Good News 1953 (Vol III No 10) Nov_w

7/28/2019 Good News 1953 (Vol III No 10) Nov_w

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VOL. III, NUMBER 10 NOVEMBER, 1953

InGreatest Feast of Tabernacles

1500 Years!World history was made. Hundreds came, looked with awe at God'sBig Tabernacle, partook of the greatest spiritual feast in a millen-I l ium and a half, returned home inspired, determined to STUDYGod's JVord, to PRAY, and to grow spiritually as neuer before!

NEVER before in modern timeshas such a festival been held!It was a small foretaste of thetime now soon to come when all na-tions shall go up from year to year toJerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles! (Zech. 14:16-19).Jesus Christ will be there in Penon.then. He was there , in Spirit, at thisFestival.

Bigger, Better, Every WayEveryone in at tendance seemed tofeel this Fes tival was bigge r and bet te r[han [hose of the previous years in everyway.The big Tabernacle is not completed.

The carpenters, plumbers, electriciansand other workers just laid off work forthese eight days. Only two of the boothsin which we are to dwell (i t is alsocalled the "Feast of Boorhs.i-c-Lcv. 23: 34-Moffatt translation), were built-andthey only as samples to show the bretht en wha t the future housing colonies ofbooths will be like. The grounds werenot yet landscaped. and were JUSt dry,dusty sand. Yes. there were all these.handicaps, The beautiful playgroundsfor ch ildren of various ages which aredesigned by landscape archi tects werenot yet constructed.

But in spite of all these handicapsthere was better order and less confusion than any Festival we have heldthese past twenty years.More people attended than any Feastof Tabernacles held by the Church of

God, so far as we know, for more than1,500 years. Altogether, approximatelyONE THOUSAND PEOPLE were there.The first few days fifty or more peoplepaid for meals and left without registering, and more than 800 registered duringthe first half of the Festival. Anotherhundred or so came for the last twodays, so that approximately a thousandpeople were in attendance. It is to beregretted, however, that not more thanabout 650 were in continuous attendance for the entire eight days. God commands our presence for the entire eightdays-not parts of it!

There was more and better preaching,more and better music, a better spiritthan any fesrival of our time, and nofrict ion or opposition or lack of harmony. There was PEACE, and GREATJOY!

Two Wedding sOn the last Great Day of the Festival,two beautiful weddings were solemnizedin the Tabernacle. This was the first time

many of our brethren had witnessed oneof God's own weddings, solemnized theBible way.At 9: 30 in the morning Herman L.Hoeh and Isabell Kunke l were joinedtogether by God as husband and wife ,Dr. C. Paul Meredith officiating. It wasa beautiful, sacred ceremony.At 2: 30 in the afternoon Norman

Smith and Charlene Glover were principals in another impressive and beautifulservice officiated by Herbert W. Armst rong. in which God bound them forli fe as one flesh.Many comments were heard that these

marriage ceremonies surely revealed thesacredness and irrevocableness of marriage, popularly taken so lightly andcarelessly by the world today. Many remembered Herman Hoehs article in arecent issue of this magazine settingforth reasons why members of God'schurch should never be unequally yokedtogether with those who do not believe,and OBEY, God's Truth, or ever permita ceremony to be performed by any butou r own ordained minis ters in the trueChurch of God. He had suggested. inthat article, that if it were impossible forus to send a minister to perform a ceremony in some distant place, that Godcommands the presence of everyone of


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Page 2us three times a year at His Festivals,and our minis ters are always in attendance and available for solemnizing marriages at these t irnr-s and places. Itseemed fitting that he should be thefirst to set example, and to practicewhat he preached, by having one of ourown ordained minis ters ofliciate at hiswedding.These two young coupl es are amongthe most able and compe tent youngpeople God has sent to AmbassadorCollege, and very important servantsin the work of God. All of God's peoplerejoice in these two God-formed unions,and pray that they may he productive ofvery great frui t for God's glorious Kingdom, and may bring, not only blessingsto countless others over the world , butabundant happiness to these fine, consecrated young couples themselves.

Bet te r PreachingThe inspiring and powerful preachingby the seven ministers ordained sincethe Festival at Seigler Springs, California,a year ago, was of course the greatest

contributing f ac tor in making this thegreatest Feast of Tabernacles of moderntimes.A few ye.irs ago these Festivals werecarried by God's called and chosen minister with ;1 number of promising youngmen, Sti1l students, helping with sermonertes, bu t with real preaching fromonly one minister.Gradual ly those young men developed, matured , and grew in experienceand abil ity into preachers who have no tonly the TRUTH, but the earnestness, thesincerity , and the inspi red fire and power in delivery to carry deep convictioninto the minds and hearts of hearers .This year, perhaps for the first time,the great conclave of brethren came torealize that this is not JUSt a one-manwork of God-bu t we ate the true

CHURCH OFGOl}--the very Church Jesussaid He would build, and did build in:; I A.D.-a Church led by Christ working in and through His called, educated,consecrated, 'ltld experienced ministers.This year we heard inspiring, dynamicsermons from several of God's ministers-sermons of real moving convictionand POWER'Many expressed a thrilled sense ofgratitude and rejoicing in the realization, received from Mr. Armstrong'smessage and Mr. Hoeh's recent articles,on the identity and history of ourChurch, that WE ARE TRliLY GOD'SCHURCH-that we are actually identified in Bible prophecy as the "Philadelphia" Church , for whom God hasopened the door for the proclaiming ofHis true Gospel to Al"L THE WORLD, asa WITNESS UNTO ALL NATIONS!Perhaps the greatest surprise to most

The GOOD NEWSwas the powerful and dynamic preaching of Raymond McNair and the earnestpleading and conv ic ti on of Dick Armstrong's messages. DUl scarcely less surprising, and cer ta in ly no less powerfuland moving, was the improved and mature preaching of Rod Meredith, Raymond Cole, Herman Hoeh and MarionMcNair.Very vital and important messageswere brought in serrnonetres by fiveAmbassador College seniors, DeanBlackwell, Norman Smith, Wayne Cole,George Meeker, and Paul Smith; onegraduate of the college, Kenneth Herrmann; one sophomore, Ted Armstrong,heard for the first time; and the sermonby Gene Carter of St. Louis. These messages rounded out the diet and madethe conclave one complete, well-balanced spiritual FEAST.

Superior MusicThe musical portion of the great Festival, so important in any spiritualgathering, planned by Siste r Ecker t andProfessor Leon Ettinger and Lucy H.

Martin of the Music Department of thecollege, was certainly superior in quality,and more abundant in quantity, thanany previous meeting,Mrs. Martin, head of the Music Deparrmcnt, .ind Professor Ettinger, instructor in voice, flew ove r f rom Pasadena Friday afternoon, remaining untilafter the Sunday morning service.Under Mr. Ettinger's inspiring anc\brilliant directing the 3D-voice Ambassador Col lege Chorale , accompanied byMrs. Martin, sang two numbers at eachservice Friday evening, Sabbath morning and Sabbath afternoon, and three onSunday morning.Solos were sung by Beverly Gott,Ted Armstrong, H. 1. Morley, GeneCarter, and Helen Hammond; due ts byBeverly Gotr and Ted Armstrong, andviolin solos by Dwight Armstrong.It was a most inspiring experience tosee and hear the Ambassador Chorale.It is difficult to believe that a large portion of these young people had neversung before, until entering AmbassadorCol lege a year ago. Their beautiful harmony, per fec t uni son, and splendidtechnique and dramatic expression havebeen made possible by two facrorsthe experienced and superb mastery ofProf. Ettinger's direction, and the zealand whole-souled application of the students, The Chora le is cer ta in ly a splendid tribute to the success of AmbassadorCollege.

Tabernacle ImpressiveWhile the Tabernacle itself was farfrom finished-and none of the great

lounge room to be built on the froorereered-yet it was most impress ive and

November, 195.:\proved a big surprise to nearly everyone. The great high ceiling-38 feethigh-and the large auditorium, 105feet wide and nearly 100 feet long, withthe beautiful wide redwood rostrum,brought awed looks from many. Everycomment overheard, or wh i ch came toour attention, was favorable and enthusiastic.But the principal reason for the greatfeeling of sarisfaciiou and joy over thebig Tabernacle and grounds is the fa nthat it is GOD'S VERY OWN, deeded atthe county court house in Hi s name,and therefore is ol'Rs-since we areHi s begotten children. Yes, for thatreason it is OUR VERY OWN-Gad'sHouse-and it is clear of all encurnbrance. It is all paid for, except forcurrent billing on the construction work.Of course it was sandy and dusty. Thecircular, winding one-way roadway fromthe highway in and our of the groundswas also dusty. We feel sure all the

brethren understood this was due to theface the work is far from finished.When finished the roadways will probably be hard surfaced.The landscape architects and thebuilding architect have planned specialplaygrounds for children of various agegroups. These will be under beautifulsluLlc trees, and carpeted with beaut ifullawns. The playground for the littletots will be fenced in. Adequate play

g round equ ipment will be installed.There will even be a baseball or a softball diamond for older children andyoung people of college age. There willbe wide s idewalks between main pointsof foot traffic, and grass or Other groundcovering to eliminate the dus ty sand.The exist ing kitchen, designed originally only to r reeding a smaller number at the Passover t ime, proved entirely

inadequate for such a large number ofpeople. It was decided that the onlysat isfactory solut ion will be the buildingof a large sepa rate dining building andkitchen. However, due to the cost of thisproject, it will not be undertaken untilafter the 1954 Feast of Tabernacles ,ready for the Fest ival or 1955. \Xle shallhave to make out one more year withpresent kitchen and dining Facilities.But u lt imately, perhaps tWO yearsfrom now, when at least three or four

housing colonies of booths are bu ilt ,the grounds landscaped, the lake :udbaptistry built. and the new dining andkitchen building completed, it will becne of the most wonderful and efficientand beaut iful projec ts for large gathe rings of people anywhere on the face ofthe earth. Yes, THIS IS GOD'S CHCRCf-I-it is THE DOING OF G O D ~ Let us beglad and rejo ice, and gi\ 'e God THANKS- a nd pu t our shoulders to the wheelwith Z E A L ~


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JUDGING and DISCIPLINEin God's Church

If7 bat is Cbrist's way of protecting His cburcb from troublemakers?Is there a li'ay we can "judge" euildoers ubo creep into localC01lgregatio1ls?

by Roderick C. MereditbM ILLIONS of sincere but misguided people are mixed-up aboutthe meaning of Jesus' wordsrecorded in Matt. 7: 1-5,How often have you heard someonereprimanded for s ta ting his bel ief thatsomeone else had done wrong by theexclamation, "Judge not, brother. Jesussaid we s ~ o l l l d n ' t judge other people,you know,What about this? Is it wrong, for example, to warn your friends about a

certain youth in the neighborhood whois a thief and whom you know is a thiefbecause you have caught him in thevery acr of stealing?The Bible commands us no t to bearfalse witness against another (Exodus20: 16), A talebearer is condemned inGod's word (Lev. 19:16: Provo 18:8).You should always try to help othersovercome their sins, and not exposethem nnnecessarily, But is warning yourI l e i g h b o r ~ about a persistent thief "talebearing"?Of course not! What, then, did Jesusmean when He said, "Judge not, thatyou be nor judged"?

Read Ent ir e PassageThe way rhis passage of scripmre hasbeen misapplied is a good example ofhow most profess ing Bible s tudents often pert-er: the intended meaning ofGod's word. Their principal t rouble is

that they sto]: too soon. They read justpart of a passage of scripture, and then!her interpret it.This leads to cOJlfllJion and differinglmm.tn ideas. You shoul.! let the Bibleinterpret th e Bible. Read ALL the passage in which a verse is contained. andthen read the other places in the Biblewhich further expla in the subject, ThisW:lY you will get God'J interpretationnot somebody's human opinion.Using this "key" to unlock the meaning of scriprure, we find that Jesus W:lSreferring primarily to people like thehypocnucal Ph.ir rsees who were accusing others of the very things rheyrhemselves were do ing (verses 3-5).Iesus said that such people should not;,jud.ce" or "condemn" others.The fenton tr.inslarion renders this

phrase "condemn not" instead of "judgenot."In the Old Testament, God gave civilstatutes to Israel and the judges had theauthority to condemn evildoers to adeath sentence. Later, God sent Christto bring "grace and truth" (John 1;17),"Grace" is the free, unmerited pardonextended by God to sinners,Jesus showed that instead of pronouncing sentence upon s inners, as Israel's judges had in the past, it was nowthe duty of God's representatives toteach them the right way and commandthem to repent of the wrong way,In the case of the woman taken inadultery (John 8:3-10), Jesus showedthe Pharisees that they were not fit tocondemn anyone (verse 7) . He wasushering in the dispensation when God'speople would no longer be fleshly Israel, bu t Spirit-begotten sons who wouldbe held accountable by God for obeyingeven the spiri: uf the law (Mart. 5:28).Jesus did not "judge" or pronouncesentence upon the woman at that moment, But He commanded, "Go, andsin no more."Human beings are not capable ofreading another's mind and heart , Butby first overcoming your own majorfaults, and acqui ring spi ri tual wisdomand experience, you can become qualified to help others recognize and overcome their sins.Speaking of one still laden withfaults, Jesus said, "Thou hypocrite, fir.r:cast out the beam out of thine own eye;and then shalt thou see clearly to castott: the mote out of thy brother's eye"(Matt. 7: 5 ) .First, overcome your own major fallIrsand grow spiritually. Then you will beable to right ly discern other people'ssins and help cast them ont, Christthe living Head of the true church(Col. 1: 18) -expected His children tohelp each other orerconte sin. \'Vhen youread all of this passage where Jesusspoke about "Judgll1g," you get a far different meaning than those who JUStread and then bil771anly interpret thefirsr verse.The real meaning of this passage,then, is t ha t Christians must first grow

in the character of God before they arequalified to discern the sins of othersand help them to be overcomers as well.But mature Christians should help theirweaker brethren overcome their sins.This will naturally involve pointing outsins in others and giving advice andhelp in overcoming them. Jesus meantwhat He said, But this must all be doneGod's way.

Old Testament ExamplesI f you study the subject of "Judging"

throughout the entire Bible, you willsee dearly why Jesus said what He didon this subject .Glancing back into the Old Testament , you will find that one of Moses'principal duties was to "judge" the child ren of Israel (Exodus 18 : 13-27). Hebecame so over-burdened with thi s responsibility that he was forced to appoint other God-fearing men to judgethe minor cases (verses 17-22).After Moses died, Joshua acted as ajudge in Israel. But later (Judges 2; 10

17), a generat ion arose which rebelledagainst the judges God set over them.The result was the bloodshed and national suffering described all through thebook of Judges. Twice God gives usthe major caase of all this suffering: "Inthose days there was no king in Israel,bu t every man did that which teas rir;htin his own sight" (Judges 17: 6; 22: 21).Since they refused to hearken toGod's judges, Israel Juffered becauseevery man acted on human reason-doi ng wha t he thought was right. Relyingon human reason instead of on God'schosen representatives always leads todisaster. "There is a way that seemerhright unto a man, but the end thereofare the ways of death" (Prov . 16: 25).The congregation of Israel is a fleshlytype of the spirit-begotten church of

God today. The leaders in Israel jlldgedthe people, but trouble carne when thepeople refused to hearken unto thosewhom God had set in authori ty. Speaking of the chi ldren of Israel, the apost lePaul was inspired to write, "Now allthese things happened unto rhern forexamples: and they are written for ouradmonit ion, upon whom the ends of


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Page .} Tbe GOOD NEWS l'\:()\"elllber, 1 9 ~ 3

Church DisciplineJesus said, "I will build MY church"

(Matt. 16: 1E). Christ is the living, ac-

Address communications to the Editor ,Box III , Pasadena, California.Copyright. November, 19'i.'By t he Rad io Church of God

Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and EditorHerman L. HoehExecra i re Editor

Roderick C. MeredithAssociate Editor

And Now . . . .ABC NETW()RK!GOD NOW opens another door-aI'er)' great door.'Perhaps this is the g reat estnews we have ever had to announce! Beginning Sunday, October 25th , TheWORLD TOMORROW goes on one ofth e gr eat major rad io networks, ABC,T ransconrinental!This means mil lions of new l is tenersevery week. It means tremendous prestige. It means approximately 175 addit ional radio stations. THINK OF IT -175 additional radio stations-includingthe great basic 50,OOO-watt ABC stat ions in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Kansas City, Buffalo, Toronto, and

other major cities. As we go to press theexact number of stations which wil l release the program is not known.We were allowed to select ABC stations in those cities we desired, andomit any we did not wish to cover. Weselected all of the largest stations, omit

ting only a number of the smaller ones.Nearly 20() srnrions were approved byus. As we go to press we are awaitingword from the Hollywood offices of thenetwork as to which of these stations areable to d


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Why Is Remarriage W rang?by H erman L. H oeh

O N THE baptizing tour this pastsummer, we encountered a l argenumber of divorce and remarriage problems.I t is the common conception thatGod would nor be fair to condemnadultery. This reasoning is faulty, because people do not understand the purpose of human existence. Human beings were pu t on this e art h not just toplease the five senses only, but also todevelop into members of the God family

to inherit the powers and prerogat ives of God. Before anyone can ever beborn into the God family, he must firstpossess the cburncter of God. All thepower In the universe would become acurse if it were in the hands of one whohad not developed the character to control it.So let's understand WHY adultery IScontrary to the cliar.rctcr of God.

Marriage is FOR LIFEWHY does God forbid remarr iage as

long as there is still a living mare?Also, WHY does GOD join rogerher asouc jlcrb a husband and wife FORLJ IT ' God is ;lctually reproducing Himself. He formed man in His image.Rut man was made of the dust of theground - mortal - human flesh andblood. God is a Spirit, and man cannotbecome God until he is born of God.Bur, fur ther , in order that there be millions and mil li ons of humans who maybe begotten and then bOI"1l into theKingdom of God, the Eternal wiselymade IIUMAN reproduct ion the exacttype of divine reproduction, or salvation.In order that humans might reproduce, as God proposes, and fur ther inorder that children might be tdllgbtfrom birth on through babyhood andchildhood by loving parellts, God'sPLA:'-I cal led for the institution of thehuman FAl\lILY-which itself is a typeof the COD-FAMILY, which is the Kingdom of God,God's whole purpose and P lan, therefore, revolves around the divinely-ordained ins ti tu tion of MARRI AGE andthe human FAMILY. Major points inGod's Spir irual Law, such as "Honor thyfather and thy mother," and "Thou shaltnot commi t adultery," are based on theimmutability and integrity of the FAMILY. Therefore God, in Hi s wisdombecause it is BEST for human happinessnow, as well as our .le-veloprnenr inrothe very character of God-decreed thatmarriage is ;l BO:'-lD FOR LIFE,

God laid down the laws respectingthe marriage union. No mat te r whatyour human r eason may feel in respectto the circumstances of any particulardivorce and remarriage case, GOD BOUNDTHE O IU GIN AL H US BA ND AND WIFEUNTIL SEPARATED BY DEATH. Any separation, except by death, is unnatural andcontrary to the very LAWS God set inmotion. It does violence to the MARRIAGE INSTITUTION. It does violence toGod's institution of the FAMILY- thevery type of the Kingdom of God. Itbrings abomination, pollution, defilement, into human relationships and intothe l ives of those who are potential bornchildren of GOD.

God made the family ties SO BINDiNG-and the marriage tie SO BiNDING-that any unfairhfulness to it,ONCE BOUND BY GOD, is a MAJOR SIN.Sin is the transgression of God's spiritualLaw. That law says "Thou shalt notcommit adultery." God defines ANY unfaithfulness to a mate to whom HE hadjoined one for life as ADULTERY, andtherefore sin. No mat te r how variousc ircumstances may appear to humaneyes and human r easoning , IT DOESVIOLENCE to God's purpose for humanexistence, introduces confusion and sin,and THE PENALTY IS DEATH-beingpermanently CUT OFF from salvationand the Kingdom of God and ETERNALLIFE!One who does violence to the human

FAMILY relationship, which is a type ofthe Kingdom of God-one who doesdespite to the MARRIAGE tie, which is atype of our relationship to Christ-hasdone despite to the spiri t of GRACE, andmade a mockery of CHRIST AS SAVIOUR,and of THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

God had great d iv ine PURPOSE, andeternally binding REASON for making ita SiN to violate the mar ri age union orthe family relationship by remarriage toanother-which in His sight is actuallyno t remarriage at all, bu t PLAIN ADULTERY!

Sometimes children are born of theseadulterous unions involving one or twodivorced persons. People reason out tha tit is not fair to the chi ld ren of thisadulterous union to separate. BUT WHATABOUT THE INNOCENT CHILDRENTHAT HAVE BEEN HARMED BY THESEDIVORCES OF PERSON S \VH OM CODBOUND FOR LIFE? That is wher e thegreater harm has been caused. And it isin order to PROTECT those children thatGod has laid down a rule which men

are forbidden to alter: that a so-called"marriage" of or to any divorced personis ADULTERY, and the penalty is DEATH- and GOD is the final judge, not humanreason. But WHY no exceptions?Remember, the carnal mind never

can see that God is right. It alwaysseems that God is wrong.First Lesson to Learn

Now, firsr, let us remember t ha tthe marriage covenant is a ~ ' O l U . Thepartners promise Almighty God to re-main faithful to One another till death.Adultery is the breaking of this vow!The question is not whether the other

par ty proved faithless. Whar is importam is that YOU remain faithful to yourpart of the covenant with God. He wantsyou to remain faithful to your vow evenif you have to undergo suffering to perform it. Notice the words of David:"Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? ... He that sweareth to his ownhurr, and changeth not" (Psalm IS: 1,4) .God never backs down on H is promises! You can always rely on what Hesays! The one reason that we KNOW

God will answer you if you ask according to Hi s will is that God does no tchange. "Jesus, the same yesterday, to day, and forever" (Heb. 13: 8 ). "For Iam the Lord, I change not" (Mal. 3: 6) .This is God's character-faithfulllers.AuJ if yuu are to become God , youmust develop that same character inyourself now. You must learn to keepyour word.Moses instructed the Israeli tes aboutthis same matte r: "This is the thingwhich the Lord hath commanded." Notice, it was not just Moses, but theEternal who commanded: "I f a manvow a vow unro the Eternal , or swearan oath to bind his soul with a bond: heshall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out ofhis mouth" (Numbers 30:1-2). Th esame instruction is repeated in Ecclesiastes 5:4 : "When thou vowest a vowunto God, de fe r not to pay it; for hehath no pleasure in fools: pay thatwhich thou hast vowed."

Observe that it is the foolish whothink they are getting by easily by no tperforming their vows.

If you are going to be God, then it istime to learn to be faithful to whateveryou have vowed, The hardships thatmight sometimes r esult in being faithful to the marriage vow are not worthyto be compared to the lesson of faithful-


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Page (,ness which develops in you {he character of God (Rom. 8:18). No matterwhat the hardship or the tempt at ion ,"God is fai th fu l who will not suffer youto be tempted above that ye are able;but will with the temptation also makea way of escape, that ye may be able tobea r it" ( I Cor. 10: 13). This is God'spromise. He won 't break it! Will yourely on it if yours is the problem ofdivorce and remarriage that seems todifficult to bear?

Lesson Number TwoSecond, marriages ending in divorceresult from the fact that marriage vowsare often taken without counsel and advice from those who are o lder and moreexperienced. "Foolishness," said Solomon, "is bound in the heart of a child"

(Prov. 22:15)-but sad to say, mostof that foolishness is not removed todaybecause parents do not correct the irch ildren as they ought to. It is littlewonder tha t when young people imagine they have fallen in love their foolishIdeas often lead them into trouble."The way of a fool is right in his owneyes,"-young people too often thinkthe ir infatua tion is love-"but he thathearkenerh unto cotrnsel is wise" (Prov,12:15).How many times the proverb is re

pearcd: "For l ac k of counsel t he peopl eperish." Think of the number of ruinedlives, all because human beings havenot learned to take advice and counselfrom those who are experienced. Godwants us to real ize the terrible mis takesthat can result from failure to take advice. If God would permit remarriage,human beings would never learn thelesson. They would go on mak ing snapdecisions, which would bring ever-increasing retribution. How much wiseris God's plan, that we learn the lessononce and for all, so we won't have tocontinue living a life filled with mistakes and heartaches. The small aI110Ufi[of suffering that a few parents wouldhave to endure by not remarrying wouldnot compare to this fundamental lessonwhich every chi ld needs to learn.Let's under stand divorce and remarriage clearly. God will never' tolerateadultery because we would not learnthese two fundamental lessons: Seckronnse! and obtaiu all tbe facts possiblebefore m,lliJlg ,I decision: tben 011ceille riglli tlccisio n is nra.l: ucier deviateno r cbangc:How plai n it is that divorce and remarriage cheat us out of the chnr.tct crof G o ~ 1 which we must have to inheritthe POWERS of God.Let's qui t t ry ing to use human reason

ro evade the laws of God because nonewho persist in living in adultery willever enter the kingdom of God!

The GOOD NEWS

Judging and Disciplinein God's Church(Continued from page 4)

tion, Instead of "if thy brother shallt respass aga inst thee," the verse shouldread "if your brother sins, go and tellhim his fault .. : ' Thorough investigation into the Greek text proves that thewords "agains t thee" should be lef t out.Jesus was simply teaching his disciples how to bring back a bro ther whowas Jinning-whether agains t them, or

someone else, or God only. No ti ce thethree steps Jesus said to take in S U C ~ l acase.Jesus' Instructions

First, tell the other person his faultbetween you and him alone. Don't gossip or tell others. Don't become upset orbitter over your bro ther's sin. J ust goand tell him about it privately. Don'tpick at your brother or pester him abouttrivial matters. But if he sins, go andtell him abou t it with the at tit ude ofhelping him. H he hears you, you havegained your brother.

Secondly, if he will not hear you thentake with you one or two other brethrenand rehearse the matter again in theirpresence. Be sure they are mature Christ ians-men of understanding who willbe able to make your sinning brotherrealize the seriousness of his mistake.Thirdly, if he will not heed theirwarning to repent, then tell the matterto the church. Since there is o rder andgovernment in God's true church, youshould take the matter up with the pastor. He will carefully review the case,probably have a long talk with the partyin error , and will then bring the matterbefore the ent ir e congregation if hedeems this wise.H af ter all this the sinning party stillrefuses to repent, Christ said th at youare to tr eat him as an unbeliever. Doesthis mean you are to hate him or tohold him in contempt. It certainly docs

170t. It simply means that you are totreat him as an unconverted outsider andhave no fel/ou'sbip with him.Naturally, you should continue to ZOICyour erring brother and pray that Godwill bring h im to repentance. But youare not to talk to him about it or fellowship with him any more until he acknowledges his error and gives evidencethat he has repented. If your brotherfinally does repent and turn from hiserror, we will find later that he maythen be readmi tted into church fello\\:ship. So his expu lsion from the congre-

gation is simply to wake him up beforeit is too late.Bound in Heaven

Notice that in this same passage aboutchurch disc ipline, Jesus said, "Verily Isay unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bindon eart h shall be bound in heM'en: andwhatsoever ye shall loose on earth shallbe loosed in heaven" (Matt. 18: 18) .Jesus gave His called servants the au-thority to make binding decisions insuch cases. But he went on to say, "Forwhere two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in themid st of th em" (verse 20).Speaking of exerc is ing church discipline , Jesus promised that He wouldbe with His servants in carrying outthis function. Christ himself will inspireand direct His chosen min isters in allsuch decisions. It is really Chr is t who isgoverning and judging God's church.Even the judges in the Old Testament were promised divine guidance inrendering their decisions. In II Chronicles 19: 1-7 is an account of how righteous King Jehosaphat appointed judgesover the land. He was inspired to ins truc t them, "Take heed what ye do:for ye judge not for man, but for theLord, who is witb you in the judgment."Seeing this example of how Goddirected his fleshly people, how muchmore will He direct and inspire Hisservants today in directing and judging matte rs within His Spirit-begottenchurch? Chris t will cer tainly guide Hisminis te rs in judging His people today.He intends to present the church ;'01]and blame/err hefore God The Bibleform of church discipline is one of themeans Christ is using to keep Hischurch free from corruption. All suchjudgments by God's servants will bebound in benren. Christ directs Hisministers in governing His church. ThenHe backs them up with His divine authority and power.Are there fur ther ins truc tions on exactly how this should be carried out'

Paul 's InstructionsThe apostle Paul was inspired to

write further instructions about churchdiscipline to the churches under hiscare. He instructed the Galatians, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a LIu!t,ye which are spi ritual, restore such anone in the spirit of meeincss: considering thyself, lest thou also he tempted"(GaI.6:1J.Notice tha t Paul admonished them tobe meek or bnmblc when helping abrother to see and overcome a sin. \Vemust never be overbearing or selfr ijrhteous in such a case. bu t shouldhumbly try to help our brother correcthis error-realizing tha t we ourselves


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November, 1 l ) ~ 5may be tempted in the same manner.Paul gave inspired instructions to the

Thessalonian Christians in his epistles.Knowing that some obstinate persons inthe congregation might refuse to recognize his authority and instructions, hewrote, "if any man obey not our wordby this epistle , not e that man, and bai:no comp.nr ; u.i tb bi), that he may beashamed. Yet count him not as anenemy, but admonish him as a brother"(I I Thess. 3: 14- I 5 ) .

If a person gets in a I IUJIIg spirit andrefuses to heed the instruc tions of God'scalled servants, Pau l showed that theyare to be disfeUowshipped that tbc:111"1 be asbemed.Learning to obey the gorcrnmcnt ofGild is the very basis of true Christianity. People 71tl1Jt be taught to respect

and fear t he autho ri ty God wieldsrhrough His ministers. 1 a person refuses to obey God's government now,how can he be expected to obey it inrhe kingdom?In Romans 16: 17-18, Paul warnedthe saints: "Now I beseech you, brethren, JIlilrk them [I'bieb cause ditisio nsand offences con trary to the doctrinewh ich ye have learned; dl ld aroid tbcm.'Troublemakers and false teachers areto be marked, and, if they persist , to beput oil! of God 's church and .noidcd,How much trouble and anguish can G,:avoided if God's people will liccd thiJlI'ilrllillg:

An Examp leIn the third and fourth chapters of I

Corinthians, Paul was warning the saintsagainst following any individual insteadof Christ and point ing out some of thefruits of a true apostle. He warne.lthem not to take his authority as God'sservant lighrIy.Paul had undoubtedly heard that someof them had become tollowers of menand were denying his apostolic authority. They were refusing to recognizeGod's government through him. SoPaul wrote, "Now some are put fed up.as though I would not come to you,But I will come to you shortly, if theLord will, and will know, not the speechof t hem which are putfed up, bu t thepower. For the kingdom of God is notin word, but in power. \'Vhat will ye?Shall I come unto you with a rod, or inlove, and in the s pi ri t of meekness?"(l Cor. 4: 18-21).Do you see that Pnul was ca ll ing attention to the fact that God grantsaraborit, and p oue r to His true servants? Paul knew he had the authorityto come "w it h a rod"-to chast en orj7llt ont stubborn sinners from theirmidst. The ! ' O W I ~ R of Almighty Godwould back him up in this! Any whores is ted wnuld be J!I'.',e'& ,,'elld as AIU-

The GOOD NEWSnias and Sapph ir a if necessary. God'sgovernment is with divine pou.er andit is well for all of us to realize this!Paul continued in his Ierrcr (I Cor.5: 1-7) to note that a kind of abominabe fornication was being practicedamong the Corinthians. He commandedrhern to pttt ora of their midst the onewho was committing this sin, He saidthey should "Deliver such an one untoSatan for the destruction of the flesh,t ha t the spi ri t may be saved in the dayof the Lord Jesus" (verse 5).The clear implication of rhis passageis t ha t once an obstinate sinner is pu t

out of the church, God will permitSatan to afflict him until he repentsif he will repent. How feelrftll is thejudgment of God on those who knowthe truth and then let themselves be ledinto sin and rebellion against God's government!But s tri ct di scipl ine is lZeceJJelry to

preserve the cbnrcb. Tolerating a smallamount of sin will only lead to more,"Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the who le lump?" (Vers e 6).Paul commanded, "P lIrge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be anew lump" (verse 7). Ou t and out SINmust not be tolerated within God'schurch! Ou r human reason might tellus otherwise, bu t God enoios best,

ReinstatementSome churches of this world haveforms of "excommunication" whereby

the object seems to be to hurt and defame the one who has been pu t out ofchurch fellowship. This is 110t God'sway.As we have seen before, a sinningbrother is to be disfellowshipped in 0[-der "that he may be ashamed" and cometo repentance, The object is to helpthese people-to Welke tbem l ip -no tto hurt them.In II Corinthians 2: 1-11, we findthat Paul asked the brethren at Corinthto accept the repentance of the fornicator he had commanded them to purout. "Sufficient to such a man is thispunishment, which was inflicted ofmany. So that contrar iwise ye oughtrather to forgive him, and comfort him,lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow"(verses 6-7 ) .These verses indicate that the manhad now repented and was sorrowinggreatly over his error . He had learnedhis lesson, So now he was to be broughthack into the fellowship of the churchand completely forgiven-just as Godforgave him,Pau l said they must forgive him "lestSatan should ge l an aJvallrage of us:for we are not ignorant of his devices"(verse 11). I f God's people continued

Page 7to shun this man, he might have committed suicide or perhaps yielded himself to a demon. In either case it wouldonly work harm ro the man and bringreproach on the work of God.Here we have found in God's word a

complete example of how church discipline should be carried out. It must bestrict with persis tent sinners or troublemakers, bu t mercy and complete forgiveness must he extended to thosewho learn their lesson and repent.

PurposeThe purpose of this form of churchdiscipline is to prevent God's children

f rom becoming careless and lukewarmabout SIN-which God !JateJ-and toprotect God's church from becoming infiltrated with s inners or false teacherswho will lead others into sill. The objectof church disciple should be LOVE -the desire to protect any of God's childr en from be ing led astray.Jesus-the living Head of God'sChurch-gave the over-all principlesof church discipline to protect thechurch He was beginning to build. IfGod's ministers and people today loveone another and the trntb, they willwant to carry out God 's form of judgment in His church to mutually protecteach o ther f rom falling into the snareof Satan.

No true Christian has anything tofear f rom this command of God, It is aprocedure designed ro prorecr God'schildren and keep them bound togetherin trntb and lo ie .

ScopeIn I Corinthians 6: 1-7, the apostlePaul commanded the saints 110t to go

to law before unbelievers, but to bringany disputes before the saints for judgment, This would include disputes overmaterial matters as well as the spiritualproblems which we have already discussed. Paul wrote, "Know ye not thatwe shall judge angels? how mucbmore things t ha t pertain to this life"(verse 3).Paul is not wri ting about cases involving outsiders who are unconverted.This chapter deals with converts only.So when two converted brethren havea disagreement over some material matters-even converted people are stilllncnt.ar: you know-they should bringthe mat te r before rhe leaders in God'schurch. Verse 4 of this passage is incorrectly t rans la ted and most moderntranslations show that it should be inthe form of a question. Paul was askingthem Ii'by they were bringing their disputes before those who were little esteemed by the church, He continues,"I speak to your shame." (Because theywere doing this) "Is it so, that t he re is


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