaves the possibility of amore convincing leadership, andthere is ample evidence in virtuallyall Muslim countries of the deepyearning for such a leadership and areadiness to respond to it."

Moslems in general and Arabs inparticular have historically responded like no other people to the charismatic personality.Since the foundingof Islam, men have periodically arisen in various parts of the Moslemworld claiming to be the longawaited Mahdi, the expected endtime messiah who is to cleanse andrestore the Islamic faith to its original purity, unify the Moslem worldand usher in a seven-year golden agejust before the end of the world.

Many of these individuals-oftenmen of considerable eloquence andextraordinary personal magnetismgathered great armies and attemptedto unify the Moslem world by religious wars. Some gained thrones;others-a-the majority-died bloodydeaths on the field of battle. But nonewere to be ignored. .

One of the most recent Mahdiswas Mohammed Ahmed, the "Sudanese Mahdi," who united numeroustribes against British and Egyptiancontrol of the Sudan and succeededin capturing the strategic Nile city ofKhartoum from General CharlesGeorge Gordon in 1885. His goal of asingle united Moslem nation, however, went unfulfilled.

A Thing of the Past?

Nearly a century has passed since theSudanese Mahdi's victory at' Khartoum. To many observers, militantMahdism is a thing of the past. Amajor flare-up of radical messianismis deemed unlikely-by some, evenimpossible. But is it really?

The expectation of a coming Mahdi (in Arabic, "the divinely guidedone") is prevalent among virtually allMoslem sects, though they often differ in the specifics of the concept.Moslems today yearn for a guide, ateacher, a deliverer-one who embodies their innermost hopes anddreams, who will breathe new lifeinto Islam, give new direction, andset about healing the schisms whichdivide the Moslem world.

There has always been magic In

the name Mahdi. Were a revolutionary new religious figure to suddenly appear in the Moslem worlda dynamic, charismatic leader whocould capture the imagination ofMoslems everywhere and effectivelycapitalize on their hunger for greatness-the Middle East picture couldbe transformed overnight!

The appearance of a 20th centuryMahdi-as fantastic as the prospectmight appear to Western niindscannot be quickly dismissed . In Islam, politics and religion are inextricably mixed. There is a close relationship between the spiritual andcivil power. .

Islam waits to be united. The roleof Mahdi-the Great Unifier of Islam-awaits a player. Mahdis havemarched in their dozens and scoresthrough the pages of Moslem history.There is no reason to believe the daysof Mahdism are past. Indeed, circumstances in the Moslem world appear riper than ever for a Mahdistflare-up . Even now a Mahdi may bewaiting in the wings for the opportune moment.

Prophesied in the Bible?

As the Bible so clearl y demonstrates,it is God who makes and unmakesnations. The prophet Daniel declaredthat God " removes kings and sets upkings" (Daniel 2:21, RSY) . And it isGod who declares "the end from thebeginning, and from ancient timesthe things that are not yet done"

. (Isaiah 46:10). God reveals the future before it happens!

The Bible is not silent about theArab world. Among other propheciesfor the region, it strongly suggeststhe emergence of a coming ArabMoslem Confederation, possibly under the overall leadership of onepowerful individual!

In chapter 11 of the book of Danielis found the longest prophecy in theBible. The preludejs found in thetenth chapter. There, the archangelGabriel appears to Daniel: "Now Iam come to make thee understandwhat shall befall thy people in thelatter days: for yet the vision is formany days" (verse 14).

The prophecy of Daniel 11 detailsevents-at that time, still futurefrom the remaining days of the

11

Medo-Persian empire, through thereign of Alexander the Great and hissuccessors in Syria and Egypt, andon through to the second coming ofChrist!

Beginning in verse 40 we read of aconflict between two great powers:"And at the time of the end shall the '

. king of the south push at him: andthe king of the north shall comeagainst him like a whirlwind ...."

This is an important "end-time"prophecy. Following the chronological progression of the chapter, it becomes apparent that the phrase"king of the north" had at first referred to Syria under the Seleuciddynasty, and later, in the New Testament times, to.the Emperor of theRoman Empire. (For a detailed,verse-by-verse examination of Daniel II, write for the free reprint article "The Middle East in Prophecy" by Herbert W. Armstrong).Thus, in its final end-time application, the "king of the north" is theprophesied strong man who willlead a coming union of ten European nations-the seventh and final 'revival of the ancient Roman Empire prophesied by Daniel and inthe book of Revelation (see Revelation 17:12-13).

But who is the "king of thesouth"? In the earlier portions ofDaniel 11, the phrase refers withoutquestion to ancient Egypt under therule of the Ptolemaic dynasty, laterincluding Ethiopia which was annexed to Egypt. But in verse 40 weskip to "the time of the end"-thispresent century. The verse undoubtedly found at least partial fulfillmentin the offensive in 1896 of EmperorMenelik II of Ethiopia ("king of thesouth") against the Italian armies ofKing Humbert I ("king of thenorth")-and in the air, land and seainvasion of Ethiopia 40 years later byMussolini's forces.

But Mussolini did not finish theprophecy. He did not, for example,enter into the "glorious land" or Palestine (verse 41). Its greater fulfillment 'is yet future!

Just as there is yet to be a final~ "king of the north't-i-called in Biblesymbolism "the beast"-who will arise as superdictator over an endtime European confederation, there

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may very well emerge in the samemanner a final "king of thesouth"an overall leader of an Arab-Moslem -.confederation, possibly even bearingthe very title Mahdi! And these twoindividuals will eventually find themselves in a head-to-head confrontation-possibly over oil-which willultimately lead to devastating war inthe Middle East!

Crisis in Palestine

What does prophecy reveal, then,about the succession, of events in the .Middle East in the coming monthsand years? And what part will theArab world play inthem?

The Bible does not give an exactsequence of coming events. We mustwatch world events to discover howand when the prophecies will happen(Luke 21:36). But in piecing togetherprophecies scattered throughout theOld and New Testaments, a generalpicture becomes clear.

As all students of Bible prophecyknow, the city of Jerusalem is thefocal point of all prophecy. Since theArab-Israeli War of 1967, old Jerusalem has been in the hands of theState of Israel. It is with that nationthat we must begin our overview ofprophecy for the region.

An important key to understanding prophecy is to realize, first, thatthe present Jewish state in Palestineis not the triumphant final return ofIsrael to the promised land mentioned so often by the Old Testamentprophets. .

Anciently, Israel was composedof 12 tribes, descended from the 12sons of the patriarch Jacob. Following the death of King Solomon, thenation of Israel split into two separate nations (I Kings 12): the southern "house of Judah't-e-composed ofthe tribes of Judah, Benjamin andpart of Levi, with capital at Jerusalem-and the larger, ten-tribed"house of Israel" to the north, withcapital at Samaria.

The house of Israel was conquered and carried away into captivity by Assyria in 721-718 B.C. (IIKings 18:9-12), never .to return. Thehouse of Judah (the "Jews") wascarried off in slavery to Babylonover a century later, in 604-585 B.C.(II Kings 25). Judah was laid

waste. Thereafter, no independentIsraelitish nation existed anywherein Palestine for over 2500 years.Though a remnant of the house ofJudah returned to Jerusalem underZerubbabel 70 years later in 534B.C., Judah remained under subjection as a Persian, and later a Roman, province. Finally, in A.D. 70,Judea was invaded and Jerusalemdestroyed by Roman troops. TheJews were forcefully driven fromtheir homeland.

In 1948-after nearly 19 centuriesof being dispersed-a part of thetribe of Judah forged a new nation inPalestine, calling it the "State of Israel." Though this end-time physicalrestoration of the Jews as a nationwas forecast by many Old Testamentprophets, it was not the much-prophesied great restoration of the entirenation of Israel. The vast majority ofthe Israelitish tribes-the so-called"lost ten tribes"-have not yet returned! (See "Jews Are a NationAgain-Prophecy Fulfilled?" byHerbert W. Armstrong in the February 1979 Plain Truth). The prophesied return of all Israel to the promised land in peace and security is yetfuture.

But what does prophecy say of thepresent Jewish "State of Israel"?Will the Arab nations make furtherefforts to "drive it into the sea"? Willthere be a fifth Arab-Israeli war?And if so, what will the consequencesbe?

Numerous prophecies speak ofvarious "calamities" yet to befall'Judah in the months and yearsahead. A great crisis is yet to occurin Palestine. The Arab armies aretoday better equipped and bettercoordinated for the waging of warthan at any time in the past threedecades. A future Mideast warcould very well place in danger thevery existence of the State of Israel.Moreover, the most sacred religiousshrines of the world's three major

. religions, located in Jerusalem,could become jeopardized. The "BigPowers" may be forced to intervene.Troops may even be dispatched toPalestine as a "peace-keepingforce" to patrol and police the volatile region.

King David of ancient Israel, in a


prophetic psalm (Psalm 83) providesadditional insight into the comingMideast picture. Germany (Assyriain Bible prophecy) and perhaps therest of Europe will be in-league in thefuture with a union of Arab nations-a vast confederacy bound together in an effort to crush out thename "Israel" from the face of theearth! This Arab-Moslem confederacy may very well be the previouslymentioned "king of the south" ofDaniel 11-a sphere of power encompassing vast portions of the Islamic world.

"They have said, Come, and let uscut them off from being a nation ;that the name of Israel may be nomore in remembrance. For they haveconsulted together with one consent:they are confederate against thee:The tabernacles of Edom [Esau ormodern-day Turkey, a non-Arab butIslamic nation] and the Ishmaelites[Saudi Arabia] ; of Moab [part ofJordan] and the Hagarenes [anciently these people dwelt in the landknown as Syria today] ; Gebal [Lebanon], and Ammon [modern Jordan],and Amalek [part of the Turks] ; thePhilistines [the modern PalestinianArabs] with the inhabitants of Tyre[Lebanon] ; Assur [whose descendants , the Assyrians, migrated toGermany] also is joined with them:they have holpen [helped] the children of Lot [Jordan and westernIraq]" (Psalms 83:4-8). .

Amazingly, such an alliance is already in the making! Europe-andWest Germany in particular-is vitally dependent on the Arab world'soil. It cannot afford to appearoverlysympathetic to the Jewish state. Evennow, a "special relationship" is developing between the major Arab oilproducers in the Middle East and theindustrial oil-consuming powers ofWestern Europe. Europe is seekinglong-term guarantees of oil suppliesto meet its needs. Moreover, theArabs-fearful of Soviet inroads inthe Middle East and correspondinglack of firm U.S. resolve to counterbalance them-have expressed interest in developing closer military tieswith Europe. There have even beenreports of a suggested "collective security pact" in the Middle East under European guarantees. Mean-


while, Israeli leaders are becomingconcerned about what they perceiveto be a growing European pro-Arabtilt.

Mideast Invaded '

But in the end, this European-Araballiance will prove short-lived. Asshown earlier, the "king of the north"of Daniel II-the leader of the German-led European union-will ultimately turn against the Arab "kingof the south ," with disastrous consequences for the entire Middle Eastboth Jew and Arab alike. The entireregion will be subjected to armed invasion!

Europe's ire could well be precipitated by a cutoff of vital oil' suppliesby the Arabs. Whatever the provocation, Europe will act swiftly to protect its interests-sending troops intothe Middle East!

~~

Europe will act swiftly toprotect its interests- .sending troops into the

Middle East!

"Daniel 11 :40-41: "And the king of

the north shall come against him [theking of the south] like a whirlwind . .. and he shall enter into the

.countries.. .. He shall enter also intothe glorious land [Palestine], andmany countries [Arab countries ofthe Middle East] shall be overthrown . . . ."

The modern State of Israel will beconquered. Jerusalem will be besieged and taken. The prophet Zechariah also speaks of this capture ofJerusalem, revealing that eventuallyhalf the city will be taken into captivity by the European power (14:1-2).

In addition, Daniel 's prophecy specifically mentions that Egypt will beconquered by the German-led European forces. Isaiah shows that Syria,too, will become a "ruinous heap"(17:1-3).

The Arab-Moslem Confederationwill, of course, be thrown into chaotic

disarray in the face of invasion. Someof its component countries will bedirectly occupied by Europeantroops. However, as revealed in Daniel 11 :41, Jordan (the present-day descendants of Moab and Ammon) andTurkey (Edom) will escape occupation. Other Arab countries may alsoavoid full occupation, possibly remaining in some sort of limited alliance with United Europe . "Libya"(or Put, the North African Arabs)along with "Ethiopia" (or Cush, certain black African nations) shall be''' at his [the king of the north's]steps"-or "following him" as sometranslations render it.

Great Tribulation

In the wake of the invasion andtakeover of the State of Israel bythe revived Roman Empire, the"beast" (European strong man) willmake Jerusalem his headquarters(Daniel 11:45). As many New Testament prophecies reveal, a greatmiracle-working religious leadercalled the "false prophet" and "manof sin"-will come along from Europe with the beast , in direct alliance with him. This false prophetwill make his religious headquartersat Jerusalem.

Jesus Christ spoke of a soon-coming "great tribulation" (Matthew24:21). Christ also predicted that aninvasion of Palestine would immediately precede it : " And when yeshall see Jerusalem compassed witharmies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh" (Luke 21:20).God will permit the EuropeanChurch-State union to tread Jerusalem underfoot for 1260 days, or 3'hyears (Daniel 12:7; Revelation12:14).

Christ continued in Luke 21: "Forthese be the days of vengeance, thatall things which are written may befulfilled ... for there shall be greatdistress in the land ... they shall fallby the edge of the sword, and shall beled away captive into all nations: andJerusalem shall be trodden down ofthe Gentiles, until the times of theGentiles be fulfilled" (verses 2224)-a graphic picture of Palestineoccupied and ravaged during theGreat Tribulation. (Other prophecies


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TEN REASONS WHYI DON'T KEEP CHRISTMAS

Sour grapes? A bah-humbug Scrooge? Antiestablishment? Irreligious? No! None of these. Here's aplain speaking-out about a holiday nearly everybody keeps, religious or nonreligious, and nearly noone seems to really understand why! Read this personal-experience article for understanding. It's

practical. Logical. Truthful. Biblical. All of these!

by Jon Hill

M any years ago I stopped toask myself: Why do I keepChristmas? More people are

unhappy , miserable, depressed, deep indebt , and violent during that holidayseason than any other time of the year .There's precious little peace on earth orgoodwill among men. There doesn'tseem to be much of Christ in the commercialized Christmas that begins to beadvertised each year before the lastChristmas ispaid for!

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For that matter, in what littlereading I had done in the Bible, Inever had read anything aboutChristmas. Where did we get all ofthese customs anyway? Why do Ihave to practice them just becauseeverybody else does? What difference will it make if I don't keepChristmas?

At first I argued with myself that Iwould create problems with myfriends and relatives, particularly the

kids in the family, if I didn't go alongwith the customs surrounding thetwenty-fifth of December.

But I was wrong.When I said I was sick and tired of

it and determined not to have anything to do with it, I found manypeople who felt the same way. Agreat number of those who had inprevious years felt obliged to tradegifts with me sighed in relief at nothaving that obligation. As for the


children, when we took the time tolook into the encyclopedia and theother reference works at the library,when we read with our thinkingcaps on the many articles that comeout in daily newspapers during theChristmas season, we realized thatthe origins of these customs werenot biblical at all-and, in fact, hadnothing to do with Jesus Christ ofNazareth!

And children, until they aretaught differently, have an inspiringrespect for the plain truth!

So looking back on the many yearswhich I have not kept Christmas, Ican with happy hindsight give manymore reasons now than when I firstquit observing this outstanding holiday of the "Christian" calendar. Perhaps you will benefit by the cataloguing of some of those experiences andthe reasons that I have learned overthe years for not having to becomeinvolved in what is not only the leastunderstood but the most misunderstood of social customs in the Western world.

IICAN'T AFFORD IT

By the time you add up the cost ofdecorations, special meals, travel expenses, gifts and cards, time takenoff from work during a forced holiday season, etc., etc ., it can oftenespecially by the time you add carrying charges and interest on thosethings which have been put on credit-amount to nearly ten percent ofyour gross annual income that can bespent on this occasion. You just haveto ask yourself-is it worth it? Theanswer I had to give myself wasabsolutely not.

By the time I examined my budgetin the light of the rising, inflationarycost of living-by the time I realizedthe serious investment that has to bemade ahead of time for my children'seducation and for my own old ageby the time I added up all the deductions from my paycheck and thensubtracted the absolutely necessaryamounts for the basics of living-bythe time I set aside a little for yearlyfamily excursions to some place on

The PLAIN TRUTH December 1979 '

this beautiful earth that I have notseen before-by the time I added inthe expense of those things which arenot necessary but which I would liketo do and be free to do (not beforcedto do)- by the time I set aside alittle for unexpected occurrences andall the other picky things that belongin a budget, I realized that I hadnothing left over to pay for financingthe biggest business bust of theyear!

Whenever I mention this to otherpeople, I usually get hearty agreement and a wistful look from themthat says they wish they had thegumption to cut free from this ridiculous expense themselves.

2ACCENT ON GET

Materialism and commercialism sodominate this "season to be jolly"that there can surely be no soul soblind as not to see it. Although it isthe season of giving-and everyone ispropagandized to feel evil if they arenot involved in that"giving-the overtones, from the candy store on thecorner to the department store thathas everything and the mail-ordercatalogue businesses, obviously putthe stress on getting them more business during this time of year than anyother comparable season. In fact,many commercial ventures rely onthis season of the year for their survival.

Whenever a question is asked afterthe twenty-fifth of December is past,it is generally, "What did you GET

for Christmas?" Each vies with theother, determined to express the ideathat he got more.

Nobody likes to pay taxes, and I'msure that if there were a way outeverybody would take it and ceasepaying taxes immediately. But taxesare demanded, and it is a criminaloffense not to pay them. Being taxedin addition to that by the crass commercialism and social pressuremounted at Christmas time is something I have found the strength torefuse. It is not a crime to refuse togo along with the crowds in theirrush to fulfill the season's demands- "

in fact, there's a certain sense of satisfaction in having been able to beassailed with all of that accumulationof social trends and business furorand withstand it all, independent,watching the madness from the side:lines.

There's enough of the "go now andpay later," the "put it on credit anddon't worry about payments untilFebruary," the "why use cash whenyou can use credit?" syndromes going on in the world as it is. I not onlydon't have to worry about paymentsuntil February, but I don't have toworry about payments even when itgets to be March or April or MayorJune or July or for however longthose holidays may continue to costthe average person for his response toChristmas commercialism.

3GMNG IS SPECIAL

Withdrawing myself from the socialdemands of giving on command, ofbeing obliged to give things I can'tafford to people to whom I don'twant to give-who feel the same wayabout me and wouldn't like what Igive them anyway-doesn't meanthat I have given up giving. My children, my wife, my family and closefriends receive gifts from me, or I donice things for them, at spontaneoustimes that are special-just between

"me and the one to whom I give. Thatway the gift is much more special.The receiver realizes that it doesn'thave to be done. The thought behindthe gift does count more than thegift. All the giving is not done in justone season. Special joy comes fromgiving and receiving between peoplewho love each other-and it is spreadover the whole year.

Because it is special, care andthought beyond the mad rush of thecommercial season are lavisheduniquely on the one gift at the onetime for the special occasion which Ifind stands out much more in thememory of the giver and the receiverthan any Christmas gift ever could.This way I'm free to give, not boundto give-and I find this freedom re-freshing! "

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4HYPOCRISY-THE

SPIRITOFCHRISTMAS"I hate Christmas," said one department store manager in California. "Ihate the hypocrisy, the one-dayChristianity of Christmas; I hate thecommercialism-and I'm part ofit."

A seasoned divorce lawyer wrote,"Lawyers usually see an influx ofnew divorce clients immediately following the Christmas and New Yearholidays . Too much holiday cheer

.touches off the smoldering conflictsthat have been under control allyear."

A psychiatrist says, "At Christmas, the lonely begin feeling lonelier,the tension prone tighten up as pressures mount and the illusion appearsof ecstatic happiness all just aroundthe corner. Christmas is the worstseason of the year for the mentallyill."

Even the Better Business Bureauwarns, "Tis the season to be wary"that is, it's the season of shysters,shoplifters and sidewalk salesmen.They warn that those who plead forcharity should be investigated beforeany donation is made-especially atthis time of year.

In a desperate effort to fit in withthe "spirit of Christmas," peoplesmile when they don't fee/like smiling. They greet one another with oldpagan slogans . They get increasinglyconcerned about the debts they aremounting up. They get into more andmore of a hard-faced, bitter fight ingwith their fellow Christmas shoppersas the deadline approaches and theydesperately try to snap up the lastfew gifts from the counters whichthey know are going to offer the same .items the day after Christmas for 30to 50 percent off!

Far too many try to get theirChristmas spirits from the bottle,and either end up drunk with a hangover, or perhaps seriously injured ordead as .a result of overindulgencewhile driving. So many so deeplywish they didn't have to be involved

16

in this season but are forced to bysocial custom. Hypocrisy stands asthe hallmark of this season.

5I HATE TO LIE

ESPECIALLY TO KIDSA famous physician says that theSanta Claus myth is a fantastic webof lies which can cause your child"when he finds out"--<:onfusion ofmind , possible schizoid splits in hispersonality, or even a physical ailment resulting from the emotionalletdown of "losing" so close a friend(Santa) . One psychology professoreven laid part of the blame for thegeneration gap and the hippie subculture on the Santa Claus myth.

In the parent-child relationshipthe TRUTH is the most priceless commodity that they must always share.How many times have you foundyourself saying to your child-"Nowyou be sure to tell me the truth,young man (or young lady)"? Weeven'want them to tell us if they havedone something bad-which is difficult for anybody to tell. We wantthem to tell us about their grades inschool, about their friends and whatthey do and think, whether they

. broke a neighbor's window or tookmoney from mama's purse. Wepreach over and over to them thatthey must always tell the truth. Andthen we proceed in nearly every holiday season of the year to manufacture the most ridiculous falsehoodsimaginable! Sober-faced and withour hypocritical spirit of Christmaswrapped around us, we tell themand even associate it with God andChrist and the Bible-one blatant lieafter another!

Is it any wonder we have a generation gap!

One of the biggest things that theyoung people of today are accusingthe older generation of is hypocrisyand .I'm afraid that I have to agreewith that charge for the majority ofthe people who live as slaves to thesocial system which surrounds us.Thankfully, I determined, before mychildren were old enough to talk to,

that I was not going to tell them anylies about a fat man who dresses in ared suit, flies insome magical way ona sled led by a red-nosed reindeer andsomehow manages to squeeze downmy chimney on the dark night of thetwenty-fourth to deposit gifts for allthe good little children under sometinseled tree that I have trucked in.

My children didn't have to find outthat dad was lying about SantaClaus. My children didn't have toeven think the thought in their mindswhich has been expressed by a fewbold children-that thought: "If theylie to me about Santa Claus, whatelse will they lie to me about? Now ,Iwonder about this whole Jesus Christbusiness!"

This doesn't mean that my children never have lied-I certainlydon't pride myself on being a perfectparent. But it does mean that theycould not excuse any lying they didbecause they caught their mother orfather telling them big whoppersand doing it in the setting of religiousworship at that! They know mom anddad don 't lie, and this gives them aspecial respect and a special contactthat is .not only precious to my wifeand me as parents but which we feelis a basic requirement and an indispensable tool of child rearing.

It's all too often that we run acrossthe syndrome of people not practicing what they preach. You can't askyour kids to do what they don't seeyou doing. You can tell your kids,"Don't do as I do, do as I say," but itwon't work! Children have to learn totrust their parents-but I never knewan inveterate liar who could betrusted. Being forced by society totell a package of lies at a time whichis so special in the minds of children-when they are at their mosttender and impressionable agedeals a crippling blow to child-parentrelationships and creates a giantcredibility gap between children andadults-no matter how much wemight pooh-pooh the idea.

As a child grows up, it leads to acynical turn of mind. It gives him orher a set of values which is cheap andtawdry regarding the truth.

Yet it is a reward no parent wantsto miss to have his children come tohim and ask any question they want


to, in an open trust, knowing thatthey will be told the truth. You can 'tbuy that commodit y. There 's no commercialism or materialism involvedwith it. It is the opposite of hypocrisy.And despite the fact that you cannotbuy it, it costs absolutely noth ing.The tru th is that commodity which ismost missing in today's world , and ittrul y is the source and power of freedom- "the truth SH ALL make YO U

f ree."

6XMASTREE

BEARS BAD FRUITAnother reason I don't keep Christmas is a logical , cause-and-effectreason. I look around me and itdoesn't take too much intelligence orresearch effort on my part to determine that the fruits of the Christm astree are heavily seasoned with bitt erness and violence, depression, depravity and debt.

The Book my Maker gave me saysthat a good tree ca nnot bear bad fru itand a bad tree cannot bear goodfru it. When I look at this Christm astree, I see a great deal of bad fru it.

It 's a paradox. At Christmas time,when millions of families ar e drawncloser together , at least in physicalproximit y, it is also a fact that simultaneously more people are depressed,deep in debt, discouraged , drunkenand dying during that time than anyother month of the year.

The, FBI says, "The peak monthlyrate [for murder and mansl aughter]almost invari ably occur s in December. Th is may have something to dowith th e approach of Christmas,which leads to an unusually largenumb er of family rows . .. 'Peace onea rth,' we say, but it looks verydoubtful that we really mean it at 'Ch ristm as. No t when fam ilies aresuffering such heavy crime sta tistics.On a week for week basis mor epeople commit suicide dur ing thi sholiday seaso n than any other periodof the yea r."

A policeman writes, " I have beenan officer for over 19 yea rs . . . weget more calls from neighbo rs to go


out and settle famil y 'fights onChristmas Eve than any other nightduring the year, including NewYear's. You walk into a house that isgaily decorated, the tree is aglow,beautifully wrapped gift s are underthe tree and the husband and wifeare throwing things at each other.The kids are crouched in the cornerscared out of their wits."

A leading neurologist says, "Thereare certainly more depressions,suicidal gestures, cries for help atChristmas than at any other time. "

Overeating, hives, crying jags, dishonesty, sexual deviation, playingwith your neighbor's wife, plain orneriness, a peak in highway accidents, and family murders are amongthe fruits of this season's tree.

Personally, for me, I thank Godthat the Christmas tree is not in myhome to bear these bad fru its .

7XMAS DEMANDSINTELLECTUALDISHONESTY

Beyond just plain lying to our children , coming up with reasons why wekeep these holidays produces a primeexample of either a bad case of intellectual blinders or outright intellec-

_tual dishonesty.It doesn't take great, in-depth re

search to-find out that the roots ofChristmas-and for that matterevery so-called Christian holiday onthe calendar-are not found in theBible, which is the handbook fromthe Creator. A little further basicresearch in encyclopedias will force aperson to either rebel against the dictates of commercial society-or compromise his intellectual honesty .

Take the Catholic Encyclopaedia,for ins t a nce , under the a r t icl e" Christmas ." It plainl y tells us thatman y earl y church fathers con demned the keeping of thi s baptizedSaturnalia and that it was not anaccepta ble "Christian" holiday untilwell into the fourth century. Evenafter that it goes on to show thatmany out standing leaders in the history of that church as well as a pope

or two have condemned the practicesof that season. It cont inues expla ining that even the Parli ament of England declared the holida y illegal atone time. It sta tes very plainl y thatthere is no Bible precedent for observing the birthday of Christ.

It plainly points out that nobodyreally knows when Christ was bornthat "respected authorities" can befound who place the birth of Christ inalmost any month of the year. Further than that it plainly explains thatif there is anyone month when thebirth of Christ could not have occurred it would be December. And onand on and on ...

To think that in the light of all theinformation which is readily available any individual would continue tocelebrate th is festival seems to me tobe blatant intellectual dishonesty.

8CHRIST NEVER WAS

IN CHRIST-lVIASS

"Let's put Christ back into Christmas ," some say when they notice thecomm ercialism. Yet this saying is ofitself a sad commentary on the entiresubject. When you put all your research together, looking at the Bible,looking at the readily available references in your publ ic library and perhaps at the books on your own shelf,you can quickly see that the trueJesus Christ of Nazareth who lived inGalilee nearly two thousand yearsago never was in Christmas.

As you progress through ' a short ,study, you realize that His name wasput into Christmas and accepted asthe heart of the stor y of Christmas byabout the fourth century. You realizethe name of Christ was used andapplied to this custom. But then, ofcourse, you reali ze that the name ofChrist was prophesied by Jesus Himself to be preached and associatedwith the deception of the many asone of the signs that would precedeHis coming and that He Himselfgave this prophecy to His disciples inMatthew 24. As your study goes further, you realize that many attemptsat reform were made at various times

17

in both the Catholic and Protestantchurches-feeble attempts to getback to the faith once delivered to thesaints-attempts to not allow, as theearly New Testament church did not,the name of Christ to be associatedwith such a dubious background.

It would be impossible to put thetrue Christ back into Christmas because the true Christ never was inChristmas.

Christ 's nam e has been used invain to decorate that day, and so thethi rd of the great Ten Commandments is broken. Jesus Christ is theliving Word-the personal, humanand now divine expression of the living Ten Commandments. The keeping of this holiday breaks not only thethird comm andment but every otherone. It 's obvious that the commandment agai nst lying is broken here.Often the com mandment not to commit adulte ry is broken especially onthat day. It 's obvious to see that coveting is the universal principle of thisseason. It is a ll too sadly plain torecognize tha t murd er is committedand a great deal of stealing goes onand children have a very difficulttime honoring their parents.

The Jesus Christ of Nazareth whogave His life to pay for my all-toomany sins-the Jesus Christ of Nazareth who py the Spirit of God is,accordin g to th e d ict ates of HisWord, the Bible, supposed to be living His life-style over in my lifethat living Jesus soon to come to thisworld as its King of kings and Lordof lords will not give authority forHis name to be associated with anyaspect of this pagan holiday.

9IT'S PAGAN

In most any public library you canget proof of this in a book entitledFour Thou sand Years of Christmasby Earl Wendell Count. The veryname of this book proves that theChristmas holida y isn't Christian. Itwas celebrated two thou sand yearsbef ore the birth of Christ in honor ofpagan gods. Therefore, it was and isidola try. God very patently says,"Take heed . .. that you do not in-

18

quire about their gods, saying, 'Howdo these nations serve the ir gods?' th at I also may do likewise. You shallnot do so to the Eternal your God; forevery abominable thing which theEternal hates the y have done fortheir gods " (Deuteronomy 12:3031).

10I GIVE TO CHRIST

.The excuse of giving gifts that comesfrom the story of the birth of Christregarding the wise men giving Christgifts is misapplied in our giving oneanother gifts. The reason the wisemen gave gifts to Christ was becausehe was a King. He is much more aKing now than He .was then, and Hewill be even much more a King in thesoon-coming future than He is now.

To give to every Tom , Dick andHarry and NOT to give to Christ,particularly at a season which claimsChrist as its center, seems to me theworst hypocrisy of all. Having readand believed Malachi 3, I have dedicated that first ten percent and another generous amount of my budgetto be given to God , to His Work onthis earth today, to proclaiming thegood news of the coming Kingdom ofGod to rule over this world, to Hisrepresentatives who preach and teachthat truth which is the only source offreedom. I find many biblical commands-s-inescapable-c-which requireme to give to my Christ and otherstatements which allow me to givefreely of freewill offerings at anytime or on special occasions. Thiskind of giving t can do with a completel y free conscience.

I may be faced with a few unpleasant comments from people and haveto suffer ridicule or scoffing or accusations because I don 't keep the archholiday which is designated by thename of Christ (taken in vain), but Iwill not have to stand before my Creator whose name is.Jesus Christ andexplain to Him why I kept Christmas . I don't think it will be too difficult facing the judgment-to be ableto say to my Creator that, instead ofgiving at a time of the pagan wintersolstice, gifts I couldn't afford , which

were not appreciated-that I haveinstead given as commanded (and Ihope generously as freewill offerings)my gifts directly to the Work of theliving Jesus Christ.

These are just ten reasons why Idon 't keep Christmas-but I thinkthey are adequate to explain my conduct. The freedom I enjoy , the goodconscience I am able to have , thesincere fr iends who give to me oftheir time and effort and consideration as well as a small, physical giftfrom time to time-the security I feelat not having a mountain of deb ts topay, the ability to look my son and ,daughter or an yone else in the eyeand tell the truth-all these arepriceless and indispensable factorsthat influence every day of my life.

When I gave up Christmas, Ididn't give up anything but debt, materi alism, hypocrisy, lying, intellectual dishonesty and paganism. Thefreedom of the truth is rich and itgets richer every year. I wouldn'ttrade it for anything. Why don't youjoin me in my freedom? 0

From GodW-dhLove

As a motion picture, they were acclaimed by the world . As the law ofGod, they have been loved bysome, hated by others-but transgressed by all. To most peoplethey remain a puzzling enigma.They are, of course, the Ten Commandments. But just how are theyapplicable to today's world? Ourfree booklet The Ten Commandments explains these living lawsand shows how God, in His love,gave them to mankind for thegood of us all . To receive yourcopy, just write to The' Plain Truthat the address nearest you. (Seeinside front cover for worldwideaddresses .) Your free copy iswaiting for you.


Where WillCHRIST

RULE?by Raymond F. McNair

oes God's Wordpromise heaven asthe reward of thesaved? Did Jesussa y believerswould waft off toheaven ?

What does God promise as the reward of the righteous-those who believe and obey Him? Does He promiseheaven, limbo, purga tory-or w.ill the"saved" inherit a paradise on the earth?

Although millions of sincere peoplebelieveotherwise, the Biblesaysnothingabout the saints going to heaven! God'sWord declares: "The heaven, even theheavens, are the Lord's: but the earthhath he given to the children of men"(Psalms 115:16). .

And David was inspired to revealthat "those that wait upon the Lord,they shall inherit the earth" (Psalms37:9,22). Furthermore, he said: " Butthe meek shall inherit the earth; andshall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (verse II).

Does this mean the meek will inherit the earth in this life? No , for itis often the proud, the arrogant, thewicked, the violent who inherit muchof this earth during this age .

How long will the meek hold titleto this earth? "The righteous shallinherit the land, and dwell the reinforever" (verse 29).

Christ Promised the Earth

Some, however, argue that the Hebrew word tra nslated as "for ever" in


Psalms 37:29 does not really mean" forever."

But let us notice Christ's promiseto the meek of the earth: "Blessed arethe meek: for they shall inherit theearth" (Matthew 5:5) . Later we shallsee that this inheritance of the righteous is for all eternity .

But did Christ ever say the righ teous would go to heaven or inheritheaven? Some carelessly assume thatHe did. What Christ actually saidwas: " Blessed are the poor in spirit:for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"(Matthew 5:3) .

Did Jesus contradict Himself-offering " heaven" in verse three, whilepromisi ng the "earth" in verse five?No, what Christ meant was that the" poor in spiri t" would inherit thekingdom ru led over or governed by(or f rom) heaven. In other words, Hemea nt they would inherit the Kingdom of God.

Only Matthew used the expressi on" kingdom of heaven," while Mark,Luke and John, as well as the writersof the rest of the New Testament,consistently used the term "kingdomof God." But they both mean exactlythe same thing.

The "kingdom of heaven " simplymeans the kingdom of that great Being whose throne is in heaven. Godsays: "Heaven is my throne, andearth is my footstool ..." (Acts7:49) .

This simply means that "heaven"is now the place where God's throneis located. Eventually God Himselfwill esta blish His throne on this

earth. Christ will dwell with menduring the "millennium," and then,later, even the Father will come downand also dwell with men forever (seeRevelation 21) . Man isn't going toheaven-God is coming to th isearth!

No Man Has Ascended toHeaven

A gentleman once told me that hebelieved man has an immortal soulthat goes to heaven when he dies .because, he said , he saw his mother'ssoul (like a little puff of smoke or ahandful of cotton wool) leave hismother's body and waft heavenwardwhen she died . This was the basis forhis belief.

But we need to have somethingmore solid than this as the foundation for our belief. We must base allour beliefs on the Bible; otherwise,they will come crumbling down sooner or later.

Consider Christ's plain words:"And no man hath ascended up toheaven, but he that came down fromheaven, even the Son of man which isin heaven" (John 3:13). (Some ancient manuscripts do not havethe words "which is in heaven ."Christ was not "in heaven" when hespoke these words , but was onearth.)

Yes, Jesus plainly said that, exceptfor Himself, no human had ever goneto heaven .

On the momentous Day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter, under divineinspiration, said: "For David is not

19

ascended into the heavens .. ." (Acts2:34).

Reward Now Kept in Heaven

We have seen that Christ promisedthat the meek would "inherit theearth"-not heaven. It is true, however, that the reward of the righteousis now being kept or preserved inheaven.

Jesus told those who are reviled,falsely accused and persecuted to" rejoice, and be exceeding glad: forgreat is your reward in heaven"(Matthew 5:12). And He admonished His followers to "lay up foryourselves treasures in heaven"(Matthew 6:20).

Paul told the Hebrews: " ... Yehave in heaven a better and an enduring substance" (Hebrews 10:34).

The apostle Peter spokeof"an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, andthat fadeth not away, reservedinheavenfor you" (I Peter 1:4). .

And Paul assured the Christians atPhilippi : "For our conversation[Greek, citizenship] is in heaven;from whence also we look for theSaviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: whoshall [at His second coming] changeour vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his 'glorious body ..."(Philippians 3:20-21).

These and other scriptures clearlyreveal that our spiritual reward, orour crown, is now being kept in heaven. But will it remain there? Will wego to heaven to receive our reward?Or will Jesus Christ bring our rewardback to this earth with Him when Hecomes?

The apostle Paul wrote: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crownof righteousness, which the Lord, therighteous judge, shall give me at thatday: and not to me only, but unto allthem also that love his appearing"(II Timothy 4:8).

It is at Christ's appearing that thiscrown will be given: "And when thechief Shepherd shall appear. ye shallreceive a crown of glory that fadethnot away" (I Peter 5:4).

Christ's Second Coming

But when is this appearing? The doctrine of the "second coming" is wellknown, and the Bible certainlyteaches it.

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Notice how Paul explained this:" . . . And unto them that look forhim shall he appear the second timewithout sin unto salvation" (Hebrews9:28).

Remember, Christ said: "I go [toheaven] to prepare a place for you.And if I go and prepare a place foryou, I will come again [to this earth],and receive you unto myself; thatwhere I am, there ye may be also"(John 14:2-3).

Some erroneously assume thatsince Christ was shortly going toheaven (where He would prepare theplaces or positions), He was also going to take His disciples to heaven.

But Christ plainly told the disciples He would "come again"-backto this earth. The disciples were wellaware of Christ's plain teaching thatHe was coming back to this earth,else they would not have asked:"What shall be the sign of thy coming?" (Matthew 24:3.)

Christ likened His coming to"Iightning"-"so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew24:27).

Jesus then told His disciples that agreat tribulation would be followedby heavenly signs (verses 21, 22, 29).Then, after the heavenly signs, "shallappear the sign of the Son of man inheaven: and then shall all the tribesof the earth mourn, and they shall seethe Son of man coming in the cloudsof heaven with power and great glory" (verse 30). Christ then mentionsHis coming six more times in thissame chapter (verses 36, 39, 42, 44,46,48).

There can be no question thatChrist plainly said He would go to 'heaven, but He would also come backto this earth to receive His saintsunto Himself, then to rule all nationsthrough them.

Christ plainly said "all the tribesof the earth" shall see Him "coming"with great power and glory .

, "And he shall send his angels witha great sound of a trumpet. and theyshall gather together his elect fromthe four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (verse 31).

This same momentous event is described in I Corinthians 15:51-54,I Thessalonians 4:13-17 and Zechariah 14:1-5.

Paul gave the Thessalonians avivid description of Christ's secondcoming: "For this we say untoyou .. . we which are alive and remairi unto the coming of the Lordshall not prevent [precede] themwhich are asleep [dead]. For theLord himself shall descend fromheaven with a shout, with the voiceof the archangel, and with thetrump of God: and the dead inChrist shall rise first: then we whichare alive and remain shall be caughtup together with them in theclouds. to meet the Lord in the air:and so shall we ever be with theLord" (I Thessalonians 4:15-17).

Notice that we are to be caught upin the "clouds" to meet the Lord "inthe air."

Back to Heaven?

But does Jesus then take the saintsback to heaven?

Speaking of the second coming ofChrist, when He will fight againstHis enemies at Jerusalem, Zechariahsaid: "Then shall the Lord go forth ,and fight against those nations, aswhen he fought in the day of battle.And his feet shall stand in that dayupon the mount of Olives . . . andthe Lord my God shall come, andall the saints with thee" (Zechariah14:3-5) .

This scripture reveals that Christ'sfeet will again stand upon the Mountof Olives, and "all the saints" willcome with Him.

This same truth is also taught inthe New Testament. After Christ'sresurrection, He was standing on theMount of Olives when He was takenup from the disciples into a cloud." . . . While they [the disciples] beheld, he was taken up; and a cloudreceived him out of their sight" (Acts1:9).

Two dazzling angels appeared tothe disciples and told them: "Thissame Jesus, which is taken up fromyou into heaven. shall so come in likemanner as ye have seen him go intoheaven" (verse 11). And they werethen standing on the Mount of Olives(verse 12).

Christ Brings Reward With Him

Christ plainly .taught that He willbring His reward with Him at His


second coming: "And, behold, I comequickly; and my reward is with me .to give every man according as hiswork shall be" (Revelation 22:12).

But just what will that reward be?Will it be golden harps on which thesaints can play heavenly music for alleternity?

Notice the reward which Christwill give to all overcomers: "But thatwhich ye have already hold fast till Icome. And he that overcometh, andkeepeth my works unto the end, tohim will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with arod of iron ..." (Revelation 2:25-.27). .

Daniel also prophesied of the timewhen Christ and the saints shall rulethis entire world: " ... And, behold,one like the Son of man came withthe clouds of heaven.... And therewas given him dominion, and glory,and a kingdom. that all people, nations , and languages, should servehim : his dominion is an everlastingdominion, which shall not pass away,and his kingdom that which shall notbe destroyed" (Daniel 7:13-14).

This "Son of man " will not rulethis earth by Himself: "But thesaints of the most High shall take thekingdom, and possess the kingdomfor ever , even for ever and ever"(verse 18).

This rulership will be worldwide:"And the kingdom and dominion,and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven. shall be givento the people of the saints of the mostHigh, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shallserve and obey him" (verse 27).

Truly, in that day, "the Lord[Christ] shall be king over all theearth " (Zechariah 14:9). Christ willsit on David's throne. Where willthat throne be located? "At that timethey shall call Jerusalem the throneof the Lord; and all the nations shallbe gathered unto it" (Jeremiah3:17).

The heavenly signs mentioned inthe book of Daniel and the 24thchapter of Matthew are also spokenof elsewhere in the Bible :

" T hen the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, whenthe LORD of hosts shall reign inmount Zion, and in Jerusalem ..."


(Isa. 24:23). That's right here on thisgood earth!

Saints Rule on Earth

The saints, who at that time will havebeen redeemed from this earth, willfinally exclaim: "And [God] hastmade us unto our God kings andpriests: and we shall reign on theearth" (Revelation 5:10) : Noticethat the saints will not rule in heaven,but on the earth.

One of Christ's parables revealswhere the saints shall rule. The disciples mistakenly thought the "kingdomof God should immediately appear"(Luke 19:11). Christ gave the disciples a parable to show that it would bequite 'some time before He would re-

We need to havesomething solid as the

foundation for ourbelief We must base our

beliefs on the Bible;otherwise they will comecrumbling down sooner

or later.

"turn to this earth to set up His kingdom: "A certain nobleman [Christ]went into a far country [heaven] toreceive for himself a kingdom, and toreturn. And he called his ten servants,and delivered them ten pounds, andsaid unto them, Occupy [utilize] till Icome" (Luke 19:12, 13).

Those who were industrious andwho gained a good return on theirmaster's money were given rulershipover " (en cities" (verse 17) and "fivecities" (verse 19). This shows thatthe glorified saints in the Kingdom ofGod will be given rule or authorityover the nations of this earth.

When Christ and His glorifiedsaints sit on thrones governing thenations of this earth, then there willbe peace, happiness and prosperityfor all nations. The "government [of

the whole earth] shall be upon his[Christ's] shoulder ..." (Isaiah 9:6).And, " Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,upon the throne of David, and uponhis kingdom, to order it , and to establish it with judgment and with justice . .." (verse 7).

A Utopian Earth

The wonderful world tomorrow, theutopian age, will at long last dawnupon this earth. Christ will judge theworld with 'r ighteousness (Isaiah11:1-5) . Then wild, ravenous anddeadly animals and reptiles willdwell at peace with the domesticatedanimals. "They shall not hurt nordestroy in all my holy mountain: forthe earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waterscoverthe sea " (verse 9). At that time, "thedesert shall rejoice, and blossom asthe rose" (Isaiah 35: 1). " . .. For inthe wilderness shall waters break out,and streams in the desert" (verse 6).

The nations of the earth will at lastreceive a " pure language" (Zephaniah 3:9) and will not be cursed withthe confusion of the tongues extanttod ay. Then " t he plowman shallovertake th e reap er . . . and theyshall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards. and dr ink the wine thereof;they shall a lso make gardens. and eatthe fruit of them" (Amos 9:13-14) . .

Men will not have to live in crowded,dirty, inhospitable, cursed cities wherethey don't even have a backyard inwhich their children can play.

And there shall be no more war!"And he [Christ] shall judge

among many people, and rebukestrong nations afar off; and they shallbeat their swords into plowshares.and their spears into pruninghooks:nation shall not lift up a swordagainst nation, neither shall theylearn war any more. But they shallsit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall makethem afraid .. ." (Micah 4:3-4).

What is the reward of the saints?Rulership with Christ right here onthis earth! The saints will assistChrist in governing all nations, inbringing peace, happiness, prosperityand joy supreme to all mankind. 0

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Were theTEN

COM DMENTSin Force Before Moses?

by Herbert W. Armstrong

he world isplagued with man y timesmore troubl es and evilstoday than when I was aboy. There was only afrac tion of the cr ime. Di

vo r c es a nd b r ok enhomes were rare by comp arison.

But today crime, revolt, riots , violence, wars-and the nuclear massdestruct ion wea pons-present theworld with the supreme problem ofhuma n survival!

Why?And wh at possible connect ion

could that have with whether the TenCo mm a nd me nt s existed beforeMoses? Plent y!

There has to be a cause for everyeffect. Do we dar e recognize the sobering fact that the world is bringingall these frightening conditions on it-

o self?

The Very Basis of Life

Th ere is a crea tion. Of necessitythere has to be a Cr eator. And theCreator set in living mot ion invisiblespiritua l laws to cause human happiness, peace , and abundant well-being.

The cau se of all human troubles,woes and evils? Man 's rejection andtransgression of those laws!

That overall invisible spiritual law

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is the way of giving, helping, serving,cooperating-the way of outgoingconcern for others. That way produces all good. And that way of life issimply the way of the Ten Com mandment s.

Most people ignore that law-andlive diametr ically contrary to it. Yetsome will say , "But I've been taughtthat the Ten Commandments weredone away, abolished by Christ, andwe don 't have to obey God's law anymore ."

But when a law of God is actuallyin living motion like the invisiblephysical laws of gravity or inertia , itis something far more than a churchritual, to be observed during one peri od and aboli shed in another . To argue that this inexor able spiritual lawis abolished is like setting a religiousdoct rine that the laws of gravity andinertia are abolished-and tellingpeople that they may freely leap off ahigh precipice or a tall building. Butif the y do, the law will exact its penalty.

All the harm-all the suffering-all the evils that have beset thisworld for six thousand years are theresult of violating God 's law!

Yet many have been erroneouslytaught that the Ten Commandmentswere merely a law devised by Moses,and given to the children of Israel-and them only-and that the TenCommandments never existed until

Moses. And, further, tha t they existed only until Christ.

The Paramount Question of Your Life

This is no mere , irr elevant theologicalor relig ious question. Thi s is thevery essence of your life- your homelife, your social life, your businesslife. It even has an importa nt connection with inheriting eternal life---oreternal death!

It's true that you cannot earn ete rnal life by obeying the commandments. But it's ju st as true that youcan earn-and get paid-eterna ldeath for unrepented transgression .

It 's the very crux question behindworld troubles today. Strange as it mayseem, the Ten Commandments havebeen in full force and effect since humanlife has existed on this earth!

They constitute a spiritu al lawthat is inexorable and eternal- a lawthat is love and the fulfilling of whichis love - a law that was set in motionfor our happiness to produce everything good which we have foolishlydenied our selves. These Ten Commandments are ent irely different andseparate from the ritualistic law ofMoses, which was just a code ofphysical laws, not spiritual laws.

Proof That CommandmentsWere in Force at Beg inning

The Ten Commandments were firstmade known to Adam in the Garden


of Eden. Wh y? Because that is thevery law that he broke in the " original" sin. Everyone of the Ten Commandments was then in full forc e andeffect. It was sin to tr an sgress anyone of them between the time ofAda m and Moses. You can read thisin your own Bible . '

When did this thing that we call"s in" sta rt anyway? Did it sta rt withMoses?

We read the answer in Romans5:12: "Wherefor e, as by one man sinente red into the world, and death bysin; and so death passed upon allmen , for that all have sinned." Andin verse fourteen, " Dea th reignedfrom Ad am to Moses."

"Sin is not imputed when there isno law," you read in the 13th verse .Yet sin was imputed, because deathdid re ign from Ad am to Mo ses.There must then have been a lawfrom Ad am 's time.

What Is Sin?

Is there a Bible defin ition ? Is thereany place in the Bible where it says,"Sin is . . ." and then follows the definiti on?

Th e answer is in I John 3:4: "Sin isthe tra nsgression of the law."

Sin is the tr an sgression of the law!Do you rea lize that God Almighty isnot only the Creator of matter-solidmatter , liquid matter and gaseousmatter , as we know it-but God alsois the Creator of force and of energyand of ever y power and of ever ylaw-the laws of phy sics, the laws ofchemistry, ever y law that is in motionand is energized ? Do you realize thatGod Almighty also created a spi ritual law? Th at spiritual law regulates your happiness.

Happiness Instead of Suffering

You want happiness. You want to behappy above all things. Ever yonedoes. You want to lead a life that iscomfortable, pleas ing and pleasant.You would like to lead a life that isfull and abunda nt and interestingas a matter of fact, a little bit exciting all the way along- wouldn' t you?And you want a life where everythingis pleasant, where there are no painsor suffering.

You don 't want a life of boredom.You don 't want a life of sorrow, pain


or suffering. You want a happy life ,and you would love to feel well, jollyand joyful-happy all the time.

You could have a life like that.Everyone could.

This entire world could be liketh at-if we onl y . understood theway!

God Almighty in His gre at love forhumanity set a law in motion. Th atlaw was designed to produce just thatkind of life for you.

But you 're not living that way.You 're breaking that law and thatlaw has been breaking you a longtime, because that's preci sely whathappens. .

That law is merely love, and love isan outgoing concern, not an in-coming lust. It 's the way of love. It's the

All the evils that havebeset this worldfor sixthousandyears are the

result ofviolating God'slaw!

"way that love should be expressedlove toward God and love towardneighbor.

The apostle Paul tells us what sinis in Romans 7:7: "What shall we saythen ? Is the law sin? " People thinkth at the law is all wrong; that it's sin .Paul continues, " God forbid . Nay, Ihad not known sin, but by the law."In other words, by the law is theknowledge of sin, as Paul had saidpreviously in Romans 3:20. ,

The law gives you the knowledgeof what sin is. It directs you andguides you as to what you ought todo.

What Is the Law?

You don 't know what is right andwhat is wrong except as God reveals.Paul would not have known what sinwas if the law had not told him. Human nature will not teach you. Human nature is evil. As Paul says , in

Romans 7:7, " I had not known lust,"that is, he wouldn't have known thatlust was evil or wrong; he didn't havesuch instinctive knowledge, "exceptthe law had sa id, Thou shalt not covet. " The law that said, "Thou shaltnot covet," taught the 'apostle Paulthat coveting is wrong-harmful-sin. And that is the tenth commandment. So the law that taughtthat principle is the Ten Commandments!

In Romans 7:12, Paul says that"the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. " Thatisn't what you have been taught today, is it? Many people have beenreared in the belief that the law isunholy, that it is altogether wrong,and that Christ had to do away withit.

In verse 14 of Romans 7, the apostle Paul says, "For we know that thelaw is spiritua l." The law is spiritual.

Paul sa id he was carnal. He wasfleshly and material. So are you. Soam I. But the law is a spiritua l principle, and it regulates your happiness- a spiritual matter.

The Original Sin

Everyone of the Ten Commandments was in existence during thetime of Ad am . It was sin to .breakan yone of them prior to the time ofthe law of Moses. The law of Moses,we know , didn't come until the time ,of Moses-430 years after the timeof Abraham. But the spiritual lawhas been in existence from Adam!

The original human sin is recordedin Genesis, beginning with chapter 2,verse 15: "And the Eternal took theman, and put him into the garden ofEden to dress it and keep it. And theEternal God commanded the man,saying, Of every tree of the gardenthou ma yest freely eat."

God gave him permission. God isSupreme Ruler. He is Lord-Master. God is giving the orders. He isteaching. The man didn't know . Theman had to be told . He had to betaught and instructed. Here is theinstruction-the command, and asentence. Notice: "But of the tree ofthe knowledge of good and evil,thou shalt not eat of it : for in theda y that thou eatest thereof, thou

23

shalt surely die." That is, to take toyourself the authority to producethe knowledge of what is good andwhat is evil - to decide what youthink is right and what is wrong,will result in death. .

"The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). God was preaching thegospel to the man. There it is! Thevery fact that God said, "In the daythat thou eatest thereof ..." showsthat the man was allowed to do it,that the man was a free moral agent,that the man himself had to make thechoice . God designed that you and Ichoose whether we will obey His lawor not. Animals don't make a choice.Animals have instinct.

God ordained that you and I mustmake a choice. And if we choose theright way to live, according to thatlaw which God set in motion to produce happiness and contentment anda full, thrilling, enjoyable life, we canhave it. But if we're going to chooseto live the other way, if we are goingto take to ourselves to decide what isright, if we are going to do what isright in our own eyes-there is noother way that is right but God'slaw-and we shall automaticallychoose to transgress God 's lawwe're going to have suffering, sorrows and curses. That's what mankind has always done .

The First Lie

To continue: "Now the serpent wasmore subtle than any beast of thefield which the Eternal God hadmade. And he said unto the woman,Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eatof every tree of the garden? And thewoman said unto the serpent, Wemay eat of the fruit of the trees of thegarden: but of the fruit of the treewhich is in the midst of the garden,God has said, Ye shall not eat of it,neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.And the serpent said unto thewoman , Ye shall not surely die"(Genesis 3:1-4).

"You shall not surely die"-therewas the first lie that we have anyhistoric record of. It was not told by aman, but by the devil. "You will notsurely die ." " You're an immortalsoul." Or, "You have an immortalsoul that won't die." That's what thedevil said .

24

Continuing: "For God doth know. that in the day that ye eat thereof,

then your eyes shall be opened, andye shall be as gods, knowing goodand evil."

In other words, it is the prerogative of God to determine what is right-and what is wrong . Why? BecauseGod created and put in living motionthe spiritual law that is the way thatis good-that produces good-andthe transgression ·of which automatically produces evil results. To createand put into living action can only bedone by the Creator. But for any butGod to decide-to assume the knowledge of what 'is good and what isevil-is to assume and arrogate tohimself the prerogative of God-toelevate himself to be as God! Satantempted the first humans to intellectual vanity-to produce the knowledge of what is good or evil by theirown minds.

"And when the woman saw thatthe tree was good for food"-sheused her own judgment and didn'tobey the law of God-she used herown human reason-". . . the treewas good for food, and that it waspleasant to the eyes, and a tree to bedesired to make one wise; she took ofthe fruit thereof and did eat, andgave also unto her husband with her;and he did eat"-the first humansin!

The Commandments Broken

Analyze exactly what happened. Godis the One we obey. Do you realizethat's one of the definitions of God?Whoever you obey is your god.Whatever you serve is your god. Itmight be your automobile. Maybeit's an idol. Whatever it is, that'syour god.

Adam and Eve had another god inplace of the true God-they obeyedSatan-they broke the first commandment. They dishonored theironly parent. How? In Luke 3:38Adam is called the "son of God,"because God created him. Adam wasthe son of God by a direct creation.Adam was not God 's son by begettalor birth.

Adam not only dishonored his onlyparent, but he also broke the tenthcommandment. There was lust whenthe woman saw that it was good for

food and desired to make one wise;vanity, egotism and pride enteredinto her heart.

Lust is what usually causes a person to have an inordinate desire tohave something that is not legal. Lustcauses you to steal, and Adam andEve broke the eighth commandmentby stealing what was not theirs. .

Four of the Ten Commandmentswere broken in the original sin .

And in other ways everyone of theTen Commandments was actuallybroken in that very first sin .

How Did Cain Sin? .

Consider their first son. Genesis 4,beginning with verse 6: " And theEternal said unto Cain [their elder

·son], Why art thou wroth? and whyis thy countenance fallen? If thoudoest well," God said, "shalt thounot be accepted? and if thou . doestnot well, SIN lieth at thedoor."

Notice what sin was in those days-in the days of Cain! "Cain talkedwith Abel his brother: and it came topass, when they were in the field,that Cain rose up against Abel hisbrother, and slew him."

And the Eternal said unto Cain,"Where is Abel thy brother?" Andhe replied, "I know not." He lied andbroke another one of the commandments. That was sin, too.

He was a murderer. Sin did lie atthe door.

Cain broke the sixth and the ninthcommandments. Everyone of thesecommandments was known from creation, because God had revealedthem to Adam. He thus revealedthem to mankind at that time. Buthumanity has rejected them.

Idolatry CommittedBefore Abraham

Notice Joshua 24:2, "And Joshuasaid unto the people, Thus saith theEternal God of Israel, Your fathersdwelt on the other side of the flood inold time, even Terah, the father ofAbraham, and the father of Nachor: .and they served other gods." Idolatrywas a sin in the days before Abraham, and that was 430 years beforethe law of Moses! .

Now turn to Genesis 35 :1-4:(Continued on page 38)


AreAllTen Commandments

in theNEW TESTAMENT?

by L. LeRoy Neff

an y people'believe tha tall of the TenCommandmen ts weredone away atthe cross.

Some say that the commandmentswere reinstituted later -in the NewTesta ment. Others believe that a newcommandment has taken the place ofthe Ten.

Just what is the truth?Jesus said, " If thou wilt enter into

life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17). Did He mean the TenCommandments or some other commandments?

If you love Jesus Christ you willwant to know for sure which commandments He was referring to.Your eterna l salvation is at stake!

There is no reason for confusion .The Scriptures will show the truth ifyou diligently search for God's inspired answer.

Which Commandments?

The young man who was speaking toJesus had the same question we areaski ng . " He sait h unto him ,WHICH?" (Verse 18.)

In answer Jesus quoted fi ve of theTen Commandments listed in Exodus 20.

" Jesus said , Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery,Thou shalt not steal , Thou shalt not


bear false witness, Honour thy fatherand th y mother . . ." (Matthew19:18-19).

He then summed up these fivecommandments (verse 19) by saying,"Thou shalt love thy neighbour asthyself." The five commandmentsthat Jesus mentioned concerned ourrelationship with our neighbors.They were the command s concerningmurder, adultery, stealing, lying, andhonor to parents.

Obviously, when Jesu s used theword "commandments," He was referring to the TEN Commandmentsof Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.

Even though Jesus mentionedhalfof the Ten Commandments here ,some might suppose t ha t thingschanged after the cross. In order tomake sure , we ought to search andsee if the other New Testament writers mentioned all or just part of thecommandments. We will see if all tencommandments are found in thewords of Jesus and, in add ition, theletters of the apostle s, particularlythe writings of Paul, the apostle tothe Gentiles.

We cannot love God properly if wedo not love our neighbor , so let us seeif the last six commandments concerning our neighbor are reiterated.

Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself

The fifth commandment from Exodus 20 states: "Honour thy fatherand thy mother. . . ." We have already read what Jesu s said in Matthew 19:19: "Honour thy father and

thy mother.',' Did Paul, the apostle tothe Gentiles, mention this commandment in his writings?

He most certainly did! He repeated it almost word for word, and inadd ition explained the spiritual intent and purpose of this law: "Children , obey your parents in the Lord: ,for this is right" (Ephesians 6:1).Paul's next statement quotes the fifthcommand, add ing the fact that this isthe first commandment with promise.

The sixth commandment againstcommitting murder has already beengiven by Jesus in Matthew 19:18:"Thou shalt do no murder." He explained the spiritual intent and purpose of this command in Matthew5:21, 22: "Ye have heard that it wassaid by them of old time, Thou shaltnot kill; and whosoever shall kill shallbe in danger of the ju dgment: but Isay unto you, that whosoever shall beangry with his brother without acause shall be in danger of the judgment. "

This command is therefore morebinding in its spiritual intent andpurpose in this New Testament timethan it ever was before . Jesus Christwas fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiahproclaiming that the Christ, whenHe came, would "magnify the law"(Isaiah 42:21) .

Paul repeated this command inRomans 13:9. It is still a sin to murder another human being.

The next command forbidsadultery. Many people want to do

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away with this command today. ButJesus showed that it is more encompassing now than before the NewTestament period. He also emphasized its importance and the spiritualapplication today when He said thatit is wrong now even to lust after awoman . "But I say unto you, thatwhosoever looketh on a woman tolust after her hath committedadultery with her already in hisheart" (Matthew 5:28) . Paul repeated this same command and showedthat it was still binding even on theGentiles (Romans 13:9) .

The eighth command prohibitsstealing. Jesus said, "Thou shalt notsteal" (Matthew 19:18), and thissame command is -repeated word forword by Paul in Romans 13:9. Hesaid: " Let him that stole steal nomore: but rather let him labour,working with his hands the thingwhich is good . .." (Ephesians 4:28).Clearly this command is also binding today, just as it was at Mt.Sinai.

Today it is difficult to find a completely truthful person. It almostseems that the whole world consistsof people who shade the truth, tell"white lies" or just plain "black lies."Christ commanded His followers tonever lie (Matthew 19:18). Paultaught this same doctrine in Romans13:9. "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with hisneighbour: for we are members oneof another" (Ephesians 4:25) . It isstill a capital or major sin to lie!

The tenth commandment, againstcoveting, was not mentioned by Jesusin Matthew 19. Did He do away withthis command? No, you will find it inLuke 12:15: "And he said unto them,Take heed , and beware of covetousness: for a man 's life consisteth not inthe abundance of the things which hepossesseth." Paul wrote to the Gentiles at Rome: "I had not known sin,but by the law: for I had not knownlust, except the law had said, Thoushalt not covet" (Romans 7:7) .

Paul also gave this same commandment in Romans 13:9. In fact, the sixththrough the tenth commandments areall given here : "For this , Thou shaltnot commit adultery, Thou shalt notkill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shaltnot bear false witness, Thou shalt not

26

covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehendedin this saying, namely, Thou shalt lovethy neighbour as thyself." Notice thathe agreed with Jesus and summed upthe keeping of the last six commandments by stating this is the way to loveour neighbor (Romans 13:9-10).

How to Love God

If it is sin to violate one of these lastsix commands, then it surely must besin to violate any of the first four,which explain the right way to loveGod. Certainly our relationship toGod is more important than our relationship with other people.

God said, "Thou shalt have noother gods before me" (Exodus20:3) . Jesus showed plainly that thiscommand was still in effect when Herebuked Satan (Luke 4:8) .

This command against .idolatry ismentioned many times elsewhere inthe New Testament. Notice Paul'sinstruction to the church at Corinth,in I Corinthians 10:7: "Neither be yeidolaters, as were some of them [theancient Israelites] . .. ."

The second commandment, whichprohibits the worship of or bowingdown before images, is given in detailby Paul in Romans 1:18-25 . In thisplace he shows that the pagan philosophers, who knew God, did not worship Him as God . Instead they beganto worship the things that they madewith their hands. These people wereviolating the command of Godagainst making images and usingthem in their religious worship.

Jesus taught that God is a Spiritand we must worship Him in spiritand in truth (John 4:24), not throughidols, or the things made by man .

The third command prohibits using God 's name in vain . It is oftenreferred to as a sin of blasphemy.This sin is mentioned several times,including Paul's statement in Colossians 3:8: "But now ye also put off allthese; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of yourmouth."

Jesus showed that this commandment and several of the others are ·still in force today by the followingteaching: "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders [sixthcommandment], adulteries, fornica-

tions [both of these last two are included in the seventh commandment], thefts [eighth command],false witness [ninth command], blasphemies [third command]" (Matthew 15:19) ~

There are many additional scriptures which plainly show .that thesecommands are still in effect. Themost thought provoking of these isfound in II Timothy 2:19: "Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ[that is, calls himself a Christian taking the name of God] depart frominiquity [iniquity is sin, and sin is thetransgression of God's Ten Commandments - I John 3:4]."

Is the Sabbath Forgotten?

"Remember the sabbath day, to keepit holy . . . " is the fourth commandand the one which most people haveforgotten! This is the command thatmany people falsely claim was forgotten and left out of the New Testament. Is it reasonable that Godwould have left out any of the TenCommandments in the New Testament when David said these commandments "stand fast for ever andever"? (Psalm 111:7-8.) .

The fourth commandment isshown plainly to be in the New Testament. Have you ever read this inspired scripture? "It is therefore theduty of the people of God to keep theSabbath" (Hebrews 4:9, New Testa ment from Aramaic, Lamsa) .

You probably have not knownabout this important scripture before, because the King James translation of the Bible, along with certainothers, has sought to hide the realmeaning of this verse. The originalGreek writings and some marginalrenderings make it very clear. ,

Notice it in the King James translation: "There remaineth thereforeyet a rest to the people of God ." Thischapter tells of the millennial rest tocome for God 's people who arefaithful and inherit the promises ofGod . A "rest" is mentioned severaltimes prior to verse nine. The Greekword for " rest" in the first part ofthis chapter is katapausin; however,in verse nine the word "rest" comesfrom an entirely different Greekword, sabbatismos. This word literal-



How Did Christ Magnifythe Law?

Over seven hundred years prior toChrist's earthly ministry, the an

cient prophet Isaiah, inspired of God,prophesied that the ministry of Jesuswas destined to "magnify the law andmake it honorable" (Isaiah 42:21).

According to Webster 's CollegiateDictionary, "magnify" is defined as:"e xtol, laud, cause to be held ingreater esteem or respect; increase insignificance; intensify."

Fitting that definition into the prophetic statement made by Isaiah, theverse would read: " ... He will extol,laud, cause to be held in greater esteem, increase in significance, intensify the law. . . ." The Hebrew wordliterally mean s, "make great" or"cause to be great. "

Christ Himself verified and confirmed that this indeed was His purpose. Read it for yourself in Matthew5:17. He said, "Think not that I amcome to ' destroy the law; or theprophets, I am not come to destroy,but to fulfill ." Greek scholars acknowledge that the word here translated " fulfill" mean s not only to "do"or "perform," but to "fill to the full."Actually, the Greek word translated" fulfill" is an Indo-European cognateof the English words "full" and"plus. " In this context, it has themeaning "to bring to full expression," i.e., to bring out its fullest significance and meaning.

Some might confuse the word" fulfill" in verse 17 with the sameword in verse 18. However, eventhough the translators of the KingJames Version used the same Engl ishword ("fulfill") in both cases, theoriginal text actually has two entirelydifferent words. The word in verse 18is the infinitive .of ginomai, whichmeans "to take place" or "to come topass" in this passage.

So the word "fulfill" in verse 17means to develop to full potentialities, and could easily be substitutedby the word "magnify." So, contraryto popular belief, He came not todestroy, but to fulfill or magnify the


very law that He Himself wrote ontwo tables of stone at Mount Sinaiover fourteen centuries previously.As any honest scientist knows, to"magnify" does not mean to destroy,but to show forth and enlarge anobject or thing to the fullest possible 'extent. Jesus perfectly fulfilled, livedby and magnified God's law to showus its fullest spiritual application andto set us an example that we should .follow in His steps (I Peter 2:21).

Does Love Nullify the Law?

But what about love? Perhaps manyof you have thought love does awaywith the Ten Commandments.

The apostle John, who wrote somuch about love, surely would be theone to know. In I John 4:8, Johnwrote: "He that loveth not knowethnot God; for God is love." Again inverse 16, he said: "And we haveknown and believed the love that Godhath to us. God is love; and he thatdwelleth in love dwelleth in God , andGod in him."

Obviously then, the apostle Johnplaces a great deal of importance onlove. But he didn 't say , nor does anyother inspired scripture say, that loveput away, superseded or destroyedthe law. As a matter of fact, the veryapostle who talked so much of love

.also said: "For this is the love of God,that we keep his commandments . . ." (I John 5:3), and paraphrased Jesus Christ's saying, "If yelove me, keep my commandments"(John 14:15) .

Love, then, far from supersedingand doing away with the law-theTen Commandments-is the veryheart and essence of the law. It is thespirit of the law. Love is the very toolChrist used to intensify, magnify,and fulfill His law (Romans 13:10) .

The Spirit of the Law

In Old Testament times, God onlyrequired a physical, mechanical andvisible obedience. In other words,obedience in the letter. In New Tes-

tament times, God has requiredmuch more . He wants us to followHim to the.spiritual limits of His law.That's what Christ's ministry was toteach and demonstrate.

To be sure we understood this new,magnified style of lawkeeping, JesusChrist gave some vivid examples. InMatthew 5:21 He said: "Ye haveheard that it was said by them of oldtime [Old Testament times], Thoushalt not kill; and whosoever shall killshall be in danger of the judgment:But I say unto you [here comes thenew, magnified application], Thatwhosoever is angry with his brotherwithout a cause shall be in danger ofthe judgment: and whosoever shallsay to his brother, Raca [vain fellow], shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thoufool, shall be in danger of hell fire."Christ said-magnifying the law inits spiritual intent-that if you evenhate your brother you are a murderer! Does that sound like Christwas doing away with the law? AndJohn-the " apostle of love"-saidthe same thing! (I John 3: 15.)Whoever hates his brother is guilty ofmurder.

In verses 27 and 28 of the samechapter (Matthew 5) , Christ said,"Ye have heard that it was said bythem of old time, Thou shalt notcommit adultery: But I say unto you[here again comes the magnified approach], That whosoever looketh ona woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already inhis heart."

Rather than being done awaywith , we find the influence of the lawextended to include our intent,thoughts and attitudes! God's TenCommandments are magnified inscope and His love is expressedthrough keeping them in their spiritand intent as well as the letter.

And so we see the ancient prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled and the lawindeed magnified and made honorable! 0

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Even the

GOSPELPOLLUTED?

Mankind's pollution doesn't stop with his environment-he has polluted his mind, morals andspirit also. Even the gospel has not escaped man's polluting touch. The good news of God's plan

for man was no sooner proclaimed by Jesus Christ of Nazareth than men determinedly setthemselves to pervert, twist, malign, deny and distort His message. Let's remove the pollution!

by Clint C. Zimmerman

crash antipollutionprogram is needed

now...:..-for the gospelof Jesus Christ.

The gospel hasbeen trapped in

the thick ,oozy-goo of a spiritual oil spill. Itstaggers along , poisoned and pollutedbeyond recognition.

But there is hope-if we wash andfilter it through the cleansing, purifying, healing truth of the Bible. This isthe only way to restore the gospel'spurity, maintain its sweetness, andunleash its life-giving power.

This gospel is the GOOD NEWSthe GLAD TIDINGS--of man's association with God in a KINGDOM-thegood family and government of God.The word "gospel," in your Bible, istranslated from the Greek wordeuaggelion. It means the "goodnews" or "glad tidings" that the divine Family and a good and fruitfulgovernment-the Kingdom of Godwill one day be established.

Gospel Pollution

The gospel has been swept into theoppressive confines of the world 's ca-

28

thedrals. These funereal, cavernousstructures-their walls and floorspunctured with crypts holding themoldering bones of the long deadhave tainted the living gospel of JesusChrist.

Any gospel which escapes thesemusty traps all too easily finds itselfcaptured and made part of an outrageous carnival show . Sweatypreachers bark raucously, many ofthem jabbering incoherently in theiraffected "tongues," as they try tooutcry one another in tent revivalsand healing sideshows . They make afarce of the real gospel.

Between these two extremes liesthe broad expanse of everyday, runof-the-mill, common Christianity.Churchianity has embraced what itthought to be the gospel tightly toitself-and has been disappointed!Their "gospel" did not cause anything better to happen. Everythingstayed the same or even worsened.The world as a whole didn't becomeany better in spite of their huge missionary efforts. All things continuedas they were from the beginning. Itlooked like God needed a hand; sothey decided to give Him one. Theyinvented the "social gospel" to makeup for the perfidy of God.

History proves man is a wretch.There was little hope that any goodcould be done about his situation until Christ laid down the principles ofChristianity . All the convertsthought, "Here is the solution." Butno matter how industriously they applied their "Christian" principles,failure continued to plague mankind.Most "Christians" thought thepromised, perfect Kingdom was going to be set up in the church itself orwould be "found in their ownhearts."

When neither of these ideasproved to be correct, they began tolook to a social interpretation of theChristian faith . Their own interpretation of the TRUE gospel causedthem to look within society itself forimprovement of its evils.

POLLUTED gospel concepts continue to contaminate the issue.

As pollutants besmirch , foul,change ecological balances and set inmotion degenerative forces that unstoppably march toward the macabrestillness of death, just so do the pollutants of the gospel sap, strangle andfinally completely stifle it.

If the gospel lies befouled under alayer of spiritual scum, is made indistinct by spiritual smog, and becomes


repugnant because of spiritua l poisons, it should not be thou ght unu sual. We have had warn ing afte r warning that the atte mpt would be made.The true gospel is lost sight of andrepudiated because Satan easilyblinds the mind s of disbelievers sothey don't really see the glory in thegospel which was brought by JesusChrist ( II Corinthians 4:3-4).

Christ's Warning

Christ's ministr y began with His" . . . preachin g the gospel of thekingdom of God" (Ma rk 1:14). Thefirst four books of the .New Testament speak often about that KINGDOMOF GOD.

Christ's message-HIs GOSPELwas about the establishment ofGod's Kingd om, and He reali zedthat very f ew would really "get themessage." He knew people woulddistor t and wrest it. He knew MANYpeople, while acce pting His divinity,understanding His death , admitti ngto His resurrection, would miss themark entirely insofar as understandingjust what He was preaching: howto ga in entry into the Kingd om. Helam ented this lack of perception in" relig ious" folk when He said, " No teveryone that sai th unto me, Lord;Lord, sha ll enter into the kingd om ofheaven" (Ma tt hew 7:21 ). He saidth is near the beginning of His ministry.

Just before His death He was stillmaking it plain that religious-sounding people would admit to His beingthe Christ, but use this very religiosityto DECEIVEMANy-topreach anothergospel (Ma tthew 24:5).

Apostolic Warning

Paul , too, kn ew there would bethose who would PERVERT the gospel of Christ a nd he thunderedaga inst them- saying th ey were"ACCURSED" (Galatians 1:7-9).

Paul believed what Christ hadsaid. He expected the perversion,corruption, POLLUTION of the gospel ( II Corinthians 11:3-4). It cameearly, marred deepl y. Paul, James,Peter , John, Jude all wrote powerfully because of the pollution whichcontinuousl y conta mi na ted thetruth of the gospel. Jude 3-4 pleadsthat it is necessar y to vigorously


fight agains t the corrupting influence of a false gospel and ministr y. Jude knew that ungodl y, licentious , lascivious men had alreadydefiled the truth. We, too, haveonly to make the most casual examination to note the debasement anddesecration of the gospel of JesusCh rist-the gospel of the Kingdomof God .

The city dweller toda y has almost forgotten what it's like to livein a clean world . He 's used to thepecul iar odor of his drinking waterand expects it to taste like dilutedlaundry bleach. He expects not tobe able to see more than a fewblocks because the smog ' is "al-

The Gospel is the goodnews that finally a

really good governmentis going to be

established which willfree the earth and itsinhabitants from evil.Christ is going to ruleover that government.

"ways" there. He has learned not torub his burning eyes. He knowsthat only makes them more irritated. He breathes shallowly andhopes he won't become an emphysema statistic.

So it is with the polluted gospel.It's been corrupt for so. long that itjust seems it should be the way it is.Not so!

The Cause

Pollution is almost entirely due togreed-seeking self-sa t is fac ti onthe quick and easy way. Profitsmust be had no matter what thecost to environment.

Our system is a suicidal one.Collectively we accept, almost with

eagerness, an earl y, torturous deathif only the system will continue tocircul ate dollars, provide things,leisure, comforts, " progress" forthe time being . ."T hey"- the experts-whoever "they" are-promise that it will all turn out just fine."They" will one day come up withall the answers. "Our utopia is assu red " - j us t trust them . Notknowing what else to do, we trustthese self-sty led experts. We placeour lives in their hands-and ourwaterways become ever more contaminated by the disgorged, loathsome sewage of man and his indu stry. The earth continues to havemillions of tons of poisons of anaffluent society dumped on it. Theair thickens with the effluvial pallof deadl y gases manufactured andeructated by our mechano-chemical way of life. Nonetheless, theexperts are in control.

Man usually trusts the experts.He sees a doctor when he's sick, alawyer when there's a legal problem, an insurance broker when heneeds an estate, a teacher whenhe's ignorant, a preacher when he'sin spiritua l trouble. Between theman and his expert ad visor heusuall y muddles through evenwhen the advice is wrong and costly. In most such problems bad advice will only result in material lossto some degree. But bad advicefrom a preacher can be of eternalconcern; so each of us ought to become thoroughly conversant withthe facts involved. That demandslooking into the Bible for your self!No one can be trusted with yoursalvation-your immortalityyour understanding the gospel.

The gospel of Jesus Christ has-real , solid, purposeful, practical a ttr action. It speaks forcibly about away , a system, which - if a man willbut subscribe to and live by-willbring him into a more perfect way,system, manner of living, kind ofdiscipline, type of government inwhich all of his good and properdesires will find complete expression.

Evangelists Say

World-renowned preachers a recontent to say, "T he gospel is the

29

good news that, on the first GoodFriday, Christ died for our sins andthat He rose from the dead on thefirst Easter morning-and thatGod is willing to forgive us oursins-and give us new life, peaceand joy."

All too many preachers-andtheir followers-say this is the gospel.

The "experts" are WRONG!Don't misunderstand me! Those

actions by our loving Savior aremost important and vital to salvation . We wouldhave no hope whatsoever without them. Christ's willingness to die poignantly portraysthe consummate GRACE and superlative COMPASSION of our ever-merciful Redeemer. He bought us backfrom sin and its destructiveness.His resurrection opens the way intoimmortality.

Nonetheless, these actions, ofthemselves, do not explain the ultimate purpose for mankind. Thegospel is meant to explain all ofthis . We can know the purpose forthis uttermost expression of God'slove.

God 's ' Word makes it plain.The shroud of mystery can be

drawn back.Let's look into it. Let's KNOW!Let's filter out the pollution and

find out just what the GOOD NEWSreally is.

Bad News

The news has been almost totallybad ever since man has recordedanything about himself. He leavesa record of wantonness, rebellion,war, rape, robbery.

He hotly pursues love, but loveeludes him . He eagerly anticipatesjoy but is enveloped by despair. Hestrives for peace, but another warbreaks out.

He has, from time to time, managed to delude himself that at longlast he has utopia in his grasp. Tomorrow always proves him wrong.His scheme backfires. He awakenswith a hangover. His love proves tobe a debauch, his joy an orgy, hispeace only slight and temporary relief from grinding away at the rut heis making in this derelict, vicious age(or "evil world, " Galatians 1 :4).

30

It is absolutely true that we areonly able to find our way out of thepresent system through JesusChrist. The fact remains that weare in a system from which we seekrelease. It follows that if we leavethis system, we will then movetoward another system. What isthis different system?

Christ Preached the Gospel

Note that Christ did NOT preachabout His own life. He didn 'tpreach His life-HE LIVED IT!

Preachers today all too oftensimply preach about the life anddeath-the -person-s-o f Christ andassume that is -the gospel.

The first four books of the NewTestament have unwittingly beenentitled the "Gospels." Those bookswere not called by that name untillong, long after the resurrection ofChrist. They were not even writtenuntil some thirty to fifty years afterHis ascension. These four books areabout the life of Christ. They contain His message also. Both ofthose themes are very important.But we must make certain that wedo not create a "gospel" out of thestory of Christ's life if it clouds andcovers the GOSPEL message HEPREACHED. He preached ABO UTTHE KINGDOM. That is the gospel-the GOOD NEWS!

In fact and truth, the gospel ofJesus Christ is about a Kingdomthe Kingdom of God-and so aboutgovernment. A kingdom cannotexist without government. Government is an integral part of all kingdoms . So, the gospel is the goodnews that finall y-ultimately-areally GOOD government is going tobe established which will free theearth and its inhabitants from evil.Christ is going to rule over thatgovernment. Satan and his evil willbe "bound" for a thousand years.All mankind will finally experiencegoodness and peace in ACTUALFACT! (Revelation 20:4-8; Romans11:32; I Corinthians 15:22-24.)

Christ told people about the Kingdom before He died and was resurrected . He didn 't continually talkabout His life and death-He continually preached the gospel of the Kingdom. There isa difference!

Certainly His life, death and resurrection are vitally important toour attaining salvation; but thegood news for man-what the future holds:...-proceeds forward fromthose incidents. It leaps forward almost immediately some 2000YEARS, graphically describes yetanother thousand years of Christ'smillennial RULE, and boldly challenges man's imaginative perception of that same government as itwill exist in eternity!

Christ did NOT preach about HisOWN LIFE-as most ministers nowdo, calling this biographical resume"the gospel." He LIVED His ownlife as an example ' of proper discipline and self-government. He toldmen to live this same way so thatthey might thereby qualify for aposition in the Kingdom.

Their works could not buy salvation or entrance into the Kingdom.The GRACE of God provides forsin's pardon. But men must provetheir willingness to come under thegood, holy, just laws which Godcommands. These ' same laws willbe in effect in the Kingdom of God.The gospel-the good news-isabout how man can get into thatKingdom-that divine Familyand be with God and see Him asHe is (l John 3:2) . The gospel isabout how man can be born into theGod Family.

Christ explains that that entrance into ,the Kingdom is of utmost importance. Weare directlytold it must be our primary goal(Matthew 6:33).

Every kingdom must have fourparts: 1) a king, 2) territory, 3) inhabitants or subjects, and 4) laws. If anyone of these essentials is missing, itsimply is not a kingdom.

The King Has Been Appointed

On the night that Jesus was born,an angel came, saying, "I bring yougood tidings [remember the meaning of the word "gospel"] of greatjoy.... For unto you is born .. . aSaviour, which is Christ the Lord"(Luke 2:10-11). Note too that"Lord" means "one who owns orpossesses, one who controls, sovereign , prince, chief." Most definitelyChrist is King.


The angel was repeating whathad been in the Scriptures for centuries. Isaiah 9:6 says that thischild would have GOVERNMENT onHis shoulders! He is responsible forgoverning! Verse 7 goes on to saythat this established governmentwould go on forever.

What subjects and territory willthis Kingdom rule over? The"kings [mere men] of the earth"will be subject to Christ the suPREME KING (Revelation I :5). Thegovernment of God will be "overthe NATIONS" of the earth (Revelation 2:26). Revelation 5: I0 makesthis more emphatic when it saysthis government will " ... REIGN ONTHE EARTH."

What about the fourth essentialpart for any kingdom? We havealready seen in Isaiah 9:7 that"judgment" and "justice" are toexist eternally. These governmentalelements demand LAW. Paul understood "the law is holy, and the

. commandment holy, and just, andgood." He knew "that the law isspiritual" and is therefore everlasting (Romans 7:12, 14). Withoutlaw there would be anarchy, whichis absence of law. But the Kingdomis an orderly operation governed bythe law of God. Paul also tells usthat the good news, glad tidings,gospel must be "OBEYED" (Romans10:15-16). It is law that defineswhat is obedience in every instance.I Peter 4:17 reemphasizes the factthat the gospel is a legal messagedemanding obedience.

Age-Old Rebellion

The good news is that God willreassert His rule upon rebelliousmankind (Isaiah 52:7) .

Satan started the insanity of rebellion and anarchy (Ezekiel28:14-15). God has permitted himto hold sway over the earth untilfinally Christ returns as King tounseat the devil.

Satan has foisted off his illegal,rebellious ways on all mankind.He began by deluding Eve andAdam into forsaking the commands-the theocratic government under which they were tolive----<:lf the Eternal God. God issued COMMANDS-LAws-and ex-


pected obedience (Genesis 2:1617; ' 3:17). These · first people rebelled, and all mankind has followed in their lawlessness.

Israel, too, defected from God (ISamuel 8:5-7). They rejected Godjust as has the whole world. Satanhas deceived them all (Revelation12:9). ALL have broken the law andfallen short of the glory which Godwants for men (Romans 3:23).

Restoration of God's Government

The Old Testament prophets knewthat the Eternal was going to return His good government to thisearth (Zechariah 14:9). The government of God-the Kingdom ofGod-will relieve the horrible distress which mankind suffers. Acts3:19-21 pointedly tells us that thereturn of Christ will result in arefreshing time when all things willbe restored. The prophets have toldus about the loss of God's government on earth. They looked forward to the return of the Messiah-the Ruler. The Kingdom willbe set up. It will rule over all kingsand nations.

Daniel 7: 14 speaks of the Christfinally setting up His Kingdom:"And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a KINGDOM,that all people. nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion,which shall not pass away, and hiskingdom that which shall not bedestroyed." How wonderful! HowMARVELOUS the plan and purposeof God! How certain to SATISFY theneeds of man. Perfectly administered government attained! Thequest of the ages at last completed.

The earth and all its inhabitantswill finally be scoured clean andpurged of ,all pollutants-becauseof the true gospel! Absolute PEACEwill result. LOVE, in all its exquisitemagnificence available to everyonethrough GOOD GOVERNMENT!

Here is the crystal-clear, clean,pure gospel of the Kingdom whichChrist Himself preached. Don't allow anyone ever again to fool younow that the Word of God haswashed the gospel spotless andsparkling just for you. 0

Where do you think you'regoing? Heaven, hell, or maybeonly six feet under? As a childyou may have been taughtabout life after death, butwhat does the Bible have tosay on this all-important subject?

For a complete explanationsend for these two booklets:• Is There a Real Hell Fire?• What Is the Reward of the

Saved?To receive your free

copies, use the Literature Request card inside this magazine or write to our office nearest you. (See the inside frontcover for addresses.)

31

'THE WORLD TOMORROW' RADIO AND TV LOGSHerbert W. Armstrong analyzes today's news, with the prophecies of 'The World Tomorrow'

THE WORLD TOMORROWRADIO LOG

Listed by state are the station'scall letters, location, frequencyand the time The World Tomorrow is aired.

ALABAMA

*WYDE , Birmingham - 850, 7 p.m., Mon.-Fri. ;10:30 a.m.• Sun.

ARIZONA

KIKX, Tucson - 580, 10:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.; 9:35a.m., Sun.

CALIFORNIA

*KFRE , Fresno - 940 , 5 a.m., Mon .-Fri. ; 8 a.m.,

Sun.KIEV, Glendale - 870, 11 a.m., Mon.-Fri.KLAC, Los Angeles - 570, 11 p.m., Mon .-Fri .; 7

a.m., Sun.KGUY, Palm Desert - 1270,6:15 a.m., Sun.*KFBK , Sacramento - 1530, 11:05 p.m., Mon.-Fri .;

8:30 p.m., Sun.*KNBR, San Francisco - 680, 9 p.m., Sun.KUNA-FM, San Luis Obispo - 96.1, 5:30 a.m.,

Mon .-Fri.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

WRC, Washington - 980 , 8:30 a.m., Sun.

FLORIDA

*WAPE , Jacksonville - 690, 8:30 a.m., Sun.*WINZ, Miami - 940, 12:05 a.m., Mon. -Fri.; 8:30

a.m., Sun.WIOD, Miami - 610 , 11:30 p.m., Mon .-Fri .

GEORGIA

WPLO, Atlanta - 590, 11:30 p.rn., Mon.-Fri.; 8:30a.m., Sun.

HAWAII

"KKON, Kealakek ua - 790, 6 a.m ., Mon .-Fri.

ILLINOIS

* WMAO, Chicago - 670, 5 a.m., Mon. -Fri.; 6 a.m.,10 p.m., Sun.

WMBD, Peoria - 1470, 10:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri ., Sun.WTAY, Robinson - 1570, 10:25 p.m., Sun."WTAY-FM, Robinson - 101.7, 10:20 p.m., Sun.

INDIANA

WSBT, South Bend - 960, 11:15 p.m ., Mon.-Fri.;4:30 p.m., Sun.

IOWA

*K XEL, Waterloo - 1540, 11:45 p.m., Mon.-Fri.; 5a.m.• Sun.

· Oenotes time or atation change* Oenotea 5O,OOO-watt wlde·area station

32

KANSAS

WIBW, Tope ka - 580 , 5 a.m., Mon.-Fri.

KENTUCKY

*WHAS, Louisville - 840, 11:30 p.m., Mon .-Fri .

MARYLAND

*WPOC-FM, 'Baltlmore - 93.1, 5 a.m ., Mon. -Fri.;7:30 a.m., Sun.

MASSACHUSETTS

*WITS, Boston - 1510, 5 a.m., Mon .-Fri.; 7 a.m.,Sun.

MICHIGAN

*WDEE, Detro it - 1500, 11:30 p.m ., Mon.-Fri .; 8:30a.m., Sun.

MINNESOTA

*KTCR-FM, Minneapolis - 97.1, 6 a.m., Mon.-Fri.

MISSOURI

"KMBZ, Kansas City - 980, 11:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.;10 p.m.. Sun.

KGBX, Sprlngfleld - 1260 , 11 p.m., Mon.-Fri.; 9a.m., Sun.

NEW YORK

WBEN, Buffalo - 930, 11:30 p.m., Mon .-Fri.; 8:30a.m., Sun.

*WOR, New York - 710, 10:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.; 6:30a.m., 11:30 p.m., Sun.

*WHAM , Rochester - 1180, 11:15 p.m., Mon .-Fri;11 p.m., Sun.

WSOO, Syracuse - 1220,6:30 a.m., Mon.-Fri.; 8:30a.m., Sun.

NORTH CAROLINA

WSOC, Charlotte - 930 , 11:30 p.m., Mon .-Fri.

OHIO

WSLR, Akron - 1350, 10:30 p.m., Mon .-Fri .; 8:30p.m.• Sun.

*WCKY , Cincinnati - 1530, 11:30 p.m., Mon. -Sal. ;8:15 p.m., Sun.

WBBG, Cleveland - 1260, 11:30 p.m., Mon .-Fri.;9:30 a.m., Sun.

WMNI, Columbus - 920 , 5 a.m., Mon. -Fri.WCWA, Toledo - 1230 , 11 p.m., Mon.-Fri.; 8 a.m.,

Sun.

OKLAHOMA

*KVOO , Tulsa - 1170, 11:30 p.m., Mon .-Fri .; 10:30a.m., Sun.

OREGON

* "KWJJ, Portland - 1080. 11 p.m., Mon.-Fri.; 9:30p.m., Sun.

PENNSYLVANIA

WHP, Harrisburg - 580 , 7:30 p.rn., Mon .-Fri. , Sun.KOV, Pittsburgh - 1410, 11:30 p.rn., Mon .-Fri. ; 7

a.m., Sun."WSBA, York - 9 10, 9 a.m. Sun.

RHODE ISLAND

WEAN, Providence - 790, 11:30 p.m.. Mon .-Fri.WGNG, Providence - 550, 9 a.m., Sun.

TENNESSEE

WREC, Memphis - 600, 11 p.m., Mon .-Fri .

TEXAS

KPRC, Houston - 950, 10:30 p.m.. Mon .-Fri., Sun.*WOAI , San Antonio - 1200, 10:15 p.m. , Mon.-Fri.;

10 a.m., 7:30 p.m., Sun.

UTAH

*KSL , Salt Lake Clty - 1160,5:30 a.m., Sun.

VIRGINIA

WCPK, Chesapeake - 1600, 12:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri .,

Sun.WNIS, Norfolk - 1300, 5:30 a.m., Mon .-Fri.

WASHINGTON

KGRG-FM, Auburn - 89.9, 12 noon, Sun.KAYO, Seattle - 1150,11 p.m., Mon .-Fri., Sun.

WEST VIRGINIA

WKEE, HunUngton - 800 , 5:30 a.m., Mon .-Fri .WKEE·FM, Huntington - 100.5; 5:30 a.m., Mon .

Fri.*WWVA , Wheeling - 1170, 5:30 a.m., Mon .-Fri.;

10:30 a.m., Sun.

WYOMING

*KTWO, Casper - 1030, 9:30 p.m., Mon .-Fri.; 9p.m., Sun.

KYCN, Wheatland - 1340, 9:30 a.m., Sun.

Canadian Stations .

ALBERTA

CHFM-FM, Calgary - 95.9, 5:30 a.m., Mon .-Fri.CFCW, Camrose - 790, 11:05 p.m.. Mon .-Fri.CKYL, Peace 'Rlver - 6 10, 7:30 p.m.. Mon .-Fri.CIOK, St. Paui/Bonnyvllle - 1310, 7:05 p.m.,

Mon.-Fri.


CKTA, Taber - 1570, 9:30 a.m., Sun.CFOK, Westlock-Edmonton ' - 1370, 7:05 p.m.,

Mon.-Fri.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

CKQR, Castlegar - 1230, 1030 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CFCP, Courtenay - 1440, 9:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKGR, Golden - 1400, 8:30 p.m.. Mon.-Fri.CKGF, Grand Forks - 1340,6:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKTK, Kitlmat - 1230, 6:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CJJC, Langley - 800, 6:05 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKMK, McKenzie - 1240,. 11:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CHUB, Nanaimo - 1570, 10:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKOO, Oliver /OsoyooS - 1240, 9:30 p.m., Sun.-

Thurs.CHPQ, Parksville - 1370, 10:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKOK, Pentlcton - 800, 9:30 p.m., Sun.-Thurs.CJAV, Port Alberni - 1240, 10:05 p.m., Mon.Fri.CKPG, ProGeorge - 550, 11:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CHTK, Pro Rupert - 560, 6:15 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKCR, Revelstoke - 1340, 8:30 p.rn., Mon.-Fri.CKXR, Salmon Arm - 580, 8:30 p.rn., Mon.-Fri.CKSP, Summerland - 1450, 9:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.'CFTK , Terrace - 590, 10:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CJVI, Victoria - 900, 9:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.

MANITOBA

CFAR, Flln Flon - 590, 8 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CJAR, The Pas - 1240,8 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CHTM, Thompson - 610, 6:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKJS, Winnipeg - 810, 12:05 p.m., Mon.-Fri.

MARITIMES

CKIM, Baie Verte - 1240,6 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKNB, Campbellton - 950, 9:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKVO, Clarenvllle - 710,6 p.m.. Mon.-Fri.CFNB, Fredericton - 550, 11 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKGA, Gander - 730, 6 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKCM, Grand Falls - 620, 6 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CHCM, Marystown - 560, 6 p.m.. Mon.-Fri.CKCW, Moncton - 1220, 9:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKCL, Truro - 600, 6:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CJLS, Yarmouth - 1340, 8 p.m., Mon.-Fri.

ONTARIO

CKPC, Brantford - 1380, 6~30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CING-FM, Burlington - 107.9, 10 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CJSS, Cornwall - 1220, 10:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CJKL, Kirkland Lake - 560, 9:30 p.rn., Mon.-Fri.CKGL-FM, Kitchener - 96.7, 6:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKLY, Lindsay - 910, 9 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CFPL, London - 980, 7:30 a.m., Sun.CJTT , New L1skeard - 1230,9:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri. .CFCH, North Bay - 600, 10:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKAR, Oshawa - 1350, 11:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CFGM, Richmond Hill - 1320, 11 p.rn., Mon.-Fri.CHAS·FM , Sault Ste. Marie - 100, 12:30 p.m.,

Mon.-Fri.CJQR·FM , St. Cathar lnes - 97.7, 11:05 p.m.,

Mon.-Fri.CJSD·FM , Thunder Bay - 94.3, 7 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKGB, Timmins - 680, 9:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.CKLW-FM, Windsor - 93.9, 6:30 a.m., Sun.

QUEBEC (In French)

CKCH, Hull - 970, 7 a.m., Sun.CFMB, Montreal - 14 10, 1 p.m., Mon.-Fri.; (in En-

glish) 5 p.m., Sat., Sun.CKCV, Quebec City - 1280, 7 a.m., Sun.CJSA, Ste. Agatha - 1230, 8:45 a.m., Sun.CKLD, Thetfo rd Mines - 1230, 9:30 a.m., Sun.CHLN, Trois Rlvleres - 550, 7 a.m., Sun.


SASKATCHEWAN

CKSA, L10ydmlnster - 1080, 7:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri.'CJVR, Melfort - 1420, 8 p.m., Mon.-Fri.'CHAB, Moose Jaw - 800, 6:30 p.m.. Sun.'CJNB, North Battleford - 1050,6:30 p.m., Mon.-

Fri.CKBI, ProAlbert - 900, 10:15 p.m., Mon.-Fri.'CJME, Regina - 1300, 6:30 a.m., 'Sun.CFQC, Saskatoon - 600, 8 a.m., Mon.-Fri.

THE WORLD TOMORROWTELEVISION LOG

Listed by state are the station'scall letters, location , channelnumber and the time The WorldTomorrow is aired .

ALABAMA

WAPI, Birmingham - 13, 7 a.m., Sun.

ARIZONA

KZAZ, Tucson - 11, 7:30 a.m., Sun.

ARKANSAS

KARK, Little Rock - 4, 10 a.m., Sun.

CALIFORNIA

'KPWR, Bakersfield - 17,4:30 p.m. Sun.KTVU, Oakland - 2, 10:30 a.rn., Sat.

CONNECTICUT

WATR, Hartford - 20, 10:30 a.m., Sun.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

WTTG, Washington - 5, 7 a.m., Sun.

FLORIDA

WCIX, Miami - 6, 7 a.m., Sun.

ILLINOIS

WCIU, Chicago - 26, 7:30 a.m., Sun.'WFLD, Chicago - 32, 7 a.m.. Sat.

INDIANA

WKJG, Ft. Wayne - 33, 11:30 a.m., Sun.WISH, Indianapoli s - 8, 8:30 a.m., Sun.WSBT, South Bend - 22, 10 p.m., Sun.

IOWA

KWWL, Waterloo - 7, 10:30 a.m., Sun.

KANSAS

'KGLD, Garden City - 11, 12 noon, Sun.KARD, Wichita - 3, 12 noon, Sun.

KENTUCKY

WLEX, Lexington - 18, 9:30 a.m., Sun.

LOUISIANA

WAFB, Baton Rouge - 9, 8:30 a.m.. Sun.WWL, New Orleans - 4, 7 a.m., Sun.

MAINE

WGAN, Portland - 13, 9:30 a.m., Sun.

MARYLAND

WBFF, Baltimore - 45, 12 noon, Sun.

MASSACHUSETTS

WHYN, Springfield - 40, 9:04 a.m., Sun.

MICHIGAN

WUHQ, Battle Creek - 4 1, 7:30 a.m., Sun.WJRT, Flint - 12,8 a.m., Sun.WILX, Lansing - 10, 10:30 a.m., Sun.

MINNESOTA

'WTCN, Minneapolis - 11, 6 a.m., Sun.

MISSOURI

KMTC, Springfield - 27, 6:30 a.m., Sun.'KNDL, St. Louis - 30, 11 p.m., Sun.

NEBRASKA

KCNA, Albion - 8, 8 a.m., Sun.KWNB, Hayes Cente r - 6, 8 a.m., Sun.KHGI, Kearney - 13, 8 a.m., Sun.KSNB, Superior - 4, 8 a.m., Sun.

EW MEXICO

KGGM, Albuquerque - 13, 6:30 a.m., Sun.

NEW YORK

WTEN, Albany - 10, 8:30 a.m.. Sun.WUTV, Buffalo - 29, 11:15 p.m., Sun.WOR, New York - 9, 10 p.m., Sun.WROC, Rochester - 8, 9:30 a.m., Sun.

NORTH CAROLINA

WNCT, Greenville - 9, 11:30 a.m., Sun.

OHIO

WAKR, Akron - 23, 11 p.m., Sun.WLWT, Cincinnati - 5, 11:30 a.m., Sun.WSPD, Toledo - 13, 10:30 a.m., Sun.

OREGON

KPTV, Portland - 12, 11 a.m., Sat.

PENNSYLVANIA

'WIIC, Pittsburgh - 11, 10:30 a.m.. Sun.WSBA, York - 43, 12 noon, Sun.

RHODE ISLAND

WPRI, Providence - 12, 11:30 a.m., Sun.

TENNESSEE

WKPT, Kingsport - 19, 12 noon, Sun.

TEXAS

KTVV, Austin - 36, 9:30 a.m., Sun.

WASHINGTON

KXLY, Spokane - 2, 11 a.m., Sun.

WISCONSIN

WVTV, Milwaukee - 18, 10 p.m., Sun.

33

AN OPEN LETTER...ON THEINTERNATIONALYEAROFTHE CHILD

by Dibar Apartian

T o all children around theworld! In this InternationalYear of the Child, grown-ups

have at last decided to take a moregenuine interest in your welfare!It was about time, wouldn't yousay?

But now that the year is practically over, what has truly been accomplished? Did grown -ups keep thepromises that were made to you? Did

34

you actually find better understanding, interest and more help---not onlyin regard to your needs, but also inyou as human beings?

As one of the adults deeply concerned with your future, I want totell you, first of all, that this is notGod's world. No, He didn't make itthis way. Men have cut themselves

.off from God, because they have rejected His laws. They have turned

away from the way of peace, happiness and joy God wants all of us tohave. .

No wonder that most men-whoare cut off from God-have little understanding of your needs and lackgenuine love for you. Paradoxically,they expect you to be "reasonable,"to behave yourselves as good andhealthy children, even though yourminds and your bodies are constantly


being poisoned by what you see andhea r around you!

Ju st imagine ! Thi s Internati onalYear was generously ded icated . toyou with all kind s of promises: vouwere told that grown-ups would bemuch more conc erned with your education , your health, and your wellbeing. Th at was very encouraging' toyou, I am sure- but do you reallyfeel or not ice any difference? Didyou witness any' real improvement inyour life ? Do you now have a clearerund erstanding of wha t life is a llabout? In othe r words, have youlearned a little more how to live-theway God wants you to live?

A tree is known by its fruits; unfortun ately, th e fruits of this world 'ssystem of edu cation have not beentoo good! Far from it! A man 's integrity is measured by the fa ith fulne sswith which he keeps his word-butgrown-ups who don't obey God oftenbreak th eir word (whet her amongthemselves or toward you).

In thi s specia l yea r (keep in mind itwas dedicat ed to you!), endless conferences were held to discuss your education and welfar e. Even your future .But just what is meant by educationand welfare? Wh at kind of educa tionca n grown-ups offer you in a worldwhere they themselves put the accenton the "getti ng" ra ther than givingor on being served rather tha n serving-or on mak ing a living rather th anlearning how to live?

Children can 't choose the worldinto which they are born . You had toaccept it the way grown-ups gave itto you-a world which you don't necessarily like. Neither do we. You areoften unh appy; so are most people.They make life miserable for one another, don't the y? Grown-ups oftenthink your behavior is odd. Mostproba bl y you find th eir s-. j us t asodd-if not more so!

When we were your age-at leastthose of us who now have gray hairwe lived in a somewhat differentworld. It was a little more peacefuland a little less materialist ic.

Today all of us a re living in anincr easingl y polluted world-and anoisy one! We are deafened by thenoises we make. Even though mu ch isknown about their ' devastating effect s, nevertheless little is done about


noise pollution. Sc ientists speak ofdecibels (a word which was unknownto us when we. were your age ), andth ey take a certain pride in beingable to measure the intensit y of anoise. This is all very sophisticatedand very scientific- but also terriblydangerous! Somehow, you are toldnot to worry too much about noisepollution. After all, scientists thinkthat " universa l deafness" is not expected before the second half of thenext cen tury!

Today, men have polluted justabout ever ything they come in contact with. Th e wat er we dr ink andthe a ir we breathe are filled with allkinds of poisons, dirt, and dangerousparticles. Do you know that theamount of lead the air now containsis truly frightening ? But once again,you hear encouraging word s. You aretold that the human body-this ma sterpiece of . creation---ean adjust itself to everyth ing! So why shouldn' tyou go ahead and break the laws ofnature?

This is the way grown-ups rea sonwhen the y are cut off from God .They want to change the effect of evilrather than removing the cause.They break laws and tr y to find away of avoiding th e pen alties theymust pay. In fact, this world 's systemof education is founded on thi s typeof logic. That's what you usuall ylearn in school.

Most of you who will read th is" open letter" l ive in rather prosperous countries-the "have" nationswe call them. You enjoy modern conveniences. Believe it or not , there are

. altogether two billion children in th isworld , the majority of whom live inthe " have-not" countries where thereis much poverty, squa lor, and sta rvation .

Perhaps you are not aware of it,but 85 percent of the world 's ru ralpopulation do not have drinkingwater in their dwellings-and therea re, today, more children in thestreets than at school. They havebeen called "the children of hunger."Th eir life expectancy is ver y short.

Strange as it ma y seem, it is hardto say which of the two groupsthose living ' in prosperous countriesor those belonging to the th irdwo rld-is actuall y more handi-

capped! All things considered, isthere much advantage living in countries where pollution, corruption, andsynthetic products all abound- andwhere the food has been artificiallypreserved and colored with all sortsof poisonous ingredients ?

This type of technology does notsolve the most important problems inyour life. Science without a properguiding hand onl y makes thingsworse. There is much more to lifeth an mere existence. You must learnto work with your hands, to use yourmind, to think ahead, to disciplineyourself!

Each of us-and that includesevery single one of you-has beenmade in the image of God , after Hisliken ess. And God has given you amind which is able to discern and tochoose. As you grow older, you canbe ma ster of your own destiny-ifyou wish.

In a world which seeks its ownpleasure, some of you ma y alread yhave been addicted to drugs. Yet,when you were born, you had no ideawhat a drug was . Society has made iteasy for you to obtain drugs- and touse them. What a shame!

Tod ay, sin is advertised as beingsomething pleas ant and good- something much to be desired. Is it an ywonder so many of you become del inquents, or choose a life which iswasted? In the movies or on television, you can see just about ever ything concern ing sex- so-ca ll ed" love" in its most intimate phases!All the while, you are expected togrow up to be honorable citizens, torespect the laws governing marriage,to be good husbands and wives andnot to commit adultery.

In dedicating this specia l year toyou, grown-ups have "assured" youthat efforts are being made to take acloser look at your individual concerns-without di scrimination ofrace, color, sex or religion. What adilemma! How can they promise youthat when mankind, as a whole, has.never truly learned to enjo y, withoutdiscrimination, the same privileges?

As you see, when man separateshim self from God, he acts in strangeways. He tells you one thing, but doessomething else.

Statistics show that more and

35

more teenage girls are becomingunwed mothers. But what's being ;done to help them? They are offeredcontraceptives! For a practice whichwarps their lives psychological1y andruins their chances of later happiness, that's a real remedy, isn't it?Imagine! In today's society of permissiveness, one teenager out of sixhas had sexual intercourse beforereaching the age of 16.

How tragic! Please don't fol1owtheir bad example!

"But what can we actually do?"you may now ask . "How can wechange this world? What are our responsibilities? First of al1,do we really have a future? Is there any hopefor us?"

Those are very good questions! Indeed, what can you do to make thisworld a better place in which to live?How can you be sure that somedayyou wil1 be able to offer your ownchildren a better life, a better education, a better world?

That's precisely what I want totalk to you about before closing this"open letter." Today, some of youare much too young to understandwhat life is al1 about. But as you growolder, you will know that there issomeone-someone very, very important-who loves you more than anyone on earth ever will!

You were born for a purpose. As Itold you a moment ago, the AlmightyGod made you in His own image. Heis very much interested in you. Hecares for you. He wants al1 of you tobecome His own children somedayspiritual children-adult children ifI may say so, because you will alwaysbe under His guidance, protectionand love.

In this world deceived by Satan,even if most grown-ups have failed intheir task toward you, God neverfails in His . If they haven't knownhow to love you, God knows how tolove-and He will always love youvery much. In fact, because He lovesus al1-whether we are children orgrown-ups-He allowed His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to give upHis life for us-for our sins-so thatwe may be total1y pure one day.

At the beginning, God-who is al1love, power, and wisdom-revealedto Adam and Eve, the first couple

36

(they were created as adults), theway to live in order to be happy.Unfortunately, Adam and Eve choseto disobey God. Ever since, nearly al1human beings have followed thesame path-the way of disobedienceand rebel1ion. This is why we sufferon earth. This is also why the reasoning and behavior of most men doesn'talways make much sense .

Throughout the ages, God hascommanded us to honor Him and tokeep His commandments. This is theonly way to happiness. You can findHis commandments in the Bible. Al1of God's teachings are so simple thateven a child can easily understandthem. He orders us not to have anyother gods before Him: no other beings, no ambition, nothing must evertake His place in our hearts andminds. Nothing should come between Him and us. And His secondgreat commandment is that we loveone another as He loves us.

Unfortunately, as I told you a moment ago, ever since the beginning human beings have refused to obey God.They generally show lovefor one another when they can expect something inreturn. Worldly concerns have blindedtheir eyesand minds.

Please don't act that way! Whateverteachings you receive as you grow older-whether at home or in schoolalways remember that the foundation ofall knowledge is found in the Bible.Believethat. Live by it.

Have the courage to prove allthings in the light of what the Biblesays. Put into practice its teachings!Don't ever turn away from God---,even if people around you call younames and persecute you. You willlearn one day that they also persecuted Christ. They cal1ed Him namesand said that He was a blasphemer.The truth is that He is the Son ofGod. At this very moment, He issitting at the right hand of His Father, on His Father's throne. That'swhere you will also be someday if yousubmit your wil1 to His . .

Learn to pray as soon as you can.Speak to God often, without ever hiding anything from Him. Always bethankful for what He gives you. LetBible study be part of your academic"baggage." It is by far the most important study in your life.

Al1 the gadgets science offers youtoday-al1 the technological marvels,the so-cal1ed "utopian" existencewhich is supposed to be in store foryou-are nothing compared to theglory to come when you enter God'sKingdom and become forever Hischildren-born spiritual1y! In powerand splendor, you wil1 make Superman seem tame by comparison.

The world is sitting on a powderkeg today. If men continue to rejectGod and the teachings of the Bible,injustices and miseries will continuein this world . Everyone-includingyou-will suffer one way or anotheras a consequence. .

Actually, you won't real1y have tochange the world. God will do it foryou, provided you are wil1ing tochange yourself. That in itself is a bigjob--a tremendous task-but Godwill give you the help you need if youseek it from Him.

In a few years, Christ will comeagain and will take over al1 the governments of this world. He will be incharge of the entire earth-of itseducation, its government and its administration. You then will be able tolive in a world fil1ed with peace, justice and happiness-a world whereall of God's commandments will bekept by every person and every nation. People will love God-and theywill love their neighbor.

According to the Bible, on thatday "the wolf also shall dwel1 withthe lamb, and the leopard shal1 liedown with the ' kid; and the calf andthe young lion and . the fatling together; and a little child shal1 leadthem. And the cow and the bear shal1feed; their young ones shal1 lie downtogether: and the lion shal1 eat strawlike the ox. And the sucking childshal1 play on the hole of the asp, andthe weaned child shal1 put his handon the cockatrice' den. They shal1 nothurt nor destroy in al1 my holy mountain: for the earth shal1 be ful1 of theknowledge of the Lord, as the waterscover the sea" (Isaiah 11:6-9).

Do you now see how much youhave to be thankful for? "If youknow these things, happy are you ifyou do them," Christ said. Take Himup on His word! Put Him to the test.It will mean for you eternallife! 0


NEW TESTAMENT?(Continued from page 26)

Iy means, as most margins show," keeping of a sabbath." The Sabbathrest each week is a memorial of creation and a picture of the soon-coming millennial "rest."

Correctly rendered, this versereads: "There remaineth thereforethe keeping of the Sabbath to thepeople of God ."

Notice these points about thisverse. This keeping of the SabbathREMAINS. It is not forgotten, or doneaway, or nailed to the cross. And, itremains for the people of God . Therest of the world has forgotten that itstill remains. If it still remains, thenit is still holy to God. We oughttherefore to remember it and keep itholy as God has always commanded.This day pictures the rest that Godhad on creation week and thereforehonors the fact that He is Creator. Italso foreshadows the fact that He issoon going to bring a millennium ofpeace , the seventh thousand-year period, to this world.

The command to keep the Sabbathtoday is also proved by several otherscriptures. Paul instructed us to followhim as he followed Christ (I Corinthians II :1). Peter also told us that weought to walk as Christ walked (IPeter 2:21) . The apostle John said thesame thing in I John 2:6.

Christ always kept-the Sabbath! Itwas His custom (Luke '4:16), and He

. was continually showing His disciples and the religionists of that timethe proper way to keep it. He showedthis by the perfect example He set.The disciples were to follow His example and teach others the samethings. His parting instruction was:"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name ofthe Father, and of the Son, and of theHoly Spirit: teaching them to observeall things whatsoever I have commanded you: and 10, I am with youalway, even unto the end of theworld " (Matthew 28:19-20). Thismakes it plain that His commands,including the Sabbath, are to be observed toda y!

Paul followed Christ in alwayskeeping the Sabbath (Acts 17:2) andtaught the Gentiles as well as theJews on the Sabbath (Acts 13:42, 44


and 18:4). There are several otherscriptures in the New Testament,particularly in the book of Acts,which show plainly that the Church,as it started out , kept the Sabbath.Sunday on the other hand was alwaysa workday. Jesus said that He wasLord of the Sabbath, not Lord ofSunday (Luke 6:5).

A New Commandment

We have now seen that each of theTen Commandments is commandedin the New Testament. But whatabout the "new commandment" thatJesus and the apostle John spoke of?Just what was this new commandment, and does it abrogate or doaway with the Ten Commandments?"A new commandment I give untoyou, That ye love one another; as Ihave loved you, that ye also love oneanother" (John 13:34).

People assume that all we have todo is "love?' one another . Then theyinterpret "love" to mean that they donot necessarily have to obey God 'scommandments . They take forgranted that love is just affection.They do not realize how much Christloved His disciples. He had the kindof love described in lCorinthians 13,the kind which always OBEYS God'sTen Commandments. He had thekind of love which caused Him toinstruct His disciples, "Ye are myfriends, if ye DO whatsoever I commandyou" (John 15:14).

That is the kind oflove that Christwas talking about when He told Hisdisciples about the new commandment.

Yet how could this be a new commandment when Israel in ancienttimes was'cornmanded plainly to loveGod and neighbor? (Deuteronomy6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.)

Notice II John 5: "And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though 1wrote a new commandment untothee, but that which we had from thebeginning, that we love one another."Love is ever new and yet old.

That kind of love that Jesus andJohn spoke about is not just affection.

People today have come to thinkthat lust is love. Lust is getting, butlove is giving and serving others inthe way defined by God . The firstfour commandments define the wayto show love to God, and the last six

show the way to express love toneighbor.

Any other way is not love at all,but is only lust, greed, and selfishness. The commandment of love istherefore not only the one which isgiven at the beginning of Christ'sministry to His disciples, but also away of life given to the first manAdam.

This kind of love is furtheraffirmed by John: "For this is thelove of God, that we keep the commandments: and his commandmentsare not grievous" (I John 5:3) .

Instead of the new commandmentof love doing away with the old TenCommandment law, this scriptureshows plainly that it establishes it inthis New Testament age more firmlythan before.

What Will You Do?

There are many religious teachers inthe world today who will not keepGod 's commandments and , for thatmatter, teach that we are under acurse if we do keep them. They claimthat they know Christ. Christ saysdifferently through the apostle John:"He that saith, I know him, andkeepeth not his commandments, is aLIAR, and the truth is not in him " (IJohn 2:4).

Such people have claimed in various tracts and articles that only partof the Ten Commandments appear inthe New Testament. This is a veryconvenient way to "do away" withany command that one does not wantto obey, or does not want others to

, obey. The Bible plainly labels suchteachers. '

.Are you going to follow those whowant you to disobey God and forfeiteternal salvation or are you going toobey all of God 's commandments?

It should be crystal clear now thatall Ten Commandments are to beobeyed today! It is obvious fromhundreds of Old and New Testamentscriptures that they are to be followed as a way of life. These commands of God are in the Bible fromGenesis to Revelation.

In the very last chapter of the Bible it is made clear that the com- ,mandments are still to be obeyed."Blessed are they that do his commandments [all of them], that theymay have right to the tree of life .. ."(Revelation 22:14). 0

37

.PROPHECY(Continued from page 13)

reveal that the revived Roman Empire will invade the United Statesand Great Britain as well!)

Enter Russia

But all will not go well for Europe.Daniel 11:44 notes that eventually"tidings out of the east and out of thenorth shall trouble him [the king ofthe north or the beast] ." Threateningnews from the Soviet Union-longcovetous of the strategic oil-richMiddle East-and the Orient willdistress the European dictator. Hewill launch a blitzkrieg war againstthe Communist East: "He shall goforth with great fury to destroy, andutterly to make away many." (TheEuropean offensive is also describedin Revelation 9:1-12.)

The Communist hordes of Eurasiawill then counterattack against Europe-with an army of 200,000,000men! (Revelation 9:16.) Full -scaleworld war will erupt-a final , cli mactic global conflict!

The two great power blocs-Europe and the Soviet Communist combine-will become engaged in a des perate struggle for world domination.As the conflict escalates, all nationsof the earth will become involved .The beast will marshal his armies ata place called Armageddon-theValley of Jezreel around Megiddo,55 miles north of Jerusalem. Theywill then converge on Jerusalem forthe ' final battle, where the revivedRoman Empire will make its standagainst the oncoming Eurasianhordes.

Mankind will stand on the verythreshold of total annihilation!

Christ Returns

But God will suddenly intervenemightily in world affairs! JesusChrist will return from heaven with avast army to put an end once and forall to international warfare. Insteadof fighting against each other, theworld 's armies will turn their attackagainst Him, culminating in the"battle of the great day of God Almighty" (Revelation 16:12-16 ; Joel3:1-2,9-17).

38

Christ will destroy the beast andthe false prophet, and with them theworld's armies gathered at Jerusalem: "And I saw the beast , and thekings of the earth, and their armies,gathered together to make waragainst him [Christ] that sat on thehorse, and against his army. And thebeast was taken, and with him thefalse prophet that wrought miraclesbefore him.. . . These both were castalive into a lake of fire ' burn ing withbrimstone" (Revelation 19:19-20) .

As Daniel concluded, the king ofthe north "shall come to his end, andnone shall help him" (11 :45).

With the second coming of Christ,the "times of the Gentiles" will atlast come to an end . Christ will deliver Jerusalem from the Gentileforces. All Israel will be gatheredfrom captivity and be brought backto the promised land. Christ-theconquering Messiah, the true Mahdi-will then establish His government on the earth-with Jerusalemas world headquarters . Universalpeace and prosperity will at last be onthe way.

Recalcitrant elements-includinga remnant of Soviet forces and theirallies (Ezekiel 38 and 39)-willmake one last assault against newlyrepatriated Israel, but they too willbe put down by divine intervention.

Finally, all nations will at last dwelltogether in peace and harmony.

Watch the Middle East!

For over 40 years, The Plain Truthmagazine has urged its readers towatch the Mi ddle East-the world'smost dangerous hot spot. In the December 1938 issue-fully a decadeprior to the creation of the State ofIsrael-Editor Herbert W . Armstrong warned that " in due time, allnations of the world will be fightingover possession of Palestine an d thecityof Jerusalem. . .."

Despite current hopes for a negotiated settlement of the Mideast dispute, Bible prophecy paints a bleakpicture of events to come in the monthsand years just ahead. So keep youreyes on the Arab world, and on Jerusalem . Events soon to occur there willhave far-reaching ramifications. Theywill change the course of your life, andthe history of the world! 0

COMMANDMENTS(Continued from page 24)

"And God said unto Jacob, Arise,go up to Bethel; and dwell there:and make there an altar unto God,that appeared unto thee when thouf1eddest from the face of Esau thybrother. Then Jacob said unto hishousehold, and to all that were withhim, Put away the strange godsthat are among you, and be clean,and change your garments: and letus arise, a nd go up to Bethel; and Iwill make there an altar unto God,who answered me in the day of mydistress, and was with me in theway which I went. And they gaveunto Jacob all the strange godswhich were in their hand."

They could hold these gods in theirhands. Notice: " And all their earrings which were in their ears; andJacob hid them under the oak whichwas by Shechem." It was a sin toworship idols, and they had idol godsin their own hands.

The Third Commandment

Notice the third commandment inLeviticus 18:3,21,27. "After the doings of the la nd of Egypt, wherein yedwelt, shall ye not do." Here's theinstruction of God to the Israelites inthe time of Moses, but .it was sin tobreak that- third commandment before Moses!

"And after the doings of the landof Canaan, whither I bring you, shallye not do: neither shall ye walk intheir ordinances .. . And thou shaltnot let any of thy seed pass throughthe fire to Molech, neither shalt thouprofane the name of thy God: I amthe Eternal."

There's profanity, or profaning thename of God . Now the 27th verse:"For all these abominations have themen of the land done. which werebefore you"- before this generationduring which the law of Mosescame.

In previous generations prior tothe law of Moses, "All these abominations have the men of the landdone, which were before you , an d theland is defiled." It was sin. One of thesins was to profane the name of God .Therefore, profanity-taking the

ThePLAIN TRUTH December 1979

name of God in vain-was a sin before Moses.

The Fourth CommandmentObserved

Coming to the fourth commandmentin Exodus 16:4, " T hen the Eternalsa id unto Moses"-this , was twoweeks before they came to MountSinai and before the law of Moseswas given or before they ever knewthere would be a law of Moses" Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you ; and the people shall goout and gather a certain rate everyday, that I may prove them, whetherthey will walk in my law, or no."

Here is God's law . He was going tosee whether the people would obey itbefore the law of Moses was given- weeks before they even came toMount Sinai, where the law of Moseswas added.

Verse 5: " And it shall come topass, that on the sixth day they shallprepare that which they bring in; andit shall be twice as much as theygather daily."

Now not ice verse 22: "And it cameto pass, that on the sixth da y theygathered twice as much."

Verse 23: Moses said to the people,"This is that which the Eternal hathsaid, Tomorrow is the rest of the holysabbath unto the Eternal."

Then on the following da y, verses25-27, Moses said: "Eat that today;for today is a sabbath unto the Eternal, today ye shall not find it in thefield. Six days ye shall gather it; buton the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. And itcame to pass, that there went outsome of the people on the sabbath forto gather, and they found none"!

God was showing them by miracles from heaven which day was theseventh day. Time had not beenlost.

Some of them thought it didn 'tmake any difference. They wouldwait to go out on the following dayon the Sabbath-but there was none!Did that make an y difference? "Andthe Eternal said unto Moses, Howlong refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that theEternal hath given you the sabbath,therefore, he giveth you on the sixthday the bread of two days; abide ye


every man in his place , let no man goout of his place on the seventh day.So the people rested on the seventhday" (verses 28-30).

. That was weeks before they cameto Mount Sinai-before the law ofMoses! It was the law of God at hattime.

The Other Commandments

Now turn to Genesis 9:21. "And he[Noah] drank of the wine, and wasdrunken; and he was uncovered withinhis tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father,

.and told his two brethren without. AndShern and Japheth took a garment,and laid it upon both their shoulders,and went backward, and covered thenakedness of their father; and theirfaces were backward, and they saw nottheir father's nakedness."

Continuing: "Noah awoke fromhis wine, and knew what his [Ham's]younger son [Canaan] had done untohim. And he said, Cursed be Canaan;a servant of servants shall he be untohis brethren . And he said; Blessed bethe Eternal God of Shem, andCanaan shall be his servant" (Genesis 9:21-26).

Dishonoring a parent was a sin,and a curse was pronounced in thosedays.

And now notice the seventh commandment against adultery. Genesis39:7-9: "And it came to pass afterthese things, that his [Joseph's] master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph."This occurred when Joseph was inEgypt, long , long before the law ofMoses . "And she said, Lie with me.But he refused , and said unto hismaster's wife, Behold, my masterknoweth not what is with me in thehouse, and he hath committed allthat he hath to my hand; there isnone greater in this house than I;neither hath he kept back anythingfrom me but thee, because thou arthis wife: how then can I do this greatwickedness, and sin against God?"

Adultery was sin-hundreds ofyears before the physical law ofMoses.

Now we come to the eighth commandment, against stealing. In Genesis 30, verse 33: "Everyone that isnot speckled and spotted among thegoats, and brown among the sheep,

that shall be counted stolen withme. "This is Jacob and his experiencewith Laban. Stealing was a sin.

We come to the ninth commandment about lying: Genesis 20, thefirst nine verses: "And Abrahamjourneyed from thence toward thesouth country, and dwelled betweenKadesh and Shur, and sojourned inGerar. And Abraham said of Sarahhis wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and tookSarah." He was going to take her ashis wife. He would have committedadultery with her, but God sent anangel to him ina dream to warn him ." Yea, I know that thou didst this inthe integrity of thy heart." The king,remember, heard Abraham say ofSarah, "She's my sister." "And alsoI"-God says- "withheld thee fromsinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. "

Abraham was lying. It would alsohave been a sin to commit adultery.Of course, Sarah was Abraham'shalf sister; but, nevertheless, the intent was all wrong. It was a lie.

What about coveting? NoticeGenesis 6:1-3, 5-6: "And it came topass , when men began to multiply onthe face of the earth, and daughterswere born unto them, that the sons ofGod saw the daughters of men thatthey were fair; and they took themwives of all which they chose. .. .God saw that the wickedness"sin-"of man was great in the earth,and that every imagination of thethoughts of his heart was only evilcontinually. And it repented theEternal that he had made man on theearth, and it grieved him at hisheart." Coveting was a sin even inthose days!

There it is. Everyone of the TenCommandments was Tn existencefrom creation. It was sin to break anyof them between the time of Adamand Moses. What are you going to doabout it? 0

ADDITIONAL READINGFor a thorough study of how each ofGod 's Ten Commandments appliesto us today, write for our free, fullyillustrated booklet entitled The TenCommandments. (See worldwideaddresses on the inside front cover.)

39

POPE'SVISIT(Continued from page 6)

States-are the chief whipping boys.Little acknowledgment was given bythe pontiff to the hundreds of billionsof dollars worth of foreign aid, grantsa nd forgi vable lo an s (h ardl y"crumbs") extended on the part ofthe United States and other Westernnations. (Significantl y enough ,Cuba's Fidel Castro came to thesame rostrum one week later to out rageously demand, in his new selfprofessed role as spokesman for theworld's poor, another $300 billionover the next ten years!)

Few journalists chose to challengethe major precepts of-the pope's U.N.message. And the public as a whole,in its wild euphoria, took scant noticeof what he said. But the pontiff' s

I "world view" 'did not represent goodnews for America.

White House History

The most dramatic moment on thepope's itinerary occurred on Saturday,October 6. Over two hundred years ofestrangement between the Vatican andthe government of the United Statescame to an unofficial end. For the firsttime in history a pope visited the WhiteHouse, an event unthinkable just twodecades ago.

President Carter greeted JohnPaul as a "pilgrim for peace amongnat ions." Th e pope answered that hetruly wished to be "the messenger ofpeace and brotherhood."

Later, on the White House lawn,Mr. Carter proclaimed that "Godblessed America by sending you tous . . . . welcome to our country, ournew friend. " The pope then kissed hishost.

The following day, in the last actof his visit, John Paul celebratedmass on the Mall in Washington , insight of the towering WashingtonMonument. He thu s turned anotherpage in histor y. Over a century earlier, Pope Pius IX, following the example of other European head s of .state, sent a block of Italian marbleto be used in the construction of themonument. Outraged members of asmall political party dumped thestone in the Potomac River .

That event (in the 1840s) wassymbolic of the fact that Catholicism

40

had but a minor role to play in thefoundation of pluralist, predominantly Protestant America. The greatwaves of Catholic immigrants cameafter the mold of U.S. society hadalready been cast. Now this breachbetween the " Holy See" and Washington is being healed. An officialexchange of ambassadors, long shunned in Washington, may not be toofar off in the future .

Switched Themes

The " huma nist ic pope" liberallylaced his speeches with such phrasesas "human values ," "human solidarity," and "dignity of the human person." He said nothing that I can recall , however, about the majesty ofthe Almighty God, or the glory of therisen Jesus Christ who sits at HisFather's right hand in heaven . (Onejourna list for a Philadelphia papergot his personalities a bit confused byclaiming that John Paul was a "simple man who sit s at God 's righthand." He should have referred toMark 14:62; 16:19; Hebrews 1:3; 8: I ;10:12; 12:2 and I Peter 3:22 beforecomm itting himself to print.)

Midwa y on his trip, however, thepope swtiched themes, concentratingmainly on controversies deeply dividing the Catholic church in America.In doing so, he reaffirmed (in an uncompromising manner that shockedchurch conservatives and liberalsalike) traditional papal positionsagainst married priests, women inthe priesthood, abortion and contraception : Nuns were surprised to hearhim urge that they return to wearingthe traditional " habit."

The pope not only und erstandsAmerican society well (he rarely invoked the name of the Virgin Maryso as not to offend majority Protestants) , but he is painfully aware ofth e se r ious rift s in AmericanCatholicism:

He knows, for example, that 80percent of American Catholics believe it is possible to emplo y artificialbirth control methods and still be aloyal churchgoer. (Catholic bishopscall such members "a la carte Catholics"-those who pick and choose thedoctrines the y wish to obey.)

Many sociologists believe it is nowunrealistic to think that younger generations of Catholics in the U.S . whohave grown up in a climate of sexual

perrrnssiveness will ever step backwards in time and toe the line on thebirth control issue.

One must ask the question: Willthe pope someday come to realizethat he has ," lost" his church in theUnited States? Will this realizationcontribute to the very downfall ofthis country, prophesied to occur atthe hands of a religiously dominatedEuropean federation , reconstitutingthe Roman Empire?

Ecumenical Push

The confrontation between the traditional pope and liberal Catholicismdrew headlines for much of the second half of John Paul's trip. But asingular event on the morning of hislast day in Washington deservedmore press coverage than it received.

In 'a brief and simple ceremonythat would have been unthinkablenot so long ago, Pope John Paul IIpra yed in the chapel of Trinity College with American leaders of eightother Christian faiths.

As expected, the brief 40-minutemeeting produced no breakthroughson the unity front. Yet it was hailedby participants as a symbolic gestureof enormous importance. The RomanCatholic officials who organized theservice said it was the first time apope had ever prayed with so man ydifferent religious leaders at once .

In Boston too, on the eve of thefirst stop on the pope's journey toAmerica, the ecumenical spirit hadblossomed . In a letter to HumbertoCardinal Medeiros of the BostonArchdiocese, nine New EnglandProtestant and Anglican churchleaders said this : "The papal visit isan opportunity for ecumenical celebration. The Bishop of Rome , because of the traditional significanceof the office and of the Church inwhich he serves, is one whom we holdin high esteem and one whom wereach out to embrace across our historical divisions. As members withthe Roman Catholic family in theone Body of Christ, we remember thewords of St. Paul, ' If one member ishonored, all rejoice together .' Wetherefore are asking all ChristiansCatholic, Protestant, Anglican, andOrthodox-to transcend our presentand past differences on th is occasion,and to mark the papal visit as a sign

The PLAIN TRUTH December. 1979

and stimulus for reconciliation, atime to celebrate the unit y we haveand to pray for the unit y we seek."

As a symbol of their "ecumenicalhospitality," the church leaders presented to the pope a silver pectoralcross inscribed in Latin, "That WeMight Be One. "

The pope drew rave' notices evenfrom some un expected Protestantcircles. Billy Graham said that JohnPaul was "the most respected religious leader in the world today."Asked to elaborate by Tim e magazine, Mr. Graham added : "No otherman in the world today could attractas much att ention on moral and spiritual subjects as John Paul. . . : Thecountry is responding [to the papal

. visit] in a magnificent way. It showsthere's a great spiritual hunger. ThePope has reached millions of Protestants."

A Growing Desire to Return

The pope 's " ha rd-line" sta nd onCatholi c doctrines didn 't makethings easier on ecumenically mindedProtestants, but man y experts believethat the charismati c personality ofJohn Paul II may be powerfulenough to surmount certain roadblocks to church unit y. Thi s view wasexpressed in a rema rkable admissionby a Washington, D.C., Episcopalleader in the October 7, 1979, Washington Star.

" For Protestant s," said Canon Michael P. Hamilton, " the very personal charm of John Paul II invites us tore-examine the Roman Cathol icChurch and gives some of us a twingeof nostalgia for a unification thatwould re-ernbrace us all. Th e Rom anCa thol ic Church is so rich in its universal membership; the wealthy andthe poor, the educated and the illiterate, every tongu e and race are withinit [editor's note : check Revelation17:15].

"Dare we think," , he continued,"of a worldwide church rich in itsdiverse expres sion of Christian lifeand worship, united in its ' ordainedministry and under the leadership ofthe bishop of Rome , separate in continuing its denominational customs,together in a common Eucharisticmeal ? It's all there, it could happen,scholar ship supports it. John Paul inspires it, surely it is only selfishnessand fear that prevent it."


Note again what this leading Prot estant leader stressed: I ) a heightened desire for unification, 2) theadm itted preeminence of the bishopof Rome , and 3) scholarship, in hisview, supports the unity movement.

Few people realize all the behindthe-scenes Catholic-Protestant "dialogues" that have transpired duringthe past two decades. Scholars onboth sides have reduced man y areasof earlier disagreement. The nut thatremains the toughest to crack is thatof papal primacy . Here again, JohnPaul's magnetic personality is a definite plus.

The next critical milestone in theunit y movement will occur in June1980 with the celebration in Germany of the 450th anniversary of theAugsburg Confession. That document led to the rift between RomanCatholicism and what became theLutheran movement.

Now scholars on both sides are, stressing the original " positive" aim

of the Confession, which was to healthe widening rift between Lutheransand Rome and the attempt on thepart of the former to correct obviousCatholic church abuses.

The listing of the abuses coveredonly the last seven articles of theConfess ion, whereas the first 21 articles demonstrated essential agreement in doctrines between the twosides.

Bishop Cyril Wismar of the NewEngland Synod of the Association ofEvangelical Lutheran Churches recentl y noted that the Augsburg Confession was " intended to be a positivedeclaration within the church, not tobe a divisive thing. It 's taken 450years for us to reali ze that. It's myhope that by the end of the millennium we will be back to where wewere before, one Church in Christ."

It will be one church, indeed-butwill it be in Christ?

Church Unity Prophesied

Unity among the Christian-professing churches of this world is coming .Accord ing to the President of theCouncil on Christian Unit y of theChristi an ' Church , Disciples ofChrist: "The question no longer iswhether we can be united , but whenand on what basis."

The primary factor that all theother churches who desire unit y will

have to accept is the preeminent position of the pope in Rome. On thatpoint the Vatican will never compro -mise. •

What would it take for all the othersto "go back home to Rome"? Morethan just the captivating charisma ofan admittedly charismatic pope. Acolumnist for the Washington Star,Mary McGrory, put her finger on theanswer when she said of John Paul II:"He has.proven he has a miraculouspersonality. It remains to be seen if he 'is a miracle worker."

Perhaps columnist McGror ydidn 't mean it quite so literally, butnevertheless miracle-working activity is prophesied to occur in a lastditch, end-time attempt by the " godof this world" (II Corinthians 4:4) tounite the world's religions and sects,

. preparing them to jointly oppose thesoon-coming return of Jesus Christ toset up His Kingdom on the earth.

Before church unit y will beachieved by this world 's divided sectsand denominations, there will be ademonstration of miraculous, supernatural powers-performed, shockingly enough , through the "power ofSatan" (II Thessalonians 2:8-10)by a great religious leader. Millionswill be swept off their feet by hismighty signs-including those whohave been shown God 's way but haverebelled against it (verses 3, 10-12) .Thi s' person will claim to be thesource of un it y in the Christianworld. Th is "false prophet" will evenbe worshiped "as God" (verse 4) andclaim the rule over all politicalpowers.

The·stage is being set NOW!

The message toda y to those whochoose to obey God and follow thelaws revealed in His Word, the Bible,instead of the traditions of men ,swayed by Satan, is found in Matthew 24:24-25: "For there shall arisefalse Christs, and false prophets, andshall show great signs and wonders;insomuch that, if it were possible,they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. "

You have now been told! Youdon' t have to be deceived . Prove toyourself which church is doing theWork of God today, preaching thetrue gospel of the Kingdom of Godthe message that the religions of thisworld uni tedl y oppose a nd reject. 0

41

TRUE GOSPEL?(Continued from page 3)

MENT! The heavens have receivedChrist until the time of RESTORATIONof that government (Acts 3:19-21).

Who Is to Be King?

A kingdom consists of 1) a king, orchief ruler with all his officers whorule over 2) people within 3) certainboundaries in which the ruler hasjurisdiction, with 4) a system of lawsand government.

First , then , notice WHO is to be theking of the Kingdom of God. Look atthe prophecy in Isaiah 9:6-7: "Forunto us a child is born, unto us a sonis given: and the government shall beupon his shoulder: and his name shallbe called Wonderful, Counsellor,The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace . Of theincrease of his government and peacethere shall be no end, upon the throneof David, and upon his kingdom , toorder it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever."

Next, in the New Testament, justprior to Jesus' birth, an angel spoketo Mary, who was to become Jesus'mother: "And the angel said untoher , Fear not, Mary: for . . . thoushalt conceive in thy womb, andbring forth a son, and shalt call hisname Jesus . He shall be great, andshall be called the Son of the High'est: and the Lord God shall give untohim the throne of his father David:and he shall reign over the house ofJacob for ever; and of his kingdomthere shall be no end" (Luke 1:3033).

When Jesus was on trial for Hislife, Pilate asked: "Art thou a kingthen? Jesus answered, Thou sayestthat I am a king. To this end was Iborn, and for this cause came I intothe world ..." (John 18:37). But in .the preceding verse Jesus had explained, "My kingdom is not of thisworld... ."

A World-Ruling Government

The prophet Daniel foretold theKingdom of God. In the second chapter, speaking of the kings over governments in this, our generation, heprophesied: "And in the days of thesekings shall the God of heaven set up a

42

kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not beleft to other people, but it shall breakin pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever"(Daniel 2:44).

In the seventh chapter is a prophecy of the succession of world empires, beginning with King Nebuchadnezzar's Chaldean Empire,called Babylon, through the PersianEmpire, the Greco-Macedonian Empire and its four divisions, followedby the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, andits final revival in Europe now forming. Then, speaking of this soon-coming " United States of Europe"-arevived " Holy Roman Empire":"And the kingdom and dominion,and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be givento the people of the saints of the mostHigh, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shallserve and obey him" (Daniel 7:27).

Next, consider the people who willconstitute the Kingdom of God . Ihave shown you Jesus said it was afuture Kingdom-not of this presentworld or age. Daniel's prophecyshows the government will be givenover to "the saints," yet Christ is tobe the King.

The Future Rulers

There will be two classes of peoplewhen the Kingdom of God is set up.One, those whom Daniel calledsaints, resurrected to immortality,organized into the executive branchof the government, who shall ruleunder Christ. The other, those mortalhumans left alive on earth. Both arereferred to in man y scriptures.

But Jesus explained to the Pharisee Nicodemus about those who shallbear rule in the government. It 's inthe third chapter of John. Yet it ismisinterpreted by almost' every denomination in the Christian religion ,in spite of the fact it NEEDS NO iNTERPRETATION. It is clear and plainin the Bible-especially when considered along with many other passageson the same subject.

Jesus said: "Except a man be bornagain, he cannot see the kingdom ofGod . . . . That which is born of theflesh is flesh; and that which is bornof the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:3, 6).A mortal human cannot enter into or

see the Kingdom of God. Only thoseborn of the Spirit (which ' is God),and .who are no longer material human flesh from the ground, but whoare spirit-composed of spirit, not ofmatter-s-can enter that kingdom.

Yet, because Christ's gospel is notpreached (except on our programsand in our publications), this birth iscommonly either rejected or represented as an "experience" when one"accepts" or "receives" Christ.Space does not permit a thoroughexplanation with all the pertinentscriptures here, but the reader is invited to request our free booklet JustWhat Do You Mean . . . Born Again?and also the free booklet Why WereYou Born? They cover thoroughly,intriguingly, the most importantthing in your life-the PURPOSE forwhich you were put here on earth,why you are, where you are goingand the way. It 's the missing dimension in knowledge!

But let me cite just two more briefverses of Scripture that show whowill be ruling, under Christ, in thegovernment of God over this earth.In Revelation 3:21, Christ is speaking. "To him that overcometh will Igrant to sit with me in my throne,even as I also overcame, and am setdown with m y Father in histhrone."

And it is Christ speaking also inRevelation 2:26-27: "And he that .overcometh, and keepeth my worksunto the end, to him will I give powerover the nations: and he shall rulethem with a rod of iron; as the vesselsof a potter shall they be broken toshivers: even as I received of myFather."

The Gospel Relation to Government

This has been a very condensed summary of precisely WHAT Christ's gospel is. Christ came with a tremendous ANNO UNCEMENT-wonderfulnews of a world-ruling GOVERNM ENTto come and solve ail of humanity'sseemingly unsolvable problems.

It is the message of how we mayqualify, now, to be a king or priest(Revelation 5:10), then made immortal and composed of spirit, in God 'sKingdom. It is the message that Godis the divine, creating, universe-ruling family into which we may beborn by repenting of the way of sinthat has CAUSED all the terrible EViLS


and unsolvable problems in thisworld, and, through a living faith inChrist, turning to the way of God'slaw-the way that will CAUSE thepeace and joy of the happy worldtomorrow. It points out the true andonly way to eternal life.

Christ's gospel is a message about ,government. Christ's gospel is concerned with the evils confronting theworld's peoples which the governments of the nations are trying tocope with.

The gospel is concerned with theCAUSE of all these problems and troubles. The gospel Christ brought isconcerned with humans turning NOWfrom the way that is CAUSING alltheir troubles to the WAY that willCAUSE peace, happiness and plenty.

The gospel is concerned with1) how we may solve our troublesNOW, and 2) how God IS GOING tosolve them for us-and IN SPITE OFUS if we refuse to change our waynow.

World Leaders Frightened

The time for kidding ourselves ispast. This world is in a very criticallyserious condition. Even after somethirty years of the world-effort to develop the poor nations of the world,they are poorer today than ever before. Millions upon millions facestarvation, live in ignorance, utterpoverty, filth and squalor, wrackedwith disease and ill health. In theaffluent nations, crime is rampant(even in residential neighborhoods),morals have sunk to the gutter, divorces are breaking up a third of thehomes, youths are taking to drugsand alcohol, staring a hopeless futurein the face .

The weapons now exist to erase allhumanity from the face of the earthin very short order. The world is sick,and the sickness is rapidly nearingthe acute stage.

World-famous scientists and headsof state are saying the world's ONLYHOPE is a single WORLD . GOVERNMENT in control of all arms and military force, to insure WORLD PEACE.Man can 't bring it about. ButChrist's gospel -the most tremendous ANNOUNCEMENT of the mostwonderful GOOD NEWS ever given tothe world , announces to humanityjust that-a supreme world government with TOTAL POWER over ALL


nations , ushering in world peace,prosperity for ALL, good health forall-a world filled with happinessand joy!

Jesus' gospel taught the way of lifethat will produce this utopia-a waytrue Christians must live Now-away that would solve all of today'sproblems and evils.

That is the light that Jesus Christbrought to the world, but men loveddarkness rather than light, becausetheir deeds were evil (John 3:19).The world REJECTED that wonderfulgood news and crucified their veryMaker for bringing it. And whilethey were sinning so abominably,Christ died for them, to pay the penalty they have incurred in theirstead-if and when they repent andturn to the way that brings them happiness!

Anyway, the restoration of theKingdom of God does not depend onmankind believing it. It is going tohappen-as surely as the rising oftomorrow's sun!

Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom ofGod to many thousands. All but 120individuals rejected it. The so-called"Sermon on the Mount" outlined theway of God's government. His manyparables described the Kingdom ofGod . The Kingdom of God was Hisgospel! (If you have not already doneso, be sure to request our free booklets What Is the True Gospel? andComing-A New Age!)

Peter, John and the other originalapostles proclaimed the Kingdom ofGod. It was the gospel the apostlePaul preached to the Gentiles. Butmen rejected it.

For 18'h centuries it was not proclaimed to the world-only to a veryfew-and that generally under cover ,lest those preaching it be put todeath!

Jesus Said It Would Happen

Jesus said plainly that althoughHe, as a person, as the Messiah,would be preached to the world, Hisgospel would be withheld and thepeople would be deceived.

When H'is disciples asked when Hewould come again to earth to set upGod's Kingdom and of the END ofthis present world, Jesus said: "Takeheed that no man deceive 'you. For.MANY shall come in my name"many would profess to be His minis-

ters, representing Him-"saying Iam Christ; and shall deceive many"(Matthew 24:4-5). Untold thousands, ordained ministers in theChristian religion, have PREACHEDCHRIST! ' They have said Jesus ofNazareth was Christ. But Christ'sgospel has been withheld. The manyhave been deceived.

Remember, a deceived person doesnot know he is deceived. Otherwisehe would not be deceived. Millionshave been deceived into accepting aFALSE gospel-a false salvation.

But, in Jesus' answer to their question as to His return to earth and theEND of this present world or age, theonly sign He gave was: "And thisgospel OF THE KINGDOM shall bepreached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shallthe end come" {Matthew 24:14).

Stop and think! If Christ's gospelhad been preached to all the worldduring those 18Y2 centuries, it couldnot be the sign today of the sooncoming end of this present world, andof Christ's imminent return as Kingof kings and Lord of lords, to restorethe Kingdom of God and the peaceful and happy world tomorrow! Thatone statement is absolute advancePROOF from Christ's own lips thatHis gospel would be withheld.

It has been!But beginning January 1934,

Christ's very gospel began going out.By the end of 1952 it was being thundered to the United States and Cana- ,da coast to coast via radio. January1953 it began going to Europe andBritain-and soon, worldwide. Also,as in Jesus' prophecy of Matthew 24,the world is fast approaching the supreme time of world trouble-the veryCLIMAX of civilization called "theGREAT TRIBULATION" (verses 21-22).

This is a frightening and terrifyinghour-unless one hides his eyes andears from the state of the world andits trends!

In such a sobering time, you havejust read the truth that ought toarouse you out of the sleep of complacency and indifference! It is, Iknow, a shocking, staggering FACT torealize that this work-the work going out from the Worldwide Churchof God-is the ONLY -WORK ONEARTH proclaiming the very gospel ofJesus Christ to the world in greatpower! 0

43

"

For the first time, to my knowledge,a state civil political government within

the United States claimed that it owned all Churchproperty, and was empowered to fire the apostle

of the living Christ, and reorganizeand operate the Church of the

living God!

Personal from...(Cont inued f rom page /)

diffe re nt world, especia lly in mean sof tr an sportati on a nd communicatio n. Th e living C hris t sta rted me onradio in January 1934, an d throughthe printed messag e beginning Febru ary 1934 . C om pa ra t ively rapidma il delivery was by then availabl e,an d rai l travel, besid e the tel eph one.We first went on television in Jul y1955. Fina lly cam e air tr avel-firstprop planes, then jet.

Th e Wo rk of God sta rted fromEuge ne, Oregon. No sta te government gave us instructio ns as to how

the C hurch an d its work shou ld beorga nized or cond ucted. In 1947 ,headquarters were moved to Pas adena , Ca lifo rn ia . The W ork wasgrow ing 30 per cen t a year. To condu ct th e grow ing ope ra t io ns o fC hrist's Grea t Commission, Ambassador Co llege was founded in 1947 .It was the ONLY college on earthACCREDITED by G OD!

It had become necessary to incorporate, a nd th e Work has been condu cted str ictly accord ing to th e legal-

. ly sta ted PURPOSES of th e Church inour inco rporation a nd our legallyrequ ired constitution a nd bylaws. Ina ll such matter s, we compl ied full ywith s ta te co rpo ra tion la ws a ndrequirem ents. .

It was not until J anuary 3, 1979 ,46 yea rs a fter the raising up of this

44

er a of the Church of God, th at theChurch of God suffered per secutionby the Attorney-General's office ofthe state of Cal ifornia.

For the first time, to my knowledge,a sta te civil political government within the United States cla imed th at itowned all Church property, a nd wasempower ed to fire th e a post le of theliving Christ, and reorganize andOPERATE th e Church of the livingG OD! Althoug h God com ma nds us, inth e Bible, to be subject in our personaland individual lives. to th e politicalgovernment of man which ha s jurisdicti on over us in ordinary processes oflaw a nd order, yet when authori ties ofhuman civi l government commanded

th e a postle Peter to cease procl aimingthe gospel, Christ's apo stle repliedwe MUST OB EY G OD RATH ER THANMAN. He did not " cav e in." Nei therdid we!

This Church was founded by Je susChrist. It is formed and orga nized onHIS pattern.

Even if our lives are a t sta keeven at threat of imprisonment, wesha ll give our ver y lives, if necessary,to carryon the Worldwide Church ofGod, according to G OD'S direct ion inHis Word.

Now we a re in a battle with one ofthe largest states in the Un ion todetermine WHO IS LORD-CAESAROR CHRIST? We a re willing even tosacrifice our LI VES, if necessarybut, like the a post le Peter, we shallobe y G OD rather th an man! 0

THEKINGDOMOF GOD-Whatdoes itmean to you?

King -dom n. A politically o rganized community or major territorial unit having a mon archicalform of government headed bya king or queen .

The phrase " kingdom of God ,"which appears frequently in theBible, is often heard in religiouscircles. It is generally assumed tobe a reference to heaven or to acondition of mind held by believers . Almost no one would applythe standard dictionary defin it ionof " kingdom"- a type of government over a specific terr itory. Yetthat is precisely how the term ismost often used in the Bible. Thereal meaning of the term "kingdom of God " is far more interesting and excit ing than thetraditional vague concepts. Thebooklet Just What Do YouMean . . . Kingdom of God?clearly explains what the Kingdom of God is and why it's important to you. For a free copywrite to The Plain Truth at theaddress nearest you. (See insidefront cover for addresses worldwide.)


L E T T

sE R s

Personals

I just wanted to write and let you knowhow much I enjoy reading your [HerbertW. Armstrong's] "Personals." I reallyappreciate your ability and style of writing. You do a fantastic job . Keep up thegreat work. I will pray for your strengthin getting the gospel out to all nationsalways. .

Vicki Baldwin ,Alamosa, Colorado

I am shocked at your attitude, to saythe least, in your June/July article. Yousaid you entertain royalty ' and VIPs inthe best restaurants. What makes themso special ? Do you believe that Godwould show more love to them than toone who wasn't in their class? You willfind in James 2:I-I 0 how a Christian isnot to show more respect to a rich manthan a poor man. '

Mr . and Mrs. Larry Hodges,Huntington, West Virginia

U.S. and Britain in Prophecy

I really enjoyed the August 1979 issue ofThe Plain Truth. I heartily support yourantismoking stance, and the articles concerning the United States, Britain, andthe United States of Europe were quitestunning in their scope. I am looking forward to the final book version of thesemomentous prophecies. Your publications have really changed my outlook onlife and its mean ing.

John Weaver,Dallas, Texas

So glad I got The Plain Truth so Icould finish " U.S. and Britain in Prophecy." I very much appreciate the entireseries which (after reading the rest of themagazine) I have torn out so that now Ihave the entire 73 pages of reading together. I have marked it as I went along,and now shall continue the set of notes Ihave started. When the notes are complete, I sha ll stud y them again .

Ivy E. Harris,Medford, Massachusetts


In Search of Adam

Your August 1979 Plain Truth article byRobert A. Ginskey, "In Search ofAdam," is truly a masterpiece.

I had been pondering the cavemen versus Adam question for quite some time,and, would you believe, in consideringtrue science's harmony with the Bible, Ihad contemplated whether the hominoidswere not "men" per se at all, but hadexisted prior to God's re-creation of theearth and creation of Adam.

I guess The Plain Truth is the magazine which has taught me to think formyself-but upon the solid foundation ofwhat God has already revealed. In summary, thanks for the article on this subject which I felt was too long neglected.To me, this was the best article to appearyet in 1979. It was worth the wait.

Bill Trimarco,Brooklyn, New York

In your recent article "In Search ofAdam" you somehow managed to twisteverything around to make the averagereligious fanatic (excuse my frankness)think evolution is wrong .

At one point you said Neanderthal manhad a brain larger than modern man, so there

. was no reason to believe Neanderthalevolvedinto modern man. But brain size hasabsolutely nothing to do with intelligence; itis merely a factor!

You said it is obvious that man is aspecial creation. But you gave no evidence to prove this myth .

You have probably deduced I am anagnostic. I think people can believe whatever they want-but why make them be-lieve a myth? '

A. Cassidy,Victoria, B.C., Canada

Editor's note: We don't want anyone toblindly accept a myth. That's why we sooften expose the fallacies of the theoryof evolution .

God's Faith in ManI wish to tell you how much I appreciatedyour article entitled "God's Faith in Man i

,

by Jon Hill (June/July 1979). I am among

the social outcasts, alienated from the community mainstream and driven out of theordinary churches for a numberof reasonsa drunken father or husband, a convict relative, a prostitute daughter, a notorious son, abarroom mother, endless poverty, shame,and humiliation.

Here in what is called' the "BibleBelt," the low-caste fundamentalistchurches are the only ones which will letus in, usually grudgingly at that. We goto church hoping to hear a word of hope,perhaps comfort, a bit of inspiration, butall we hear is more condemnation, all thefearful, emotional scriptures the preachers can find. If they quote any others, we 'do not hear them, because our ears are ·programmed only for the negative.

My own story is not important; it couldbe told by millions of others. I was born"a nasty, little no-good girl." I married aman who believes his manhood is provedby how often and how much he can browbeat women and children-it's his "divine right." I am the daughter-in-law ofpeople who say all women (except theirimmediate family) are daughters of Eveand therefore evil. , .

It's much the same at church. Thepreachers seem to like nothing betterthan all the negative, condemning scriptures -they can find, especially aboutwomen . The brain is scrambled; the heartis hurt; the spirit yearns for light butnever seems to find it. '

May God bless you in your work. Ifound your magazine in a laundry whereothers of mykind often go. I hope manyof them read it.

Name withheld by request

As a direct result of your magazine Iam more interested in "religion" than Ihave ever been. Generally, I believed religion to be something fearful and to beavoided. Your way is comfortable. Perhaps it is another step in my spiritual lifecloser to Jesus Christ. I have been soconfused over the years. Everytime I havetried to read the Bible, I could only seewhat a sinner I have been. Your articleshave given me new hope.

Name Withheld by request

45

IS IT REALlY WORTH IT?Tis the season to be lolly, right?

Yes, but sometimes the holidayhassle makes it a little hard to be sojolly. .Bills .and traffic. and maddenil)gcrowds are enough to make you wonder if it is all worth it. What are thefacts about Christmas, anyhow? Whydo yOU have to haul an evergreen tree into your house

every year? What 'makes mistletoegood for kissing? If you've ever wondered about these things, you 'll be interested inthese two free booklet:!):The Plain 'Truth Abdut Christmas andPagan Holidays - or God's Holy Days

- Which? Send your request tooU.foffiC:,e nel:iresf ~you (see i n -

~ , side front cover).1""'- ,/P~~-

~. tI G~~:;;::. I.yL <iYs~Wh:l()fy /I

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WhoIs Lord? Caesar or Christ? Truth 19… · THE [P[ill~[(] UrnrnUrn Vol. 44, No. 10 ARTICLES a magazine o f understanding ISSN 0032-0420 December 1979 The Plain Truth-SUPPORTEDBY