good news 1963 (vol xii no 12) dec

8/10/2019 Good News 1963 (Vol XII No 12) Dec

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Mo re About Ou r Cover .

T h e Ambassador College Library Buildin g. Th is

third level are the penthouse offices

of

M r .

Herbert

W .

Arm-

s t rvr ig

und M r .

Gurner Ted Armstrong.

On

the second level

are the modern studios

of

T h e

WORLDOMORROW

roadcast.

F r o m here originate the

prvgrums

that curry the Gospel of the

Kingdom

of

G o d n r o u n d t he w orld.

What our

READERSSAY

. .

N e w

Life

in T h e

GOOD

NEWS

This

is

to say a resounding well

done, and bravo for the new cover

of

T h e

GOOD NEWS magazine. With

the addition of the color, the magazine

has taken on new life. This i s an ad-

ditional step fnrward. 1 particularly like

the articles about the

Work

overseas

and around the world. It brings it much

closer to home, and can enhance the

fervency of our prayers as we see things

take shape in the affairs of the world

toward the return of Christ to this

earth.

John A,, Cal i fornia

Badly in N e e d

T he attached are badly in need of

T h e

P L A I N T R U T H . 69 names were

submitted to be placed on our mailing

list.)

A pastor of Methodist Church,

West Virginia

We can see exactly why they

would

be

badly

in

need

of

it

P e r p l e x e d A b o u t t h e S a b b a t h

We

discovered T h e W O R L D TO-

MORROW radio program merely by

accident one day while listening to

music.

I t was

a dynamic sermon that

day, but my husband and I had no

intention of hearing it again. Strange

as it

may seem, I hadnt opened the

Bible my husband bought us when we

were married almost two years ago, or

a n y Bible, until we read our first COPY

of T he

PLAIN TRUTH magaz ine . I t

was startling and very hard to believe

after years

of

ohservmre

t h a t Christmas

practices and Easter are pagan. After

confirmation at the local library here,

we were still astonished. But now

we

are anxious to learn more of the truth.

I have

a

question which has perplexed

me for some time. The Bible states

that the seventh day is the Sabbath, now

we Christians observe Sunday which I

believe i s the first day

of

the week.

Nowhere have I found that Christ

changed the Sabbath from Saturday to

Sunday. What are we to do in this

case?

Mrs. Richard S., Hawaii

Obey Christ-who

i s

Lord

of

the

Sabbath (Mark

2:28),

and still keeps it

today (Heb . 13:s).

G r o w t h G o n e

I am truly thankful for what the

Lord can do and for

His

heal ing pow-

er. That growth on my side is gone,

and I want to thank you for taking part

in asking God to remove it .

C. M.. Texas

SDA-ism

Not the Answer

What rel igious denominat ion do

you actually represent? I was a Prot-

estant at

one

time, my wife Catholic-

both of us have been expelled from

(Please colztinue on page 20)

December, 196

w

Good News

International magazine of

THE CHURCH OF GOD

minis ter ing

:o

its

members

scattered abroad

NO. 1 2

OL. XI1

Published monthly at Pasadena California.

0

1963 by Radio Chuich

of

God

EDITOR

HERBERT

. ARMSTRONG

E XE CUT I VE E DI T OR

Garner Ted Arm s t rong

MANAGING

E DI T OR

David

Jon

Hill

S E N I O R

EDITORS

Roderick C. Meredi th

H e r m a n

L.

Hoeh

Associate Editors

Albert J . Portune Ronald Kelly

Contributing EditOrJ

W . A . Berg

Robert C. Boraker

Bryce G . Clark

C.

Wayne

Cole

Raymond C. Cole

Charles V. Dorothy

Jack R. Elliott

Selmer Hegvold

Ernest L. Martin

Leslie L. McCullough

Raymond F. McNair

C. Paul Meredith

L. Leruy Neff

Benjamin L. Rea

Lynn E. Torrance

Gerald Waterhouse

Basil Wolverton

Clint C. Zimmerman

Foods Consultants

Velma Van det Veer

Rose McDowell

Mary E. Hegvold Isabel1 F. Hoeh

Editorial and Production Assistants

Paul W . Kroll

James W. Robinson

Donald G. McDonald

BUSINESS MANAGER

Albert

J.

Portune

ADDRESS

A L L COMMUNICATIONS to the Editor

Box 11

, Pnsadma California

91

109.

Canadian members should address Post Office

Box

44 Station A Vancouver

1,

B. C. Canada.

Our members in United Kingdom Europe and

Africa should address the Editor Ambassado; Col-

lege Bricket Wood St. Albans; Herts. England

Members in Australia and Southeast Asia should

address the Editor B o x 3 4 5 , North Sydney

N. S. W. Australia.

In

rhe Philippines,

Post Office Box 2 6 0 3 Manila.

BE SURE T O NOTI Y US

IMMEDIATELY

of any

change in your address. Please inclose both old

and new address. IMPORTANT


3/24

BLESSINGS During Our

Austere

Yem

Our

own huge

PRESS

will

soon

be printing The PLAIN

TRUTH

A t last, Ambassador is t o build a ful l-s ized G Y M -

N A S I U M . And more NEW churches and Bible studies are

being started

by

Roderick C. Meredith

R . HER BER T . Arms trong has

directed that God s W or k un-

dertake a financial austerity

year. That year is nearing completion

-and the results show that Go d

has tremendously B L E S S E D His W o r k

even though expenses were generally

curtailed.

It seemed that almost from the very

month we put a coiizlerted man in as

Business Manager-arid alriiobt k i u l -

taneously began an austerity year-God

began to cause many factors to work

out to B L E S S the Work in

a

most

un-

usual manner. We have improved the

financial position of G od s W or k even

more than hoped for. Now the very

W o r k

of Jesus Christ is in a more

sound, solid and

S T A B L E

financial posi-

tion than e iwr b e f o r e .

W e have much over which to R E -

JOI CE Yet we must K E E P

U P

the good

work or tremendous G R O W T H lies

ahead in the few remaining years of

this inspired CRUSADE preparing the

way for Chrirts .recoiirl coiniizg

M

Building Expansion Ahead

Atter hearing the hcts , Mr. Herbert

Armstrong recently made the decision

that Gods Work can now afford-

and possibly eveii saw moiiey-to go

ahead and buy a huge web-fed press

and print The PLAIN TRUTH magazine

U U K ~ ~ L V ~ Shis huge press will be

almost as large as an ordinary house,

and will total an investment of nearly

one-third

of

a million dollars Yet it

will save outside printing bills of multi-

ple thousands of dollars every month-

and we hope that it will more than pay

for itself within a few years. By print-

ing The PLAIN TRUTH oiwselues, we

will have the advantages of internal

control and security, more convenient

scheduling

for

our writers, and actually

superior print ing

Witness the new improved GOOD

NEWS

as

an example of what our ouvi

men in Gods W ork can produce

Even before the factors became ap-

parent that we should print The PLAIN

TRUTH

ourselves,

God

had directed Mr.

Armstrong and our Business Depart-

ment to purchase the piupeity of

a

former lumber company which now

appears

as

the ideal

Jite

in which to

establish

our

own printing shops. In

fact, the extra electrical wiring, the

extra water pressure available, and even

o u r own railroad siding are available

as necessary items in any printing estab-

lishment-the railroad siding ma king

possible the ucbolesale purchase of our

own paper in order to save additional

thousands of dollars each year

Thin gs like this m ake all

of

us realize

more deeply WHO is really running this

Work-Christs Work

Also,

if

a

building permit can be

obtained, Mr. Armstrong has definitely

approved plans for us to go ahead

immediately and build, finally, our own

Ambassador College

g y m z a s i i l m

This

will be

a

full-sized gymnasium with

a

regulatiori basketball court and many

other facilities. The floor

will

be of

such a nature as to permit assemblies

and forums to

be

held there without

damaging it until our new dining hall

can be built . The building of this gym-

nasium will

~ 2 o t

delay the plans for

our much-needed dining hall since the

Th e Wo rk o f Go d h a s

just

ordered a web-o f fse t p ress very s im i la r

to

th is one. I t s purchase i s

a maior

move

f o rw a rd i n Go d s Wo rk


4/24

4

The

GOOD

N E W S

December, 1963

architectural drawings

for

this

fine

building will take much longer for

completion anyway.

A Third Ambassador Col lege-

Another t ~ c m e n d u z i s decision-or at

least

a

re-confirmation of a previous

one-was ma de in

a

recent meeting of

the top

executives

here a t Gods Head-

quarters. Mr. Armstrong and several

others had questioned whether we really

should, after all, start

a

third Ambassa-

dor College on

our

own acreage near

Big Sandy, Texas. In this meeting, A L L

the factors on both sides were weighed

and considered and Mr. Armstrong

made the definite and absolute de-

cision that we will definilely start the

third Ambassador College-NEXT

FALL

This will , I know, be cause for great

rejoicing among thozrsands of you

brethren

It will mean that additional hundreds

of

applicants for Ambassador College

will be accepted in the coming years and

have an opportunity to be trained at

one of GODSown colleges. So lets all

A P P R E C I A T E

this opportunity which

God is affording Let

us

be will ing to

work, to pray and to sacrifice-when

necessary-that this third Amb assador

College may be started as a tremen-

dous additional

B LES S I NG

to hundreds

of young people associated with Gods

Church and Work-and to thousands

of their friends and relatives who have

prayed that they might attend one of

Gods colleges.

W e now own over sixteen hundred

acres

at

our Tabernacle site near Big

Sandy, Texas. Nearly

all

of this land is

already paid for.

So

land costs-and

6r~i ld ing rusts-will

Le

iiiucli clieaper

there on our own property. And the

atmosphere should be TREMENDOUS-

right out in nature,

near

the beautiful

Lake Loma which our own men have

constructed, and with

a

small but beau-

tiful

little

stream running right through

the center of the campus grou nds

Let us all Rive thanks to

our

Living

H E A D

and

S AVI OUR

that H e has enabled

His Work to be in such

a

position that

these

BLESSINGS

may be afforded to His

people, and their children, and their

childrens children

NEXT FAL

N ew Churches Es t ab li shed-

N e w D e a c o n s O r d a i n e d

Just

before or

just

after the Feast

of Tabernacles, three

NEW CHURCHES

were established here in the United

States An d in Australia, the Bible

study in Prisbane has been converted

into

a

full-time church, meeting regu-

larly every Sabbath

Starting just before the Feast of

Tabernacles, our new local church in

Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been

a

real success. Gods minister there,

Mr.

Sherwin McMichael, reports that it is

a

warm and growing church with very

fine pulenlial. The Sabbath

of

Novem-

ber 30 saw a new record being made in

attendance with 194 present for the

Minneap olis services This

is

ccrtainly

a f ine stavt in a new area

for

Gods

Church.

In the Southeast,

new

churches were

started in Richmond, Virginia, and

Greensbo ro, No rth Carolina, by

Mr.

Ray-

mond

C.

Cole, District Superintendent,

and Mr. Richard Plache

as

local minis-

ter. Recent attendance in the Richmond

church stood

at

124 bre thren on the

Sabbath of December 7. And on the

same Sabbath, the Greensboro church

had 244 in attendance

So

God is cer-

tainly

BLESSING

scores of our brethren

in the Southeast with the opportunity

now to attend Sabbath services regularly.

In the Land Down Under , the

a t tendance for December 7 in the Bris-

bane church stood at 103-with

60

adults and 43 children there to hear

Mr. C. W ayne Cole, G ods Evangelist,

tellirig them

about

the growth of Gods

world-wide Work and exhort ing each

one to fulfi l l his individual responsi-

bility

in

the Body of Christ.

More good news comes from Mr.

Arthur Craig, our minister in Alabama

and Georgia , who repo i t s

t l id l

1hrt.e

new Deacons were ordained in the

churches there on the Sabbath of Octo-

ber

26.

In Birmingham, hfr. Robert

Collins and Mr. Marvin Moody were

ordained

as

Deacons. In Atlanta, Mr.

Craig ordained Mr. James Kidd

as

the

Deacon in that area. Let us rejoice and

P R A Y that God will continue to add

more laborers eacons, Deaconesses

and Elders-to the Body of Christ. Cer-

tainly they are

MUCH N E E D E D

From Johannesburg, South

Africa,

Mr. Gera ld Waterhouse reports con-

tinued growth among the people of

GOD in that far-off land: You will

recall that we started the church on

March 23 with 33 in attendance. Three

weeks ago, we had 90 in attendance.

Since then

88

and

85

have attended.

The Bible study on Friday evenings

runs between 67 and 77. My biweekly

Bible study in Durban has been coming

along pretty well with from 35 to 38

in attendance.

So even in South Africa, Gods

(Please continlie

o n

page 19)

Zion H a l l i n Johannesburg, South Afr i ca. H e r e Mr. Gcrald Waterhouse c o n d u c t s Bible studies and

Sabbath serv ices for the brethren in t h is par t o f the wor ld .


5/24

PR OOF THR E E -

SEVEN PROOFS

o

Gods

True

Cbumb

Are

you SURE

y o d r e

E

member

o f

th e ON E TR UE C HUR C H?

Are you real ly in the ONLY CHURCH ON EARTH Jesus

Christ RULES? Have you thoroughly and carefully PROVED

it? Y ou r LIFE-your future-your SA LV AT IO N depend

on

it

FA

M I L I A R I T Y

b r e e d s c o n t e m p t . A

simple principle. And yet a great

pitfall,

if

you should ever al-

low familiarity with the true Church

of

GOD,

with the liuiiig

Jesn.r

Christ,

with the precious TRUTH youve been

given, to lead you into an attitude of

carelessly taking it all for granted

I f ? o n

are a

T R U E

member of the

T R U E

Church-you can, and shou ld,

P R OVE

it

W e have already seen two great

proofs of the true Church of God.

The first proof is one of the greatest

principle s of th e Bible-that Go d is

the R U L E R in heaven and in earth, and

that He actually R U L E S in His own

Church.

W e saw the three-fold second

proof

of the great SIGN God made between

Himself and His own people-the sign

of His N A M E , and His

W E E K L Y

and

Now you need to study, and care-

fully PROVE to yourself he

THIRD

major proof of the true Church of the

only true God

A N N U A L S A B B A T H S

A Ple thora of Pagan ism

Look

at the darkened superstitions

around you In the modern world,

we seemingly tuke f o i .

p a n t e d

the vari-

ous

doctrines and beliefs of the

many religions.

We

are

i iot

usually

frightened-scured-when we

see

sev-

eral apparitions approaching, dressed in

large, loose, flapping, black robes, with

crisp, white, wing-like hoods about their

heads. W er e not especially startled t o

see men wearing skirts,

o r

with col-

lars on backwards

or

with bald spots

on their heads.

by G ar n e r

Ted

A r m s t r o n g

Were not especially alarmed to un-

derstand the almost FANTASTIC varie-

ties of belief held by the average

passers-by on the streets of

our

modern

cities.

Some believe in going to heaven.

Others believe there is no God-that

evolution is true. Still others believe

in various interpretations

of

pantheism,

polytheism, deism, dualism, theistic

evolution, modernism, fundamentalism,

mormonism, adventism, and, give or

take a few hundred, about a thor(saizd

more shades and colorings of belief.

Fast friends in many social circles

believe

WIDELY

different things about

religion

Sitting across from each other at the

bridge table may

be

one person fully

expecting to be raptured away secretly

some day-while ano ther believes there

IS

no living Christ. One thinks only

his body dies, and his s o t d goes off

to heaven, while another believes he

will reappear in the form of a gnat,

or a mosquito.

Still another believes he isnt even

there He is only a transitory thought,

progressively coming into cosmic con-

sciousness,

or

some empty, and totally

meaningless phraseology.

W h a t CONFUSION What a total

MESS W h a t DARKNESS W h a t IGNOR-

ANCE

Called

Out of

Babylon

T h e true Church of God f i r m l y be-

lieves God when He says, And the

great dragon was cast out, that old

serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,

which deceiveth the whole world: he

was cast out into the earth, and his

angels were cast out with him (Rev.

12:9), and shows that Sutuiz is the god

of this present world, In whom the

god of this world hath blinded the

minds of them which believe not, lest

the light of the glorious gospel of

Christ, who is the image of God,

should shine unto them (I1 Cor.

4:4 .

All nations H A V E been deceived.

They are in spiritual

darkizess.

God

said, through Isaiah, Stay yourselves,

and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they

are drunken, but not with wine; they

stagger, but not with strong drink.

For

the Eternal hath poured out upon you

the spirit of deep sleep, and hath

closed your eyes: the prophets and your

rulers, the seers hath he covered.

And the vision

of

all

is

become

unto you as the words of a book that is

sealed, which men deliver to one that

is learned, saying, Read this, I pray

thee and he saith, I cannot, for it is

sealed

(Isa.

29

9 - 1

) .

The great false religion. the great

WHORE of Revelation, described in the

17th and 18th chapters, has made the

nations spiritually d r m k on the false

doctrines of Simon Magus

. .

the

inhabitants of the earth have been made

d i - m k with

the

wine [false

ducl r ines]

of her fornication .

.

and upon her

forehead was a name written, M Y S T E R Y ,

BABYLON

THE

G R E A T

THE MOTHER OF

HARLOTS A N D

ABOMINATIONS

OF THE

E A R T H

Think for a

moment,

of

the almost

FANTASTIC

superstitions YOG used to

believe

You probatly thought you had a

SOUL

that was immortal, that you were

destined to go to an ever-burning HELL


6/24

6

The GOOD

N E W S

December,

1763

bccause of what dam did. You

probably thought of God

as

a vague,

nebulous sort of trinity way off

somewhere-not much concerned about

H E R E and NOW-THIS earth

You probably believed you might

someday go to heaven and sprout

wings o shuff le endlessly throu gh

pipe organ music, or play on a harp,

as

you strolled down streets of gold and

silver

To

you, the Devil had horns and a

pitchfork, Adam fell, angels had

wings, and all good Christians went

to church on Sunday.

Christmas and Easter were two of

the most important holidays (watered

down from HOLY-days), and any Chris-

tian had a perfect right to kill any other

Christian, just so the two nations were

at war

Doeb it

sound familiar?

And yet-how

CONFUSING

HOW

U T T E R L Y

E M P T Y

A N D S E N S E L E S S

are

th e p ag an d v ~ ~ i i i i o eld

to

be true

by the blinded peoples of this present

world

The third grcat PROOF

u l the

true

Church of God

is

knowing the TRUTH

Knowing the

TRUTH

about the

pagm

origins

of

the doctrincs of THIS

WORLD-and kn ow in g th e

R E A L TRUTH

of G O D

What Is a D o c t r i n e ?

Think again

Did you actually

LEARN

anythiiig

from the various doctrines you used

to believe? Was there any actual sense,

any continuity, any theme or

PLAN

to

them ? Did you learn som ething

VITAL-

VATION, for example, at Christmas

time? Did you understand thoroughly

and D E E P L Y about the definite, prov-

able, practical, workable

SOLUTIONS

to

this worlds problems?

Did you really KNOW what the world

would be

like

in

the 20

hundreds, in

Century Tw en ty- on e? Did you really

U N D E R S T A N D

what mar IS, WHY he is,

WHERE

he i s going?

Were you taught the T R U T H about

the very mtr/te of man-the

PUR-

POSE in that nature -md its ultimate

No You

most certainly were not

LY

IMPORTANT

h o U t

Y O U R OWN

S A L -

D E S T I N Y ?

A

dOChine

IS

Just ONE MORE POINT

O F T R U T H ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND

P L A N OF G O D

A

doctrine is

NOT

an utterly dis-

connected idea or philosophy about

some completely irrelevant and vague-

sounding sanctimonious something

A doctrine is

NOT

a cherished

A R G U -

MENT-a

WEAPON

you use with which

to

FIGHT

against some

OTHER

doctrine

A doctrine is a simple TRUTH f rom

GODS WORD

It is

a

FACT, a

truth,

which

f n r t h e r

explains

the

WHOLE

purpose

of

God,

and the great

PLAN

H e

is

using to work

out that purpose here below

John wrote, Whosoever transgres-

seth, and abideth not in the doctritie

of Christ , ha th not God. He tha t abid-

eth in the doctr ine

of Chri.rt,

he hath

both the Father and the Son.

If there come any unto you, and

bring

not

this DOCTRINE, rece ive him

not into your house, neither bid him

God speed .

.

. I1 John 7-10).

THIS

octrine is the doctrine OF

Christ; it is no t various doctrines aho// t

Christ-quaint little stories and tra-

dit ions about His birth, or sentimental

teachings using His name for window

dressing-but the very

TRUTH

which

H E

B R O U G H T

Christ is the

W o r d ,

God, who a t

sundry times and in divers manners

spake in time past unto the fathers by

the prophets, Hath in these last days

spoken unto us by

H i s S o n ,

.

. .

BY

WHOM

H E

M A D E THE WORLDS . . .

(Heb .

1:l).

H e is

the Bible, P E K S O N I F I E D

The real

TRUTH,

then, the true doc-

trine of Christ, is the truth which He

reveals through His Word-NOT a

pagan su perstitio n, ancient tradition , or

idea

ABOUT

Christ or the Bible manu-

factured by

MEN

God says, There is one body, one

Spirit, even as ye are called in one

hope of your call ing; One

Lord,

D ) Z ~

O N E FAITH-meaning one body of

beliefs,

oiae DOCTRINE, one

perfcctly

harmonious

TRUTH

believed and prac-

ticed by the true Church of Go d U n-

less

F VF R Y point of T R U T H you may

be-

lieve fits perfectly and harmoniously

into the

WHOLE

of the doctrine of

fai th . . . (Eph. 4 ~ 4 - 5 ) .

Christ nless each trut h you have

learned only further serves to elucidate,

clarify and further explain the WHOLE

of the Plan of God-then it may not

be a truth, but error

T h e T R U T H A b o u t T h e

Pagan Doc t r ine s

The grea t th i rd PROOF of the true

Church

of

God

is

knowing thc TRUTH

about the

PAGAN

doctrines masquerad-

ing as truth in this ti,or.ld, and knowing

t h e

R E A L TRUTH

about the

T R U E

DOC-

TRINE O F

C H R I S T

This proof is a

H U G E

proof-em-

bodying every sc rap and shred, every

bit and fiber of understanding con-

cerning the rank

PAGANISM

that has

crept into every nook and

cranny of

the

great fallen church and her defiled

daug hters It is

a

proof with literally

hriizdreds of parts

Go d s people are continually

,qrotiiufi

in

more

a7 d

more

knowledge about the

rank P A G A N origins

of

al l of what is

called Christianity by this present

wo rld Even in what might seem in-

significant things, the knowledge of

Go ds people about th e purely pligajz

origin of the teachings and customs in

this world has grown and grown.

L ook at the M A J O R doctrines of the

professing Christian world

Heaven

Millions fully expect to get to heav-

en someday. Having been told about

heaven as the reward of the saved since

they were l i t t le children, they have

come, without any shred of real

PROOF

whatever, to really

B E L I E V E

this pagan

doctrin e Perh aps they actually saw and

heard a death-bed repentance of a

departed loved one. Perhaps, just as

their grandmother died, she claimed to

have seen a vision of heaven An d,

whether they had ever seen any real

Biblical

proo f or not, thousands of

deceived human beings would take such

an experirnce as this as absolute PROOF

POSITIVE that the loved one went to

heaven.

Notice h u w

polessing Christ ians

cliizg to this vague hope of heaven with

a ferv ent tenacity-just as Satan the

Devil became finally

obsessed

with tlir

same idea. Lucifer, the great archangel

(Please coiztitzi/e

on

page 1 7 )


7/24

IN

T H E KINGDOM

WHAT Will Each

Church

Members

DutV

Be?

J

You uere born to

rule. Only

those w h o learn to

rule

noi11

in this l i fe ill be saved Unders tand

w h y

A V E you

ever thought about what

Y O U R

JOB will be in the King-

do m? Abou t wha t Chr is t will

have IN do in the mi l lennium? About

how you q ~ d i f yor that responsibil i ty?

W h a t C h r i s t E x p ec ts

of

Every

C h u r c h M e m b e r

Salvation is a gift from God. It is

But you can lose it

Since salvation is something you can

lo.re, then God must have set terms or

condi t ions upon which He grants i t .

Its t ime you understood what those

terms

or

conditions are.

First , notice how one may lose sal-

vation-why some are thrus t ou t of

the Kingdom of

God,

while others are

saved. Jesus said of those who p erish:

Cast ye the unprofitable servant into

outer darkness: there shall be weeping

and gnashing of tee th (Mat t .

2 5 : ? ( I ) .

What made t h i s man unprof i t ab l e?

W hy did Christ re fuse him admission

in to t he Kingdom of G od ? Where in

had he fa i led?

The answer is found in verses 2 1

and

2 3 . To

those who are to receive

salvation, who will inherit the Kingdom

of God, Jesus said:

Wel l done , t hou

good and fa i thful servant : thou hast

been f u i t h fn l o z w u f e w thiiz,y.r,

I

will

make thee ruler over many things :

enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Do

you grasp i t?

Do

you see the dif-

ference Th e unprof i table servant

z~1a.r

no t f n i t h f / i / in carrying out the few

duties given him in this l ife

H e had not learned to cyoz~ei .nhis

time, he had not learned to muster his

human nature , he had not learned to

r - d e

his

family--or,

if

a woiiiaxi, tu 7-de

her children. H e hadnt improved his

mind

or

put his income to work-even

absolutely free. You cannot earn it.

b y

H e r m a n

L.

H o e h

though he knew bet te r Al l he could

say to his Lord was-I knew thee

tha t thou ar t an hard man, reaping

where thou hast not sown, and ga ther-

ing where thou hast not s t rawed: and

I

was afra id , and wcnt and hid my

talent in the earth:

lo,

there thou hast

that is thine (verses

2 4 - 2 5 ) .

He buried

his

talent.

He

was care-

less about lifes responsibilities. H e

didnt ca l l upon God for the he lp he

needed. He lacked faith, which

is a

gift of the Spiri t of God. H e h a d n o t

overcome. His Judge condemned him

:

T ho u wickcd a nd slothful servant

.

.

(v . 26).

Too many members in Gods Church

today are l ike the unprofitable servant.

A n AWFUI. fate awaits them unless

they wake up They are fail ing the

O N E

CONDITION

Jesus Christ set for every

church member: To him tha t O V E R -

COMETH.

But what does i t mean to overcome?

The dictionary defines i t as: to mas-

ter, prevail over, surmount, overwhelm,

be victorious over, to win, to get the

better of, to conquer.

How many of you are mastering

your job, your children, your human

nature wi th God s he lp? A re you

s u r -

mount ing obstac les? Gaining the vic-

tory over bad hab its? Con querin g your

weaknesses

In short-are you overcom ing like

Jacob, whose name was changed to

Israe l? Israel means, in Heb rew, p re-

vai le r wi th God r, ruler wi th

G o d .

Do

you know what Jacob will be

doing in the Kingdom of G o d ? W h a t

this Philadelphia Era of the Church

wil l be doin g? Wh at your individual

responsibility will b e? Everyone of us

will be vd j izg m d e r Chr.j.rt.-IF we

have first , in this l ife, here and now,

surrendered

our

wills to Him, and have

let Him rule in and through us.

No

one will be there who has not come

under Christs authority,

or

w h u lias

not learned to rule with Christ in the

li t t le duties and

jobs

we have in this

lifc.

D i f f e r e n t D e g r e e s

of

A u t h o r i t y

But just

as

we do

not

all cxcrcisc

the same kind of rule and authority

now, so there are different kinds of

responsibility

in

t he Kingdom of G o d

Not a l l wi l l have the same off ice . Not

all will face the same duties.

Notice the second and

third

chapters

of the Book of Revelation.

You

have

read them probably many times.

But

have you /tudei..rtood thc mcssage ?

Have you considered what the re-

sponsibility of

ti5i.r

Church is to be

wlieri the Kingdom

of

God rules this

wo r ld? W e a re t he Church t hat ha s

been used to restore the truth and the

pattern of Gods Goverriiiierit. Not

since apostolic days has there been a

H E A D Q U A R T E R S Church until iiozis. A n d

this

Chi//-ch-the Philadelphia

El-a uf

the Ch urch of God-is promised in

Revelation 3 :

12

a responsibility in Jeru

salem

A T THE HEADQUARTERS

of the

Government of God. Because we have

restored the

TRUTH

we are also to be

made spiri tual pil lars

in

thc Kingdom

n a veritable Supreme Court of

Gods Kingdom at Headquarters .

W h a t t h e S e ve n C h u rc h e s

A r e P r o m i s e d

Open your Bibles to the Book of

Revelation. In these two chapters is

condensed almost 2000 years of history


8/24

T h e

G O O D NEWS

December, 1963

Here are listed five past epochs of the

Church of God, together with the vital

description of

O I U

C hurch

today,

and

that of the very next Laodicean period

climaxing this age.

Notice that at the end of each of the

seven stages in the history of Gods

Church there is a definite promise for

the Church which carries on Gods

WORK during that particular period.

You will find these seven promises re-

corded in Rev.

2:7,

10 and 1 1 , 17 26

to 2 8 ; 3 : 4

and 5 , 12,

21.

The only ones who have a right to

these promises are OVERcoMERs-those

who, through the power of the Spiri t

of God, overcome themselves, over-

come the world about them, and over-

come thc temptations of wicked spirits

who influence the present world.

To

each Church epoch

DIFFERENT

P R O M I S E S

are

granted Th at is, those

who overcome are NOT A L L C A L L E D

T I I E KINGDOM.Some Chuiclies are

promised a .rprcinl d u t y .

Consider an example from the Old

Tcstament. God crcated the office of

king over the nation Israel . God first

selected Saul for that office. The people

approved him. Had hc bccn

a

conqueror

of his human nature, he could have

qualified

to

exercise that same office in

the Kingdom. But

Saul

failed

Then God chose David- a man

whom the people would not have

chosen. David qualified. He admitted

his sins and finally overcame them.

H e

will occupy the office of king over

Israel in the millennium (Ezek. 37 : 2 4 ) .

But notice Once David qualified

for that office 110

others

C ~ I Z i v r oc-

c n p y it

When Jesus called the Apostles, H e

did

/ lo t

r id1 hr?)z

o the .rime

o f f i ce

as

Ddz~id .

He called them to occupy

o f f i c e x

icizder Dai,ic/. Here ire Jesus own

words to the apostles:

Ye are they

which have continued with me in my

temptations. And I

t /ppo iu f

. w / o y o n

I

ki)i,qdoitz,

1s

my Father hath ap-

pointed unto me; that ye may eat and

drink at my table in my kingdom, and

sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes

of

Israel (Luke 2

I n Matthew

l9:28

Jews is quoted as

saying to the apostles, Ye also shall sit

TO PERFORM

T H E S A M E

FUNCTION

IN

upon

tzuelve thvolzes,

judging the twelve

tribes of Israel.

Of

the four teen who

accompanied Jesus, twelve were ulti-

mately chosen to rule over the twelve

tribes. (See Acts 1:15-26.)

O t h e r O f f i ce s Yet To Be

Fil led

These offices consti tute only the nu-

cleus of G ods Governm ent.

Lpo~z the

f o m d n t i o ~ z f

the apo.rtle.r

and

prophets ,

Jesus has built His Church (Ephesians

2 : 2 0 ) . The apostles and the prophets

are therefure ia

sr/perior. authority

to

the remainder of the Church built on

them.

That Church has existed these nearly

20 centuries. During these centuries

God divided the Church into seven

cpochs -or periods of t ime. Each

Church has i ts

tio1.k

to perform. Jesus

says of each C hurch I know thy

works.

Some have performed their work

better than others. They overcame more.

Thcy arc therefore able to handle

greater responsibil i t ies in the Kingdom

of God and are deserving of greater

blessings.

All

who overcome are to inherit the

King dom of God-they will consti tute

the Kingdom. But they will not

a l l uc-

cupy the same posit ion in the Kingdom.

Jesus Christ does not occupy the same

posit ion as the Father. Yet both of them

have eternally consti tuted the Kingdom

of God.

The sa ints sha l l judge the world

( I Corinthians 6:2 , but some will be

qualified

to

judge greater matters than

others. We shal l re ign on the ear th

(Revela t ion 5:10) , but we shal l not a l l

reign over the same territory

or

people.

W e shall all be priests-Pctcr calls

us even now a royal pr iesthcd ( I

Peter 2:9)-but some will minister in

greater capacity than others.

I t a l l d e ~

,bends oz h o w ue overrome-how we

strive against the attractions of the

world and the pull of humfin nature.

When Christ comes to judge

us,

H e

will give reward unto

. . .

.imnll nird

peclt

(Rev . 11 I S ) . Some of us are

smaller than others in G ods sight.

Some have not yielded to the law of

God as much as others. Some have not

worked as hard on uprooting the power

of hum an nature as others-they have

not let Gods law govern their lives to

the same degree as others. Remember

what Jesus said to the disciples?

Whosoever therefore shall break one

of these least commandments, and shall

teach men so, he shall be called

the

l e d

iiz the Ki i z~doi i z of

heni en:

but

whosoever shall

do

and teach them. the

same shall be called grent

iiz

t he

Kiug-

d o m of

hemeiz

(Mat thew 5 :1 9 ) .

In

the

history of the Church of God,

some periods have been characterized

by grent zeal. great works. great knowl-

edge of Gods law. Other periods have

been characterized with flagging zeal,

incomplete or diminishing works, a par-

tial neglect of Go ds law.

In the Kingdom or Family of God

there will be individuals of different

degree. But for each individual there

will be

a

responsibility,

a

job.

Not t he

same job, of course -for we are not

all called to the same office. But every

office is needed. An entire C I V I L I Z A -

TION.

Gods kind of ciJ,ilization, Gods

way and not man s way. It will take

literally millions of different jobs to

create civilization as

it

ought

to

be.

Y O U R OB will be what you will find

the most pleasure in doing. W e

do

not

al l gct the same pleasure

out

of the

same thing. That is why God has not

called us

all

to the same office.

Notice,

now,

what the Church today

is promised-and this includes yon if

you continue as an overcomer and re-

sist temptation and end up as victor

in pour trials.

What This C h u r c h Is Promised

Open your Bible to Revelation 3:10-

1 2 . Here is what it says: Because thou

[this Church) hast kept the word of

My patience-we

haw

patiently kept

Gods word in a gainsaying world-

I,

responds Jesus, also will keep thee

from the hour of temptation, which

shall come upon all the world, to try

them that dwell upon

t h e

earth.

If we hold fast to the end, notice

what the reward of this Church will be

in

t h e

Kinpdom of God : Him that

overcometh [this includes anyone. not

just the ministry] will I make cl pillar.

[or main support] in the temple of my

God, and he sha l l

go

no more out :

and I will write upon him the name of


9/24

December , 1963

Th e GOOD N E W S

9

my G od, N ew Je r usa lem: and . . . my

new name.

In Galatians 2 : 9 you will read that

James and Peter and John seemed to be

pil1.d

in the ear ly Church. They

were leaders Th at responsibility is wh at

God promises to us in Gods Church

today. W e are to qualify ot

for

Davids office, not

for

the apostles

off ices-but as rp is i t / /n l

pil1ns.c

o r

Itcrd-

[symbolically called temple in Rev.

3 :

12)

f o r

ill

etc/.ui/?,.A pillar

is

the

main s~ ipp or t n a t emple

T h i n k

of

i t Being able to judge at

Headquar ters in Jerusalem, al l the

var ied problems of the whole wor ld

No human cour t could begin to d o w h a t

God promises we shal l be qualif ied to

perform.

Notice, too, the Scr ipture: H e shall

go out n o mor e . W e a r e never to be

remoired from that reward and responsi-

bility. Think of tha t W e a r e to be at

Headquarters-setting policies-deter-

mining those decis ions that need to

come to Headquar ters . (Compare Acts

1 5

with this . )

Never has a Church had to res tore

al l things as has this Church. Mr .

and Mr s . A r ms t r ong f ound tha t the

truth had almost died f rom the ear th

dur ing the Sardis epoch

of

the Chur ch .

A n d

it

is not yet all restored. But we

have been willing to grow in the re-

vealed knowledge of God and to keep

what has lieen revealed. Yea, w e arc

beco min g fit-if we dev elop ourselves

now-to be pillars in the Kin gdo m of

G od, N ot ever y p i l l a r is the same size

or serves the same purpose, of course;

not a l l of us will be exactly alike either.

But more than that, this Church-the

Philadelph ia era-is to have the name

of the capital city of the universe-the

I Ieadquar ters of the wor ld. That

is

where we a re to be centered. The pillars

of the Church ought a lways to be at

H eadquar te r s so that al l may appeal to

to it for decisions. All of you are being

traine d fo r this job now-even if it is

o n l y

by learning

to

pray for the

work

at Headquar ters and by sending to

Headquar ters your t i thes for the con-

duct of the work of this Church. Never

since apostolic days has the work of

G od been conduc ted f r om one cen t r a l -

et.r-/ho t ) / r l j ) / .II / , j p o t / . r

i / /

Gorl.~ o / / . s ~

ized location as it is today. Always

through the past centuries it has been a

scattered work.

Moreover , we are to have the name

of

God the Father and of th e Son. God

always places Hi s name wh ere H e is.

H e w i ll be d w el l ing in the N ew Je r u-

salem. So wil l we Tha t

is

why

w e

will

have His name

Maybe your responsibility in this age

seems small. Maybe others seem so

much mor e impor tan t than you d o now .

Lct us

n o t

feel inferior-nor le t //.I

. . .

he derit,ouJ of 18aii2 glos?.

pso i ok i ug

oiie miother,

eni1yiu


10/24

10

T he

GOOD N E W S

December ,

I963

the sun nnd moon-as we view the

heavens.

T h e C h u r c h i n L a o d i c e a

We

are all famil iar with the graphic

description of the lukewarmness which

will climax the close of this age. This

church body is no t this work-it is the

work of another body of believers al-

ready heginning to be influenced by

The

WORLD

OMORROWroadcast and

The PLAINTRUTHagazine. They wil l

be heirs to the riches of spiritr ial under-

s tanding which God is making know n

to the world through this Church-but

they are spir i tual ly smug. Nothing good

can he said about them.

Though they may have been begotten,

they ha w not a l lowed Chr is t to l ive

His life through them. Jesus pictures

himself as having s tood at the door

of

their hearts knocking. They may have

been lukewarm co-workers. But they

never did come al l the way with Chr is t

to have a living active part in this work.

Wh en they do come to see that

The

WORLD OMORROWroadcast has been

right, it will be too late Th e tribula-

tion will be u p o n t h e m T h e r e is n o

promise of del iverance f rom the coming

time of trouble and religious persecu-

tion-whereas

we

are promised deliv-

erance.

If they hecome zealous and repent,

if

they love not their lives unto death,

then they will receive a good responsi-

hility. But they have first a great period

of tri.11

a i d

test to meet. Jesus will send

the punishment on them hecause H e

loves them. If they change their ways,

Hc will not f iguratively spu e the111 ou t

of His mouth

as

o n e w h o s p u e s o u t

nauseating lukewarm water.

To them Jesus says:

To him tha t

overcometh will

I

grant to s i t with Me

in

t u J , throur. even as I also overcame,

and am set down with my Father in His

throne (Rev.

3

: 2 t

)

. Notice that they

are not called spiritual pillars; ?lei-

ih iv

t i n

t h ~ ~ pni7e

their

ot i u

tht.oi1e.r

as

do those of the Church

of

Thyatira .

Those w ho d o qualify through much

trihulntion

will

sit with Chr is t

on His

throne-~~iir i j i t j i igH i m djrectly

jn

the

p ~ roiiiil

nil

ttii/,i

rtrifiotz

of

His off ice.

Here you see yet a different responsi-

hi l i ty in the Kingdom of God

Now contras t these overcomers with

those of the other Church epochs . No-

tice the rewards of the remaining

Churches.

W h a t Is T h e i r R e s p o n s i b i l i ty ?

Consider the Sardis era of the C hurch

of God. Jesus said of that Church-the

on e which immediately preceded this

present Phil ade lph ia era--thou hast a

name that thou l ives t , but thou ar t

D E A D

( Rev . 3 : l ) . Their works have

not been perfected. Their ministry

fai led to proclaim the gospel as i t ought

to have been preached.

Only a few individuals

a

few

names-were overcomers in that era.

As a Church they have no special re-

sponsibi li ty Only a few individuals

within the Church wil l walk with Chr is t

in white--a symbo l of righteou sness

(Rev. 19:s). God merely promises each

of them that He wil l not blot out his

name out of the book of l i fe , but

I

will confess his name before my Father,

arid before his angels (Rex,. :i

Th ere is no responsihility-no defi-

nite office mentioned here nly a

promise of eternal life. Even the oier-

comers of that era barely escape with

their lives. Indeed, sometimes the right-

euus scarcely are saved

( I

Peter 4 : 1 8 ) .

But remember , the saints shal l W ~ K r

judge the wor ld nd that includes

thcsc individuals

uf

tlie Sardis era.

They, as individuals in that Church,

will have their responsihility

( m e z -

tioized cl scwhcre in the Srriptcir.e), but

as an organized Church they receive no

joint responsibility

The same th ing i s t r ue of the o the r

Church eras .

In the Church era typif ied by the

Pergxmos Church, there were n o small

number who tolerated the er roneous

doctrines

of

the Nicolaitanes.

Who

Were t h e N i c o l a it a n e s?

Church his tor ians have always imag-

ined that the Nicolai tancs were a

small

sect which separated f rom the great

worldly body of professing Christians.

It has

neirer

occurred

to

these scholars

that th e Nicolaitanes migh t be that great

hody of professing Christians which

sprang f rnm those conspirators who

entered the true Church of G o d t o

devour the f lock

Firs t , what does the word Nicolai-

tane mean?

I t has

120

connection with the deacon

Nicolas (Acts

6 : 5 ) ,

as some have as-

sumed. The or iginal Greek word Nico-

lai tane means one who is

n

f o l / o i i , e /

of

N i ro lns .

W h o was thrir Nicolas of

who m they were fol lowers? God hates

the doctr ine of that man (Rev. 2 : 1 5 ) .

But what does the name Nicholas

c o m e f r o m ?

It

comes f rom two Greek

words-iiiko.r and

/ nos .

Nikos means

conqueror or destroyer and

1cio.r

means people. The or iginal Nicolas

was the conqueror or destroyer of the

people Th at was merely the Greek

w or d

for

Nimrod-the original arch-

rebel who conquered the people and

f ounded m x - m ad e civi li za tion w i th in

two centuries after the flo od And is it

a strange thing that even today the

fol-

lowers of the Nicolaitans still hallow

the name of St . Nicolas on Decem-

her

2 5 ?

Yes, Santa Claus-just

R

shortened

form of Nicolas,

the G r eek name f or

Nimrod-is Nim rod deified. I t is hr-

and not

Jesus

Christ-whom the pro-

fessing Christians serve to this day, and

who m they hon or at Chr is tmas In the

apostles time, the chief spokesman for

the mysteries

of

Babylon

was

Simon

Magus. H e sur repti t iously introduced

the ieligiuii uT Niiiirvd in the

Name

of

Chri s t But Go d cal ls them what they

were-the doctrines of N i m r o d

There were individuals in the Church

of God in those days who, tragically,

tolerated such practices and even in-

dulged in them

Is it any wonder that no special re-

sponsibi l i ty was given to that Church?

Notice the

promise : To

him that

over-

cometh wil l

I

give to eat of the hidden

manna

( s ee

John 6:48-63 ,and wil l

g ive h im a w h i t e s tone, and in the

s tone a new name writ ten, which no

man knoweth saveth he that receiveth

i t ( Rev . 2 : 1 7 ) .

Here is n o promise of

a

special office

-such

as

the one to which we are

callcd-but

only

a

promise

o f

eLt.iiial

life to individuals.

Th e w hi te s tone ( Rev .

2 : 1 7 )

was

the tessera

of ancient times,

well

known in Asia Minor as a passpor t to

P1ense

co?z t j i z iw

on page

24


11/24

HERES

H O W

The WORLD TOMORROW

Is Produced

This i n t imute repor t in pic ture and f a c t of each step iiz t h e

productiorz

of

T h e WORLD TOMORROW broadcust will he lp

you

in

your

Prayer for and understanding

of

this VIT AL phase

of

this

V l T A L W O R K

by John Edward

Portune

ERY

O F T E N a listener will write

a letter to our offices in Pasadena

asking,

How

is it that

I

hear

your program sc) well d o w n here

in

southern Georgia , when joii / i t ~ o ~ i d c ~ ~

/

f rom Pasadena, California?

We 1il.e in a

fantastic

age I t amazes

erren the well-informed. I t

is

little

wonder then that so few seem to under-

stand

how Thr

WORLD

TOMORROW

hroadcast reaches their small corner of

the w or ld .

What miraculous prnc-ws brings

thr

voices

of G ods servants speaking in

Pasadena booming f rom your radio

s p e a k e r ? W h a t goes on hehind the

scenes of n WORLDOMORROWroad-

cast? hfany have wondered.

V

Early Days of ?be WORLD

TOMORROW

When Mr . A r ms t r ong f i r s t s tepped

behind the microphone in

1934 a

new

age of Gods True Church was born.

In those days the famil iar name

WORLD OMORROWid not be-

gin the f ledgling broadcasts . Ins tead,

the listeners of the t00-w att s ta t ion

KORE in Eugene , O r egon , hea r d T he

Radio Church of God. I t was a

radio r h i ~ r ~ hrerz~ice, complete with

favorite hymns.

Much has changed since those days-

G od s Chur ch has gr ow n. A nd

so

has

the behind-the-scenes phase as well.

Lets

look

at how i t was done then.

I t wil l make todays broadcast ing much

~ i1npl r 1

U p i c t u r e .

All that was needed in the early

days was a microphone,

a

small

radio

station,

and

a

few

listencis w3itl i their

radios tuned to the r ight spo t . Tod ay

we

would call it li1.e broadcasting.

I t was not dis t inguishcd f rom m y other

form then-because there

z m i i z t

n i q .

The days of transcribed or pre-

recurdcd broadcasting were many years

in the future. But they did eventually

come. No longer d o you hear

Mr.

A r m -

stron gs voice directly fro m

a

radio

station--except a few listen ers in

the

Los

Angeles area over KBLA.

All

Done by Tape

Today w hen Mr . A r ms t r ong speaks

a

t c r p e r.erorder.

represents the vast

major i ty of the audience. O n i t is a

small reel of magnetic recording tape.

This tape, cal led the M A S T E R

TAPE,

was the l ink miss ing in the

1934

chain.

I ts absence today would s top

T h e

WORLD OMORROWead in its tracks.

Now lets make a visit to the studio

in Pasadena, California, for a f irst-hand

view of i ts bir th and l i fe . The v i i r ~ l e

of tape i,ecoi.dirig

is

the core of

The

WORLDOhioRROY6-I

964.

Our tour begins most any weekday

on the second f loor of the Library

Building

of

Ambassador College in

Pasadena. Here the radio s tudio is lo-

cated. I t is about 11:30 and prepara-

t ions are being made for 2 : O O noon

--Recording lim e. Professional re-

cor d ing and ed i t ing equipment w hich

has been busy all morning is being

readied

for

Mr.

Armstrongs arrival.

Recorders are loaded with tapes , t iming

clocks are set, and a complex of elec-

tronic devices warm up.

About f ive minutes before Record-

ing Time f inal adjustments are com-

pleted and

Mr.

Armstrong hurr ies in

-notes in hand . In f ront of h i m o n

compilation of currelit new5 arid corn-

nients prepared and delivered within

the last few minutes by the Ambassador

College News Bureau. Located

on

the

campus in Pasadena, this department is

vital to the broadcast and provides

much

of

thc scintillating ncws material

used on T h r

WORLD

OMORROW

In the CONTROL R O O M Mr . N or man

Smith, Evangelist in charge of thc

radio s tudio, f l ips a switch on the

master recording console . Warning

lights f lash on , a dozen professional

Ampex recorders spin into action, and

from a master tape the voice of Art

G i lmor e thunder s , The WORLD

O

MORROW.

T h e n w i t h

a

cue sign

f r om Mr. Smith i t is Mr . Ted Arm-

strongs

turn-28

minutes

and

30

sec-

onds to pour Gods Message into a

microphone. But f rom the microphone

to

y o u r home is yet a

lo/i


12/24

"And Greetinqs

Friends-

cr

--around the w o r l

. .

and here you

see

MY.

Garner

Ted

Armstrong broadcasting

T h e WORLD TOMORROW. In this photographic sequence

you g o

BE HI ND T H E SCENES-for the

INSIDE

story of

a

WORLD TOMORROW broadcast production.

T h e N e w s B u re au

Mr. Hogberg receives a call from Mr. Ted

Armstrong for the latest, up-to-the-minute

news reports. Mr. Ho gberg sifts top in for-

mation from news sources around the world.

A brief "idea sheet" i s prepared for each

broadcast. latest news i s blended into each

T h e Broadcast Begins

"And greetings friends-oround the world

. . ."

Wit

familiar words the dynamic and captivating WOR

MORROW broadcast gets under way.


13/24


14/24

14

The

GOOD N E W S

December, 1963

rccordcr was to this era of Guclb

True

Church? How significant is i t that tape

recording was not adequately perfected

till

19/17?

Is it roi jzridcnre o n l y that

this was the year Amhassador College

opened? This was the year when the

radio industry l eaped ahead a t an un-

heard of rate. This was the time in the

history of the Philadelphia age of Gods

Church when radio power had just be-

gun to burgeon for th . N o longer a t tha t

date could Mr. Armstrong broadcast

live from every radio station carrying

The

WORLD

TOMORROW.

either

could the electrical disc transcription

of that day do the joh of mass broad-

casting. The izeerr for the tape recorder

was vital and God knew it.

But even

for

several years,

T h c

WORLD OMORROWontinued to use

imperfect electrical disc transcrip-

tions. Once made these cumbersome

phonograph disc recordings could not

be reused. Their quali ty was not good.

And worst of a l l they C O U L D

NOT B E

EDITED. Often, errors in speaking or a

small sl ip of the tongue would require

the

eirtIre prngrn i i

tn he re-recorded.

And when Ambassador College first

purchased some of the new Ampex

tape recorders it was

j.urt

iiz t j i n c .

It would sound preposterous to an

outsider to say this, but the history of

science and technology has been geared

t o the 1,et

tin), 1Vor.h

of the

Almi


15/24

IN S T AL L MEN T NINE

Should

You

Be

A

MILITARY SLAVE?

Suppose yo u are already in the military-what should you do?

Can

you be in the medical

corp? Do e s

the Church of G o d h a t e

a Stan& on mili tury service? Th es e vital questions-und muny

others-ure clearly answe red for yo u in this installment.

A N Y P E O P L E a r e a l r e a d y i n

military service when they come

to a know ledge of C o d s T r u t h

a n d

d o

not know w ha t to do. T h e y

want to obey

God

in al l th ings

so

it is

o n l y

a matter of learning w h a t G o d

commands them t o do.

1M

Instruction From

Gods

Word

I n the t ime

of

John the Baptis t , sol-

diers came to him a i d asked him w h a t

to

d o . A n d the soldiers likewise I le-

manded of h im say ing , A nd

iihcit shall

ie J o ?

A n d h e

s a i d

unto them,

Do

i

sjleurc t o 110 ~iiciii. neither accuse a n y

falsely; and he content with your

wages (Luke

3

:

1 4 ) .

This

malics

i t p l a i n tha t w hen

a per-

son w ho is

in

the military service be-

conies a

true Christian, he

i s

not to

h a r m or do violence to iuiyone. The

meaning of the or iginal Greek word

here translilted violence means to

.

n

t n1 clate. TI1;it \ v o u

c

include vio -

ence or any act ion where 6 i t / i , c i u / l / c y e

is taken over any other person. This

makes it ohviniis tha t .I Christian

should not continue, /iiii/c i. [ i i i ) C ~ K / I I I I -

r/ i /zcfv,

to hai,e an active part in kill-

ing

or

hnr ming o the r s .

He

should serve his super iors to the

very best of his ability according to the

i n s t r u c t i n n i n Fphes ians 6:5 -8 and

Ti tus

2 : 9 - 1 4 .

But he should not d i s -

ohcy G od s commandments in iuz

~ 4 ) .

I f his super iors demand that he disobey

God and f ight , or violate any of the

Sal> mth days he must obey G od and

submit to whatei,er penalty is imposed.

Other examples of soldiers in the

New Testament are those of Cornelius

by L. Leroy Neff

( A c ts l o ) , and the centur ion who met

Chr i s t ( Mat t .

8 .

D id G od expec t

thcsc men to cont inue on

in

their mili-

tary careers? Since the Bible does not

instruct us about every subject in one

place, we must loolc elsewhere

in

the

Bible

to

f i n d o u t w h a t

a

person should

do in such circumstances

T h c

iinsTvcr

to w h a t J itu Chiistiail

w h o is illready in military service

should

do,

is very plainly explained by

the Apostle Paul

to

the Cor in th ians .

Wer e you a s lave w hen ca l led? N ever

mind. But if you can

G A I N

YOUR

FREEDOM, m I 1,onr.~~dff the oppo,..

f u u j f ~ ,

I Cor. 7

: 2 1 , RSV) .

A

Military Slave

A

man in military service is in the

same status as a

. r l~ iw .

H e i s no t f r ee

to decidc what his own activities will

be f or h imse l f . H e has sold himself

as

a

s lave to the mil i tary for the term

of

his enlistment.

A

ser\viceman is

gov-

erned by different laws from civilians.

H e has fewer r ights , and comes entirely

under the jurisdiction of military

BU-

thor i t ies . He is the .rlrii,e

o f

the military.

H e cannot remove himself f rom un der

that authnr i ty,

iinless

the military

authorities release him. Until his enlist-

ment expi r es , and he is discharged, he

i s 17ot a FREE M A N

Since we have this instruction by the

Apostle Paul, a serviceman who comes

to the know ledge

of

the Tr u th should

dil igently t ry to gain his f reedom.

If a person is a f r e e nmz, in the

sense that he is not in military service,

h e

is

forbidden to become a

~ l n w

f

the military by entering service. You

were bought with

a

price; d o z o t

Ge-

come s1ai~e.rof vzeii (Verse 2 3 ) .

This

uiie z w s e d o n e , coupled with the fact

tha t

a

soldier

is

not a f r ee man, PRO-

HIBITS

A C H R I S T I A N FROhf E N T E R I N G

INTO

h1ILITARY

SERVICE IN A N Y

C.APAC-

I TY , C O M B A T A N T

OR

N O N C O M B A T A N T

This point is not unders tood by many

people

in

the church and m m y Selective

Service officials do no t understand it.

In case you are called in question for

your belief remember this scripture

w el l

and use i t .

Is

Noncombatant Service Wrong?

Noncombatant s ta tus is that of a

serviceman who wil l not engage

in

actual shoot ing or killing. Such 3 per

son may be in the medical corps. He

may he lp the w ounded , b u t he does no t

carry or use weapons.

Or,

he may work

behind the l ines in suppor t work.

Men draf ted to this par t icular capac-

ity are selected from the group w ho a r e

classified I - A - 0 by the Selective Serv

ice System.

Somc pcoplc reason that such a posi-

tion is not w r ong s ince it does not re-

quire active participation in killing

others. We have already seen that it is

wrong by Pauls statement in I Co

rinthians ? : 23 .

Another impor tant pr inciple abou

noncombatant service concerns the pos-

sibility of being par takers (and there-

fore guil ty) of other

mens

sins. If

a person brings a different doctrine

f rom the true doctr ine of Chr is t we

should not receive him

into our

house

Nor should we bid h im G od- speed .

O ther w ise

,

we become a

p n i ~ i i f i ~ ~f hi.


16/24

16

ei i l deed.r

(I1 John

10-11). A

person

who participates in

a

military organiza-

tion,

or

who produces weapons for the

military, hecomes a

partaker

of the

euil

deed.r of men and machines that take

l i fe .

Paul told Timothy that he .rhozild

u o t

be

a

pnrtnker

of

o t h e r m e d s

s i m ,

but should keep himself

p u rc

(I Tim.

5:22). A person in service cannot keep

himself

piire.

since he is a member of

a killing organization. Participation

either in a

roinbatmt or

a

?ioizco?nbatatzt

status is eqiidly iiv.oug in Gods sight.

You make yourself

the

.r/nzw

of

the

military, which you are forbidden to

do ( I

Cor. 7:23) .

If a Christian is forced into military

conscription, he cannot serve. He must

obey God rather than man, and accept

whatever

penal ty

or imprisonment man

might impose.

The Church Stand

on

Military

Service

It has become necessary for the Radio

Church of God to have an official stand

in

the inattei

uf

iiiililary scrvice. Article

X,

Section 2 , of the Constitution and

Bylaws of the Radio Church of God

states: It is the conviction and firm

belief of this Church and its member-

ship that Christiar. disciples of Christ

are forhiddm hy Him and the com-

mandments of God to kill, or in any

manner directly or indirectly to take

human life, by whatsoever means; we

believe that bearing arms is directly

contrary to this fundamental doctrine

of our belief; we therefore conscien-

tiously refuse to bear arms or to come

zitider

the

v d i f a r y

c2iithoi.ity. That

is

the true Bible teaching, and the teach-

ing of Gods Church.

You as an individual are responsible

to God for obeying what He commands.

You

should

b e

totally sincere about your

belief. Know what you do believe, and

be able to back

up

your belief with

PROOF fi.oi)z yoiir oiivi l i fe , and /be

Sc r ip tn iw.

What Can

You

Do?

If

a person is already in military

service, he may not know what to do

in order to receive a discharge. Such

an individual needs

specialized

help and

instruction from counselors who are

December,

1963

Statue at Russian War Memor ial in East Ber-

l i n . Soldier kneels with machine g u n in hand-

praying to

HIS

god

skilled in such advice. The church has

counselors to help men who are sincere

in their belief, and who are determined

to obey God in this and in all things.

If you are in military service and wish

to be discharged, do not act hastily or

unwisely withotit

proper

c o z i m e l ,

Practical experience has taught that

men who have taka a strong and per-

sistent stand and who have purposed

to obey God, have usually been able to

receive discharges in due timc from

military service.

There are also provisions in Selective

Service laws concerning men who arc

termed by the world roizscieiitioz~sob-

jectors,

or pacifists.

The law recognizes

such belief< R u t each registrant must

prove satisfactorily to the Selective Serv-

ice officials that he is sincere in his

belief, and that he is in actuality a

conscientious objector and not just a

draft-dodger

Special

Work

Programs

For such men, who are called con-

scientious objectors,

the United States

Government has a special Work Pro-

gram.

A

man who is eligible for mili-

tary service because of age and physical

condition, but is a conscientious ob-

jector, may be assigned to special civil-

ian work for a 24-month period. This

work is

lor

an

a p p t m e d

agency or

nonprofit organization. Such a firm is

primarily engaged either in a charitable

activity, conducted for the bcnefit of

the general public, or in carrying out a

program for the improvement of the

public health or welfare.

Even though it

is

sometimes difficult

to find suitable employment with such

an organization, it is possible for a

Christian to serve with clear conscience

under this program.

A person in military service,

a

young

man under Selective Service,

or

a young

man approaching the age of registering

for Selective Service should

seek

counsel,

There are many important things that

are not included in this series

of

articles

that such a person needs to know.

These things involve military and

Selective Service luw and pi,oceditr.e.

They also involve other points of Bible

doctrine not included here.

If you are such a person

you

may

write to the Radio Church of God,

S. S.

Department, P. 0 Box 111, Pasa-

dena, California. Prompt action is

needed by such young men before they

find themselves in very unfavorable sit-

uations from which they may be unable

to extricate themselves. Most of the

problems are caused by men who have

not had

the pqm knowledge soon

enough, or have not acted on that

knowledge, or were not sincere and

steadfast in their belief.

W e have now seen many of the

teachings in the New Testament on

the subject

of

fighting. Thc

O l d

TeJta-

inelit

also has much to say on this im-

portant subject. We will now find the

surprising anqwers to many questions

you may have concerning the teachings

and practices of the nation Israel

before

ChriJt

came

to this earth to bring the

true Gospel.

Mankind

Is

Learning War

It is a paradox that many New

Testament Churches go to the Old

Testament to exc.v.re their beliefs

or

activities in war. In other Bible ques-

tions, they

disregard

the Old Testament

entirely. They claim it was abolished,

but when it suits their own purposes,

they wrest and twist the Old Testament

scriptures to jiLstifj their own rr1;cied

cri-tinizs.

They have gone to szich extremes

that one modern Protestant clergyman

has stated,

rI bel ieve

the

o td y

peop l e

that

shoitld

g o

ozit aiid do

t he

fightiizg

Are

Chri.rtinn.r People like this mod-

ern religionist are behind thc terrible

horrors in war of Christian fighting

(Please

c o n t i m e 011 page 21)


17/24

December, 1963 The GOOD NEWS 17

Seven

Proofs of True Church

(Continued f rom p a f e 6 )

EKATELY inserted totally and completely

spurious words i n to the Bible, attempt-

ing to prove this major doctrine of

who had been given thj, eurth to rule,

zcustzt

williux to settle

for

just this

earth H e wanted to g e t t o heuzwn. H e

wanted to

L E A V E

this earth, and get up

to heaven-usurping the very thron e

of God.

Satans desire was

a

SELFISH desire

to G E T for the self. He has instilled

this same tenacious, grasping, .re/fiJh

desire to g e t t o heuzieii in the minds

and hearts of millions of people.

One independent preacher, in attack-

ing this great Work of God, and

Mr.

Armstrong personally, said, Dear

Reader-Are you willing to SETTLE for

~ A K I H ?

This minister was trying to

attcrrk the plain TRUTH of God about

thir

ear th

being the inheritance pro-

mised to all Christians.

Do you see? Do you understand his

att i tude? Mill ions of people who THINK

they

are

Christian

are

absolutely

f i l l td with the selfish concept of

G E T -

rmG

fo r

the

SELF

They have a belli-

gere i r t .

set-jawed. steely-eyed. D E T E R M I -

B i r r N i m r u d - t r a d i t i o n a l s i t e o f T o w e r of

Ba b e l. I t w as N i m r o d w h o b u i l t t h e t o w er

t o r e ac h u n to h e a v en . T h e i d e a of g e t t i n g

la heaven i sn t new. Matson Pho to

. -

paganism

NATION

to

huve t h e i r

o z ~ w way-in Tu rn , in your own Bible

(Kiizg

SPITE

of

what God says in the Bible

Jumes

Authorized

Verrioiz),

to

I

John

But heaven is

NOT

the reward

of

the

5.7.

Notice,

For

there are three that

saved Gods

TRUTH

is that the saints bear record in heaven, the Father, the

shall reign on the earth (Rev.

5 : 1 0 )

Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these

l e f t : Here is the t r in i ty -worsh ipp ed cen tu r ies be fo re Chr is t in Assyria. Righ t : Here

i s

the tr in i ty -

w o r s h i p p e d b y s h e er p a g a n s i n S i b e r i a . T h e t r i n i ty

i s

q u i t e U N - C h r i s t i a n

and shall

RULE

here belozc, with Christ,

for

one thousand years (Rev.

20:4 ) .

Jesus said, Blessed are the

m e e k ,

for they shall inherit the

E A R T H

(Mat t .

5 : 5 ) .

He said those who are

overcomers will ride

the

n u t i o m

oii

this

eurth wi th Him (Rev . 2 : 26 ;

3 :21) .

And these are only

a

small FEW of

the literally DOZENS of plain scriptures,

and sometimes whole

chnpters

in the

sacred Word of God which absolutely

PROVE that the get-to-heaven idea of

this darkened and pagan world is

of

purely

Sutaiiic

orig in If you have not

read the article Is Heaven The Reward

of Th e Saved? then you need to wri te

for

it, and any other literature on heav-

en immediately Yo u need to really

PROVE

Gods tinth-and

p r o v e

the

error of the pagan doctrines

of

this

world.

T h e Trinity

Gods true C hurch knows the FACT

of the

D U A L I T Y of

the Godhead

But the world believes in the trinity.

So deliberate has been the pagan attemp t

to foist this doctrine upon the world

that

a

lying, conniving, cheating copy-

ist in the eighth century A.D. D E L I B -

thrcc arc one. But do y u u k n o w iiu

a

ONE

of these words are in A N Y of

the original manus cripts? Did you know

not ONE of these words ever A P P E A R E D

in the manuscripts until u f te r

the

imw

tion of printiTig?

W h a t a deliberate HOAX W h a

shameless LIES Comparison with many

of the more modern texts, and simple

research will absolutely PROVE this im

portant point to you. Verse seven

.rhodd

be the last half of verse six

Th e seventh verse of I John 5

n r ; g i n d / / y

read, And it is the Spirit that beareth

witness, because the Spirit is truth.

WHO

s a member

of a

g r e a t trini

ty? Lucifer-who became Satan the

Devil There are only T H R E E arch

angels mentioned in the Bible: Lucifer.

Michael and Gabriel.

Lucifer

fel l (Luke

18 :10 ) , not Adam

But God is D U A L There is the Fa

ther, and the Son. In all Creation, God

made

P A I R S

of humans, P A I R S of sexes

A man has TWO eyes, TWO ears, TWO

nostrils,

TWO

hands, TWO feet, TWO

legs,

TWO

arms.

There was the first man Adam, and

the second man Adam. or Christ . There


18/24

18

The

G O O D

NEWS

December,

1963

is the Old Covenant and the New Cove-

nant ; the O L D Testament and the NEW

Testament, the F O R M E R prophets and

the LATTER prophets . All p i u p h e i y i r

D U A L God is ONE, in

Two

P E R S O N S

-not three

Jesus said, I and my Father [just the

TWO

of us ) are

O N E

( John

10:30) .

The

Soul

Gods true Church knows the real

TRUTH

about the physical, mortal,

fleshly, material soul

God says the soul that sinneth

IT

shall die (Ezek. l S : 4 , 20) .

Solomon wrote,

For

that which be-

falleth the sons of men befalleth beasts

-even one thing befalleth them :

as

t h e o n e

dieth,

.ro

dieth

the other; yea,

they have

all

one breath;

so

that

a

man

hath no preeminence above a beast

(Eccl. 3:19). Gods t rue Church

KNOWS that the wages of sin is

denth

(Rom 6 . 7 3 ) N O T eternal l ife in a dif-

feren t location-an eve r-bu rnin g hell

SA TA N s immortal-and will be tor-

nrenfed

forever

He

has the world

believing doctrines

ahor/t hjnzself.

Belief in the im mortality of the

soul is one of the

basic

arid BEGINNING

errors of

all

modern profess ing Chris-

tianity. Have you really

P RO V E D

the

truth about the soul to yourself? Do

you have many proof texts on this sub-

ject underlined and carefully marked,

in your own Bible? Could you P RO V E

i t to someone else? W e have several

articles on the subject, if you need

them.

Hel l -F i re

Gods true Church knows the real

TRUTH about the GEHENNA F I R E of the

Bible-the one of which Jesus Christ

solemnly warned. He said,

I

. .

fear

Him which is able

to

DESTROY

B O T H

S O U L

AND

BODY in hel l [Gehen-

na) (Mat t . 10:28) .

The incorrigible sinner shall be

B U R N T U P (Mal . 4:1), and shall be-

come ashe.r under the feet of the right-

eous (Mal. 4 : 3 ) .

Totntly

i p o r i i z g

the many PLAIN

scriptures of the Bible, which even get

scientifically and physically detailed,

such

as

those in Malachi which I just

mentioned, describing how human be-

ings, when burnt, become as a.rhes, the

pagan philosophers have seized upon

a

uague ( to them ) parable in Luke the

sixteenth chapter.

Undoubtedly,

thorisaizds

of lurid,

frightening, raving and shouting ser-

mons have been based on the account

of Lazarus and the rich man

God s Church know s the real TRUTH

about Gods punishment for the wicked

-and about

a

hell-fire which is a

lot

hotter than the pagan concept of this

world. This, too, is something you

should have carefully proved to your-

self-and have thoroughly marked and

noted in your Bible If you have not

carefritty stndied

our

articles about hell,

and the booklet on Lazarus and the rich

man- then write in for them im-

mediately.

And D o z e ns M o r e

Gods t rue Church knows the TRUTH

about Creation, about the

p w p o s e

of

God, and the great PLAN by which He

is work ing out that purpose. G ods true

Church knows the real truth about

hum an nature-about the NATURE of

God, of angels, and of man

God has revealed the almost INCOM-

SALVATION IS to His t rue Church

-while the world s imply doesnt

know They dont know what it

IS,

how to

G E T

it,

why they need it

Gods Church knows the identity of

the major nations in prophecy-that

WE

are the people of Israel W e know

what WILL happen in the future, even

down to smaller details of alliances

between nations, the wars of the future,

and their outcome

And these are only a

FEW

of the

really

BIG

points

Should this make us spiritually

pro ud ? Most emphatical ly not God has

called us out of t h e . r m 7 ~rpit+md

ddvk-

nesJ that still grips this world-wE

did not study to uncover these wonder-

ful truths for ourselves-God G A V E

them to us

W e a r e NOT any better than other

people

as

a

result of

God having

given us understanding of His precious

truths-but we should be striving to

PREHENSIBLE TRUTH of

JUST

W H A T

become better

than

uie

used

t o

be

Gods t rue Phi lade lphia Church will

NOT

become exalted, thinking it is

spiritually rich, thinking it has need

of

nothing, and that it knows it

all.

NEITHERill the TRUE Philadelphia

Church of God believe it is

a

wrong

kind of spiritual pride to plainly

SAY

SO when we

KNOW THE

TRUTH

Jesus Christ said,

You .rhall

KNOW

the truth-and the TRUTH shall make

you tree

He promised to send the Holy Spirit

which zcoiild

L E A D

us into all t ruth

God has revealed more

of

His t ruth

to this era of His t rue Church than at

any other time in all history

T r u t h M i x e d W i t h E r r o r

Dont forget that EVERY religion,

whether the weird, twisted, incompre-

hensible mysteries

of

the Orient, or the

modern ideas of Mary

good news 1963 (vol xii no 12) dec

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