OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD 1564GladTidingsGladTidings

Bible Talks, Study Classes, Sunday Schools and Youth Clubs areheld regularly by Christadelphians worldwide. The address ofyour nearest group can be obtained either from one of the Glad Tidings Distributors listed above, or from one of the contactaddresses listed on the back cover.

Bible VersionsThe version most used in this issue isthe New King James Version (NKJV)and other versions are sometimes

used.

✤ The New King James Version iscopyrighted by Thomas Nelson.

✤ The English Standard Version is published by Harper CollinsPublishers © 2001 by CrosswayBibles, a division of Good NewsPublishers. Used by permission.

✤ The New International Version is copyrighted 1978 by New York Bible Society

GladTidingsO F T H E K I N G D O M O F G O D

130th Year 1564A monthly magazine published by the Christadelphians (brothers and sisters in Christ) andavailable throughout the world.

AcknowledgementsPhotographs:

Cover: The Rainbow istockphotos

Other Illustrations

Pages 3,16: WikipediaCommon;pg 8a Ken Anderton;8b Mural by Verity Norris;others: clipart.com.

ContentsJ14

Glad Tidings Distributorsfor orders and payments

United Kingdom – Cilla Palmer, “Highlands”, 78 Mildenhall Road, Fordham, Ely, Cambs, England CB7 5NR Tel: (01638)723959 (24 hrs & Fax) cilla@gladtidings.fsnet.co.uk

Australia – Jon Fry, 19 Macey Street, Croydon South, Victoria, Australia, 3136

gladtidingsaustralia@gmail.comCanada – Vivian Thorp, 5377 Birdcage Walk,

Burlington, Ontario, Canada, L7L 3K5 vivianthorp@bell.net

New Zealand – Neil Todd, 14 Morpeth Place, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 7, New Zealand

South Africa – A. J. Oosthuizen, P.O.Box 50357, Musgrave Road,Durban 4062, South Africa antoost@mweb.co.za

U.S.A. – Pat Hemingray, 3079 Kilburn West, Rochester Hills, USA, MI 48306

Other Countries – Andrew Johnson, 22 Hazel Drive, Hollywood, Birmingham, England, B47 5RJandrew@gladtidings.me.uk

Editor: Owen Tecwyn Morgan, 26 The Crescent, Hampton-in-Arden, Solihull, England, B92 OBP glad.tidings@virgin.net

Publisher: The Glad Tidings Publishing Association A registered charity – Number 248352

Contents

A Time for Peace .............3

Peace in Our Lives...........5

No More War....................7

All Our Problems Solved.....................................10

No More Death ..............12

Peace with God..............14

A World at Peace ...........16

A War to End All Wars ..18

Its objectives are – to encourage the study of the Bible as God'sinspired message to men; to call attention to the Divine offerof forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ; and to warn menand women that soon Christ will return to Earth as judge andruler of God’s world-wide Kingdom.

130th Year 3

though life was like a patchwork quiltof different experiences. Just as differ-ent fabrics of varying designs andcolours are sewn together to make aquilt, so various experiences in lifecome together to form and shape aperson’s lifetime. This is how Solomonsaw life in all its complexity and variety:

To everything there is a season, a timefor every purpose under heaven: atime to be born, and a time to die; atime to plant, and a time to pluck whatis planted; a time to kill, and a time toheal; a time to break down, and a timeto build up; a time to weep, and a timeto laugh…

In a carefully constructed and divine-ly inspired rehearsal of how thingswork out for different people Solomonconcludes his analysis with thesewords:

…A time to keep silence, and a time tospeak; a time to love, and a time tohate; a time of war, and a time ofpeace (Ecclesiastes 3:1–8).

War and PeaceFor forty years Solomon reigned asGod’s appointed King, ruling fromJerusalem over “the throne of theLORD” (1 Chronicles 29:23). Hiskingdom was God’s kingdom on earth,a kingdom which will be reinstated

The British Prime Minister NevilleChamberlain signed an agreementwith the German Chancellor AdolfHitler at the end of September 1938and returned to England to explain thathe had entered into an Anglo-GermanNaval Agreement which, he hoped,was symbolic “of the desire of our twopeoples never to go to war with oneanother again”.

The First World War had ended in1918, just 20 years before, and hadbeen devastating. You can understandthe Prime Minister’s fervent wish thatno such hostilities would take placeagain. Later, outside 10 DowningStreet, he made the now famousstatement:

My good friends, for the second timein our history, a British Prime Ministerhas returned from Germany bringingpeace with honour. I believe it ispeace for our time. We thank youfrom the bottom of our hearts. Gohome and get a nice quiet sleep.

The first British Prime Minister to usethat phrase had been BenjaminDisraeli in 1878 but it is Mr Chamber-lain’s speech that everyone nowremembers, for he was seriously mis-taken. Less than a year after thesigning of that agreement Europe wasagain plunged into a world war. It wasno time for peace. Sadly, it was a timefor war.

A Time For…Three thousand years before Mr.Chamberlain used that expression“peace for our time” a wise king hadcommented on the way that time con-trols our lives. He spoke about it as

A Time for PeaceA Time for Peace

4 Glad Tidings

… has made everything beautiful in itstime. Also He has put eternity in theirhearts, except that no one can find outthe work that God does from beginningto end (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

It is one of the things that distinguishhumans from other animals that wehave a sense of eternity in our hearts– a sense that there is something else,other than this mortal existence, asense of another world or anotherdimension that we want to be part of,and rightly so. God is in heaven and weare on earth (Ecclesiastes 5:2) butGod means to establish His heavenlykingdom on earth, which is why theLord taught his disciples to pray:

Your kingdom come. Your will be doneon earth as it is in heaven (Matt.6:10).

God knows when that Kingdom willbe established, but we do not. TheScriptures tell us the reason and it isrelevant to all, for God is waiting for usto accept His gracious invitation to beat peace with Him. Here’s the apostlePeter’s explanation:

The Lord is not slack concerning Hispromise, as some count slackness, butis longsuffering toward us, not willingthat any should perish but that allshould come to repentance (2 Peter3:9).

Finding PeaceThis issue of “Glad Tidings” examineswhat the Bible says about peace withGod. This includes having peace ofmind, finding a right relationship withGod through the saving work of Jesusand understanding what God is aboutto do to transform our war-weary worldinto a peaceful place where righteous-ness and right-thinking will prevail.

Editor

when Jesus returns, as promised, torule from Jerusalem: “the city of thegreat King” (Matthew 5:35). Solomonhad a remarkably peaceful reign, con-solidating the territorial expansion ofhis father King David and ruling wiselyby making shrewd alliances and enter-ing into commercial arrangements withother countries which were profitablefor all concerned. He thus amassed ahuge personal fortune and enrichedthe nation mightily. But at his deatheverything fell apart.

Solomon’s successor was as foolishas Solomon was wise. Civil war ragedand the nation was torn apart. Apowerful neighbouring country seizedthe opportunity to attack and plunderand the weakened nation could notdefend itself. From then on the ‘time ofpeace’ was replaced by ‘a time of war’and the pattern in Israel has beenrepeated the world over, then and now.

Nobody knows when the next war willbreak out somewhere in the world.Nobody knows when the next terroristattack will take place, or where thatmight be. We live in an increasinglyviolent and uncertain world where thecapability to wreak devastation can soeasily fall into the hands of extremistswho are willing to die for what theybelieve.

Who Knows?This magazine would be called “BadTidings” if it contained just a review ofthe dangers and problems that con-front us. We need to recognize themfor what they are; otherwise we live ina fool’s paradise. But the Bible is full ofgood news from God and those whoread it can be reassured that God bothknows all that is happening and cancontrol the outcome as part of His planof salvation. For Solomon went on tosay that God:

130th Year 5

What are the kinds of things whichdestroy peace in our lives?

❖ Family worries

❖ Money worries

❖ Worries about work

❖ Worries about our health

❖ Worries about the neighbours

❖ Worries about things in the world

❖ Worries about the future

❖ Worries about life after death.

So, in the face of all that, what doesthe Bible say about peace in our lives?❏ Shalom

The word in the Old Testament, stillused as a greeting today amongstJews worldwide, is “Shalom”. But“shalom” doesn’t simply mean“peace” – its basic meaning is “beingcomplete, being whole”. That which isat peace is that which is whole; con-versely, that which is whole is atpeace. So when we suffer from any ofthe worries mentioned above, we arenot whole, we are not complete, andour worries eat into our state of mind,our wellbeing, both our physical andmental health.❏ Eirene

The New Testament word translated“peace” has a similar significance –the Greek word is “eirene” and is usedof the weaving together of the struc-ture of a piece of cloth or fabric − theweft and the warp. The strands of thefabric are interwoven so that theybecome one piece of cloth, which isvery difficult to break down or tearapart – it is whole or complete.

State of MindSo peace isn’t just an absence of war– it’s a state of mind, a sense of beingwhole; peace, or the absence of it,pervades every aspect of our lives. Thequestion is: ‘How can we attain thepeace and wholeness which thesewords imply?’

The nation of Israel had a specialrelationship with God. When making anagreement (or covenant) with themGod said this:

I will give peace in the land, and youshall lie down, and none will make youafraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts,and the sword will not go through yourland… (Leviticus 26:6).

And this is the condition on whichGod made that promise:

If you walk in My statutes and keep Mycommandments, and perform them(Leviticus 26:3).

Years later, David the Psalmist, theking of Israel, said:

Great peace have those who love Yourlaw, and nothing causes them tostumble (Psalm 119:165).

He was promising that if we rely onGod’s law as our guide in life, nothingwill disturb our lives or make usstumble.

Widespread DistressIt seems to be a sad truth that a vastmajority of people now openlyacknowledge that the Bible, whichclaims to be God’s Word, has no placein their lives and is not relevant tomodern-day living. Yet that denial of

Peace in our LivesPeace in our Lives

6 Glad Tidings

the Bible’s relevance and efficacy hasgone side-by-side with a present-dayepidemic of stress and worry in allaspects of life – personal, national andinternational. These are things thatpervade most levels of society. Can itbe a coincidence? I think not!

The apostle Paul offered this reassur-ance when writing to believers inPhilippi:

The peace of God, which surpasses allunderstanding, will guard your heartsand minds through Christ Jesus (Philip-pians 4:7).

Research has shown that peoplewith a Christian faith, founded on abelief in the Bible, do live calmer lives,and have a peaceful ambience in theirlives and, in fact, generally tend to livelonger than average. We find in theBible such passages as these:

❖ I will both lie down in peace, andsleep; for You alone, O Lord,make me dwell in safety (Psalm4:8).

❖ When a man’s ways please theLord, He makes even his enemiesto be at peace with him (Proverbs16:7).

❖ You will keep him in perfectpeace, whose mind is stayed onYou, because he trusts in You(Isaiah 26:3).

❖ Speaking metaphorically toJerusalem, God makes thispromise: “All your children shall betaught by the Lord, and greatshall be the peace of your child-ren” (Isaiah 54:13).

❖ These are the things you shall do:speak each man the truth to hisneighbor; give judgment in yourgates for truth, justice, and peace(Zechariah 8:16).

Peace with GodThat message in Zechariah indicatesthat there’s a social aspect to this too.If everyone were to follow thisexample, and speak God’s truth totheir neighbour, much of the dishar-mony amongst our near neighboursand between international entitieswould cease to exist. And if we livedout the principle in our own lives, wewould experience that inner peaceenjoyed by those who are at peacewith God and with themselves. Wewould then be “whole” people.

Jesus offered his life as a sacrificefor our sins, but before his death andresurrection he gave his disciples thissupreme gift:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I giveto you; not as the world gives do I giveto you. Let not your heart be troubled,neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

Real peace rests with Jesus, and wecan enjoy it when we align our liveswith him.

Try this!I suggest that, as you read this, you sitdown now and read Psalm 37 through,quietly and thoughtfully. I’m sure it willgo a long way to bringing you peace inyour life – follow where it leads you!

Delight yourself also in the Lord, andHe shall give you the desires of yourheart. Commit your way to the Lord,trust also in Him, and He shall bring itto pass (Psalm 37:4–5).

Having a relationship with God andwith the Lord Jesus Christ, both ofwhom care for you, is a sure way ofachieving peace in your life.

Hamilton Wilson

130th Year 7

It’s a hundred years since that war inwhich Owen fought and died. Sadly, hewas killed just four days before its con-clusion. It was a war which changedthe world forever, which is why it hasbeen featured in so many media pro-grammes and other events, 100 yearson.

It was not merely the scale of it withup to 21 million soldiers and civiliansbeing killed and maimed (dependingon which statistics are used). Neitherwas it the gigantic industrial scale onwhich countries organised and prose-cuted the war. It was, rather, the lossof innocence on the extent of what onehuman can and will do to another ingiven circumstances.

Moral CompassI believe this to be an event in whichthe moral compass of the world, for itwas a world war, changed forever.When 20,000 men can be killed in tenminutes even civilians have to under-stand the horrific and continuingnature of what man develops. Thelegion of caring and heroic stories thataccompanied the slaughter barelybegin to balance the depth of violencethat individuals and countries will per-petrate in the name of patriotism oreven in the name of God – a God whocommands us not to kill but to “loveour enemies”.

This war was only “outdone” by theextension of it in the Second WorldWar and the mechanised killing of 6million Jews in the holocaust. If theseare the lengths to which men will go toshow their hatred of one another, whatchance is there for real peace, nevermind an absence of war in our world

The prophet Isaiah was inspired towrite these words more than 2500years ago:

He shall judge between the nations,and rebuke many people; they shallbeat their swords into plowshares, andtheir spears into pruning hooks; nationshall not lift up sword against nation,neither shall they learn waranymore (Isaiah 2:4).

In our world of wars and rumours ofwars the idea that no one would evenunderstand the concept of violenceseems like a dreamy comment fromsomeone who does not live in the realworld of the 21st century. Yet men havedreamed of the idea of real peace forall for millennia, even whilst recognis-ing that it is most unlikely to happen.

The First World War poet, WilfredOwen, was one such man. He knew hisBible well but in one of his mostfamous poems “Strange Meeting” hewrote of war and peace with a sadrecognition that a world without war orviolence was unlikely:

The pity of war, the pity war distilled.Now men will go content with what wespoiled,Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled.They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress.None will break ranks, though nations trekfrom progress.Courage was mine, and I had mystery,Wisdom was mine, and I had mastery:To miss the march of this retreating worldInto vain citadels that are not walled.Then, when much blood had clogged theirchariot-wheels,I would go up and wash them from sweetwells,Even with truths that be too deep for taint.

No More WarNo More War

8 Glad Tidings

today? Russia marshalled its enor-mous forces to invade its neighbourUkraine and repossess the Crimea. Weread daily of wars in Africa,Afghanistan and Syria to name butthree on-going conflicts.

Some people argue that there arebenefits to war: improved medicalpractices, better social care followingconflicts and better educationsystems. Others passionately believein the causes for which they fight. Oneyoung man from Accrington hadinscribed on his gravestone in France:

The French are a grand nation, worthdying for.

Others looked for adventure andenlisted under age, paying the ultimateprice at the ages of 14 and 15. Thereare people, religious people, whobelieve there is a concept of a “justwar” and who would cite the holocaustas an example. Radicalised teenagers

head for Syria or Iraq intent upon pur-suing their personal jihad and appearto relish dying as a martyr for whatthey see as a just cause.

New WorldMost people who try to love and serveGod according to His precepts given inboth the Old and New Testamentswould not think like that. The com-mandment not to kill is very clear, as isJesus’ teaching about loving our neigh-bour as ourselves and his instructionthat we must love our enemies and dogood to those who hate us. (Matt5:44). The Sermon on the Mount inthe rest of Matthew chapters 5 and 6demonstrates the philosophy of a lifewithout sin and violence.

That is the lifestyle that Jesus willrestore to the earth at his return. Heshows a need for righteousness;people who want to develop a pureheart and show mercy to others; thosewho have compassion for the poor, thesick and those who are ill-treated bysociety. Isaiah shows God’s world asone where the bear will eat straw likethe ox and the wolf and the lamb willsit together with small children (Isaiah11:6-8). Psalm 72 speaks of this newworld:

Give the king Your judgments, O God,and Your righteousness to the king’sSon. He will judge Your people withrighteousness, and Your poor withjustice. The mountains will bring peaceto the people, and the little hills, byrighteousness. He will bring justice tothe poor of the people; he will save thechildren of the needy, and will break inpieces the oppressor (Psalm 72:1–4).

The Psalm continues:

In his days the righteous shall flourish,

130th Year 9

and abundance of peace, until themoon is no more (Psalm 72:7).

The whole of this psalm is a descrip-tion of a world without war. It is not apipe dream. The sacrifice of the LordJesus Christ for sin and his resurrec-tion are God’s guarantee that peace −real peace in our world, here on ourplanet − will happen, that it will bereal and that it will last. The last two

chapters of the Book of Revelationdescribe a world where those who loveviolence and evil are utterly andpermanently excluded and wherepeople will have a real, personal andvisible relationship with God and hisSon in a world which will be at peace.

Almost the last verse of the Biblereads:

He who testifies to these things says,“Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen.Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revela-tion 22:20).

Jesus is coming to implement God’speace plan. It won’t fail like those ofthe politicians from WW1 or since, whohave consistently failed to achieve areal and lasting political peace, nevermind personal peace. Only God andthe Lord Jesus can achieve that. Wouldyou like to be there enjoying thatpeace?

Cynthia Miles

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say,rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men.The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, butin everything by prayer and supplication, withthanksgiving, let your requests be made knownto God; and the peace of God, which surpasses allunderstanding, will guard your hearts and mindsthrough Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whateverthings are true, whatever things are noble, what-ever things are just, whatever things are pure,whatever things are lovely, whatever things areof good report, if there is any virtue and if thereis anything praiseworthy—meditate on thesethings. The things which you learned andreceived and heard and saw in me, these do, andthe God of peace will be with you.

(Philippians 4:4–9).

Be at Peace with God!Be at Peace with God!

A mural painted by Verity Norris depicts thescene of Isaiah 11:6-8.

How we dread these words spoken byan unknown voice: ‘I’m sorry, but thereis a problem.’ It could be our onlineorder, our credit card, or little Johnnyat school. Our heart sinks immediately.

There was once a famous linespoken in a laconic drawl that ran‘Houston, we have a problem!’ It couldhave marked the end of an Apollomission, and it set the NASA spaceteam racing for a solution that wouldsave the lives of the astronauts in theirpowerless capsule. Life is full of suchproblems, and just as we seem to haveemerged from the last one, anothersprings upon us.

Of course, there are people whoenjoy solving problems. You see themon the bus with their crosswords orSudoku in front of them. You even paythem to dismantle your preciouslaptop to find out why it has stoppedworking. But for most of us problemsare an intrusion into the serenity of ourlives, and we wish they would go away.

Self-Inflicted?Some of our troubles are plainly ourown fault. We forget to lock the car, oroversleep, or go out without a coat andget chilled. But others are due to theevil human heart. Think of muggings,civil wars or even World Wars. Pride,greed or the desire for revenge start offa chain of events that ends in miseryand death. The Apostle James puts itneatly:

Where do wars and fights come fromamong you? Do they not come fromyour desires for pleasure that war inyour members? You lust and do nothave. You murder and covet and

cannot obtain. You fight and war(James 4:1–2).

Jesus adds:

For out of the heart proceed evilthoughts, murders, adulteries, fornica-tions, thefts, false witness,blasphemies (Matthew 15:19).

So far, no one has been able to tamethe human heart. Time after time itruins our life. And we have to admit itis not always the other people. Veryoften we have allowed our feelings torun away with us, and brought miseryand reproach upon ourselves.

But other problems hit us that seemto be entirely random. We might bediagnosed with cancer, involved in acar crash, or have the house washedaway in a storm and there appears tobe no logic behind such events.Nobody caused them. Yet they can bedreadfully painful to bear. So, what isthe answer to problems? Will this cyclego on forever? It might seem that thebook of Job is right when it says:

Man is born to trouble, as the sparksfly upward (Job 5:7).

10 Glad Tidings

All Our Problems SolvedAll Our Problems Solved

God’s SolutionThe good news is that God has a greatplan that will one day bring all humantroubles to an end. But there is anentry requirement. If we want to enjoythat happy time ahead, we need to dosomething about it now. Once, Jesus’disciples asked him about a tragedythat had recently occurred in Galilee.The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate,had cruelly slaughtered some of theirfellow countrymen while they wereoffering sacrifices to God.

It seemed unjust that people goingabout a good deed like that should bestruck dead. Was the answer, theyimplied, that these men must havebeen very wicked underneath, and sowere made to suffer? No, Jesus says,they were no worse than anyone else.He added a similar case of his own −a tower in Jerusalem had recently col-lapsed, killing eighteen people − thenhe asked:

Do you think that they were worsesinners than all other men who dweltin Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unlessyou repent you will all likewise perish”(Luke 13:4-5).

The important point is his last line.Jesus explained that everyone inJerusalem was a sinner. For the menwho were killed accidentally it was toolate to repent of their sins. They hadperished. If we are sensible, Jesus issaying, we will seek forgiveness andreconciliation with God now, while wehave the opportunity, and then weshall not perish, but be saved frometernal death by our faith in God.

Solving SinThe fact is that all our problems arise,one way or another, from human sin.Adam started it all off when he decidedto defy God and eat the forbidden fruit.

He brought death into the world. Wedie, partly because we are descendedfrom Adam, but also because of ourown sins. We each have a record ofanger and lying and lust and all theother things God hates. Adam broughta curse upon the world, and for thou-sands of years men have suffered theproblems that followed: pain, disas-ters, wars, and tears that fall like rain.Such problems might have gone onforever, but for God’s great plan.

God sent His Son – the Lord Jesus −who for the first time was able to tamethe human heart. He was without sin.He rose from the tomb to glory andimmortality, because he did notdeserve to die. And his victory over sinwill bring an end to the curse for allthose who believe in him. In theKingdom of God, war and famine,crime and tsunamis will cease forever.The nations of the earth will rejoice inJesus’ beneficent reign. Here are twoquotations to tell us that we canbecome God’s children and experiencethe joy and freedom from all problems:

“I consider that the sufferings of thispresent time are not worthy to be com-pared with the glory which shall berevealed in us. For the earnest expec-tation of the creation eagerly waits forthe revealing of the sons of God ...because the creation itself also will bedelivered from the bondage of corrup-tion into the glorious liberty of thechildren of God (Romans 8:18–21).

And the ransomed of the Lord shallreturn, and come to Zion with singing,with everlasting joy on their heads.They shall obtain joy and gladness,and sorrow and sighing shall flee away(Isaiah 35:10).

David M Pearce

130th Year 11

12 Glad Tidings

Most of us have been affected bydeath at some time. My wife sufferedfrom cancer for six years, and sadlydied a few years ago. Thank the Lord Iam now happily married again, but younever forget, do you?

This special edition of “Glad Tidings”is all about Peace so it seems appro-priate to consider the greatest enemyof all: one from which nobody canescape. Throughout history there hasbeen no escape from death. Wecannot live forever as things stand.

Death SentenceThe first death sentence was passedby God on the first man Adam, afterhis sin in the Garden of Eden. But themore you think about it, you mightdecide that death is not really such abad thing! It means that evil people donot live forever. True, it also meansthat good people die as well – but youcan’t have it both ways. You reallywouldn’t want the Hitler’s of this life tobe around still, wreaking havoc onJews and gypsies, would you?

Our limited life span also means thatwhoever we are, we have to make thebest use of our time here, and as theBible says, to “number our days”(Psalm 90:12).

What Is Death?Death is the opposite of life. The firstman was created by God. He was per-fectly formed, but was not breathingfor he was lifeless.

The Lord God formed man of the dustof the ground, and breathed into hisnostrils the breath of life; and manbecame a living being (Genesis 2:7).

At death the exact oppositehappens. Our breath comes out of usfor the last time, and the bodybecomes lifeless. The dead bodyreturns to the earth, and reverts to thesame dust from which Adam wasmade. The Bible explains that death isa sleep. Just as we didn’t know that wewere asleep last night in bed, so thedead do not know they are dead:

For in death there is no remembranceof You; in the grave who will give Youthanks? (Psalm 6:5).

For the living know that they will die;but the dead know nothing, and theyhave no more reward, for the memoryof them is forgotten. Also their love,their hatred, and their envy have nowperished; nevermore will they have ashare In anything done under the sun(Ecclesiastes 9:5–6).

Whatever your hand finds to do, do itwith your might; for there is no work ordevice or knowledge or wisdom in thegrave where you are going (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

Death is Death!From these and many other Scripturesit is perfectly obvious that our

No More DeathNo More Death

130th Year 13

thoughts, our emotions, and in fact ourwhole life is concluded when we die.Of course, it might be great to thinkthat life resumes immediately on death– but that is not what the Bibleteaches. Death is the end of our exis-tence until Jesus returns, and then thedead will be raised (see Daniel 12;1-3and 1 Thessalonians 4:13,14). TheLord Jesus is to judge those who haveknown sufficient about him in their life-time, and will give them a place in hisKingdom if they are counted worthy (2Corinthians 5:10).

Is There an After-Life?Yes, of course there is.

❖ Abraham was promised that heand his family would own the landthat he was looking at, forever(Genesis 13:15) – but for nowhe’s dead. He is asleep in death,waiting for the resurrection.

❖ David was told by God that hewould see his Son (Jesus) reig-ning on his throne for ever (2Samuel 7:16) – but David too isdead.

None of this is any problem to God.He made Adam out of the dust of theground, He raised Jesus out of thegarden tomb, so surely He will keepHis word and raise Abraham and Davidto life again.

When Jesus was here on earth heperformed many miracles. All of themproved that he had God’s power, andtherefore the miracles were a foretasteof the coming Kingdom. They were asort of visual aid to demonstrate andexpand the Lord’s teaching. During hisministry Jesus raised three people tolife:

❖ Jairus’ daughter in Capernaum –who had only just died (Luke8:40-56)

❖ The widow of Nain’s son who wasbeing carried to his funeral (Luke7:11-17)

❖ Lazarus of Bethany – who hadbeen dead for four days (John11:1-45)

The Lord was demonstrating hisability to raise the dead, whether theyhad only fallen asleep in the last hour,the last day, or four days ago. And hehas that same ability or power today.

Safely AsleepJust as we didn’t know that we wereasleep in bed at 2 or 3am thismorning, so we didn’t know that wehad been asleep for 4 or 7 hours. Inthe same way Abraham, David, andother believers who died several thou-sand years ago don’t know that theyare dead.

Long ago a man named Job hadcomplete confidence in God. Eventhough things were troubling him, hefully believed that the Lord God wouldraise him from the dead when he wrotethese words:

And after my skin is destroyed, this Iknow, that in my flesh I shall seeGod… (Job 19:26).

Job’s sleep has been a long one, forhe lived about 4,000 years ago.But he died in faith. He believed in theresurrection, and one day soon, Job,Abraham, David and our loved oneswill be brought out of their graves.Jesus will be here, and at long lastthere will be no more death. Thatmeans real peace!

David Simpson

14 Glad Tidings

changed. The apostle John providesthis explanation:

In this is love, not that we loved God,but that He loved us and sent His Sonto be the propitiation for our sins (1John 4:10).

PropitiationIt’s a big word I know and one we rarelyuse but its meaning is straightforwardenough. Those who worshipped idolsin Biblical times used to make sacri-fices to their idols to get them on theirside so they would provide good har-vests, healthy flocks and herds and allthe good things of life.

However, the loving God of heavenhas Himself made the greatest of allpossible sacrifices to get us on Hisside. He gave His Son to save mankindfrom sin. This was how God providedus with a covering or propitiation forour sins, but it comes with a condition:

God so loved the world that He gaveHis only begotten Son, that whoeverbelieves in him should not perish buthave everlasting life (John 3:16).

Everyone’s life is a constant battle. Weknow how we ought to behave but wedon’t always follow our consciencesand so find ourselves full of regret:

❖ “If only I’d been more consider-ate, then it wouldn’t havehappened, would it ?” or

❖ “I do wish now that I hadn’t saidthat to her. It clearly upset her andI feel bad about the whole busi-ness!”

Yet there are times when we justchoose to “move on” and forget whatwe’ve said or done so badly. But thenof course we’re simply overriding ourconscience and ignoring what weought to be doing to put things right.

Nobody’s Perfect!Mistakes of this sort are what the Biblecalls “Sin”. I know it’s an old-fashionedword but that doesn’t mean that sinitself is out of date. It’s as up to dateas anything! There isn’t anyone freefrom this plague of wrong-doing. Theapostle Paul once summed up thehuman problem thus:

There is none righteous, no, not one;there is none who understands; thereis none who seeks after God (Romans3:10–11).

But for those who are distressed bythis situation there is hope. Our verynature is one that has fallen from whatGod intended it to be. Whether we likeit or not, we are stricken with sin,disease and death − and we can’t ofourselves do anything about it! Yet theloving God of whom we can learn inthe Bible has shown us how we can be

Peace With God

130th Year 15

Yes, there is the condition. Forgive-ness comes to “whoever believes”!That means we have to trust God andtake Him at His word. There is a Bibleword for this quality too: we must havefaith. Please don’t shrink from thisword, thinking it’s only in the Bible. It’spart of our everyday lives. For instance,we ask a tradesman to do a job for usat home and because he has beenrecommended to us, we trust him todo the job properly. Expressed in Biblelanguage: ‘We have faith in him’!

Right with GodAnd here’s another big word for you toponder over − “justification” and you’llsee why I’ve mentioned it in amoment! If a prisoner in the dock hasbeen charged with some wrongdoingbut then is pronounced “Not guilty!” heis cleared of all charges against himand is free to go. In Biblical termino-logy he would then be ‘justified’ or‘declared righteous’. There is an OldTestament character of whom this issaid:

“Abraham believed God, and it wasaccounted to him for righteousness”(Romans 4:3, quoting Genesis 15:6).

Wouldn’t we all like to be in thatposition: being counted righteous orjust in God’s sight, because He hascleared us of all wrong-doing forChrist’s sake? Well, we can be. Here’sone of the most reassuring passagesin the Bible:

Therefore, having been justified byfaith, we have peace with God throughour Lord Jesus Christ, through whomalso we have access by faith into thisgrace in which we stand, and rejoice inhope of the glory of God (Romans 5:1–2).

If − and it’s a big “if” − we trust Godimplicitly because of what the LordJesus has achieved for us through hissacrificial death, God will look upon usas righteous, cleared of all charges ofwrongdoing and so we will have peacewith Him. You can see how the apostlePaul marvelled at all that God is willingto do for us, unworthy as we all are.

The Fight of FaithWhen we have made our peace withGod the battle of life will continue andit will be a continuous struggle, as theapostle so clearly tells us (Romans7:15-21). We will still commit sins butthey can now be confessed and forgi-ven by the man or woman who trustsGod implicitly. In that way our lives canbe cleansed (1 John 1:9) and this priv-ilege can be exercised day after day, bythe mercy of God.

What a joy this is − to be at one withthe Creator of the world. The prayer ofJesus himself will be answered for youand me, if we are faithful:

… That they all may be one, as You,Father, are in me, and I in You; thatthey also may be one in Us, that theworld may believe that You sent me(John 17:21).

Trevor Pritchard

If you want to access backnumbers of “Glad Tidings” youcan find copies for the last few

years on our website:

www.gladtidingsmagazine.org

16 Glad Tidings

For lo, the days are hastening on By Prophet bards foretoldWhen with the ever-circling years,Comes round the age of gold;When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendours fling,And all the world give back the song Which now the angels sing.

This verse is part of a Christmascarol and Christmas is a time whenmost people are full of good wishesand nice feelings. But wouldn’t it bewonderful if this carol came true; liter-ally true? Wouldn’t it be amazinglywonderful to live in a world which isgenuinely at peace! Men and womenat peace with one another the wholeworld over! And people at peace withintheir own hearts and minds and, mostimportantly, at peace with God himself!Is this just a pipe dream? Is it really afanciful, idealistic notion which willnever happen? It is not!

God’s Great PlanWhat we should really understand isthat God is involved and will ultimatelymake it happen. He has already inter-vened in human affairs several times inorder to move on His plan and toengage with us – so that we willinglybecome involved in working towardsestablishing His peace on the earth.

There was a major step forward2000 years ago when God sent hisSon into the world to make the clea-rest statement yet that He wishes allmankind to join Him in this masterproject to bring “peace on earth”.

In order to have peace we needstrong and righteous government andthat is what Jesus Christ will provide –

remember he lived as a wanderingpreacher, died on the cross and roseagain from the dead to ascend to gloryin heaven. He is now about to return.He is alive for ever so there will be noconcerns about succession. He is cur-rently recruiting men and women tosupport him in the new world orderwhich he will establish when hereturns. Look at these promises:

❖ The angel to Mary:

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you havefound favor with God. And behold, youwill conceive in your womb and bringforth a Son, and shall call his nameJesus. He will be great, and will becalled the Son of the Highest; and theLord God will give him the throne of Hisfather David. And He will reign over thehouse of Jacob forever, and of hiskingdom there will be no end (Luke1:30-33).

❖ The words of Isaiah:

For unto us a Child is born, unto us aSon is given; and the government willbe upon his shoulder. And his namewill be called Wonderful, Counselor,

A World at Peace A World at Peace

could be part of it. That is the GoodNews, the Gospel’s message fortoday.

Look again at these words of Jesus:

Blessed are the meek, for they shallinherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

Blessed are the peacemakers, for theyshall be called sons of God (Matthew5:9).

‘Blessed’ means, ‘O the bliss of …’or ‘How happy are ...’. God and theLord Jesus Christ have given us thesecret of finding true happiness inbuilding a relationship with them –being at peace with them. We in ourturn join in their plan for the world’speace by sharing what we havelearned with others. Thus the angel’smessage at the birth of Jesus will befulfilled and there will be:

Glory to God in the highest, and onearth peace, goodwill toward men!(Luke 2:14).

Peace with God is something whichwe can have now, but it will be glori-ously fulfilled throughout all the worldwhen Jesus comes again to rule asKing over God’s Kingdom.

David Nightingale

130th Year 17

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Princeof Peace. Of the increase of his gov-ernment and peace there will be noend, upon the throne of David andover his kingdom, to order it andestablish it with judgment and justicefrom that time forward, even forever.The zeal of the Lord of hosts willperform this (Isaiah 9:6–7).

❖ The prophet Zechariah:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I amzealous for Zion with great zeal; withgreat fervor I am zealous for her.’“Thus says the Lord: ‘I will return toZion, and dwell in the midst ofJerusalem. Jerusalem shall be calledthe City of Truth, the Mountain of theLord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.’“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Old menand old women shall again sit In thestreets of Jerusalem, each one with hisstaff in his hand because of great age.The streets of the city shall be full ofboys and girls playing in its streets’”(Zechariah 8:2–5).

Great PromisesThere are many more Bible passageswhich describe the new age of peace,but for now here’s a summary of whatwe’ve learned:

✔ It is God’s plan to bring peace onearth

✔ He has appointed Jesus Christ ashis King who will rule fromJerusalem – the city of peace.

✔ Jesus will establish a new worldorder in which ordinary men andwomen, old and young, live inpeace and confidence side by side.

✔ What is really important is that youand I should see ourselves as beingpart of this wonderful project. We

18 Glad Tidings

against war. This, the greatest of allwars, is not just another war—it is thelast war!”

How we all wish that he had beenright and that thereafter the world hadcome to its senses, disarmed and con-centrated its energies on peacefulpursuits that would have made theworld a better place for everyone. Butit wasn’t to be. Even at the Paris PeaceConference which settled the war,British field marshal Archibald Wavell issaid to have dismissed the solutionsdrafted there by saying, “After ‘the warto end war’ they seem to have beenpretty successful in Paris at making a‘Peace to End Peace’”. David Fromkinwrote a book with that very title in1989 in which he traced today’s prob-lems in the Middle East to the way inwhich the Ottoman Empire was carvedup and allocated at the Paris PeaceConference. He suggested that all thepresent rivalries and animosities origi-nate from that somewhat arbitraryprocess. But they have a much earlierorigin.

Bible PerspectiveThe Biblical narrative takes us rightback to the time when the infantnation of Israel first entered the landthat God had promised Abraham,Isaac and Jacob as their inheritance.In order to occupy it, the Israelis (aswe now know them) had first toconquer the land from the people thatwere already there and thereafterthere was often fighting and skirmish-ing with the nations around Israel.Some of those nations came from abranch of Abraham’s extended family,but they seldom behaved as relatives.

The United States entered into theFirst World War hostilities in April 1917when President Woodrow Wilson askedthe American Congress for a declara-tion of war.

President Wilson was good at mould-ing public opinion with his rhetoric andhe appears to have coined such opti-mistic phrases as “a war to make theworld safe for democracy” and “a warto end all wars”. In fact the latterphrase was already in public use,thanks to the British author H G Wellswho wrote a series of newspaper arti-cles in 1914 which were laterpublished as a book with that title andit became a widely used catchphrase.

Pacifist HopesH G Wells was a pacifist but he clearlyhoped that a war of this size might endwar forever. The First World War wasone in which each side fought on ascale hitherto unseen. All theresources of the countries involvedwere deployed – military, industrial andhuman. An estimated 10 million sol-diers were killed, and another 10million civilians, as modern weaponsand technologies were used. Thebrutal horrors of the trenches werereported in news stories, photographsand even film, in a way people hadnever before seen or experienced.Wells wrote this optimistic assess-ment, which turned out to be totallywrong:

“This is now a war for peace. It aimsstraight at disarmament. It aims at asettlement that shall stop this sort ofthing for ever. Every soldier who fightsagainst Germany now is a crusader

A War to End All WarsA War to End All Wars

130th Year 19

Instead there developed an animosityand hatred that has continued rightdown to today. For, after Bible timesthe nation of Israel ceased to exist andthe Jews were dispersed throughoutthe world until it pleased God to returnthem to their ancient homeland as Hehad promised:

As a shepherd seeks out his flock onthe day he is among his scatteredsheep, so will I seek out My sheep anddeliver them from all the places wherethey were scattered on a cloudy anddark day (Ezekiel 34:12).

God also foretold through hisprophets that the restored Jewishnation would be surrounded byenemies, and that again there wouldbe nations that resented the partioningof the land and the re-creation of thenation of Israel. The same prophet whopredicted the miracle of a Jewishreturn to the land also explained whyGod will judge those nations whooppose His purpose:

I shall lay your cities waste, and youshall be desolate. Then you shall knowthat I am the Lord. “Because youhave had an ancient hatred, andhave shed the blood of the children ofIsrael by the power of the sword at thetime of their calamity, when their iniq-uity came to an end (Ezekiel 35:4–5).

Another ConflictThere is to be another war in theMiddle East and again it will be a worldwar, but there will be some bizarrehappenings. Consider this scenario.God is about to send His Son, the LordJesus Christ, from heaven to earth, forhe is to reign from Jerusalem over allnations when God’s Kingdom is re-established here.

The Coming King is the greatest manwho ever lived. He was the best andkindliest person you could ever meet.He went about doing good andbecause he was empowered by God hecould feed the hungry, heal the sick,raise the dead and save people fromtheir sins. Wouldn’t you want someonelike that to rule the world? Wouldn’t weall welcome a righteous and benevo-lent head of state with the power tosolve all human problems and makethe world a wonderful place in which tolive forever?

Yet the Bible predicts that whenJesus comes he will be opposed bypeople who are unwilling to surrendertheir power and they will wage waragainst him. Here’s an extract from theprophecy:

Why do the nations rage, and thepeople plot a vain thing? The kings ofthe earth set themselves, and therulers take counsel together, againstthe Lord and against His Anointed,saying, “Let us break their bonds inpieces and cast away their cords fromus.” He who sits in the heavens shalllaugh; the Lord shall hold them in deri-sion… (Psalm 2:1–4).

Read the whole Psalm and you willsee that this attempted attack will failutterly, for God is determined to set HisSon “on My holy hill of Zion” (2:6).

Jesus will reign from Jerusalem asGod has promised and the world willbe remade so that God’s glory will fillthe earth. But here is the great news.That war, to try to oust Jesus fromJerusalem, will be the war we have allbeen hoping for: a war to end wars! ForKing Jesus is rightly named “the Princeof Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Tecwyn Morgan

Local Information

To find out about your nearestChristadelphian Meeting, or ifyou want some free Bible litera-ture, or would like to enrol on acorrespondence course, write tothe address nearest you.

United KingdomGlad Tidings Magazine, FREEPOST,NAT7259, Ely, CB7 5BR cilla@gladtidings.fsnet.co.uk

Africa & EuropeChristadelphian Bible Mission, 404 Shaftmoor Lane, Birmingham,B28 8SZ, UK requests@cbm.org.uk

The AmericasCBMA, 19111 Kinsie Street, Northridge, California, USA, 91324ksommerville@unitedagencies.com

Caribbean CBMC, Box 55541, Unit 119, 15280,101 Avenue, Surrey, BC, Canada,V3R 0J7 philsnobelen@shaw.ca

IndiaT Galbraith, GPO Box 159, Hyderabad, 5000001, India

South and East Asia ACBM, PO Box 42, Wallacia, NSW2745, Australiacoelmada@ozemail.com.au

Printed by Jarvis North West Print

Addresses for the Free Offer :Addresses for the Free Offer :In the UK write to: Glad Tidings Magazine,

FREEPOST, NAT7259, Ely CB7 5BRcilla@gladtidings.fsnet.co.uk

In Africa and Europe write to: Anne Bayley,68 Hay Lane, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands,

England, B90 4TAIn other countries, to: Andrew Johnson,

22 Hazel Drive, Hollywood, Birmingham, England,B47 5RJ

andrew@gladtidings.me.uk

GladTidingsOF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

If you would like toreceive the Glad Tidings maga-zine FREE for 6months – sendyour name andaddress to one ofthe addressesbelow. Or go to ourwebsite.

Your Name (BLOCK CAPITALS please)

Address

Post Code

Country

Visit our website:

www.gladtidingsmagazine.org

Free Offer Contact Details