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Vol. xx No . 5

ARTICLES

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FEATURES

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The Good News

May 1976

When a Man From Space Vis ited Earth .

What Is the Spirit of Real Christianity?

What the World Needs Now Is Hope

What Do You Mean - God Doesn t Change?

The Sabbath and the Ten Commandments

New Light on the Age of Jerem iah

The Bible in a Changing World

Update

Test Your B ible Knowledge

Quest ions and Answers

Letters

ABOUT OUR COVER

O ne o f the m e mbers o f the Go d familyvisited - and is g o ing t o revisit -thi s jewe l lik e s p ac eship tr a ve lingthrough the b lackn ess of s pa ce thatwe call the pl a ne t earth. he identi tyof this visit or from ou ter space - froma complet e ly diffe re nt dim e nsi on -is r ev e a le d in this m o nth s l e ad article .

NASA Photo

Edi to r in C hie fHerbert W . Armstrong

Edi torGarner Ted Armstrong

Se nior Ed ito rsDavid Jon Hill. Raymond F . McNair

Man ag ing Edito rBrian W. Knowles

As sist ant M an ag ing Ed itorJohn A Schroeder

Ass ocia te E ditorsLawson C. Briggs D. Paul u n Robert L.Kuhn George Ritter Richard H . Sedliacik

Co ntributing EditorsDavid L Antion . Dibar Apartian Robert BorakerPeter Butler Charles V . Dorothy Jo AnnDorothy Lester L . Grabbe Dennis G . Luker Leslie McCullough Roder ick C . Meredith L. Leroy Neff Carole Ritter Robert C . Smith

Copy Edito rsRonald Beide ck Kathleen Prohs

Art Edito rGreg Smith

Art StaffRandall Cole

Ed ito ria l StaffLesley Kalber Barbara McClure, LeilaMcMichael Ronald B . Nelson j anet Schroeder

C hurc h Adm inistra tion Directo rC . Wayne Cole

Busin e ss Ma na gerRay Wright

Pub lish ing Coo rdina torRoger G . lippross

Circ ula tion Mana gersUnited States : Benjamin Chapman ; InternationalEditions : Leslie McCullough

Published monthly by the Worldwide Church ofGod 300 W. Green St. Pasadena Calif . 91123 1976 Worldwide Church of God . All Rights

Reserved .Second-class postage paid at Pasadena California and additional offices . Reentered assecond-class matter at the Manila CentralPost Of f ice on January 18 1974 .

ADDRESS AL L COMMUNICATIONS TO THEGOOD NEW S OFFI C E N EARES T YOU . United States : P. O. Box 111 Pasadena Cali-

fornia 91123 Canada : P . O . Box 44, Stat ion A, Vancouver

B.C . V6C 2M2Mexico: Instituci6n Ambassador Apartado

Postal 5-595 Mexico 5 D.F. West Indies : P . O. Box 6063 San Juan Puerto

Rico 00936 South America: Instituci6n Ambassador Apar

tado Aereo 11430 Bogota 1, D.E ., Colombia United Kingdom and Europe : P . O . Box 111 St.

Albans Herts ., Er gland Holland and Belgium : Postbus 333 Utrecht

Nederland Scandinavia: Box 2513 Solli Oslo 2 Norway ;

Box 211, DK-8100 Arhus C Denmark ; Box5380, S-l 0246 Stockholm Sweden

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Rhodesia : Box UA30 Un ion Avenue Salisbury Australia and Southeast Asia : P .O . Box 202

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Auckland 1 New Zealand The Philippines : P. O . Box 2603, Manila 2801 .Be sure to no tify us immediately of any change inyour address . Please include your old mailinglabel and your new address . The publisherassumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited art work photographs or manuscripts .


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Part

WHEN A M N FROMSP CE

VISITED EARTH

GOOD NEWS May 976

Exactly three days and three nights after His death on thestake Jesus Christ of Nazareth stepped through solid rocktomb having been transformed instantaneously back intospirit life. Once again He was able to step back into space - completely different dimension. But what has your Savior

been doing al these nineteen hundred years since?

by Garner Ted rmstrong


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S hortly after His resurrection tothat humanly indescribabledimension of sp irit life, Jesussped through the universe all theway to the third heaven - His firstspace flight in over thirty years .Suddenly , He appeared on a gorgeous , translucent sea of glass . Directly in front of Him, quite a

distance away, was the Person andthrone of the greatest Being in all ofthis universe - the Ancient of Days,God the Father Seated on each 'side were twelve elders , the wisdomof antiquity obvious in their faces. Abeautiful multi-colored rainbowshimmered over the scene in sunbeam hues . Lightning flashed andthunder clapped . Millions of angelswere in attendance - anxiouslyawaiting the great event to follow. Itwas a fabulous sight to behold I

like to envision the scene that followed this way .The Coronation Ceremony. A bedraggled figure , livid with visiblewounds, began to walk down theline between those twenty-fourelders . He came closer and closerto a great blazing light shining justlike the sun in its full strength andsat down at the right hand of God

. the Father. Then with all the angelsapplauding, smiling and bowingdown , God the Father reached to

get a crown and placed it on Jesus 'head, proclaiming Him King of theuniverse and King of this earth . (Re-member, Jesus told His disciplessome forty days later: "All power isgiven unto me in heaven and inearth.")

I imagine the angels were sayingsomething like this : ''Worthy is theLamb , the Lamb that was slain , toreceive all power and wealth , wisdom and might , honor and gloryand praise . . . . Praise and honor ,glory and might , to him who sits onthe throne and to the Lamb for everand ever " (Rev. 5 :12-13, he NewEnglish Bible. )

Then Jesus may well have askedHis Father : "Why didn't you tell meI was go ing to have to do it alone? "" I couldn't, Son," came the reply."I couldn 't let you ' know in advance . It would have been too cruela blow. You probably couldn't havemade it if you ever had to expectthere would be an instant in yourwhole life when you couldn 't reach

1 YEARSROM l WWhere will

you be?Chances are that no one reading this Is going to be a living,breathing human being 100years from now. It's a bit unsettling, Isn't it Of course, weall know that human beings

don't live forever. But thoughtsof our own death, no matterhow distant that event mayseem, lead to thoughts aboutthe "after life." Millions ofpeople feel that for those wholive a worthy life - for thosewho are "saved" - the afterlife is in heaven . Such beliefsare supposedly based on theBible, but are, in fact, nonbiblical. The Bible does have agreat deal to say about anafterlife, but it's surprisinglydifferent from traditional beliefs. If you'd like to read moreabout the true biblical teaching on this subject, write forthese free booklets: What Isthe eward of the Saved andWhere Are Enoch and ElijahSend your request to The

GoodNews(see Insidefront coverfor addressnearest you}

out and take me by the hand . Butyou did it, and you can 't know howpleased .and proud I am .

Jesus probably turned to Himand said : How great was your planand how thankful I am "

There was emotion betweenthose two great superhuman, divine, holy Beings that is far beyond

our imaginations. I can 't envision aGod that I can worship and an olderBrother that ' l can adore - beforewhom I can come on my knees andsay " forgive me ; who gave me thecapacity to laugh and love and toexperience life - without emotionthat is boundlessly greater than my own .Our Fantastic Savior What a fantastic Savior we have He says youtoo can have it all - incredible, unimaginable spirit life for all eternityYou too can reach out and step into

a much greater dimension of life ."At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore " (Psalm 16: 11).

And you don 't have to do italone . He made that first great bigstep for you He said: And I, if I belifted up from the earth, will draw al lmen unto me (John 12 :32) .

Jesus is the firstborn of manybrethren , the Captain of our salvation - the One who has gone onbefore. While He was a humanbeing - the Son of man - He was

only a prayer away , a thoughtaway, just a moment from steppinginto another dimension and actuallyseeing angelic beings , dealing withthem , eating their food, letting themcare for Him.

There is spirit life both on thisearth and out in the universe . It islife of a completely different dimension. It doesn 't depend on beets ,carrots, celery and water, the fleshof animals , or grains of wheat. It islife that is self-perpetuating , selfexistent. "For as the Father hath lifein himself ; so hath he given to theSon to have life in himself " (John5:26) .

One of the members of the Godfamily died so that you , too , couldhave self-perpetuating , self-e xistentlife "For God so loved the world,that he gave his only begotten Son ,that whosoever believeth in himshould not perish , but have ever-lasting life (John 3:16).

Jesus Christ of Nazareth gaveHis true followers this fantast ic

GOOD NEWS May 1976


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WH T IS THE SPIRIT OF

REAL CHRISTIANITY?The world s full o pseudo-Christians but what s thespirit and attitude o true Spirit-led Christian?

y C. Wayne Cole

G od has perfect character .He is consistent. He is anun c hanging God (Mal. 3 :6 ;Heb . 13 :8) . You can count on Godto fulfill His intentions and promises. He is reliable , trustworthy ,faithful. God is predictable God'scharacter and purposes are immutable - you can rely on God tocome through in a pinch . He won 'tlet you down. He will not failHumanity Is Fallible. But in contrast human beings fail. Men makemistakes. Human beings are fallible ,inconsistent and unpredictable.God reveals that AI have sinned ,and come short of the glory ofGod (Rom. 3 :23).

It is to God's giory and credit thatHe is what He is But all of us herebelow are subject to the weaknesses and inconsistencies of theflesh. Jesus Himself acknowledgedthat human flesh is indeed weak(Matt . 26:41) .

Human life is a training gro .und .We are here on earth training foreternity. It is here, on this earth, thatwe are to learn to control the powers God has given us . For example ,we strive to control the power ofspeech and to rule over ourtongues (James 3: 1-10) . We seekcontrol over our God-given emotions . God says: He that hath norule over his own spirit is like a citythat is broken down, and withoutwalls " (Prov. 25:28). We must ruleover the physical power we have toharm others . John the Baptist said:"Do violence to no man" (Luke3 :14).

So it is in the area of human relationships that we all encounter the

greatest difficulties. Because humanity is flawed, imperfect and fallible, human problems arise. YetGod loves this wretched world inspite of its problems and overalllack of spirituality .

We are told by the apostle John:" For God so loved the world, thathe gave his only begotten Son "(John 3:16) . God deeply and affectionately cares for His human creation. All men and women arecreated in the very image of God .Future Family of God. As we mortals look back at our track recordand witness the tragic story ofman 's brutality to man, it is easy toconclude there is no hope for mankind .

But God has confidence in theultimate future of mankind There isreason for hope and expectation:God knows that many - perhapseven the majority - of mankind willultimately fulfill their human destiny,being born into the very family -ofGod. Jesus Christ is the firstborn ofmany brethren (Rom . 8:29) . Jesusdid not die in vain His death, burialand resurrection were the mostmeaningful and important events inhuman experience . Because of it,the bulk of the human race will besaved - but everyone in his ownorder (I Cor . 15 :22-23) .

How, then, did God .resurrectChrist? By His vast, spiritual power .By the power of the Holy Spirit.

And it is this same power thatresides in e.very truly begottenChristian . Jesus promised His disciples that they would "receivepower, after that the Holy Spirit iscome " (Acts 1 :8) . That power,which is the very mind of God, willbring about the resurrect ion of allwho possess it (Rom . 8 :11). Thatportion of the Holy Spirit granted toeach Christian is merely the downpayment , or "earnest" of our inheritance(Eph . 1:13-14) .

God has faith in mankind Faiththat His purpose for mankind will beaccomplished . Jesus Christ, theHead of the Church of God, iscalled the Captain of our salvation.He is the leader , the One who willsee His Father 's plan through tocompletion. God and Christ have apersonal interest in every lasthuman being who has ever livedand died. If God knows even thesparrow that falls, how much moreis He concerned with His humancreation? (Matt. 10:29-31.)

The wonderful truth is that God iscreating a family. God is expandingHis own family by the transformation of His human children intospirit beings. Remember that God isa Spirit (John 4 :24).

We are instructed by John : "Beloved, now are we the sons of God,and it doth not yet appear what weshall be: but we know that , when heshall appear, we shall be like him;for we shall see him as he is. Andevery man that hath this hope inhim purifieth himself, even as he ispure " (I John 3 :2-3) .Basic Christianity. This wonderfulplan of salvation, God 's reproduction of His own kind through Christ,is at the heart and core of Christianity. Can you possibly comprehendwhat it would be like to be just likeJesus Christ? Ca n you wrap yourmind around the concept? Can youvisualize in your mind 's eye what itwould be like to be composed ofspirit? To share the kind of powerthat resides in the person of JesusChrist? The mind simply boggles atsuch thoughts

Yet the Bible reveals that Goddoes indeed have such a plan . Thatgreat master plan of salvation hasbeen revealed to those who are ledby His Spirit . Paul wrote : " For hehas made known to us in all wisdomand insight the mystery of his will ,according to his purpose which he

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set forth in Christ as a plan for thefullness of time, to unite all things inhim, things in heaven and things onearth" (Eph. 1 9-10).

So God does have a definite plana purpose That -plan is being

worked out by Jesus Christ. Ultimately, at the completion of Christ'swork, all things in the universe willbe united under the rule of God .

In the final analysis, even death

will be banished from the universePaul explained to the Corinthians:"For as in Adam all die , even so inChrist shall all be made alive. Butevery man in his own order : Christ -the firstfruits ; afterward they thatare Christ's at his coming. Thencometh the end, when he shall havedelivered up the kingdom to God,even the Father; when he shall haveput down all rule and all authorityand power . For he must reign, till hehath put all enemies under his feet.The last enemy that shall be de-stroyed is death . . . . And when allthings shall be subdued unto him,then shall the Son himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all(I Cor. 15:22-29).

What a marvelous plan What awonderful destiny God has in storefor mankind No hyperbole is sufficient to describe the glory thatawaits those who are born of theliving God

Man is to become literally borninto the very divine family of theCreator of the whole vast universeGod is a family of supernatural, divine, all-powerful Beings. God isactively expanding that family . Hewishes to include you and me in itPeter explained that God is "notwishing that any should perish , butthat all should come to repentance"(II Peter 3:9) - The Ultimate Goal Those whotruly understand the will of God andthe meaning of His plan await a

GOOD NEWS May 1976

resurrection or "change," at whichtime they will enter into God's ownfamily and continue to exist for alleternity as powerful beings withChrist. They seek to become members of the very Kingdom of God.

It is vital that Chri .stians everywhere keep their eyes on thistranscendental goal. Christ commanded: "Seek ye first the kingdomof God . . . " (Matt . 6:33). This

should be the first and foremostgoal of every true Christian. Thisvision of the Kingdom, of life eternalin the family of God, should dominate our lives. Nothing is more important Everything else in lifeshould be scaled down in relationship to this overriding goal and preoccupation .

No idea, no esoteric doctrine orteaching, no ideology or philosophy, is more important than theconcept that man is destined to become born into the family of theliving God. No goal is more noble,more worth working toward . Thosewho are privileged to understandGod's great goal and purposebeing worked out through the ageshave the "pearl of great price "within their grasp Never let it goDoctrines n Perspective A trueChristian is not convened to a fewesoteric doctrines or prophetic understandings. He is not convertedto a "talmud" of dos and don'ts,rules and regulations, or ecclesiastical decisions. He is convertedto Christ and to God At baptismeach Christian enters into a one-onone relationship with his Creatorthat is not dependent upon theshifting sands of theologicalthought. It is that relationship withGod that is the anchor of every trulyChristian life.

One should not build his faith, hishopes and dreams, around . somedoctrinal or theological opinion.Christian is not converted to a set of

doctrines He may embrace , acceptand live by them. - Indeed, heshould; but he is converted to GodIt is in God that we "live, and move,and have our being" (see Acts17:28). We are saved through faithin Christ - not through belief in thisor that teaching.

Paul wrote to the Galatians: "Ihave been crucified with Christ; it isno longer I who live, but Christ who

lives in me; and the life I now live inthe flesh I live by faith in the Son ofGod who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2 :20) .

Our faith is not in an opinionabout doctrine - it is in Christ

This does not mean correct understanding of the teachings of God 'and Christ is not important. Certainly , the Spirit of God will lead theconverted mind into an understanding of the will and purpose of God .But, I have observed peopleharanguing about, striving over afldcontending about specific points oftechnical -biblical understandingand obscure, hard-to-understandpassages of Scripture to the pointthat they lost sight of this wonderful, majestic meaning of true Christianity - to become born membersof the very God family .

Paul said: "For to me to live SCHRIST" (Phil. 1 21.) Jesus Christwas at the very center of Paul's lifeand ministry . And that relationshipplaced Paul above the petty arguments of religious hobbyists whosought to argue about every imaginable technical point.

Paul instructed Titus: But avoidstupid controversies, genealogies,dissensions, and quarrels over thelaw, for they are unprofitable andfutile" (Titus 3:9).

A viable, spiritual relationshipwith God cannot be built upon subjective, theological arguments.Rather, a Christian must anchor hislife to his belief and faith in Christ

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and in God the Father . Paul, andthe other early apostles and Christians, found meaning to life in theirrelationship with God. They werenot burdened by a sectarian "talmud " of petty regulations. Yet, theywere not without law to God (I Cor.9 :21) . Paul and the others taught away of life, a way of love . Paul said

that loveis

the fulfilling of the law(Rom. 13:8) . Faith , coupled withobedience , constitutes the basis forthis Christian way of life .

Of course , Paul did say that "Allscripture is given by inspiration ofGod , and is profitable for doctrine[teaching] , for reproof , for correction , for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may beperfect, throughly furnished unto allgood works " (II Tim. 3 :16-17) . Butour human understanding of biblical teaching changes as we growand learn through the vehicle of theHoly Spirit. We are gradually led" into all truth " (John 16 :13).

So it is very unwise to "freeze "imperfect human understand ing ofScripture into solid concrete . Inevitably, doctrines, teachings , ideasand opinions of men come and go .Prophecies fail (I Cor . 13 :8) . Decisions are rendered, reversed andrevised . But " Jesus Christ is the .same yesterday , and today , and forever " (Heb : 13 :8) . God does notchange (Mal. 3 :6) . In character , intent and purpose God remains thesame . He is reliable, cons istent andavailable to those who seek andneed Him. One can always rely onGod and on His Son, Jesus Christ.But human beings change . We allby nature tend to be somewhat capricious , inconsistent, up and down.Coping ith New Truth. As theChurch of God is led by the HolySpirit , we grow into new understanding - better understanding .Doctrines may change from time totime in the light of new insight andstudy .

This , in itself , is not negative. It isa very positive indication that Godis still working w ith the Body ofChrist. The Spirit of Truth is leadingthe Church into all truth. But this isa process which cont inues throughout the ages of man - and will doso right up until the return of JesusChr ist

Mature Chr istians are not shaken

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by carefully researched doctrinaldevelopment and growth . Rather ,they are encouraged by theprogress that is being made. Trulyconverted children of God are exhilarated by the continual influx ofnew truth and deeper understanding.

Why?Because their lives are anchored

to Christ Since some idea or understanding about a specific pointof doctrine is not the central anchorto the purpose of life , they are notparticularly disturbed by the positive process of growth which includes change .

Their faith , their confidence andhope , are all in Christ They look toHis leadership in the Body . Theirlove remains consistent because oftheir relationship with their Saviorand High Priest - Jesus Christ.Nothing can shake them . Nothingcan diminish their love because thatlove is shed abroad in their heartsby the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5) .

As Paul wrote : " Love never ends ;as for prophecies , they will passaway; as for tongues , they willcease ; as for knowledge , it will passaway . For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect . . . " (I Cor. 13 :8) . A Christianloves , and is in return loved byChrist. Paul said : " Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? "(Rom . 8:35 .)Not Handling the ord of GodDeceitfully. God 's children arehonest in their use of the Bible .They do not us it as a club , butrather as revelation from God . Theyare not preoccupied with the cunning , clever arguments of unscrupulous hobby ists who would twistBible teaching to serve their ownpersonal, sometimes dishonest,ends (see Peter 3 :16) .

"We have renounced , wrotePaul to the Corinthians , " disgraceful, underhanded ways ; werefuse to practice cunning or totamper with God 's word, but by theopen statement of the truth wwould commend ourselves to everyman's conscience in the sight ofGod (II Cor . 4 :2) .

Paul did not vaunt himself in thesight of m n . He was not puffed upwith his own importance . Instead helooked upon himself as merely aservant - a minister of Christ. Paul

pointed his followers not to his ownperson, but to Christ: " For what wepreach is not ourselves, but JesusChrist as Lord [Master, Boss ] , withourselves as your servants forJesus ' sake " (II Cor . 4 :5) . And : " Beimitators of me , as I am of Christ "(I Cor . 11 :1) .God s Church Preaches Christi

We preach Him crucified, buriedand resurrected (I Cor . 15 :1-8) . Wepreach Him as the Head of theChurch (Col. 1 :17-19 ; Eph . 1:22-23) . We preach Him as the Captainof our salvation (Heb . 2 :10); as ourHigh Priest in heaven (Heb . 9 :11 );as our Savior (Titus 1 4 . We preachthe Christ of the Bible : masculine ,vital , powerful, dynam ic . We preachChrist as Healer , Forgiver and Comforter . We preach Him as Creator -the "Word " or " Spokesman " of thefamily of God who was there at creation and who said : " Let there belight . . . " (see Gen. 1:3; Col. 1:13-16 ; John 1 1-3 ; Heb . 1 2) .

The Church of God preachesChrist as our Redeemer , the Lambof God who takes away the s ins ofthe world (John 1 29 ; 3 :16 ). Andwe preach Christ as the King ofkings and Lord of lords who w illsoon arrive to bring all human governments under His rule (Rev. 19 :16) .

Jesus Christ is at the very heartof the gospel of the K ingdom ofGod . Paul spoke of "Christ in you ,the hope of glory " (Col. 1 27 ). Hecontinued : " Him w procl im ,warn ing every man and teachingevery man in all wisdom , that wemay present every man mature inChrist. For this I toil , striving w ith allthe energy which he mightily inspires within me " (verses 28 , 29 ).

That is our great goal as aChurch. We seek to proclaim , withall of the power and energy thatGod will grant us , the gospel of theglorious Kingdom of the l iving God .We preach Chr ist and Him crucifiedand resurrected for the salvation ofall mankind .

When you grasp the depth andbeauty of the heart and core of trueChrist ianity - that is , Chr ist in you ,the hope of glory - it is not easy tobe blown about by winds of doctrine , change , striv ings and opinions . Your life is then anchored tosolid rock - the Rock that is JesusChrist. Why don 't you try it?

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I LE IN ACHANGINGWORLDC PIT LPUNISHMENT

Debate still goes on over use of thedeath penalty for certain criminaloffenses .

The earliest biblical sanction forexecution of murderers is found inGod's instructions to Noah just following the flood : ''Whoever shedsthe blood of man, by man shall hisblood be shed ; for God made manin his own image" (Gen. 9 :6).

Under the theocracy of ancientIsrael, capital punishment was carried out for a variety of crimes , including murder , kidnapping, andrape (see Ex . 21 :12 , 16 and Deut.22 :13-29).

In the New Testament, Christ andPaul recognized the power of government to use capital punishment.In Romans , chapter 13 , the apostlePaul wrote : "Let every person besubject to the governing author ities .For there is no authority exceptfrom God, and those that exist havebeen instituted by God . . . . Forru lers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad . . . . If you dowrong , be afraid , for he [the ruler]does not bear the sword in vain; heis the servant of God to execute hiswrath on the wrongdoer " (verses 1 -4) . "The sword " in this case probably refers to the Roman shortsword , used to execute Roman citizens . Some commentators writethat "the sword " is spoken of hereas a symbo l of the ruler 's authority .In any case, the sword symbolizesthe magistrate 's power to punishcriminals . A sword can be used tothreaten , but it is usua lly to hurt or kill.

In Acts 25 :11 , Paul again gavehis approva l to justly deserved capital punishment by saying : "If then Iam a wrongdoer , and have committed anything for which I deserveto die , I do not seek to escapedeath ." And Christ acknowledged that Pilate 's authority to crucify was given him "from above "

(John 19 :11) . So the Bible showsthat God allows human rulers and

GOOD NEWS May 1976

governments to execute those whocommit serious cr imes .

But God doesn't consider capitalpunishment to be the "final an

swer" to crime. This is aptly illustrated in the case of the womanbrought before Christ who hadbeen caught in the act of adultery.

Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What doyou say about her? " her accusersdemanded to know (John 8:5)." . . . Jesus bent down and wrotewith his finger on the ground. Andas they continued to ask him, hestood up and said to them, 'Let himwho is without sin among you bethe first to throw a stone at her.'And once more he bent down andwrote with his finger on the ground .But when they heard it, they wentaway, one by one, beginning withthe eldest, and Jesus was left alonewith the woman standing beforehim. Jesus looked up and said toher , 'Woman, where are they? Hasno one condemned you? ' She said,'No one , Lord .' And Jesus said,'Neither do I condemn you; go, anddo not sin again' " (verses 6-11) .

Christ didn 't condone the crime .He advised her not to repeat theoffense. But, in this context He recognized the hypocrisy in those whodemanded the death penalty.

A criminal is ultimately responsible for his deed. But in wayssubtle and sometimes flagrant, society is often an accomplice . Thewhole question of crime and punishments , causes and remedies, isa complex Gordian knot. The ultimate solution is spiritual - achange of heart and behavior onthe part of all - criminals and lawabiding citizens alike.

THE WAGESO SIN

. . . is, in the long run, death (Rom.6 :23) for the guilty . But there is aprice paid by the innocent here

and now in this lifetime . And thatprice is rising far faster than the

inflation index . Last year $65 billionin crimes against personal propertyand business were committed in theUnited States .

Organized cr ime had the biggesttake ever last year - over $40 billion in gambling , narcot ics , hijacked goods , loan sharking, etc .Crimes against property and business totaled $25 billion . It cost society $15 billion in taxes to supportpolice, prisons and courts , and$6.5 billion in the form of higherprices for businesses to maintaintheir own private crime-fighting programs - guards and surveillanceequipment.

The total value of cash and property involved in British thefts lastyear exceed 86 million. In Canada,thefts over $200 increased 24 .1percent in 1974 to nearly 80 ,000 .

What is significant about thesecrimes against personal property isthat many of these criminals aremiddle-class folks and white-collarexecutives . The common idea hasbeen that it is primarily the poorwho steal out of desperate need.But more and more are doing it outof sheer greed

Theoretically, as the standard ofliving increases, crimes againstproperty should decline; supposedly more and more people areable to meet their basic needs legitimately. But in real life this theory isbreaking down . There are as manyas 500,000 " career " criminals inthe United States alone, and manyof them are pulling down incomesranging from $15,000 to $165 ,000or more - and all tax free .

A growing number of people justdon 't know the meaning of theword "enough . "From the least tothe greatest of them, everyone isgreedy for unjust gain" (Jer . 6 :13) .It's bad enough that there is somuch leg itimate avarice. But nowinflation-battered innocent peoplemust pay the price for crime withincreased costs in goods and ser-vices and higher taxes. Accordingto one estimate , the bill came to

951 for every man , woman andchild in the U .S . last year .

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E very morning we wake up to acacophony of fear and despair chaos and crueltycoups and corruption. In the newspaper over the morning cup of coffee we read of crime increases andsocial disintegrations, bloody revolutions and civil disorders takinghundreds of lives somewhere else

while we slept, natural disasters(also somewhere else hopefully)killing hundreds or thousands intheir beds with perhaps tens ofthousands homeless. Not even thecomic page is funny: it's sick, because the world is .

Governments are unstableshaken worldwide by epidemics ofdistrust of officialdom, a yawningchasm of credibility gaps, the outside pressures of aggressive worldpowers bent on world domination.

The economic news is no bettereven in an upswing, because of theunique fiscal dilemma we face ofinflation battling the headlines withdepression. Odd and contradictoryterms like "stagflation" puzzle themind. Staggering news tells us thatthe commercial and banking capitalof the world, New York City, is onthe brink of bankruptcy, perhapsthe state of New York may tumbleinto economic collapse with the city- only the federal government may

be able to bail them both out. Othercities face similar problems on thehorizon, while many begin to doubtthe monetary health of the entire

5 nation despite the fact that it is theis richest in the world Personal andj business bankruptcies are on thei rise; giants of industry exercisel J massive layoffs and struggle in

A favorite song of recent yearsis titled What the WorldNeeds Now s Love, SweetLove but before the worldcan have love It must havehopeI

y David Jon Hill

court battles defending or justifyingbribery as an essential element ofsuccessful commerce: the future isuncertain and doubtful to say theleast .Sword o Damocles. While someof us are dying from overeating,nearly twenty thousand a day die ofstarvation around the world. Thehunger bomb and the populationexplosion seem about to unite in acritical mass and to blow civilizationas we know it off this beautifulround blue ball of life we call earth.Our own breadbasket seems injeopardy as weathermen tell us thatwe are entering a drought cyclesimilar to or worse than the dustbowl specter of the 30s. The futurelooks glum - the black horse ofRevelation has just been saddledup for his end-time run.

The sword of Damocles filled withnuclear .holocaust hangs over ourheads. There is weather upset, fuel

crisis, mindless crime, dope addiction, political corruption at alllevels, a degenerate low in education for our next generation, pollution of the air we breathe and thewater we drink and the land we liveon, glowing spark points that couldtrigger World War III (literally thewar to end all wars because it could

end all life on earth) . Our own personal problems seem small in comparison, but they are real: you justlost your job, your family is about tobreak up you can't make endsmeet your son is sick, your motherjust died .

It's just too much - the modernday pace, communications world

wide and instantaneous bringing ofall the problems of the world intoour own living rooms, added to thepersonal crises we face, add up toan overload on our capacity tocope. Hope is long since fled; despair hangs heavy. "What's theuse nothing's going to turn out allright " is the plaintive cry of many.Household Word. Doomsdayers,sundowners and prophets of doomall have a heyday - their moansand cries of despair and negativism

seem very credible in today's world .rmageddon is a household word

no longer the property of the religious fanatic . People are more fa-miliar with the four horsemen of theApocalypse than they are with thewinner of the Kentucky Derby . Politicians, newsmen, educators, historians, even businessmen havetaken over from the lunatic fringe ofthe clergy the expression, "the endof the world"

Purpose, direction, a set goal are

all missing from our collective livesand from most of us as individuals.Peace security, happiness are allempty words that have lost meaning in the hopeless world of today .

Thankfully, God has no such planin mind for mankind. Our Creator isnot going to allow mankind to die inthe throes of World War III (or any

WHATTHE WORLDNEE S NOW IS

GOOD NEWS May 1976


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THE GRE T HOPE OF M NWhy should Christians call GodFather? Why should we pray

Our Father wh ich art inheaven"?

Because we are to be God asGod is God God is our Fatherbecause He is actively andpresently in the process of begetting and bringing sons tobirth, sons to be born in His im-age , spiritually perfect as He isperfect, ever-living as He is ever-living, God as He is God .

In the Old Testament, Godsaid: " . . . Israel is my son , evenmy firstborn " (Ex . 4 :22) . And:

. 0 foolish people and unwise . . . is not he thy father thathath bought thee? hath he notmade [created] thee, and established thee?" (Deut. 32:6 .) Also:''But now, 0 Lord , thou art urfather ; we are the clay, and thouour potter; and we all are thework of thy hand" (Isa. 64:8) .

Remember what Jesus said?" Is it not written in your law , Isaid, Ye are gods? [Jesus herequoted from Psalm 82 :6.] If hecalled them gods , unto whomthe word of God came, and thescripture cannot be broken; sayye of him , whom the Father hathsanct ified . . . Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am theSon of God? " (John 10:34-36.)Jesus also said: " I and myFather are one " (John 10 :30) .And : " Holy Father , keep throughthine own name those whomthou hast given me, that theymay be one , as we are " (John17 :11) .

Human beings are to share inthis oneness . Perhaps Romans 8best explains how it is thathuman beings become the sonsof God in every sense of that expression .

This chapter begins by showing that as physical humanbeings, in our present fleshlystate , we cannot obey the lawsof God and please Him. First of

all we have to have a sacrifice topay for the sins which demandour death , and then receive anew mind, a changed mind - aspiritually , rather than a physically, oriented mind - so that wecan begin to think and act andlive like God our Father inheaven . Paul put it this way : "Foras many as are led by the Spiritof God , they are the sons ofGod " (Rom. 8 :14).

The Father's Spirit joins withour spirit and proves to us thatwe are the sons of God (verse16) . Then Romans 8 goes on toshow that by joining His Spiritwith ours , God does not immedi-ately bring us into His Kingdom ,His family, but that we have tolive through experiences , wh ichin many cases are painful, to develop character , to bring us tomaturity (Matt. 5:48).

Comforting advice is given toshow us that despite all the trialsand difficulties we have to endure while we are still humanbeings , "we know that all thingswork together for good to themthat love God, to them who arethe called according to his purpose" (verse 28) . Paul goes onto explain in verse 29 that thepurpose of God according towhich true Christians have beencalled is that we might be sons ofGod as Christ is a Son of God ,born into the Kingdom and fam-ily of God as Christ was born intothe Kingdom and family of GodAnd so it is that Jesus, the Captain of our salvation , is called the"firstborn among M NY breth-ren "

That is, Jesus Christ , the onlyhuman being to be begotten inthe womb of a woman by Godthe Father in heaven , is the firsthuman being to become a Son ofGod by the resurrection from thedead (Rom . 1 4.)

But only the first Any human being , by ex-

ercising the power of the Spirit ofGod, can join that firstborn Sonin God's Kingdom once he iscalled by God the Father .

It was from the beginning theplan of our great God - thesource of outgoing concern, thesource of love - to share Hiseternal life , with all its joy andmajesty Speaking of Christ , Paulquoted the book of Psalms andwrote : " What is man, that thouart mindful of him? or the son ofman, that thou visitest him? Thoumadest him a little lower than theangels; thou crownedst him withglory and honour, and didst sethim over the works of thy hands:Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in thathe put all in subjection underhim, he left nothing that is notput under him . But now we seenot yet all things put under him"(Heb.2 :6-8) .

Certainly we recognize that allthings are in subjection to JesusChrist We all remember thescripture quoting Jesus , after Hisresurrection explaining to Hisdisciples : " All power is givenunto me in heaven and in earth "(Matt . 28 :18). Notice in readingthis quote that Paul cites fromPsalms that it is not just the Sonof Man (Jesus) who is beingtalked about , but mankind . ThatGod created mankind with theultimate purpose of sharing Hisown rulership of all things ismanifest by these verses . Christis not the only One to have Sonship in the Kingdom of God - allof mankind was created with thatpurpose in mind .

God is called a Father be-cause He is a Father . And it isHis will, purpose and plan to become the Father of untold billions - to become your Father toshare in His life, His glory , Hismajesty , His Kingdom - God asHe is God That is your greathope - the hope of all mankind

GOOD NEWS May 1976


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other world war number) . He is notgoing to sit by and let mankindcommit suicide cosmoscide)through any combination of population explosion , lack of food, pollution, disease, natural catastrophesand economic chaos. He has ahope He is determined to spend Hislimitless energies fulfilling - the

greatest hope there isThis world needs hope - youneed hope .

Hope means, by dictionary definition , " to cherish a desire for something with some expectation ofobtaining it."If Hope Were Fulfilled. Let's leavethe world scene and start small -with you. What do you hope for?What do you desire to obtain? Whatis your own individual and personalhope - apart from the hopeless

world? A raise in pay? Maybe just ajob? A new car? A home? A husband or wife or children? Financialsecurity? A friendly neighbor?Health? Longevity? Happiness? Afreedom from fear?

What if your hope were fulfilled?Let's say you want to get married.So, you get married. Five yearspass. You've achieved what youhoped for; you're married, the ceremony is over, it was a lovely churchwedding , all your friends were

there, you were given fabulous giftsby relatives and friends alike, thehoneymoon was a dream fulfilledthat you look fondly back on withmisty-eyed memory . But now theflower girls are gone, the rosecolored glasses you saw thingsthrough have turned to gray . Thebabies (you so hoped for) are hereand the diapers and sleeplessnights along with them . Bills aremounting, your mate is nagging,you both work, but you've spent

almost as much time going overyour budget with cut after cut asyou have working on your job . Thecar needs repair , you don 't knowhow you are going to pay for increasing insurance and fuel rates ,the kids are outgrowing clothesfaster than you can buy them butyour bottomless-pit checking account, your mortgage, your timepayment bills and your credit cardbalances (all in the red) say youcan barely afford to put food on the

table .GOOD NEWS May 1976

Your hope of five years ago isfulfilled - and it now seems a hopeless situation. Now what do youhope for? A raise If you just earnedone-hundred


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2

HOPE N THE I LERomans 5:2. "Through him we have obtained access to thisgrace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope o sharing thglory o God. "

Romans 8:19 21. " For the creation waits with eager longing forthe revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected tofutility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it inhope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondageto decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God."

Titus 1:1 2. "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of JesusChrist, to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge ofthe truth which accords with godliness, in hope o eternal lifewhich God, who never lies , promised ages ago .

Psalm 119:166. I hope for thy salvation, 0 Lord, and I do thycommandments .' ,

Romans 8:24 25. For in this hope we were saved . Now hopethat is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if wehope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience .

I Corinthians 15:19 21. If for this life only we have hoped inChrist , we are of all men most to be pitied. But in fact Christ hasbeen raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallenasleep. For as by a man came death , by a man has come also theresurrection of the dead."

Ephesians 1:18. "Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you ,what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints."

Ephesians 4:4. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as youwere called to the one hope that belongs to your call."

Colossians 1 23. " Provided that you continue in the faith,stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope o the gospelwhich you heard."

Colossians 1:27. " To them God chose to make known how greatamong the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery,which is Christ in you, the hope o glory. "

I Peter 1:3. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord JesusChrist By his great mercy we have been born anew to a livinghope through th resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

I Peter 1:13. " . . . Be sober, set your hope fully upon the gracethat is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

I John 3:3. "And every man that hath this hope in him purifiethhimself, even as he is pure."

But, believe it or not , his hopewas not big enough He hoped thatby sailing west he could reach theEast, India , China , the Orient, fabulously rich. What proving his hopeaccomplished was greater than hishope Instead of proving that youcould reach the East by sailing west(and so proving that the world wasround and not flat) , he discovered awhole new world

Not only was his hope of his lifeachieved , but a goal far richer thanhe had imagined was revealed . Ofcourse he was hailed as a greatexplorer, unique so far as the worldof his day realized - he was honored, feted , and sent back to govern the new lands he haddiscovered. The hope of his entireprevious life was fulfilled and thensome

But now what did he have to livefor? What new hope , greater andmore meaningful than the first, didhe have to give meaning and purpose to his existence? Unfortunately , noneThe Human Cycle. The sad circumstances of the life of Columbusafter the fulfillment of his life hopeare some of the most painful onrecord . The ignominy , final imprisonment and utter despair (not tomention abject poverty) in whichone of the greatest explorers knownto mankind finally died exemplifiesperfectly the point that unless yourhope is big enough to survive success it is indeed hopeless. Columbus failed miserably in governingwhat he had discovered. Otherstook away from him the potentialand riches he had discovered overthe objections and against the advice of those same others. Columbus ended his life in poverty, havingsuffered the indignity of chains andimprisonment in the face of the successful fulfillment of one of thegreatest hopes ever maintained byman. He died in despair , a hopelessman .

The human cycle had been fulfilled : despair , hope , success ,apathy, cynicism , despair - anempty circle , because his hope wasnot big enough

What about you?Hope That Is Transcendent. Inthe beginning of an independentlife we hope for things, or the

GOOD NEWS May 1976


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money to get things . If and whenthose things come to us , we beginto realize "things " are not enoughto hope for . Even to keep the thingswe now have that we hoped for weneed security - and security is nota thing . Security depends on theeconomy on government onpeace , on health, on future stability .

All these are hopes that drive us on- we never seem to achieve anyone of them for long (and I do notknow of any individual who hasachieved all these hopes at anyonetime ).

But are any of these hopes bigenough? What if you lived in apeaceful , secure , economicallyhealthy and stable state - whatwould you hope for then? Whathope would keep you from boredom ; what hope would you seek to

achieve that would give mean ing toyour life, purpose and reason tolive , a goal to strive for?

That 's where God enters the picture . God holds out a hope that istranscendent , that goes above andbeyond the goals and purposes ofthis life , that offers a challenge thatkeeps you going all life long; a hopethat is never fulfilled in this life , ahope beyond the grave , a reason tolive . Someone said a very wise andstrange thing once: "The only thing

worth living for is that for wh ich youwould die " Do you have that kindof hope?God s Hope. Do you realize thatGod H imself lives by hope ? Didyou know that God has set beforeHimself a hope so great that noteven He will ever be able to realizeit, ever? That His goal and reasonfor living , that for which He strives ,for which He is (has been) willing todie for is so vast and eternally occupying that He will never ach ieve it?

The God who put this world together did so with a plan in mind .That plan was not the hopeless Nirvana of one major religion of theworld which promises your becoming an unconscious part of thegreat whole of nothing with no worries forever because you have noindividual consciousness forever . Itis not the bliss of slumbering in ahammock slung between two datepalms in an oas is being fed by voluptuous maidens forever , as the

promise of the followers of Allah areGOOD NEWS May 1976

assured. It is not walking the goldenstreets with golden slippersstrumming on a harp with your onlyworry being how to keep your halostraight as seems to be the promiseof the majority of Protestant groups.It is most certainly not the promiseof finally being able to look into theface of God and appreciate the

beatific vision (whatever that is) asis the promise to those who followthe Catholic faith . What the Godwho created everything proposes isto bring you into His very family . Tobe God as God is God Not just tobe a God in the euphemistic senseof our all being brothers and sisterswith God as our figurehead Father ,but to share his divine nature completely.

Our Redeemer , Jesus Christ , is

God s promise s to makeyou a son as Christ isnow a Son. To grant

you membership n thefamily of God. To give you

eternal life as He iseternal. To be holy

as He is holy.

alive and well, not in hiding , at theright hand of the Father in heaven ..He fully plans to fulfill the promiseHe made to us in the name of theFather to bring many sons to glory,to establish His Kingdom here onthis earth . God 's promise is to makeyou a son as Christ is now a Son .

To grant you membership in the literal family of God . To give you eternal life as He is eternal. To be holyas He is holy . To share all powerand joint ownership with the Pos-sessor of the universe . To share thedivine nature . To have the character of God , full of love , peace , joy -to be God as God is God This isthe purpose of creation - the hopeof the worldEternal Reason to Live. God 's realplan is practical. He says of His

family kingdom that there will never

be an end to its expansion . His planis to continue adding sons anddaughters who look , feel, act andare composed of the same selfregenerating eternal spirit life as Heis , forever That is why the goal Godhas set before Himself is a hopethat not even He will ever fulfill.Endless , eternal, forever creating

an ever-expanding family to enjoyand rule the great creation He hasalready made - and to have youand me share in future creationswithout end . A busy , practical , interesting , challenging , ongoingplan that gives an eternal reason tolive .

There is no boredom in that plan .Never a time when your interest w illrun out. No mythical , religioussounding folderol about some spiritual never-never land where you do

nothing forever - but an eternal jobof creating , governing , problemsolving with visible benefit.

That ' s a hope worth livingfor . . . and worth dying for if necessary in this life . Because God ourFather has our life in His hands atall times . No man can take thataway from you - because He hasthe power to resurrect you fromwhatever death any man can imagine . He created you in the .first placefor a reason beyond the imagina

tion of ny religion on the face ofthe earth - a reason some in thereligious field would call blasphemy(to think that the purpose for ourcreation could be to make us equalwith God in every way ).

No matter what your many temporary and inter im goals and hopesmay be - and may they all be fulfilled - be sure to cherish thisgreatest possible hope God offersus to give transcendent purpose toour lives.

Make this hope your hope 0

RECOMMENDED READINGThe following booklets are ava ilable

free of charge upon your request.For the add ress of our office nearestyou , see the inside front co ver (endof staff bo x)

Fo ur Hor s emen of the Apocalypse :The Pale Horse (Disease Epi-dem S .Four Hor s emen of the Apocal yps e :The Red Hor s e ( War )Why Were Yo u Born ?Com e Help Human ity

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THE HUR H INSOUTH AFRICA

y Robert FaheyRegional Director, South Africa

"Groete van Johannesburg "Greetings from Johannesburg, theheadquarters of our Work at thesouthern end of the African continent. We deal primarily with SouthAfrica of course , but we also have asub-office in Rhodesia and are re-sponsible for all activities in the African states of Malawi, Botswana ,Lesotho, Swaziland; the former Portuguese territories of Mozambique

and Angola ; and also the IndianOcean islands of Madagascar , Re-union , Mauritius and Seychelles.These are all independent states ,except Reun ion (France) and Seychelles (Britain) . The latter willreceive independence shortly .There s also South West Africa orNamibia .The People o South Africa Thewhites are divided into two groupsand number about four million. Thelargest group (56 percent) speak

Afrikaans , a form of Dutch , as theirfirst language. They are basically ofDutch descent, with a touch ofHuguenot and German. The rest ofthe whites are primarily of Britishdescent.

There are about 16 million Africans or Blacks comprising five major Bantu language groups (eachdivided into several dialects andtribes) . Another separate groupcalled Coloureds are of mixed ethnic origin, but are mostly

descended from Bushman and Hottentot stock . These live mostly inand around Cape Town.

Asians , who originally came fromIndia in the colonial days as volunteers to work on the sugar plantations, number about million. Didyou know Mahatma Gandhi spenthis early adult years in South Africaand studied law here?

We reach these diverse groupswith a Plain ruth circulation of over97 ,000 11 percent increase over

last year). It is now printed in Cape14

Town by Cape and Transvaal Printers, the largest printing house inAfrica. An outside firm also mailsthe magazine for us and we re ableto receive a special two-cent postalrate within South Africa becausethe magazine is registered as anewspaper and certain sorting isdone before the post office gets it.

Up until recently our computerneeds were handled by BricketWood . But now we keep our file inPasadena and have a tape sent outmonthly for our needs. From thetape we can produce our own labels in any combination we chooseon a local computer. Premier Milling Company has a suitable computer and is willing to rent us timeon it at a very reasonable rate . Theyalso do our data prep , dOing allkeypunch and verifying for us on an

IBM 3741 diskette machine .

GN Photo

ROBERT FAHEY regional direc-tor for South Africa is shown herein his office in Johannesburg .

Free Mailing List Recently , aleading editor in South Africa wasshown a copy of World Crisis inAgriculture by one of our members .

The editor felt that the booklet wasvaluable and offered us - free ofcharge - his mailing list of the12,000 leading farmers in southernAfrica . That was a very valuablecontribution because the leadingfarmf3rs in South Africa are by andlarge the leaders in every otherfield . To buy the list would havecost several thousands of dollars. Iwrote a special letter advertisingWorld Crisis in Agriculture to thesemen and we received a whopping

21 percent response requesting theGOOD NEWS May 1976


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booklet. Fifty-eight percent of thesewanted the booklet in Afrikaans,which we had prepared . We included with the booklet a card ad

vertising the Plain Truth. Many ofthem requested the Plain Truth , including the State President, Dr. N.Diederichs, the former Minister ofFinance who was so highly re-spected throughout the financialworld.

As another direct mail project, wefound we had a number of old GN 'sin stock and sent them to a selectedlist of Plain Truth subscribers as asample with an accompanying lettersuggesting that they join the GN

list. We received a 32 percent re-sponse to this effort - and alsocleared our stockroom. This increased the GN list to 4800. Thenlast December we mailed a localsemi-annual letter to all Plain Truthsubscribers offering them the GN.The response sent our projectionsthrough the roof, and currently thelist stands at 13,000. The letter alsogave news of the planned PlainTruth format change and told subscribers that they can once again

hearhe

World Tomorrow broadcast in southern Africa.The Broadcast The RhodesiaBroadcasting Company (RBC), theonly radio station in Rhodesia, nowairs he World Tomorrow broadcasttwice monthly on Sunday nights at10 :00 p.m. This is a goverQmentcontrolled station, -and we have thisunusual opportunity as a direct re-sult of the contacts made when Mr.Ted Armstrong visited here in 1971 .Out of that visit came an article forthe Plain Truth and three televisionbroadcasts on Rhodesia. Thebroadcast is also aired throughoutall of southern Africa on the me-dium and shortwave bands andmost all of our members now havethe opportunity to hear he World

omorrow . And incredible as itseems RBC is giving us the timetotally free.

What's more, they are putting onour television specials free ofcharge as well. The HungerBomb was broadcast on the only

GOOD NEWS May 1976

television station in Rhodesia on the7th and 14th of December, and thePortland Campaign was aired onDecember 28 and January 4 -

again all free of charge This hasresulted in RBC requesting more TVprograms, and so we have selectedtopical ones for screening thisyear .

One of the big problems we havewith offering material free is that inmany cases people will take it not tolearn, but because it's free. Thismakes agonizing decisions for ourmail readers because we want toput our literature in the hands of allwho sincerely want it. But if we

don't use some caution we couldfind ourselves with insufficientfunds and completely out of stocks.The new policy of waiting for a re-turn letter before sending the nextlesson of the CorrespondenceCourse has helped to deal with thisproblem. We already have the BibleCorrespondence Course in Afrikaans and are now endeavoring toprint all the back-up booklets of

'fered in the Course in Afrikaans .That's a big and expensive job, butit's getting done .Church Activities The Church isshowing good growth. Church attendance is 35 percent up on lastyear for the entire area . Membership is up 19 percent to 1021 -284 nonwhites , 737 whites . Wepresently have churches in Johannesburg, Benoni, Pretoria , Soweto(Black city outside Johannesburg),Durban , two in Cape Town (European and Coloured), two each inBulawayo and Salisbury (Europeanand African), and another in EastLondon . In addition, we have justbegun church services in Bloemfontein, Welkom, Kimberley, PortElizabeth, northern Transvaal andKrugersdorp for Europeans, and inPretoria and Durban for non-Europeans.

Plain Truth lectures have beenvery profitable here . Last year wetried to set them up in every possible place we COUld. We reachedseveral thousand people and ourchurch attendance benefited . This

UPD TE

year we are planning on going backto the larger centers only . Thirty-sixtwo-night studies are being set upfor all racial groups throughout the

whole area . These will be followedby four additional studies from thelocal pastor. Smaller studies will beconsidered if they seem advisable.

Another important aspect of theWork here is the surprising favor wehave with the leadership of SouthAfrica. Last year Dr. Herman Hoehwas our guest during the Feast ofTabernacles. Since he has verywide interests and is a SE;lnior Editorof the new magazine Human Poten-tial, I thought it a good idea to have

him meet several leaders here . Wewere able to arrange an appointment with the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Heinrich Schoeman, andalso the Deputy Minister of Coloured Affairs (responsible for theadministration of South West Africa), Mr. Hennie Smit. Both ofthese men gave Dr. Hoeh a verywarm welcome, and each invitedhim back again to tour their respective areas of influence. This canonly work to good for the Churchas

a whole, andwe

're

looking forward very much to having Dr. Hoehout here once again .

I have had occasion to meet sev-eral leaders in southern Africa, including the chairman of the SouthAfrican Foundation , Dr. Jan Marais .Dr. Marais feels that Mr . Herbert W.Armstrong has a unique contribution to make to peace and stabilityin Africa . As chairman of theSouth African Foundation, Dr .Marais has invited Mr. Armstrong tovisit South Africa , which Mr. Armstrong tentatively plans in June.Members of the Foundation includeall the top non-political leaders (it'sa non-political organization and privately financed) in southern Africa ,such as Harry Oppenheimer, AntonRupert, Dr. Chris Barnard, GaryPlayer and several dozen more thatmay not be internationally knowri .King Sobhuzza of Swaziland, whohas been on the throne since 1923,is also interested in meeting Mr.Armstrong when he is in the area.

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WH T DO YOU ME NGO DOESN T CHANGE?Are you spiritual stick in-the mud? Do you resist the in-flux o new doctrinal under-standing because you believethat God Himself s incapableo change? This challengingarticle takes on the sacredcows o traditional spiritualintransigence.by Brian Knowles

T he religious leaders of Jesus'day were not noted for theiropen-mindedness. Jesuscame bringing light and truth(John 12:46; 14:26, etc .), but thesectarian world of that day rejectedthe light - " He came unto his own,and his own received him not"(John 1 11).

The religious leaders of that timewere unable to accept the new understanding brought by Jesus fromGod the Father . They had built up a

code of law containing dozens of"dos and don'ts" with which theywere quite comfortable . They sat inMoses ' seat (Matt. 23:2). They -along with their rivals, the Sadducees - were ensconced in animpregnable position of ecclesiastical power, wielding authority overthousands of devout followers .

Jesus rocked their boat.He came as a disturber of the

status quo - an iconoclast withpowerful and authoritative convictions . Academically, the Pharisees were unable to resist thewisdom with which Christ spoke.Emotionally they resisted it to thepoint of crucifying HimParable of the Wineskins. Following the selection of the tax collectorLevi as one of Jesus' disciples, Levimade a great feast in his home tocelebrate the event. Jesus, His disciples , and many other tax collectors (publicans) were invited to themeal.

As usual. the Pharisees and

16

scribes found fault. They assumedguilt by association. They judgedChrist (falsely) by the company Hekept. "And the Pharisees and theirscribes murmured against his disciples, saying, 'Why do you eat anddrink with tax collectors and sinners?' " (Luke 5:30 .)

Jesus pointed out that He wasthere to call sinners to repentance,not the "righteous" - that is, theself-righteous But the Pharisees

were relentless in their criticism.When they found they could notprevail in one area, they shiftedtheir focus to another - to thequestion of fasting . "And they saidto him, 'The disciples of John fastoften and offer prayers, and so dothe disciples of the Pharisees, butyours eat and drink' "(verse 33) .

The Pharisees had a quantitativestandard of righteousness . Theywere concerned with how muchone prayed, how often one fasted,

and how much one offered . Jesusdebunked this approach to righteousness in Luke 18 :1-14, whereHe showed that what is important toGod is attitude and quality of prayer- not mere quantity God wouldrather hear a short prayer performed in humility than a long, sonorous prayer done out of selfrighteousness.

Unfortunately, the Pharisees andtheir associates were unable to accept Christ's approach to true spirituality. To them it was too new, too"liberal," too hard to take . Jesushealed on the Sabbath against Jewish law. He and His disciplesplucked grain in the fields on theSabbath. They ate and drank with

gusto and ran roughshod overthe idol of Judaic legalism.

This approach was philosophically intolerable to the Pharisees.They gnashed their teeth in angerand frustration at the teachings ofChrist. They sought opportunity tokill Him time and time again.

Jesus addressed their stubbornand intransigent attitude in two succinct parables :

" He told them a parable also : 'Noone tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment; if he does, he will tear thenew, and the piece from the newwill not match the old '(Luke 5:36) .

Jesus ' doctrine was like a patchof brilliant new cloth attached to the

threadbare fabric of ancient tradition and legalism . The resultant tension could do nothing but create arent in the garment of existing tradition .

Then Christ gave a secondparable to drive the point home :"And no one puts new wine into oldwineskins; if he does, the new winewill burst the skins and it will bespilled, and the skins will be destroyed . But new wine must be putinto fresh wineskins " (verses

37 , 38) .Jesus ' teaching was likened tonew wine, sparkling, fresh and invigorating . The Pharisees were likeold wineskins, brittle, unresilient, inflexible . Figuratively speaking, theywere "bursting" with the influx ofthe new wine of Jesus' doctrine .They were content with the dregs oftheir tradition which made thewords of God of none effect "(Mark 7:8, 9, 13, KJV). They preferred the sediment-laden, traditional teachings to the fresh newwine of God's updated revelation

They said, "The old [wine] is better" (Luke 5 :39, KJV).

Later, the great Christian martyr,Stephen, defined the problem thisway : "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, youalways resist the Holy Spirit. Asyour fathers did , so do you(Acts 7:51) . '

You always resist the HolySpirit " Here is the crux of the problem Those who resist the teaching

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of Christ resist God 's Holy Spirit Spirit of the Pharisees The spiritand attitude of the tradition-boundPharisees lives on today in thoseprofessing Christians who res istchange . Even in today 's modernworld of professing Christianitythere .are those who resist new understanding . As the Holy Spir itleads converted Christians to understand more and more of the realmeaning and intent of the Word ofGod , there also will always be thosewho resist this new knowledge .

But , in truth , they resist the HolySp irit of God just as the Phariseesdid nearly two millennia in the past.

Jesus explained to His disciplesthat the purpose of the Holy Spir itwas to lead them into more andmore truth : ' 'When the Spirit of truthcomes , he will guide you into al/ thetruth . . . " (John 16 :13) .

This is a progressive , continuingprocess. Each generation of trueChristians is led into new avenuesof spiritual insight and understanding . The Church of God is a dynamic , living , changing organism -ever growing into greater anddeeper understanding. The apostlePeter instructed Christians to growin the grace and knowledge of ourLord and Savior Jesus Christ"(II Peter 3 :18) .

Paul instructed the evangelistTimothy to Study to shew thyse lfapproved unto God , a workmanthat needeth not to he ashamed ,rightly divid ing the word of truth "(II Tim . 2 :15 , KJV) . Those who donot study the Word of God are oftenembarrassed by their lack of knowledge when they must answer a" hard question. " Like the Phariseeswhose spirit lives on within them,they ' do err, not knowing the scrip-tures (Matt. 22 :29 , KJV).

Solomon wrote : "Get wisdom ;get insight . Do not forsake her , andshe will keep you; love her , and shewill guard you. The beginning of

GOOD NEWS May 1976

wisdom is this : Get wisdom , andwhatever you get, get insight (Prov . 4 :5-7) .

The motto of Ambassador College reads : "The Word of God isthe foundation of knowledge ." It isthe aim of the Worldwide Church ofGod to continually grow in knowledge and be corrected by the Wordof God . The process of growing inknowledge is often painful to thosewho become entrenched in tradition . Each new doctr inal changehas a shattering effect on thosewho are not conditioned to be re-ceptive to such change .Malachi 3:6 Some , in a desperateattempt to justify an attitude of spiritual intransigence , have resorted todistorting certain scriptures . Onesuch passage is found in Malachi 3 :6.

" For I the Lord do notchange . . . . "

This statement from the minorprophet Malachi is often quoted ,out of context , to justify a rigidstance on doctrinal understanding.Those who use it conclude one oftwo things : 1) that God neverchanges His teaching on any doctrine ; or 2) that New Testamentdoctrine is identical to Old.

Both conclusions are in error .Note the context of the verse -

Malachi is talking about a timewhen Christ will return to "purifythe sons of Levi" (verse 3) . He indicts the "sorcerers . . . the adulter-ers . . . those who swearfalsely those who oppress thehireling in his wages , the widowand the orphan those whothrust aside the sojourner , and donot fear me [God] . . ." (verse 5).

The prophet is listing the nationalsins of Israel - of Judah and Jerusalem (verse 4) . He is addressingthe Levites - the priesthood tribe -who were failing to fulfill their re-sponsibility in caring for the spiritual condition of the nation . hen

he says, quoting God : For I theLord do not change; therefore you ,o sons of Jacob, are not con -sumed (Mal. 3 :6) .

The subject of this verse is God 'smer y - not His doctrine andteaching. God is explaining that Heis just as merciful as He ever was -and therefore He will not utterly destroy (consume) the nation for theaforementioned sins God is talkingabout H is own character - of the

fact thatHe is

, by nature , intrins ically merciful and forgiving. Touse this scripture to show that theChurch of God cannot change anunderstanding that was accepted inthe 1950s , for example, is an absurd distortion of the first magnitudeChurch Changes It should bepointed out , by way of qualification ,that the teaching of God in terms ofHis written revelation has remainedstatic for nearly two thousand years- since the close of the Canon.The words of the Bible have notbeen altered or changed in thatperiod except to a small degree bytransmission and trans lation .

What has changed is theChurch s understanding of themean ing and application of thosewords As the Church grows inknowledge, changes and adjustments are made to conform to theleading of God 's Holy Sp irit. Theseadjustments in teaching in no waychange the truth of God. Rather,they draw us closer to it

To say that the Church maynever change its teaching is to as-sume that we have had perfect understanding of the will of God fromthe beginning . This is to belie theBible itself , which teaches thatChristians first receive the basics ofdoctrine : the ABC 's , the milk of theWord . Later , when the Church hasgrown to greater spiritual maturity ,God provides spiritual meat (seeHebrews 5 and 6).

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DOES GOD EYERCHANGE

Hebrews 7:12. " For when there is a change in the priesthood ,there is necessarily a change in the law as well " RSV).

Hebrews 8:13. " In speaking of a new covenant he treats the firstas obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old isready to vanish away " RSV).

Hebrews 10:9. " He abolishes the first in order to establish thesecond " RSV).

Exodus 32:14. " So the Eternal changed his mind about thepunishment he had threatened to his people " (Moffatt).

I Samuel 24:16. " And when the angel stretched out his handupon Jerusalem to destroy it , the Lord relented of the evil and

reversed His judgment , and said to the destroying angel , It isenough ; now stay your hand " (The Amplified B ible) .

Jeremiah 26:19. " Did they not reverently appease the Eternal , tillthe Eternal relented and withheld the evil he had pronouncedaga inst them? " (Moffatt.)

I Samuel 15:35 "And the Lord repented that he had made Saulking over Israel " RSV) .

Jonah 3:10. "And when God saw that they had put a stop to theirevil ways , he abandoned his plan to destroy them, and didn 't ca rryit through " (The Living Bible ).

I Kings 21:29. " Have you seen how Ahab has humbled h imselfbefore me? Because he has humbled himself before me , I will notbring the evil in his days [as originally decreed] ; but in his son 'sdays I w ill bring the evil upon his house " RSV).

Exodus 4:10 16. God allows Moses (upon a strong emotionalappeal ) to substitute Aaron as spokesman to Pharaoh .

The disciples themselves providea microcosmic example of what theChurch in general has always hadto go through in terms of maturing.Those twelve men grew from spiritual infancy, when they made absurd assumptions and acted inchildish, yet foolish , exuberance, tobecome the spiritual giants of theNew Testament period.

Those who fail to do so becomecasualties and " fall by the wayside "as the Church moves on .

Those who resist change oftengive credence to the old axiom,"The Bible can be used to proveanything." They persist in usingcertain passages of Scripture likeMalachi 3 :6 to " prove " their pointthat Church doctrine cannot bechanged . Another such passage isHebrews 13 :8.

The Church , in any age, mustproceed from infancy to maturity.Each generation of Christians must" grow up in Christ " (see Eph.4: 15) . Each must change and adjust to the influ x of new knowledge.

18

Hebrews 13:8. "Jesus Christ is thesame yesterday and today and forever .

This scripture is very similar to

Malachi 3 :6 in that it is talkingabout the person of Christ - notabout what He does or does not do .To understand the true implicationsof this verse we must do two things:1) look elsewhere in the same book(Hebrews) to see if similar statements are made w.hich amplify thisone, and 2) take the verse n con-text .

In the opening verses of He-brews , the author provides us withour first clue : " Thou, Lord, didstfound the earth in the beginning,and the heavens are the work ofthine hands ; they will perish , butthou remainest ; they will all growold l ike a garment, like a mantlethou wilt roll them up, and they willbe changed . But thou art the same ,and thy years will never end (Heb . 1:10-12).

Here the apostle Paul, acceptedtraditionally as the author of He-brews, is quoting from the eighthPsalm to contrast the transience ofthe created universe with the permanency and agelessness of itsCreator. He is showing that odalways lives - that He is eternal ,immortal.

One of the principal purposes ofthe letter to the Hebrews was tocontrast the superior priesthood ofChrist with that of the Levites . Jesusis shown to be superior even by Hisimmortality: "The former priestswere many in number , becausethey were prevented by death fromcontinuing in office; but he [Christ]holds his priesthood permanently ,because he continues forever . Consequently he is able for all time tosave those who draw near to Godthrough him, since he always livesto make intercession for them "(Heb . 7 :23-25) .

Here the picture is made evenclearer Since Christ lives forever ,His priesthood is infinitely superiorto that of the mortal , human priestsof the tribe of Levi. He is always onthe job ready to intervene for thosein all ages who come to God . He isa faithful , consistent and permanenthigh priestContext of Hebrews 13:8. Thebook of ebrews was writtenlargely as encouragement to thoseJewish Christians who were havingdifficulty making the transition fromtraditional Judaism to dynamic

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Christ ianity. Persecution and pressure from fellow Jews who had notaccepted Christ was heavy . Apparently many were beginning to letdown in the performance of basicChristian duties. Str ife and sinfulpractices were beginning to breakout among them. Therefore Paulwrote : " Let brotherly love con-tinue . . . . Let marriage be held inhonor among all . . . for God w illjudge the immoral and the adulterous " (Heb . 13 :1-4) .

Paul was warning those whowere letting down . They were forgetting about Christ. who was stillactively watching over the Churchas its living , eternal High Priest.Therefore Paul wrote : " Be content w ith what you have ; for he hassaid , 'I will never fail you nor for-sake you . ' Hence we can confidently say , 'The Lord is myhelper . . . " (verses 5-6) .

Then , after admonishing theChurch to once again look to theexample of its leaders (verse 7) ,Paul writes : " Jesus Christ is thesame yesterday and today and forever "

Now it should be obvious whatthe verse means Since Christ is stillalive , functioning in His office asme rciful High Priest , immortal , eternal in the heavens , don 't let down inliving as a Christian Don 't allowyourselves to degenerate and forsake your faith , for Christ has notchanged . He is still on His throne inheaven , alive , actively interveningfor His people. Now is not the t imeto descend into immorality andfalse doctrine (verse 9) .

The verse has nothing to do withwhether Christ changes doctrine ornot And , if it did imply that , it wouldcontradict the entire purpose of thebook of Hebrews which was to e xplain some fundamental changeswhich Chr ist had madeA ook of Change The letter tothe Hebrews e xplains , perhapsmore than any other New Testament book , some of the changes inlaw , administration and doctrinethat God was making . To use anyverse in Hebrews to " prove " thatGod never changes doctrine is tooverlook the entire thrust of thebook Notice , for e xample , He

brews 7 :12: "For when there is achange in the priesthood , there is

GOOD NEWS May 1976

necessarily a change in the law aswell."

ho made these changes of lawand administrat ion?

God didGod changed He altered His

teaching - doctrine ( " doctrine "merely means "teaching ").

God changed the covenants fromthe Mosaic to the New . The newagreement is said to be " better "than the old - founded upon " better promises " (Heb . 8 :6-7). Yet, didnot God make the Old?

Yes , He did - but He laterchanged it.

God has not only changed Hisdoctrine and teaching from age toage but He has also changed Hismind on occasion. God is not rigid,unyielding and intransigent as aresome of His human subjects

Yet , God is not fickle and capricious . He is ageless , eternal , con-sistent in purpose and in characterthroughout all eternity . He is evermerciful today as always .

Christ, like His Father, is not"double-minded " to use James 'terminology (James 1 8) . God 'sconsistency of purpose and character are described by James :" . . . The Father of lights with whomthere is no variation or shadow dueto change " (James 1 :17 ) .

But God does render new decisions concerning teaching andpractice when the situation warrants it. God does reverse His owndecisions (as is evident from manyverses of Scripture ) - as circumstances dictate . God is at once flexible and consistent.Repent Means Change God expects His human subjects to " re-pent. " That means change (Acts2 :38 ; 3:19 .) He demands that weallow ourselves to be corrected bythe two-edged sword of His Word(Heb . 4 :12-13 ; 12 :7-11). Thosewho refuse to change (as God 'sWord indicates that they should ) re-sist the Holy Spir it as did the Pharisees of old . " Stubbornness, " saysGod , " is as iniquity and idolatry "(I Sam . 15 :23) .

Will you be a spiritual stick-inthe-mud? Or will you be big-mindedenough to change with the Body ofChrist as we grow into a more per

fect understanding of God's willand Word? 0

TEST YOURI LE

KNOWLEDGEAnswers are found on page 29 .Multiple Choice (circle the correct letter ):1. Ancient K ing Dav id A. went toheaven when he died . B. will ascend to heaven when resurrected.C. is st ill dead and buried. D . maynever be resurrected.2. The Bible teaches that Christians A. go to heaven immediately at death. B . go to heavenafter Christ returns. C . will ruleon the earth after be ing resur

rected from the dead. D . willspend the millennium in heaven .3. Jesus Chr ist came A. to show ,by e xample , that all resurrectedChristians w ill go to heaven . B.to " confirm " the prom ises madeto the fathers . C . to be obedientto God in our stead . D. to showus the way to heaven .4. Abraham is vitally important toChristians A. because he was aperfect man . B. only because hewas will ing to sacrifice his son .C . not because he became the

" father " of the faithful. D . because God made him a promiseto which Christians are " heirs .5. The Bible says A. Christianswill go to hea ven to live in the" man s ions " Chr ist is preparingfor them. B. no man , exceptJe sus Christ Himself , has as-c ended into the heaven of God 'sthrone . C . all the righteous men

. of old ascended to hea ve n.D. Ch rist is coming t o ta ke theresurre c ted saints to heaven withHim.

True or False (Circ le T or F ):1. Other than Christ , Enoch andElijah are the onl y persons tohave ascended to the hea ven ofGod 's throne . T F2. Abraham inherited the promises when he died . T F3. The Bible specifically mentions that David will be resurrected f rom the dead . T F4. Those who o vercome in thislife are promised rulersh ip withChrist o ver the nat ions on thisearth . T F

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Q UESTION: Please explainExodus 23:19: Thoushalt not seethe [boll] akid In his mother's milk.' Is this

verse saying It Is wrong to eatmeat and milk together?C.B.,

Colony, Kansas

ANSWER: In analyzing thecontext of this particularverse , we notice that it

does not refer to just any kind ofmeat or milk - but specifically tothe meat of a k id seethed in (ts ownmother 's milk . The association ofthese two products of the mother )s

body suggests that this scripture isreferring to someth ing connectedwith pagan fertility rites. Peake sCommentary shows that this is so :"The significance of this prohibitionhas now been made clear by theRas Shamra texts . According to theBirth o the Gods , i, 14 , a kid wascooked in its mother's milk to procure the fertility of the fields , whichwere sprink led with the substancewhich resulted " (p. 232) .

Referring again to the same page

in this commentary , we find something which a careful reading of thetext of Exodus itself also shows -that verses 10 through 19 are a unitwhich is concerned with Sa,bbathand Festival (annual holy day) worsh ip .

Verse 18 states: "Thou shalt notoffer the blood of my sacrifice withleavened bread ; neither shall the fatof my sacrifice remain until themorning. " Unleavened bread waseaten with the Passover on the day

preceding the seven-day festival ofUnleavened Bread (Ex . 12 :8) . It wasa standing rule that no fat should beeaten (Lev . 7 :23-25 ; 3 :16 -17 ). ThePassover lamb was roasted whole,but its fat was not to be eaten . It,along with any other remains , wasto be burned the morning after (Ex .12 :9-10) .

The same sequence of thoughtsis repeated in Exodus 34 :21 -26 ,and it is definitively stated to be inreference to "the sacr ifice of the

feast of the passover. " The first-2

fruits mentioned in both places re-fer to the "wavesheaf " offe ringwhich is described in more detail inLeviticus 23 :10-14.

But why does this verse refer tokids , when the Passover sacrificewas traditionally a lamb? We knowthat or iginally kids (young goats)from the "flock " and even calvesfrom the " herd " Deut. 16 :2;

Chron . 35 :7) were permitted aswell as lambs (Ex. 12; John1 29 , 36 ; I Pet. 1 19 ; Rev . 5:6, 12).But, " Later Jewish ordinances, dating after the return from Babylon ,limit it [the Passover animal] to alamb " Alfred Edersheim, The

Temple, p 213) .But what does not seething a kidin its mother's milk have to do withthe Passover? Just this: God did notwant the Israelites t confuse thePassover with the pagan rites o theheathen (Ex . 23 :32-33) . He did notwant the Passover to become aspri ng fert i ty festival Israeliteamalgamation of the Passover withthis heathen practice (or rather theabandonment of the Passover in fa-vor of the other practice) was a very

likely possibility.From the preced ing it is obviousthat the command against "seething a kid in its mother's milk " had todo with safeguarding the observance of the Passover . It was nevermeant as a dietary law .Q: There are two accounts ofthe second coming In the NewTestament. The first accountsays Jesus will come 'as a thiefIn the night,' and In the secondaccount He will 'come In the

clouds of glory, and every eyeshall see him.' Now, which one(If any) can we believe?

C.K.,Willow Springs, Missouri

A Revelation 1:7 ("Behold, he iscoming with the clouds , and everyeye will see him' ') refers to themanner of Christ 's coming. Thestatement that " the day of the Lordwill come like a thief in the night "(I Thess . 5 :2 ; II Pet. 3 :10) refers tothe time of his coming. He will

arrive like a thief - at a time

no one eXP 3cts . The context ofI Thessalonians 5 :2 shows th is :" But as to the times and the sea-sons , brethren , you have no need

to have anything written to you . Foryou yourselves know well that theday of the Lord will come like a thiefin the night. " Matthew 24:42-44 expands on this idea : "Watch therefore , for you do not know on whatday your Lord is coming . But knowthis, that if the householder hadknown in what part o the night theth ief was coming, he would havewatched and would not have let hishouse be broken into. Thereforeyou also must be ready ; for the Son

of man is coming at an hour you donot expect . "There is no contradiction be

tween these two concepts : Christwill arrive in a dramatic , obviousmanner (tylatt . 24:29-31) , but thetime of this coming is known only toGod the Father (Matt. 24 :36) and itwill take many by surpr ise just like athief in the night.Q: On page 8 of your booklet'Where Are Enoch and Elijah?' Itstates that 'The first death Is ap-

pointed unto men (Heb. 9:27).That death cannot be evaded. Itis inevitable.' If this Is so what ofthose that are still alive whenChrist comes and are at that In-stant taken into the clouds to bewith the Lord for eternity, withoutdying first?

Robert R.Baltimore, Maryland

A These people are the one exception to Hebrews 9 :27 . But this occurrence is unique throughout

human history . All other humanbeings apparently do have to die.Q: In the booklet 'The PlainTruth About Easter,' Mr. Arm-strong states that the Church asthe true body of Christ hasexisted continuously since thefirst century. What books shouldI consult In Investigating thisquestion for myself?

James D.,Gumberry, North Carolina

A As the booklet explains , the true

Church s composed of those -GOOD NEWS Ma y 1976


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and only those - who have trulyrepented and have therefore received the Holy Spirit of God (Acts2:38) . These people are compara

tively few in number, though thenumber of people claiming thename of " Christian " is large . Therefore , the true Church is small (Luke12 :32). Furthermore , its people arescattered . But wherever they are,those Spirit-led indiv iduals are thebody of Christ.

Historically , in addition to thelarge organizations of so-calledChristians , smaller groups have always existed , stand ing for doctrinesdiffering from the beliefs of the

mainstream churches . You

good news 1976 (prelim no 05) may

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