good news 1972 (vol xxi no 04) jul

8/10/2019 Good News 1972 (Vol XXI No 04) Jul

1/20


2/20

i

I

Often described as the most beautiful 17th-century

building in the world, the Ta j Mah al is a mauso-

leum of white marble and alabaster at Agra, India. It was

built by the Mogul emperor of Hindustan, Shah Jahan, be-

tween

1632

and

1650, as

a burial plac e for his favorite wife,

Mumtaz Mahall. Read about the experiences of our represen-

tatives as they visited interested PLAIN TRUTH readers in

lndi n n nd CQylon, hpginning on

pnge

5

McNair mbassador College

What our READERS

SAY.

1 hm.e rx-rrjxexl.

m y 6 ~ v

ww-

d hp-

GOOD NEWSmagazine which I found very

inspirational. I read the comments people

wrnte ahout

T h e

Goon NFWS nd would

like to have the November-December issue

sent

to

me if it is possible. There are some

articles in the magazine I would like to

read. In the March-April issue I enjoyed

reading about the African baptizing t our by

Harold L. Jackson.

J. C., Huntington Park,

California

When

The

Go on NEW S rrives I like to

read What Ou r Readers Say .. . first. Af-

ter

reading the

comments in

the March-

April- ssue, 1-realized tha t 1-had never wri t-

ten to say what

a

great issue the November-

December Goon NEWSwas. Being in a

country [Thailand] where there are many

illiterate, I see the need for more of Gods

truth. Just the other day my maid asked m e

where the rain came from and why when

it rained there were those colored strips in

the sky.

I

told her the story of the flood.

She said she had asked many Americans she

.hu

xnrkd h

An


3/20

How

you can

RIGHTEOUS

CHARACTER

we 1 m d P . r s a d

d

kWe

cad

p qps

is * r i w Mfi

righteous character in human beings. But just what i s

character? Why

i s

i t such a p rimar y objective in our Chris-

tian lives?

Do

H A R A C T E R could be s imply de-

fined like this: Character is that

moral

or

spiritual force within us

which impels one

to unyiekding integ-

rity.

W e c o nc e de t h at a person has char-

acter when in the absence

of

external

constraint or coercion, he

or

she inher-

ently chooses the path of r ighc, hon-

esty, fairness, goodness and equity.

Character is not expressed by

forced

conformi ty to a prescribed standard

of

condu ct . B ut character

is

expressed and

s t r e n g t h e n e d w h e n t h a t c o n d u c t

spr ings f rom free

choice

of the individ-

ual.

C

Not Born With Character

W e are no t born wi th tha t k ind o f

c11aiactrI. W r

d u i i ~

rilicrir characrrr as

we migh t inher i t a s t rong body,

or

black hair,

or

blue eyes, or the he igh t

o f our f ramc. Wc cant be givven charac-

ter. Character is a spir i tual and moral

force that

I ~ ~ E L O P S

i thin a person.

But character is difficult

to

measure.

Tw o people may have character , bu t

they will probably differ in the strength

of that character the s trength of

which can only be expressed by the de-

gree

or

a m o u n t

of

temp tat ion, pressure

or

t r ia l necessary

to

ozjeqozoey that level

of

inner moral or spiritual force.

A

has character.

B

has character.

Subject the two of them to the rdme

tests, tr ials, pressures and temptations.

you

really know

HOW

to produce

GODLY

character?

by Alber t

J.

Portune

O n e may y ie ld , the o ther may no t . Th e

on e wh o doesn t yield has D E E P E R char-

acter than the one who does.

When we are under extreme pres-

sure, temp tat ion and stress nd st i ll

choose

the RIGHT course of act ion

then our character is deep. But when

we compromise under modera te cond i -

t ions

of

stress and pressure, then our

character is shallow.

Peters Example

Just before H is crucifixion, Jesus

said to His disciples, All

ye

shall be

offended because of

me

this night: for

i t is wri t ten,

I

will smite the shepherd,

and the sheep

of

th e flock shall

be

scat-

tered abroad (Matt . 2 6 : 3 1 ) .

Bu t Peter mpe tuous as he was

felr

rhat he had the moral force within

h i m

to

stay steadfast no matter what

would occur . Though al l men shall be

offciided bccause

uf

L ~ C C , i i h w c i c d

Fc-

ter, yet will

I

never be offended

(verse

3 3 ) .

How ever, Jesus well knew Pctcrs

weakness and replied, Verily

I

say

un to thee , That th i s n igh t , before the

cock crow, thou shalt deny me thr ice

(verse

3 4 ) .

But again Peter responded:

T h o u g h

I

should

D I E

with thee, yet

will

I not deny

t hee (verse

3 5 ) .

Later on, Peter did deny Christ . The

moral, spiritual force within Peter was

n o t m-ong rnnugh rn

C P I I S C

him to

s tay

steadfast and loval to Christ.

Th at same evening. another of the

maids saw Peter and said, This fellow

was also with Jesus of N azareth. And

he den ied Him again H e l ied He

broke several of the very command-

men ts of Go d that Jesus Chr ist had

taugh t .

After awhile still others came

to

him

and said, Surely you also are one of

them; for your speech betrays

y o u .

Then Peter began to curse and swear,

saying,

I DONT

KNOW THI: M A N

(verses

71-75. )

Again, Peters character

faded the

test.

Th en the cock crowed Peter re-

mem bered Jesus had told him

he

would do this very thing, and he wept

bitterly. This trauma in Peters life

so

moved him that he repented deeply,

and the remembrance of the exper ience

helped him

to

become a powerful

Iradcr in

Gods

Church

Daniels Three Friends

Lcts revicw anothei

rxainplc.

this

t ime in the third chapter of Daniel .

Nebuchadnezzar made a huge image

of gold and com manded cvcryonc

to

fal l down and worship i t when the or-

chestra played. B ut Sh adrach, Meshach

and Abednego refused. They knew

Gods command said

NOT to

b o w

down and worsh ip ido ls . And

so

they

were

facing

a test of

their character

Notice verse 14: Nebuchadnezzar


4/20

2 The G O O D NEWS July 1972

spake and said unro rhem,

Is i r

rrue, 0

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, do

not ye serve my gods, nor worship the

goldcn

irnagc

which

I

havc sct u p ?

Now listen, Ill be fair with YOU,

Nebuchadnezzar may have whispered.

Forget the past

~

what

you

have said.

You just be ready at the time you hear

the sound of the m usic. If you will fall

down

next time,

and henceforth, and

worship the image

I

have made, O.K.

But if ye worship not, ye shall be

cast the same hour [before an hour is

gone) into the midst of

a

bu rnin g f iery

furnace; and who is that G od that shall

deliver you out

of

my hands? (Verse

1 5 . )

It was

a

very clear-cut choice. There

could be no compromise, no way out.

Either you

WI I . I .

bow down r you

1 l li

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

answered and said to the king, 0

Nebuchadneizar, we are not careful

to

answer thee i n this matter. If it be so,

our God whom we serve is able to de-

liver us from the burning fiery furnace,

and he will deliver us out of thine

hand,

0

king. But

i f

not

[if

He doesnt

choo se to spare our lives), be it known

un to the e , 0 king, that we will NOT

serve rhy

gods,

nor worship rhe golden

image which thou hast set up (verses

16-18) .

T h e y wrote their own death war-

rant

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full

of

fury.

You can well imagine hc

great king had dignified the episode

by

calling a special meeting, bringing

these

men

personally before him and

saying, I am going to play the music

again, and this t ime YOU

A R E

GOING

TO HOW DOWN, or you are

going

to

D IE And these three men of G od

stood r ight up

to

him and said they

would

NI:VI:R

worship the golden irn-

age

and the form of his visage was

c h a n g e d . .

.

(verse 19). You know the

rest of the story. But what is the les-

s o n ?

A choice had to be made. And that

spir i tual and moral force that was

within Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-

nego impe l led and empowered them to

choose the r ight , no mat te r wha t the

cost

W h a r abour your

U W N

characrer?

How much charac te r

do

you really

have? And most impo rtant of a ll s

i t gruwing

or i s

i t declining? Arc you

consistently making the r ight choices

and fo l lowing through?

Each of us in

Gods

Church has

our

ow n level of character . No ne of us has

been tested in the way Shadrach, Mesh-

ach and Abednego

were

bu t our

character is being tested For there has

never been

a

time in all the history of

this era of Gods Church since I have

been in it that the tests and trials have

been as deep and as profound and poi-

gnant and real as they are this year

The Character

of

God

Character is that one element in

Gods P lan and in Gods Kingdom

which even God cannot create at

W I L L

by div ine fiat.

God cant just say, Let there be

character, and suddenly there is char-

acter

I t just doesnt come into being

that way. Character cannot be made in-

stantaneously because it is a quality of

choice ometh ing that we have to

develop gradua l ly out of chooszng the

right and then

~ I N GT.

If God had created us

so

tha t we

would A L WA Y S do r ight, under every

circumstance, automatically because

there was n o oth er possibil i ty for us

be programmed individuals ike me-

chanical robots.

God

could create that

kind of bcing by thc mill ions, but wc

would never be sons of Go d For un-

less there is a choice

to go

one way or

the other there

is no

character in-

volved.

If the Father , or the Son, had no

choice, they would have no character

either. But G od is

a

G o d o f

choice

And

G o d h a s c h a r a c t e r

so

d e e p ,

so

profound,

so

ppyfprt,

t h a t

His

eternal

performance is absolute Th e backup of

all His laws is not automatic in the

sense that H e cannot under any circum-

stances cause things

to

happen other-

wise. If that were true, Go d wo uld no t

be God. But God, through His r igh-

teous character, will always do right be-

cause He does have

peYfect

character.

God has such righteous character

that th e choice is never a proble m.

God

CHOOSES

that He will never lie, for ex-

WC

could

1 laVC I 1 0

LhardLtCr.

We

would

m i p k har

is

why

God will never lie.

Gods Law will

A L W A Y S

go straight

down the l ine, and you can depend on

it ecause of Gods churucter

I t is important

to

realize t hat, b reth-

ren.

Th at kind of character

is

what

we

are

to

be developing

as

the begotten sons

o f God he k ind o f ABSOLUTE r ight

p e r f o r m a n c e t h a t

comes

f r o m t h e

strong, spir i tual and moral force from

within, which will a lways produce

right, good, holy, proper conduct.

Such conduct is not automatic But i t

can be developed t h r ough c on t inue d

making of RIG HT CHOICES, even under

duress or stress of temptation.

Result of Wrong Choice

But le ts notice an outstanding ex-

ample of a

wrong

choice. Commencing

in Ezekiel 28:12. we read: Son of

man, take up

a

lamentation upon the

king of Tyrus , and say unto h im, Th us

saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up

the su m, full of w isdom , and perfect in

beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, the

garden of God; every precious stone

was thy cover ing.

.

the w orkmanship

of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was pre-

pared in thee in the day that tho u wast

C R E A T E D .

T h o u a r t t h e a n o i n t e d

cherub that covereth; and I have set

thee

so:

thou wast upon the holy

mounta in o f G od ; thou hast wa lked up

and down in the midst of the s tones of

fire. Thou wast

P ER F EC T

in thy ways

from the day that thou wast created,

till iniquity was

found

in thee.

This anointed cherub was Lucifer,

an angelic being o f th e very highest or-

der who had the ability of choice.

Now not ice I sa iah 14:12-15: How

a r t t hou c u t down

to

t he g r ound ,

which didst weaken th e nations For

thou hast said in thine heart [because

you had the ability

to

th ink , the abi li ty

to weigh, th e ability to rationalize and

to

compare and

to

CHOOSE], will [I

CHOOSE

TO] ascend into heaven, I will

exalt my throne

ABOVE

the stars of

God [all the other angels of God]:

I

will

s i t a lso upon the mount of the

congregation, in the sides of the north

[thats where Gods throne is]:

I

will

ascend above the heights of th e clouds;

I will be like THE MOST HIGH. Ye t thou


5/20

July 1972 The

GOOD NEWS

3

sha l t be brought down to hell, to t he

siacs

of t r i e p ir .

Under the stress of temptation and

lust, Lucifer

CHOSE to

do evi l . A high

wKLic

li mg

m l x k

WMYIVC TKYKX

e chose

to

rebel. Thats how he be-

came the devil

Why Character

Is

So Important

Satan

is g o i n g to

waridrr in the

blackness of darkness forever, foaming

out h is own shame

(see

Jude 13) be-

cause

he compromised

his

character.

H e disqualified himself fro m his posi-

t ion as one of the covering cherubim

over the very throne of the Creator of

the universe H e was thrown out of

heaven and soon will be driven out of

his office on earth because he did not

CHOOSE to exercise self-restraint, to uti-

lize

character

to

obey Gods Law al-

.Pr;5rLC.

Is character im por tant ? I t was in

Satans case An d wh at about yours?

Do

you think i t is important

to

be in

t h e K i n g d o m o f G o d ?

G od is reproduc ing Himse lf. But H e

cant m ake Sons of G od without charac-

ter.

To

become Sons of Go d , we m us t

develop character that is like Gods.

Character l ike His Sons who now sits

a t His r ight hand. Without charac te r

be expanded.

Every single

one of

us

has

been

called to be a king., a p i e s t and a ruler

in the Wor ld Tomorrow. Each of us

makes choices in

our

homes,

in our

cars, on our jobs, or wherever we are

every day. I f we comprom ise wi th w hat

we

know is r ight , do

you

th ink

i t is

impor tant

to

t he C r e ato r God ?

Every person who becomes a born

Son in Gods Family is

going t

hr

given t remendous POWER And tha t

power must be backed up by the r ight

kind of

C H A R A C T E R

he k ind of

deep

moral and spiritual

force

within that will

impel those persons

to

chose and do

the r ight, honest and pure thing al-

ways W e must begin deve loping tha t

kind

of

character

now,

or we will sim-

ply

NOT BE

G I V E N eternal life. Thats

why character is so important

.Ilk.

t b ; J3.L~

rZ;irg-&rr

.siqny ,r,?nwAr

Christ Has Led the

W a y

In Hebrews, the second chapter,

G od gives us a very clear look at where

we a re going and how we are

to

g e t

there. Norice, beginning in verse 0:

But one in a certain place testified,

saying,

What i s m m ,

that thou ar t

mim JL

-f, lim,?vL

h ~

m -fi mrfi,,

that tho u visitest him ? Th ou madest

him a l i tt le lower than the angels; thou

crownedst

him wi th g lory and honor ,

and didst set him [man) over the works

of

thy

harids

[and whar works

they

are

The dominion of the heavens and the

earth endless in scope and size,

beauty and majesty ):

Thou

hast put

all things in subjection under his feet.

For in that h e put a ll in subjection un -

der him, he left

nothing

that is

not (to

be] put under h im.

B u t now we

see

not yet all things

put under h im. But we see Jesus, who

was made a l i t t le lower than the angels

for the suffering of death, crowned

grace of God should taste death for

every man. For it became him, for

whom are all things, and by whom are

all

things,

in bringing many sons unto

[that same kind ofj glory, to

make the

C A P T A I N

[pion eer s Moffatt ren-

ders i t he one wh o showed the

way) of their salvation perfect through

sufferings (Heb.

2:6-10).

And in Hebrews

4:14-15,

we read:

priest, that is passed into the heavens,

Jesus the Son

of

Go d, let us hold fast

ou r profession. For w e have

nnt. an.

high priest which cannot be touched

with the feeling of

our

inf irmities, but

was in all points tempted like as we are,

Y E T WITHOUT

SIN.

Jesus

Christ led the

way. He is the

f irst one

to

qualify

to

be a Son of

God.

He is th e first to reproduce Godly char-

actrr l

How

A i r \

He do

i t? By m aking

right choices ontinually BY

N E V E R

COMPROMISING WI T H

S I N I N

THE

SLIGHTEST

In H ebrews

: 7 , we

find this remark-

able sta tement about Jesus: W h o in

the days of his flesh, when he had of-

fered up prayers and supplications with

strong crying and tears unto him that

was able

to

save him from death, and

was heard in that he feared; thoug h he

were

a

Son, yet

learned

he

obedience

[What is obedience? Obedience is

choosing the r ight path, choosing the

goo d, the correct pa th in o ther

xrirl.

g h y

ad .hm;.

f,l.A*

Jy

,tkP

Lk%kg 5kw ;bac+ JJC

, b m r 2

gwL hgk

words, to paraphrase it He learned

characterf, by the things which he sutc

fered. And being made

perject

[by al-

ways choosing and d oin g r ight) , he be-

c-me

?re

h-o~wix& arnd

drv~iu-r i

[of the expansion of the Family of

Go d] u nto a ll them tha t obey him

who develop character l ike He did.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth had

to

exer-

cise character throughout His mortal

life. He didnt automatically become a

born-aga in Son of God. He didn t

automatically choosc and do light. He

could have sinned. He could have

failed and H e knew it But H e stayed

steadfast, and

He

learned character and

obedience because He was put to the

test

Tempted Severely

Jesus was tempted and tried in the

more

so.

In Mat thew

4 ,

we read how

the devi l tempted Him in one par -

ticular instance (out of many through-

out His human life) . Satan told Jesus

to turn stones into bread, appealing to

His hunger . He may have said word s

to

the effect, You are HUNGRY, youve

got

rhe power, you are the great Son of

man,

so

make yourself some loaves o ut

of these stones here. But hungry,

fully replied, Man shall not live by

bread alone, but by

every WORD

that

yncppnPrh.

QIU.d he- mmuh nf.

GYP

(verse

4 ) .

That is the kind of faithful

charactei

y o u and I

rired

iri r v r r y

trial

and vicissitude of our lives

Th en the devil too k Jesus u p on a

hig h place

of

the

Temp le, and said,

I F

thou be the Son of God, cast thyself

down: for i t is writ ten, He shall give

his angels charge

concerning

thee:

and

in their hands they shall bear thee up,

lest at any time thou dash thy foot

against a stone (Matt .

4 6 ) .

Now

h r

tried

to

appeal

to

vanity

IF

t hou

b e . . . And

Jesus

said to him, I t is

wr i t ten aga in , Thou sha l t not tempt

the Lord thy God (verse

7 ) . To

be

sure, Jesus

was

tempted to shut that

sassy mouth, and to throw Himself off

andprove that H e was the Son of G o d ,

bu t H e didnt hat would have been

sin

Finally the devil took H im to

a

high

S I T X ifTrflilWl* JJL- r ?lib 1TTszcIk

~rd;h K ~ td ~ ?

wfi;

jh i~

i i k -

(Continued

012

Page

1 6 )


6/20


7/20

E a r l y this year, t w o repre-

sentatives of Ambassador

College had the opportun-

ity to visit interested

PLAIN

TRUTH

subscribers in India

and Ceylon. Aft er touring

several thousand miles,

they filed this report.

by Richard Frankel

and Chris Carpenter

around

to

a

five

and one-half day work

week, and this includes working Satur-

day mornings. In India there is a six

day work w eek, and mo st peop le are re-

quired

rn

work crN dcrli

on

Saturday.

Bosses are usually unsympathetic

to

any request for leave of absence on Sat-

urday. They fear it will

set

a n

un-

wanted precedent for others.

With Gods he lp , however , some

individuals have been able

to

overcome

this difficulty. The

two

young men we

baptized in Ceylon were obeying God,

including the keeping of His Sabbath.

O n e was the younger brother of a

young man baptized in

1969.

He is a t-

tend ing teachers training college and is

supposed to have classes on the Sab-

bath. However,

all

these Saturday

classes are fairly unimportant, and he

does not show up for them

So

far his

NDIA is

a land of str iking

contrasts

T he visi tor to the sub-continent is

repeatedly confronted by fabulous

wealth and terrible poverty,

awmome

beauty and awful squalor , tremendous

education and vast ignorance, powerful

potential and a s t a g n a n t economy

Not

the least str iking is the grip of a

very powerful religion

-

Hinduism.

And

yet ,

despite all the difficulties,

God is beginning to work in the l ives

of many individuals in India and

nearby Ceylon.

This

we found o u t

on

our recent seven-week tour.

I

The

I s l a nd

Nation

of Ceylon

W e began ou r t ou r o f S ou th Asia in

C e ylon . Wi th

a

popula t ion of

over 1 2

million people, Ceylon is an island

nation just east of the southern t ip of

India.

Here we foun d that G od was calling

many to the knowledge of the t ru th . In

Colombo, the capital ,

we met

2 1

inter-

ested subscribers in

less

than a week.

Two of these were baptized. Several

others will probably bc baptizcd

o n

thc

next tour , which

we

hope w i i i

be

in

the fall of this year or in the early part

o f

1973.

I n b o t h I n d i a a n d C e y l o n t h e

biggest init ia l stumblingblock to inter-

cstcd

people is

the keeping of

the

Sab-

ba th . C e y lon i s g r a dua l ly c om ing

absence has

not

been noticed because

classes

are

large.

The o ther young man bapt ized on

this trip has been tried severely on the

Sabbath issue. He asked for Saturdays

off,

but his boss refused. Realizing that

he would have to give up his job or

disobey God, hc wcnt and asked

God

in prayer to change his employers

mind. H e knew that if he lost his job

he would not be able

to

support his

family and they would

all

encounter

great hardship. But obedience to God

came first in his life.

Later that day, he went to see his

boss again. There had been a complete

change o f heart, and he was allowed to

have Saturdays off? God does work

things out for those who t rus t Him.

W e m e t

a

young lady in Colombo

who had also put God first in her life.


8/20

INDIA- land

of contrasts

P l o i n T r u t h P h o t o

Sunrise on the Ganges.

She might have been baptized had cir-

cumstances not prevented

a

counseling

session.

God se e m s to be c a l l i ng m or e

people in Ceylon than in the rest of

South Asia . T he situation in Colom bo,

Ceylon, seems to be much the same

as

God told the Apostle Paul regarding

much people [who are to be con-

vert ezj in

tnis

city, (Acts

1 8 : l O ) .

L c k

G C Y ~+


9/20

King Leopold Photo

Landscape in the Punjab.

about the exaltation of Mary and the

miracles at Lourdes and o ther Catholic

shrines. Many were wrapped up in su-

perstition concerned ab ou t spells,

black magic and other demonic in-

fluenres W e expla ined f rom th e Bible

that miracles were not the proof of

Gods true servants.

Several of the people we met were

unaware of the church aspect of our

Work. Their questions centered mainly

around news events and social trends.

W e found the handl ing of these v isi ts

both interesting and challenging. I t is

no t always easy

to

discuss these subjects

without direct reference to the Bible.

A

T r a g i c C as e

One Hindu we met to ld us a ra the r

tragic story which will help

to

illus-

trate some of the typical problems

faced by peo ple in In dia a nd o the r areas

of the East.

He

was a young man o f 23, tra ining

to

be a medical doctor . His personal

ambition had been

to

pursue an engi-

neering degree, but he had been forced

into medicine by family pressure. Fam-

ily ties and parental control are very

much stronger in the East than in the

W est. Parents discourage their children

from breaking from age-old traditions,

particularly cherished religious tenets.

A short t ime af ter , he had been

forced i nt o marriage because his father,

a teacher, was in financial difficulties

and wanted the dowry

w h i c h h i s

son

would get f rom the gir ls parents. The

marriage did not work. They spent

only

24

hours together and have since

been separated.

Shortly af ter, another gir l became in-

terested in the young man. However,

his parents would not agree to a mar-

r iage. In desperation the gir l commit-

ted suicide. The n his aun t died, leaving

him, a young bache lor wi thout in-

come, the care of two teen-agers.

Th e young man was a t the end of

his rope. H e felt his life had b een a f2il-

ure , no longer wor th l iv ing. Though

we tr ied

to

encourage him, even this

was very difficult because he was also

confused about Go d and re l ig ion, and

knew li t t le or nothin g abou t the Bible .

Stories like this really m ade us appre-

McNair

mbassador olleg

Primitive and modern transport i

Hyderabad.

ciate freedoms we in the Western

world have today.

E n c o u r a g i n g E x a m p l e s

A

much more encouraging example

was that of two brothers and a sister,

all three striving

to

obey God despite

the opposition of their fa ther . The sis-

te r , who

is

the eldest, is a young lady

doctor. She encounters many diffi-

culties in trying

to

follow

a

Christian

way of life, not the least

of

which ar2

the pressures of her profession. W e

pray God will give her the help to re-

solve hrr problems.

Her brothers, both also very inter-

ested, are

14

and

21.

The eldest is

studying for an engineering degree, but

is faced with the severe problem of im-

porta nt classes o n Saturday.

A

seemingly

insoluble Sabbath problem

is,

we re-

peat, the problem of almost everyone

we spoke

to.

W e can a ll pray tha t Go d

will help r l iuse pcuplr He is calling in

India and Ceylon to be able to obey

Him on th is point .

(Continued

on page 1 G


10/20

W N

todays world fewer and fewer

1 eople

can really

be

trusted. It

seems that mankind in general is

-

becoming more disloyal and unfaithful

every day.

Politicians are known for preelection

promises which somehow never seem

to

be honored once they are in office.

Rare is the officeholder who is

loyal

to

the voters who elected him. I t seems

they always forget, or deliberately ig-

nore, the issues on which they were

elected.

National governments are no better

than the pol i t ic ians who compose

them. Peace treaties, even mutually fa-

vorable pacts, are only made

to

be

bro-

ken.

Because of selfish interests, nations

reserve the right

to

break a treaty when

i t

suits them.

T h e book of Proverbs sums it

up

well in chapter

20:6,

Many a person is

called kind, but a trustworthy [loyal]

man is a rare find

Moffatt).

Our

God Is

Loyal

But contrasted to m a n , o u r G o d can

be trusted.

We

can rely on His many

promises. Noti ce Deutero nom y 7

:9:

Know therefore that the Lord thy

God , he i s God , t he

fai thful

God,

which KEEPETH covenant and mercy

with them tha t love h im and

keep

his

commandments to

a

thousand gener-

ations.

Y o u can be

sure

t ha t Go d wil l no t

break His word

to

give us . . , eternal

life, which God that cannot lie, prom-

ised before the world began (Titus

1 : 2 ) ,

But wha t about us?

Are We

Still Loyal

to

God?

When we were baptized, we also

made

a

promise to God. Not ice Ro-

i s Loyalty.

Wh y i s loyalty such

a

vital

characteristic we, as Chris-

tians, must be developing?

by Colin

Adair

mans

6 : 3 - 4 :

Know ye not , tha t

so

many o f us as were baptized i nt o Jesus

Christ were baptized into his death?

Therefore we are buried with him by

baptism into death: that l ike as Christ

was raised up from the dead

by

the

glory of the Father , even

so

we also

should walk

in

newnesj

o f

life.

This was what we

A G R E E D

to do.

To

forsake our own ways and lead a new

life

in obedience to all Gods com-

mand men ts.

Have we forgotten to

be

loyal

to

that agreement as t ime has gone by?

Have we let sins overtake us again so

that the conditions

of

the contrac t we

made have become blurred? Has Satan,

broadcasting to all people as he does,

persuaded you

to

be

disloyal to God

and His laws just a little bit, convinc-

ing you

i t

isnt all that important if

you dont keep every principle

of

Gods

law? If so, can you really expect God

to

feel bound

to

keep His part of the

agreement, seeing you have

broken

yours?

No, brethren, God expects you

to

be

LOYAL

to Hi m in everyth ing

Be

Loyal to

Gods

Work

Loyalty

goes

far beyond simple hon-

esty. Loyalty is required even in cases

when no specif ic promise or com ma nd-

ment is involved. G o d has called us

to

do a

job.

Loyalty on our part means

putting our hearts and efforts into that

job.

The church today is l ike a modern-

day Ezekiel, commanded

to

take

a

mes-

sage

to

the people and show them the

way

out of the i r mise ry and on in to the

Wor ld Tomorrow. God to ld Ezekie l :

Son of man,

I

have made thee

a

watchman unto the house of Israel:

therefore hear the word at my mouth,

and give them warning from me.

When I say unto the wicked, Thou

shalt surely die; and th ou givest him

not warning, nor speakest to warn the

wicked from his wicked way, to save

his life; the same wicked man shall die

in his iniquity; but his blood will I re-

quire

at

thine hand.

Yet

if thou

warn

the wicked, and he turn not from his

wickedness, nor from his wicked way,

he shall die in his iniquity; but thou

hast delivered thy

soul

(Ezek. 3:17-

19) .

This stern warning applies

to

Gods

Church. If any

of

us are disloyal in the

responsibility God has given us, be i t

in the paying of Gods tithes and giv ing

of oferings o r o u r Pra,yers as an ordi-

nary layman, He says we are preventing

His warning message from reaching

more

people

and are thus being DIS-

LOYAL TO

H I S

WORK

erhaps you

never thought of this as being disloy-

a l ty , but i t i s

Look at i t this way. Suppose

you

are

a member

of

a basketball team and

your captain institutes practices three

days a week, stressing that the success

of the team depends on

every man

showing up faithfully

for

practice and

giving of himself wholeheartedly. But

you contin ually m iss practices and treat


11/20

July 1972 The

G O O D NEWS

9

the affair lightly. Eventually, the cap-

tain would replace you with someone

else

who would be loyal

to

the team.

You1 clisloyaliy wuulcl rvciitually re-

move you f rom your posi t ion.

So

brethren,

i t

is imperat ive that we

R E M A I N

LOYAL

to G o d s W o r k

to

re-

main on His team, les t God gran t

s o m eo n e

else o u r

places.

We are all in this great W o r k to-

gether. W e m u s t a ll work together as a

team. I f any one of

us

l et s d o w n , w e

hold

hack

and affect

the

whole team

Loyalty

to

Gods Work means d i l i -

gence as well . God counts half -hear t-

edness as disloyalty. Cursed be he that

doeth the work of the Lord negligently

[ m a r g i n ) . (Jer. 48:lO).

So

if you

miss out on praying daily , s tudying the

Bible di l igently , looking for ways to

serve , keep ing the W o rk uppermos t in

your mind, then i t is the same as being

disloyal

to

t h e Wo r k o f G o d . Pe r h ap s

we haven t thought abou t i t th i s way ,

but its true nevertheless.

Learn

to

be 100 percent loyal

t o

the

part God has given you in

His Work

Bc Loya l

to

Those

God

Sets Over You

G o d u s e s h u m an i n s t r u m en t s t o d o

H i s

Work

and

to

oversee the Church.

W e a re c o m m a n d e d

to

O b ey t h em

that have the ru le over you , and submi t

yourselves: for they watch for your

souls , as they that m ust give acc ount,

that they may

do it

w i t h joy, an d n o t

with gr ir f : for

r h a r

is unprof i table for

you (Heb . 13 :17) .

But where should you stand in the

cvcnt

onc

God has set i n an office u v r i

you is not d o i n g all that he should do?

Y o u should st il l be loyal . Th e l i fe of

David provides an outs tand ing cx-

ample in this respect.

David was loyal

to

King Sau l , even

when Saul was out

to

kill him. Even

though Saul had been rejected by God,

David did not feel it was his preroga-

tive to usurp Sauls author i ty . Da vid re-

alized he had no right to treat with

contempt the off ice Saul s t i l l held.

N o t i ce I Sam u el 2 4 : l - 6 : A n d i r

came to pass, when Saul was returned

from following the Phil is t ines, that i t

was told him. saying. Behold, David is

in the wilderness of Engedi . Then Saul

took th ree thousand chosen men o u t o f

all Israel, and went

to

seek David and

h is men upon the rocks

of

the wild

goats . And he came

to

the sheepcotes

by

tlir way,

w h r r r was

a cave; and Saul

went in to cover his feet : and David

and his men remained in the s ides of

t h e cav e . .

Then David arose , and cu t

off

the

skirt of Sauls robe privily. A nd it came

to pass afterward, that Davids heart

smote him, because he had cut off

Sauls

skir t . And he said unto his men,

T h e Lord forbid that I should do this

th ing un to my mas ter , the LORDS

anointed, to s t r e tch fo r th mine hand

against him , seeing he is the anointed of

the

LORD.

In another incident , David again

had the oppor tunity to ki l l Saul .

H u m a n l y s p e a k i n g

i t

w o u l d h a v e

seemed the r ight thing

to

d o , k n o w i n g

that he would immediately become

kin g himself in Sauls place. But David

again restrained himself from such ac-

t ion ou t of loyalty t o Sauls ofice.

And David said

to

Abishai , Destroy

him not: for who can stretch for th his

hand against the LORDSanointed, and

be guiltless? (I Sam. 26:9.)

From t ime

to

t ime the ministers of

Gods Church are transferred

to

new

areas.

Y o u

need

to be

as loyal

to

the

new minister as you were

to

t h e o n e

who lef t for another assignment. Re-

member, it is GOD who places each

man in his respective office. W e can see

the principle clearly by observing the

succession of Joshua

to

the office

Moses

held.

An d the Lord said un to

Moses,

T a k e

tlirr J u h u a

rlic

son of

N u n , a

man i n w ho m is the spir i t , and lay

th ine hand upon h im; and se t h im be-

fore Elcazar thc pricst, and beforc all

the congregation : and g ive h im a

charge in their s ight . And thou shalt

p u t s o m e o f t h i n e h o n o u r u p o n h i m ,

that al l the congregation of the chil-

d ren o f Is rael may be obed ien t (N u m .

2 7 :18-20).

Disloyalty to those over

u s

is abhor-

rent to

God. He

cannot use anyone

who

h a ? t h i s t r a i t . Do

you

r emember

what happened to Korah and his asso-

ciates who despised the office Moses

h el d ( N u m . 1 6 ) ? G o d u p h o l d s t h e n f-

fice of those over us and expects us to

do the same.

Be Loya l

to

Your

Employer

I .ah n r / ma

nagem en

t

relat ions proh-

lems perpetually plague the world of

commerce and industry. Workers strike

to achieve their ends, justified or unjus-

tified. Many are out

to

make as much

money as they can with as little effort

as possible. They have no loyalty to

company, supervisor , or employer .

But God tel ls Chr ist ian employees

to set an example of fai thfulness and

service, so Gods name wil l

not

be blas-

phemed. Let as many servants {em-

ployees] as are under the yoke count

their own masters [employers] worthy

of all honour, tha t the name of God

and his doctr ine H E NOT H L A S P H E M E I )

( I

T i m . 6 : l ) .

Exhor t servants [employees)

to

be

obedient

unto their own masters [em-

ployers], and

to

please them well in all

things; not answering again; not pur-

lo in ing , bu t

showing all good fidelity;

that they may adorn the doctr ine of

God our Sav iour in all th ings (T i tus

2 :9-10) .

Servants, be obedzent to them that

are your masters according to the flesh,

with fear and trembling,

in

singleness of

yourheart, as un to C hrist ; not with eye-

service, as menpleasers; but as the

ser-

vants

of

Christ , doing the wil l

of

G o d

from ie hear/;

with goodwi l l do ing

ser-

vice, A S

TO

THE LORD, and not

to

men

Paul made i t plain

t l i a t

w c arc lo

consider service

to

o u r h u m an em -

ployer the same as service t o Jesus CbriJt

H i ~ n ~ c v

But what if your company treats its

workers selfishly and dishonestly?

Scrvants, be

s u l j c c i

iu your masters

with al l fear ; not only to the good and

gentle , but also to the froward. For this

is thankwo rthy, i f

a

man for conscicncc

toward God endure gr ief , suffer ing

wrongfully ( I Peter 2:18-19).

I f you

h a v e

a good and thought fu l

employer, especially one who is also a

member o f Gods Church , i t is easy to

forget he

is nl to over

you.

But you

shou ld

respect

him as an employer and

boss, giving him loyalty in man-hours,

hard work and dedicar inn, s P a u l said

in I T i m o t h y 6 : 2 :

And they that have believing mas-

(Eph. 615-7).


12/20

10 The

GOOD NEWS

July 1972

L C I ~

crriploycis], Icr

them nor despise

th cm , because they are brethren ; but

rather do them service, because they are

faithful and beloved, partakers of thc

benefit.

,

Tardiness. absenteeism, and a sloth-

ful approach

to work

can

earn

you dis-

missal from outside companies, but

some

o f

us expect our b rother-employ-

ers to p u t u p with such disloyalty wirh-

out compla in t

O f course the employer wh o is a fel-

low

member

o f

Gods Church

is

more

hesitant to correct

or

fire a worker who

is

also in the faith. But this is all the

more reason for

us to

avoid tardiness,

ahsenteeism and slo th, and to be one

hindred percent a i t h f d dnd loyal

Be Loya l to Those U n d e r You

Loyalty

is

a

two-way street. I t

is

hypocritical being loyal only to those

over you and

n o t

also

to

your subordi-

nates. Even David made this mistake.

H e was disloyal

to

one of his devoted

soldiers who remained absolutely loyal

to

him. and this led to the greatest of

al l the sins David committed.

We

read the account in I1 Samuel

11:6-17. Uriah was one of the to p war-

riors in D avids army I1 Sam.

23:39),

noted foi- his bravery and v a lo r . Uriahs

unfail ing loyalty and devotion con-

trasted greatly with Davids disloyal

and despicable

action

toward him. To

cover up his adultery with Uriahs wife,

D;ivid finally resorted

to

murder .

A n d

i t came t o pass in the morn

ing, tha t

David

wrote

a letter

to

Joab,

and

sent i t

by the hand of Uriah. And

h r wro t r

in

t h e Ictter, saying, Set ye

LJ r i a h in the forefront of the hottest

battle, and retirc ye from him, that he

may be smitten, and

die. And

i t came

to

pass, when Joab observed the city,

t h a t he

assigned Uriah unto a place

where he knew that valiant men were.

And the men

of

the city went

o u t

and

fought with Joab: and there fell some

of the people of the servants of D avid;

and IJr iah the H itt i te died

also

(verses

14-17).

D a v i d

sinned. And for this sin Da-

vid paid dcarly, though he was com-

pletcly forgiven when he repented.

You who arc over others, do you

give them the same loyalty you expect

to

reccive from t he m ? Husb ands, are

y o u

loyal

ro

your wives, your children?

Do

you back

up

your wives when it

comes to the important subject of child

rear ing? O r do

you

fall down in this

respect?

In admon ishing servants

to

be faith-

ful and loyal to

their masters,

G o d

a t

the same time tells the masters

to

b e

loyal

to

their servants. Notice Eph-

es ians 6.9.

And

you

masters, do the

same things unto them, forbearing

threatening: knowing that your Master

also is in heaven; neither is there rc-

spect of persons with him.

And again in Colossians 4 : l : Mas-

ters, give unto y o u r servants that w hich

is just and equal; kno win g that ye also

have a Master in heaven. Those who

are not loyal to those under rhcm, who

dejraud their employees and hold back

their just and equal wages, will have

to

answer to G od (see James 5 : l - 5 ) .

God demands we be loyal to those

under our author i ty , a s H e wh o is

over all s loyal

to us

Be Loyal to Your Word

At the beginning of this ar t ic le we

saw that God is loyal

to

H i s W o r d ,

that we can have faith in what H e said.

He expects us to be the same.

Do you

recall wh at Jesus said ab out

not swearing today? T he account is in

Mat thew

5:33-37:

Again, ye have heard that it hath

been said by them of old t ime, Thou

shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt per-

form unto the Lord thine oaths: but I

say unto you,

Swear

not

at all;

neither

by heaven; for it is Gods throne: nor

by the ea rth; for it is his footstool: nei-

ther by Jerusalem; for it is the city of

the grea t King. Ne i the r sha l t thou

swear by thy head, because thou canst

not make one hair white or black. But

let your communication be, Yea, yea;

Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than

these cometh of evil .

I n O l d T e s t a m e n t t i m e s G o d s

people, like others, often backed up

their promises or sta tements with ar .

oath taken before God,

or

by using

Gods name. They felt this bound them

to te ll the truth, or

to

do as they said.

But Christ tells us that our word as a

New Testament Christian

should be

enough

W e shou ldn t

need to

have any-

th ing

to

suppor t what

we

promise.

When we say we will do something,

everyone should know we mean it

\el

it ib

a

sad

f x r rhar

some of

us

break promises on the slightest excuse.

W e don t see tha t

i t

matters very

much.

By this action

w c

manufacture a

credibility gap for ourselves. And we

break

t h e N i n t h C o m m a n d m e n t w h ic h

tells us

NOT to

bear false witncss

But wh a t sha ll we do w hen w e make

arrangements or promises with every

good

and

right

intention,

and then

la ter something crops up preventing us

from fulf i l l ing our word? In this case

we are

obligated to explain about our

change of plans and apologize for not

being able to carry out what we said.

B u t

some

of us dont even do that

S u c h n e g l i g e n c e m a k e s o n e u n -

trustworthy and disloyal to others.

They will find it difficult to believe

what such a one says in the future.

Notice Proverbs 13:17: A wicked

[untrustworthy, disloyal]

messenger

falls into mischief: but a faithful am-

bassador is health. We, brethren, are

ambassadors for Christ.

We

natlst be

loyal and faithful, establishing a reputa-

tion for be ing men and women of our

word

1

Loyalty

Will Be

Rewarded

Many ages

ago

a

great

archangel be-

came disloyal

to

his Creator and tried

to usurp Gods authority and p osit ion.

As a result, Lucifer was

cas t

d n w n

a n d

soon will be dismissed from his gov-

ernmental office.

Similar ly, no Christian who

is

dis-

loyal or unfaithful may qualify for a

posit ion in Gods future government

on earth. We m us t prove our

loyalty

to

G o d i n

every aspect

o f

ou r

lives

NOW

Go d must know w e wil l

remain loyal

to

H im for e ternity. H e will not have any

potential adversaries in His family, so

we must prove

H E R E

and

NOW

that we

will

never

follow the path Satan took

For only the absolutely L O Y A L will

qualify for rewards in the Kingdom of

God .

Remember, God is loyal to us. He

wont le t

UJ

down . He promises tha t a

faithful {loyal] man shall abound with

blessings (Prov.

28:20) . So

be loyal

and you will inherit those blessings


13/20

Teach

Your

Children

About

God

N e v e r b e f o r e h a s t h e

younger generation been

so ignorant about God and

His

Law. This

article gives

you concrete, usable guide-

l ines for teaching YOUR

small children about God,

about creation, about His

plan, about l i fe.

by Arch Bradley

receive many letters from

perplexed parents who do

not know how to give their

five-year-old children simple, straight-

forward answers to their questions

about God and the Bible. Here is a typ-

ical letter from a member of Gods

Church

:

Please s d ny literature you have

regarding teaching children about

God. Yesterday my five-year-old

son,

Greg,

asked me what God looks like.

Of

course, I

answcrcd him,

but

only

in

general terms. The blank look

on

his

little face told me

I

had not fully

satisfied his curiosity.

I

want

to

teach

him the truth about

God

.but

am

not

sure how to go about

it.

H o w w o u l d YOU have answered

l i t t le Greg? (See Rev.

1:13-17;

G en .

1 : 2 7 ;

Ex.

9 : 3 ;

ob 1:11 for help.) More

impor tan t , how have you answered sim-

ilar questions for your children? Arc

you fulfilling your role as T E A C HE R o f

your children?

A T e s t

Lets find out Give your child

a qu ick qu iz . How many

of

these

questions can your three-year-old an-

swer?

How did the fi rs t man and woman

come to b e?

W h o bu il t an ark , and why?

Who is Gods son

What does God look l ike?

Where does God l ive?

Granted, young children vary a great

deal in their ability

to

learn. But as

soon as they can put words together to

make sentences, they should be able

to

comprehend these things.

Realize, brethren, that God holds

you as parentspersonally responsible for

teaching your children His

way

Hear

Gods charge: And you must think

constantly about these com mandme nts

I am giving you today.

You

must teach

them

to

your children and talk about

them when you are at home or out for

a walk; at bedtime and the first thing

in the morn ing (D eut . 6:6 -7 ,

The

Liv

ing

Bible).

Here are a few basic guidelines to

follow as you teach your children some

of the most precious and vital knowl-

edge they will ever learn

Po r t r ay Gods Word

A ccu ra t e l y

Before you attempt to teach your

boy o r girl a lesson o r relate a particular

incident from the Bible, be sure you

can portray i t as Gods Word

tells

it . In other words Tell it l ike

it is

To do this, Y OU must s tudy Gods

W or d daily yourself now what

is

in the Book. Then you wil l have

ready answers to questions like litt le

Gregs.

Beware of letting subtle errors or

misconceptions creep into your teach-

ing. Dont rely on books A B O U T the

Bible. Many Bible story books for

children are saturated w ith unscriptural

concepts, or vie for their interest with

exciting and violent fiction like cheap

novels or comic books. Biblical inci-

dents are often taken out of context.

Their real connection with the very

purpose

of

life is ignored.

And even pictures are misleading

Biblical characters usually appear in

various supposedly spiritual posi-

tions, generally with arms outstretched

toward

a

rock, tree, or cloud, with far-

off,

contemplative expressions on their

faces. But in reality, Biblical persons

were D Y N A M I C , A C T I V E ,

F OR C E F U L

A n d t h a t is wha t you should convey to

your children.

U s e a n A p p r o a c h A p p r o p r i a t e

for T h e i r A g e s

Your children love to hear stories

from the Bible such as the story of

Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel , Noah,

Abraham,

Moses

and events in the life

of Jesus. F or exa mple , my three-year-

old particularly enjoys hearing about

Jesus chi ldhood how He grew up

in a small mountain town, was able to

enjoy swimming in a nearby lake, and

hiking in the surrounding hills. One

thing for all to beware of, of course, is

excessive fictionalizing. I use this op-

portunity

to

po int ou t Jesus perfect

character ow H e shared His posses-

sions with others, was obedient to His

parents, erc.

As

your child grow s older say

hes eight or ten each him ho w the

Proverbs relatc

to his

cvcryday lifc.

Th is will take considerable foreth ough t

on your part in some cases. But take

just one proverb a t

a

t ime

such

as

Proverbs 15:18 in The Living Bible: A

quick-tempered man starts fights; a

cool-tempered man tries

to

stop them.

Before at tempting to teach your

eight or ten-year-old this lesson, sit

down with pencil and paper and think

of all the various applications this

proverb may have in his relationship

with other children, with his teachers

a t

school, with you n other words,

with any and everyone he normally

comes in contact with.

T h i n k

of

WHY and HOW your child

will benefit by inculcating the principle

of this proverb into his life. Write

these points down as you think of

them and you will have a very effective

Bible study.

Another way

to

teach the Proverbs

is to create hypothetical situations,

then ask your child to explain the cor-

rect course

of

action

based u p o n

one

of

the Proverbs. This method stimzllutes

your child

to

make Gods laws an ac-

tual part of his thinking.

A l w ay s T each Sp i r i t u a l L ess on s

Remember this.

Your

child can

know the various Bible characters and


14/20


15/20

NEVER

GIVE

IN

W h e n s e v e r e t r i a l s c o m e i n t o y o u r l i f e ,

d o y o u e as i l y g i v e in ? Or d o yo u g i r d

u p y o u r lo in s a n d ENDURE ADVERSITY

w i t h u n f li n ch i ng f a i t h i n Go d ? Th is i nsp i r -

i n g ar t ic l e s h o w s h o w

Y O U

c an d e v e l o p

t h a t v i t a l i n g r e d i e n t n e c es s ar y f o r t r u e

success

-

ERSEVERANCE

by

John D. Schroeder

N th i s cen tu ry , Wins ton Church i l l was an ep i tome

of

perseverance a colossus of refusal to surrender to

the adversary.

Never give in , he said, never , laez~er, NEVER,

N E V E R ,

in no th ing g rea t o r smal l , la rge o r pe t ty ever

give in except to convict ions

of

honor and good sense .

w h e l m i n g m i g h t o f t h e en em y

That John Bull determination to overcome any

a n d

all

obstacles , coupled with his personal abil i t ies and

will ingness to work, made Churchil ls l i fe an inspirat ion

to mil l ions.

And tha t same quali ty ,

perseverance,

will make the

difference between success and failure in our lives.

I

N F V F R

yield

to

force,

NFVFR

yield

to

t h e

dPPdrPnt4

over-

When Things Go Wrong

Life has i ts bleak mo me nts when everything

seems wr on g when even obedience to Gods laws

Courtesy

Col.

Frank

Reed

BULLDOGGED

TENACI TY

inston Churchill

inspects captured Nazi missi le s i te near

Cherbourg, France, in

1944.

Churchills refusal to

give in to a seemingly insurmountable adversary

inspired a beleaguered people to press on toward

victory

seems, on

the su$acc,

only to br ing

more

dishear tening

results. Sometimes years can

go

by, with no apparent

blessing s w e mortals tend to reckon blessings. But

we need

to

real ize that God does

not

always see things as

we do.

Tak e the exam ple of Joseph, the elder son of Jacob

and Rachel

O n e

can

hardly

say

he deserved his trouhles.

In his case, the envy of others was to blame.

Josephs brothers could hardly tolerate his favored

posit ion in the family hey hated him for the beautiful

coat their father had given him . But when he began to tell

them of his highly implicat ive dreams hat they and

their father would one day bow before him hey were

fit

to be t ied So they g ot r id of him old him as a

slave and convinced their father that he was dead, stealing

and ruining his beautiful coat in the process.

Later, in E gypt, Joseph was sold again his time to

the rulers chief executioner . Hardly a nice or enc ouraging


16/20

14

The GOOD NEWS

July 1972

position to be in. And all

ot

this be-

cause he was one wi th who m Go d was

dealing.

Soon. thiqg s pot worse.

The

exeu l -

tioners wife made

a

play for him, and

he refused her. He wisely obeyed God.

And what d id

lit.

gct f u r h i s m u n c h

m o r a l i t y ? T h e p r o v er b ia l w o m a n

scorned then deceitfully forced her

cr ud rcvcngc by sccing him thrown

in

jail . For obeying Go d he was thrown in

a d a rk d u n g eo n w i t h n o h o p e of escape

or release ~

a

forgotten man.

D a r k e s t J u s t B e f o re t h e D a w n

So there

y o u have

i t . God begins to

dedl with the man . Th ings go wel l fo r

a l i t t le while nd then

liVERYIHING

fallc apart

O r

cn i t appears

Of course, when we read the rest of

the s tory, everything becom es clear. In

just a few more paragraphs, the whole

si tuat ion is changed. All has worked

o ut beautifully. Joseph was finally rec-

ognized, was made K l I l . I i K directly in

association with the chief Pharao h of

Egypt, his entire family was reunited

and b rought to Egypt to be near h im,

and was joint ly given the best of the

nations land. The complete s tory is

touching and beautiful .

B u t

if YOU

h ad b e en J o s e p h . .

Would you have patiently endured al l

the af f liction, pain, discourag ement and

suffer ing, without giving up or los-

ing fai th in God?

Says

the word of Go d, I f you f a in t

i n t h e day of adversity, your strength

is

small

(Prov.

2 4 : 1 0 , Ampliped Bible).

Y O L Iwouldnt have been able to

see

rhe end f rom the beginning any more

perfectly

than

Joseph could. The neat

and encouraging paragraphs wou ld no t

yec llavr bccn

w i i t t c i i . Yuu wvulcl b i r r i -

ply have been robbed of your favorite

clothes a n d

sold as

a

Jduzv

i n t o t h e

worst possible situation.

Y o u

would

not speak or understand the language

of the man you worked for. His wife

would have been making seductive pas

ses a t yw.

And

Y O L ~ f you had

obeyed

God

would have found

yourself

t h r o w n

in j:iil - and forgot-

ten .

You would probably rue the day

you got that beautiful garment frnm

you r father and you might even

wish you had never had those special

dreams. You w ould certainly wish you

had kep t qu ie t abou t them. But there

you would be. In jail. In a foreign

muntp &pu- td fmm exey.tfii~gd

everyone you knew and loved.

A prjs

oner , no t gu i l ty , bu t pun ished .

This kind of biruation

is

far from

being an isolated case. God always

deals with people as

He

knows is best.

In cverything, He wants His peuplr LO

develop faith in the fact that H e

IS

i n

control whether or not things may

look g o o d f o r t h c m o m en t .

The go lden sky comes a t the

end of

the s torm he silver l inings in

clouds

arc

not apparcn t a t

first.

A n d

only th rough our pa t ien t ly e ndur ing

and U S I N G the exper iences that come

o u r way do we dcvelop enduring

fuith

i n G o d .

Tr ia l s mus t come, though in con-

trast

to

Joseph,

we

are often responsible

ourselves for the troubles that come

our way. We create our problems

through our own shor tcomings, o r we

force God to correct us when we dis-

obey His laws or pr inciples , even w hen

we aren t aware of what mistake we

may have been making unti l God

makes it clear to us in His unmistak-

able ways.

But in ei ther case, to let God d o

His

incredible work in ou r lives we have to

EN D U RE chas t i sement , knowing tha t

G od punishes us for our eternal welfare

an d g o o d ,

as

a loving father spanks his

ch i ld ren (Heb .

12 :5 -11) .

T h e T r i al s o f a P r o p h e t

Jeremiah was a prophet o f God -

man used m ighti ly in his t ime. He co n-

stantly warned Gods people of im-

pen ding clisaster hecaucr nf f h ~ i y

sins. And then he l ived through that

same disaster

Jeremiah

had heen thrown

i n to

a

cis-

tern by King Zedekiahs subordinates

(Jer. 38:6; Lam. 3 : 5 2 - 5 7 ) .

He

suffered

terrihly himcelf during the overthrow

of Jerusalem because

they

had re-

fused to change. His personal reaction

to severe trial is among the finest exam-

ples recorded in the history

of

Gods

people.

No tice Jeremiahs reaction his

suffering under the stress of Gods

wrath and his own subsequent change

of attitude and resolve

to

continue to

seek

G o d , to trust i n H i m .

At f irs t, almost to the point of ut ter

, p~a?i:kp x ~ d . iTirtlk IITAT

w h n h a x

wxm thr-

f i k t ~ ~ 7 . s

har,

L L ~

f rom the rod o f Gods wra th . He has

turnrd

against

me.

Day and night his

hand is heavy on me. He has made me

old and has broken my bones . . . He

has wallcd mc in ;

I cunnot escape,

he has

fastened m e with heavy chains. And

t h o u g h I cry and shout,He will not hear

my prayers (Lam . 3:l-8,

The Living

Bible.)

Have

YOU

ever felt so sure things

could never work

out?

Is there some-

thing in this exper ience that perhaps

each o f us migh t use a t some t ime in

o i i r lives) There surely is

Notic e how Jeremiah continued his

personal lament:

He

lurks like a bear,

l ike a l ion, wait ing to a t t ack m e . .

. .

M y o w n p eop l e l au g h a t m e . . H e

has filled m e w ith bitterness. .

He

has

m ad e m e to eat gravel and broken my

teeth; he has rol led me in ashes and

d i r t . . I have forgotten what enjoy-

m e n t is. A L L HOPE IS G O N E ; my

strength has turned to water, for the

Lord has lef t me..

I can N E V E R forget these awful

years;

always

my soul will live in utter

shame (verses

10-20).

A

PROPHET

OF

GOD

uttered those

pathetic words - n personal anguish

nder severe trial. Amazing, isnt it,

that in the l ives of those g ian ts whom

God has used as examples of success

and spir i tual power , there have been

mo men ts of ter r ible depression of

near

loss

of hope.

All hope certainly appeared g o n e .

Th e p rophet a lmos t gave in . Bu t no t

co~iiplcrcly.Hc srarched

his

mind for

what he had learned of God t h r o u g h

years of exper ience. He thought beyond

his immcdiatc trial. And he thereby

en-

dured , w i th the he lp o f God . Not ice :

Yet there is one ray of hope: his

compassion N E V E R ends.

It

is only thc

Lords mercies that have kept us from

complete destruct ion.

Great

is his faith-

fulness; His lovingkindness begins

afresh each day. My soul claims the

Lord as my inheritance; therefore I

will

h o p iv him T h e Lord is

WONDER-

F U L L Y

GOOD to those who wait for

h im, to those who seek for him. I t is


17/20

July 1972 The GOOD NEWS 15

good

b o t h to hope and W AI T QUIETLY

for the sulvution

of

the Lord

It is

good

for a young man [or

W U I I I ~ ] to b c u i i d c r d i s c i p h c ,

for

i t

causes him

to

sit apart in silence be-

neath the Lords demands, to lie face

downward

in

the dus t ; then a t last

there is hope for him [or her).

.

TH E

LORD

W I L L NOT

ABANDON

HI M F OR -

E V E R . A l t h o u g h G o d

gives

him grief,

yet he will show compassion too, ac-

cording to the greatness of his loving-

kindness. For he does

NOT

enjoy afflict-

ing men and causing sorrow (Lam.

3

: 2

1-33) .

T h e n Comes D el i v e ran ce

Jeremiah was removed from the trial

just when he thought he was

ruine d. H e cried desperately to G o d fo r

deliverance, and at t he last possible mo -

me nt , God l i fted him from th e t rial

(Lam.

3:54-57).

Trials don t really end thing s hey

make new and better things possible

whe n stron ger, wiser character has been

formed.

Remember Jobs example? He had

been seriously self-righteous and God

had let him endure severe trial

o

bring him to his senses. But as soon as

the lesson was learned, as soon as Job

recognized Gods unspeakable great-

ness in contrast with his own help-

lessness, God could again begin to

bless him. Then, when Job pruyed for

his friends

[he finally got his mind off

himsur ) , the Lord restored his weal th

and happiness In fact, the Lord gave

him

T W I C E

as much as before (Job

42.10, The Liuing

Di6le).

A f t e r A l l ,

WHO

A R E

WE?

We k n o w God made everything

for

on e central purpose. He wanted a fam-

ily. As human creatures we certainly

understand that desire. God put that

desire in us whe n H e created us, even

emotionally, in His image and likeness

(G en . 1:26-27).

G o d h as not called us to hurt us , or

to

take from us the good things we

really want. He didnt call us to run us

throu gh a gonizing experiences. He cer-

tainly will no t d o us harm or de-

prive us of any go od thing or sub-

vert any goo d cause. He called us

because H e loves us. H e wan ts us, spe-

cifically and individually,

to

be His

chi ldren (Deut . 7:8 ; J o h n 6:44) . He

wants us

to

succeed in every possible

way o cnjoy total fulfillmcnt, the

desire of our (converted) hearts (Ps.

37:4-5). He l ives

to

give us these

things just

as

quickly

as He can

train us

to

use and enjoy them prop-

erly.

If we will live by every word of

God, we wil l be the apples of His eye

H is special treasure His SONS

(Zech. 2:8; I John

3 : l - 3 . )

And as H i s

sons we need to realize that God is so

intensely interested in us o over-

whelmingly fond of us, individually

that He wil l let us go th rough what -

ever is necessary to guarantee our suc-

cess as His eternal sons in Hi s Family

Will E n d u r a n c e E n d u r e

-

by Itself?

End uran ce erseverance, stick-to-

it-iveness s a law of success. It is in-

dispensable. But

putient waiting

d u r i n g

a time of trial usually will not succeed

of itself. Consider the contrast between

David and Saul wo men w ho faced

the same trial simultaneously.

The even t invo lved David , King

Saul, the armies of Israel and the Philis-

tines with their titanic hero, Goliath

al l of w h o m ( e x c e p t D a v i d ) h a d

waited for action for forty nerve-wrack-

ing days

( I

Sam. 17:16). David took

right, swift, aggressive, decisive

ACTION

He lost no t ime, but Goliath lost his

head.

Saul was willing to wait, procrasti-

nate bu t while he waited, he did

littlc, pcrsonally, to changc ci icuni-

stances.

O n the o ther hand , David seized

upon the circumstancc, confidcntly

used Gods support (he had Gods

Spiri t he knew Go d would help)

and employed

every

possible means

a t

his disposal toward

SUCCESS,

while the

king and the nat ion wai ted for some-

one

else to T A K E ACTION Davids

proper action during the trial allowed

G o d t o b r i n g t h e s i t u a t i o n

triumphant ly

to

its solution.

Th us we are introduced

to

the life of

David ne of pat ient endurance un-

der stress. But always David is taking

action,

every poss ib le r igh t ac t ion

within Gods law, to properly resolve

problems as they arise with Gods

help.

David was a man whose very

ap-

proach

to

life itself was

one

of success.

And when he had

to

wait s he did

before God removed Saul from office

he

applied himself diligently to

every task during the interim, keeping

loyal

to

God th roughout the exper i -

ence, and repenting deeply when he

stumbled.

David knew that God keeps His

promiscs that cvcry

good

thing

would come his way in Gods good

time. So he confidently and patiently

worked towards such ends. Any other

approach would have been faithless

an insult to the character of God.

T h e same is just as true of each of us

(Ps.

37:4-11).God has called each of us

to

SUCCEED

in a calling which defies

human imaginat ion (I Cor. 2:9-11).

And he lives

to

help us through every

challenge along the way

F

we will

PERSEVERE,

always exercising all

seven

L A W S of success.

Elbert Hubbard once said, Th e l ine

between failure and success is

so

fine

that we scarcely know whe n w e pass it:

so fine that we are often on the l ine

and do no t kno w i t . How many a man

has thrown up his hands at a time

when a litt le more effort, a lit t le more

patience, would have achieved success.

A s the t ide goes all the way out,

so

it

comes all the way in.

A

l i t t le more per-

sistence, a litt le more effort, and what

seemed hopeless failure may turn to

glorious success.

There

i s

no failure

except

in no longer

trying.

There

i

no defiut

except from

within,

no

real4 unsumountable barrier

save our o w n inherent weakness o f pur-

pose.

Because God is for us (Rom. 8:31 . )

Why

Succeed?

H o w a b o u t i t ? Is an overwhelmingly

SUCCESSFUL

l ife wo rth it ? For you and

me, is i t worth it that we should P E R S E -

V E R E ?

Think seriously for a moment of the

millions

of

under-privileged

people

sick people tarving people war-

torn people alt and maimed people

ignorant, helpless, often innocent

people. Think about

T H E M .

(Continued

on back

cover)


18/20

The GOOD NEWS

July

1972

6

INSIDE INDIA

Bombay -

he Highpoint

l he hree days we spent in Bombay,

the commerc ia l capi t a l of the comt ry ,

were the highl ight of ou r vis i t to India .

So

fix

we h a v c or i ly two

members in

India . Mr. and Mrs . Kulas ingam, in

Bombay. But others, especially in

Bombay where we met a n u m b e r

of

ex-

cel lent prospects , wi l l undoubtedly be

ready for bapt ism on our next t r ip.

O n e

is

a yoiing doc tor

of

H i n d u

background. He had g iven up a job

wi th the Bombay munic ipa l i ty and

go ne in to prac t ice on h i s own in order

to observe the Sabba th . He showed us

his business card whic h had at th e bot-

tom: Closed Friday evenings and Sat-

urdays . Op en Sundays . This was very

encouraging to us, because he was one

of the few we met who were able

to

keep the Sabbath.

H e endeavors also to practice his

profession th e way G od wil l approve

iviiig advice O I I die t , nu t r i t ion and

hygiene as very important factors in

good hea l th . However , people d o n o t

respond well t o this. Many

say ,

We

c a m e t o you for

a

pill. W e d id n o t

c o m e t o

be

told how we should l ive.

I t

ce r t a in ly takes

a g r e a t

deal of

cour-

age to do w ha t th i s young doc tor

is

doin g . W e hop e hc wi ll be ready for

bapt i sm next t ime .

Another young man we saw in

Bombay works as an IBhl technician.

Remarkably enough he does not have

to

w o r k o n S a tu r d ay H e c o m e s f r o m

a

very s t rong Cathol ic family. Had his

parents known of his change of bel iefs ,

their react ion would have been violent ,

b u t

he

has handled his s i tuat ion so

tactful ly that as yet they kn ow n oth ing

of i t . Thi s young man, a l so , we hope ,

wil l be bapt ized next t ime.

Sabbath Keeping Groups

Desire Contact

O n t h e t o u r w e w e r e ab l e

to

learn a

little

more

a b o u t

a

n u m b e r of g r o u p s

in India who have wanted to m a k e

contac t wi th us for some t ime . These

people obse rve the Sabba th . and some

of the Holy Days , being aff i l ia ted with

the Church of G o d 7 t h D a y ( S t a n -

berry, Missouri and Denver, Colorado),

w i t h t h e C h u r ch of G o d ( S al em , W e s t

Virginia)

or

wi th another branch of

the Sardis Chu rch which has head-

quarters in Jerusalem, Israel.

These Indian groups a re now seek-

ing means for all o f t h e m t o w o r k

more closely together. There

are

o t h e r

grou ps in Nor the r n India whose lead-

C I S wc were unable to mee t , due to

travel difficulties and restrictions.

Unfor tuna te ly , i t i s going to be very

difficult for us

to

m a k e a n y real contact

with these people. Most

of

t hem a re

villagers

or

m o u n t a i n p e o p l e w h o

speak only t h c i r own native

Tnrlian

dia-

lect . Even som e of their leaders cann ot

comm unica te wi th us . On e minis t er

we

did mee t in the Sou th spoke Te lugu (a

southe rn dialect) language we did

no t speak bu t no Engl ish .

Only a Bcgiririirig

This tour was real ly only the begin-

n ing of any k ind of work in India and

Ceylon. Its

a

very small s tart , but we

feel very encouraged and hopeful for

the future work in these areas . Since

U U T i-ttuim from rhc ruur in March , we

have already received over 50 new

requests for visits

G o d is calling a n u m b e r

of

very fine

people who wi l l represent Him as

l ight s to rha t pa r t of the wor ld . Many

still have gross problems to solve in or-

der to o b e y H i m . B u t w i t h t h e h e lp of

your prayers , H e wil l certainly give

hem the s t rength they need

F ro n ke l - mbassador Colleoe

One

o f

the many interested

students met in India.

CHARACTER

Continued

Jro7n page 3 )

m o u n t a i n a n d s h o w e d H i m t h e g l o r y

and majes ty of a l l the kingdoms of the

wor ld , and sa id , Al l these things will 1

give thee, i f thou wil t fa l l down and

worship me (verse

9).

He could have

added, Y ou won t have to go through

any crucifixion you won t have

to

g o throu gh any t ri al s you won t

havc to f ight tcmptat ion. You wont

have

to

do al l this preaching and get

yourself kicked in the face for it . All

those t empt ing thou ght s he could have

used

or

conjured up in Chris t s mind.

Bu t Jesus said to him, Get thee hence,

Satan: for i t is wri t ten , T ho u sha l t wor-

ship the Lord thy God, and him only

shalt thou serve (verse

10).

W ha t beaut ifu l charac te r our Pio-

neer he Au thor of ou r s a lva t ion

expressed

Since God i s going to reproduce

Himse l f , bu i ld His Kingdom and ex-

p a n d His d o m i n i o n t h r o u g h

us,

thats

the k ind of characte r WE RE oing to

have to develop.

Thats the kind of character that

y o u r e g o i n g to have to

WA N T

wi th

all

your being Perhaps in this l ife you

won t be ab le to reach th e same level or

s tandard of inexorable lack

of

compro-

mise wi th

tiods

Law th at Jesus did.

But you must fervent ly, energet ical ly,

do

t he BEST YOU A R E

A B L E ,

and to your

UTTERMOST capabilities and talents

strive t o exercise that kind o f character

I hope we really grasp the lesson of

Jesus experience, brethren. Unless

there are trials, unless there are tests,

unless there are choices, there is no

cl iaiactri

Luilcliiig.

Every test and every trial you run

int o in your l ife i t t le things that

happen be tween you and your wi fe

a t

hom e, be tween you and yo ur ch i ldren ,

between you and your employer

~

l i t t le things

o f

even d a y , e v e n h o u r .

every m om en t are tests to see

whether your character wil l be bui l t

sufficiently for you to be made

a

S o n o f

G o d

How

to Develop Character

B u t exac tly how can we deve lop tha t

kind of character? Lets make i t real ly


19/20

clear and bring it r igh t down to the

grass roots, as far as ou r lives are con

cerned.

First, lets realize that God has given

His Holy Spir i t to us. Gods Spir i t

makes us different

good news 1972 (vol xxi no 04) jul

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