good news 1955 (vol v no 05) dec

8/10/2019 Good News 1955 (Vol v No 05) Dec

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VOL. V, NUMBER 5 DECEMBER, 1955~~

Attend GODS FESTIVALSCan Y O U af or d the joyous priv ilege o f attending Godsannual festivals? Here i s the answer to the question we

prom ised y o u at th e Feast of Tabernacles

by Roderick C. Meredi th

OW j v y v u s the recent Feast ofTabernacles was W ha t a t re-H mendous inspiration and bless-

ing it was to attendHow much more real m e a n i n g there

is in the annual festivals God has or-

dained than in the continual round ofhol idays the children of this world arebusy observing. Most of you brethrenknow this-because you have atten dedGods annual festivals before. Andyouhave undoubtedly coinpared them withthis worlds holidays.

No comparison,is there?No because Gods annual holy days

point out-step by st ep -t he grea tPLAN of God and His method of work-ing out that plan. But theholidays of thisbabylonish world picture only a f d s eChrist and a counterfeit plan of salvationdevised by Satan the Devil But whilemost of you brethren have alreadyp r o i d this to yourselves, many of youwonder h o w it is possible to keep thesejoyous festivals God has given Hispeople.

S 3 here is the answer--iit wrztiiag-to the questions so many of you askedU S during the recent Feast of Taber-nicles.

A G O D - G i ve n B le ss in gAre you commanded to leave your

homes and assemble with Gods churchduring His annual festivals? Are thereany exceptions to this command? Andbow caiz y r w afford to take such a trip?

Wh i l e t he world is busy observing th ePagan holidays of Christmas and Easter,and d evising cam p meetings accordingto h a m a n reason-the way which seem-eth r ight unto a man (Proverbs14: 1 2 )-it snee rs at the days Go d has m a d e

holy. T h e world ridicules these days asJewish-forgetting thatJesus and theapostles kept these days in the N e wTestam ent. These days arenever referredto as being holy to the Jews. But Godcalls them MY sabbaths-holy untothe Lord

Thes e an nual festivals are holy to theEternal Creator who gives you everybreath of air you breathe H ecommandsyou to kee p them-for your ow n good.YOU re d e f y i n g H i m if you refuse tokeep them. In so doing you will loseknowledge of the true God and of H i splan which is pictured by these days.And you will be missing out on the mosthappy, joyous, and really worthwhilevacatzon opportunity there is.

Gods annual festivals truly area greatblessing to those wh o are yieldedto God.Many of you brethren have come out ofthis world, and then found yourselvesunable to fellowship with any of Godspeople. It is often impossible t: meecwith other true brethren on the weeklySabbath. BU T Godsannaal Sabbaths orholy days provide an opportunity totravel even some distance and have thatneeded fellowship with other membersof the true church of God.

For many brethren who have attended

before, the annual festivals are eagerlanticipated as an opportunity to renewthe wonderful fel lowship with brethrefrom all over the nation-and to drinkin spiritual food in the inspiring meetings which are the highlightsof the en-

tire year,I n His wisdom, od has ordained thawe should taketime each year to makethe trip to attend His annual festivals-where we can relax from our daily rou-tine, rejoice with other brethren, anlearn more spir i tual t ruth in a few daysthan we ordinarily would in monthsThis is Gods way

Inevitably, many brethren will sayBut we cant afford to attend Godsfestivals.

Th e truth is ,y o a cannot afford mot toattend And God has instituteda plan toensure that you CAN atte ndi f you wildo your part.

H o w to Afford I t?

But HOW can we afford it ?These festive occasions arecommantl

ed to be kept in the place that Godchooses. Deuteronomy 16:16 shows par-ticularly that the days of unleavenedhresd, including the passover (verse6 ) ,the day of Pentecost, and the feast oftabernacles are all to be kept where Godroodd choose.

I IOWdo we do i t ?God has not only provided, but als

commanded, a way to make it financiallypossible for us to keep His holy days


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Page 2 The GOOD NEWS December, 1955

It is a way which requires continualEFFORT and determination. If we are tobe OVERCOMERS-and they only will bein the king dom of God-then we willhave to exercise enough strength ofcharacter and will to obey this commandof God. Actually it works no real hard-ship, but brings a great blessing to our-selves and others. It is a way that buildsfaith and hop- and patience and love.

Wh at does God command?God commands us in Deut. 14:22-27

to save each year a special or secondtithe, t o go to the place God selects foreach of His festivals, and to rejoice inthem. This second tithe is for expensemoney to enable us to keep Go ds annualholy days. In an cient Israel most of themoney was spent for food there, as theexpense for traveling was almost noth-ing. Today, however, our greatest ex-pense is often transportation rather thanfood. As the purpose of thissecond titheis to enable us to attend the festivals, wewill often spend a good portion in trans-portation.

Not t he F i r s t Ti the

Please do not confuse this secondtithe, especially fo r these occasions, withthc first tithe which God has command-ed us to render to His true ministers forproclaiming to the wh ole world the gos-pel. Unl ike the second tithe, the firstt i the or tenth of our income belongs toGod. H e created all things and is cnlypermi t t iug man to use this materialworld anyway. T he earth is the Lords,and the fullness thereof; the world, andthey that dwell therein (Psa. 24:1

In Numb ers 18: 21 we read that Godgave a tenth or tithe of Israels income tothe Levites for an inheritance. This tithedoes n o t belong to us; it is the inherit-ance of Gods ministry. Today thepriesthood has been changed (Hebrews7: 12 ) , so we now pay our tithes to Godsrepresentatives, C hrists true m inisters,fo r t h e gospel work ( I Cor. 9 :1 4 ) . I nhlalachi 4:8-12, it says that we arerob-

ing God if we fail to render to Him(through His true servants) our t i thes

A N D offeiings. Most people ill thiscuii-fused world d ont even realize this. Butonce we have the know ledgeof the truth,we had better repent and begin to obeyGod in this matter. And, as we just readin Malachi, if we do obey God by pay-ing our t i thes and giving offerings, H ewill bless 11s.

In Deuteronomy 14:22-27, we findt h a t our Creator commandsLIS to lay by 3second tithe of our increnscjor incomeand go to the place wli i i l i God 11as C IUS-en. From this tithe we ourselves are toeat, drink, and rejoice in this pI.ice-theplace where God has chosen that Hisann ua l holy days nre to b e held . W e s:tasic e th is special tithe (or tenth) of,ourincome every year in order that we might

have the expense money to attend and torejoice with the brethren. Notice that itsays in verse 23: and THOV shalt eat bc-fore the Lord thy God. . .

Thir t i the is to he spent on ymwrelf-not for the ministry. Since there is acommanded tithe for the ministry, thismust be another, different tithe.

In the 12th chapter of Deuteroiioiiiythis special tithe is mentior,ed in verses6, 11, and 17 along with the sacrificesIsrael used to bring. Here again thisspecial or second tithe is for y o u to useAT THE PLACE which God has chosen foryou to appear before Him on these holydays.

S h o u l d You Spend Yo ur SecondTi t h e a t H o m e ?

If for some unforeseen circumstanceyou are unable to attend the Feast ofTabernacles, what should you do withyour second tithe? Many that we havemet o n the bap tizing tours, and others byletters, have asked about this problem.

Now let us notice where the secondtithe was to be spent. Thou shalt trulytithe all the increase of thy seed, tha t thefield bringeth forth year by year. Andt h o u shalt eat before the Lord thy God,i n tbs pbce .which h e JhuU chuose toplace his name there . . hat thou may-est Iearn to fear the Lord thy Go d always.And if the way be too long for thee,sothat thou art not able to carry it;or if theplace be too far from thee, which theLord thy God shall choose to set hisname there, whe n the Lord thy God hathblessed thee: then shalt thou turn it intom o n e y . . and shalt GO unto t he p lacewhich th e Lord t hy God sha ll choose . .and thou shalt eat t he re before the Lordthy God, and thou shalt rejoice. (D eut.

Th e second tithe-the tenth that Go dwants us to use, which is another andseparate tenth fro m the first tithe that H ereserves for Himself for the carrying outof the gospel-the second tithe we areto use to attend th e fest ivals . But let usread furthe r: Tho u mayest NOT eatwithin thy gates the tithe of thy corn, ofthy wine . but thou MUST eat thembefore the Lord thy God in the placewhich the Lord thy God shall choose,thou, and thy son, and thy daughter(Deu t . 12 :17 -15 ) .

Here is a positive command not touse the second tithe a t home if you areiinahle to attend. Yo u ?mi. r i iise i t tnenable you to attend the fescivzisa t theplace which God chooscs.If the moncyis spent for any other purpose, then youiii Lieaking ii cniiiiiia~xlof G ~ - - - ~ c J uare not learning to fciir His authocity-and you are cheating yourself of thewonderful blessing of fellowship withothers of like faith.

Lets use the minds God his emlawedus with to carry out thesz comninnds iil

14:22-27) .

a reasonable manner. Deuteronomy 1422 states that you shall tithe the increasof your szed. Th en it is certainly permisible for you who are farmers to bringsome of your produce or canned goods tothe feasts insiead of money.

If fo r unforeseen circumstances yoare unable to attend the festivals, and iyou are prusprrous, it would be the righ

and brotherly duty to enabk others tuse your tithe. I t can be sen t to Pasadenwith an exp anation that it is to enabothers to attend the festival. But if yoare like most of the brethren, not havinmany wordly goods, and a small incomor nnne a t all, and if you are unable tocome to the festival, you shouldS AV E ITUNTIL THE NEXT YEAR or for tivo yearsif necessary, when you will then havenough to asseirible where God hachosen to place His name. Meantimyou will be observing the festivdsa thome just as you would at the feast.

Sad as it sometimes is, with somfamilies, the second tithe just hasntbeen enough to bring them KO the feasof rahernacles. I n this case, those havinmore than enough second tithe shoulhelp those who lack. RernemSer, Godoesnt expect th e poor to save more thatlirir xila11 re~ith, ut t h e y m u s t d o theipart God often blesses others, howevewi th a larger tenth so they can help thoswho have less.

W e find in Acts4132-35 that the earlChurch of God helped its needy members and we follow this principle.

I n many caws w e t ry to aid the poorebrethren through the extra second titof those f e w who have more thaenough. But only those who have faitfully saved their irisufilcienrsrcvrid tithdeserve the extra help. If you haventried to save your little, God can nodeem you wor thy of H is ex tra assistan

Yes, God has provided a meth3d bywhich we can keep His festivalsI F ware willing to do our part It isnt dificult once we try. God has promised care for our every need ( I Peter 5 : 1And i w e l o v e t h e b r e t hr e n we wonfail to do it.

Are we guing tu fulluw Christ? Leeveryone examine his own heart

If there is not enough second tithe take the entire family to the three grefeasts, then just the man,as head of thfamily, should go (Deu t . 1 6 : lG ) . Thother members of the family2 x expected if circunisrnnccs per mi t,and Go4 wilhelp us work it out in time if we do OL::p x t . Of course, i f the husband is a n unbeliever, the wife sliould certainly trytcCuII le ar1yway.

Ti t h e fcr t he Poor

In reading the rzferenceDeuteronomy 1 4 : 2 2 - 2 7 , s ~ m e f yomay have wondexd about the memi

( P l e a s e c o n t i w e osz p g e 7 )


3/8

H o w to be an OVERCOMERW H Yare w e not more successful in living up t o Gods

standard? WHY do w e slip and fall occasionally?

Here is how YOU can overconze where y o u are weakest

and hardest tempted

by Herbert W . Armstrong

o Y O U have some besetting sin-some po in t of weakne ss, pcOr-D aps secret, you have been un-

able to overcome?Have yor6 ever met temptation, strug-

gled with it, only to wake up a littlelater to the remorseful fact that you hadslippe d, and failed to overcome?

Or perhaps you are struggling with

som e habi t that holds you as its slave-strug gling, wrestling, always fightin g it,ye t somehow never able to conqucr it.

O d y the OvercomersThese things are serious. W e ? i z t ~ s t

overcome these sins, these habits, thesesudd en temptations-be cleansed ofthem thoroughly-if we expect to gett h ru to thc Kingdom and inhcri t eternallife.

To him that OVERCOMETH, says Je-sus, will I grant to sir with me in mythrone.

He tha t OVERCOMETH, and keepethmy works unto the end, t o HIM will Igive power over the nations; and he shallrule them with a rod of iron. (Rev. 2 :26-27; 3 : 21 . )

N o t all are even called, now. Many,tho they may have heard the true mes-sage, have never received a consciousconvicting KNOWLEDGE of the truth.This is not t h e time when God is call-ing them.

But God is now calling S O M E to a lifeof separation-to a new and differentand Spirit-filled and Spirit-led life-inorder that they may be whollyCLEANSEDof sin, and tha t they mayGROW in graceand knowledge, thus being prepared,trained, fitted for a position of solemnresponsibility-that of king or priest-in Gods KINGDOM And i t is only thosewho qualify by the training, the over-coming, the spiritual development andgrowth, D U R I N G THIS PRESENT LIFE,who shal l thus reign with Christ. Studythe parable of the pounds, i n Luke 19:

Why WJe Sturnblc and Fall

So the Christian life is a new and adifferent life; an OVERCOMING life. Sin

11-27.

must be torn out , root and branch. W emust be made righteous, holy.

W h y, t hen , do so many of us contin-ually stumble and fall? Yes, even thosewho do strive, struggle, and even PRAY,and PRAY for help, for victory, oversome vicious habit? WHY?

First, notice a portion of Pauls in-struction to the Philippians.

And be found of Him, not havingmine OWN righteousness, which isof thelaw, but thdt which i ibrvuyh ibe faiJbof Christ, the righteousness WHICH IS OFGOD by faith. (Phi l . 3 : 9 ) .

Notice, it is not O U R righteousness.but GODS.

David was inspired to write: All thyCommandments are righteousness.( Ps.119:172). Ye s and LOVE is the fulfill-ingo f the law ( Rom .13:s).

T h e K i n d of Love Requi red

Right here is one trouble. Too manyCommandment-keepers are strugglingalong, trying to keep the Command-ments in their own power and strength-thinking it is THEIR own personal hu-man love that fulfills the Law

Too many Commandment-keepershave only been converted to the ARGU-MENT of keeping Gods Command-ments, and have never really EXPERI-ENCED definite salvation-for a rcal con-version is a DEFINITE EXPERIENCE Suchpeople need to go to a private place,alone with God, and get to their knees,and pour out their hearts to God, andstay with it until they reallyKNOW theyare converted by GODS POWE R, nd havereceived His blessed Holy Spirit

No wonder so many become contin-ually discourag ed, and feel like givingup

We do not even H AV E the kind oflove tha t fulfills Gods law and ma kesus righteous LOVE is of God, for GodIS love An d it takes the loveof G o d .shed abroad in our hearts by the HolyGhost , (Rom. 5 : 5 to fulfill the law,make us Commandment-keepers, andgive us GODS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The law is SPIRITUAL (Rom. 7 : 1 4 .W e are carnal. I t takesa S P I R I T U A L love

to fulfill a spir i tual law. The H oly Spiritwithin us is merely GODS LAW I N AC-TION And since God alone can supplythe LOVE that makes us righteousness, itbecomes GODS righteousness, not ours.

How t o G e t Fa i t hBut how do we receive this L O V E ?

Note again the Scripture quoted above

. . the righteousness which isof GodIt comes, then, by FAITH. Now most

people seem to believe that the FAITby which we must receive everythingGod gives us, is somerhing that we, our-selves, must work up and supply, bysome kind of hard effort. And it doesbecome szccb an effor t ,doesnt it, tryingto strive tu have FAITH?

Foolish babes in Christ Cant w e sethat if WE were able to supply the faithwhich brings all else that we, ourselveswould earn our own salvation byWORKS? It would be the kind of right-eousness that is only FILTHY RAGS toGod

Stop trying to work up faith. YOUhave no fai th. The Scripture abovspeaks only of THE FAITH OF CHRIST N o t your faith-cHRISTS faith. Jesuhad REAL FAITH He performed mira-cles An d he rose from the dead-and

Here is the secret He gives-He im-parts-HIS stro ng fai th to you and tome Yes, even FAITH is a gift of God-one of the spiritual GIFTS (Eph. 2:s;and I Cor. 1 2 : 9 ) .

Then how shall we go about gett inginore of it? By yielding, submittingO L U

desires, our purposes, our wills, to HIMby ASKING Him in real earnest persevering prayer, and by trusting Him to givit

W h y W e H av e Not Been DeliveredGods Word promises. There I d 1

no temptation taken you but suchas iscommon to man: but God is faithfulwho will not suffer you to be temptedabove t ha t ye are able; but will with thetemptation, also M A K E A WAY OF ES-CAPE, that ye may be able to bear it.

BY FAITH.

I I E LIVES.


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Page 4 The GOOD NEWS December, 1955

The national magazine of

THE CHURCH OF GOD

ministering to its membersscattered abroad and

reporting on campiis happeningsat Ambassador College

VOL. v NUMBER 5

Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and Editor

Herman L. HoehExecutive Editor

Roderick C MeredithAssociate Editor

Address communications to the Editor,Box 1 11 Pasadena, California.

Copyright, December, 1955

By the Radio Church of God

NOTICE Be sure to notify us immediatelyof any change in youraddress. IMPORTA NT

( I Cor. 10: 13.)But has it not often seemed, in our

cxperience, that God has tailed to z epthis prom ise? Tem ptation has come.Youhave struggled, even prayed, yet youwere overpowered, andyou did not findthe way of escape Th en what is wron g?

Jesus said I will NEVER leave you nor

forsake you. I am with you always,even un to the end of thc world. GudsW ord promises, Sinshall NOT have do-minion over you. Yet have you notfound that sin has had DOMINION overyou, holding you its slave? Have you notfought it desperately, even with tearsstream ing dow n your face-only to fail?

How to Apply arid Use Faith

WHY? What is wrong? Simply thatwe have not known how to receive, ap-ply, and use the FAITH God promises togive

First, there is somethingWE must do.Some go to one extreme and try to doit all. Others swirlg to the opposite ex-treme, plead with G od, m ake little effortthemselves, and expect Him to do itall.

James says Szbbmit yourselves there-fore to G od. Resist the devil, and he willflee from you. (Jas. 4 : 7 . )

Submit Resist Th is tnkes effort.Peter says to hcimhle ourselves, c m t

ing A L L our care upon the Lord, acd tobe sober and VIG ILAN T;ecause the dev-il is walking about, wntching for thechance to tempt us when we are o o xguard: whom RESIST, steadfastzn thef k h , ( I Pet. 5:6-9.) W e a re t o rcsiSt

Saran, and do it in the faith of Christ-but HOW?

Th e key to i t all is BE VIGILANT. Beon your guard Be ever watchful Beprepared TIMS where we fall down Ittakes constant, continuous, vigilant ef-fort, never letting down

Unless we, ourselves, had to put forthsome effort we could not beOVERCOM-ERS But if we had power to do it all,we should not need God So it requiresour effort-ur co ntin uo us, watch ful,ever VIGILANT effort-empowered byGODS SPIRIT

James continues: D raw nigh to God,and H e will draw nigh U ~ L O ou. (Jas.4: 8 ) . Now we are getting closer toouranswer W he n temptation comes, weARE TOO FAR FROM GOD-and we arethen unable, SUDDENLY, on the spurofthe mom ent to get close enoughto H i mto get the help and the deliverance weneed

It sometimes takes TIME to get CLOSEto God-into that intimate contact withH i m so that we can draw on Him for thepower we suddenly need

In other words, when temptation un-expectedly has come, we have foundour-selves caught off g u a r d - o u t of prayer-o u t of contact with God-ouT OF SPIR-ITUAL TRAINING

You were entering a CONTEST withSatan. You tried to wrestle with him,but you were OUT OF TRAINING, out ofspiritual condition.

TV LOGHerbert \XI. Armstrong rcveals the

startling significance behind todaysworld troubles with the prophecies ofThe WORLD TOMORROW

E V E RY SUNDAY

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

PORTLAND, OREGON

DENVER, COLORADO

TYLER, TEXAS

SAN FRANCISCO-STOCKTON,

W I X , Channel 11 12:OO A.M.

WBKB, Channel 7-9:00 A.M.

KTLA, Channel 5-10:30 P.M.

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RLTV, Channel 7 10:45 P.M.

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KRIBC, Channel 9-1 1 30 P.M.HOUSTON, TEXAS

HONOLULU, HAWAIIKPRC, Channel 2-1 1 :30 A.M.

RGMB, Channel 9-10:30 P.M.

And, when the temptations suddenlyassail you, no matter how hard you thentry, or cry out to God for help, you aresimply TOO FAR AWAY FROM HIM to gethelp

Spiritual training, to get andKEEP inconstant vigilant condition to meet thefoe of temptation and sin requires G O ~ Ztingous earnest, perristentPRAYER Thatis why we are commanded so often toPRAY WITHOUT CEASING T o K E E P ITUP

If we draw nigh to God, and thenK E E P close to Him , our problem will besolved. W e will then have the FAITH.W e will then be continuallyF I L L E D withHi s Spirit-His power to overcome.

W e can keep in spir i tual t raining onlyif we keep our affectinns-ur minds-our thoughts-on SPIRITUAL things.Read Col. 3:l-10. Most of us keep ourminds filled with earthly, material caresand interests, turning to the spiritualonly occasionally S-ek FIRST the King-dom of God and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

Sometimes it takes a siegeof FASTINGA N D PRAYER-earnest, de te rm in ed , pe r-severing prayer-seeking G od wi th allour might-with weeping-staying wit hit, DETERMINED, until we get thru. T h e nwe must keep in CONTINUOUS prayer.Cast ALL our cares upon HIM. W e a renot doing that, If you do, there will bemany things a day to pray about And ittakes daily PRIVATE prayer, in real earn-est, besides family or public prayer. Iseternal life WORTH IT?

*

PRAY hat success will nor come anyfaster than you are able to endure it.

TO ALL OF EUROPE:

Mondays, Greenwich time.RADIO LUXEMBOURG --- 23:30

TO ASIA AND AFRICA:RADIO CEYLON

RADIO LOURENCO MARQUESSaturday 10:00-10:30 P.M.

OTHE

U S .8

C A N A D A

MLS Chicago 90 on dial11:30 P.M., Mon. thru Fri.,8 . 3 0 Sunday night.

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XEG-1050 on dial, every night, 8 : 3 0P.hI. Central Slanddrd time.


5/8

The Dramatic Storyof Chinese Sabbathkeepers

Here is disclosed one of the most A S T O U N D l N G episodes o fhistory. I t is l ike rel iving th e experienceso f th e judges and prophetsof old (Editor s no te: W e egre t that the publishing of this article

has been delayed since September.)

by H e r m a n L H o e h

London, EnglandO R SEVEN years 1 have wanted to

write this little-known inspiringF rama of hum an experience.Untilnow I have never been able to uncoverall the records which I knew must exist.

Thanks to the British Museum Libraryand sellers of rare oriental books in Lon-

don, I am able to give you these factsfrom the records.

Th e Mystery Begins

This dramatic account commenceswith the year 1813. It begins in a smallvillage some little distance from the im-portant city of C anton, China. Her e thechief character in the drama, Hung-sui-tshuen, was boin. For ease of prununcia-tion, I shall call him Hung.

Hung came from a royal family. Hisfather and mo ther, as wellas many otherrelatives, had previously fled to SouthChina as a result of the Manchu inva-

sion.R y thr time Hung was 16 he had be-come proficient in the usual course ofChinese education. At 18 years of agehe was appointed schoolmaster of hisnative village by unanimous acclamationof the townspeople.

Five years later he was given a setofbooks. Translated into English, the titleof these books was Good Words forExhorting the Age. At the time, thebooks appeared of little value to Hung.

The next year, 1837, Hung lost anadvancement in his scholastic rank bg-cause his Manchu supe riors were jealousof his ability and fearful of his ancestralbackground. This loss so upset him thathe became quite ill.

The Manchus, remember, were Mon-golian warlords who seized China-nowthey are the Communist overlords whorule China.

During the period of recuperation,H u n g had a n extraordinary z i r i o n . Arecord of the vision is preserved in Theo-dore H amberg s booklet, The Visionso f Hung-sui-tshuen. Hamberg was amissionary of the Basle Evangelical So-ciety to China ( a Swiss institution).

In the vision Hung was seemingly

transported to the presence of a greatSovereign Ruler There he was con-fronted by an old woman-women atthat time were regarded lower than ani-mals-who said to him, Tho u dirtyman, why hast thou kept company withyonder people and defiled thyself? Imus t now wash thee clean. H e wasthen, in vision, taken to a river andwashed in the water. After this he wasconducted into a large building wherehis heart and other inward parts wereremoved and replaced by new onesT hen he was given a sword, a seal, andfruit to eat which he found sweetto hispalate.

Up on aw akening, he was astounded atthe vision, but could not determine itsmeaning W hen H un g fully regained hishealth, he began to reform his conductas best he knew.

Hung-sui-tshuen continued as a vil-lage schoolmaster for several years more,

giving the vision no further thought.Then, one day, his cousin Le searchedthrough H ungs bookcase and noted th eunusual contents of the volumes GoodWo rds for Exhorting the Age. In themwere a number of whole chaptersof theBible, according to the translation of aDr. Morison; many sermon-essays onvaried Bible texts; and other statementsfounded on Scripture.

Le told his cousin Hung what he hadfound. H un g then began to look throughthe books which had lain untouchedonthe bookshelves for seven long years. H ewas amazed to find that in the quotedchapters from the Bible there was a par-tial explanatzon of the vision he hadreceived six years before.

Discover ing the Bib le

In those parts of the Scripture whichhe possessed, Hun g found the HeavenlyFath er described-the grea t SovereignRulcr revealed in his vision years before.The n he read of Jesus, the elder brotherof many brethren. In our versions itIsrendered: the firstborn among manybrethren (Koni . S:2 9 ) . H e learned thatJesus was sent as Saviour and as mes-senger. H e read that one needs to repent

and be baptized to obtain the Holy Spiri(Acts 2: 38 From these verses he un-derstood the meaning of being washedin water and of having his heart and inward parts renewed.

H un g and his cousin Le then baptizedone another. They prayed to God, prom-ised not to worship evil spirits, and cas

away their idols. Hung, being a literaryman, composed poetic versesto explainhis conversion to his friends:

W he n our transgressions high as

How well to trust in Jesus full

W e follow not the demons, we obe

Worshipping alone one God.After destroying his idols in the littl

school in which he taught, H un g and hifew friends were forced to flee into thinterior of China. H e preached whalittle he knew as he journeyed into the

south-central provinces of China. Onceagain he becarnc a school teachcr (b e-tween 1845 arid 1546 .

Visits a Missionary

At the close of 1846 Hung journeyedto Canton after hearing thata Christianmissionary from the West resided thereH e studied there under M r. Roberts, thmissionary, for a lmost a mon th, and readnew portions of the Bible. Young missionaries from abroad, also studyinunder Mr. Roberts, were jealous ofHu ngs talents a nd earnestness. Thebrought about his removal H un g lethe city somewhat saddened.

Returning to south-central ChinaH un g found that the numbe r of villagewho listened to him and were baptizesoon numbered almost 2000. They hndto f orm congregations am ong themselveand became knownas the congregationof the worshippers of G od. Forshortt l i r y w r r e dubbed "God- worshipper^.

Continuous study of the Bib e convinced Hung that his people should nosmoke tobacco or opium-which theBritish w ere selling to the Chinese-thatthey should refrain from intoxicatindrinks except under special circum

heaven rise,

atonement;

the holy precepts,


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stances, and thdt the Sabbath should beobserved on the seventh duy. The mis-sionaries were quite displeased ab out th efact that the Sabbath is observed notupon thc samc day as in Europe, theirsbeing the Saturday of ou r reckoning.

Hung further noticed that Jesus didntris: on Sunday morning, but three daysniter his death

In reading the Old Testament booksof Moses-the book s of the pro ph etswere not available to him in Chinese-Hu ng was convinced that Go d had givenHis people a calendar. Th e only differentcalendar of which Hung knew was theRom an calendar brought to Chin a by theJesuits. Since the Jesuit Catholics claimedto be Christians, and used the Bible, hethought they also must have the God-given calendar. H e adopted It. Conse-quently, he could not understand theannual festivals of God, which are basedu p o n the Sacred Calendar.

Th ink , for a mom ent, of the earnest-

ness of these Gentil e folk who lackedlarge portion s of Gods revelations. Howtkarskjul w e oughc to be to havc theentire Word of God whenever we needto use it. And remember, most of thosewhom Hung baptized c o d d not evenreacE Chinese They had to be taughtorally each Sabbath-and tha t mainlyfrom the Old Testament.

l h e M a r r i a g e C e re m o ny

The number of new converts steadilygrew. Marriage ceremonies had to beperfurnled. Hung rxaiiiiiied the Biblcand f o m d the anszuer Here is a de-scription of their ceremony:

When the bridal party are al l mettogether, they proceed to th e churchand after many prayers and a severeexamination of the bride and bride-grooms theological tenets, THF MTN-

GET HE R, nd when each have acceptedthe other, pronouncesa concluding bene-dicrion. Div orcc is I ~ O L nly not per-mitted, but actually unknownor thoughtof. (From Lin-Les book,Ti - P i n g Ti e n -K i ~ o h ,age 3 1 7 ) .

How exac t ly l ike the marriage cere-m o n i e s G o d has ordained in His Church

Does no t this demon strate the guidanceof God?

Beside these changes, the Chinese con-verts of H u n g ceased to practice thebinding of womens feet, began to layaside the custom of polygamy, ceased todeal in th e slave trade, and became obedi-ent to the laws of God as revealed toIsrael through Moses.

In order to be converted, they taughtas follows:

They-the converts--must kneeldown in Gods presence, and ask Hi m t oforgive their sins. Following baptism,the form of which H un g did not under-

ISTER JOINS T H E I R RIGHT HANDS TO-

today

The GOOD NEWS December, 1955

stand perfectly. they must co ntinuedaily to supplicate Divine favour, andthe Holy Spzrrits assistance to renew theirhearts, saying grace at every meal, keep-ing holy thc Sabbath day, nnd OBEYINGA L L GODS COMMANDMENTS,speciallyavoiding idolatry. They may then beaccounted the children of G o d . . . .(From Lin-Le s book, page 315.)

T h e blest Grea t S t ep

To begin with, Hu ng and his convertswere not fully acquainted with the in-structions found in the New Testament.They had to be guided mainly by Mosesinstruction found in thc law. But noticewhat they did:

When the prosperi ty and learningofthe God-worshippers was noised abouithe countryside, many in distress soughtthe protection of these Sabbathkeepers.Whole families of afflicted and destitutecame to them, as well as outlaws whofled from th e pow er of the oppressive

Manchu dynasty. Once again Hunglooked into the Bible. H e saw the ex-ample of David. And evcryonc thatwas in distress, and everyone that wasin debt, and every one that was discon-tented, gathered themselves unto him(Dav id ) ; and he became a captain overthem ( I Sam. 22 :2 ) .

H un g therefore became a captain overhis fellow Chinese H e i n s t n ic t ed t h emaccording to Moses law and punishedoffenders accordingly. These Chinesemalcontents, like those of D avid, were? wL L O T Z V ~ ~ L Jbut nieiely w illing to do dsHung instructed because they dislikedthe Manchu overlords.

Next, Hung remembered the swordthat he had seen in the vision. He readin th e Bible of T he swordof the Lord,and of Gideon (Judges 7 : 1 4 , 2 0 ) . H efelt responsible for h is peopleas did thejzLd,qes in Israel of old.

Here is what Dr. Bridgeman wrote ofthe next turn of events: Their govern-ment is a theocracy, the developmentapparently of what is believed by themto be a new dispensation. As in the caseof the Israelites under Moses, they re-gard themselves as directed by one whohas been raised up by the Almighty tobe the executor of His will on earth.(Page 2 11 of Lin-Les work.)

By 185 1 the m alcontents had increasedby tens of thousands. They proclaimedHung-sui-tshuen the ruler of a newdynasty administering a heavenly orCe-lestial Kingdom. Hung tried to followth e pattern of D avid an d Solomon, men-tioned in I Chron. 29:29: Then Solo-mon sat upon the th rone of the Eternal,as king instead of David his father, andprospered.

T h e new dynasty was entitled theTai-ping, meaning the kingdom ofour Sovereign, the One who createdheaven and earth,

The malcontents, to protect their domain, were at first conscripted for de-fense. Then Hung read in the lawwhat Moses said: When thou goesforth to battle against thine enemiesthe enemies of the Tai-pings alreadypersecuted them for religious and political reasons-the officers shall speakunto the peop e, saying: W ha t man is

there that hath built a new house, andhath not dedicated it? let him go andreturn to his house . What man isthere that is fearful and faint-heartedlet him go and return unto his house(Deut . 20: 1, 5 , 8 ) .Hu ng therefore m adearmy service a volantary matter

T he soldiers were instructed to pay thcountry people for whatever food anclothing they required on their journeyVast areas of China were freed from thManchu oppressors. By 1860 the move-ment gained such power that it attracteinternational recognition. Several thousands became faithful converts and up

ward s of 50,000,000 Chinese were livinin prosperity and at peace under thTai-ping administrat ion of Gods laws.

T h e H a n d of the JesuitsIn abolishing th e idols of the countr

the Tai-pings naturally destroyed thimages of Mary and the saints,as well asthose of the Buddhists. The ire of theJesuits was aroused. They persuaded thFrench forces in China to support thruling Manchu dynasty with whom thehad previously been quarrelling.

Next, the British and Amcrican missionaries-who had obtained barely1500conv erts thro ug h years of work-werejealous of the fact that so many peoplwere turning to the truth without themissionary activity. The missionariebegan a deliberate campaign to maligthe Tai-ping. They sccused them of rjecting the Bible, of denyingJesus Christof wanton slaughter of innocent victimThe true reports of honest missionariewcrc squclchcd British cornmcrciagents, interested in selling opiumto thChinese, became fearful of the loss orevenue.

THE OPIUM WARS-when foreignerparticularly the British, were seeking dominate China by forcing themto buopium.

Th e British and other foreign elemenforced th e Manchus to sign treaties legaizing the opium trade. This placed tarmies of the Tai-pings ina serious predicament. T he British assured the Chinerevolutionists that they would remaneutral and only protect British proerty from destruction. In reality the B rish sent arms to the Manchus, and tMnnchus imported arms in ships flyinthe American flag

During all this time the converts Hung were publishing the Bibleas bes

REMEMBER, THIS WAS THE ERA OF


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December 1 9 5 5 The GOOD NEWS Page 7

t hey could. Time and again they im-plored their Christ ian White Brethrenacross the sea to send them missionariesto instruct them better. Most rnission-nries refused to go .

W h a t a condemnation ofour peopie-Israel-the peo ple chosen for a job wehave refused to per form W hen ourpeople could have brou ght th e truth, they

refused t o do so. And when we did sendmissionaries, they brought nothing buta Babel of confusion to the Gentiles.

A Plea Refused

The T ai -p ing also sought to trade withthe British. They sent an army to Shang-hai to open negotiations with their pro-fessing Christian white brethren. Saidthe leader of the Tai-ping regiments tothe British, American, Portuguese andother foreigners in Shanghai: I came ioShanghai to make a treaty in order tosee us connected together by trade andcommerce; I did not come for the pur-pose of fighting with you. Had I at oncecommenced to attack the city and killthe people, that would have been thesame as the me mbers of one family fight-ing among themselves. (Page 283 ofLin-Les work.)

Rernernber that these Chinese did notknow the kind of Christianity professedby the Western W orld

The extract, which I have just quotedfrom a longer letter, was sent to theforeign authori t ies in Shanghai for thefoliowing reason: W he n the Tai-ping,w h o nssurned the British w e r e neutral,came to Shanphai, they were fired upoilby the British. According to a corre-

spondent of the N o r t h Cbiizn Herald,They [die Cliiriese Tai-pings] waved[he h and, begged our officers not to fire,and stood there sagtionless, wishing toopen communications and explain theirobject

Retreating for safety, the Tai-pinqsencountered a missionary, Mr. Milne. Inorder no t to have him injured in anybattle, they sent guards with him to thecity of Shanghai. After delivering Mr.Milne sifely to his white brethren, theguards were shot down by British sol-diers upon the city wcll

A G r e a t M i s t a k e

Hu ng could not un derstand the act ionof the Christian nations from across thesea. In sorrow he withdrew from allcontact with foreigners, bur contintiedto st dy the Bible with the faithful.

He permit ted his commnnders todisperse th eir arm ies throug iout thewalled citics of his domain. T h e &fan-chus had been badly defe:ited and noattack was expected. This-plcs amis-calculaticm of the British nnil Frenc hintenticns-proved d*wstrous.

Althoxgh the official governmentstatements from abroad implied that

England would remain neutral, theactualdeeds perpetrated against the Chinesedemonstrated the opposite. The Britishmarshalled the Manchus against the Ta i-piiigs and gradualiy brought about theirretreat and downfali. This short articlecanno t contain all the information wh ichcompetent historians have amassed. But,as Gladstone, the British Prim e Minister,

once said, this action wiil go down asone of the blackest marks in historyagainst Britain.

As a result of foreign intrigue, theManchu army and religious persecution,these Chinese Sabbathkeepers, includ-ing Hung, perished for their faith.

Long after the death of those faithfulChinese to whom God revealed a meas-ure of His truth, the malcontents whohad associated with them arose again inrebellion against the Manchus. Theycalled themselves The Righteous Fistsof Harmony-or Boxers. Th eir re-bellion-the Boxe r rebellion-was aime dat the foreigners and especially mission-aries. But the Sabbath and Gods lawshad long been foigvtteii by them.

WHY C o m mu n is m E n p l f s ChinaToday

We are reaping the reward of o wsins in C hina today T o the carnalChinese the European nations seemedunpxincipled liars,devoid of every v irtuerecognized by men From that t ime onthe spread of the Word of God amongthe Chinese m et with little success. N owondcr Communism has engulfed tliecountry.

W h e n thinking of the fate of those

Sabbathkeeping Chinese and the ir igno-rant comrades who sought their protec-tion, I am reminded of Pauls exh orta tionin Hebrews: And what shallI more sny?for the time would fail me to t d l o fGid eon , and of Barak, and of Sam son, andof Jephthae, of David a l so , and Smuel ,and of the prophets: who through fai thsubdued kingdoms, wrought rigliteous-ness . waxed valiant in fight, turnedto flight the armies of aliens. . . . A n dothers had trial of cruel mockings andscourgings, yea, moreo ver of bon ds andimprisonment: they were stoned, theywere sawn asunder, were tempted, wereslain with the sword. . . . (Of w h o mthe world was NOT W O RT H Y ) H e -brews 11 32-38 . )

H o w m t u o r t h y the world is may beundcrstood by the deliberirte fu ls i ty of

There has heen no I s s : ~ f theGOOD NE\VS since Swtember.Also, due to his m a n y pressin:: bErd-ns ,Mr. Armstrong has nor yet completedthe arricle on nialre-up.

recordcd liistury in describing the Tai-Pin g Rebellion.

Mis sionx ies and politicians alike havaccused them of committ ing acts ofwhich only the enemiesof the Tai-pingswere guilty. The Tai-pings were ma-ligned just as David and his followerswere.

Thanks to the cooperation of British

booksellers and librariansI am able togive you these true facts now.

The W h i t e M a n s B u r d e n

Th e most impor tant summary of thidrama of hu ma n experience-the bookwhich is the basis for this little-knownrecord-was wr itte n bya white man whoused a Chinese name, Lin-Le. The workis enti tled Ti Ping Tien Kwoh,rhe His-tory of the T i Ping Revo ution. It wapublished in 1866 in London.

Here is a lesson we must never forget

H o w w e o u g h t to appreciate whatwe know of Gods W ord An d to realizthat this drama was occurring in far-ofChina when Gods people in Americawere spl i t t ing up as the dying branchesof the Sardis Church Era

Ou r own peop e-Israelites, Godchosen-refused torestore the truth theyreceived. Our great denominations followed the path of the opium-peddlingbusinessmen. But thc Chincsc, for 200years in bondage to the M anchus, looketo the Word of God as best they knewTheir laws were framed and alreadconsti tuted when the N ew Testament-in its fulness-came into their hands.(Fro m page 152 . )

Perhaps we can now realize theFULLWEIGHT of our responsibility in carryingou t the gospelof the Kingdo m of Goto nll nations. God has chosen us-Hisfaithful few in an Israel filled with sin-to carry the LIGHT through radio, television and the printing press to thosewho abide in darkness.

Lets shoulder our responsibility anprove that w e can carry the white manburden

Attend

Gods Festivals( C o n t i m e d from page 2of verses 25-29 . In these verses, God i bcomm anding another, al together di,fer.-e?zt tithe.

Now dont be shocked Yo u m?.y nohive known i t beiore, but God wantus to snve oiie moTe t1t 3c evcry thixyear t D help the p m r nnd needy Thisis Gods Z U ~ f providing I TO R ~ ; J in-charitab e puiposes.

I n both Deuteronomy 14:28-29 andD e u m o n o m y 26: 12-15 we find this t i h e


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commanded. It used to be set aside inevery walled city, within thy gates(Deut . 26 : 12) . But now m anypoor areso far away that we simply send itwherev er needed. Th is third tithe isto bcsaved only every third year.

Sinc e the laws of le ttin g the land restand releasing the poor debtors werebased on a cycle of seven years, we areto save this special tithe in th e third andsixth years out of every seven year peri-od. Compare the story flow in Deut.14 :28-29 wi th 1 5 : l for proof.

N o n e of you were really Gods chil-dren-spiritually lsraelites (Gal . 3:2 9 )-until you were converted and baptized.So you wont save this third tithe untilthe third year after you were converted.

Remember that this tithe is for thepoor and needy. If you are really in fi-nancial straits God does not expect yout o save thiJ tithe This is a matter be-tween you and God alone, and youshould be honest about i t before Him.

This tithe is f o r the poor, not f r o mthe poorAnd remember that this spccial tithe

is only to be saved every third and sixthyear out of seven.

Some of you may think that payingGods (not your 1 firs t z t to H i swork, saving a Jecond tithe with whichto attend His feasts, and, every thirdyear only. saving an additionalthird tithpto give th e poor and needyis going to beimpossible. Thats what the world be-lieves But we are not of the world butof the household of fuith.

Do you think God has commandedyou to do something which He knowsyou will be unable to per form? NOThose of us who have saved these threet i thes know by experience that God isable to bless us sufficiently that we

The G O O D NEWS December, 1955

111 [he third paragraphof the book ofTobit, he tells us, But I alone wentmany a time to Jerusalem for the festi-vals, as the Scripture commands allIs-rael with an everlasting decree, takingwith me the first fruits and the tenthpart of my crops and my first shearings,and I would give them to the pricsts,the sons of Aaron, at the altar. A tenthpart of all my produce I would give tothe sons of Levi, who officiated at Je-rusalem, and another tenth I would sell,and go and spend the proceeds in Je-rusalem each year, and a third tenth Iwould give to those to whom it was fit-t ing to give it, as Deborah my grand-mother had instructed me-for I wasleft an orphan of my father.

Thus we see that the Israelites hadalways understood that they were tosave three tithes, and that each on e wasto be used f o r a different purpose. Godscommandm ents are not hidden fromanyone who sincerely desires to know

the truth.Ar e you living by every wordof God?Lets obey our ow n spiritu al Father bykeeping His annual holy days and sav-ing the tithes that He has commanded

Saving yoiir second tithe will makethe joyous privilege of attending thesefestivals possible. Because God has com-mand ed this special tithe, H e isboundto hclp you fulfill This command. If youd o YOUR part, you can k n o w that Godwill enable you to attend His holy days

Honestly, you cant afford NOT to at-tend Gods festivals W rit e us if youwish future help and information on at-tending Gods festivals. Also be sure towrite us pr ior to attending so that allarrangem ents can be m ade in advance.

God has made your presence possibleif you do y o u r part Are you willing?

abound to every good work I1 Cor.9 : 6 - 8 ) . H e is doing i t this moment forhundreds of the brethren and H e willdo it for you. You just do YOUR partarid God will be faithful to performHIS

His torica l Exam ple

A most convincing example from areliable historical source of how theJews paid these tithes is given in thebook of Tobit. This book is found inwhat is known as the Apocrypha-acollection of Jewish history and writ-ings covering and extending beyond theperiod between the Old and New Testa-ments.

These writings were not inspired, butthey do give us a great deal of reliableinformation. Tobit was a man of thetribe of Naphtali, which was among theten tribes taken captive by Assyria.Prior to the captivity, he kept the com-mandments of God even after the rest

of his tribe began offering sacrificestoBaal.

Holy Day Calendarfor 1956

Passover service after sunset on Sun-day, March 25.

Days of Unleavened Bread, Tuesday,March 27 through Monday, April2, inclusive.

Pentecost, Monday, M ay 21.Festival of Trumpets, Thursday, Sep-

Day of Atonement, fast day, Sabbath,September 15.

Feast of Tabernacles, begins sunset,Wednesday, Se tember 19; endssunset Wednesgy, September 26.

Last Great Day, Thursday, September27.

tember 6 .

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