Good News 1952 (Vol II No 05) May_w

7/28/2019 Good News 1952 (Vol II No 05) May_w

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o fL LEG EMagazineReoNationalASSADOTheA M B

VOL. II, NUMBER 5 - - - - ~ ~ - - - - -MAY, 1952

What Is the MILLENNIUM?Tbousauds of you hav e heard of the millennium. But do youknow what it is, when it will occur, and where it w il l take place?

By Marion McNairM ILLIONS today are under acurse because they are believinga counterfeit gospel. The apostlePaul pronounced a double curse on anyman or angel who would preach anyother gospel than the one which hepreached (Galatians 1:8, 9) .The truth about the millennium is apart of this ONE true gospel (Acts7.8:31). It's vitally impor tant that weunderstand the meaning of the millennium Jest we be under this curse.Some say we will spend the millennium in heaven. Other s say we will beon earth, du ring which times the deadare resurrected. Many large church denominations believe the millennium tobe this church age. In the Middle Agesit was believed that the mil lennium wasoccurring because Christ, they said, wasruling in the persons of the Pope andthe Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.Amid this confusion-for these doctrines can't all be right-we need theBible answer. Just what does God reveal

about the millennium?Where It Is Mentioned in the BibleI'm sure tha t you have never seen theword "millennium" in your Bible. Yousee, the word "mil lennium" is derivedfrom the Latin and French and simplymeans a thousand vears. Instead of finding the word "millennium," you will readin the scriptures of the "thousand years."

The only scriptures in all the Biblementioning this specific period of timeare in Revelation 20: 1-9. Here we mustfind the answers.

The apostle John sees an angel who"laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, andbound him a thousand years. . . and seta seal upon him, that be sbould. deceivethe nations 1ZO 111 or- , till the thousandyears sboald he fulfilled." (Rev. 20: 2-3)Did you notice that? During the millennium, the devil does not deceive thenations. This church age couldn't be themillennium, because the devil IS STILL

DECEIVING THE NATIONS. The millennium must yet be in the future, and it'sa time when the devil will not be deceiving people any longer.

Notice what else the apostle Johnsays about the thousand years."Blessed and holy is he that hath par tin the first resurrection: on such thesecond death hath no power, but theyshall be priests of God and of Christ,and shall r eign with him a thousand.years" (Rev. 20:6).So the millennium is also a time whenthe saints reign with Christ.WHEN the Millennium Will OccurDid you ever notice before that thosein the first resurrection will reign withChrist a thousand years? (Rev. 20:4).This means that the millennium can' (begin until AFTER the first resurrection,because it is those in the fir.rt resurrec

tion who do the ruling.Now when does the first resurrectionoccur? I Thessalonians 4: 1417 and ICorinthians 15: 52 declare that the firstresurrect ion occurs at the second coming of Christ. "The Lord himself shall

descend from heaven with a shout, withthe voice of the archangel, and with thetrump of God: and the dead in Christshall rise first: Then we which are aliveand remain shall be caught up togetherwith them in the douds to meet theLord in the air." The first resurrectionoccurs "at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall beraised incorruptible, and we shall bechanged."Since the saints do not rise until thesecond coming of Christ, and since theyrule with Christ during the millennium,then the thousand years must occurafter the second coming of Christ, andNOT before. This is vitally impor tantbecause there are some who teach thatJesus does not come until the end ofthe thousand years. But your Bible saysJesus comes at the beginning of thethousand years.But what else happens when the tal ltrump sounds?In Revelation 11:1519, when thelast or seventh trumpet blows, the deadare raised AND "the kingdoms of thisworld are' become the kingdoms of ourLord, and of his Christ; and he shallreign forever and ever."This is when the millennium begins!Christ is start ing to reign and the saintsare already resurrected to rule withChrist. But where shall we rule?

WHERE Will the MillenniumBe Spent?The last phrase of I Thessalonians4: 17 tells us that after we meet the


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Page 2Lord in the air we shall "ever be withthe Lord." Since we shall always bewith Jesus Chr is t, then any scripturethat tells us where Christ will be. willalso explain where we shall be duringthe thousand years. Also a verse thatsays where the saints shall rule duringthe thousand years, explains the placewhere Christ must be ruling, too!Now consider this. In order to reigndur in g the m il le nnium , t he re mus t be

someone for the saints to reign over.Over whom does Chri st gi ve t he saintspower and authority to rule?Not ice Revelat ion 2: 26-27. Jesuspromises: "And he t ha t ove rcometh... will I give power ouer the nations:and he shall RULE t hem with a rod ofiron." So the saints will rule ouer tb enation. And these nations will be ruled

with a rod of iron.In the last days of the kings or rulersof this present civilization. "shall theGod of heaven set up a kingdom, whichshall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people(not to human beings, bu t to the sonsof God), but it shall break in pi ecesand consume all these kingdoms, and itshall stand forever." (Dan. 2: 44 )Notice, that it is " in t he days of thesekings," not a thousand years larer that

God sets up His kingdom under Christ-pICtured by the stone that smote theimage (Dan. 2: 1,4,.15 j - -w l.ich "becamea g reat mountain, and FILLED THEWHOLE EARTH." It doesn't fill heavenBUT IT DOES F iL l. THE EARTH.How absurd to say that these nations

are in heaven' Are the re such sin fu l nati ons in heaven that the saints have torule them with an iron rod? Of coursenot. These are the nations of this earth.If we are ruling the nations of thisearth, then Chr is t must be ruling onthis earth too because we shall alwaysbe with Him.Now lee's find scriptures tell ing us

where Chr is t will rule. In Rev. 3: 21,Jesus said this: "To h im that overcornerh will I grant to sit with me in mythrone. even as I also overcame, and amset down with my Father in His throne."So we will sit with Christ ON HISTHRONE whi le rul ing the nations.At the present moment Christ is sitting on His Father's throne in heaven.( Rev. 3: 21) He is NOT sitting on HiS'own throne. Bur when Jesus leavesheaven (Acts 3: 2 I) to come for thesaints, we are promised a place withHim on His throne. Jesus does notpromise us a place on the Father's thronein heaven, bur a place on His ownthrone, from which we shall rule the nations with a rod of iron.Where will Jesus' throne be?The throne of Je sus Chris t could notbe in beuaen, If Jesus' throne were

The GOOD NEWSthe Father's throne. in heaven, then Hewould not need his own throne becauseHe is a lready sitting on the Father'sthrone. But what throne will Jesushave?Gabriel said, as recorded in Luke1:30-33, that Jesus "sha ll be gr ea t, andshall be cal led the Son of the Highest :and the Lord God shall give unto him

the throne of his father David: and heshall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall beno end ."So Jesus' throne wil l be the throne ofDavid. David's throne is on this earth!(Jer. 33:17.) The Father's throne is inheaven. During the millennium, we shallsit with Chr is t on the throne of Davidand rul e the nations of this ear th .Not only will Christ rule over thehouse of Jacob forever, as Gabriel said,

bu t it is also written: "Thou art my son;thi s day have I begotten thee . Ask of me,and I shall give t hee the heathen forthine inheritance, and the uttermostparts of the earth for thy possession.Thou shalt break them with a rod ofiron; thou sha lt da sh them in pieceslike a potter's vessel." (Psalm 2:7-9)Here the Psalmist says that JesusChrist, the Son of God, will do the very

same things that He promised we shalldo. Of course, for we shall rule WITHHIM and carry our His will and autbor ity over the nation This is the t imes ofrestitution of all things (Acts 3:21) ,when bl indness wil l be removed fromIsrael (Romans 11:25-26), and whent he E te rnal sets his hand the secondtime to recover the remnant of His people. (Isaiah 11: 11) This is when theKingdom wi ll be restored to Israel andwhen Christ shall rule the house of.Jacob on the th rone of David. (Acts1:6).I f all t he se scr ipture s are not proofenough that we shall reign with Christon ibis earth, and not in heaven, duringthe millennium, then turn to Revela-tion 5: 10. Here a song is sung abourthe saints. Christ has redeemed u s you and me-"out of every kindred, andtongue, and people, and nation; and hastmade us unto our God kings and priests:AND WE SHALL REIGN ON THE EARTH."Here it is in the plainest of language.We shall reign, no t in heaven, bu t onthe earth. Do you believe what the Biblesays?HOW and WHEN Jesus Returnsto EarthIn Acts 1:9-11 the account of Jesus '

depar tu re n ineteen hundred years agois given. "While they beheld, he wastaken up; and a cloud received himour of their sight. And while theylooked steadfastly toward heaven as hewent up, behold, two men . . . said. Ye

May, 1952men at Galilee, why stand ye gazing upinto heaven? This same Jesus, which istaken up from you into heaven, shall JOcome in like manner a.r ye have seenhim go into heaven."How did Jesus leave? He ascended

from the Mount of Olives and was received by the douds of heaven. And I Ieis going to rerum in like manner. Let'sfind a scripture explaining this.In Revelation 19 we read that, at thesecond coming of Chr is t, all nat ions aregathered to battle against Jerusalem.This same time, the second coming ofChrist, is described in Zechariah 14: 1-)It is in the day of the Lord when all nat ion s are warring against Jerusalem."THEN shall the Lord go forth, andfight against those nations . . . AND

HIS FEET SHALL STAND IN THAT DAYUPON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES." (Zech14:3,4)Notice it, Jesus is coming in the

douds of heaven (Rev. 1: 7) and shallfight against the nations AND HIS FEETSHALL STAND IN THAT DAY UPONTHE MOUNT OF OLIVES which is onthis earth. It does not say that Jesus wilstand on the Mount a thousand yearslater, but in that day as He returns toreceive the throne of Dav id and to rulethe nations with a rod of iron.

lI e Remains ON TIlE EARTIIWhen Jesus returns to ea rth , we wi lbe with Him-we will "ever be with

rhe Lord." He comes in th e clouds othis earth's atmosphere wherein we meeHim and then we accompany Him toibis earth. That is where we shall be.But some con tend that we return toheaven irnmediatelv. The Bible nowhere leaches any ~ u c h doctrine. Let'continue reading what Zechariah wrote"And it shall be in that day (noriceit is still the same day, not seven yearor a thousand years later), that livinwaters (salvation) shall go out fromJerusalem .. . in summer and in winteshall it be. And the Lord shall be kinover ALL THE EARTH . . . and the lanshall be turned as a plain .. . AND IN

HABITED . . . And men shall dwell iit, and there shall be no more utter destruction; bur Jerusalem shall be safelinhabited." (Zecharrah 14:8-11)In the day tha t Chr is t returns, northousand years later, bur in that verday, when the nations that battleagainst Jerusalem are subdued, t he lanshall be inhabited and MEN SHALL LIVTHERE. And the Gentile nations aftetheir entire armies have been destroye(Zech. 14:12-15), shall come to servJesus Christ. "And it shall come to pasthat everyone that is l ef t of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shaeven go up from year to year to worshPlease continue on page]a


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What Will YOU Be Liketn the Resurrection?

New Rocly fo r New WorkThe OlJ1'STANI'!NG D1FFERENCE between the body we now have and the

one we u.i]! have is tha t whi le thi s oneis a natural or mortal body the one weshall have will be a different, a SPIRIT-UAL BODY: "I t is sown a natural body;it is raised a Spi4'itual body." (I Corinthians 15:44 ). If we are alive at thetime of the resurrection, our mortalbodies will be changed just l ike an eggbecomes, or is changed into a chick. I fwe have died, our character comes forthout of th e dust in a spiritual body whichGod gives through Hi s Holy Spirit fromheaven (I I Cor. 5: 2). This is a differentkind of resurrection than to mortal lifeas desc ribed in Ezek, 37.Also we read: "The wind blowethwhere it l is terh, and thou hearest thesound thereof, but canst not tell whenceit cometh, and whither it goeth; so iseveryone that is born of the Spirit." (John3: 8 ). Spirit is not sub jeer to physicallaws because it is not matter,Jesus Christ could SUDDENLY APPEAR:" -and as they thus spoke , Jesus h imsel f s tood in the midst of them and saithunto them, Peace be unto you. But theywere terri fied.. : ." (Luke 24: 36-37).He also had the ability to VANISH

after he was resurrected: ''. . . and hevanished out of s ight ." (Luke 24: 3I) .We shall be able to PASS THROUGHBARRlERS or walls as Christ did: "Thenthe same day at evening . . . WHEN

and I, who are made of the same MORTALFLESH which Christ took on himse lf byhaving Mary as his mother (Heb, 2: 14) ,may also receive the gift, or, in otherwords, BE BEGOTTEN OF, the Holy Spirit ' WHAT DOES THIS MEAN( IT MEANSthat when von and 1 are resurrected,CHRIST BECOMES OUR ELDEST BROTHERill the SPIRIT FAMII.Y of GOD. for all havethe same FATHER, ai l are begotten ofthe same SPIRIT-COll'S SPIRIT-and allare born into the same FAMILY' (Romans 8:29; Hebrews 2:11, 12)IT MEANS that as Christ will be ourelder brother tbcn, YOU and [ WILLHAVE THE SAME KIND OF BODY THATHEHAS' "We shall be like him." ( l John3:2)

What kind of body wil l we have? It will be ofa different TYPE and for a different PURPOSEthan you have probably imagined!

By Dr. C. P. MeredithSPIRIT shall come upon thee, and thePOWER of the highest shall over-shadowthee: therefore that holy thing whichshall be born of thee shall be called theSON OF GOD." (Luke 1:35).

The ange l said to Joseph, Mary's husband: "... fear not to take unto theeMary thy wife: for that which is CONCEIVED (o r BEGOTTEN) is of the HOLYSPIRIT."Two things happened here: Christ

was begotten as a mortal man and PHYS-ICAL BIRTH took place short ly thereafter-AND-he was also BEGOTTEN BY THEHOLY SPIRIT at that time.At the end of his physical life he d ieda PHYSICAL DEATH in the place of allmortal men who would have died forthe ir own sin, BUT-at bis resurrectionhe was born AGAIN-this time a SPIF'-ITUAL BIRTH because he had been IJe-gotten by the Holy Sp'"it. This time hewas born i nt o the SPIRIT FAMILY ofGOD with a SPIRITUAL BODyl (I Cor. 15:44, 45)."-Except a man be BORN AGAIN he

cannot see (o r enter) the k i n ~ d o m (o rfamily) of God." (]ohn '): 3, 5) . "Itis sown a natural body; it is raised aspiritual body." ( l Cor. 15:44). "Fleshand blood cannot inherit the kingdom ofGod" (I Cor. 15: 50). ' 'That which isborn of flesh is flesh; and that which isborn of Spirit is spiri t." (John 3:6) .Christ' s physical body, which did notcorrupt, was changed into spirit like thatof the Father. God is spirit (John 4: 24).

Christ Our BrotherIt was the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD, pu t

there by t he Fathe r at Chr is t' s humanbegettal and dwelling in Christ, by whichthe FATHER resurrected him with animmortal SPIRITUAL BODY and he haspromised to give you and me t'he samereward IF we now let God beget us withthe impregnating germ of eternal life,His Holy Spirit!"... if the Spirit of him that raisedup Jesus f rom the dean nwell in you, hethat raised up Christ from the dead shallalso quicken your morta l bodies by theSpirit that dwellerh in you." (Romans8: 11). To "quicken" is to make eternally alive!By repenting and being baptized, YOU

Family BeginningNow notice, very carefully, the BEGET-TAL of the FATHER'S VERY FIRSTSON, who would later, after his physicaldeath, be born into the FAMILY OF GOD!

The angel, speaking to Mary concerningChrist's future birth, said, "The HOLY

Family of GoaGOD, the FATHER, has desired toform for himself, and from his very

being, a FAMILY of immortal childrenwho will be partakers of his own dninenature (I I Peter 1:4 and Psalms 17: 15 ) ,and who can be t rusted with great powerand on whom he can lavish his love bysharing with them all that he has created. THIS FAMILY will compose theKINGDOM OF GOD because you must behorn of God to enter it.

Being a God of order, he has establ ished laws which mankind must obeyill order to be admitted to t hi s family.We must JhoUJ, in advance, ou r willing-ness to be obedient to Him by havingthese laws written in ou r hearts andminds (I I Cor. 3:3).If we are not obedient, then we sin( l John 3: 4), and the wages of sin isestab li shed as death (Romans 6:23 ) .Eternal death! "ALL have sinned andcome shan of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23 ) -ALL of morta l mankindthat God ever made were doomed todie'Most certainly th er e could be noFAMILY of GOD formed from these mortal people if they were to be dead for-ever.'It was at this point that the WORD,

who was soon to become the SON ofGOD, sacrificed the GLORY of being Godto BECOME FLESH AND BLOOD JUSTLIKE YOU AND I, (Hebrews 2: 14), sohe could die in place of us for our sins.No wonder we owe so much to Christ'

I F YOU could examine the kind ofbody you will have when you areresurrected lO iuunorraliry, it wouldclear up a great many questions in yourmind, would it not?SOMEONE HAS ALREADY ACQUIREDTHE SAME TYPE OF BODY THAT YOUWILL HAVE and that pe rson is JESUSCHRIST'


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Page 4 The GOOD NEWS May, 1952

Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and Editor

Sent free on personal request, as theLord provides. Address cornmunications to the Editor. Box l l l , Pasadena.California. .

'The national magazine ofAMBASSADOR COLLEGE

ministering to The Church ot Godscattered abroad, andreporting 011 campus happenings

death, we go at once to heaven, and liearound in idleness and ease, does it? NO!And the Bible DOES NOT teach it!(Zechariah l-lrh Chapter). We willhave work to do according to the PLANREVEALED ONLY IN THE BIBLE! Weshall be teachers visibly manifested tohuman beings (Isaiah 30: 20). Withbodies that can do without food orshelter and which can travel so rapidlythose called now can accomplish an immense amount in guiding large numbersof peop le and in governing the universe with God!

Glorified BodiesWe have now seen that OUR BODIES

are to be resurrected as SPIRITUAL bodies(I Corinthians 15: 44), and that we wilbe able to change into physical FLESHand BONE (Luke 24: 39) in differentforms (Mark 16:12).But there is .romething else that is

going to happen to OUR SPIRITUALBODIEs-someth ing that Chr is t considered VERY IMPORTANT! Notice whaChrist said to the FATHER in finishingHis work here on this earth!"I have glorified Thee on the earth:I have finished the work which Thougavest me to do. And now, 0 FatherGLORIFY THOU ME WITH THINE OWNSELF with th e GLORY WHICH I HADWITH THEE BEFORE THE WORLD WAS."(John 17:5) .Christ said "I have GLORIFIED THEE..." How? In raising people from thedead, healing, and performing miracleshe had GLORIFIED GOD by showing to

man ONLY A PART of GOD'S GREATPOWER! Soon Chr is t was going to beback with the FATHER again and helooked forward to being RESTORED tothe GREAT POWER HE ONCE HAD! TOBEGLORIFIED MEANSTOBEGIVEN POWERAND GLORY!BUT what has that to do with us?GOD IS GOING TO GLORIFY YOU andME ALso-going to GIVE YOU and MEGREAT POWER! "The Spirit i tself beareth witness wit h ou r spirit, tha t w e areCHILDREN OF GOD: and if children, thenheirs of God and JOINT-HEIRS WITHCHRIST; if :so be that we suffer withh im tha t WE (You and I ) MAYBE ALSOGLORIFIED TOGETHER. (Romans 8: 17and II Cor. 3: 18). This prospect leaveus breathless, yet there it is in your ownBIBLE! Read it! God has promised it andHEWILL DO IT! (I Cor. 15:43).This power we sha ll have will be .rgreat that it will MAKE OUR SPIRIBODIES SHINE as the SUN and our rai

ment be white as th e light. Jesus ga'Ye ua f leet ing glimpse of thi s future condition when he was transfigured whilPeter , James , and john looked on: "..till they see the Son of man coming inPlease continue on page 15

OTHER STATIONSWAIT--ehicago-820 on dial- l :00P.M. Sundays.KMAC-San Antonio---630 on dial-7:00 P.M. Sundays.KLEE-Houston---610 on dial, 10:00P.M. Sun. and 7:30 P.M.Mon. thru Sat.

HEARD ON PACIFIC COAST:XERB--50,ooo watts-l090 on dial- 7 :00 P.M. every night.XEDM-1580 on dial, every night,II :00 P.M. Pacific Coast time.KALI-Los Angeles-1430 on dial7:30 A.M. every morning.KXL-Portland-lO,OOO watts. 750on dia l - 2:30 P.M., Sundays.KVI-SeattleTacoma-570, first ondial-l0:30 P.M. Sundays.

TO THE NATION & CANADA:XERF-1570 on your dial (ex tremetop of dial) every Sundaynight, 7: 15 P.M. CentralStandard time.XEG-l050 on your dial, every night,8 :00 P.M. Central Standardtime.XELO-RIIO on ynur dial, every night,9 :00 P.M. Central Standardtime. (8 :00 Mountain Standard time.)XEFW-81O on dial, every night,9 :00 P.M., and et'ery morning,6 :30 A.M. (hea rd in Easternstates one hour later ).

Herbert W. Armstrong analyzes today's news, wit h the prophecies ofThe WORLD TOMORROW!

"The WORLD TOMORROW"RADIO LOG

hence flesh and bone; but one physical,the other spiritual. We will not changeinto flesh and blood because the l ife weshall have is not from th e blood bu tfrom the Spirit of God. (Lev. 17: 11;John 6:63; II Cor. 3:6).Now , what about the WORK we areto do in th e 1000 years of Christ' s and

ou r rule HERE ON THIS EARTH (ReveIation 20: 4 and Isaiah 11 chapter), inrelation to these new, powerful bodieswhich are like Jesus' and the Father's.We. know that we shall be JUDGES

(Revelation 20: 1-4), and PRIESTS(Revelation 20: 6), and RULERS (Revelation 20: 4) of God and Christ on thisearth (Revelation 5: 10) . To govern allthe great number of human beings, whoat t ha t t ime will need guidance (Isaiah2:1-5,9:6-7; Jeremiah 31:1-9) so thatthey can also be begotten and be borninto the FAMILY OF GOD, we will certainly need t he k ind of body that Christand the Father possess (Isaiah 40: 28 and31) .This certainly does no t say that, at

NUMBER 5OL. I I

Herman L. Hoeh, Executive EditorRaymond Cole, Marion McNair,Raymond McNair, Norman Smith

Associate EditorsOwen Smith. Campus Editor

Kenneth Herrmann, Science EditorDick Armstrong, Picture EditorRod Meredith, Sports Editor

THE DOORg WEl{E SHUT where the disciples were assembled for fea r of the Jews,came Jesus and stood in the midst. ... "( John 20 :19).We will be able to TRAVEL RAPIDLY

through space. In John 20: 17 Christsays: "Touch me not for I am no t yetascended to my Father. . . ." Now notethat on the same day Christ had beenable to travel to t he Fat he r and r etu rn :"And as they went to tell his d isciples ,behold; Jesus me t them, saying All hai l.And they came and held him by th e feet"(Matt. 28:9).The eating of FOOD will not be necessary although we may eat fo r p leasur eas did Jesus with his disciples (Luke24:41-43), and , of course, NO SHELTERwil l be necessary.When desirable. we will be able toCHANGEinca a BODY of PHYSICAL FLESHAND BONE SO mortal eyes can see us:". .. Jesus himself stood in the m ids tof them (after the crucifixion) . . .

bu t they were terrified and supposed thatthey had seen a spirit ... and he said. . . Behold my hands and my feet, thati/ is 1 my.relf: handle me and see; fora spiri t hath no t /le.rh ,mei bones, AS yesee me have." (Luke 24:36-39). A spirithas flesh and bones. bu t it is .rpiritualflesh and bones, composed of spirit, no tphy.ricalAS th e disciples saw Jesus. Sinceman is in th e image of God, both manand God must have form and shape,


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The History and TruthAbout Pentecost!IVhat is the REAL ORIGIN o f Pentecost? If/here did Catholics,Lutherans and others get the custom of obsen'ing "PentecostSunday" each year? Does God command us to observe Pentecost?

By Herman L. HoehI T IS AN almost universal belief thatthe New Testament Church wasfounded on Sunday. Probably eachof us has heard from childhood, too, thatthe coming of the Holy Spiri t originazedth e day of Pentecost .Have you really investigated the Bible and hi story to see if these doc tr ine sreally came from Scripture?Did the New Tes tamen t Church

really begin on Sunday? What does theBible say about the origin of Pentecost?Here for the first time are the startling facts which prove that the NewTesrarnenr Church was NOT founded onSunday, that Pentecost did NOT originatewhen the Holy Spirit came into thedisciples, that the day of Pentecost didNOT occur fifty days a ft er the resurrection of Jesus.In this arti cle you will learn that theinspired true church, under the guidance of the apostles, observed the correct day of Pentecost annually; and howthe apostate universal- church thoughtto CHANGE THE DAY OF PENTECOSTwhich most Protestants have totally forgotten.Yes, I know you haven't he ard t hetruth about Pentecost from th e averagepulpit, bu t it's time for you to get thechance to learn the truth which has beenhidden from you for centuries . So let'sunderstand the real meaning of Pentecost which is parr of the fai th once delivered to the saints.Pentecost Centuries Before A.D. 31In writing the book of Acts, Lukegives us this significant statement: "And

when the day of Pentecost was fullycome, they (the disciples) were allwith one accord in one place." Noticethat in this first verse of Ac ts 2, th e dayof Pentecost WAS ALREADY FULLYCOME and the disciples WERE ill one accord BEFORE t he Holy Spi ri t descendedinto them that day.This account proves that Pentecostexisted BEFORE the Holy Spi ri t cameon that day in AD. 31. Also notice that

t he re were thousands of devout Jewsgathered together in Jemsalem fo r thisday. (Acts 2:5-12) These J ews did notcome to receive the Holy Spirit. They

were unconverted, bu t devout men, whowere not as yet the disc iples of Jesusand who did not yet know the way ofsalvation. They had to ask Pete r, "Whatshall we do?" (Acts 2:37)Now, WHY were all these people

gathered together on this day!To understand, we must know the

meaning of the word Pentecost. It isfrom a Greek word and means "countfifty." All scholars and Bible studentsknow that Pentecosr-i-roz-ez liftye-ismerely the Greek name for one of theannual holy days God revealed to thechildren of Israel. Pelouber's Bible Dictionary says: "Pentecost, that is, thefif tieth day .. or Harvest Feast, orFeast of Weeks." It was also called theFestival of First Fruits and was appointed each year by Wll11lillg fifly days fromthe day the wave sheaf was offered. (Lev.23: 11,15)So the origin of Pentecost was not atthe coming of th e Holy Spiri t in A.D.31, bu t over fifteen hundred years before that time! It was to cel ebrate thisfestive day, that devout Jews from manylands, as well as the disciples of Jesus.had assembled at Jerusalem.Instead of abolishing the day of Pentecost, or feast of first fruits, or Hisdeath, as you have been falsely told by

many churches, Christ told His disciplesto be in Jerusalem that day so that theymight receive the Holy Spirit, the divine power of God. (Aces 1:4) Godhonored His day of first fruits (Ex.23: 16; Deur. 16: 10) or Pentecost , byg iv ing the first fruits of His Spirit tothose that obey Him. (Acts 5: 32 )We shall soon see the spec ial reason

why God sent the Spirit thi s day andalso the special meaning of the day ofPentecost FOR US TODAY!Pentecost in th e New Testament

ChurchWhen originally given by God, theday of Pentecost was commanded to beobserved forever. (Lev. 23: 21 ) Jesus

never abolished Pentecost nor any ofthe o the r annual Holy Days. The dayof Pen tecost DID OCCUR afler Cbrist'sdeath that year as Luke records.None of these annual festivals had

burnt offerings or sacrifices on themwhen originally instituted. (Jeremiah7 :22,23) The sacrifices were added tothese days and to every day of the year(Exodus 29: 38) as a pnt of the serviceof the Levitical priesthood.When the sacrifices and offeringswere consurnared in rhe death of Christonce for all, these usual otTerings ceasedto be made for tbc conscience (Heb,

9:13,14) by those who were convert edand who believed in Christ. But thecommand tha t Pentecos t be observed[orei-er as a Sabbath and convocationstill remained. (Lev. 23: 21 ) That iswhy the apostles and disc iples werega the red togethe r with all the devoutJews on thi s occasion. I f the discipleshad not gathered on this day which wassacred 10 God, Iber If'lltld not have beenthere to receire the ,A t of God, HisSpirit.Even after the Holy Spiri t came,Pentecost did no t cease. Inst ead of be

ing a memorial of the material harvestof the first f ru it of the land alone, Pentecost, or the Festival of Harvest or Fir stFruits, had now a greater meaning. I tbecame a memorial also of the first fruitsof the Holy Spiri t which makes possiblethe firs: harvest of human beings forthe Kingdom of God.Not only did t he J ewish Christians

know this, bu t also Paul, the apostle tothe Gentiles, understood that this annual Sabbath was still commanded byGod for His spiritual church. He "determined to sail by Ephesus, because hewould not spend the t ime in Asia: forhe hasted, if it were possible for him,to be at Jerusalem the day of PenseCOJt." (Acts 20: 16)Paul, the teacher of the Gentiles,wanted to keep Pentecost thirty yearsafter the death of Christ!At another time Paul spent the day ofPen tecost in Ephesus , a Gentile city. (ICor. 16:8) Yes, Pentecost, together

with the other annual festivals, was observed by all those of t he tru e originalchurch which was under divine instruction from the apostles. (Acts 18:21;12:3; 20:6; 27:9; I Cor. 5:8; 11:2034 ) Gentiles received the praise ofPaul for following the churches of God


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Page (iin Judaea-the Jewish brethren. (IThess, 2: 14)

Pentecost Centuries After A.D. 31With the death of the apostles, agreat change occurred, which most ofyOIl have never been rold about. A terrible apostacy set in among the churchesof God. Paul warned the Ephesians with

whom he observed Pentecost, as wehave already' seen, that "after my depart ing shall grievous wolves ente r inamong you, not sparing the flock. Alsoof your own selves shall men arise,Jpeaking perverse things, to draw disciples after them." (Acts 20:29,30) "Forthe time will come when they will notendure sound doctrine; but after theirown lusts shall they heap to themselvesteachers, having i tching ears; and theyshall turn away their ears from the truth,and shall be turned unto fables." (2Tim. 4:3)Here is the place Paul warned Chris

tians about the very fables that most ofyou have been taught since childhoodby an apostate Christianity.By the time Jude wrote his epistle,the fables of which Paul warned had already started. He exhorts: "you shouldearnestly contend for the faith whichwas once delivered unto the saints. Forthere arc certain men crept in unawares." (Jude 3,4) There were bothJewish and Gentile deceivers as weshall see.Almost every church history will contain the information proving that manyChristians of Jewish parentage returnedto the tradition of the elders. (Titus1 : 10) This tradition was not the trueOld Testament practice, but the fablesand errors of the uninspired Jewishteachers who made the law of God ofno effect (Mark 7: 13) Because of tradition, the Jews kept the passover a daylate, as they do to this day. (John18:28) The Jews ALTERED the day onwhich Pentecost should fall, making italways the sixth day of the thi rd monthof the sacred calendar. Later they alsoaltered Pentecost into two days. TheJewish Encyclopedia gives all the information on the beginnings of these"feasts of the Jews" as the apostle Johnspoke of them.Since the Jews attempted to pervertthe days of God by their traditions,WHAT ABOUT THE GENTILES? Didthey adhere to the truth of the Bible,or did they corrupt the teachings of theaposrles and change the day of Pentecost, too?Remember, the Gentile Christians inthe original inspired church observedPentecost as we have seen. Therefore ,we will naturally expect some PROOFIN LATER HISTORY that the churcheither kept this day pure or changed it.

The GOOD NEWS1 the Gentiles NEVER kept this day,as you have so often heard from the pulpits of the land, then we should NOTexpect to find any record of Gentilechurches observing a "Pentecost:' Whatare the facts?How Pentecost Was Changed

The following extracts from historiesobtainable at most libraries PROVETHAT THE EARLIESTGENTILE CHURCHESDID KEEP PENTECOST! These recordsspeak of keeping Pentecost-a Pentecost that was changed in the immediateyears that followed the death of thelast aposrles. This Pentecost, so-called,had become corrupted with SUN WORSHIP. It always fell on Sunday, the sameas the pagan Easter subst ituted for thepassover. (For the t ru th about Easter,wri te for Mr. Armstrong's free booklet"Easter Is Pagan.")Here is a plain statement of Hasting'sDictionary of the Bible, article "Penrecost":"In the Christ ian Church the importance of Pentecost was continued andits significance emphasized by the Outpouring of the Spirit on that day (Acts2). The day of the week on that occasion is TRADITIONALLY representedas Sunday . . . Wieseler (Chron. d.Aposl. Zeitalter, p. 20) plausibly suggeStS that the fes tival was fixed on Sunday by the later Western Church to correspond with Easter."Among the early Jewish Christ iansobservance of the Hebrew feasts continued, doubtless with fresh significancederived from the new revelation."Let's notice these statements. Pentecost was continued in the early trueChristian Church. It is TRADITION, notRevelation, that places Pentecost onSunday according to Wieseler. Later inthis article we shall prove from the Biblethat Pentecost can NEVER occur on Sunday!Now let us also take note of theCatholic Encyclopedia,"Whitsunday, or Pentecost, a feast ofthe universal Church which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Ghostupon the Apostles, fifty days af ter theResurrection of Christ, on the ancientJewish festival called the "feast ofweeks" or Pentecost . . . Whitsunday,as a Christian feast, dates back to thefirst century, a lthough there is no evidence that it was observed, as there is inthe case of Easter; the passage in I Co

rinthiam (16:8) probably refers to theJewisb feast."Here is one of the plainest admissionsthat the Pentecos t observed by Gentileconverts, as the Bible records in I Corinthians 16: 8, was NOT THE SAME as the"Christian" feast which later developedin the universal church. It was the Bibli-

May, 1952cal Pentecost incorrectly named "Jewish" because most authors don't knowthat Jewish tradition has altered and rejeered the true Bible Pentecost.Another fact we glean from this statement is that there is NO RECORD OUTSIDE THE BIBLE that Genti les continued to observe the true day. But theFACT that there are records of a falseday corroborates the Bible by indicatingthat the Genti les or iginal ly kept thetrue, but after the death of the apostles,it was perverted. If no day had been observed originally, there would have beenno Pentecost to alter. .Before we proceed further, we wantto catch the erroneous statement thatPentecost occurred fifty days after theresurrection. We shall later notice exactly how many days later Pentecostreally did occur.

Early Confusion Among CatholicsAbout PentecostAs usual, with the introduct ion of error wholesale, there is always a periodof ad justment until the error is finallyestablished. We not ice just such a situation in early Catholic records beforetheir Pentecost or Whitsunday was firmly established. Bingham's Antiquities ofthe Christian Church, page 1157, 1158,says:"The next great festival was that ofPentecost, which is taken in a doublesense among the ancients. For sometimes it signifies the whole space offifty days between Easter and Whitsuntide .. . In the former acceptation Ter

tullian speaks of it, when he tells theChristians . . . That Pentecost was alarge space of time APPOINTED BY THECHURCH for adminis tering of bapt ism. . . And hence it became a standingrule over the whole church to read theActs in these fifty days Of Pentecost, asappears from many other places ofChrysostom, Austin, Cassian, and thefourth council of Toledo."In his On Fasting, Chapter XIV, Tertullian says this: "Our solemnities toowill be bound to be new: else, if theapostle has erased all devotion absolutely ... why do we celebrate the passover by an annual rotation in the firstmonth? Why in the fifty ensuing daysdo we spend our t ime in all exul tation?"(From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, pp.I l l -I l2.) Obviously, Tertullian recognized that the Apostle Paul did NOTabolish all these days.At other times, Pentecost was used tomean the specific day chat ended theseason of fifty days, dur ing which "thenewly-baptized wore the ir white andshining garments"-hence, Whitsunday.At one time the confusion over the dayof Pentecost led the Council of Elvira,Please continue on page 14


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Is Water Baptism Necessary?Are tbere condit ions tbat we must performbefore we can receive the gift of eternal life?

By Burk McNair

"W HAT shall 1 do ro have mysins forgiven and to be reconciled to God?" That questionis being asked us by hundreds of peoplewho never before have been mentally andspiritually at ease. Perhaps you aim havecome to this place in life where you sincerely desire to be reconciled to Godand to learn His way? Just HOW to beforever relieved of the crushing load ofpast mistakes in your life!What you need to do is free yourmind of pre judice and open your Bible.The apostle Peter was once r.sked:

"What shall we do to be forgiven?"Where did he find the will of God? Inthe teachings of the sects of his day?Nor at all. Peter went to the teachingof Jesus and that 's exactly what you willhave to do.Be nor "unwise. but understand whatthe will of the Lord is." (Ephesians5: 17) His will is expressed in all theBible. Christians are to "live by everyword of God." (Luke 4: 4 )So you can know what you MUST doto be saved from sin and to inherit eternal life, let's begin with the inspiredwords of Peter In Aces 2: 38, 39. He wasasked, "What shall we do?" by honest,sincere people who were regretting theirevil deeds and who wanted to ht' recori-ciled with God. "Then Peter said untothem, repent AND BE BAPTIZED everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christfor the remission of sins."Here's the answer. The Bible makesbaptism, together with repentance, oneof the essentials to conversion and salvat ion. It is a commanded outward symbol of your inward faith and belief inJesus Chris t who reconciles you to theFather. Other texts say it is also necessary to "believe that Jesus Christ is theSon of God" who died in your stead foryour sins. (Acts 8:37)

Method of BaptismJesus Christ set us an example thatwe should follow in His steps (I Peter2: 21). Although Jesus had never sinned,He taas baptized by John in the river

Jordan to set us an example. "And Jesus,when he was baptized, w en t u p straightway out of the water," (Matthew 3:16)Notice tha t Jesus went up out of thewater. He had to be in the water to goup ou t of it. I t is absurd to think of aperson coming up out of a sprinkle!Common sense, a little studious ef-

forr, and HONESTY will show us that"baptize" does not mean "sprinkle" or"pour." l.ook up the word in any reliable concordance that lists the Greekmeanings. "Baptize" is a Greek wordthat literally means: to IMMERSE, toplunge into, to put into. It has no resemblance to sprinkling or pouringwhatsoever!I f you have been "sprinkled" or"poured," you have NOT been baptized.These two false substitutes for baptismare both meaningless. The true meaningof bapt ism has been perverted and substitute methods are being employed

which do not in any way symbolizeGod's purpose. Romans 6: 3-8 shows usthe symbolical meaning of true baptism- t ha t we are "buried" with Christ bybapt ism. Sprinkl ing and pouring areblse, counterfeit forms because they donot picture a burial.The foregoing passage shows that weare to "bury" our old "self" when wearc baptized. Our former selfwill is tobe figuratively crucified with Christ(verse 6), "that henceforth we shouldnot serve sin."I f you would like the ent ire subjectof baptism completely explained, writefor the free booklet "Water Baptism:'Some may think they have been qui terighteous through their own humanpower. Bur Romans 3:23 tells us, "Forall have sinned and come short of theglory of God." We should realize that

our human righteousness will never standup under severe trial and test. We musthave the character of our HeavenlyFather.Repentance Before Baptism

So as Peter said, baptism IS a prerequisite to salvation. Bur before you areto be bapt ized , you must repent . Whatis repentance?

It is wholehearted turning away fromsin-forsaking what you naturally wantto do, and to go, instead, in the directionin which God is going, which bringshappiness. Most people refuse to repentuntil they have become sick of the waythey have been l iving and thinking. Instead of refus ing to change your ways,do as Isaiah said: "Seek ye the Lordwhile he may be found, call ye upon himwhile he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous manhis thoughts : and let t hem retu rn untothe Lord . . . for he will abundantly

pardon." (Isaiah 55:6,7)You are to repent of sin, so you mustfirst know what sin is. In I John 3:4 weread that "SIN is the transgression of thelaw." That's what sin is! It is breakingGod's commandments, not men's commandments nor the teachings of churchauthorities.To repent of sin, you must tu rn awayfrom human t raditions which violateGod's laws and which have so muchweight of unhappiness upon yourself.Your conscience will probably not always agree with God about sin becauseyour conscience hurts only when youhave done what yo think is wrong.Not by conscience, but "by the law isthe knowledge of sin." (Rom, 3: 20)The consciences of men differ and changewith rime and place according to theideas of a society which is cut olI fromGod. It is not the standards you havelearned from society bur the standardsof God tha t you must follow.Breaking the Father's laws has causedthe very things that have brought youunhappiness and suffering to this verymoment. That's why God io His lovewants you to quit travelling the road thatin the end leads to sorrow and finallydeath. Perhaps for years you have un-knowingly been a slave to siu. But nowif you REPENT, and are BAPTIZED, youcan receive the very nature and love ofGod by the Holy Spirit which will enable you to live a happy-and more abundant life. Even though you may meetopposition and troubles outside, they arenot to be compared to the peace of Godand inward freedom from sin that comesfrom repentance, belief, and baptism.

How to Become a Son o fGodYou must be totally willing to sub

mit to God's perfect will as expressedin His laws-willing to serve Him as aloving Jon each time you come to understand His will. But you can't be ason of the Heavenly Father unless youare led by the Spirit of God. (Romans8: 14) The Spiri t will lead you according to the Bible, not contrary to it. Itwill open your mind so you can graspthe mean ing of Scr ipture as never be-fore. But you can' t receive the Spi rit ofGod unless you are FIRST baptized. "Bebaptized ... and you shall receive thegift of the Holy Spiri t." (Acts 2: 38)The Holy Spirit is a GIFT. You needPlease continue on page 13


8/16

Here Are Factsabout Our Radio Studio

Y OLJ LISTEN to Mr, Armstrong'svoice. But how much do youknow about the actual means bywhich it reaches your ears?You probably never thought aboutthe mechanical operations involved,Your

mind is on what he is saying. I wouldlike to introduce you to the operationof a vital department here from whichyou have been benefiting. I t transmitsMr. Armstrong's voice to you.This is not a technica l explanation ofhow radio works. It is merely a little ofthe funct ion of our broadcast s tudio in

bringing "The World Tomorrow" intoyour home.As Mr. Armstrong exp la ined in a recenr program he first started broadcasting on a small station in Eugene, Oregon. Only a very small number of peopIt' could hear him. But today, by thi smiracle of radio, mill ions of you receivethe true Message of God simultaneously.

A Modern WonderToday modern electronic equipmentamplifies, records, and re-creates his voicein its exact true sound, so the millionshear it at once. It IS truly a modern won

der.After a period of broadcasting only onthis small station in Eugene , Oregon,the very smallest network was arranged

to broadcasr rhe program over equallysmall stations in Salem and Portland,Oregon. Then this network was extended to include s tations in Seat tle and Spokane. From rhat very small 100-watts ta tion, in Portland the program wen ton a 1,000 watt station, then later toOregon's most powerful station, 10,000watts of power. Meanwhile the programwent to one of the strongest stations inSear tie. In 1942 a Hollywood station wasadded, then after a year of broadcast ingon WHO in Iowa, and two years onWOAI in Texas, both 50,000 watts , thegreat, giant 150,000-watt super-powerMexican s tations were added. Today,"The World Tomorrow" program is oneof the most powerful and far-reachingradio programs on the air.

Many Unseen HandsTo transmit Mr. Armstrong's vOICewith God's Message to so many millionsof you, in all parts of North America,is in itself a large enterprise. While itis only Mr. Armstrong's voice you hear,many other men are having an unseen

By Norman A. Smithand unheard part in bringing that precious Message to so many ears.So I thought you would be interestedin having me take you behind the scenesand show yOli what goes on that younever hear or see.First, I might explain that in a senseyOli never hear the actual voice of aspeaker or s inger over the radio-although in another sense you do. Thespeaker is talking in front of a microphone, which is super-sensitive to thevibrations of sound. From the microphone in the studio these vibrationswhich we call the voice are transmittedinstantaneously over wires into the cont rol -room panel in the adjoining room,separated from the studio by doubleglass windows. The voice is amplif ied(made louder) and transmitted throughand from this electronic equipment inone of two ways-either di rect to rad iostations over special broadcast lines andout over the airways or into electricalrranscr ip t ions and sound tape where itis recorded.

Two Ways of TransmissionI said that in a sense you never hearthe actual voice of the speaker. What

you hear, technically, is the vibrationwhich was caused by the human voicebefore the microphone as thi s vibrationcomes out of the loudspeaker on yourradio set. This vibration takes on otherforms than that of an audible voice before it reaches you, forms that you can' tsee or hear. The voice may have beenrecorded and broadcast a week or soafter the words were actually spoken,but it makes no difference. The samevoice is reproduced by your radio whether it comes "live" or "transcribed." Themarvelous methods of recording soundso that it can be sent to powerful stations and beamed all over the NorthAmerican continent is why you peopleare now permitted to read "The GoodNews" and to hear "The World Tomorrow" program.We use two methods of recording,electrical transcriptions and tape recording. Electrical transcriptions are recordings made on a large acet:He cJise. Itlooks like an oversize phonograph record. As the disc turns, a cutting needle,vibrating with the sound picked up bythe microphone, cuts away a thin stripof the acetate leaving a groove in whichthe playback needle can follow. When

the t ransc ript ion is replayed for broadcasting the playback needle follows thegroove and recreates the sound, bringingMr. Armstrong's voice with those dynamic Messages of Truth to you exactly as it sounds in the studio. From arecording, an almost worthless piece ofmatter pu t together and formed by men,you are able to hear those pricelesswords. Will you let them guide yOll andshow you the way to giving yourself toGod, to be used of him?

The newest and best means of soundrecording is that of tape. Small, microscopic, metall ic par ticles are affixed ona plast ic t ape with an adhesive binder.As the tape passes over the recordinghead of the tape machines these metallie parti cles are magne tized in accordance with the vibrations picked up bythe microphone. This merhod is considered superior to that of electricaltranscriptions. There is no needle scratchand the recording on the tapc can beerased or demagneuzed, perrniu.inu itto be used over and over again.

OUf Own StudioAt first Mr. Armstrong went to a commercial recording studio to have record

ings of the broadcast made. Due to theexpensive electronic equipment ancJ thetechnical skill required, this was becoming a most expensive process.As a result of the careful planningand God-inspired vision that has helpedthis work to advance as it has, a modernradio studio was designed and constructed in the Classroom building of Ambassador College. The finest professionalmicrophones, program monitoring equi prnent and recording lathes were installed.Dick Armstrong, who had studied soundrecording, was given the pos it ion of Radio operator and technician. Dick wasable to produce a better quality recording at a fraction of rhe former cost. Themoney saved in this manne r, as well asthat of office rent, is more than the payments on these beautiful propertieswhere the Radio Studio is located. Weare actually being paid to occupy them.

Today we use all three methods ofbringing God's Word to your ears. Theprogram is air ed "l ive" daily, by di recwire to the radio station.

Many of you are hearing Mr. Armstrong's voice ar rhe precise instant heis speaking in our studio. But to conPlease continue on page 12


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What Is the PlaceJesus Is Preparing?The Bible says the only places thatare prepared are the Kingdom of Godand the new Jerusalem. Since it is the

kingdom and the holy city that are finally prepared for us all, then what Jesusis preparing for each of us must be ourown posi tion in the kingdom and thenew [erusalem.

Now it's plain why Christ alluded tothe temple as an example of the Kingdom of God and of the new Jerusalem.The t emple had rooms which served asoffices for the various residents holdingdifferent ranks. In the same way, eachof us will have our own personal placein the holy city, in accordance with howwell we use the talents God has givenus in this life. The more we overcomein this life, the more honorable will beour place in the new Jerusalem anrl thegreater will be our office of responsibility in the kingdom.Revelation 21: 2 plainly proves thatthe holy city is one of the tw o thingstha t Jesus is p reparing now in heaven.It is prepared by God. Both God the Father and His Son have been fashioningit, since what ever the Father does, theSon does likewise. (John 5: 19) Sincethe city comes down out of heaven fullyprepared, then it must have been prepared in heaven, just as Jesus said. Hewould do, Notice, too, that the citycomes out of heaven. It does not saythat we go to heaven.

Now let's understand what the Biblesays about the kingdom which is inpreparation in heaven, and which willcome to earth. Jesus returned to heavento receive the kingdom. (Luke 19:12)He must be preparing it while act ing inthe office of High Priest. Since the kingdom is p repared for all of us to inherit,then the parti cular place Chr ist is preparing for each of us must be our ownposition or office in that kingdom. Placemeans position, office, rank, as well asgeographical location. Our place or position in the government of God will depend on the office we hold. Christ hasfirJt place, as He is king of kings. Weshall all have secondary places, lesser positions under Him.

The kingdom of God is the governPlease continue on page 16

What Is th e Pi a ce Prepared?Now we should consider the remainder of Jesus' conversation with the disciples. He said: "1 go to prepare a placefor you." We learn from other scripturesthat Jesus did go to heaven, to the right

hand of the Father, where He now actsas our High Priest. (Heb, 9: 11)While funct ioning in this office forus, Jesus is obviously preparing a placefor each of us as He promised the disciples. Now notice this carefully: thepreparation of each place is occurringin heaven, bu t Jesus did nor say that theplaces were a part of heaven. A wife-rnay prepare her meals in the kitchen,

bu t the meals are not a part of the kitchen.Since heaven, the place of God'sthrone, does not have abodes or mansions, JUSt what are the "places" that arebeing prepared? Does the Bible giveany texts tel ling us what is being prepared?

There are only two texts in the Biblewhich tell us what is being prepared.The first is in Matthew 25: 34. HereChrist said; "Come, ye blessed of myFather, inher it the k ingdom, preparedfor you from the foundation of theworld." The other t ex t is in Revelation21: 2: "And I John saw the holy city,new Jerusalem, coming down f rom GodOut of heaven, prepared as a brideadorned for her husband."

Here is a thorough, God-inspired explanation of a greatlymisunderstood text. Did Jesus say Christians go to heaven?By Herman L. Hoeh

Ezra 8: 29 and Jeremiah 36: 10.No where does the Bible call heaventhe Father's house. Heaven is never saidto have "mansions." The ancient tabernacle had two compar tments , the inner ,called the Holy of Holies, being an exact picture of the throne of God-ofheaven, itself. It had no mansions. ReadHebrews 8: 5 and 9: 1-7 to see exactlywhat the pattern of heaven is like.No, Jesus was not referring to heaven,

but to the temple, long since destroyed,which was called the house of God. Thetemple was a type of the House of Israel, of the Kingdom of Israel under theOld Covenant. It is also a physical typeof the rpirit1lal temple, the family orKingdom of God. (Heb. 3:6; I Peter2:5 )

What Is the Father' s House?In His Father's house, Jesus said p ~ a i n -ly, there were many "mansions." I f i t had

nor been true, He said, He would havetold us. The Greek word translared "mansion" means il l more modern English,room, a place of Jtaying, an abode, achamber. So in the Fa ther's house the rewere a number of rooms or chambers.

But what is the Father's house? Whatdoes the Bible declare the Father's houseto be?When in the temple, Jcsus said to theJews who were selling doves and cat tletherein: "Make not my FATHER'S HOUSEan house of merchandise." (John 2: 16)Here is the Simple Bible def ini tion ofthe Father 's house. It was the templewhich stood in Jesus' day at Jerusalem.Luke 19:46 and Isaiah 56:7 mentionthe same thing.But did the templ e have many "mansions" or rooms and chambers in it?Certainly . In turning to Jeremiah35:2, we read this: "Speak unto them,and bring t hem into the house of theLord, i11l0 one of the chambers." In thefourth verse of the same chapter , we notice that different chambers were forpersons of different rank. Hanan, a manof God, had his chamber or room "bythe chamber of the princes . . . whichwas above the chamber of . . . thekeeper of the door." So the variouschambers at "mansions" correspondedto the tanks of the persons residing inthem. Each room of the temple, the Father's house, not only designated theresidence of each official, but also indicated his position or office, whether hewas a doorkeeper or prince.Even the Bible commentator , AdamClark, notes in his commentary: "OurLord alludes here to the temple, whichwas called the home o f God, in the precincts of which there were a great number of chambers." See also I Kings 6:5;

MANY people today believe Jesustold His disciples that Christians will spend eternity inmansions in heaven. They quote Hiswords in John 14: 1-4.Did Jesus really say tha t our rewardis a mans ion in heaven? Let's see.


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~ s t i o n ~ o xYour questions answered in these columns! Your opportul1ity to barc

those puzzling queries, needing only a short reply, solved. If yourJ are nothere, then write them to as. As space permits they will be printed if ananswer is possible. Of course, questions demanding lengthy replies cannotbe placed in these columns. Edited by the Students.

Page 10

Are Those Saints Who Arose Aboutthe Time of Christ's ResurrectionStill Alive?It is a common conception, oftent aken for g ranted , that the saints whoarose shor tly after Chr is t are still alive.But what does the Bible say?First of all, let us get the pictureclearly in mind. This incident is recorded in Matt. 27:52,53 which reads asfollows: "And the graves were opened;

and many bodies of the saints whichslept arose, and came out of the graves.after his resurrection, and went into the,holy ciry, and appeared unto many."These were nor the first nor the onlypeople to be restored to life from thedead. In II Kings, the fourth chapter,we read the story of Elisha and theShunamnues son, whom he raised tolife through the power of God. Thisyoung man was resurrected many hundreds of years before Christ and yetPaul says in I Cor inthians 1'5:22,23 tharChr is t is the firsrfruits or the first to bemude immortal as the Son of God(Romans 1:4), and tha t the re is a definite order, Chr is t first, then afterward-no t those saints-but they that areChrist's at His coming. Now God is notthe author of confusion. He would norser a definire order of resurrecrions andthen violate that order.And yet, what about the Shunamnite'sson, and what about Lazarus (John11:5), and the widow's son mentionedin Luke 7: 14,15? These were all raisedbefore Christ's resurrection. What happened to them?I f we cast out preconceived ideas,and merely take the Bible as it is, theanswer is very clear. They were notmade immortal because Paul states in I

Timothy 6: 16 that Christ alone, of allmen who have ever lived, has immortality. I Cor. 15:22-23 says furthermore:"For in Adam all die, so also in Christshall all be made alive. But each in hisoun order: Christ the firstfruits; thenthey that are Christ's AT HIS COMING."NO ONE BUT CHRIST HAS BEENRESURRECTED TO IMMORTALITY TOTHIS DAY-but those in Christ will beraised NEXT at His second coming! Jesus said that as the Father raised the deadand made alive (quickened) whom He

The GOOD NEWS

would, so also would the Son do likewise. (John 5: 21). The answer is simply that these people, from rhe Shunamnice's son down to those raised at thetime of Christ's resurrection were madephysically alive, undoubtedly healed ofthe afflictions that might have causedtheir deaths prematurely, then they livedout their lives-human flesh and bloodlives. Since rhey were only mortal, andnow alive, they must have died.

THUS we conclude that those peoplemerely lived out a na tu ral human lifewhich had been cut short, then died andare even now await ing the resurrect ion.When Should Christians Begin Savinga Third Tithe?In the December Issue of "The Good

News" an article appeared exp la in ingto many of you the three different tithesment ioned in the Bible. The first titheof course, is God's and He directs thatit be used for the work of the ministrvin spreading the gospel. The s e c o n ~ jt i t ~ e , as that article tho roughly explained (Deu r, 14:21-27;16:9-15) isfo r Yot! so t ha t you can keep the annualfestivals which God has commandedHis people to observe.But the third t ithe is for anyone whois poor and in need. In ancient times,when God's people were an organizednation, the ti the was laid aside withinthe gates of each city so that the ministers, the s trangers, the fatherless andthe widows would be adequately provided for (Deut. 14: 28,29). Of course.the poor people who needed it werenor commanded to lay aside a thirdtithe, alrhough they could do so if theywished.In the New Testament Church, laying aside help for the needy was alsopract iced. Paul ins tructed the churchesto take up a collection of fruit so thaton the first day of the week when hewould arrive everything would be inreadiness to take rhe liberality of theGentiles to Jerusalem. See Romans 15:25-28 wirh I Cor in th ians 16: 1-4.

The third t it he is to be saved everythird year-the year of tithing for thepoo r (Deu t. 26:12). Since God's people are to work th eir land for six yearsand let ir lie idle or rest the seventh

May, 1952

year (Lev. 25: 4-7), i t becomes obviousthat the years for saving the rhird titheare the third and sixth out of el'ery Jet'-en. Otherwise a conflict would occurwhen the year of tithing would be asabbatical year. Thus the third titheshould be saved the thi rd and the sixthyear out of every seven; that is, therhird and sixth, the tenth and thirteenth,the seventeenth and twentieth and soon.To make everything as practical aspossible for everyone, God made thishelp for the poor a tenth or tithe everythird year. However , according to thespirit of the law, if you are in such circumstances, tha t you need to supportcontinually needy members of yourfamily, the church or s trangers , it mightbe more convenient to lay aside aboutthree and one-third percent six out ofseven years.Ancrenc Israel did not give this t itheto foreign nat ions although it was givento strangers dwelling within rhe nation.In the same way, we should save it especially for the church, for poor members of our family ( l Tim. 5: 16) andfor the unconverted whom we see haveneed. It should not be spent promiscuously on worldly charities .Many of you readers have writt en usrequesting lU Know when to start saving this tithe. Since ancient Israel wasto reckon the years from the t ime rheyentered the land (Lev. 25:2), and as wehave found NO KNOWN AND PROVABLEWAY to determine exactly how manyyears have elapsed since that event, weought to reckon our third year from thetime we were converted. This is verywise, because now, when the church isnor an organized nation, we need tohave various individuals saving a thirdtithe in different years to take care of allthe needs of newly converted individuals. Although God does not r equ ir e tomake up for those past years whereinwe failed to save a third tithe sinceconversion, we should repent for having failed to do so.

What Is theMillennium?Continued from page 2

the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keepthe feast of Tabernacles." (Zech.14:16)The people that .rhall be lef t are going to worsh ip the Lord year by year inJerusalem, which is on this earth, nor inheaven. The Lord shall be king over allthe earth. (Zech. 14:9) The next versesshow Him punishing nat ions for disobedience. We are also going to judgeand correct the nations as we sit with[csus on His throne.. None: of these events can occur be-


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May, 1952fore the thousand years, and none canOCLur in heaven because there are nodisobedient nations there. Neither willdisobedient nations be in the NewEarth a ft er the mi ll ennium. Thereforethese events must happen DURING THEMILLENNiUM AND ON THIS EARTH.These are the plain statements of Scripture.

The Earth Is Not to Be DesolateIn the book of Isa iah, chapter 24,there are verses which some seize uponin a feeble effor t to contradict the plains ta tements of Scr ip tu re . These versesare deliberately misquoted to deceiveyou. The t ime setting of this chapter isin the beginning of the mil lenn ia l per iod. The first verse is often quoted as:"Behold, the Lord maketh the earth

empty, and maketh it waste, and turnethit upside down ..."Jus t quo ting this much , one is leftwith the impression that there are no

inhabitants on the earth, that the millennium will be a period of completedesolation. But why not quote the wholeverse? What does God mean by theearth being made empty? Did Hemean that there are no inhabitants? NOTAT ALL! Let's not stop reading, as somedenominations do, bu t continue readingthis entire chapter.What will God do? He "scatterethabroad the inhabItants thereof. And itshall be, as with the people, so with thepriest; as with the servant , so with themaster ... The land shall he utterly

emptied, and utterly spoiled ... Thehaughty people of the earth do languish. . . They that dwel l there in are deso-late: therefore the il1habitantJ of theearth are burned, and FEW MEN LEFT."Read this entire twenty-fourth chapter of Isaiah. It shows the punishmentson this earth at the beginning of thethousand years, the complete destruc

tion of civilization and "few men left."We JUSt read what Zechariah said

about those who shall be left. They shallgo up to Jerusalem from year to yearand worship the Eternal who shall beKing over all the ear th. Isaiah says thatthose few who are left "shall lift uptheir voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord (verse 14) . . . whenthe Lord of hosts shall reign in mountZion, and in Jerusalem." (verse 23)Yes, Christ will reign in Jerusalem, norheaven, and there will he inhabitantswho shall REPOPULATE the earth.Again Jeremiah 4:23-31 is often lifted out of its context to apply tel the

WHOLE earth during the thousand yearsas a period of desolat ion . By study ingthe book of Jeremiah from the beginning we can learn that this is NOT referring to the thousand years. Theprophet warns Judah that Nebuchadnez-

The GOOD NEWSzar of Babylon is coming "t o make THYLAND DESOLATE; and THY CITIES shallbe laid waste without an inhabitant."(Verse 7) This is speaking of Judah, notthe wholr- earth, bu t the "WHOLE LANDSHALL BE DESOLATE; YET WILL I NOTMAKE A FULL END." (Verse 27 )The same word in the original He

brew is often used to mean ei ther"earth" or " land" and actually should betranslated "land" in verse twenty-three,because God is .speaking of the land ofJudah. It shows, too, that there are Gentiles still on the earth who will not beallowed by God to make a full end ofJudah, even though they desolate theland completely. Verse twenty-nineshows t ha t not a man shall dwell in thecities. Why? Because there are no human beings on the earth? No! But because the whole city shall flee beforethe horsemen of the Gent iles .Together with these two misquotedtexts, ce rt ain people who wrongly believe tha t the earth will be desolate during the mil lennium turn to II Thess.1 :8 and 2: 8. The first of these verses isspeaking of angels who will take vengeance on those that know not God andobey not the gospel. It is assurned thatthis text says that all people will be destroyed, but it doesn't say that. It is onlythose who refuse to "hey that will perish. But there will be many other Gentiles who shall repent of the ir wrongways and admit that their "fathers haveinherited lies." (jer. 16: 19)The other verse often mentioned (IIThess. 2: 8) nowhere speaks of ALL

THE WICKED. It mentions "THATWICKED" whom Chri st shall destroy,"even HIM, whose coming is after theworking of Satan." (Verse 9) So it isnor all the wicked, but one person, evenhim, that is to be destroyed. This Wicked is that false prophet whose destruction is described in Revelat ion 19:20.N one of the preceding texts describean earth without inhabitants for a thousand years. But some people just don'twant to believe the plain statements inGod's word!WHAT Will the Millennium Be Like?We remember reading that when Jesus returns He shall rule over the Houseof Jacob forever . In Micah, the fourthchapter , a graphic description is givenus concerning the world at that time.Verse one shows God's rulership established over the nations. Then what happens? "And many nat ions shall come,

and say, Come, and let us go up to themountain (government) of the Lord,and to the house of the God of Jacob;and he will t each us of his ways, and wewill walk in Hi s paths: for the law shallgo forth of Zion, and the word of theLord from Jerusalem. And He shall

Page 11judge among many people, and rebuke.rtrong nations atar 0 If: and they shallbeat their swords into plowshares, andthe ir spears into pruning hooks: nationshall not li ft lip a sword against nation.nei the r shall they learn war any more."Could this be in heaven? Will Godrebuke strong nations in heaven? Couldthis be in the New Earth? Will Godhave to rebuke nations at that time? Ofcourse not! Thi s is re fe rr ing to the millennium when the nations will learnpeace for the first time in the history ofthe world.Isaiah 11 tells us of the same time.The Genti les are going to seek God(verse 10) and Israel and Judah aregoing to be gathered THE SECONDTIME from the heathen nat ions (verse11). This could nor be speaking of any"spir itual Israel" because the last versesin this chapter speak of men crossingrivers and highways as they leave tileGentile nations and return the secondtime to the land of promise .This is the time spoken of by Paul."Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles become in. And so all Israel shall besaved: as it is wri tt en, There shall come

out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turnungodliness from Jacob: for this is rn }covenant unto therr'. when I shall t:Jkeaway their sins." (Romans 11: 25-27)Here is good news! Here is part of thegospel message. Blindness is happenedto Israel, not forever, but until the fulness of the Gentiles comes in. Then Israel shall be forgiven and the Gent il esshall seek God.Returning to Isaiah 11, verse 4, weread tha t Chr is t "shall smit e the earth

with the rod of his mouth, and with thebreath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." At this very time when He is punish ing the wicked and "reproving withequity the meek of the earth"-at thisvery time, notice i t -"the wolf alsoshall dwell with the lamb, and theleopard shall lie down with the kid . .and a little child shall lead them. Andthe l ion shall eat s traw like the ox. Andthe sucking child shall play on the holeof the asp, and the weaned child shallput his hand on the adder's den. Theyshall nor hur t nor dest roy in all my holymour tain: for the earth shall be full ofthe knowledge of the Lord, as the waterscove; the sea."


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Page 12the mil lennium begins . No wild, carnivorous animals are going to be tamedbefore tha t t ime to eat straw like the ox.The thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah contains other desc ript ions of the re ign ofChris t and His saints for the thousandyears. In the preceding chapter the des truction of this present world's civilizat ion is depicted as a bloody catas trophe,

bur thanks to God, the world won't longbe in the throes of destruction. For thewilderness shall blossom as the rose, theb lind will see and the lame shall walk.because Chris t is going to heal the afflicred just as He did in His ministrynineteen hundreds years ago.This is what the millennium will belike. And each of us has our part in

making the glorious age to come possible. If we continue to grow spiritually,to overcome the wrong tendencies ofour human nature, to acquire the character of God, t hen we shall r eign withChrist on His throne.

Satan Is to Be BoundHaving seen that the Bible teaches the

millennium to be the r eign of the Kingdom of God ON THIS EARTH-themillennium is not the Kingdom, it ismerely the first thousand years reign ofthat kingdom on this earth-we shouldnot forget what we learned about Satanbeing bound. Some people arc tryingto tell you that during the mil lenniumSatan will be bound by circumstancesbecause the re will be no human beingsalive for him to tempt . But the Bibleplainly shows Satan being taken fromthe people and bound I.EST he shoulddeceive the nat ions. If there were nonations to deceive, he would nor haveto be BOUND ANDSHUT UP IN A PLACEOF RESTRAINT. (Rev. 20: 1-3)When Saran and his demons are restrained from the ir work of deception,the earth shall at last have its mil lennials abba th of rest. The resurrected saintswill judge the world with Chris t and allnat ions shall have peace at last, becausethey will for the first time be following

that "law which shall go for th out ofZion."Will th e Dead Be Resurrected During

the Millennium?Some groups know that the millen

nium will occur on this earth.'But theyteach that there will be resurrectionsduring the entire period. Is this true?They claim that Revelat ion 20: 5 isnot a part of the Bible. This verse says:"BUTTHEREST OFTHE DEAD LIVED NOT

AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARSWERE FINISHED." The "authority" whichthey use to prove (?) that this does norbelong to the Bible is the fact that theVatican manuscript does not contain it.Their assumption is that, because it iJ in

The GOOD NEWSmany others, it must have been surreptitiously added by dece it ful men. Thefacts, however, are that it u/as left out ofthe Vat ican manuscript, probably by acopyist's oversight. The greatest scholarsadmit that this text belongs in the Bible.True enough, it is a parentheticalphrase which breaks the cont inuit y ofverses four to six. Bur God inspired

John to pu t this parenthetical thoughthere so that we would know that therest of the dead do not have part in thefirst resurrection. It is after the millennium (Rev. 20: II-15) that the rest ofthe dead are raised. I f they were raisedfrom their graves dur ing the rnillennilim, there would be no need of a timeof resurrect ion after the thousand years.

It is important that we do not be li evethis error by removing this verse. Jesussaid: "And if any man shall take awayfrom the words of the book of thisprophecy, God shall t ake away his partour of the book of life." (Rev. 22: 19)I t is also absolutely essential that we donot follow the heresy that denies therule of the Kingdom of God ON THISEARTH during the millennium. I f anyman preaches a gospel that denies this,he shall be cur.red of God.lest any of you be deceived by themany errors about the mil lennium, Godhas given you a11 the sc riptures ment ioned in this art ic le AND MANY MOREwhich you ought to study. Remember,now you know wha t the Word of Godteaches. You don't dare reject the truthnow tha t the knowledge of the t ruth hascome or you will perish in the lake of'fire. It is up to you. Are you wi ll ing tobelieve what God says, or do you wantto follow error?

Facts about RadioStudio

Continuedfrom page 8form to different broadcasting schedules,it is necessary that the program be pu ton the air at a s lightly delayed and moreconvenient t ime over some of the stations.Now right here it becomes necessary

to explain a vital part of thi s entire operation. The many of you who havevisited the college and sat in the studioduring an actua l b roadcast know thatMr. Armst rong pours every ounce ofhis s trength and power and earnestnessinto every broadcast. He probably burnsas many calories of energy in one halfhour of this dynamic speaking than afarmer pitching hay or picking cottonin th e ho t sun would expend in severalhours' labor. He is dripping with perspiration when the broadcast is over. He hasbeen keeping at this broadcasting morethan eighteen years. Few people haveany conception of the tremendous effort

May, 1952put into this program. Mr. AU115110ngknows this is the most important workon earth. Millions are tuned in. Thousands of precious souls are at stake. Ones ingle broadcast mIght be the very turning point-the difference between eternal life and death-for many precioussouls. The weight of this responsibilityis t remendous, and Mr. Armstrong feelsit deeply. The strain is terrific. It wouldbe an absolute physical impossibility fora man co prepare and broadcast two orthree or more different programs of thissort every day, seven days a week.It is for this reason that the sameprogram must be broadcast over all stations. But since station programmingmakes it necessary for the program to beai red at d if fe rent times of day over different stat ions , it is necessary that theprogram be recorded for b roadcast at alater hour on some of these stat ions.Consequently, as Me. Armstrong isbroadcasting the daily program by directw ire f rom our own studio, a number ofrecordings are being made in our control room. These are then packagedand shipped by air-express to the otherstations. Due to technical operations ofdifferent stations, and occasional delaysin getting the p rograms across the border to the giant Mexican stations, youwho are .ibic [;) tune in the program ontwo or more stations may hear a certainprogram on one station one night, andthe same identical program on a differentstation the following night-or, on occasion, even the following week.Some have supposed it was a repeat

broadcast when in actuality it wasn't.It is necessary for us to send the sameprograms to all stations because there aremany areas reached by only one of themand Mr. Armstrong does nor have timeenough or strength to prepare and makedifferent broadcasts for each station eachday.The broadcast will be of even moreinterest and vital importance to you thissummer. Dick Armstrong and Herman

Hoeh will take professional tape recording equipment with them to Europe.You will hear them, as they talk to youfrom Europe with the ir own reports andcomment ar ie s on conditions there, bytape recordings. You will be permittedto hear these God-cal led men, who understand today's happenings in the l ightof Bible prophecy , on "The World Tomorrow" program.When Christ was here he spoke tocomparatively few, just those who could

gather around close enough to hear him.Today, when this same Gospel whichHepreached must go into all the world as awitness, He has provided a way for itro be carried. He is putting the radioto a good use, as wi th every th ing whichHe gives liS.


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1nDo Worms Never Die

Hell?By Rod Meredith

ASTARTLING statement is found inMark 9:48. In this passage ofScripture, Chri st spoke of aworm that "dicth not." Who ever heardof the immortality of worms? What didChrist mean'Some PEOPLE think that Jesus was refe rring to people as worms and was trying to say that these "people" never died- bu t lived on in agonizing torment.Those who say this fail to notice thatJesus does not call the wicked people"worms" but instead speaks of THEIRworm. The Lexicons define the Hebrew(Isa. 66:24) and Greek (Mark 9:48)words translated "worm" as a grub ormaggot and in no way refers to a man.Christ was not teaching the immortalityof people or worms!

What "He ll Fire" IsActually, Jesus was here warning hislisteners that those who would "offend"

-who would live a life of rebellionagainst God and His Children-wouldbe cast into "hell fire." Most Bibles showin the marginal rendering that this was"Gehenna fire." Jesus was r efe rr ing toGehenna as a type of the second deathin the "lake of fire" which will befallthe ungodly.Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom,was located outside of Jerusalem andwas a place where trash, filth, and thedead bodies of animals and despisedcriminals were thrown. There wereledges along the edge of this valley onwhich these dead bodies might land instead of fal ling down i nto the fires beneath where eve ry thing was burned.

Is Baptism Necessary?Continued from page 7

ir to gain imrnorral life. The only promisethat you will receive it is on conditionthat you are firs: baptized. The HolySpirit is the impregnation of eternallife, the character, the nature, the mimiof God MOVING AND ACTING WITHINYOU. (I I Peter 2:4) Without it, youcannot please God because you stillhave a natural, carnal mind, Withoutit you will die in your sins and periJhFOREVER. (Romans 8: 6-9 )The Holy Spiri t is not something thatwill give you bodily sensations. It isdescribed in II Timothy 1: 7 as the

Smith's Bible Dictionary gives a description of this valley-which was something like one of our city dumps todaywhere t rash and rubbish is burned up.

If anyth ing, especially a dead body,landed on a ledge above the fires, itwould be devoured by many worms ormaggots which were kept alive by theanimal and vegetable substances deposited there.It was to these worms that Christ wasrefer ring when He said " thei r wormd ie th not." But Ch ri st didn' t mean thateach individual worm continued to liveforever!Actually, these worms, or maggots arethe larvae which develop f rom eggs deposited by flies. They continue for onlya few days in this larvae form, then pupate and finally emerge as flies, laterdying. These are scientif ic facts, knownby any real student of science. And yetsome people think that Christ ignorant-ly stated that these larvae continued tolive forever In that stage of development! This just goes to show that weshould always be careful to use wisdomand common sense in studying God'sword. The Holy Spi ri t is the spirit of asound mind (I I Tim. 1:7). Let's rightlyuse the minds God gave us!The Greek word which was inspiredand transla ted into the word "worm" inthis passage simply means a grub ormaggot , and is a collective expressionfor all the worms that devour dead matter. Yes, the flies that these worms become, like all other animals will return

to the dust f rom which they came. "Allare of the dust, and all turn to dustSpirit "of power, and of love, and of aSOUND MIND."When we receive the Holy Spirit, weare begotten as a child of God. That

is why we receive the mind and love ofGod within us. We t hen inher it ourFather's nature just as a little baby inheri ts the nature of its human father.As we read in II Peter 1:4, we are to"be pa rt ake rs of the DIVINE NATURE."SO we see that baptism is necessarybefore we can even become a begot tenchild of God. Then you still have to growin grace and knowledge and love andunderstanding,Baptism is commanded by Christ forall people. He commanded his disciples,

"Go ye therefore , and teach all nat ions ,

again." (Ecc) : 19-20).WHY the Worms Die Not

This same reference to worms ISfound in Isaiah 66: 24. Here we ;tgainfind that the inspired word simplymeans a common grub or a maggot.These worms or larvae also feed on thedead bodies for a few days, and thenemerge as Hies. Thus, these worms "dienot" but continue to develop into fliesjust as any normal, healthy worm! Theflies continue to deposit the ir eggs 0171)as long aJ there are dead bodies or o thermatter for the larvae to feed on.Neither do these worms have immortal souls! Ece. 3: 19 shows t har no crea-ture, man or beast, is born with an irn- 'morral soul.The Bible is one book that makesgood sense! So let us always study these

perplexing scriptures through, before wejump to conclusions. Then let us live byGod's word, so that we may hf' worrhyof the gift of eternal life. Then we neednot receive the wages of sin-death-(Rom. 6: 23). This will come by a firewhich will not be quenched-but willburn itsel] out by consuming rhis earthand the bodies of all the wicked. Neither will we need to worry about these"worms" which will live on the bodiesof transgressors-not at firsr consumedby fire-until t he re are no more bodiesleft. Then all will return to the dust andashes (Mal. 4: 1) .But if we will honestly search thescriptures and live by them, we will beaccounted worthy to inherir eternal lifein the new earth' which is to come.baptizing them in the name of theFather, and of the Son, and of the HolySpirit teaching them to observe all thingswhatsoever I have commanded you."(Matthew 28:19)So to any of you who sincerely wantro be a Christian, baptism is commanded.You can't be a Christian if you refuseto be baptized. I f you don't care enoughabout becoming a child and heir of theCreator to humble yourself and be bapri7t,ci as He has commanded , then yourvery actions prove that you are unworthyof the gift of eternal life.Real salvation is not something you"get" or "rake." It is received only byfirst GIVING your sel] to God! You muse"crucify the old man" and begin to "live


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Page 14by every word of God."Christ came tha t we might have life,and that we might have it more abun-dantly. Baptism should be the beginningof that new spiri tual life which will prepare you after a l ifet ime of overcomingyourself and the world, to be born as ason of God.Remember, write immediately for Mr.Armstrong's booklet on "Water Baptism." It will exp lain fully many of thequcsrions not included in this article.I f you wish to be baptized, as Godcommands, send us your name to beput on the baptismal list. We hope twobapt iz ing teams can be sent over all theUnited States this summer. We willreach as many of you as we possibly can.Don' t "put off" baptism! You can'tmake yourself perfect by your own power. God must begin tha t process by putting His Holy Spirit within you to enlighten your mind and to give you ther


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May, 19S2I t was numbered from the DAY thatIsrael first began to reap the grain

(Deut. 16:9). This day is specif ica llymentioned in Lev. 23: 15. "Ye shallcount unto you from the morrow afterTHE sabbath, fr om the day that yebrought the sheaf of t he wave offering."So God wants us to count from a Sunday, the day the sheaf of grain was cut.

How to Count PentecostNow let 's count. One day from todayis no t today, bu t tomorrow. One dayfrom Sunday is Monday. Two days fromSunday is Tuesday. One week fromSunday is Sunday. Seven weeks or forty

nine days f rom Sunday is Sunday . ButPentecost is AFTER seven weeks or fortynine days. It is FIFTY days from Sunday. Therefore it MUST ALWAYS FALLON A MONDAY!

The mistake of counting "Saturdays"instead of u/eees is based on an incorrect translation in the common versionsof Levit icus 23: 15,16. It reads "sevens"bb, lfhs shall he comple te : even untothe morrow after the seventh sabbathshall you number fifty days." The wordhere t ranslated "sabbath" can also mean"r est" or "seven" or "WEEK." Thereforewe need to let the Bible determinewhat is the proper meaning in thisplace.The same Hebrew word t ha t Mosesused in Levit icus 23: 15 and 16 was alsoused by the apostles and disciples in its

Greek form to mean "week," as inMatthew 28: 1; Mark 16:2 and I Cor.16: 2. Here it would be as foolish to, render the word "week" by "sabbath" asit is ro rrans lare Leviticus 23: 16 by"sabbath," because fifty days from Sunday is a Monday-the morrow after theseventh week, no t Sunday-the morrowa ft er t he seventh "sabbath."

Both JEWISH AND CATHOLIC VERS IONS RENDER THIS WORD CORRECTLYAS "WEEK." The Douay or CatholicVersion for Levit icus 23: 15,16 reads:"You shall count t he re fo re f rom themor row a ft er t he sabba th , wherein youoffered the sheaf of the first fruits, seuenfull ueeks, even unto the morrow afterthe seientb week be expired, that is tosay fifty davs,"As absolute proof that this verseshould be translated "after the seventhweek," rum to Deut. 16:9 and Num.28: 26 where the word week is rranslared from a different word-Jhabuawhich NEVER means sabbaib, bu t alwaysweek. Since in these verses the Hebrewwords used never mean the sabb atb,and since seven weeks-forty-nine days- f rom a Sunday is a Sunday , the ftietllday must be Monday. Hence, the realmeaning of Lev. 23: 16 is "the morrowafter the seventh week" as any othert ranslation would necessi ta te a contra-

The GOOD NEWSdiction of scripture.Some also do no t quite understandthe meaning of counting from one dayto another. A week f rom Sunday is the

NEXT Sunday , and seven weeks from aSunday is s even Sundays away. But weare to count to the fiftieth day, that is,to the completion of Monday so wehave the full fifty days. This is.explainedin Levit icus 23: 32 where one counts[rom the end of the evening-not thebeginning-of the ninth day to the com-pletion of the evening of the tenth day,making one whole day. Thus we are tocount from the end of Sunday, the daythe wave sheaf was offe red, to the endof Monday, which is the day of Pentecost. Pentecost is the last or f if ti eth day.Yes, the Catholics and t he Jews knowthat Pentecost is to be numbered fiftydays or seven full weeks from Sunday,the day t he wave sheaf was offered. YetNEITHER of t hem knows how to figurecorrectly.Why did God p lan to have Pentecostalways fall on a Mond:ty?Because, since the resurrected Christis the first of the firstfruits and was ac

cepted by the Father on the Sunday afterhis resurrection-portrayed by the wavesheaf offered on the fint day o

Good News 1952 (Vol II No 05) May_w

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Transcript of Good News 1952 (Vol II No 05) May_w