Doctrine

Where Is God’s True Church Today?

4uwzvo — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 22:13:06 +0000

Where Is God’s True Church Today? 4uwzvo Tue, 03/01/2022 - 22:13

Where Is God’s True Church Today?

Roderick C. Meredith (1930-2017)

Booklet Media

#Christianity

#Church

#False Christianity

#God

#Jesus Christ

#Law of God

#Ten Commandments

Thousands of different denominations claim to be following Jesus Christ. Yet they teach thousands of different “gospels” and disagree on countless points of doctrine. Is Jesus Christ the Head of all these denominations? Is Christ divided? Or is there a true Church of God that stands apart from this religious Babylon? How can you recognize God’s true Church? This booklet will help you understand!

Have you ever wondered why you were born? What your real future will be like in the afterlife? What you will actually be doing for eternity? Will you sit around all day, playing a harp, or staring passively into the face of God? Or does God have something far more awesome and wonderful planned for you?

Have you ever wished you could find a church that truly understands the end-time prophecies of the Bible—how they apply to today’s headlines and the near future events affecting your life? Have you searched for a church that could help you understand the genuine meaning of life itself—and could explain where you and your nation will be headed in the next few years? Have you ever wished that you could find a church where the ministers actually preach right out of the Bible and help you “make sense” of its words—including its many specific prophecies? Do you long for a church where virtually all the members bring their Bibles to services, and where everyone actually believes what the Bible says and is trying to live by the true “first-century Christianity” that Jesus Christ and His apostles lived and preached?

Have you hoped to find a church where people of all races and backgrounds are accepted with warmth and love, and where Christ’s command to love one another is reflected in the “family atmosphere” when church members gather for worship and fellowship?

My friends, there is such a church that genuinely believes in the divine inspiration of the Holy Bible and is actually trying to do what the Bible says in every phase and facet of life. It is a church that has no other “holy books” or church “traditions” that take the place of the Bible on anything. This church is not a building or a corporation or an invention of human beings. It is a spiritual organism with a history going right back to Jesus Christ and the apostles. It is a very small church—the “little flock” described by Jesus Christ (Luke 12:32)—but it has always existed since the time of Christ and will exist at the end of the age when its faithful members are taken to a “place of safety” (see Revelation 12) before the Great Tribulation actually begins. Do you want to be part of such a church, whose members will soon become the kings and priests helping rule this earth under Jesus Christ? (Revelation 5:10).

Where Are God’s People?

The man sitting across from me was sharing his thoughts earnestly.

“I used to think that God’s people were just scattered all through the various denominations,” he exclaimed. “However, the more I read the Bible, the more I feel there must be a true Church somewhere on earth composed of people who really do what the Bible says. But how can I know? How can I be sure where God is working today?”

Now, the big question is: How can you know? How can you be sure?

Today, many churches call themselves Christian. Some practice baptism by immersion in water. Others just “sprinkle” or pour water on the head of baptismal candidates. Many churches keep what they call the “Lord’s Supper” every Sunday morning. Others observe this custom once a month or quarterly, or only once a year.

Most churches observe Sunday as their day of worship, while a few observe the Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Others say that the day of worship does not matter at all.

Churches are called by all kinds of names: Episcopal, Baptist, Holiness, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist, Pentecostal and others. More importantly, the various churches of this world have different concepts of God. Some feel that God is a fierce autocrat who roasts sinners in an ever-burning hellfire. Others think of God as simply the “divine spark” that somehow started all life but that has very little to do with everyday events and does not care about mankind’s “lifestyle.” Yet these differing churches all call themselves “Christian”—they use the name of Christ.

Does it make any difference? Has God left it up to human beings to search out and call their churches by various names, and come up with various days upon which to worship, various modes of baptism and different doctrinal teachings?

Where Is God?

Does God have anything to say about all of this?

Yes, He does!

Somewhere on this earth, God has true servants who faithfully and fully proclaim the end-time warnings to which we should all be paying attention. God inspired His prophet Amos to tell us: “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:7–8).

Today, staggering events are on the immediate horizon. They are prophesied in your Bible. One-fourth of the entire Bible is devoted to prophecy. And the Apostle Paul wrote: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:2–4). Does your minister preach the full message of the Bible? Does he regularly explain, and make clear to you and your loved ones, the powerful end-time prophecies of the Bible? The Bible lists many specific events for which true Christians should be watching. These events will soon clearly demonstrate that humanity is at the very end of this present age—the age of man’s rule over the earth under the influence of Satan the Devil (Revelation 12:9).

Many religious leaders talk about the “end times.” But, in all honesty, who is telling you the specific events for which you should watch? And who is helping you, today, to understand the real meaning behind the traumatic upheavals in the weather, the increasing earthquakes, terrorist attacks and the awful wars in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere that are increasingly threatening this planet?

Who is truly “making sense” out of all of this?

Jesus said: “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31–32). Again, if you are to abide in Christ’s “word,” who is really making that word “come alive?” Who is continually quoting—not from the secular writings of this world—but from the inspired word of God? Who is constantly challenging you: “Prove all things; and hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV)?

Another vital issue to consider: where is the full Truth being preached today?

“Oh, all churches have the same basic beliefs!” many will say. Or: “No one has a monopoly on the Truth. We can’t really know about these things anyway, so all religions are essentially valid as long as people are sincere!”

I am sure many of you have heard this type of reasoning before. If there is not a real God, or if the Holy Bible is not truly inspired, then such reasoning might stand up. But such is not the case! Perhaps the most basic instructions of Jesus Christ are these words: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4). God’s true Church must necessarily acknowledge this most fundamental of all Christian teaching! Church leadership, and individual Church members, may not yet be perfect, but they must at least acknowledge that God’s word is the basis for knowing the ultimate Truth their Creator intended. For without the Bible—without the inspired instruction from God Himself in His inspired word—all that remains are the billions of human opinions: “This is the way I feel!” or: “This is how it seems to me!”

Do you get the picture?

So if God does have a true Church on this earth, it must acknowledge the inspired authority of the Bible, and must base its teaching solidly on that foundation! As the Apostle Paul was inspired to write: “But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

Again, what is the Truth? Jesus said in your Bible: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

Wherever the true Church is, it is the pillar and “bulwark” (as the word “ground” ought to be translated in 1 Timothy 3:15) of the Truth. It is the protector of the Truth. Paul also tells us that true Christians—those who compose the true Church—are “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:19–20). If, as Paul wrote, the true Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, then the writings of the apostles and the prophets—not human opinions or “feelings”—must be the basis of doctrine and practice.

Paul’s inspired statement about the true Church being the pillar and bulwark of the Truth is enormously important! For through God’s Church, people should come to understand the supreme purpose for mankind’s existence. They should learn in detail about God’s great plan for humanity and how He is working out that plan. They should come to understand the vital one-fourth of the Bible that is prophetic. They should then grasp the real meaning of current events as they relate to Bible prophecy. This will make their newspaper reading and world news viewing on television truly “come alive.”

Then, members of the true Church of God will know how to follow Jesus’ command: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36). These truly converted people will then have the divine protection of God Himself during the horrifying Great Tribulation that Jesus Christ specifically prophesied would occur just before His return (Matthew 24:21–22). These true Christians—members of the true Church, learning the full Truth—will be spared from the horrifying “hour of trial” that will soon descend on this earth! For Jesus promises to people in this Church: “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

Do you, personally, want to be protected during the traumatic years just ahead? Or would you rather be “comfortable” attending whatever church you grew up in—or that you now attend—whether or not it understands the real Truth?

A “Comfortable” Church?

Should you look for a church where you can easily “fit in” and where you can be “comfortable?” A Charlotte Observer columnist recently wrote: “‘Comfortable in church.’ The phrase has always driven me crazy. The idea that we would go to church to get comfortable, to be comfortable, to be with people around whom we are comfortable, is offensive, maddening and just plain loony. ‘Comfortable’ is what I want when I put my feet up to watch TV. Comfort for the churchgoers I know is about class, education level, country club and race. And yes, too often about politics to boot. We like to worship with people who think like us, look like us, and drive the same kinds of cars we drive.” I am sure you are familiar with these attitudes. But is this the approach to true religion that Jesus Christ taught His true followers?

Please listen to Christ Himself: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate [“love less”] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple…. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26–27, 33).

No, Jesus Christ does not intend that we strive for a “comfortable” existence in following Him! This may sound strange to some of you who have only heard about the “peace and prosperity” gospel that so many preach today. But the true Christ of your Bible talked constantly about the need to come out of this world’s society, about the need to prepare for persecution and about the need to “give up” one’s life in order to truly serve the only One who can actually give us eternal life!

The true Church is composed of people who have genuinely surrendered their lives to God through Jesus Christ. They will have proved to themselves the existence of the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth. They will have proved to themselves the literal inspiration of the Holy Bible and will have dedicated themselves to following Jesus Christ’s instruction: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4). And they will certainly have proved for themselves that Jesus of Nazareth was God in the flesh: that He died to pay the penalty of sin for all humanity, rose from the dead after three days and three nights in the grave (Matthew 12:40) and now sits at the right hand of God the Father as our active High Priest, living Head and soon-coming King.

Such truly converted people will surrender to Christ as “Lord”—the One whom they will obey. Therefore, through Christ living within them through the Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:20), they will strive to live by the teachings of the Bible. These are the people who make up the true Church of God!

So if you are willing to “get real,” then please be willing to listen to what the Bible actually says. For God does have a true Church here on earth. That Church is genuinely preparing its members for eternal life. That Church is genuinely doing the Work of God today. And that Church has several notable “signs”—key identifiers that are clearly mentioned in the Bible—which will show any sincere, discerning person where God’s true Church is if they are willing to listen with an open mind!

Do You “Need” to Attend Church?

In the current religious confusion, many people become turned off by what they call “organized religion,” and decide to stay at home and worship God alone, with their family or with a few other people. Is there anything wrong with that?

Even though many sincere people try to justify the practice of forming a “stay at home” church, this is very definitely wrong for many reasons. And it is totally un–biblical, except in a very few extreme circumstances!

Those who truly believe the Bible understand that Jesus Christ was the “light” whom God sent into the world. He was our example, and His apostles were also used as examples, once they were fully converted.

What was the inspired example of Jesus Christ? “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” (Luke 4:16). Jesus’ own practice was to attend worship services regularly with others in an “organized” synagogue or Church setting! For God had already called the Sabbath a “holy convocation”—which means “commanded assembly.” So Jesus Christ obeyed this command, setting us an example.

We find that—even after Jesus’ resurrection—Peter and the early apostles met regularly in the temple on both the weekly and annual Sabbaths. In fact, the New Testament Church actually started not on Christmas or Easter, but on one of God’s commanded Holy Days, the Day of Pentecost! (Acts 2:1). Then the early disciples met regularly with others in the temple at Jerusalem (Acts 2:46–47).

When it was God’s time for Paul to become active in the ministry: “Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:25–26). Note that Paul and Barnabas “assembled” with the “Church.” So there was an “organized” Church which did meet together regularly! Still later, we read: “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2).

The inspired writer of Hebrews tells us: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:24–26). This vital scripture in God’s word tells us not to forsake assembling with others. It also tells us to “stir” one another to love and “good works.”

A few misguided souls might assume that if they just met at home with family and friends, they could stir up each other to good works. This approach clearly goes against the overwhelming number of biblical examples that God’s true servants did and should meet as an organized church, led not by some layman who decides to “appoint himself” to the ministry, but by a properly trained and ordained true minister of Jesus Christ! The Bible is emphatic that “no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God” (Hebrews 5:4).

In my more than 50 years in Christ’s ministry, I have dealt with a number of men and women who decided to withdraw from “organized religion.” In doing so, they adopted a “just Jesus and me” approach to the church, not recognizing that God has established a clear pattern of leadership in His Church. Many of the men, depriving themselves of sound counsel, ended up assuming the duties of the ministry, or virtually “appointing themselves” as ministers of Jesus Christ. In nearly every case, these men were obviously self–willed, usually “hardheaded” and genuinely unwilling to be taught and led by others. They desired to be “important” in their own eyes and in the eyes of their family or immediate friends by taking it upon themselves to establish a “home church” and act as minister or leader.

These men seemingly forgot the powerful example of Korah and his followers who rejected the leadership of God’s appointed servant Moses and argued that “every man” had the right to act as spiritual leader! These self-willed individuals challenged Moses and Aaron with these words: “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them” (Numbers 16:3). God showed His attitude toward this “every man is a minister” approach by having the earth open up and swallow alive these hardheaded rebels (vv. 28–34)!

In our day, by separating themselves from God’s true ministers and also separating themselves from being part of the Work that Christ is accomplishing, through His true Church, of preaching the Gospel to “all the nations” (Matthew 28:19–20), these people are shirking their responsibility to be part of the active body of Jesus Christ. They are not learning the lessons of working together as part of that body, are not learning the full Truth in a balanced way, are not learning to humbly receive and act upon the needed exhortation and correction that all Christians receive in the true Church of God.

Rather, such individuals end up on the “fringe” of God’s people, not interacting and learning as part of a real church fellowship. Such self-appointed religious leaders, and their followers, usually become sidetracked by odd ideas and doctrinal novelties. Also, very importantly, they show the living Christ that they lack faith in His ability to lead the Church, which God tells us is His responsibility (Ephesians 1:22–23; Colossians 1:18)!

The Church Jesus Built

Jesus asked His disciples: “‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets'” (Matthew 16:13–14).

But Peter answered: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Then Jesus continued: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (v. 18).

Jesus here said very plainly that He would build a “church”—which simply meant in the inspired Greek language a “group” or “crowd” of people. Jesus called it “My” church—not just any group or crowd or church.

Throughout the New Testament, God clearly indicates, again and again, that His people—His Church—would be small in number during this age, and would often be persecuted. He said: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:16–19).

Wherever they are, it is obvious that God’s true people do not truly “fit” into this world and its society. For Jesus continued: “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (v. 20). And Jesus called His people the “little flock” (Luke 12:32).

Jesus said: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13–14). Remember, then, only a few go in through the straight gate. Only a few truly understand and are part of God’s true Church today!

Notice: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Jesus plainly stated that His true people must be obedient to the Father’s will. They must do what God the Father commands.

Now, see how this directly applies to the true Church. All through the New Testament, the term “woman” is used as a symbol of a church. In 2 Corinthians 11:1–2, the true Church is pictured as the affianced “bride” of Christ. In Revelation 17, the great false church is called a “harlot” (v. 1) and the “woman” (v. 3) sitting on a scarlet colored beast.

Nearly all scholars acknowledge that in Revelation 12, the true Church is pictured as the bride. She is being “persecuted” by the “dragon”—described in verse 9 as Satan the Devil. Although the zealous members are taken to a place of safety, in verse 17 God describes the devil as going to make war with the “remnant” of the true Church—those left behind.

In Revelation 14:12, God goes on to describe His faithful people: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” These are the people, God indicates, who will be protected from the soon-coming Great Tribulation and the horrifying plagues of God that immediately follow!

Does it make any difference how you worship God? Of course you can worship in the church of “your choice”—as the Sunday religious-page ads often say. Of course you can follow the ideas of your relatives, friends and associates! But will they be there to protect you during the coming world upheaval? More importantly, will they be there to “save” you in God’s judgment?

Why not prove to yourself that the Bible is the inspired revelation, from the Creator, of basic spiritual knowledge otherwise inaccessible to mankind? Why not see what the word of God—the Bible—says about where God’s true Church is today?

Identifying “Signs”

We have already seen that Jesus said He would build His Church. We have found that the Bible describes that Church as a small, persecuted Church—one that is certainly not part of this world’s society. It is a Church that does the will of God the Father. And it keeps the Ten Commandments given as a basic way of life by Almighty God.

Obviously, many differing churches are small. Many are persecuted. Some are persecuted because they seem to deliberately provoke others and so bring unneeded persecution upon themselves—not because of a biblical message, but because of thoughtlessly and arrogantly trying to “cram their religion” down the throats of other people.

Many small, unorthodox religious groups sincerely feel they are not “part of this world.” Perhaps they wear distinctive attire—black hats and black bonnets, simple and plain clothing or special undergarments—to “prove” this to themselves and others. But being small, sometimes persecuted and not of this world’s society are principles that may be applied in strange ways. A biblical “key” to properly understanding and applying the above principles is revealed in the Apostle Paul’s statement that God has given Christians the spirit of “a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

But apart from the above general description of the true Church, are there any specific identifying signs that point unmistakably to where God’s Church is today?

Thankfully, there are.

For the sake of brevity, I will list and explain just five of these “signs” so that—if your mind is open—you may know how to recognize God’s true Church on earth today.

1. The FEAR of God

Before creating mankind, God created Lucifer—one of the three cherubs, or super archangels, who originally surrounded His throne. In Latin, “Lucifer” means “light bringer” or “shining star of the dawn.” Lucifer was originally created as a powerful, beautiful super archangel with tremendous wisdom and capacity (Ezekiel 28:11–15). In Isaiah 14:12–15, Lucifer is described: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”

As nearly all theologians recognize, it is obvious from this and other scriptures that Lucifer’s ability and beauty led to a great deal of pride. This pride, in turn, led Lucifer to rebel against his Creator, and his name was later changed from “light bringer” to Satan—which literally means “adversary” in Hebrew. Lucifer became God’s greatest enemy.

Throughout the entire Bible, God shows us that He is determined not to allow anyone to come into His Kingdom who is a potential adversary—a potential Satan! Would you? We all should recognize how vital this is to God. He wants unity and peace in His Kingdom and His Spirit-led family! He is the Author of love, joy and peace. Any being who would be a potential rebel might eventually destroy that peace.

Therefore, throughout the entire Bible, God reveals that He will make absolutely sure that any potential son of His will come to have the correct “fear” of God! As God’s word indicates, this fear is not “terror” or being “afraid” of something bad! Rather, it is a profound reverence, humility and willingness to obey our Creator and never to rebel against His laws and His righteous ways that always bring peace and joy.

One of the first “tests” that Abraham, the “father of the faithful,” had to pass is described in Genesis 22. Please read this chapter carefully! Here we find how God “tested” Abraham (v. 1) to see whether he would be totally submissive to his Creator—even willing to sacrifice his only son. At the very last minute—when Abraham had proved his total submission to God—God sent His Spokesman who said: “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (v. 12). Then, God gave Abraham the magnificent blessing that tremendous physical wealth and power would come upon his descendants, as well as spiritual blessings through the “seed,” Jesus Christ (vv. 15–18).

Abraham had to prove to God that he “feared” Him, and that he was willing to totally surrender his own will—not just to “believe in” God but to do what God commanded! In Proverbs 1:7, we read: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Again, in Proverbs 9:10 we read: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” So this tremendous awe and deep reverence before our Creator is the very starting point of true knowledge and true wisdom. Without it, God does not want us in His eternal Kingdom!

It should be obvious that those in God’s true Church must learn to have this profound reverence and willingness to obey their Maker that was portrayed so well by Abraham, the “father” of the faithful. Also, members of the true Church will have proved to themselves what God tells us in Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

If you and I are to be genuine Christians, we must totally believe in a real God—the God described in the Bible. And we must believe that, as the Bible says, He is a “rewarder” of those who diligently seek Him—not of those who half-heartedly attend the “church of their choice” or the local neighborhood church whenever it is “convenient,” and who believe whatever religious fad is currently in vogue!

Real Christians will also have proved to themselves the inspiration of the Holy Bible! Jesus said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4). They will have surrendered themselves to follow what Jesus said, and to do what God says in His inspired word. They will understand that God “reveals” Himself through His word, not through our human imagination. They will understand and respond to 2 Timothy 3:16–17: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

As God makes clear in the above verse, scripture is given not just for our encouragement but for reproof and for correction as well as “instruction in righteousness.” God’s true Church must base its beliefs totally upon God’s inspired word! It must accept the true Christ revealed in the Bible as both Savior and Lord—the One we must obey. Those who fail to do so have come up with hundreds of different, competing denominations—each with different doctrines, practices and concepts of what God is like.

The Foundation of TRUTH

In his very helpful and insightful book, The Battle For the Bible, Dr. Harold Lindsell lays out this fundamental proposition: “Of all the doctrines connected with the Christian faith, none is more important than the one that has to do with the basis of our religious knowledge. For anyone who professes the Christian faith the root question is: From where do I get my knowledge on which my faith is based? The answers to this question are varied, of course, but for the Christian at least it always comes full circle to the Bible. When all has been said and done, the only true and dependable source for Christianity lies in the book we call the Bible” (p. 17, emphasis ours).

I hope all of you will carefully read the above quote and say a hearty “Amen.” For this is absolutely vital to true Christianity. And it is a vital “key” that must be taught and practiced by any church that calls itself the true Church of God! Again, the true people of God will only be those who surrender to actually do what the Bible really says. They will obey God’s word even if it brings them “problems” or severe persecution! As you know, the early Christians took their very lives in their hands when they followed Jesus and the original apostles. They were continually persecuted, sometimes martyred—and often hounded out of their jobs, their cities or even their families. As we have already seen, the Jesus Christ of the Bible told all who would follow Him: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate [“love less”] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26–27).

When challenged about which “power” healed a crippled man, the Apostle Peter courageously answered: “Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10–12).

To be in God’s true Church, one must sincerely follow Peter’s inspired instruction on the day of Pentecost: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38–39). When one comes to the point of being willing to heartfeltly repent of breaking God’s holy law—for “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4, KJV)—one must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. At that moment, the new Christian will be totally forgiven of past sins, and will become a member of God’s Church.

For you cannot “join” God’s true Church! You must be put into the Church—baptized into the Church—by God Himself, through His filling you with the Holy Spirit. As Paul explained: “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). Also: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). Through the total surrender of your heart, mind and body to God through Jesus Christ as Savior, you will be plunged into—put into—the Church of God, which is Christ’s body. Then—with Christ as your ultimate Boss and Lord—you will not belong to yourself anymore. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).

Are you, personally, willing to make that kind of commitment?

Complete Surrender to Jesus Christ

God’s true Church is composed of people willing to surrender fully to Christ. They must also be willing to follow Jesus’ instruction: “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24–25). Most professing Christians today are so interested in “saving” their lives—having a “good time” and fitting into this present society—that they would find it very difficult to even consider actually obeying this powerful teaching of the Son of God.

I will always remember conducting a series of small evangelistic meetings in February, 1957 in London, England. Among the attendees was a very kindly Scottish couple who came virtually every night for four weeks and seemed very interested and enthusiastic. They said, “Praise the Lord!” and acted very pleased with what I had to say during most of the campaign. They said that they wanted to do “whatever” the Lord had in mind. But near the end of these evangelistic meetings I touched on a couple of very key and vital instructions from God involving the Ten Commandments directly. Suddenly, their attitude changed. They became somber and defensive.

My wife and I both tried to visit with them for the last night or two of their attendance in these meetings. They acknowledged that what I said came out of the Bible. But they said that in their present situation, because of this man’s employment, it would be “too difficult” to obey God. So they failed to show up for the last couple of meetings, and eventually faded away into the mass of Londoners. God’s direct command seemed “too hard” for them. It demanded obedience in a way to which they were not prepared to respond.

One of the finest true ministers I have ever known said often: “God will not ‘save’ anyone He cannot rule!” You see, as in the example of Abraham, God demands that we prove to Him our willingness to surrender our lives and wills totally to do what He says!

Please do not misunderstand! I do not mean to convey the idea that every person has to have this almost perfect attitude of submission to God before becoming a member of His true Church! But the basic understanding and willingness to grow in that perfect submission to our Creator should be there. We in this Work, which the living Christ is using to proclaim His message, cannot help you by offering you a “cheap substitute” to genuine Christianity. We cannot and must not offer you “cheap grace” and say, as do so many others: “God accepts you just as you are!”

For the true Jesus Christ of the Bible said: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

The real Jesus Christ also said: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matthew 7:21–23).

Note carefully the final phrase of this inspired teaching from the Son of God: “Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!”

Those who pretend to teach the Ten Commandments, but who then invent all manner of excuses to “water down” the very basis of genuine Christian character, are in deep trouble! The Apostle James was inspired to write: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:10–12).

James was clearly referring to the Ten Commandments. Those are the commandments that teach against murder and adultery. James showed that we must obey all ten of God’s commandments—not come up with clever reasons as to why any of them is “done away,” or that some are to be modified or “watered down” to fit our modern lifestyle.

Rather, God’s true Church is composed of those who have the genuine “fear of God”—who are tired of “playing games” with religion, and are willing to diligently seek the God of the Bible, obey His commandments and truly yield themselves to Christ to live His obedient life within them through the Holy Spirit. In fact, the best one-verse definition of a true Christian that I know of is found in Paul’s inspired statement: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, KJV). This is the very basis of true Christianity. This is the foundation of the true Church of God!

2. The True Church Has God’s NAME

It sounds almost too simple. You would think people would know. But God names things what they are!

Before Satan rebelled, he was called “Lucifer,” which means “light bringer.” After he tried to dethrone the living God, however, his name was changed to “Satan.” This means “enemy” or “adversary”—exactly what in fact this great fallen cherub had become.

The name “Jacob” means “usurper” or one who “supplants” another. After he wrestled with God’s Messenger and began to ask God for help, God changed his name to “Israel.” This means “overcomer” or “prevailer” with God. All through the Bible you see this principle. Names are very important to God. And God names things what they are!

Many years ago, in 1517, a young Catholic priest in Germany became upset at the selling of “indulgences”—the Roman Catholic practice of promising forgiveness of sins upon payment of money. He nailed to the church door 95 theses expressing why the practice of selling indulgences was wrong, and explaining his other disagreements with the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, Martin Luther unwittingly started what became the Protestant Reformation. Later, after a break with the Roman Church, his followers called themselves “Lutheran” after this reformer. They decided to name their church the “Lutheran Church.”

Years later, receiving a feeling of “inner warmth” and peace after a certain religious meeting, John Wesley set out preaching about a different approach to God and religion. Eventually, his followers decided to name their church after him. But, although the term “Wesleyan” was widely used, Wesley and his followers became noted for their “methodical” and organized manner of conduct, and what began as a nickname eventually became the name of their whole denomination, “The Methodist Church.”

Presbyterians are named after their form of church government by the elders, or “presbyters.” Baptists are named after one doctrine: baptism. Seventh Day Adventists are named after two of their doctrines—belief in the seventh-day Sabbath and the “advent” or return of Jesus Christ. Many other churches take their names from their town, their form of government, or some point of doctrine.

What, then, should God’s true Church be named? Should it be named after some man? Should it be named after some country or geographic location? Should it be named after some doctrine or practice of the Church? Does God give us any indication in the Bible what His Church should be called? Some may be surprised to learn that He does!

The Correct “Name” Is Listed Twelve Times

When the Apostle Paul was instructing the elders of the Church in Ephesus, he wrote: “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).

Heed what? “Heed the “Church of God.'”

Does it seem too obvious that God’s true Church would be called just that: “The Church of God”? Notice 1 Corinthians 1:1–2. In his official address to the church, the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth…” Later in the letter, he tells them: “Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God” (1 Corinthians 10:32).

In 1 Corinthians 11:16, Paul describes the many congregations collectively as “the churches of God.” In verse 22 of this chapter, Paul again refers to them as “the church of God.” And in 1 Corinthians 15:9, he wrote: “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” 2 Corinthians begins with the same official address: “To the church of God which is at Corinth.” And in 1 Thessalonians 2:14, Paul refers to the original Christians as “the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus.”

The introduction to both of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians refer to “the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father,” for they were His churches and must be in union with Him. And in 1 Timothy 3:5, Paul tells the young evangelist Timothy that if an elder does not know how to rule his house, “how shall he take care of the church of God?” Finally, in 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul tells Timothy that he is writing to tell him how to conduct himself in “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

How clear!

Throughout the New Testament—in twelve distinct passages—the true Church is called “the church of God,” “the churches of God,” “the church of the Thessalonians in God” and, at pagan Ephesus where stood the idol to the goddess Diana, “the church of the living God.”

Often, in business or industry, the founder or owner’s name is given to an enterprise as the identifying “sign” of ownership or control: for example, “The Bank of Morgan” or “Lever Brothers.” God’s name is always attached to His true Church. Christ is God, so in one or two passages we also find the appellation “church of Christ.”

One of the absolute prerequisite identifying signs of God’s true Church is that it must bear God’s name! The name alone is not absolute proof of its identity. But, taken together with the four other identifying signs we shall discuss, it is an absolutely vital designation. For God names things what they are. In fact, just before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed for His followers: “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are” (John 17:11).

3. Growth in Grace and Knowledge

The Apostle Paul wrote: “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). And again: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (v. 14).

To be truly “Christian” and a child of God, one must be filled with and led by the Holy Spirit. The Bible shows clearly that each child of God must grow spiritually. So must the true Church of God genuinely grow in spiritual understanding and depth. And it must be led by the Holy Spirit.

Now, notice how the Holy Spirit works. Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth.” He said that when the Spirit of truth has come, it would guide Christians into all truth, and that it would even tell them of things to come (John 16:13). Note that the Spirit “guides” us into all truth. It also helps us understand prophecy—”things to come.”

It is a process of growing and changing; a process of becoming more and more like God in our character, our thoughts and habits. Perhaps the Apostle Peter expressed it most clearly: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

The true Church of God is made up of truly converted Christians—people who have been and who are certainly being changed by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. As each individual must “grow” in grace and in knowledge, so the unified body of those individuals—the true Church—must also grow.

For instance, Daniel was given awesome visions and dreams involving events to take place on earth at the end of this age—probably just a few years from now. He asked: “O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?”

And God’s angel answered: “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:8–9). Now, with mankind having the capacity to destroy all life from off this planet, we are certainly in the prophesied “time of the end.”

Who Really UNDERSTANDS?

Is there, today, a church that is truly growing into such knowledge and understanding of Bible prophecies? Do you know of any church that has been willing to change and grow, not to become more like the world, but rather to more deeply understand the Master Plan that God is working out here below? Is there a church that truly understands where we are headed—why the United States and Great Britain are slowly but inexorably sliding from their pinnacle of national greatness, and how and why a powerful union of nations in Europe will soon become the force to reckon with?

There is a Church that grasps why you were born and put on this earth, and that understands the incredible human potential—including the amazing truth that God is literally reproducing Himself. This Church knows why most people in this present age never join any type of “Christian” church or organization, and why God is not even trying to “save” the world during this 6,000-year period when, as the Almighty God, He clearly has the power to do so if He wants to.

God’s true Church understands these matters, and can give clear biblical answers to these most basic questions. It is a Church that keeps on learning and growing in vital knowledge and understanding.

Remember, most “mainline” churches seldom if ever change or grow in true knowledge. When they do change, it is nearly always in the direction of secularism—”watering down” what little bits of biblical truth they may once have had.

But the true Church of God grows continually into a deeper and fuller understanding of the Bible, of the great purpose being worked out here below and of the exciting fulfillments of biblical prophecy now starting to occur.

4. The “SIGN” of God’s People

Speaking of true Christians having to flee the coming Great Tribulation, Jesus said: “And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath” (Matthew 24:20). Why would Jesus be concerned about His followers keeping the Sabbath day?

Because it is and always has been the “test” commandment—a test to see whether each of us will just obey God because He says to do it. And therefore it is an identifying “sign” of His people. Also, it points to the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth.

Jesus observed the Sabbath, “as His custom was” (Luke 4:16). The Apostle to the Gentiles always preached and had religious services on that day (Acts 17:2).

In the Old Testament, a special Sabbath covenant was made with Israel: “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed‘” (Exodus 31:13–17).

To prove this point to yourself about God’s true Sabbath and its meaning, write immediately for our free booklet, Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath?

In addition to the weekly Sabbath, God gave His people seven annual Sabbaths or Holy Days. These spiritual “feasts” of rejoicing picture God’s great plan of salvation. Those who fail to observe them do not understand God’s great plan and purpose. They do not know, for instance, why God is not “saving” everyone now. And they do not know the exact time when, in God’s Master Plan, all human beings who have ever lived will be given genuine understanding of God’s word and of true Christianity—and the vast majority will respond!

One of these spiritual feasts is the Passover. Most churches have changed its time and manner of observance and call it the “Lord’s Supper,” “Eucharist,” or some other name. Jesus kept it as the “Passover” (Luke 22:15–20). The Apostle Paul kept the Passover and the accompanying “Days of Unleavened Bread” (1 Corinthians 5:7–8).

The Passover lamb of ancient Israel pointed to the death of Jesus Christ—the Lamb of God—for our sins. Right after the Passover, the “Days of Unleavened Bread” were observed. In putting out leaven, Christians are to picture putting out sin and growing in grace and knowledge—the next step after accepting Christ’s sacrifice!

Paul taught the Gentile church at Corinth how to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread: “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8). Notice! This is a New Testament command—not to Jews—but to a primarily Gentile church to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. God’s true Church should be observing this God-given festival just as Christ, the apostles and all the early Christians did!

For a full explanation of these days and their meaning, write also for our free booklet, The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan.

The point is that these annual Sabbaths and Holy Days are also part of God’s “sign” by which His people would be identified. Notice God’s clear statement regarding the days of Unleavened Bread: “It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth…” (Exodus 13:9).

Wherever God’s true people are—wherever His Church is—His servants will have the identifying “sign” of God’s true Sabbaths, weekly and annual. For the weekly Sabbath points to the true God—the Creator—and the annual Sabbaths set forth His marvelous plan.

Frankly, if you or your present church are not willing to genuinely obey the fourth commandment, which tells us to keep the seventh day of the week as “holy time,” then you will still be sitting there arguing or “reasoning” away God’s commands when His true Church flees to safety just as Christ indicated in Matthew 24:20! And you will become very thirsty as the millennial rule of Christ begins and He is forced to bring total drought on all nations and peoples who refuse to keep His commanded Holy Days—especially the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16–19)! For your own sake—and the sake of your loved ones—please do not underestimate this huge issue! Are you willing to surrender and obey your Creator on this vital point?

5. God’s Church Does the Real WORK of God

One of the “signs” Jesus gave of His coming, and of the end of this age, was this: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

Somewhere on earth, just before Jesus’ Second Coming, His true servants will be preaching with increasing power the message of the coming world-ruling Kingdom of God! They will preach the message of heartfelt repentance and total surrender to God and to His laws, which Jesus Himself preached. They will explain how true Christianity involves not just accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior, but genuinely accepting Him as our Lord, our High Priest and our soon-coming King. For Jesus’ coming Kingdom is a real Kingdom. A kingdom is a government—and from one end of your Bible to the other, God’s message is about His coming government, which will utterly crush all the governments of this world and will rule forever (Daniel 2:44; Revelation 11:15).

The living Jesus Christ will soon return in mighty power to govern this earth and save man from blowing himself off this planet (Matthew 24:22)! As Jesus tells one “era” or “branch” of His true Church: “He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—He shall rule them with a rod of iron” (Revelation 2:26–27).

Notice: “And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). Notice that Christ and His saints will rule “on the earth“—not up in “heaven”!

Through God’s true Church, this vibrant message of His soon-coming world-ruling government is to be proclaimed. This message is not given to convert everyone, but is proclaimed as a “witness” so that when these end-time events actually occur, humanity will understand more quickly.

Also, through His Church, God is training men and women in lessons of character and obedience so they may be “ready” to serve under the living Christ when He returns as King of kings. The Apostle Paul was inspired to alert true Christians to this absolutely vital aspect of Christian life and of the type of preparation and training members of the true Church should be receiving. Paul wrote: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:2–3).

In order to rule others, one must first learn to rule oneself. God’s government is based upon His spiritual law—the Ten Commandments. So that is why God says of the true saints: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).

Another absolutely vital part of the Work of the true Church is to understand and proclaim the prophetic messages of the Bible. About one-fourth of the entire Bible is devoted to prophecy! God’s word itself tells us: “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).

God’s Church understands and proclaims to you the real meaning of current events, the “Big Picture” of why the U.S. and other British-descended peoples are increasingly losing their power and prestige, and exactly where this is leading. It can explain why the mainly Catholic nations of continental Europe are increasingly uniting, where this is destined to lead and why the British will—within a few years or less—get out or be “pushed out” of the European Union. If you wish to genuinely understand these vital issues, call or write and request a free copy of our eye-opening booklet, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy.

Another vital part of the prophetic commission of God’s Church in these end-times is what we call the “Ezekiel commission.” This is the warning message that God clearly indicated His true servants should give especially to the twelve tribes of Israel. As the aforementioned booklet clearly explains, the Anglo-Celtic peoples of the U.S. and the British Commonwealth nations are the descendants of the so-called “Lost Ten Tribes” of Israel. Along with the Jewish people, they will bear the brunt of the soon-coming Great Tribulation. These are the people who must be warned—ahead of time—about this coming holocaust!

So we in the Living Church of God do feel the responsibility to act on God’s instruction to the end-time watchman: “When he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me” (Ezekiel 33:3–7). This is a vital part of the responsibility of God’s true servants in these “last days.”

Only God’s Church truly understands and gives you the genuine understanding of these and other world-changing trends that will soon dramatically affect your life! God’s true Church will also be consistently teaching, training and genuinely preparing its members for their future as kings and priests in Christ’s soon-coming world government (Daniel 7:27; Luke 19:15–19, Revelation 1:5–7; 5:10; 20:6). You need to open your mind, zealously study your Bible, ask God for understanding and “see” where the living Christ is working in these end times! God’s true Church will be preaching the entire Bible—not just a few sentimental passages about the person of Jesus Christ while at the same time neglecting the powerful message that He Himself preached. You can find that Church and become part of it—if you are willing!

God’s Church Has All FIVE Identifying “SIGNS”

Around the world, God’s true Church is proclaiming—with increasing power—the coming government of God on earth through Jesus Christ and the resurrected saints, based on God’s law and His commandments. God’s true Church teaches the way of life that Christ and His apostles preached and practiced. It practices God’s form of government and is preparing its members to assist Christ in ruling this world (1 Corinthians 6:2–3).

It is important to note that while God’s true Church is one spiritual organism, the Bible shows that it is normal for the Church to exist in several different corporate “fellowships” or “branches” at the same time. In chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, Christ reveals the characteristics of the seven ages or “eras” of God’s true Church. He finds some fault with most of the seven churches or “eras”—but not Philadelphia. These “eras” represent attitudes that are always present in God’s Church, and they also indicate the progression of “dominant” attitudes in the Church at large. Today, we are clearly in the Laodicean era, which Christ condemns for being “lukewarm” even though it has most of the Truth. The living Jesus Christ said: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15–16).

The Living Church of God, which has produced this booklet you are now reading, strives to retain the Philadelphia emphasis even in our Laodicean age. We earnestly exhort God’s people to be zealous in doing God’s Work, in preparing to be kings and priests in Christ’s Kingdom and in totally surrendering to Christ’s rule in the Church and in our personal lives. We in the Living Church of God are definitely focused on accomplishing the Work that Jesus Christ is doing through His Church in these last days.

Jesus inspired the Apostle Paul to tell us in 1 Corinthians 12 that His Church is the “body” of Christ—the physical instrument through which Christ is working today to accomplish His Work and to prepare the future kings and priests for His Kingdom. It is important to note that that body has always existed. Remember, Jesus said: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

So, ever since Christ ascended to heaven and became the living Head of the Church, He has guided His “little flock” through trials, tests and persecutions down through the ages. It will be extremely helpful to each of you to request your free copy of our very revealing booklet on this topic, God’s Church Through the Ages. This booklet thoroughly documents the history of the true Church down through the centuries—using many outside church histories and resources to prove its points. It will help you understand where God’s true Church has been all these years, and where it is today.

By examining the “fruits” you can see for yourself how God is using the Living Church of God today to accomplish His purposes. Remember, as indicated above, God’s true Church is the “body” of Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote: “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12–13).

Different “Branches” of God’s Church

To be in the body of Christ, you must be fully surrendered to God and be led by God’s Spirit: “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). So each member of the true Church must be genuinely converted and led by God’s Spirit. Again, God gives the Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32). Yet down through the ages, there have been many different Church of God fellowships—”branches” of the true Church—that sometimes coexisted. In the first century after Christ, the Apostle John wrote of seven churches in Asia Minor, which displayed attitudes that would be found throughout Church history to come, each of which would also represent the dominant attitude of the Church in successive “eras.” These different “branches” of God’s true Church were often in different parts of the world—perhaps, at times, unknown even to each other. For example, during the 12th and 13th centuries, God’s true Church existed among the Bogomils in Hungary even while those believers were unaware that a similar group of Sabbath-keepers existed simultaneously in Great Britain.

Many in the U.S. are familiar with the Seventh Day Church of God. Over the years it underwent various “splits”—as many denominations do—and before World War II had ended up with one group headquartered in Stanberry, Missouri, and another headquartered in Caldwell, Idaho. From this environment, God raised up Herbert W. Armstrong, who for many years led what became known as the Worldwide Church of God. The Worldwide Church of God became, by far, the largest group of true believers who surrendered their lives to keep the whole law of God, observe the true Sabbath, preach the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God and use the correct name, “the Church of God.” Even during this time, however, there existed the aforementioned groups of the Seventh Day Church of God. Mr. Armstrong often acknowledged that these different fellowships were “branches” of the true Church.

During Mr. Armstrong’s ministry, most whom God called to the Truth found themselves asking two vital questions:

Where was the truth of the Bible most clearly being preached?
Where was the “Work” most powerfully being done?

Remember, the “Work” consists not only of preaching the truth of the Bible, but specifically of proclaiming to the world the soon-coming Kingdom of God (Matthew 24:14), giving the “Israelitish” nations a strong warning of the impending Great Tribulation, “feeding the flock” with the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) and genuinely teaching, training and preparing God’s people to be “kings and priests” in Christ’s Kingdom (Revelation 5:10).

Certainly most of the Seventh Day Church of God people were “nice,” and they had some of the Truth. But they seemed content just to teach the basics and to quietly enjoy their fellowship with one another. They seemed to lack the “fire in the belly” to “go into all the world” and powerfully preach the Gospel and also give the vital “Ezekiel warning” (Ezekiel 33:1–7) about the coming Great Tribulation that will primarily strike the Anglo-Celtic nations.

Jesus tells us, regarding any religious organization: “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:15–20). So it is up to each individual to carefully consider: Where is Christ primarily working today? Who is preaching more of the Truth? Who is most effectively doing the Work of proclaiming the Gospel to the public all over the world?

We understand from the Bible and from history that the Church of God is the “body” of Jesus Christ—the body of believers in the genuine Truth of the Bible. Wherever God’s true people are, they will be those who have surrendered their lives to live by “every word of God.” Within the greater body of Christ, God’s true people must genuinely love one another as Jesus loved us all (John 13:34). Where those people are gathered into different corporate fellowships, there will be differing strengths and varying emphases. But outflowing love, brotherly kindness and the spirit of service should be present in converted members of God’s Church, no matter where they live and to which particular fellowship they belong. For the genuine love of God is squarely based on the Ten Commandments. As the Apostle John was inspired to tell us: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

And so, through the Spirit of Christ within them, the true people of God will follow this path. They will have the understanding and courage to obey all ten of the Ten Commandments—exemplifying Revelation 14:12: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” And they will exercise the faith to keep the identifying “sign” that God gave His people (Exodus 31:16–18).

Rather than argue and make excuses to disobey, God’s Church keeps holy what God has made holy. It follows the inspired example of Jesus and the apostles in keeping God’s Sabbath and His annual Holy Days, which reveal His awesome plan. Finally, God’s Church does the Work of proclaiming as a “witness” the message of salvation through Jesus Christ and the good news of the soon-coming Kingdom of God based on His law.

The organization that publishes this booklet strives to do all of these things. As you know, we in the Living Church of God try to follow all of the above truths with all our hearts and powerfully proclaim the end-time prophecies of the Bible and do all we can to specifically warn the Israelitish people of the coming Great Tribulation. With our Headquarters in Charlotte, NC, offices all around the globe, scores of local congregations with resident ministers, worldwide radio and television and a growing publishing work including this very booklet and Tomorrow’s World magazine, that message is going out with increasing power.

Now, you must decide what to do about this booklet. Perhaps it will merely be helpful to you to consider these obvious, biblical identifying “signs” of where God is working—where His true Church is today.

But if your interest goes beyond that—if God is calling you and if we can serve you personally—do not hesitate to write us at the address of our office nearest you. We can merely answer your questions by mail. If you request it, a fully-trained representative of this Work will call on you in person at a time and place agreeable to you.

You must decide.

As world events move inexorably toward the end of this present age, you owe it to yourself to be sure of where you are headed. “Take the bull by the horns.” Prove these things to yourself from the pages of your Bible. If God is opening your mind now, then act on this precious knowledge and begin to really prepare for your job in Tomorrow’s World. Only the true Church of God has been given the genuine understanding, the courage and the motivation to fearlessly proclaim the full Truth and really prepare you and your loved ones to fulfill the magnificent purpose for your lives and to become “kings and priests” (Revelation 1:6) in the soon-coming Kingdom of God on this earth!

You Need to ACT!

If you would like to visit with a minister or representative of this Work, then call our office nearest you as listed on the “Regional Offices” page at the back of this booklet. Or write to the nearest office, if you prefer. Just state your desire for a visit and give your address and/or phone number so our representative may contact you. Be assured that no one will show up without previously scheduling a visit at a time and place agreeable to you. Our minister or representative will be there simply to answer your questions about the Bible or about this Work and the Living Church of God.

There will be no pressure for you to “join” anything and no solicitation of money for any purpose. But you will have the opportunity to talk with a true minister or representative and more thoroughly check us out in a personal way and ask about attending worship services or a Bible study if you wish. Often, our minister may suggest that you read more literature, prove the truths of the Bible to yourself more thoroughly and be more sure of your commitment before attending any meetings. For we want you to be sure. We are trying to serve you in your quest for eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

However, if God is truly opening your mind and “calling” you, we are sure that you will be delighted to meet with others who have been willing to genuinely give their lives to God and in service to their fellow man. You will find a group of happy people—often with little children—who bring their Bibles to services, and are like the Bereans, who “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:10–11). There will usually—depending on the size of the group and the local situation—be singing of hymns, announcements of any activities, news of the Work, helpful sermons and a great deal of enthusiastic visiting and fellowshipping after the meetings.

May God help you to “prove all things: hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV). As the end of this age swiftly approaches, we should not forever sit around speculating and doing nothing! God rewards those who zealously act on the Truth and do all they can to get involved in serving Him and in serving their fellow human beings in God’s service. As James was inspired to tell us: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). Again, be sure to request a free copy of our extremely helpful and thoroughly documented booklet, God’s Church Through the Ages. It will help you really understand the history of God’s true Church—the “little flock” that almost disappeared during the Dark Ages.

God help you to understand and to get involved while you still have the opportunity! You may now be in your “comfort zone” in some other church fellowship. But—if God is calling you at this time—your Creator wants you to be an active part of His Church in genuinely preparing for His kingdom and powerfully warning our peoples of the coming Great Tribulation. Notice the clear responsibility of God’s faithful servants: “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?” (Proverbs 24:11–12).

The living Jesus Christ tells all of us to bear fruit: “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:8). Again, may God inspire you to be an active part of the Work that Christ is now accomplishing through His body, the true Church of God on earth today.

Booklet Category

Doctrine

God

Is Christmas Christian?

4uwzvo — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 20:24:47 +0000

Is Christmas Christian?

4uwzvo Mon, 02/28/2022 - 20:24

Is Christmas Christian?

Living Church of God

Booklet Media

#False Christianity

#origins of traditions

#paganism

We see the scene every year… decorated trees, evergreen wreaths and bright multi-colored lights. Sometimes there is a little crèche in the corner, depicting an infant child receiving lavish gifts. Yet most of the gift-giving these days is done by debt-laden adults, trying to outdo each other in gifting children, family members and friends with the latest style or fad.

PREFACE
THE REASON FOR THE SEASON?

Around the world, Christmas is by most measures the most popular single holiday, as well as the centerpiece of the world’s largest religious tradition. Nine out of ten Americans say they celebrate Christmas (Pew Forum, December 2013). Nearly all who call themselves “Christians” celebrate the day, and in the United States even eight-of-ten non-Christians claim to observe a Christmas holiday of some sort (ibid.).

But what are they celebrating? Millions go into debt buying gifts to celebrate a Jesus who reminded us that we cannot serve both God and mammon. The Savior who warned against covetousness is honored, they seem to think, by the annual consumer frenzy that culminates around the Christmas tree. Every December, millions of revelers overindulge in rich foods, drink a little too much and engage in wild behavior—in celebration of the Savior whose Sermon on the Mount praised meekness and humility.

And what about church? Almost any pastor or priest can tell you about “twice-a-year Christians” who only show up in church on Christmas and Easter.

Then again, Christmas is also a time when pious believers set up the “Christmas crèche” and reflect on the legends surrounding Christ’s birth. Instead of filling their minds with the latest consumer fad or bargain-basement sale, they prefer to think of the baby Jesus in His manger, visited by Magi bearing gifts. Would these well-meaning people be shocked to learn not only that this common Christmas scene is never found in the Bible, but that the Bible itself proves a very different story than the one they have learned?

Christmas has become important to billions of people for a variety of reasons. It is fun. It is profitable. It is a way to reflect on cherished traditions. Yet there is a fundamental question that usually goes unanswered: Is Christmas Christian?

Read on, and the information in this booklet will open your eyes, change your perspective—and maybe even spur you to an even deeper and more meaningful relationship with the true Jesus Christ, beyond all the Christmas legends and traditions!

CHAPTER 1
WHY DECEMBER 25?

How did Christmas originate? Long before Jesus was born, the season around December 25 was a birthday celebration! Christmas has a pre-Christian origin!

About that time each year an event that was very important to ancient agrarian societies occurred—called the winter solstice. That event occurs when the days cease becoming shorter and begin to grow longer. The sun’s arc begins to become higher in the sky each day, portending the return of springtime, which will lead to a rebirth of life to the wintry and seemingly dead earth. Cultural anthropologists note, “All over the world, for countless millennia, people have participated in a religious ritual at the winter solstice, when the sun’s downward course is arrested and it turns back, it seems, to earth. This change of state in the bleak mid-winter of the year was experienced as the rebirth of the sun and commemorated as the birth day of the sun god, the luminous divine child” (The Myth of the Goddess, Baring and Cashford, p. 561).

When the sun declined in the sky and the days shortened, it marked the onset of winter and the loss of productivity in the land. The shortest day of the year is the lowest point of the sun’s arc in the sky. That day is called the winter solstice. But after that time, the sun’s arc across the sky begins to increase each day, foretelling the coming of spring and a rejuvenation of the earth. The midwinter festival of the winter solstice was an important event for all sun-worshiping cultures, and much mythology formed around it. Also, much celebration accompanied it.

The fact that Christmas is of pagan origin is not particularly controversial—as popular encyclopedias attest. Note what the Encyclopaedia Britannica says about it. “Its observance as the birthday of the Saviour is attended with secular customs often drawn from pagan sources; indeed, Christmas and Epiphany, which falls 12 days later on January 6, are transformed pagan celebrations of the winter solstice, so closely linked that their origins cannot be discussed separately.

“December 25 in Rome—This was the date of a pagan festival in Rome, chosen in 274ad by the Emperor Aurelian as the birthday of the unconquered sun (natalis solis invicti), which at the winter solstice begins again to show an increase of light. At some point before 336ad the church at Rome established the commemoration of the birthday of Christ, the sun of righteousness on the same date.

“Traditional Customs—The traditional customs connected with Christmas have been derived from several sources as a result of the coincidence of the feast of the Nativity of Christ and the pagan agricultural and solar observances at midwinter. In the Roman world the Saturnalia (December 17–24) was a time of merry-making and exchange of presents… But though Christmas festivities were indirectly influenced by these customs, the fact that Christmas was celebrated on the birthday of the unconquered sun gave the season a solar background, connected with the calends of January (January 1)—the Roman New Year when houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and presents were given to children and the poor. To these solstitial observances were added Germano-Celtic yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain and Celtic Europe. Yuletide brought its own tradition of feasting and mortuary customs, to combine with Roman solstitial and transitional New Year rites… Evergreens, as symbols of survival, have a long association with Christmas festivities, probably dating to the eighth century when St. Boniface completed the Christianization of Germany and dedicated the fir tree to the Holy Child to replace the sacred oak of Odin” (“Christmas,” p. 704, Vol. 5, 1970 ed.).

Another edition of Britannica adds, “The precise origin of assigning December 25 as the birth date of Jesus is unclear. The New Testament provides no clues in this regard. December 25 was first identified as the date of Jesus’ birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221 and later became the universally accepted date. One widespread explanation of the origin of this date is that December 25 was the Christianizing of the dies solis invicti nati (“day of the birth of the unconquered sun”), a popular holiday in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice as a symbol of the resurgence of the sun, the casting away of winter and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer. Indeed, after December 25 had become widely accepted as the date of Jesus’ birth, Christian writers frequently made the connection between the rebirth of the sun and the birth of the Son. One of the difficulties with this view is that it suggests a nonchalant willingness on the part of the Christian church to appropriate a pagan festival when the early church was so intent on distinguishing itself categorically from pagan beliefs and practices” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Christmas”).

Britannica continues. “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church… Christmas customs are an evolution from the times that long antedated the Christian period—a descent from seasonal, pagan, religious and national practices, hedged about with legend and tradition” (1959, Vol. 5, “Christmas,” p. 642).

“In the south of Europe, in Egypt and Persia, the sun gods were worshipped with elaborate ceremonies at the season of the winter solstice, as a fitting time to pay tribute to the benign god of plenty, while in Rome the Saturnalia reigned for a week. In northern lands mid-December was a critical time, for the days became shorter and shorter and the sun was weak and far away. Thus these ancient people held feasts at the same period that Christmas is now observed… Thus, the central idea of the winter solstice—the return of light—became the hope of the world in the birth of Christ, the light of the world… When the fathers of the church in 440ad decided upon a date to celebrate the event [of Christ’s birth], they wisely chose the day of the winter solstice which was firmly fixed in the minds of the people and which was their most important festival. Because of changes in man-made calendars, the time of the solstice and the date of Christmas vary by a few days” (ibid., p. 643).

Did you notice that? In 440ad, the professing Christian authorities simply transferred an ancient pagan practice to the worship of Christ—thinking in effect that they would “Christianize” what the pagans had already been doing! But were they “Christianizing” pagan practices or “paganizing” Christianity?

CHAPTER 2
WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?

At what time of the year was Jesus actually born? It might surprise you to know that it could not have been in late December! Luke 2:8 records that at the time Jesus was born, “there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night” (KJV). This scene could not have occurred in the winter, because in the early autumn the flocks were brought in from the countryside to winter in more sheltered areas. The winters in that region are cold, wet and sometimes snow covers the browned-off pastures. The shepherds and the sheep cannot endure the exposure to the elements all winter. Note the clear statements on this in the well-known Adam Clarke’s Commentary: “It was a custom among the Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts, about the Passover, and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain: during the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As the Passover occurred in the spring, and the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our October and November, we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole of the summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could he have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground the nativity in December should be given up” (article: “Luke 2:8“).

If Jesus could not have been born in December, then is there any indication when He was born? The exact date cannot be known from Scripture, but there are strong indications that it must have been in the early autumn, around September.

Note that Jesus began His ministry around His thirtieth birthday. “Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23). And the gospel accounts show that He ended His ministry after three and a half years when He was crucified at Passover, which occurs in the spring of the year in late March or April. That puts the time of His birth a half-year after Passover, in the autumn around late September or early October.

Also, the timing of the birth of John the Baptist provides another confirmation of an autumn birth for Jesus.

Luke 1 tells of an important event leading up to the conception and birth of Jesus. There was a priest named Zacharias serving in the Temple, who attended according to his assigned course, the course of Abijah (v. 5). Elizabeth, his wife, was the first cousin of Mary, Jesus’ mother. Zacharias and Elizabeth were “well advanced in years” (v. 7) and had no children. When Zacharias was serving at his particular time in the temple, the angel, Gabriel, appeared to him and told him that his wife would become pregnant. We know that child later as John the Baptist (John 1:13–17).

Centuries earlier, King David had divided the priesthood serving the temple into a rotation of 24 courses (1 Chronicles 24:1–19). Zecharias’ course was the eighth of the 24, and corresponded to a certain time of the year—around the end of May on our calendar. The Holy Day of Pentecost occurred the week after Zacharias’ course, and he was required to serve during that time as well, as all the priests were. He was apart from his wife during his service, and the earliest he could have returned home and begotten a child was around the second week of June.

The same angel, Gabriel, was sent to Elizabeth’s first cousin, Mary, a virgin, six months later to tell her that she would become pregnant with the Messiah by the power of the Holy Spirit. “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible'” (Luke 1:35–37).

If John the Baptist was conceived shortly after Zecharias returned home in mid-June, and Jesus was conceived six months later, that puts Jesus’ birth in mid-to-late September. At that time of the year, the flocks would still have been in the fields, as Luke 2:8 states, “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Christ’s birth did not happen on the winter solstice in late December.

Every December you hear it—”Let’s put Christ back in Christmas.” The reason that people feel the need to “put Christ in Christmas” is that He never was in Christmas—and is not now!

CHAPTER 3
DREAMING OF A COMMERCIAL CHRISTMAS?

Many observers lament the “commercialization” of Christmas. Retailers even have a term—”Christmas creep”—to describe how the Christmas retailing season seems to begin earlier and earlier each year. Many of us can remember when holiday decorations in the stores appeared only in December. Then the selling season began encroaching into November, and the Christmas music in the stores began around the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Then it moved to the week before Thanksgiving. Now we commonly see decorations and hear seasonal music in the mall around Halloween in October.

As far as the secular promotion of Christmas holiday goes, the “reason for the season” is clear—Just “follow the money”!

“Black Friday” is the name retailers give to the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. and the U.K.—or “Vendredi Noir” in France—all of which occur near the end of November. It refers to the time when retailers traditionally consider that their cash flow goes from a loss—”running red ink” during most of the year—to a profit when they say they are “in the black.” This means that most of their profits come from sales in the holiday season: No Christmas, no profits!

The Christmas holidays are critical to the retailing economy. Naturally, they would want to extend the buying season as long as possible. There is great financial incentive to maximize retailing activity during that period.

Christmas can be “make or break” for retailers. Each year they have to find ways to maintain or increase their sales volume during the holidays. Creative marketers find numerous ways to create a longer selling season, because it means that more of consumers’ hard-earned cash is available to buy their products. If customers have not saved throughout the year for Christmas purchases—which is the case for most people—they will likely have to finance their purchases either from their current wages or through credit card debt. So having a three or four month selling season brings in more sales than marketing in December only—hence, we see what retailers call “Christmas Creep.” The holiday marketing season “creeps” into November, October or earlier if merchants can get away with it.

One of the most important marketing tactics is to generate “Christmas spirit” in the stores and shopping districts. Initially, holiday decorations remind shoppers of the season and add to a festive feeling of involvement in it. Soon there is seasonal music—usually of a secular sort to avoid offending the non-religious—and it is a very important element in convincing shoppers to buy more and more. Crooners, some of whom are long gone, sing sentimental renditions of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” or “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” After the selling season is over in January, most people are very relieved to escape the constant musical marketing.

Many employers give bonuses at year-end, and the retailers want to capture as much of that bonus money as possible. So, many merchants have big year-end sales to clear out remaining merchandise and to get hold of that cash for themselves!

Guilt sells! Parents are made to feel that they are not good parents if their kids fail to have “a big Christmas.” How often have you been asked, “Did you have a big Christmas this year?” A lot of sentimentality is attached to the presence, each Christmas morning, of a huge pile of presents that the givers sacrificed financially to purchase—such that the main beneficiary of that sentiment may be the merchant who sold the gifts, rather than the recipients!

Over-extending financially on Christmas for emotional reasons is a common problem—as credit repair agencies know.

CREDIT CARD DEBT—”THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST”

“What’s in the cards?” Christmas debts! Credit card debt spikes during the holidays—and then must be paid off during the rest of the year at very high interest rates. Personal finance experts call this accumulation of expensive debt the “Holiday Debt Hangover.” Credit repair firms love it! “Consumer counseling agencies see a 25 percent increase in the number of people seeking help in January and February, and most of that traffic is propelled to their doors by holiday bills that haunt consumers like the ghost of Christmas past… ‘A lot of people get by, paying the minimums on their credit cards,’ said Durant Abernethy, president of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. ‘Add on the holiday bills and all of a sudden, those minimums are more than they can afford'” (Eileen Alt Powell, “Lingering Christmas Bills Can Lead to Debt Woes,” ABCNews.go.com. March 7, 2014).

Credit card companies love the holiday season and the “Holiday Debt Hangover” it produces. It is extremely lucrative for them and extremely expensive for unwise holiday shoppers. There is plenty of sane advice on dealing with the problems that the holiday season creates. Deborah Fowles advises on about.com, “How to Avoid the Financial Holiday Hangover: Does this scenario sound familiar? You use credit cards to do your holiday shopping, promising yourself you’ll pay the debt off within two or three months. Six or eight months later (or more), you’re still paying, and those items that seemed like such bargains end up costing you 10 to 20 percent more than you thought, due to credit card interest. For many Americans, this debt pattern is repeated year after year. Personal finance experts call this the ‘holiday hangover.’ There are times when incurring credit card debt makes sense, but holiday gift-buying is not one of them. Using credit cards often leads to impulse spending, overspending, and increased debt” (“Avoid Credit Card Debt During the Holidays”).

If the gift-buying of the holiday season is an economic boon to retailers and credit card companies, the months after the holidays are a veritable gold mine for credit repair firms. Credit repair firms do much of their business as a result of holiday credit card purchases.

Merchants’ “Christmas Creep” may make people feel that the holiday selling starts earlier and earlier each year, but the holiday season actually started far earlier than most people think. As a matter of history, the observance of December 25 began as the birthday of the sun-god, not the Son of God!

CHAPTER 4
SANTA CLAUS OR “HO, HO, HOAX”?

How many children have asked their parents, “What does Santa Claus have to do with the birth of Jesus?” Or, “My friends say there is no Santa Claus. Is Santa Claus real?” Did they get an honest answer?

Kids are encouraged to believe in the Santa Claus myth, but at some point they always find out that the whole story was never true. They learn that there is no immortal, bearded, stout man in a red suit, no reindeer and no workshop at the North Pole with busy elves making toys. What they take away from that inevitable discovery is the idea that there are myths associated with their religious beliefs. Christmas, after all, is supposedly a religious festival. The Santa Claus myth is presented to an impressionable young mind as being factually true—and then the child finds out it was never factually true. Parents may even leave faked evidence of the Santa visit, such as an empty milk glass or a half-consumed soft drink. Once a child learns the truth, this introduces the idea that stories involving the supernatural are likely faked. And children do invariably learn that the Santa Claus story is a fabrication—a lie or even a complicated series of lies. And most learn this at a very early age.

David Kyle Johnson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at King’s College, Pennsylvania, writes on the Psychology Today Web site that every child who believes in a real-life Santa Claus has a “big moment” when he or she realizes that it simply is not true. He reports that there are “some horrific stories about the ‘big moment’—stories that show discovering the truth about Santa is often not without consequences—everything from the erosion of parental authority and trust to turning a child into an atheist. For example, [one boy] defended Santa’s existence in front of his whole class on the mere basis that his ‘mother wouldn’t lie’ to him, only to read the encyclopedia entry on Santa in front of the whole class and simultaneously discover that she indeed would. When [one little girl] realized that the reason she didn’t always get what she asked Santa for was that he didn’t exist, she figured that God’s non-existence was the best explanation for why her prayers also went unanswered. I’m not saying that this happens to all kids; I am saying it’s a possibility. If you are religious, I doubt it’s a possibility you would willingly invite. Of course, if you are an atheist, you might like that the Santa lie does this” (“Say Goodbye to the Santa Claus Lie,” December 2012).

Of course, not all children react badly to the “big moment,” and many, if not most kids are resilient. But doubts and skepticism learned as a child can stay on into adulthood.

NO, VIRGINIA…

On September 21, 1897, a well-known bit of Christmas lore occurred. An eight-year old girl named Virginia O’Hanlon wrote the New York Sun newspaper and said…

“Dear Editor— I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?”

She received the famous reply that read in part, “Virginia, your little friends are wrong… Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus… Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus!… Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies.”

Fairies?

But Virginia had undoubtedly been taught by her parents to tell the truth, and she had asked the editor, “Please tell me the truth…” She was asking whether there is actually a Santa Claus. Do you think that the answer she received was the truth? No, Virginia, it was not the truth! But one day, Virginia undoubtedly discovered the truth about Santa Claus… and fairies as well.

A child wonders… If a magical Santa Claus is a mythical part of the Christmas festivities, then what about the miraculous birth of Jesus? Did angels really announce it? Did the Magi actually come? Was there actually a star over Bethlehem? Is Jesus really a king? Will the child wonder whether all the miraculous things in the Bible are myths? When they discover the truth about Santa Claus, children are being taught the idea that religious miracles can be myths. A very regrettable feature of the Santa Claus myth is that children are told to believe it “on faith.” When that faith is lost, as invariably happens, this may create skepticism about faith in religious matters in the future.

In truth, Santa Claus is not coming to town, and it is best that children’s religious faith be established in things that are the truth. Jesus said, “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17, KJV).

OLD MYTHS

Where did the modern Santa Claus myth come from? According to historians, it developed from a variety of sources over many centuries. In the fourth century ad, there actually was a Greek bishop in Myra (now modern Turkey) named Nicholas who was declared to be a saint by the Roman church. The day set aside in his honor as “St. Nicholas’ Day,” December 6, gradually became blended with the customs associated with “Christ’s Mass” (Christmas) later in the month.

For many generations before they entered the Roman Catholic church, the Germanic peoples had observed a midwinter festival called Yule, and as a result, many Yuletide traditions were absorbed into Christmas. Rome found it useful to “Christianize” many of the pagans’ former customs in order to make the pagans more amenable to Catholic evangelization. The meaning of the day might be superficially changed, but the actual practice and the time on the solar calendar remained the same.

Some of the imagery of Santa Claus that we have today likely originated with the Germanic god, Odin, who was said to have a white beard, bring gifts and ride through the sky. “The appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day is December 25, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts.… Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild became a leading player on the Christmas stage” (Margaret Baker, Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore: A Guide to Seasonal Rites Throughout the World, p. 62). Over the centuries, a variety of sources have influenced the many variations of the Santa Claus mythology.

The Encyclopedia Americana notes, “On the eve of his festival day… St. Nicholas makes his tour, visiting palace and cottage… When he is gone, the children place receptacles for the gifts which St. Nicholas is expected to let fall down the chimney…” (“Saint Nicholas’ Day,” Volume 20). The Dutch version of the name was Sinterklaas, which was anglicized in America to Santa Claus. The English version is Father Christmas, which is a common version of the name in many languages, such as Papá Noel in Spanish and Le Père Noël in French. Even the Muslim Turks have their own version of Father Christmas, Noel Baba (“Father Noel”). But since they are mostly Muslim, he supposedly brings gifts on New Year’s. For Turks who profess Christianity, he is said to come on Christmas. The Santa Claus character appears in many cultures with his name translated into many languages.

NEW SANTA

The general origin of the name Santa Claus is well understood, but the popular images of today’s Santa Claus are quite different from those of the Germanic god, Odin, or the fourth century ad St. Nicholas. From where does the modern image of a portly, laughing elf in a red suit come from? Mainly from three sources.

“Twas the Night Before Christmas” (originally called, “A Visit From St. Nicholas”) was a poem written by Clement Clark Moore, which was first published December 23, 1823 in the New York Sentinel newspaper. It established the imagery of a jolly, bearded elf delivering toys to tots from a sleigh pulled through the sky by reindeer. This imagery is somewhat similar to the Germanic god, Odin, who gave gifts to children around the time of the winter solstice and sometimes rode on a fanciful eight-footed steed across the sky. This poem became very popular and gave rise to a specific image of St. Nicholas.

Later, the words of the poem were given graphic form when the cartoonist, Thomas Nast, drew a depiction of St. Nicholas in 1881. The famous cartoon showed a smiling, portly, white-bearded man carrying toys for kids, and it caught the public imagination.

The image was further evolved by the marketing efforts of the Coca-Cola Company, which posted ubiquitous images of a jolly, white-bearded man in a Coca-Cola-red suit happily holding up the company’s product. That commercialized image—or variations of it—is used throughout the Christmas marketing season by retailers and Christmas-card makers. And it is the most common image of Santa Claus in the public mind today.

Is Santa Claus coming to your town? One could argue that in some mythical sense, he may come as the patron god of retailers. But for the child that asks “Please tell the truth…” as Virginia O’Hanlon did, the answer is “No, he won’t come, in fact—and never did.”

CHAPTER 5
EVERGREENS AND OTHER CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

The use of evergreens at or around the winter solstice is found in many ancient pagan cultures, including the Egyptians, the Romans, the Druids and the Vikings. They are usually associated with the worship of a sun god—particularly around the time of the winter festival, which occurs in many cultures at the winter solstice, the point when the sun is at its lowest in the winter sky.

Did you know that the decoration of trees with silver and gold—in connection with a celestial event—is mentioned in the Bible? However, the reference is not a favorable one.

The prophet Jeremiah lived for many years under Babylonian rule, and saw for himself the customs of that nation. Does the practice he describes sound familiar to you? Perhaps, over the years, you and your family have done almost the exact same thing in your home for Christmas as Jeremiah describes: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good'” (Jeremiah 10:1–5).

In the Western world, the tradition of evergreen decorations around Christmas—especially the adornment of fir trees—was maintained by the Germans, who brought their custom into the English-speaking world. Indeed, any reputable historian of the period will confirm that the use of evergreen trees and holly in connection with winter solstice festivals was a tradition in place long before the birth of Jesus Christ.

For millennia, evergreen trees have been a symbol of returning life during the cold, winter months when it seems that all plant life dies or goes dormant. Unlike many plants, the evergreen fir tree and bushes such as holly remain green during the winter. So, it is perhaps no surprise that these hardy plants have long been used to celebrate the winter solstice and its related festivals, as they served well to symbolize the life that remains in nature even in the depths of winter. While all the foliage around them seemed to die, the evergreen plants were seen to represent the promise that life would return in the spring.

This connection is well-known and not of recent discovery. Encyclopaedia Britannica reports, “In the Roman world the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24) was a time of merry-making and exchange of presents… Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian… Evergreens, as symbols of survival, have a long association with Christmas festivities” (article: “Christmas” p.. 704, Vol. 5, 1970 ed.).

WHY GIFT-GIVING?

The custom of gift-giving during the winter festival goes back to Roman times and earlier. As a popular encyclopedia describes: “The celebrations of Saturnalia included the making and giving of small presents (Latin: saturnalia et sigillaricia). This holiday was observed over a series of days beginning on December 17 (the birthday of Saturn), and ending on December 25 (the birthday of Sol Invictus, the “Unconquered Sun”). The combined festivals resulted in an extended winter holiday season… The feast of Sol Invictus on December 25 was a sacred day in the religion of Mithraism, which was widespread in the Roman Empire. Its god, Mithras, was a solar deity of Persian origin, identified with the Sun. It displayed its unconquerability as ‘Sol Invictus’ when it began to rise higher in the sky following the Winter Solstice—hence December 25 was celebrated as the Sun’s birthday. In 274ce, Emperor Aurelian officially designated December 25 as the festival of Sol Invictus” (article: “Christmas,” New World Encyclopedia).

WHY DO WE CALL IT “CHRISTMAS?”

The English word “Christmas” comes from the Catholic term, “the Mass of Christ” or “Christ’s Mass.” According to The Catholic Encyclopedia, “The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038, and Cristes-messe, in 1131… Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church” (article: “Christmas”).

The history of the observance of December 25 goes back long before the birth of Jesus and entered Christendom as a “baptized” pagan festival. The early Catholic fathers wanted to ease their pagan converts into the Catholic faith and often found it useful to attach “Christian” meanings to the existing pagan practices. Historically, those pagan practices included gift-giving, parties, decorating evergreen trees, holly, mistletoe and celebrating the birth or re-birth of a god.

CHAPTER 6
CAN CHRISTMAS “SANCTIFY THE PAGAN”?

Historians know that Christmas had its origin in pagan antiquity, but theologians have long reasoned that it is possible to “sanctify the pagan.” In this view, a culture may keep its pre-Christian forms, but the pagan symbols and myths can become Christian in meaning and purpose.

The influential Roman Catholic prelate Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote, “We are told in various ways by Eusebius [an early church historian], that Constantine, in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen, transferred into it the outward ornaments to which they had been accustomed in their own…. The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints… holidays and seasons… turning to the East, images at a later date… are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption in the Church” (An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, chapter 8:6).

Theologian Christopher Dawson went even further when he wrote, “The complete sanctification of the pagan is the end result of the Christianization of the world” (The Leavening Process in Christian Culture, August 7, 1955). So, in this view, the conversion of the world to Christianity necessarily involves accepting its pagan practices.

But which would adopt which? Would paganism be adopting Christianity or would Christianity be adopting paganism? It is clear that the fact is well-known among secular and religious historians that many of the symbols of Christmas and the time of its observance came from pagan practices. What is questionable is the doctrine of “sanctifying the pagan” that is used to justify many practices in Christendom.

While this rationale can be attractive for theologians and traditionalists, it is contradicted by the Bible. So, then, what does God think about “sanctifying the pagan”? What has He said? The truth may surprise millions who just assume they can blend their cherished pagan traditions with the worship of the true God, who told His people: “When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:29–32).

How dare anyone defy this clear instruction from the inspired word of God! If you considered a pagan practice to be “nice” and not “abominable,” would it then be acceptable to observe it in God’s worship? Some who want to observe the modern counterparts of the pagan holidays argue that in this scripture, God was only forbidding Israel from observing the worst “abominations” of the pagans, like child sacrifice. So, they reason, the rest might be acceptable. Yet that is not what God said. He was forbidding all of the pagan practices and affirming His own. Even if you think it is “nice”—He said do not do it. God said, “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”

Some may argue theologically that God can cleanse and sanctify whatever He wants to—but the point is that He said in no uncertain terms that He does not want to. We are commanded to observe what He commands and not add to or take away from it!

Did Jesus observe a pagan practice? Some point out that Jesus observed the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22), which occurred on the 25th of Kislev of the Hebrew calendar—which is usually around mid-December on our modern calendar. That traditional feast was instituted by a great hero of Judaism, Judas Maccabeus, to commemorate an important event in Jewish history—the rededication of the temple after it was defiled by the Greek ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes. But this traditional observance is observed on the Hebrew luni-solar calendar, not the Roman solar calendar, and is not an adopted pagan practice. It marks an important event in history, similar to Thanksgiving or Independence Day in America. Similarly, Purim is a Jewish festival occurring in later winter or early spring, that marks God’s protection of the Jewish people in the time of Esther. Both are found on the Hebrew calendar, and neither is taken from paganism. Jesus was an observant Jew and observed many legitimate traditions of His people—yet He never observed a pagan practice.

Some make the mistaken assumption that because we may use things of pagan origin in our daily lives, it must be acceptable to use them in our religious activities as well. They point out that the names of the days of the week have their origin in pagan words. For instance, the name Wednesday takes its name from Woden—a Norse god. Thursday is derived from another Norse god, Thor. Saturday corresponds to Saturn’s Day, from Latin, Sāturni diēs. Saturnus was a Roman god. Also, most Western institutions do not use the biblical luni-solar calendar; they use the solar Gregorian calendar.

In fact, the Israelites’ own calendar used months with Babylonian names. So it is important to draw a distinction; people do not read or sing from a calendar at their churches. The fact that society has a myriad of pagan-influenced practices does not mean that we can ignore a plain biblical instruction. God does not say that a month cannot have a Babylonian name; he does command that His worship must not be taken from Babylonian (or other pagan) practices.

WHO ADOPTED WHOM?

The Roman emperor Constantine allowed Christianity to be practiced openly in the Roman Empire beginning in 318ad, and it was later declared to be the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380ad. Historians have long recognized that when the Roman world began to profess Christianity, many religious leaders found it beneficial to adapt various pagan customs to fit the new faith. The less change from old practices, the better—or so they thought!

Noted historian Will Durant wrote an eleven-volume history titled The Story of Civilization. In Volume III, titled Caesar and Christ, he commented very frankly on the effect of paganism on the later development of professing Christianity. He wrote, “Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the Church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual; the Greek mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass. Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result. From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity, the Last Judgment, and a personal immortality of reward and punishment; from Egypt the adoration of the Mother and Child… From Phrygia came the worship of the Great Mother; from Syria the resurrection drama of Adonis… The Mithraic ritual so closely resembled the eucharistic sacrifice of the mass that Christian fathers charged the Devil with inventing these similarities to mislead frail minds. Christianity was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world” (p. 595).

Some may reason that it does not matter if they use pagan practices in their worship as long as they do so to honor God. But what they should ask is whether God has changed His mind about this matter. He has told us, “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6), and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus quoted the prophet, Isaiah and said, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8–9). God has not changed His mind about how He is to be worshiped.

God rejects pagan practices and instructs us not to incorporate them into His worship. He tells us what days we are to observe, how we are to observe them, and why we are to observe them. There was no instruction by Christ or the apostles to have an annual memorial to Christ’s birth or to copy the pagans in their festivals! Quite the contrary: copying the pagans in God’s worship was forbidden.

SANCTIFIED BY TRUTH!

God’s truth sets His begotten children apart. Jesus said, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth” (John 17:17–19). History shows us that the belief and practice of professing Christianity, from the second century ad onward, was very different from the faith Christ and His apostles preached. Seeing this already beginning to happen in his day, Jude wrote to the faithful Church: “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 3–4).

We must not go along with the widespread desire to turn Christ’s message into a popular paganized affront to His very teachings. God’s truth shows us the way, and deviating from “the faith once delivered” is tantamount to deviating from the path He has placed us on—the narrow way. Sadly, we see that the narrow gate has sifted out many in the past decades, just as in ancient times. One lesson we must always remember is that the true Church is “a little flock” (Luke 12:32).

We cannot “sanctify the pagan”!

CHAPTER 7
GOD OFFERS A BETTER WAY

Did the original Church observe any kind of Christmas holiday? No! There is absolutely no mention in the Bible or in secular history of the first-century Church keeping Christmas—or any such observance—at the time of the Winter Solstice. As noted earlier, history records that Christmas became a pervasive practice only when Roman Catholicism became the official religion of the Roman Empire. It is easy to understand that when the official state religion changed, millions of pagans throughout the Empire did not suddenly have a “conversion experience”—rather, they generally kept their customs and traditions which were given new meanings by the Roman church.

There are historical records of Christ’s supposed December 25 birthday being observed before Constantine’s supposed “conversion” in 336ad, but before then it was not an institutionalized practice even of the Roman church! And for the Church of the first century—the original believers taught by Christ’s own apostles—there never was any such observance! The first-century Church used the Hebrew luni-solar calendar (as the New Testament demonstrates) and avoided the religious observances associated with the Roman solar calendar—which is the type of calendar we use today.

WHAT MEMORIAL DID CHRIST COMMAND?

What were the religious observances of the first-century Church according to the Bible and secular history? What was “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) that they were to contend for, and what were the annual observances of the Church that the apostles taught? In sharp contrast to the idea that there should be an observance of Christ’s birth, Jesus Christ Himself instructed His followers to keep a memorial to His death, and the apostles passed His command on to the churches they raised up.

Are Easter and Christmas in the Bible? In the King James Version of the Bible, the English word “Easter” appears in Acts 12:4. However, it comes from a mistranslation of Pascha, which is Greek (Πάσχα) for “Passover.” This error is corrected in the New King James Version and in most modern translations which render the word correctly as “Passover.” The word, “Easter,” is an Anglo-Saxon word for a spring festival honoring the Teutonic goddess, “Eastra” or “Ostara.” The name of the festival and some of its associated practices were carried over by the early Anglo-Saxons when they converted to Roman Catholicism.

How, then, did Christ want to be memorialized? The Apostle Paul instructed the brethren in Corinth, Greece—a congregation composed of Gentile believers—”For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed [Nisan 14, the beginning of the Passover] took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it [each Passover], in remembrance of Me‘” (1 Corinthians 11:23–25). The early Church observed a memorial to Christ’s death just as they were instructed by Jesus and the apostles. Christ’s sacrificial death as the Lamb of God is of great importance to the whole world. He gave us no memorial to His birth!

Jesus asked, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). He also said, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips” (Matthew 15:8). People say that they want to honor Christ, but they institute their own ways in contradiction to what Christ instructed them. Jesus continued, “But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (v. 9). If we want to honor Christ and have our hearts close to Him, we will do the things He said—and we will not do the things He said to avoid. We have a clear choice between the practices that God authorized and the traditions that mankind has created for itself.

CHAPTER 8
MANY ARE OPTING OUT OF CHRISTMAS

Should Christmas be a religious celebration for you? The origins of Christmas are well known and are not particularly controversial. It is a traditional holiday that originated in paganism and was incorporated into professing Christianity in the fourth and fifth centuries ad. It is not a biblical feast and was never practiced by the first-century Church. Jesus Christ never authorized a memorial to His birth; rather, He instructed His faithful followers to keep a memorial to His death (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26). This matters because the Bible forbids God’s people from adopting pagan customs in the worship of the true God—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus Himself said that using mankind’s traditional practices in His worship does not honor Him (Matthew 15:9). So, Christmas is not an appropriate religious observance for one who professes to obey Christ!

Furthermore, the secular aspects of the Christmas holidays—the costs and hassle that dominate the season—are difficulties many would rather avoid. The seasonal celebrations often involve excessive drinking, and the number of traffic accidents increases dramatically during the holidays. Everyone should be very careful on the highways, particularly at night.

The loud and widespread commercial marketing of Christmas dominates the days and weeks before the holiday arrives. Shopping can be very stressful, since stores are packed with shoppers trying to finish their shopping for long lists of gift-recipients. Also stressful are the debts that mount up during the season—which often stay with shoppers for much of the following year. So, more and more people are opting out of the secular festivities—to their great relief.

As a religious holiday, Christmas is not biblical. In fact, the Bible instructs us not to use pagan practices in our worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And we should not teach our children that lies and myths—such as those surrounding Santa Claus—are religious truths. Even simply as a secular custom, Christmas is generally an expensive, stressful time that many people would rather do without.

Does Christmas honor Christ? What does the Bible say? It records that as a matter of history, the first-century Church of God kept the Christian Passover and the seven annual festivals as commanded in Leviticus 23. In doing that, they were not trying to “be Jewish”—they were simply obeying God. The Bible records no observance of the birth of Jesus. We honor Him by obeying Him and observing these festivals, which picture the plan of salvation.

Passover pictures the cleansing of our sins by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, since “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). The Days of Unleavened Bread picture God’s Church being and remaining “unleavened” by sin. Pentecost pictures the founding and sanctification of the Church of God by the giving of the Holy Spirit. The Feast of Trumpets pictures the return of Christ in power and glory with the sound of a great trump—the voice of an archangel! The fast that occurs on the Day of Atonement pictures the binding of Satan and the freeing of this world from Satan’s rule. The great Feast of Tabernacles pictures the rule of Christ as King of kings with His saints on earth for 1,000 years. The eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles, The Last Great Day, pictures the Great White Throne Judgment which will be the hope of all who have ever lived. The annual Holy Days are holy time, and should not be profaned by our regular work. They have great meaning for Christians and map out God’s plan of salvation for mankind.

By commanding the observance of these festivals, God, in effect, has us act out this great plan by participating in His annual Feasts so that we will always remember it. The Apostle Jude exhorted the first-century Church—and us today, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). “For all” included both Gentile and Jewish Church members.

Both biblically and historically, “the faith once for all delivered” included the annual biblical festivals. The real choice today is whether to follow the instructions of Christ and the apostles—as recorded in the Bible—or to continue with the familiar human traditions that replaced those instructions. Christ’s clear instructions are for His Church to observe a memorial to His death, not to His birth.

For more information on this vital subject, be sure to request our free booklet, The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan. This powerful and eye-opening booklet will help you understand which days your Creator really intended for His true people to observe, and will explain more about how, as mentioned above, these days teach us about the magnificent plan He is working out here on the earth. To request your free copy of The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan, contact us at the Regional Office nearest you, listed at the back of this booklet, or go to our TomorrowsWorld.org Web site, where you can read the booklet or order your very own free printed copy. This vital information will change your life!

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The Filtering Power of Shellfish!

bduval — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 14:10:42 +0000

The Filtering Power of Shellfish! bduval Fri, 08/05/2022 - 14:10

The Filtering Power of Shellfish!

2019-11-04

Editorial Staff

During His ministry on earth, Jesus Christ emphasized the need to watch the times in which we live and to pray we would be ready for His return: “And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:37). On these pages, we plan to keep you informed of noteworthy news and current events that we believe should have your attention. Today’s world is changing quickly, and here at Tomorrow’s World we want to help you fulfill Christ’s admonition to watch!

Shellfish—including lobsters, oysters, mussels and crabs—are consumed by people around the globe as a gourmet delicacy—yet few realize they are dining on creatures that God created for an entirely different purpose. A recent AFP article noted, “The mussel is the hoover [vacuum cleaner] of the sea, taking in phytoplankton for nourishment along with microplastics, pesticides and other pollutants…. It’s a super-filter in the marine world, filtering up to 25 litres of water a day… [Mussels] store almost everything else that passes through—which is why strict health rules apply for those destined for human consumption” (AFP, August 18, 2019).

Because mussels store the contaminants they filter from the water (which are passed on to those who eat them), they are excellent sentinels or “bio-indicators” of the health of the waters in which they live. Scientists are now using mussels to determine which toxins are present in aquatic environments, and researchers are also considering “deploying” mussels and oysters to rid polluted waters of microplastics, pesticides, bacteria, and other environmental toxins.

Shellfish are actually scavengers—part of the “clean-up crew” for aquatic environments. Mussels and oysters were designed by God to be underwater filtration systems and actually work to purify water. They were never intended to be eaten by humans, and the Bible clearly states that these creatures are “unclean” and not a food source for people (see Leviticus 11:9–12 and Deuteronomy 14:9–10). To better understand the reasons why God created different types of creatures, be sure to read “Do You Really Want to Eat That?“

Easter: The Untold Story

4uwzvo — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 19:15:12 +0000

Easter: The Untold Story 4uwzvo Mon, 02/28/2022 - 19:15

Easter: The Untold Story

Gerald E. Weston

Booklet Media

#origins of traditions

#paganism

#easter

Every year, billions of people observe a joyous Easter Sunday celebration. For some, it may be one of the few times each year they come to church. For others, it may be the culmination of observances going back to Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Good Friday in preparation for the festive day. Many of these people have no idea that their Easter celebration owes far, far more to pre-Christian myth than to anything Jesus Christ or His Apostles believed, practiced or taught.

THE NEGLECTED TRUTH

Every year, professing Christians celebrate the holiday known as Easter, but few understand its true origins. How is it that a day supposedly picturing the resurrection of Jesus Christ came to be known by the name of the pagan goddess, Eostre? What are the origins of celebrating the day with rabbits and colored eggs and how did they come to be associated with it? What do these have to do with the resurrection of Christ?

Do you realize that the Good Friday crucifixion and Easter Sunday resurrection tradition contradicts the one sign Jesus said He would give to prove He was the prophesied Messiah? Shockingly, literally hundreds of millions profess that Jesus Christ is their Savior, but their very traditions deny the one and only sign Jesus said He would give that He was who He claimed to be—the Son of God. Consider what this means! Either Jesus is not the Messiah He claimed to be, or the professing Christian tradition is wrong. It cannot be any other way!

It is time to dust off your Bible and look into the one and only true source that reveals what really happened at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion! The truth of what happened—and what your Bible records—is not what most people think! If you are willing to look into the biblical record and the facts recorded by well-respected historians, you can know the truth about Easter and its pagan past; and you can know the truth of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER 1
WHAT’S IN A NAME?

For many professing Christians, Easter is the most sacred holiday of the year. For others, it is a time to show off a new set of clothes and perhaps a hat or bonnet. For children, it is an exciting time to search for brightly colored eggs that were hidden in the garden or around the house. Some children even receive live chickens or rabbits from well-meaning parents.

But consider, what does all this have to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ? The simple answer is, absolutely nothing! Nevertheless, most people look at such customs as harmless fun for the children. But, are they? Or do they obscure the truth about the most important event in the history of mankind: Christ’s life, message, crucifixion and resurrection?

I often tell people a true story about my uncle George. He was a colorful character, to say the least. He was a self-made man who left home at the age of 16 and went on to invent various electronic instruments used in the oil-drilling industry. I knew for many years that he was a passionate atheist, but I never knew why until a few years before his death when he explained it to me. When he was five years old, his mother, my grandmother, told him to go out and look for the eggs the rabbits laid. It was Easter Sunday. Even at this early age he knew that rabbits did not lay eggs, because my grandmother raised rabbits for sale. He immediately protested, “Rabbits don’t lay eggs.” And she replied, “Georgie, if you look real hard you’ll find them.”

As he explained to me, he really did look, but he did not find any. He went back into the house and disgustingly informed her, “Mother, you lied to me. Rabbits don’t lay eggs.” And, as he further explained, “That’s when I began to question the whole idea of God and Christianity.”

Why is it that Christians lie to their children about such things when the Ninth Commandment tells us: “You shall not bear false witness”? Are they not aware of Revelation 21:8, which tells us that “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death”? Maybe these “little white lies” are more serious than we realize! Maybe we should rethink what we teach our children!

What History Reveals

From where do these seemingly harmless lies and quaint customs originate? Historians reveal a great deal about the origins of Easter traditions, starting with the very name itself. Easter is nothing more than another spelling for the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, but where did this goddess originate? The New World Encyclopedia suggests a connection between Eostre and Easter with the very popular and ancient goddess Ishtar: “Scholars likewise speculate that Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring whose name later gave rise to the modern English ‘Easter,’ may be etymologically connected to Ishtar” (article “Ishtar”).

Interestingly, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church admits this about the origin of the name Easter, but gives a slightly different spelling from that of Ishtar. Our modern English word “Easter” comes from Old English, and referred originally to the Norse goddess of fertility, Istra—who was symbolized by a rabbit.

Thus the connection between Easter and rabbits, but why was Istra symbolized by a rabbit? Historians confirm this goddess, spelled variously as Ishtar, and Istra was known as the goddess of fertility, and the rabbit is a well-known fertility symbol. Even today people can be heard using the expression, “breeding like rabbits.” An example of this is seen in a November 2011 Scientific American article titled, “Why Pioneers Breed Like Rabbits.”

The rabbit is not the only fertility symbol passed down from antiquity. The Oxford Companion to World Mythologyexplains this about Easter: “The holiday comes in the early Spring and is clearly related to ancient fertility myths of reborn heroes.… For many, Easter is synonymous with fertility symbols such as the Easter Rabbit, Easter Egg, and the Easter Lily” (article “Easter,” p. 111).

Easter and the Egg

While the egg is clearly a fertility symbol, many historians trace the origin of the Easter egg back to the Babylonian myth of a large egg falling from the sky into the Euphrates River, from which the goddess Astarte was hatched. Astarte was revered by the ancient Phoenicians as goddess of the moon and the measurer of time. But who was Astarte? Is there any connection with this goddess and Easter traditions? Historians tell us Astarte is merely another name for Ishtar.. “The name Ishtar is likely Semitic in origin, and was identified in ancient times with Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth or Astarte” (New World Encyclopedia, article: “Ishtar”).

As we are beginning to see, this goddess—from which we derive the name of what is supposed to be a most solemn Christian celebration—has quite a past. She was no obscure figure, but was known by different names in different languages and cultures. The highly respected Encyclopaedia Britannica confirms the connection between Astarte and Ishtar: “Astarte was worshiped in Egypt and Ugarit and among the Hittites, as well as in Canaan. Her Akkadian counterpart was Ishtar. Later she became assimilated with the Egyptian deities Isis and Hathor (a goddess of the sky and of women), and in the Greco-Roman world with Aphrodite, Artemis, and Juno” (article “Astarte”).

These all refer to the same goddess, either with different spellings or with different names in various cultures. Here is a quote tying Ishtar with another important name: “Ishtar, a goddess of both fertility and war, is the Akkadian name of the Sumerian goddess Inanna and the Semitic goddess Astarte, the three names referring to the same deity in different cultural contexts. She inspired great devotion in the ancient Babylonian empire, as evidenced by the many grand temples, altars, inscriptions, and art objects devoted to her” (New World Encyclopedia, article “Ishtar”).

Interestingly, just as there came in ancient cultures to be a connection between the moon and the various goddesses of fertility, the rabbit became entwined in many of these myths. Why the rabbit? With a gestation period of just about one month, the rabbit’s cycle came to be associated with the lunar cycle, across a number of cultures.

With our modern understanding of biology we may laugh at this today, but many in the ancient world believed the rabbit to be a hermaphrodite—an animal that could reproduce without losing its virginity. This led to an association between the supposedly virgin rabbit and the Virgin Mary, as typified by the painter Titian’s Madonna of the Rabbit. When former goddess-worshipers discovered Christianity, it was easy for them to take their old reverence to a goddess and transfer it to Mary, in contradiction to Scripture and actual Christianity. Thus the various myths expanded and prevailed.

Of course, just as there were variations of myth across the different world cultures, there were also variations of worship from one culture to another, just as we see variations in spellings and customs in our modern world in the worship of gods that transcend national and cultural boundaries.

But does any of this matter? As long as we are celebrating Christ’s resurrection, what difference does it make? If there were no God, it probably would not matter, but if the God of the Bible does exist, it matters plenty!

God told Moses to warn ancient Israel that they were to make “no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth” (Exodus 23:13, KJV). Yet most of professing Christianity has done just that! And we cannot rely on the tired argument that this admonition applied only to the Jews under the Old Covenant. Malachi 3:6 tells us that God does not change, and Hebrews 13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”! This same Jesus Christ, prior to His human birth, was the very God family member who inspired Exodus 23:13: “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:1–4). Is it any wonder that Jesus protests, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

If Jesus Christ had proclaimed the observance of Easter, we would of course be obliged to do as He had instructed us. Even if it were His Apostles who had begun the observance in harmony with His instructions, we would do well to follow their example. But neither Christ nor the Apostles left us any example of observing such a festival.

Indeed, as we will see throughout this booklet, the vast majority of nominal Christians today are observing a festival that Scripture reveals is not just non-Christian—it is actually repugnant to God. Worse yet; most are neglecting the actual festival that Jesus Christ observed and taught His disciples to observe in memory of His sacrificial death. Read on and learn the amazing truth that may change your life forever!

CHAPTER 2
THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN

As we have seen, Ishtar was the ancient goddess of fertility and love, and was also known by the names Istra, Eostre, Easter, Astarte, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Inanna. In the Hebrew language, the plural form of Astarte was Ashtaroth and we find many references to the worship of Ashtaroth in the Old Testament, but never in a positive context! She seems to have been known as the “Queen of Heaven,” as we learn from The New World Encyclopedia: “Astarte may also be the ‘Queen of Heaven’ spoken of by the prophet Jeremiah several centuries later during the seventh or early sixth century B.C.E. Here, the people of Judah fear that by heeding the words of the prophets and abandoning the worship of the goddess, they have brought ruin upon themselves” (article: “Astarte”).

A Heavy Price to Pay

The encyclopedia goes on to reference Jeremiah 44:18, an instructive passage of Scripture that we would do well to examine closely. The time setting was shortly after the Jewish nation fell to king Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldean Empire. Most were killed or deported to Babylon, but a few poor among them were left behind. Jeremiah was also spared and allowed to remain in the land of Judea.

The remnant leaders approached Jeremiah, requesting that he seek God’s will on their behalf. Should they stay in Judea, or go to Egypt? They unequivocally assured Jeremiah that they would do whatever God directed: “Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God (Jeremiah 42:6).

Ten days later, Jeremiah returned God’s answer—that they should remain in Judea—but by now they had discounted the earlier profession and had set their hearts to go to Egypt. How true to human nature! We want to do God’s will… as long as it agrees with our own!

Through His prophet Jeremiah, God again gave a strong indictment against this rebellious remnant upon their arrival in Egypt. “Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving none to remain, in that you provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to dwell, that you may cut yourselves off and be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?… They have not been humbled, to this day, nor have they feared; they have not walked in My law or in My statutes that I set before you and your fathers” (Jeremiah 44:7–8, 10).

Idolatry was a primary cause behind the house of Israel going into captivity, and later the house of Judah was overthrown for the same reason. They defended their rebellion against their Creator rather than admit the obvious. No doubt, very few who are reading this booklet are burning literal incense to worship a literal statue or false god, so it may be very easy for us to condemn the Israelites’ actions. But, in our own way, do many of us do the same? Do we also defend our pagan customs and traditions while failing to obey our Creator? Notice their response, and the connection to the queen of heaven: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you! But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine” (Jeremiah 44:16–18).

Cakes for the Queen

How easily people are deceived! This rag-tag Jewish remnant chose to worship an ineffective pagan goddess rather than the Creator of the universe and the One who earlier had brought them out from Egyptian bondage to become a nation. The attitude we find today among the majority of professing Christians is not all that different from the people of Jeremiah’s day—defend tradition over Scripture at all cost! If one human rationalization fails to work, try another. Here is one rationalization that we would not likely find today: “The women also said, ‘And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?'” (Jeremiah 44:19).

Jeremiah responded to the people by explaining the reason for the fall of their nation and their current pitiful state. “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and did it not come into His mind? So the Lord could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you committed. Therefore your land is a desolation, an astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day. Because you have burned incense and because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His law, in His statutes or in His testimonies, therefore this calamity has happened to you, as at this day” (Jeremiah 44:21–23).

A Family Tradition

It is not as though the people were not warned. Jeremiah had rebuked them years earlier, prior to the time of their captivity, for their worship of this Queen of Heaven and what the results would be if they did not repent. Yet, as we know, traditions laden with emotion and family sentiment can exert a powerful pull! These pagan celebrations and customs involved the whole family. Each member played a part in this warm and comforting family affair. “The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven” (Jeremiah 7:18). We should not minimize the appeal such a celebration has on the human psyche.

Baking cakes of bread sounds innocent enough. Of course, the problem is not with bread, but with the purpose for which people bake it. How many professing Christians read these words, look down upon that poor misguided tribe of Judah, but then do exactly the same? What Jeremiah is describing in these verses is one Easter custom that is popular even to this day in some countries around the world—baking small cakes or buns with a cross cut into them prior to baking, or a sweet glaze cross placed on top after baking. These are especially popular on what is called Good Friday, the supposed day of Jesus’ crucifixion. Note this April 2012 quote from the popular British Food History blog, describing these buns in light of Jeremiah’s denunciation: “The cross, people assume, is to denote the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. This is in fact nonsense; spiced buns with crosses were being produced throughout much of pagan Europe. Spiced buns have always been symbolic in worship and ones adorned with crosses were made for the goddess Eostre (where Easter gets its name).”

God’s reaction follows Jeremiah’s description of this practice . “‘Do they provoke Me to anger?’ says the Lord. ‘Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?’ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place—on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched'” (Jeremiah 7:19–20).

Encyclopaedia Britannica links the Queen of Heaven with Astarte, also known as Ashtoreth, whose worship God condemns. “Astarte/Ashtoreth is the Queen of Heaven to whom the Canaanites burned offerings and poured libations (Jeremiah 44)” The Bible refers to Ashtoreth as an abominable pagan goddess (1 Kings 11:5, 33; 2 Kings 23:13).

Ezekiel 8 introduces another element to this dark picture. Ezekiel is in Babylonian captivity and is taken in vision to the temple in Jerusalem where he is shown abominations committed by his people. He is first taken, “to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy” (Ezekiel 8:3). What can this possibly be? We may not be able to know for sure, but the highly regarded New Bible Commentary Revised makes an educated guess. “The image of jealousy… may have been an image of the Canaanite goddess, Asherah. Manasseh had set up such an image… in the Temple and later removed it (2 Ch. 33:7, 15).”

But who is the Canaanite goddess, Asherah? “Other names of this deity were Ashtoreth [Astarte] and Anath. Frequently represented as a nude woman bestride a lion with a lily in one hand and a serpent in the other.… Characteristically Canaanite, the lily symbolizes grace and sex appeal and the serpent fecundity [the ability to produce offspring in large numbers]” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary, article “Asherah”).

We cannot say for certain that Ezekiel’s “image of jealousy” was indeed the same-named goddess, but this goddess that we find with so many names is all about sex appeal, fertility and various customs we now associate with Easter! We know that there is nothing inherently sinful about rabbits, eggs, cakes or lilies, but when they have the name Easter attached to them we ought to wonder why any of this should be associated with Christ.

Ezekiel was told to turn again, to see greater abominations. After digging in a wall, he came to a door that he enters and sees “all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls” (Ezekiel 8:10). Then he was told to, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing” (v. 13). And what did he see? He found that, “to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz” (v. 14).

Who was Tammuz, and how is he connected to Easter? The online edition of the New World Encyclopedia traces an important mythical tale involving Ishtar’s [Easter’s] descent into the underworld. There she attempts to usurp the throne of her sister, who is queen of the underworld; but her sister, Ereshkigal, hangs Ishtar on the wall by a hook. However, her uncle intercedes and sets her free, but she must first find a replacement. Her husband Tammuz temporarily angers her and she seizes him and drags him below to the underworld.

Ishtar, also called Inanna in the tale, soon regrets her rash act toward Tammuz. Now we will pick up the story as told by the New World Encyclopedia: “Ishtar arranges for Tammuz’s sister to substitute for him during six months of the year—thus explaining the mystery of the sun’s diminishing in winter and growing stronger in summer. The story of Ishtar and Tammuz prefigures those of Cybele and Attis, of Aphrodite and Adonis, and of the Egyptian Isis and Osiris—all of them tales of a young god who dies, and a goddess who mourns him” (article “Ishtar”).

A Sunrise Service and Pagan Gods from the East

It is difficult for the average person growing up in a nominally Christian church, whether Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant or other, to realize just how heavily influenced their cherished practices are by ancient pagan traditions, but there is one more found in Ezekiel 8, where Ezekiel is told: “Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these” (v. 15). What could these possibly be?

“So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east” (v. 16).

This passage is clearly describing a “sunrise service,” as the sun rises from the east. Such practices go back for thousands of years, linking the sun with ancient pagan deities. As historian Alexander Hislop observed, “Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise time of the year, in honour of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven; and it may fairly be presumed that, in order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ. This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism half-way was very early developed” (The Two Babylons, pp. 93). Festivals focusing on the solstice days were observed in the name of pagan gods long before there was any “Christian” idea of celebrating Christmas or Easter!

To the east, in central Asia Minor, more than a thousand years before the Romans, the Hittites also worshiped a great mother goddess. On the side of a hill near Sardis is a giant rock carving of a mother goddess that the ancient poets Homer, Ovid and Sophocles describe as the “Mother of the Gods, the oldest goddess of all” (The Hittite Empire, Garstang, pp. 176–177). On statues and carvings, this Hittite deity “assumes the aspect of a goddess of the skies, or Queen of Heaven, a familiar aspect of Astarte” (ibid., pp. 114, 204–205). Astarte was the Phoenician goddess of war, the evening star, sexual love and fertility. Temple prostitution was part of her worship. She was often depicted naked, “wearing a crown of cow’s horns enclosing a solar disc”—similar to the Egyptian goddess Isis (Encyclopedia of Gods, p. 33). The Roman army spread the worship of this ancient Hittite goddess across Europe from Germany to Britain because her cult “found great favor among the soldiers” (Garstang, p. 302).

And this pagan Queen had a child. In Egypt, Isis was worshiped as one of the greatest deities. She was usually depicted seated on a throne “holding the child Horus… both official theology and popular belief proclaimed… Isis and Horus the perfect mother and son” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed.).

How abominable! In this way, Jesus—the Word made flesh—was connected with a goddess-mother whose worship predated His birth by hundreds of years!

All around the world, sincere people get up early on Easter Sunday to watch the sun rise. I remember such an occasion when my family did so to be part of a sunrise service at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Not only does this practice hearken back to ancient mother-goddess-and-child worship; it relies on the supposition that Jesus rose early Sunday morning. Yet, as we will see in the next chapter, even this simple question of timing is an unbiblical deception!

CHAPTER 3
WORSHIPING CHRIST IN VAIN

It may be easy to look back with pity—even condescension—on such ignorant people who believed in those preposterous tales and practices. But, if that is the case, why do we find the very symbols of their worship so prominently featured in today’s professing Christianity? Why have professing Christians chosen the name of paganism’s outrageous goddess for the name of what many consider the most sacred of all Christian holidays?

Does this really matter? In spite of the overwhelming evidence of pagan origins for Easter celebrations, some rationalize that mixing a little innocent paganism into Christian celebrations brings more people to Christ and makes Christian celebrations more colorful and enjoyable. But how does the God of the Bible see this? We have already read in Ezekiel and Jeremiah that these pagan practices were not pleasing to God 2,600 years ago, so why would we think He would be pleased today?

Many people wrongly assume the only thing that is important is that we believe in Jesus. But is belief alone enough? James says, “No!” We read: “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19). Furthermore, have we considered that it is possible to make a show of worshiping Jesus, but to do so in vain? Notice what Jesus Himself declared: “He answered and said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men”‘” (Mark 7:6–7).

Jesus asked this thought-provoking question: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). One of the things for which Jesus condemned the religious leaders of His day was that they rejected God’s commandments and substituted their traditions. One of God’s commandments is that His people are not to borrow pagan ideas and blend them with His observances. We are explicitly told not to think: “‘How did these nations serve their gods? “I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods.… Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:30–32).

And yet, this is exactly what traditional Christianity does! Highly respected encyclopedias and history books admit that much of what we think of as Christian simply was not and is not. The well-respected Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity confesses: “The Christian church took over many pagan ideas and images. From sun-worship, for example, came the celebration of Christ’s birth on the twenty-fifth of December, the birthday of the Sun. Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival of 17–21 of December, provided the merriment, gift-giving and candles typical of later Christmas holidays. Sun-worship hung on in Roman Christianity and Pope Leo I, in the middle of the fifth century, rebuked worshippers who turned round to bow to the sun before entering St Peter’s basilica. Some pagan customs which were later Christianized, for example the use of candles, incense and garlands, were at first avoided by the church because they symbolized paganism” (pp. 131–32). To learn more, request our informative booklet, Is Christmas Christian?

As we have already shown, these pagan influences are also clearly seen in Easter traditions. We might do well to ask, “How can ‘pagan’ customs be Christianized?” More often than not, professing Christians who read the Old Testament have a misguided understanding as to the nature of ancient Israel’s actual problem. While it is true that they gave themselves over entirely to pagan influences at various times, that is not the whole story.

In the days of the famous prophet Elijah, their major problem involved mixing paganism with the worship of the true God. After Elijah prayed that it would not rain for three-and-a-half years, in an attempt to wake the people up from their sins, Elijah and King Ahab gathered the people together to settle the issue. Elijah’s question to the people is most instructive: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). His very question indicates a blending of the worship of the true God with heathen Baal worship. Here is what The New Bible Commentary Revised has to say about Elijah’s question:

“It seems to be literally, ‘Till when are you hopping at two forks?’ The sin of the people had been not in rejecting the worship of [God], but in trying to combine it with the worship of Baal. Such syncretism [blending religious customs and worship] is always considered to be broad-minded, whereas the other is narrow-minded. But [the God] of Israel left no room for other gods. Elijah makes this clear: If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”

The pagan origin and celebration of Easter is a major problem for professing Christianity, but it is only part of the problem. In addition to blending pagan customs and traditions into the worship of the true God, contrary to His command, we find that even the part of Easter that supposedly comes from the Bible is terribly flawed—as we will see in the next chapter of this booklet!

CHAPTER 4
THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS

Have you ever considered why you believe the things you do? If we are truly honest with ourselves, every one of us primarily believes what we were taught growing up. Even if you have cast aside belief in God, you most likely accept the things you think the Bible says. You may still picture a long-haired Jesus and His twelve disciples all stationed on the same side of a long table eating something called “the last supper.” Sadly, this is a poor fabrication of what really occurred. Even those who never darken the doors of a church building for anything other than a wedding or funeral probably believe that the Bible teaches that Jesus was crucified on Friday and resurrected Sunday morning.

Every year, so-called Christians and atheists celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans and similar festivals across Central and South America. It is a time of partying and “letting go.” How many do not realize this is connected to the Easter celebration? Mardi Gras simply means “Fat Tuesday” and is the last day to “let it all hang out” (sometimes literally!) before the next day that begins 40 days of “fasting.” This is followed by Good Friday and Easter Sunday. There are also a number of other special days thrown in, such as Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday, none of which are fully biblically based.

These customs and traditions are so entrenched in people’s minds and culture that it seems heretical for anyone to question them. Yet, we are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (KJV).

Virtually all people who think they understand anything about the Bible believe that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, put in the tomb in the late afternoon of that day and then resurrected early Sunday morning.

But where did this idea come from? People may assume they read it in the Bible, because that is what they were taught in Sunday School. It is what they see every year—billions of professing Christians take note of “Good Friday” and think of Christ’s crucifixion, then two days later (or is it a day-and-a-half?) they celebrate Easter Sunday. “Sunrise services” are widely advertised, and people just follow along, because “everybody’s doing it.” Why, after all, would anyone do differently?

Well, if the Bible says differently, we surely should be doing differently. After all, no matter how many human customs we may come up with (Rabbits laying eggs? Really?), the Bible is in fact the only truly reliable source we can turn to for a proper answer to this question.

The Only Sign Jesus Gave

We can begin with a simple question: how long did Jesus Himself say that He would be in the tomb? “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth'” (Matthew 12:38–40).

Consider. Jesus said that no sign would be given to that generation except for the sign of Jonah. What was that sign? It was that Jesus would be in the grave the exact same length of time as Jonah was in a great fish’s belly. How long was that time? According to both Jesus and Jonah, three days and three nights!

Try as you might, you cannot count three days and three nights between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. Even if you count parts of days, you still come up short. Try it for yourself. Scripture tells us Jesus was put in the tomb right at sunset, but some count a few minutes before sunset as day one. Friday night would be one night; the daylight portion of Saturday would be the second day and Saturday night would make the second night. Now if Jesus rose Sunday morning after sunrise we might count that as day three, but where is the third night? It just is not there! And that is stretching the case by counting a few minutes of daylight at the beginning and end as two of the three days.

Many nominal Christians have never even read Matthew 12:38–40, and of those who have read it, many have never really studied what it means. As a result, professing Christians often simply assume that the period from Good Friday through Easter Sunday counts as three days. Yet that is hardly what Jesus said and meant! If we accept the Good Friday-to-Easter Sunday tradition, we are left with three possibilities: 1) We have not properly understood the sign Jesus gave, 2) Jesus was wrong and He is not our Savior, or 3) The Good Friday-to-Easter Sunday tradition is wrong.

So, has the world properly understood the sign Jesus gave? If so, what are the implications? Was He wrong about how long He would be in the grave? Did He literally mean three days and three nights, because as we have seen, you cannot count three days and three nights from late Friday afternoon to early Sunday morning. If He meant what He said, we have a significant problem. Recognizing this problem, The Abingdon Bible Commentary bluntly tells us, Jesus was mistaken: “The statement made is inaccurate, for Jesus was in the grave only from Friday evening to Sunday dawn” (commentary on Matthew 12:40).

Most popular commentaries are not as cynical and choose instead to explain that the statement is not to be taken literally. Is this because the true unprejudiced Scriptures demonstrate this? Or is it possible that tradition is trumping truth?

Traditionalists allege that the Greek expression used in this verse simply means a “day/night,” or a single 24-hour day. Further, the first and third days only need to be a portion of a “day/night.” However, Jesus’ sign is not dependent on Matthew 12:40 alone. Jesus’ words were recorded in the Greek language, and it is true that the Greek expression used in this verse may mean parts of three days. Even so, that reasoning is controversial at best among scholars of Greek (as we have just read from The Abingdon Bible Commentary, which is so careful about the Greek that it shockingly assumes Jesus was wrong!).

What is the truth? We must remember what Jesus said: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). Should we not then investigate what the Bible tells us about how long Jonah was in the belly of the fish? What does the original account tell us? “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17).

The book of Jonah was written in the Hebrew language and we must look to that language and its common usage to understand this expression. The Companion Bible explores the meaning of three days and three nights in Hebrew usage. After giving a technical explanation that three days in Hebrew usage can mean all or parts of three days, it then explains that in Hebrew usage, when it speaks of days and nights, it means both three days and three nights. It then sums up the discussion: “Hence, when it says that ‘Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights’ (Jonah 1:17) it means exactly what it says, and that this can be the only meaning of the expression in Matthew 12:40” (Appendix 144).

This is the first reason we know that Jesus’ claim means a full three days and three nights—the meaning of Matthew 12:40, when taken in the context of the account of Jonah, can only mean three days and three nights.

In, After and The

The second reason we know the Good Friday/Easter Sunday tradition is in error can be discerned by comparing other statements Jesus made about how long He would be in the grave. Jesus spoke figuratively of His body on a number of occasions as “this temple,” and even declared: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).

“In three days” means that it has to be within three days, but on other occasions we read that He would be resurrected to life after three days. “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31).

Following His resurrection, Jesus explained to His disciples what happened and why. “Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46–47).

So here we have three different expressions that clarify how long He would be in the tomb: “in three days” and “after three days” and “the third day.” When we put these three statements together, along with Matthew 12:40 and Jonah 1:17, there can be only one time that fits—exactly 72 hours; not a minute before or a minute after. The time is precise!

PASCHA OR EASTER?

The name Easter is nowhere to be found in the Bible, with one exception. The men who translated the King James Version of the Bible inserted Easter for Passover in Acts 12:4. No modern translation supplies the word Easter, as they all properly translate the Greek Pascha as Passover. This is so well understood that some of the more modern commentaries, such as The New Bible Commentary Revised, do not even address the subject, though older ones (which relied on the King James Version) do. For example, Adam Clarke’s Commentary has this to say about Acts 12:4 and the proper translation:

“Perhaps there never was a more unhappy, not to say absurd, translation than that in our text [KJV].… The term Easter, inserted here by our translators, they borrowed from the ancient Anglo-Saxon service-books.… The Saxon [various Greek spellings] are different modes of spelling the name of the goddess Easter, whose festival was celebrated by our pagan forefathers on the month of April; hence that month, in the Saxon calendar.… Every view we can take of this subject shows the gross impropriety of retaining a name every way exceptionable, and palpably absurd” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Acts 12:4).

The Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown Commentary, is more abbreviated, simply saying: “intending after Easter—rather, after Passover; i.e., after the whole festival was over” (The word in our King James Version is an ecclesiastical term of later date, and ought not to have been employed here).”

CHAPTER 5
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PASSOVER?

There is a third convincing proof that Jesus would be in the tomb exactly 72 hours. That proof is found in the biblical chronology of events. Sadly, this is something few understand, because most who call themselves Christians today have substituted pagan holidays and traditions, choosing to reject the Festivals and Holy Days that God gave to His people—days that were kept by Jesus Christ Himself, as well as His Apostles and the original first-century Christian Church.

Why, then, do most people assume Jesus was crucified on a Friday? The truth is that many have no idea other than that is what they were taught. Still, those who are more biblically literate understand from Scripture that He was crucified on a Preparation Day leading up to a Sabbath. For example, we have Luke’s statement regarding Jesus’ burial by Joseph of Arimathea: “This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near” (Luke 23:52–54).

As all students of the Bible should know, the weekly Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday. So, on the surface it might appear that Jesus was crucified Friday morning and put in the grave very late Friday afternoon, but this is not what happened—as we shall see.

Many errors are the result of a carelessly made false assumption and this is the case on this subject. There is no doubt that Jesus was crucified on the Preparation day for a Sabbath, but which Sabbath was this? Was it the weekly Sabbath which began Friday evening at sunset and ended Saturday evening at sunset? Or is it possible that it was a High Day, an annual Sabbath?

What is commonly called the Lord’s Supper, or the Last Supper, was in fact the Passover. There can be no doubt about this, although some scholars reject clear scriptures and claim otherwise. Matthew, Mark and Luke all call Jesus’ final supper with His disciples the Passover. Here is Luke’s account: “Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.’ So they said to Him, ‘Where do You want us to prepare?’ And He said to them, ‘Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. Then you shall say to the master of the house, “The Teacher says to you, ‘Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?…'”‘ So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer'” (Luke 22:7–15).

For further evidence, see Matthew 26:17–20, where the Passover is mentioned three times in connection to His final meal. Also see Mark 14:12–17, where the Passover is mentioned four times. The three synoptic gospels combined (Matthew, Mark and Luke) mention the Passover at least twelve times in relation to what is commonly called the Last Supper! Can there be any doubt that the last supper was indeed the Passover?

God counts each day from sunset to sunset (Genesis 1:3–5). So, we can see how, on the day of His crucifixion, Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples in the evening, was taken into custody that night and was crucified during the daylight portion of the Passover day. The Passover is a very special day, but it is not a Sabbath day. However, as we shall see, the day that began at the sunset after His death was an annual Sabbath day: the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

Many professing Christians are woefully ignorant of what the Bible actually says and many have no idea of the historical events of scripture. Were it not for the movie, The Ten Commandments, even fewer would know about Israel’s journey out of Egypt, but it is important for us to be aware of those events if we are to understand the true crucifixion and resurrection account.

The family and nation of Israel were slaves in Egypt and served under cruel bondage. In the course of time, God sent Moses to rescue them and take them to the land that had been promised to their ancestor Abraham. Nine miraculous plagues fell upon Egypt, but Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. Then came the tenth plague by which all the firstborn in Egypt died, except those protected by a special ceremony.

The Israelites were commanded to set aside a yearling male lamb or goat on the tenth day of the month and follow these instructions. “Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover” (Exodus 12:6–11).

Again, since the Bible counts time from sunset to sunset, this was the beginning of the 14th day, which began that year on a Tuesday evening after sunset. The firstborn in every household had death pass over them if they were in a house marked by the blood of a sacrificed lamb or goat—this evening became known as the Passover.

During the daylight hours of Nisan 14, the children of Israel “spoiled” the Egyptians and traveled to the city of Rameses, from where the Exodus began after sunset at the beginning of Nisan 15. It took the children of Israel seven days to go from Rameses to the other side of the Red Sea, and this time period was memorialized as the Days of Unleavened Bread, because the Israelites were on the move and did not have time to allow their bread to rise.

The Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread were very closely associated, such that we sometimes see “Passover” used to indicate both festivals together. The difference between the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is clearly delineated in Leviticus 23:5–7. “On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.” See also Numbers 28:16–18. In both accounts, we learn that Nisan 15, the first day following the Passover, is a day to congregate and to rest from our customary work. It is an annual Sabbath—a High Day—a little-understood fact with profound implications, as we shall see in the next chapter.

GOD’S MASTER PLAN

Meaning of the Festivals

Old Testament	New Testament
Passover Blood of a sacrificed lamb was placed around the doors of Israelite houses God "passed over" in slaying the Egyptian firstborn (Leviticus 23:5)	Passover Pictures Jesus Christ shedding His blood for the sins of mankind
Days of Unleavened Bread A seven-day festival during which leavening is put out of dwellings and is not eaten (Leviticus 23:6–14)	Days of Unleavened Bread Putting out leaven pictures a Christian's duty to "put out sin" from a life yielded to Jesus Christ
Pentecost A day celebrating the gathering in of the first and smaller of the two annual harvests; observed 50 days from a fixed point in the previous Feast (Leviticus 23:15–22)	Pentecost Pictures the Christian receiving God's Holy Spirit
Feast of Trumpets Called Rosh Hashana by the Jews; a day of rejoicing marked by the blowing of trumpets (Leviticus 23:23–25)	Feast of Trumpets Pictures a time of war and plagues leading to the "first resurrection" and Christ's return as King of kings
Day of Atonement A day of fasting and repentance, known to the Jews as Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23:26–32)	Day of Atonement Pictures the binding of Satan at the beginning of the Millennium and the world becoming at one with God
Feast of Tabernacles A seven-day celebration of the great fall harvest, observed by living in temporary dwellings for the duration of the Feast (Leviticus 23:33–43)	Feast of Tabernacles Pictures the Millennium, when the earth will be ruled by Jesus Christ and His saints
Last Great Day Adjacent to the Feast of Tabernacles, this eighth day is considered a separate Feast (Leviticus 23:36, 39)	Last Great Day Pictures the "White Throne Judgment" when all those not previously called will be able to hear the True Gospel and accept salvation

CHAPTER 6
“FOR THAT SABBATH WAS A HIGH DAY”

Without knowing that the Sabbath right after Christ’s crucifixion was an “annual Sabbath,” it is difficult to understand the New Testament account, but with this understanding the whole story opens up to us. The day following the Passover was a high day, an annual Sabbath where work was not to be done. Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples at the beginning of the day (shortly after sunset), then was put in the grave late in the afternoon at the end of the Passover day. When the sun set that evening, the first day of Unleavened Bread, an annual Sabbath day, had begun; this is exactly what the Apostle John reveals in John 19:31: “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” Of course, Scripture shows that Christ’s legs were not in fact broken (v. 33), in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy (Psalm 34:20).

John tells us that it was not the preparation for a weekly Sabbath, but for a High Day Sabbath! Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples on Nisan 14. Then, as John confirms, the next day was (as every Bible student should know) an annual Sabbath! The day on which Passover is kept is also the Preparation Day for the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

So, why is this not widely understood by today’s professing Christians? Why do priests and ministers not teach this truth plainly? John 19:31 is not unknown to biblical scholars, so how do they deal with it? Different commentaries have varying explanations, but the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary on the Whole Bible is typical in explaining away the true significance of this verse, describing only “the first day of unleavened bread, and, as concurring with an ordinary Sabbath, the most solemn season of the ecclesiastical year.” The New Bible Commentary Revised says: “It was doubly important to the Jews to observe their ritual requirements on a day which was both Sabbath and festival.” But is this accurate? Scholars recognize that Jesus died on the Preparation Day for an annual Sabbath, but miss the importance of this statement. By hanging on to their tradition, they reject the clear teaching of Scripture!

Two Sabbaths

What is generally missed is that the Bible records two Sabbaths involving the time Jesus was in the tomb! Scripture tells us the women rested on the Sabbath and then bought spices. “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him” (Mark 16:1). Notice that this took place after a Sabbath!

But Luke 23 tells us they prepared the spices and then rested on the Sabbath. “That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment (Luke 23:54–56).

It goes without saying that you cannot prepare the spices before you buy them! Read those two scriptures again. Mark tells us that they did not buy the spices until after the Sabbath, but Luke tells us they prepared them and rested on the Sabbath. These two passages give infallible proof that the women rested on the High Day (the annual Sabbath), then bought and prepared the spices the next day, then rested on the weekly Sabbath. This is the only way to harmonize these verses! Either there were two Sabbaths, with an ordinary day in between, or the Bible contradicts itself!

If this is too hard for you to visualize or follow along with after so many years of having learned the wrong sequence of events, just look at the chart in the center of this booklet. Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples Tuesday evening after sunset. Following the Passover meal, He then left the upper room and took His disciples with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane. This is where Judas led the authorities to arrest Jesus, and where Judas betrayed Him with a kiss. Jesus was illegally tried and abused that night and during the early morning hours of Wednesday. Around 9:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, He was taken out and crucified. He then died about 3:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. What happened next?

“Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath [the annual High Day Sabbath: John 19:31], Joseph of Arimathea… went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus” (Mark 15:42–43). Permission was granted only after Pilate summoned the centurion, who affirmed that Jesus was indeed dead (vv. 44–45).

The gospel of John informs us that Joseph, along with help from Nicodemus, the Pharisee who came to Jesus by night (see John 3:1–21), collected the body and carried it to a nearby tomb. It is evident from the details that they worked very quickly, as there was only a short span between Jesus’ death and the beginning of the annual Sabbath which began at sunset Wednesday. “And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby” (John 19:39–42).

Luke clarifies how close to the Sabbath it was when Joseph and Nicodemus finished their work preparing and burying Christ. “Then he [Joseph] took it [the body of Jesus] down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid” (Luke 23:53–55).

Now, count three days and three nights with this background in mind. Wednesday at sunset began the annual high-day Sabbath so Wednesday night was the first night. Daylight Thursday was still the High Day Sabbath and was the first day. The High Day came to an end when the sun set Thursday evening. Sunset Thursday until sunset Friday was another preparation day and was an ordinary work day between two Sabbaths. This was when the women bought and prepared the spices, satisfying both Mark 16:1 and Luke 23:56.

Thursday night is our second night and daytime Friday is our second day. When the sun set on Friday afternoon, the weekly Sabbath began. Friday night is our third night and daytime Saturday is our third day. Jesus was raised from the grave late Saturday afternoon (right before sunset), three days and three nights after He was put in the grave. Clearly, Christ’s words in Matthew 12:40 were fulfilled: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Note also that the Apostle Paul was inspired to remind us that Jesus rose exactly as He said He would (1 Corinthians 15:4).

THE SIGN OF JONAH

Jesus told His enemies, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:39–40).

Three days and three nights—this is the sign Jesus gave to establish His Messiahship. Our Savior staked His very identity on what some might brush off as a seemingly trivial detail. Yet the Pharisees did not consider it so trivial. Notice how they responded to Christ’s death: “On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, ‘Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, “After three days I will rise”‘” (Matthew 27:62–63).

The chief priests and Pharisees feared that Christ’s disciples might try to fake His resurrection, following the exact time-table He gave, thus continuing His influence even after His death. In response, Pilate authorized additional security to make sure no one would tamper with the grave (vv. 65–66).

Significantly, when describing Jonah’s ordeal in the belly of the fish, the book of Jonah uses the exact same words for day and night that are used in Genesis 1:5. “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days [yowm] and three nights [layil]” (Jonah 1:17).

Our Creator is a God of perfect timing. He gave exact instructions for keeping the Passover on time (Exodus 12:12, 22). He gave human beings exact instructions for keeping a specific day of rest and worship (Exodus 20:8). He instructs us to observe specific annual Holy Days throughout the year (Leviticus 23). When it comes to prophecy, He has perfect timing, knowing the “end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10).

Indeed, the prophet Daniel foretold the timing of Christ’s first coming, hundreds of years in advance (Daniel 9:24–26). So we can understand that the death and resurrection of the Savior of the world would occur with perfect timing, as confirmed by the sign of Jonah.

CHAPTER 7
WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY?

The scriptures nowhere use the names we now use to label the days of the week. We never read in the Bible the name “Sunday.” Instead, as we look at how the days around Christ’s crucifixion are described, we find reference to the Preparation Day, the Sabbath, the first day of the week and a High Day. In this regard, virtually all scholars understand that the Preparation Day is the day before either a weekly or annual Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath runs from what we know as Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. The first day of the week is what we call Sunday in the English language. And a High Day is understood by scholars to indicate an annual Sabbath. Sadly, to maintain their tradition (contrary to the Scriptures), scholars and religious leaders have generally tried to conflate the annual Sabbath with the weekly Sabbath.

Interestingly, as an aside for those who claim we cannot know when the biblical seventh-day Sabbath is, the Good Friday/Easter Sunday tradition identifies both the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) and the first day of the week (Sunday)! And, as we have seen, so does the true chronology of events. Those who use the specious argument that time has been lost and we cannot know the day are without excuse! (If you have not read our booklets Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath? and The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan, please call, write, or go online to TomorrowsWorld.org to read or order your free copy)!

Where does the idea come from that Jesus was resurrected Sunday morning? Mostly from tradition, but Scripture should take precedent over tradition. A careful reading reveals that when the women came to the tomb it was around dawn on the first day of the week. This is when most people erroneously think the resurrection took place. But notice what it says (and, even more importantly, what it does not say) in Luke 24:1–6: “Now on the first day of the week [Sunday], very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!'” Take note that it does not say that He rose that morning; it says only that when they arrived He was gone—already risen!

But some would ask, “Doesn’t the Bible actually say that Jesus rose Sunday morning?” The answer is, yes, but no! Notice this in Mark 16: “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons” (v. 9). On the surface, this certainly looks as though Jesus rose Sunday morning, so what do we do with all the other evidence we have seen that contradicts this? Which is correct? John tells us: “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Therefore we must take a closer look at this verse.

Most people take for granted the chapters, verses and sentence structures found in the Bible, but it was not always this way. The first New Testament Greek manuscripts had no punctuation as we understand it today. All the letters were written in uncials, what we would call capital letters. Later manuscripts were written in minuscules, what we might call cursive small letters. Among the uncials, all words were run together with no space between them. Mark 16:9 would look this way, except that instead of English letters, they were Greek letters:

We can be thankful that translators and publishers have, over time, made Bible reading easier by adding capitalization and punctuation. More often than not they do a very fine job of this, but we must realize that their own biases creep into our translations and that is the case with this verse.

Mark 16:9 can be punctuated in at least two different ways. The New King James Version and many other modern translations have punctuated it according to their traditional beliefs; hence, that Jesus rose early on the first day of the week. However, as we have seen, if this were the case, the very sign Jesus gave that He was the Messiah and Son of God would be contradicted. We would also have a major contradiction about when the women bought and prepared the spices and the whole flow of events as given in the Bible would be wrong.

We firmly believe that the Bible was inspired (God-breathed) and without error in its original writings, but no modern translation is without errors. Many of these deviations do not introduce truly major misunderstandings, but the NKJVrendering of Mark 16:9 does. If we change the punctuation to be in harmony with the rest of scripture, it would read this way: “Now, when He rose, early on the first day of the week He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.” Here we see that the emphasis is not on when He rose, but on when He first appeared to Mary Magdalene. The fact is that the onlyway to know how it should be punctuated is to read it in both its immediate context and the context of Scripture as a whole. Since we know the proper order of events as shown earlier, we know that the emphasis is not on when Jesus rose, but on when He appeared to Mary. Punctuating it this way is totally legitimate, and is the only way to harmonize this verse with the rest of Scripture.

Does It Matter?

To deny the sign Jesus gave is to deny Jesus as our Savior. Millions of very sincere people have done just that, not realizing they have been deceived by traditions handed down from generation to generation and perpetuated in mainstream Christian churches. Instead of doing what Paul commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Test all things; hold fast what is good,” they have gone along with quaint sentimental customs involving rabbits, eggs, lilies and pagan deities and days.

Some would protest that it is the thought that counts and as long as we are doing it for Jesus it is okay. But is this what Jesus told His followers? No! Notice: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him (John 4:23). Worshiping Him sincerely is important, but we must also worship Him in truth!

We are specifically told not to ask, “‘How did these nations serve their gods? [And say] I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it'” (Deuteronomy 12:30–32).

If you would like to learn more about the Holy Days God instructed mankind to keep and how they portray the incredibly exciting plan God is working out here below, please call, write, or go to TomorrowsWorld.org to order your own free copy of our booklet, The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan or to read it online. And if you are tired of being led about by unbiblical man-made and pagan traditions, and would like to meet with others who are keeping the biblically inspired Sabbath and Holy Days, please contact the Regional Office nearest you and request to speak to one of our representatives. We have congregations in many cities and countries around the world where people faithfully observe the days God instituted.

Booklet Category

Doctrine

False Religion

Do You Believe the True Gospel?

4uwzvo — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 18:55:48 +0000

Do You Believe the True Gospel? 4uwzvo Mon, 02/28/2022 - 18:55

Do You Believe the True Gospel?

Roderick C. Meredith (1930-2017)

Booklet Media

#Apostles

#Bible

#Christianity

#God

#Jesus Christ

#Kingdom of God

#Law of God

#Prophecy

What did Jesus really preach? Do you know? Do not be too sure! Just what did Jesus mean by “the Kingdom of God”? Here is the exciting Good News: there is a new world coming!

CHAPTER 1

A MESSAGE ABOUT THE MESSENGER?

Your eternity depends on your willingness to understand and believe the true Gospel! Yet the Apostle Paul warned the Christians of his day that “if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” (2 Corinthians 11:4).

Frankly, millions of sincere men and women have put up with a false gospel. They have been deceived all right—far too easily deceived. Why? Because too many have failed to obey God’s command to “Prove all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, King James Version). Jesus Christ said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Have you believed the same Gospel Jesus preached? You need to be sure! There are many, many “gospels” being preached in the world today!

Have you ever heard something like this?

Just give your heart to the Lord. Jesus was born in the manger as the Christ, the Son of God, to save as many souls in this age as would accept Him into their hearts. When He grew up, He went around performing miracles and forgiving people. He kept God’s harsh law for all of us before finally being nailed to the cross along with that old law. He rose from the dead on the third day and appeared to many witnesses. Then He returned to heaven and began to set up His Kingdom in the hearts of men. He’ll forgive your sins and come into your heart—just as you are—if you’ll only accept Him. Jesus saves! Just believe on Him, and you’ll be saved—born again. And, when you die, you’ll go to be with Him in heaven—forever!

But is that really the Gospel Jesus taught? If you have accepted, without question, the almost unanimous voice of mainstream Christianity in this regard, you probably think that it is. Yet consider something Mark Twain wrote:

In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing (Autobiography of Mark Twain).

Do you really know what constitutes the genuine Gospel that Jesus and His Apostles preached? Or have you made a careless assumption, following the crowd as Mark Twain noted, taking your beliefs from second-hand suppositions?

Probably you were taught the mainstream understanding of “the Gospel” while growing up. Or maybe you learned it from the barrage of religious publications and broadcasts that exist in our modern world. In any case, you have, more than likely, not seen the need to question your beliefs. After all, most professing Christian authorities are in agreement here. Surely, they must be right. Or are they?

In His famous Olivet Prophecy, Jesus Christ warned, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:4–5, KJV). Many assume that Christ was talking about individuals who would claim to actually be Christ themselves. However, there have not been “many” such people over the centuries who have been taken seriously, much less who have deceived the “many.” Another interpretation some have offered is that Jesus was referring to false “Savior” figures like Hitler and Mussolini. But this is really taking liberties with the text. Remember, Christ said that “many shall come in My name….”

Here is a clearer rendering of what Jesus meant: “Take care that no one leads you astray. Indeed, many will appear, making use of My name, saying that I am Christ, yet deceiving many.”

What an astounding warning! Christ was foretelling that many false preachers would talk about Him and that they would proclaim that He is the Christ, the expected Messiah. Yet even after acknowledging Jesus’ Messiahship, the deceivers are prophesied to seduce the unwary from a correct understanding of Jesus’ genuine Gospel! How about you? Might they have deceived you, too? Do not make careless assumptions! Find out—prove—what is true. Then you will really know and nobody will be able to fool you!

FALSE ASSUMPTIONS AND FALSE HOPES

Jesus said this about certain false religious teachers of His day: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8–9). Jesus is plainly saying that one can worship Him to no purpose, uselessly—if the doctrines on which that worship is based have their source in men’s erroneous ideas about how to interpret Scripture, rather than on the plain, intended teaching of the word of God!

What, then, is the actual Gospel that Jesus preached? Did He simply tell people to believe in Him—or was it far more than that? This is a vital question, for if you believe a lie rather than the truth, you will eventually find yourself holding a bag of false hopes and unfulfilled expectations!

In Luke 13, Christ explained the plight of those holding false hopes:

When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, "Lord, Lord, open for us," and He will answer and say to you, "I do not know you, where you are from," then you will begin to say, "We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets." But He will say, "I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity." There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out (vv. 25–28).

Does it really make a difference to God whether or not we adhere strictly to the exact same Gospel that Christ and His Apostles preached? On the authority of Jesus Christ, I say it makes a great deal of difference!

After Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, He appeared to His Apostles and commissioned them to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15–16).

Christ later inspired the Apostle Paul to pronounce a double curse on anyone who would dare preach a different gospel.

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8–9).

The Apostle Paul took great pains to warn the Corinthian Christians about false ministers who would come preaching “another Jesus” and proclaiming a “different gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:4). This is why I say—as a minister of Jesus Christ—that it is critically important for you and your salvation to recognize the true Jesus Christ of the Bible and to prove for yourself what is the genuine Gospel that He preached! And Jesus Himself made that clear!

It can easily be shown from the Bible that the Gospel does not revolve solely around the personality of Jesus, the Son of God. Of course, Jesus is our Messiah who shed His blood so that our sins might be forgiven. We need to deeply appreciate and proclaim this truth. But that in itself does not constitute the complete Gospel.

Certainly, we need the understanding of Christ’s sacrifice. The Bible says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Consequently, the name of Jesus Christ is absolutely vital. Yet it is absolutely false to say of Jesus, as many now do, “He is the Gospel. He is the Kingdom of God.” There is much more to the true Gospel message preached by Jesus Christ.

GOSPEL “OF” CHRIST OR “ABOUT” CHRIST?

At the end of the Old Testament, God inspired the following prophecy: “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight” (Malachi 3:1). According to Mark 1:2–4, the first messenger mentioned here refers to John the Baptist, who prepared the way before Christ’s First Coming. Christ is referred to next as “the Lord… even the Messenger of the covenant….” So Jesus Christ was sent as a “Messenger.” A messenger bears a message from someone else—and so Jesus did, as He made plain by stating that “the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:24).

God the Father sent Christ to announce a message from Him. What kind of message was it? The word “gospel” originates from the Old English word godspell, meaning “good news” or “announcement of glad tidings.” The New Testament translators used “gospel” for the Greek noun euaggelion. The English word “evangelism”—preaching the Gospel—is derived from it. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have come to be known as “the four gospels” because they relate four separate accounts of Christ delivering His announcement of Good News!

What was this Good News all about? Let Scripture answer! Open your Bible and turn to Mark 1:14–15. Read what God inspired Mark to write: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” This is the Gospel. There is only one—and it is about the Kingdom of God.

Some will attempt to deny the prominence of the Kingdom of God in the Gospel by pointing out that Mark 1:1 mentions the “gospel of Jesus Christ.” It is also referred to as the “gospel of God” because it was a message from God. But the New Testament overwhelmingly calls it “the gospel of the kingdom of God.” That is what the Gospel is about! Look at what one scholarly work attests:

There is clear agreement among the synoptic Gospels [Matthew, Mark, and Luke] that the kingdom of God was the principal theme within Jesus’ message…. In aggregate, they present some fifty sayings and parables of Jesus concerning the kingdom…. It is, then, a matter of consensus within the canon that the kingdom constituted a primary focus of Jesus’ theology (The Oxford Companion to the Bible, 1993, p. 408, emphasis added).

Do not blindly believe this booklet—or any commentary or Bible study aid. Believe your Bible—believe God! People have gone off track spiritually by relying solely on men. Scripture commands you to “Test all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Check up on this and examine it for yourself. Suspend your prior opinions and just read what God says. It will soon be clear in your mind that the Gospel of Christ is His message from the Father about the Kingdom of God. Jesus affirmed this after teaching in the city of Capernaum by saying, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Luke 4:43). Matthew 9:35 testifies that this is exactly what He did: “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom….”

According to Jesus, what should life’s primary focus be? “… seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). In what has come to be known as the “Lord’s Prayer,” Jesus said, “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come” (vv. 9–10). The Gospel that Christ brought is indeed the Good News of this coming kingdom. That is the message Jesus preached. He sent His disciples out preaching that very same message. And they did preach it—for the rest of their lives!

It was not until false teachers began to subvert the early Church that Christ’s Gospel began to be perverted. Paul, writing more than 20 years after Christ’s death, was aware of one such distortion: “… there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:7). Among a growing number of heresies, perhaps none was gaining as much momentum as the new gospel about the events of Christ’s life and of simply believing in His person to be saved. Gradually, then, the true Gospel of Christ was supplanted by a false gospel about Christ.

In the mouth of Christ and of those whom, while He was on earth, He sent forth to proclaim it… it was the good tidings of the kingdom of God… which He had come to establish…. After Christ’s death and resurrection it became the good tidings (not so much brought by, and proclaimed by, as) about Christ (James Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible, 1899, vol. 2, p. 233, emphasis added).

WHAT ABOUT THE NAME OF JESUS?

Christ sent out His disciples “to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick…. So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere” (Luke 9:2, 6). When the Apostles returned, Christ took them to a deserted place. “But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing” (v. 11).

According to Jesus’ example and instructions, preaching the Gospel is preaching about the Kingdom of God!

Then, in verse 18 of the same chapter, when He was alone with His disciples, Christ asked, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again” (v. 19).

Matthew 16 contains a more complete passage paralleling this account: “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven’” (vv. 15–17).

Clearly, Christ had not even told His own disciples this yet. But Jesus had already sent them out preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Notice verse 20: “Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.” The reason He commanded this is that he did not want to be crucified prematurely. But what is absolutely certain from this verse is that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God cannot be a simple proclamation stating that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, for we have just seen in Luke 9:11 that they had already been preaching the Gospel—but obviously had not told the people that Jesus was the Christ!

Some might say, “Yes, but perhaps the Gospel preached by Christ and His Apostles was about the fact that the Messiah had to die for our sins and be resurrected, minus the actual identity of that Messiah.” To answer that, look at what happened after Peter recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, as recorded in Mark 8:

Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (vv. 30–33).

It was only after Peter’s recognition of Jesus as the Christ that Jesus began to teach His disciples about His coming crucifixion and resurrection. But Peter did not receive this teaching very well at this point, so it ought to be plain as day that a proclamation of Christ crucified was not a part of the Gospel that Christ had previously sent Peter out preaching!

To further illustrate this, look at the same event as recorded in Luke 9:18–22. In verse 22, Christ instructed the Apostles that He would die and be resurrected. But, evidently much later, they still did not get it!

But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying (vv. 43–45).

The Gospel that Jesus had sent the Apostles to preach was not centered on believing on Christ’s person or receiving forgiveness of sins through His sacrifice. Just talking about Christ is not the Gospel! Yes, Jesus Christ is the most important Person ever to have walked the earth. He was, indeed, God in the flesh, the Son of God, who came as the Christ to give His life to atone for the sins of mankind. And He has been resurrected to be the Savior of the world. All of this is true. And—although it is extremely necessary—none of this is the sole focus of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

It was only after Jesus was resurrected that He added this element to the message the Apostles were to preach:

And He [the risen Jesus] opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:45–48).

The name of Jesus Christ—that is, His true name—comprises who He is, what He has done for us, and everything He has taught, commanded and stood for. This essential information was added—to be taught alongside the Gospel of the Kingdom of God—after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Is this an assumption? Not at all! Look at the preserved biblical account of the preaching of the early evangelists and Apostles, years after Christ’s death.

Notice what Philip preached in Samaria. “But when they believed Philip as he preached [first] the things concerning the kingdom of God and [second] the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized” (Acts 8:12).

The true Church is to preach both elements: first the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and, second, the true name of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER 2

WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

We have seen that the true Gospel preached by Christ and His Apostles was about the Kingdom of God. Exactly what is that kingdom? There have been many ideas. The Jews of Christ’s day thought that a Messiah figure would lead their physical nation to militarily subdue other governments until they reigned supreme over all men. Later, the concept emerged that the Church made up the Kingdom. Others have believed that the Kingdom of God is an ethereal realm set up in the hearts of men. Others see it called “the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew’s gospel account and conclude that it must refer to eternal bliss in heaven. Some also maintain that the Kingdom is the person of Jesus Himself.

The “Kingdom of God/Heaven” is a subject of major importance in the Bible for two primary reasons: its frequency in the first three canonical (synoptic) gospels of the NT, and the conviction that it stands at the very center of the message of the historical Jesus. Its meaning, which is derived from a world of oriental monarchs and monarchies that is very different from modern Western democracies, has been interpreted in various ways. Historically it has been associated with the future state of the resurrected, immortal blessed; the Church; monastic contemplation; mystical ecstasy; pious religious experience; the progressively redeemed society inspired by love; the future transformation of this world; apocalyptic hope for the next world; and an open-ended symbol possible of many interpretations (“Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven,” Dictionary, 1992, emphasis added).

Scripture scholar George E. Ladd described how one particular theologian “reduced the Kingdom of God to the subjective realm and understood it in terms of the human spirit and its relationship to God. The Kingdom of God is an inward power which enters into the human soul and lays hold of it. It consists of a few basic religious truths of universal application.” A more recent interpretation, Ladd mentions, “conceives of the Kingdom as the absolute, the ‘wholly other’ which has entered into time and space in the person of Jesus of Nazareth” (The Gospel of the Kingdom).

He continues, “At the other extreme are those who, like Albert Schweitzer, define Jesus’ message of the Kingdom as an apocalyptic realm to be inaugurated by a supernatural act of God when history will be broken off and a new heavenly order of existence begun. The Kingdom of God in no sense of the word is a present or spiritual reality; it is altogether future and supernatural.”

Ladd also points out the view or interpretation that “relates the Kingdom of God in one way or another to the Church.”

Since the days of Augustine, the Kingdom has been identified with the Church. As the Church grows, the Kingdom grows and is extended in the world. Many Protestant theologians have taught a modified form of this interpretation, holding that the Kingdom of God may be identified with the true Church which is embodied in the visible professing Church. As the Church takes the Gospel into all the world, it extends the Kingdom of God. An optimistic version holds that it is the mission of the Church to win the entire world to Christ and thus transform the world into the Kingdom of God.

Are any of these interpretations right? What, in the midst of all this confusion, is the truth? What is the Kingdom of God?

WHAT IS A KINGDOM?

To understand the Kingdom of God, we should begin by asking what any kingdom is. A kingdom is primarily defined as a “community or major territorial unit having a monarchical form of government headed by a king or queen” (Merriam-Webster.com).

This is also the biblical definition of a kingdom. Four things are necessary to constitute a real kingdom: 1) a king or ruling agent; 2) land or territory; 3) subjects or citizens within that territorial jurisdiction; 4) laws and a form of government. If we leave out any of these elements, we do not have a real kingdom. And if we believe in some ethereal sort of “kingdom,” we do not believe in the true Gospel!

The truth on the subject of the Kingdom is revealed in God’s word. What men think may be interesting and appealing to the intellect, but the truth is in the Holy Scripture. “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

The Bible reveals that Jesus’ message concerned government and governance. He was born to be humanity’s King! The prophet Isaiah wrote this of Him:

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this (Isaiah 9:6–7).

Shortly before Christ’s human conception, the archangel Gabriel told Mary, who would be His mother, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32–33).

During Jesus’ trial, Pontius Pilate asked Him if He was a king. “Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice’” (John 18:37). Too many in this deceived world think of Christ as either “the little Lord Jesus, away in a manger” or as a frail weakling nailed to a cross. They do not contemplate His role as a coming, omnipotent Ruler and King.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DREAM

What is the nature of the government that is to rest on Christ’s shoulders? Is it merely human devotion to “sweet Jesus”? Emphatically, no! God’s message and plan for mankind is consistent. The prophet Daniel was inspired nearly 600 years before Christ’s birth to write about the coming Kingdom of God.

During the Jews’ captivity in the ancient Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean Empire, Daniel served his masters in the palace of the emperor Nebuchadnezzar. This world ruler had a vivid dream, which so troubled him that he was losing sleep over it (Daniel 2:1). He just had to know its meaning! So Nebuchadnezzar ordered his court magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers to reveal to him the dream’s meaning. But this shrewd despot would not even tell his “trusted” advisors what He had dreamt! They were first required to tell him his dream—so that he could know their interpretations were trustworthy (vv. 2–9). They, of course, were unable to do so (vv. 10–11).

God, however, had given Daniel “understanding in all visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:17). When he was brought before Nebuchadnezzar (2:25), he explained, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days” (vv. 27–28).

So God’s purpose here was to reveal to this pagan ruler that there is a real God who rules the vast universe, as well as to reveal what would happen “in the latter days.” If you want to understand the exciting, advance news of future events—the culmination of which may occur in your lifetime—open your Bible, turn to this amazing chapter in Daniel, and read it for yourself!

You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king (vv. 31–36).

Did this dream mean something? Yes, because God had inspired it! It was prophetic. However, some people think that Bible prophecy is just melodic poetry—serving no guiding, foretelling purpose. Others believe prophecy does indeed have meaning, but that we cannot possibly decipher what that meaning is—at least until after its fulfillment and often not even then. There are still others who subscribe to the idea that prophetic meaning is subject to personal interpretation.

These views reject or distort a major aspect of Christ’s message. And since more than one fourth of the Bible is prophecy, such opinions about prophecy would make a major portion of God’s word basically useless to us.

Yet God tells us that “all Scripture… is profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16) and Revelation 19:10 teaches us that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” The Apostle Peter wrote that “we have the prophetic word confirmed… knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:19–21).

We must never try to interpret the Bible by reading our ideas into it! And we must not believe the personal interpretation of other human beings. We must deeply study the Bible—comparing scripture with scripture. We must let the Bible interpret itself.

A SUCCESSION OF WORLD-RULING KINGDOMS

Daniel gave God’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, saying first, “You, O king, are a king of kings” (Daniel 2:37). Nebuchadnezzar subjugated other kingdoms under his own. He was the first to rule over a really world-dominating kingdom or empire. But it was not through his own might, “For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory” (v. 37). God was revealing His own supremacy in world events. “… you,” God told Nebuchadnezzar, “are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth” (vv. 38–39).

Did you catch that? God is speaking here of literal kingdoms—a succession of world-ruling governments. This is clearly not talking about syrupy, sentimental concepts. God is making the truth plain! Nebuchadnezzar’s Chaldean Empire was represented by the head of gold. Following that would come another empire, to be succeeded by still another. If you check the history books, you will see that the Persian Empire came next, followed by Alexander the Great’s Greco-Macedonian Empire.

Yet another, represented by the two legs of iron, would immediately follow that one, “And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others” (v. 40). The Roman Empire did just that. We can see that it was divided into two “legs,” West and East, with capitals in Rome and Constantinople respectively.

If we compare this account with Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 and 17, we can understand that the Roman Empire system would have ten revivals or resurrections in later centuries. The last seven of these revivals would be controlled by a false religious authority. The last of the ten revivals equates to the feet and toes of this great image in Daniel 2. Its ten toes of “iron mixed with ceramic clay” (v. 43)—a strong but brittle mixture (v. 42)—symbolize ten contemporaneous political leaders who will give power to a charismatic, powerful ruler (Revelation 17:12–13). Together, these “kings” will make up the final resurrection of the fourth world-ruling empire. That final European superstate may rise before your very eyes! Remember that Daniel had told Nebuchadnezzar that this vision was to reveal events “in the latter days.”

Now we come to Daniel 2:44, the meaning of the stone “cut out of the mountain without hands” that smashes the image representing the succession of human world-ruling empires and then grows to fill the whole earth. This is the revelation we have been seeking! Here, in the plain words of God Almighty, is the explanation of what the kingdom of God really is: “And in the days of these kings [the last revival of the Roman Empire] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

No more will there be any human “king of kings” like Nebuchadnezzar! Jesus Christ will then reign over the whole earth as King of kings and Lord of lords (cf. Revelation 19:11–16). Revelation 11:15 affirms Daniel’s prophecy. At the time of Christ’s Second Coming, loud voices in heaven will proclaim, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” Thus will tomorrow’s world finally be inaugurated!

Daniel’s prophecy, when studied with the book of Revelation, should make it abundantly clear that the future Kingdom of God will be a literal government, just as were the previously mentioned world-ruling empires. As Daniel concluded, “The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure” (Daniel 2:45). This is gloriously wonderful Good News!

OTHER PROPHECIES OF TOMORROW’S WORLD

Other Old Testament prophets also clearly show that Christ’s Kingdom will be a future divine government having global, administrative authority over this earth. Has God’s Kingdom already been established? The answer is obvious from a few straightforward prophecies from Scripture about the coming Kingdom:

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:2–4; cf. Micah 4:1–3).

Micah adds this additional information: “But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken” (v. 4). Would anyone today argue that this prophecy has already been fulfilled?

A statue depicting a man beating his sword into a plowshare stands outside the United Nations’ headquarters in New York City—but a quick look at the television or newspapers will show you that the United Nations has not fulfilled this wonderful prophecy of nations not learning war anymore!

Another famous prophecy of Isaiah should help give us a reality check on the arguments of those who maintain that the Kingdom is already present:

But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious (Isaiah 11:4–10).

The picture of world peace—even in the realm of nature—portrayed by this prophecy has inspired many to sacrifice and labor for God’s Work. Jesus did not fulfill this prophecy of the Kingdom at His First Coming. After all, do bears graze or lions eat straw? Its fulfillment is yet future, awaiting Christ’s Second Coming. There is no confusion here.

Another prophecy about the coming Kingdom of God is found in the book of Zechariah:

It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish. It shall be one day which is known to the Lord—neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light. And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be; “The Lord is one,” and His name one…. And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (14:6–9, 16).

Regrettably, many do not have faith that God Almighty means what He says and says what He means! God clearly states in these prophecies that He is going to completely transform civilization. God has repeatedly foretold His end-time rule over the nations of this earth: “He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth” (Psalm 96:13). Again, for emphasis, God repeated this prophecy: “For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with equity” (Psalm 98:9).

Why do we not hear that kind of Gospel in today’s world? You probably know why. This message is extremely unpopular with most of the religious, political, and social leaders in today’s power structures. They do not want to lose their power! This was one of the reasons the chief priests and the Pharisees sought to kill Jesus (John 11:47–53). Nevertheless, there will be a real new world order established under Jesus Christ’s leadership, totally changing this world’s political and religious institutions. Will you believe what God says, or will you swallow the philosophical concoctions brewed up by disobedient, sinful men who have been deceived by Satan the Devil, the “god” of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4)?

DID CHRIST SAY THE KINGDOM IS “AT HAND”?

When Jesus began His ministry in the late 20s AD, He “began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 4:17). What did Jesus mean? Certainly, He was not implying that it was then the Millennium, when swords would be beaten into plowshares! In fact, about 40 years after Jesus made this statement, terrible massacres befell His kindred people when the Romans slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Jews during their brutal suppression of the Jewish revolt in the late 60s and early 70s AD (cf. Luke 23:28–31)! And this bloody, oppressive rule by avaricious human kingdoms would continue for centuries. How could the Kingdom of God have then been “at hand”?

Yet when Jesus was accused by His jealous adversaries of casting out demons by the power of Satan, Jesus responded that “if I cast out demons… surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:27–28). How could the Kingdom of God have then come upon them?

Answer: by the presence of the King—the Son of God—who was proclaiming the Gospel of that Kingdom! The Messiah Himself stood before them!

The Bible sometimes uses the terms “king” and “kingdom” interchangeably (cf. Daniel 7:7–18, 23). By the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ exercised, while on earth, many of the functions typical of His position as the King of the Kingdom.

A striking characteristic of the Kingdom of God is miraculous, divine intervention. Jesus healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, raised the dead, and commanded the physical environment to behave as He wished! Like refreshing morning dew, the reality of the Kingdom of God settled—during Christ’s sojourn on earth—upon a physical world grappling to comprehend the spiritual reality of God Almighty.

When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God coming upon them, He spoke of His actions and their impact. He was neither transporting His hearers into the Kingdom nor implying that His Kingdom has already been established. Jesus was simply proclaiming that the King of God’s future Kingdom had arrived! This fact alone was to have profound repercussions. The Kingdom was “at hand” because, at Jesus Christ’s First Coming, His presence and actions would have an immediate impact on some people’s lives in advance of the Kingdom’s literal establishment on earth.

DID THE KINGDOM APPEAR IMMEDIATELY IN APOSTOLIC TIMES?

Because His disciples “thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately” (Luke 19:11), Jesus gave them the famous parable of the pounds or minas:

A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, "Do business till I come." But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us." And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading (vv. 12–15).

Christ was the nobleman in this parable. He went to a “far country”—the heaven of God’s throne—to receive the Kingdom of God. Then He would return with it. This has not yet happened; Christ is still in heaven. His Second Coming is yet future. At His Second Coming He will return with the Kingdom. In the rest of the parable, Christ showed how those who zealously and diligently used their talents and abilities—represented by the minas—to serve God would be given rulership over cities! To the one whose mina had increased ten minas, Jesus said, “‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities’” (vv. 17–19). Wow! Those who overcome in their Christian lives will be given authority and rulership in the Kingdom of God. How exciting to have an opportunity to serve others and teach them God’s ways!

This amazing Good News is related in numerous other scriptures. It is certainly not talking about “rolling around heaven all day.” The book of Matthew does not call God’s Kingdom the “kingdom in heaven.” It is the “kingdom of heaven”—it comes down from heaven. The Apostle Peter assures us that our inheritance (the Kingdom) is currently “reserved in heaven” for us (1 Peter 1:4)—to be brought to earth by Jesus Christ at His return, not before! Those in whom Christ resides by His Spirit are ambassadors for that Kingdom, which now waits in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:20). As Paul wrote, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). But we will not go to live there (cf. John 3:13; Acts 2:29, 34). The Kingdom will come down to us at Christ’s return.

Jesus taught His disciples that there will be a time of judgment when He will come to “sit on the throne of His glory” (Matthew 25:31). “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’” (v. 34). This clearly speaks of a future time when the righteous will inherit the Kingdom when Christ comes in His glory. We are now heirs of the Kingdom that He will bring with Him, not yet inheritors.

The Kingdom of God is not the Church. Brethren in the Church must enter the Kingdom in the future: “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:10–11).

THE SAINTS’ RULERSHIP IN THE KINGDOM

At the end of His ministry, Jesus addressed His disciples, saying this:

The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called "benefactors." But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves. But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me (Luke 22:25–29).

The King James Version reads more clearly: “And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me” (v. 29). Jesus then provided His disciples with a view of their future rewards and responsibilities in that Kingdom to which He was appointing them: “… that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (v. 30). What is Jesus saying? He is pointing to a future time when they would judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus was not referring to their immediate ministry.

If Jesus intended His disciples to understand that His Kingdom was on earth right at that moment, why did He give the following response to Pilate? “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here’” (John 18:36).

Even after Jesus’ death and resurrection, He continued “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). Jesus chose His words deliberately, knowing that His disciples were familiar with the prophecies of Isaiah, Daniel, and Zechariah. These prophets had clearly foretold a literal, divine government to be set up on this earth under the Messiah. The Apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He responded, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:6–7). Jesus never contradicted their scriptural understanding that a genuine kingdom was to be set up on earth—ruling over the nations. He merely told them that it was not yet time.

In the seventh chapter of his prophecy, Daniel had foretold what would happen at the Kingdom’s inauguration:

I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man [Christ], coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days [God the Father], and they brought Him [Christ] near before Him [the Father]. Then to Him [Christ] was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13–14).

Where will that kingdom be? Notice that it is a Kingdom “that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve.” As so many verses show, that kingdom will be here on earth!

In Daniel 7, the exiled Jewish prophet dreamed about four wild beasts that symbolized the same four world-ruling kingdoms outlined previously by Nebuchadnezzar’s dream recorded in chapter two. Notice this: “Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever” (vv. 17–18). Verse 22 reveals that “judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” (KJV). The saints of God will possess the Kingdom at that time—as glorified, immortal, divine beings!

An awesome future awaits God’s saints! They will be empowered to help bring genuine peace and joy to this suffering, bloody world. No more temporary and often worthless “Band-Aid” solutions! The immortal saints will assist Christ in enacting effective solutions and reforms for all humanity. Yes, they will join with Christ in ruling this world, straightening out the problems where the problems are—right here on earth. As Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

The Apostle John wrote in the book of Revelation that Christ will have “made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). The same book records Christ saying, “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations… as I also have received from My Father” (Revelation 2:26–27). “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21). The Father’s throne is in heaven, and Christ is now there at His right hand. However, the throne of Christ, from which the saints will rule with Him, will be the throne of David in Jerusalem (Luke 1:32).

We can be there after the prophesied last trumpet sounds and Christ returns as King of kings. “Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52). As that final trumpet blast pierces the air and a world-rocking earthquake shakes the earth to its foundation (Revelation 11:13–15; 16:18), the faithful saints in Christ will no doubt experience a special thrill of joy as they rise to meet Christ in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). Then they will descend with Him to the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11–12; Zechariah 14:3–4) to begin the job of bringing peace to a rebellious world.

Under Jesus Christ’s authority, many of us may assist King David of Israel, a man after God’s own heart, who will be resurrected and given back his former job of leading the twelve tribes or the nations of Israel (Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 37:24). We will get to know Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the other faithful saints and servants of God from all generations, for then we will truly be born of God—born of the resurrection into God’s Family Kingdom.

God’s saints—the overcomers—will be given the opportunity, under Christ’s leadership, to deal with the tyrants who will bring humanity to the brink of annihilation: “Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the written judgment; this honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 149:5–9).

In the New Testament, the Apostle John was inspired to write, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6). The Spirit-filled Apostles and early Church of God clearly understood and taught that the Kingdom of God would be set up at the end of this age as a literal government on this earth under Christ and the resurrected saints. This wonderful future time is often called the “Millennium”—meaning, simply, a 1,000-year period.

The noted historian Edward Gibbon chronicled the belief in the Millennium in his renowned History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Concerning the history of early Christianity, Gibbon wrote the following:

The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the creation had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state, according to a tradition which was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was fixed to six thousand years [cf. Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8]. By the same analogy it was inferred, that this long period of labour and contention, which was now almost elapsed, would be succeeded by a joyful sabbath of a thousand years [cf. Hebrews 3–4; Revelation 20:6]; and that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, would reign upon earth till the time appointed for the last and general resurrection (1862, p. 176).

Man has been given 6,000 years to learn the lesson that, without God, he is totally unable to govern himself. The prophet Jeremiah points out that “the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

George Washington, the first President of the United States, conveyed the same sentiment in a letter dated October 31, 1786: “Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government” (Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, 1993, p. 383). The terrible crises at the end of this age will finally bring humanity to the brink of total self-annihilation. Only then will people see the absolute futility of self-rule and be humbled enough to seek God’s absolute governance over their lives. Then God will intervene!

BORN INTO GOD’S KINGDOM

The Kingdom of God will rule the earth’s peoples. But these subject mortals will not be in the Kingdom—only ruled by it. Who then, will be in the Kingdom? Can you become part of it?

When Christ met with the Pharisee Nicodemus, who had come secretly at night, Jesus went right to the heart of the matter: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). He then explained, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (v. 6)—that is, composed of spirit. Unless we have been changed into immortal spirit beings, as 1 Corinthians 15 describes our future resurrection, we have not yet been “born again.” Verse 50 of the same chapter assures us that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” But do “flesh and blood” humans enter the Church? Yes! So the Church cannot be God’s Kingdom! To be in that Kingdom, we must first be born of God as literal children in God’s Family.

In all of God’s physical creation, humanity alone has a conscience and can come to know the difference between good and evil. This is through what the Bible calls “the human spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:11, New Revised Standard Version).

It energizes the human physical brain with intellect—creating our wonderful minds, which are so incredibly superior to that of any other physical creature. God’s Holy Spirit joins with this human spirit at conversion (Romans 8:16).

The mainstream “Christian world” confuses “born again” with “conversion.” There is not space enough in this publication to prove in detail what God’s word reveals about being “born again.” However, we must mention it briefly here since it directly bears on the understanding of what God’s Kingdom actually is.

Initial conversion is merely the beginning of spiritual life—just as conception is the beginning of physical life. But that is not “birth.” Birth occurs after a period of gestation within the mother’s womb. Spiritual “birth” occurs after a period of spiritual gestation in this physical life. It is an amazing process. At conversion—our spiritual conception—due to the presence of the Holy Spirit, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), the very nature of God. As we grow and overcome spiritually, God puts more and more of His godly nature within us. Finally, we are ready to be fully “born” of God at the resurrection.

Jesus is to be the “firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29) or, as the New Revised Standard Version translates it, the “firstborn within a large family.” As our Savior, Elder Brother, and High Priest, He is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10). At the resurrection, those who have truly accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will certainly share in God’s glory. They will become “sons of the resurrection” like Jesus (Luke 20:36), for Jesus Himself was born of the resurrection and is twice called the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:5). Of course, we, as younger members of God’s Family, will always be in submission to the Father and Christ in total love and obedience, as we have demonstrated to God through obedience, service, and overcoming.

Authentic Christianity—biblical Christianity—teaches that the Kingdom of God will, at the end of this age, be set up as a literal government on this earth, in which today’s true Christians will serve under Jesus Christ, bringing genuine world peace at last. That, indeed, is tremendous Good News! The Kingdom of God is the ruling Family of God, which we can enter at the future resurrection from the dead. The true Gospel is astounding!

CHAPTER 3

THE ONLY NAME THAT CAN TAKE US THERE

To truly succeed, a person must first have a goal or objective. God has given Christians the most remarkable goal there is—eternal life in the Kingdom of God. The next step is to be educated about how to reach this goal. How can God’s human saints enter His Kingdom? What does the Bible tell us about the way to go? Jesus said this:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:1–6).

The Apostle Peter later stated, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The name of Jesus Christ is absolutely vital; the early Apostles and evangelists preached it, along with the message about the coming Kingdom. We must have the same focus, but we must be sure it is the true Christ we are talking about.

Many today worship a false Jesus who supposedly did away with the Father’s commandments. He is often portrayed as an effeminate weakling with long hair and a haunting, far-off look in his eyes. People just praise his name and feel nice sentiments about him.

Is that what it means to preach the name of Jesus? No! We read the following in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible:

In biblical thought a name is not a mere label of identification; it is an expression of the essential nature of its bearer. A man’s name reveals his character…. This was a concept shared by the peoples of the ancient world. Hence to know the name of God is to know God as he has revealed himself (Ps. 9:10). The full disclosure of his nature and character is given in Jesus Christ, who has manifested his name (Jn. 17:6, 26)” (1991, vol. 3, pp. 500-501).

The name of Jesus includes not only who He was and everything He did, but also all that He taught and stood for. What did Jesus stand for? What is the way of life He came to reveal?

THE LAW OF THE KINGDOM

Remember that one of the requirements of any kingdom is a code of laws by which to govern. In the Kingdom of God, the supreme law of the land will be the Ten Commandments—the great spiritual law of Almighty God. Christ told the Pharisees, “The law and the prophets [the Old Testament] were until John [the Baptist]. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it” (Luke 16:16).

But this does not mean that the message of the Kingdom of God has displaced the “law and the prophets”—it has, rather, given full expression to it! At the beginning of Christ’s ministry, Matthew recorded that “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people” (Matthew 4:23). Jesus, we know, preached “the gospel of the kingdom.”

As we are “pressing into” the Kingdom of God, what must we be pressing and striving to do? In the following three chapters, Matthew 5–7, Jesus expounded an entire way of life in what is called the “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus’ exhortation to His followers to zealously obey the whole, godly intent of Scripture is shocking to many who have a mainstream Christian background. He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).

The word “fulfill” does not mean “do away with”—contrary to what you may have been falsely taught! Jesus magnified—enlarged—God’s law. He showed how we are to keep it in the spirit, or intent, as well as the letter, making the requirements of the law something you must obey in your thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5) as well as by your actions. For instance, Jesus taught that not only must a true Christian refrain from murder, but also that he must not even harbor the attitude of hatred or violence (Matthew 5:21–22).

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (vv. 27–28). In Jesus’ teaching, the Ten Commandments were the foundation for the entire way of life He proclaimed. It was not just a sentimental belief in Christ’s person that counted, but a total surrender to Him and to the Father as Lord and Master. In Luke 6:46, Jesus asked, “But why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” Jesus never said, “Please accept Me; won’t you give Me your heart?” Rather, Christ taught us to live a God-centered life and said, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28).

If everyone lived by God’s perfect law code, there would be absolutely no problems. We would have a perfect society. As it now stands, all of man’s problems are the result of broken laws. The Bible clearly defines sin as “the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4, KJV).

Sadly, after almost 6,000 years of deciding for himself which way to go, mankind is still blind to this reality. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). Man has sought peace and harmony for ages, yet it has eluded his grasp. “The way of peace they have not known” (Isaiah 59:8). In all of man’s legislating, he has not yet designed a governmental system that works apart from God’s law.

The law of God is a major aspect of the Gospel, because it is truly Good News—giving an understanding of the way of life that leads to perfect and lasting happiness, abundance, peace, and joy. The people of ancient Israel had that way of life explained to them through God’s law. However, it did them no lasting good because they did not have living faith to continue walking in God’s way: “For indeed the gospel was preached to us [first-century Christians] as well as to them [the Israelites of Moses’ day]; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (Hebrews 4:2). So they had the Good News delivered to them in part, but they did not have the understanding or the faith to receive it.

Today we know that the godly fulfillment of our human potential rests with Jesus Christ! He Himself pointed the way. When He introduced the subject of the Kingdom of God, He told listeners, “Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). We must repent and believe—have faith. Paul preached the same message: “I have gone preaching the kingdom of God” (Acts 20:25). In doing so, he was also “testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 21).

We must go to God seeking forgiveness. To be accepted by Him, our first action must be to repent of breaking His spiritual law—summarized by the Ten Commandments. To “repent” means to be really sorry—so sorry that we turn around, go the other way, and start obeying God’s law, forever altering our way of life. We must also have “faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”—the King of the Kingdom of God. This involves belief and acceptance of Jesus as our personal Savior, as our High Priest in heaven right now, and as our coming King.

At the beginning of the New Testament Church, on the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter was inspired to announce the way to salvation for humanity, saying, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38–39). So Peter says that we must repent and be baptized for the remission—forgiveness—of our sins!

In John 3:16, Jesus said that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Upon our sincere faith in Jesus Christ and His death in our stead, the death penalty for having transgressed God’s law is removed from us. When truly converted, the Christian is “justified by His blood” (Romans 5:9). Being justified means to be declared guiltless—to receive unconditional pardon from the terrible penalty of everlasting death. This, too, is Good News!

RECEIVING THE WORLD’S MOST PRECIOUS GIFT

We should be deeply thankful to God that, through the death of His Son, we can be forgiven of sin. But does our justification now free us to go back and continue violating God’s spiritual law? Nothing could be further from the truth! The plain truth that many seem unwilling to understand is that a genuine Christian has—at conversion—really repented of breaking God’s law. He is, at that point, effectively making a “covenant with his Creator” to stop sinning—to stop breaking God’s Law, the Ten Commandments!

At baptism, having faith in the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, a new Christian is covenanting with God to stop sinning and to surrender his mind, his will, and his life to God so that the living Christ may now empower him to live an obedient life—obedient to the law and will of God. As Paul explained, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, KJV).

It is through Jesus Christ literally living His life within us that we are able to keep the Ten Commandments as a way of life. Do we keep the commandments perfectly? No, nor do we do anything else perfectly! But we do surrender to Christ to let Him keep God’s law in us through the power of the Holy Spirit—and, to the extent we yield to Christ, we are able to more fully obey God’s law. Then we are told to continually “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). As we grow spiritually in our Christian lives, we should be keeping God’s law with increasing zeal and faith.

How can you really obey God’s spiritual law as you seek to imitate and follow your Savior? Jesus Christ has promised to give you the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the very nature and love of God. By giving us His Spirit, God is “begetting” us and putting His empowering nature with us. Through His divine nature, we are able to grow spiritually. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of “power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

The Apostle Paul wrote that “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit [that] was given to us” (Romans 5:5). How does the love of God function? In what way does it lead us? “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). So the Spirit-imparted love of God directly leads us to obey the Ten Commandments as a way of life. This also is Good News. It is a vital part of the Gospel.

By giving us His Spirit—His divine nature—God helps us to overcome sin and to grow spiritually. God Himself “qualifies” us for eternal life through this spiritual deliverance from sin and the sway of Satan the Devil. Through the Holy Spirit, He begets us into His Family. But we do not yet “have it made.” We must still earnestly “press toward the goal” before being finally born into God’s Kingdom at the resurrection of the dead (Philippians 3:13–14).

What wonderful Good News it is to be delivered from sin through Christ! “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, [which]… is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13–14). Yes, it is also Good News to truly know our Father and our Savior and to receive God’s empowering Holy Spirit, which enables us to live the life God wants us to live. What Good News to all humanity that we can experience the real joy of salvation—the love, the peace of mind, and the deep sense of purpose that we had never before experienced.

The Kingdom of God would not be such a wonderful message if there were no way that we could be a part of it! But, thankfully, God, in His great love and mercy, has provided a way—the way—through the death and resurrected life of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. What awesome and marvelous Good News that really is!

WHAT JESUS CHRIST HAS DONE, IS DOING, AND WILL DO

The Gospel embraces God’s entire plan of salvation. It is a message centered on who and what God is and the purpose He is working out through humanity.

The fulfillment of this purpose for each of us, individually, rests on our willingness to trust in Jesus Christ. The Gospel reveals the perfect way of life He taught—that of living God’s law as outlined throughout the Old and New Testaments, both written through His inspiration.

The Gospel points to Jesus’ role as the sacrificial Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of those who accept Him as their personal Savior. The Gospel also directs us to Christ’s current role as our heavenly High Priest who continually intervenes with the Father on our behalf. It is through the Holy Spirit that Jesus lives His very life in us as we yield to Him. That is what empowers us to obey God’s spiritual law, the Ten Commandments!

Finally, the Gospel’s main focus is on Christ’s future return in power and glory as the Almighty King of kings, to rule this world and the entire universe under the authority of God the Father. And ruling with Jesus Christ for all eternity will be His resurrected, immortal saints. What a magnificent and stupendous plan is revealed in the Gospel of the Kingdom of God!

Salvation through eternal life in the Kingdom of God is our goal. And the true Jesus Christ is the only way to get there: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16). Christ taught us the Way. Through acceptance of Him and obedience to Him as Lord and Master—which means we must keep His holy law, the Ten Commandments—we can enter into God’s Kingdom. What Good News that God has provided such a way!

HE WHO HAS THE SON HAS LIFE

The Apostle John stated that his gospel account was “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). And, in his first canonized epistle, he wrote, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:12–13).

Christ tells us all to “believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15, KJV)—that is, believe His message. The message of God’s word is consistent. How, then, can one verse say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31), while another verse says, “But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17)? John was also clear about the need for keeping God’s Ten Commandments. In 1 John 3:10, he wrote, “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness [law-keeping—cf. Psalm 119:172] is not of God….” John continues, “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit [that] He has given us” (1 John 3:24).

What is the answer? Does salvation come by belief or by keeping God’s commandments—by “faith” or by “works”? Let the Apostle James answer: “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?…. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead… You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:14, 17, 19). In the same way, even demons know that Jesus is the Messiah who came to deliver humanity. But that does not save them. We must use the knowledge God gives us. “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?… Do you see that faith was working together with his [Abraham’s] works, and by works faith was made perfect?… You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (vv. 20, 22, 24).

So we see that salvation is not a matter of faith or works—but faith and works! A dynamic, living faith is always accompanied by active obedience to the law of God. How does belief in Jesus and His message fit into this? The answer is simple: If we truly believe what Jesus stands for and tells us, we will obey Him. This is accomplished by our accepting Him and all that He taught. After repentance and baptism, we receive God’s Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), by which the love of God is “poured out in our hearts” (Romans 5:5). And, as John wrote, “this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3).

As 1 John 3:24 has shown us, our commandment-keeping is evidence of Christ living in us through the Holy Spirit. If we truly accept Jesus Christ into our lives, He will live His obedient way of life in us to the degree that we put to death our old nature and yield to Him. Paul explained, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, KJV).

Notice: “the faith of the Son of God….” Revelation 14:12 shows that God’s true Church has the “faith of Jesus.” Initially, we must demonstrate “faith toward God” (Hebrews 6:1). But that is not the faith that saves us. We must have His very faith—by which He performed His miracles—acting in us. This faith is a fruit of God’s Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22, KJV). As we exercise this faith through law-keeping, it will grow, along with our trust in and reliance on Jesus Christ. Acting in faith brings faith to life!

There is no contradiction here. Living faith is active obedience—which is spiritual love. How do we know if we have the Son? “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:3–5).

A CALLING TO GLORY!

Yes, Christ died to reconcile us to God. But that was not the end of it! And neither is what Christ does through us in this life. Jesus Christ is going “to present you holy, and blameless, and irreproachable in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard” (Colossians 1:22–23). As Christian overcomers, we should always hold fast to the hope of the true Gospel, the tremendous understanding of our ultimate destiny.

When the last trumpet sounds, those who have overcome and daily learned to “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God” (Philippians 3:14) will feel themselves ascending in the air to meet Christ. Can you imagine the surge of exhilaration and ecstasy the saints will then have, knowing that they are now members of God’s Family? At long last, they will have finally overcome all obstacles to achieve their ultimate destiny—a destiny for which all of us were created! To learn more about this vital topic, please request our free booklet Your Ultimate Destiny or read it at TomorrowsWorld.org.

As we hurtle skyward to join Christ in the air, we will realize that we are forevermore part of the divine level of existence—members of God’s Family. This dramatic climax to our human lives inspired the Apostle Paul to write, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:18–19).

WHEN WILL THE KINGDOM COME?

Christ told His disciples in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” He was referring here to His Second Coming to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. However, even though we do not know the exact day or hour that God’s Kingdom will be set up, we do know that it is near. Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 give some “signs of the times” to watch. Jesus said this:

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Luke 21:28–33).

Terrible events are sharply increasing in the world today. In one way, even that is Good News, because it means that God’s Kingdom is drawing nearer. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” You are now in touch with those who preach this Gospel, even as you read this booklet! Also, the fact that Christ said “this gospel” in the middle of Matthew 24 proves that the Gospel does indeed include the prophetic events preceding the arrival of His Kingdom. It is Good News because God will be administering the only kind of medicine that will work on stubborn, carnal humanity: a forcible takeover of the planet—a divine coup d’état!

Many world leaders, leading scientists, and other brilliant men believe that a one-world government is the only way to prevent humanity from destroying itself. Yet everyone knows that humanity will never do this in a cooperative and right way. Only God can do it correctly—and, make no mistake, God will do it. Then world peace and joy will finally be ours. What fantastic Good News that is!

So when you hear people preaching about the wonderful “Gospel,” you had better make sure they are not just talking about the first phase of the Christian life—our forgiveness from past sins through Jesus’ blood. The true Gospel goes far beyond that! It goes far beyond what most people understand or comprehend, for the ultimate Good News is absolutely transcendent in its implications. It challenges you toward a glorious life of active service in the Kingdom of God throughout Christ’s soon-coming reign on this earth, and further serving and ruling over the vast universe for eternity! This is the full Good News. This is the real Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Booklet Category

What Is The Meaning Of Life?

4uwzvo — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 14:26:02 +0000

What Is The Meaning Of Life?

4uwzvo Wed, 03/02/2022 - 14:26

What Is The Meaning Of Life?

Roderick C. Meredith (1930-2017)

Booklet Media

#Afterlife

#Heaven

#Holy Days

#Resurrection

#Salvation

Why were you born? Why does God allow even dedicated Christians to go through years and decades of trials, tests and persecution? Why is it so important that we all “overcome”? What is the magnificent purpose for all our lives here on planet earth?

Most people never stop to consider their real purpose in life.

In fact, most assume there is no real purpose. How about you? Is there any transcendent reason for you to be alive? Can you have a remarkably interesting and fulfilling destiny ahead of you, regardless of your present situation? Can you be 100 percent sure of a future rendezvous with happiness, joy and peace?

Or, are you living a fleeting, disappointing existence on planet earth with no more purpose for your life than the birds, the bees or, for that matter, the worms that crawl in the dirt? As a human being, you obviously have much higher intelligence than these creatures; you can visualize the future; you have hopes and dreams; and creative imagination far beyond any other form of physical life on this earth. Yet do all these gifts, potentials and dreams rot when you die and “dust returns to dust”?

This truly is worth considering. You should think about it! Sure, some religious people may feel they will be wafted off to heaven to sit around for all eternity with nothing to do except “roll around heaven” all day, as the song goes. But you should not assume anything. Do not be gullible—find out for yourself and prove what is your ultimate destiny!

The real truth of the matter has been revealed in the Creator’s instruction manual for humanity, the Holy Bible. In the Bible, God decrees the fate of nations and empires. He prophesies of world-shaking, future events that are to happen. And these prophecies are unfolding before the eyes of this generation!

However, in a more quiet yet profound way, your Creator also reveals the ultimate destiny of mankind—the real purpose for your life and my life. In a number of places, it is called the “mystery” of God. Indeed, it is a mystery to the vast majority of people—even to most of the supposed “Christian” world. For it goes far beyond what most humans have ever visualized or imagined. Yet it is so obvious, so simple, so powerful in its logic that you may wonder why you did not understand it all along.

So, again, what is your ultimate destiny? Why were you born?

A PURPOSE in Humanity’s Creation

You did not just “happen.” Human beings are not the product of blind chance. By common sense, most people realize that a fine Swiss watch was not the result of slow, evolutionary processes which took place over millions of years in a mineral-rich, primordial sea, as silica and metallic elements washed back and forth while being charged by lightning strikes. Even though the sand and the elements washed back and forth for billions of years, a delicately fashioned, accurate Swiss watch would never be the result of unplanned, blind happenstance.

Yet some intelligent, “educated” individuals prefer to be “politically correct” and subscribe to the evolutionary theory that your mind—with a complexity far surpassing any watch or computer ever designed and produced—somehow came together, with your body, as an “accident” of the evolutionary process.

If you believe that, you had better stop reading right here because, until God Himself wakes you up, you are not going to understand anything about your ultimate destiny or any other spiritual thing. As it is written, “The things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

The revealed Word of the Creator shows us that man was purposefully created. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, God describes how He designed each creature “according to its kind” (Genesis 1:21, 24–25). Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (v. 26).

Here we discover two vital points. First, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” So there were two different personalities here discussing the creation of man in Their image. These were obviously God the Father and the Logos or “Word” (Spokesman) who was later born in the human flesh as Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:1–2, 14).

The second vital point is conveyed by the rest of the verse, “let them have dominion over the fish… birds… cattle.” So, from the beginning, mankind was ordained to have dominion, to rule, to be in charge over all the physical creation here on earth. He was immediately given the responsibility and the opportunity to use creative imagination and judgment.

Notice these inspired words of David: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels (Hebrew Elohim), and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:4–6). Here we see that God has a special purpose for man. Man is made a “little lower” than the “Elohim“—a Hebrew term denoting God! Yet man is crowned with glory and honor and given “dominion” over the work of God’s hands (v. 6).

Remarkably Unique Abilities

From the beginning, man was given a mind, which is remarkably distinct from any animal brain. Unlike any other creature on earth, man has creative imagination and the capacity even to analyze himself. He can laugh at himself or reason between right and wrong, enabling him to make judgments—to a limited degree— like God Himself!

At the time of the building of the tower of Babel, God said: “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Genesis 11:6). The clear indication here is that, unless restrained by God, man might have “progressed,” even back at that time, to the point of being able to destroy himself from off the face of the earth!

Today, as the abilities of different nations and races are once again being utilized in a worldwide scientific community, humanity has indeed progressed to the point where we could destroy ourselves. Man is able to launch huge, complicated rockets into outer space. He is able to store and then instantly recall billions of pieces of information in marvelous computer systems. And he is also able to break matter down to its smallest components, and to detonate the hydrogen atom in a blinding, searing explosion. ˙

Almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ specifically prophesied this situation when He warned: “For then [when certain foreseen events take place] there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:21–22).

Yes, unless the Creator intervenes to save His own creation from self-destruction, mankind would obliterate all human life from planet earth! But, as we shall see, God gave man this great intelligence for a purpose—and God’s purpose shall stand.

Created to Rule

From the beginning, man was placed over the physical creation on earth. He was given the capacity and responsibility to help direct and judge his fellow man under God (cf. Exodus 18:13–26). Humanity was given God-like responsibility from the beginning.

Then, when Jesus Christ came to earth in human flesh to bring the Gospel, He continually preached about the coming government of God: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel'” (Mark 1:14–15). This coming world-ruling government was predicted by most of the Old Testament prophets as well as Jesus Christ, Peter, Paul and John.

After describing the four great, world-ruling kingdoms that would govern the world until the end of this age, the prophet Daniel stated: “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).

Most of Jesus’ parables concern the Kingdom of God. In Mark 4:30–32, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a grain of mustard seed. Jesus shows that the Kingdom of God, though starting out extremely small, will eventually grow to tremendous size. In the parable of the nobleman (Luke 19:12–19), Jesus clearly states that those who “overcome” and use their talents, as God intends, will be given authority in Christ’s soon-coming government to rule over cities. To the servant who had increased his money ten times, Jesus said, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities” (v. 17). To the servant who had increased his money five times, Jesus said, “You also be over five cities” (v. 19).

Then, on the night just before His death, Jesus promised the Apostles: “And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:29–30). If we believe that Jesus meant what He said, then we know that the Son of God specifically promised that “overcoming” Christians will join Him at His Second Coming in ruling over the cities and nations on this earth!

Notice these direct statements by Jesus, the Christ, as recorded in the book of Revelation: “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations— ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the potter’s vessels shall be broken to pieces’—as I also have received from My Father” (Revelation 2:26–27). “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21). Then note the prayer of the saints as recorded in Revelation 5:10, “[You] have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”

Finally, notice Revelation 20:6: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Yes, the true saints are called of God and are being trained through an entire lifetime of overcoming to join Jesus Christ in ruling over the cities and nations on this earth! Could anything be plainer than that?

Yet, somehow, many misguided people, even theologians, still believe in the idea of “doing nothing” for all eternity. They do not remotely realize that true Christians are called for a wonderful, exciting, awe-inspiring purpose.

Only Overcomers Need Apply

God says only overcomers will be in His kingdom. Only overcomers will join Christ in ruling this earth. We are told throughout the New Testament to become like God. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Again, Jesus instructed, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

The Apostle Peter instructed Christians: “But as He who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy'” (1 Peter 1:15–16). The Apostle John exhorted God’s faithful, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). The Apostle James wrote, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

So there it is! True Christians are to overcome their own human vanities and passions, overcome the world and its temptations, and finally resist Satan himself. Peter concludes his last letter with this searching admonition, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).

Now, in the human flesh, we are subject to all sorts of weaknesses and sin. But by regular, diligent study of the Holy Bible; by constant, fervent prayer on our knees, and by continually yielding and actively surrendering ourselves to God, we are to overcome our sinful ways and let God, through His Holy Spirit, build within us the holy, righteous character of God.

We know that we will not achieve perfection in this life, but we must be making real progress. For we are to grow in the very nature and character of God Himself. Therefore true Christians are ensured of constant trials, tests and persecution.

The Apostle Paul predicted, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:34–36). The Apostle Peter warned, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

It is clear that the true Christian is required to overcome himself, the world and the assaults of Satan. He will be harassed, persecuted and perhaps even martyred by the enemies of God.

WHY We Must Build Righteous Character

Is a Christian to go through life’s difficulties just so he can take a very long celestial vacation to “roll around heaven” all day and be bored watching the clouds pass by while plunking out harp music? Or, perhaps, is he to serve God as a messenger like the angels? After all the remarkable trials, tests, tears and perhaps even the agony of overcoming physical sufferings, is our reward to be no greater than that of the multiple millions of created beings in the angelic host? No way!

The truly awesome purpose of human existence goes far beyond even what the righteous angels and archangels will experience! Why do we go through trials? Why are we tested time and again? God wants to see if we are willing to totally surrender to Him. His ultimate purpose is to reproduce in us His mind, His love and His character. God is reproducing Himself!

Yes, you read it right. At this point, I should exhort all of you who read this not to tune out. Ask God for an open, inquiring mind—do not make assumptions. Spiritual safety rests with a sincere desire to “prove all things” according to the words in your own Bible. For the great purpose for human life, which truly makes sense, has clearly been inspired and placed in the pages of the Holy Bible for centuries!

Now go back to Genesis and review again what God did in the beginning. Each animal was created “according to its kind” (Genesis 1:24). So cattle reproduce cattle. Lions reproduce lions, and so on. This was God’s mind or pattern as He created each creature. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness (Genesis 1:26). In plain language, God was indicating that they—the God Family now known as the Father and His Son Jesus Christ—would begin to reproduce themselves, adding more members to the “God Family”! Does it sound blasphemous to you to think that God planned to reproduce “after His kind”?

Some of the self-appointed religious leaders during Jesus’ day thought so. You might be surprised to learn that this matter of God having a family was a big issue of debate between Jesus and that day’s religious authorities. For Jesus had said to them, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). This statement by Jesus angered the religious leaders enough that they considered Him a heretic worthy of death.

When Jesus asked them why they were trying to kill Him, these honored religious authorities retorted, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God” (v. 33).

Notice carefully what Jesus said to defend Himself against this charge of blasphemy, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “you are gods”‘? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (vv. 34–36).

The passage Jesus referred to is Psalm 82:6. The Hebrew word translated as “gods” is Elohim. It is the same word translated “God” in Genesis 1:1, and is used hundreds of times throughout the Old Testament to denote the divine Being. Many modern religious scholars maintain that this word just means “mighty judges.” But this is not a valid understanding of the usage of the Hebrew word Elohim. Otherwise Jesus would not have been so quick to pick this passage in a life or death situation. Jesus used this passage in the Psalms to clearly show that man does have God-like potential, that humanity is truly “made in the image” of God. Obviously those incensed religious authorities recognized that Jesus was flesh and blood just as they were. Further, since Jesus was the “Son of God,” He was not blaspheming by making Himself equal with God when He called God His Father!

In fact, this issue came up earlier in John’s gospel when these same religious authorities sought to kill Jesus because they accused Him of breaking the Sabbath, and also because He “said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). They obviously recognized that a real son is, in fact, equal to his father.

I am a father myself. I am privileged to have four sons and two daughters. As God has ordained, I have reproduced “according to my kind.” My sons and daughters are fully human just as I am human. Though I may be greater in experience and wisdom, and am the patriarch of my family, my children are as fully of the human family as I am, and have completely the same human capacity, potential and dignity that I do.

What about God’s sons? Are we so accustomed to the modern religionists using religious-sounding “fluff words” that we no longer have real understanding as to the meaning of the words we use? Do we fail to recognize that a literal “son” of God would truly be like God?

Biblical Meaning of “Elohim”

The very first name that God applies to Himself in the Old Testament is “Elohim.” “In the beginning God [Hebrew Elohim] created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Elohim is used 31 times in the first chapter of Genesis—and clearly identifies “God” as the Creator. But what does Elohim mean?

All authorities are agreed that this Hebrew name (Elohim) for “God” is plural in form. Some think this plural name of God proves that the Old Testament “God” is comprised of more than “one Being.” Others deny this, but there can be no question that the plural ending -im of this Hebrew word clearly allows for a “plurality of Beings” in the concept of the Hebrew God as mentioned in the Old Testament.

Grammatically, the form ‘Elohim’ contains the plural ending -im. The function of ‘Elohim’ as a true plural (“gods”) is reflected in numerous biblical texts (Exodus

12:12: ‘all the gods of Egypt’). In this function ‘Elohim’ can be preceded by a definite article (‘the gods,’ Exodus 18:11, ‘now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods’). In Hebrew ‘Elohim’ can be accompanied by plural adjectives (very frequently in Deuteronomy: ‘other gods’) and construed with plural verbal forms (Psalm 97:7: ‘all gods bow down before him [Yahweh]’). The striking feature of the OT text lies in the use of this plural form ‘Elohim’ in order to designate the one God of Israel (“Names of God in the Old Testament”, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 4, p. 1006).

There is irrefutable biblical proof that this plural noun (Elohim) is to be understood as conveying, not the sense of a dual or a triune God, but of a “God Family” with more than one member. If God were to be forever limited to only Father and Son, then presumably, they would have used another Hebrew word to convey such a limited, two-member Godhead. The Hebrew word Elohaim does connote duality; however God (Hebrew Elohim) did not use Elohaim (conveying duality), but used Elohim, indicating plurality. Why did God use Elohim? Simply because Elohim is a divine family of Beings—a family into which many divine sons and daughters will later be added, as revealed in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:18).

One of the greatest proofs that Elohim is to be understood as being plural in actual meaning is the undeniable fact of how the Creator used that word in the Bible, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness'” (Genesis 1:26). Clearly, God did not say, “Let Me make man in My image, according to My likeness.” God nowhere says the angels are creators, but always speaks as though only God is Creator.

Proof that Elohim is to be understood as plural in meaning is found in numerous other scriptures:

1) Christ said, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). Clearly, though there is only “one God,” it is unscriptural to say that God is “one Being” or “one Entity.” If the Father and His Son were not two distinct Persons (Beings/Entities), Christ could not have said that His Father was “greater than” He.

2) In Matthew 22:41–46, Jesus revealed that Psalm 110:1 refers to Himself and His Father, “The LORD [Hebrew Yahweh, the Father] said to My Lord [Hebrew Adonai, the Son], ‘Sit at My [the Father’s] right hand, till I make Your [the Son’s] enemies Your footstool.'” Many scriptures reveal that only two Persons—the Father and His Son—now comprise the divine Family. The Trinity is nowhere taught in the Bible—it is not so much as even once mentioned in either the Old or the New Testaments. Rather, God Almighty reveals that all who become His sons and daughters (2 Corinthians 6:18) by a new spiritual begettal—at the resurrection of the just—will be born of the spirit as immortal, glorified spirit beings in the very God Family (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; 1 Corinthians 15:50–57).

Such glorified saints will then be changed from human into divine—from mortal into immortal beings. As immortal sons and daughters of God, they will then be higher than the angels (whom they will then judge—1 Corinthians 6:3), and will at that time be worthy of receiving the worship of mortal humans (Revelation 3:9)!

Elohim is a plural noun which denotes that God is a Family of divine Beings—not a closed Trinity, which could never admit other sons and daughters of God into the God-plane Family of divine beings. Elohim can and does allow for a plurality of divine Beings in the Family of God; the Hebrew Scriptures clearly prove that this word, Elohim, is to be taken quite literally. Can we believe the plain Word of God? God meant what He said, “Let Us make man in Our image”!

“Born” of the Resurrection

In this life, we are “begotten” or regenerated through conversion and the impregnation of God’s Spirit. This Spirit is the Spirit “of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). The Spirit of God imparts to us the very nature of God.

As we surrender our wills to God, yield to His Holy Spirit and drink in of it through regular Bible study and prayer, we grow in spiritual maturity until it is time to be fully “born of God” at the resurrection of the dead!

Jesus Christ is our example and forerunner. He was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). Later, in Romans, Paul was inspired to write that true Christians are “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

Notice! All who truly yield themselves to God will become like Christ, so that He, then, will become the firstborn of many other sons of God—literal sons just like Jesus Christ, the firstborn and Captain of our salvation.

Again Paul states, “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18).

So, for the second time, God shows clearly that to be ultimately “born again” like Christ, the firstborn from the dead, we must finally be “born” into the very family of God by the resurrection from the dead!

In Revelation 1:5, the Apostle John was also inspired by God to describe Christ as “the firstborn from the dead.” If Christ is the “firstborn,” there must be others. If the “firstborn” of God is very God, then those later born of the very same Father must also become full members of the God Family!

The entire Bible is clear on the fact that you do not leave the state of death except by the resurrection. We have just discussed three scriptures showing clearly that those truly “born again” are born of the resurrection from the dead, and that they become full members of the “God Family”—the God level of existence—just as Jesus did.

Who Will Always Be in Charge?

The Bible indicates the Father will always be greater in power and authority. Obviously, God the Father will never get old or retire or die. So He will always be the unquestioned Head of the God Family. Even Jesus Christ said, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28).

Similarly, the Bible clearly shows that Jesus Christ will always be greater than the other sons to be born into the God Family. He is to sit at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 8:1). He is to be “King of kings” (Revelation 19:16). He will always be our High Priest (Hebrews 6:20).

It is obvious that the major purpose of the Christian life is to reconcile man to God. The Holy Spirit guides a person through an entire process of total surrender to God and to the Savior, Jesus Christ. Through the Spirit, a person grows in the grace and knowledge—the very character—of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). With God’s help, this process involves overcoming and learning to “live… by every word of God” (Luke 4:4). For a person to draw near to God, he must deeply study the Bible, “eating” of the spiritual bread of life (John 6:56–63), so that it literally becomes the way he thinks and acts. Overcoming involves regular, heartfelt prayer to God every day of one’s life—often several times a day and always being in a spirit of prayer. It involves constantly meditating on God’s Word and purpose, and occasionally fasting to draw closer than ever to God.

In all this, and then in daily, active yielding to let Christ live His very life within us through the Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:20), the true Christian learns to walk with God. Month by month, and year by year, the totally surrendered Christian becomes increasingly like God. Indeed, a person with genuine faith should live this way, for Jesus instructed us, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The Apostle Peter exhorted Christians, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15).

In his final letter, Peter described how God’s “divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness… that through these [promises] you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:3–4).

Do all these scriptures mean what they say? Can we honestly “spiritualize away” the many, many inspired scriptures that tell us to be holy, to be like God, and to yield to Him so He can place within us His own divine nature? Consequently, it is logical to consider the idea that it has been God’s plan all along to reproduce Himself. This is what the God Family (Elohim) had in mind when they said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26).

“Born Again”—But Are We to Be INFERIOR Sons?

We have already seen that Jesus Christ was “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). Will the younger brothers yet to be born have far less glory than Christ?

Although, as just explained, Christ will always be greater in power and authority, yet the Bible clearly indicates that the Spirit-born sons of God will share the same level of glory and majesty as their Elder Brother, Jesus Christ. Notice Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Throughout the Bible, there are literally dozens of verses that indicate our sufferings, our trials and our tests—the whole process of overcoming—are to help fashion and mold us into God’s image. They prepare us to be born at the resurrection from the dead and to be glorified as Christ was glorified.

Of course, the truly converted Christian is regenerated or “begotten” of God in this present life. But the final, ultimate birth is to be born into the very Family of God at the resurrection.

As the Apostle Paul wrote: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive…. And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven…. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man” (1 Corinthians 15:20–22, 45–47, 49).

Yes, we are to be sons of the resurrection—not falsely “born again” in front of an emotional crowd of people in some “revival meeting”! The true “born again” experience will so far surpass these counterfeit emotional outpourings which confuse today’s religious world that there is no room for comparison! For, at the “last trumpet,” Christ will return to this earth as King of kings, and those found worthy will find themselves surging upward toward the clouds to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). They will have spirit bodies and will be glorified as newly “born” members of the divine Family! They will not be regarded as “adopted,” or merely “created” beings. Rather, these Spirit-born sons will come right out from God, having His very divine nature just as surely as we in this life have the human nature and characteristics imparted by our human parents.

Using a human analogy, we are now “begotten” children of God, still in our Mother’s womb (Jerusalem above, Galatians 4:26), but growing in grace and knowledge so that we may be born of God at the resurrection (cf. Romans 1:4; 8:29). The Apostle John wrote, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Yes, we shall look “like” Christ at that time!

How does the living Christ look? We find His present appearance described in Revelation 1:13–16. Now, following His resurrection, Jesus’ eyes are like “a flame of fire.” His face is like the “sun shining” in full strength! He is glorified, as we shall be glorified, according to the marvelous purpose of the Great God who made us in His own image!

What a Future for Those Who Overcome!

Let’s turn to 1 John 3 for a moment. After describing how we shall be “like” Christ and be able to look right into the face of that blinding glory, John writes, “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (v. 3). Once we grasp the ultimate purpose of God, the truly incredible human potential that our Creator has planned for us, we have every reason to want to be “pure,” to live a righteous and holy life.

Our true reward is not some vague and nebulous “pie in the sky” concept of “rolling around heaven” all day, with nothing to do. Rather, it involves becoming “sons of the resurrection” and joining Christ in actively ruling this planet for at least the next 1,000 years. What will Christ’s saints be doing? They will be cleaning up pollution, stamping out pornography and war and healing the sick. The saints’ job will be to bring indescribable joy to a shell-shocked world. Could anything be more personally rewarding?

We shall not merely rule over humans, but over the mighty angels of God! Notice 1 Corinthians 6:2–3: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?” Our whole Christian experience of developing Christ’s mind (Philippians 2:5) and character is for this supreme purpose.

It will be an exciting, stimulating, productive, and incredibly fulfilling experience. It is real!

What comes after this? Read Paul’s inspired statements in Hebrews 2:5–7: “For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: ‘What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands.'” Notice man’s ultimate superiority to the angels. For man was made a “little,” or as many scholars translate it, “a little while” lower than the angels. Ultimately, God plans to put “all things” in subjection under man.

Even now, man is creating computer systems that can almost rival the human mind in their astonishing capacities, and he is also capable of annihilating all human life from this earth through atomic and hydrogen bombs and other weapons of mass destruction! Yet because of the need for food, water and oxygen to sustain human life and because of the exceedingly vast distances between the planets—man could not conceivably explore the entire universe even if he could travel at the incredible speed of light.

Inheriting a Universe

But, describing Tomorrow’s World, God indicates that “all things” will be put under man. The Greek word here used for “all things” may correctly be understood as “the entire universe”! In fact, in the Weymouth Version, Hebrews 2:8 is translated, “For this subjecting of the universe to man.”

Immediately after that, Paul wrote: “For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him” (Hebrews 2:8). Notice that nothing is excluded from being under man’s dominion. But it is not yet accomplished. Commenting on those verses, Eerdmans’ Critical and Experimental Commentary states, “As no limitation occurs in the Scripture, the ‘all things’ must include heavenly as well as earthly things” (vol. VI, 1948, pp. 530–531).

The New Bible Commentary: Revised also comments on this passage, “Further, these verses indicate that not only Jesus, but men— through Jesus as their High Priest and Author of Salvation—are called to inherit a destiny of glory and dominion” (ed., Guthrie, et al., 1975, pp. 1196–1197).

In plain language, then, it is clear that God created man to be truly like Him. We who overcome are destined to be real Sons of God—not “pseudo-sons” of a much lower rank and level of existence.

Speaking of the “sons of the resurrection,” the book of Hebrews says, “He [God] left nothing that is not put under him” (Hebrews 2:8). Our ultimate destiny, then, is to become full-fledged Sons of God and help rule the entire universe under the direction of our Elder Brother and High Priest, Jesus Christ!

Then we will have glorified spirit bodies that will not be subject to physical laws, as we know them now. We will be able to hurtle throughout the universe far faster than the speed of light, for we will be full members of the Creator Family—the Family of God—able to move at the speed of thought!

Serving our Father and Jesus Christ in the perfect government of God, we will undoubtedly be challenged in ages to come to rejuvenate and beautify vast portions of the universe that are now bleak, lifeless and desolate. No doubt there will be further creative activities and exciting projects of all kinds to contemplate. As the scripture says: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:6–7).

Once this awesome purpose for mankind is fully understood, then many other things involving human life and the true Christian way of life begin to make a lot more sense.

Notice Romans 8:17, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” When we grasp what that supreme “glory” really involves—the very glory of God—then our human trials do truly seem less formidable. Philippians 3:21 speaks of the returning Jesus Christ, “who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”

Spirit Beings Will Teach God’s Way to Mankind

Speaking of the ultimate “born again” experience, Jesus Christ told Nicodemus: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:6–8).

In the resurrection, the Spirit-born saints will be like Christ was after His resurrection. We will be able to simply pass through walls, (John 20:19), and disappear into thin air (Luke 24:31).

At the same time, the resurrected saints, like Christ, will also be able to appear in human form, visit with, eat with and teach human beings during Christ’s millennial reign on earth. John 21 describes the risen Christ preparing an outdoor fish barbecue (v. 9) for the disciples and then teaching them.

Of course, many interesting, exciting and even amusing situations may be envisioned when the resurrected sons of God may surprise or even temporarily frighten (“It’s one of them, again!”) unsuspecting human beings in Tomorrow’s World.

Isaiah 30 describes the time when the whole nation of Israel is brought back from its coming captivity to be governed and taught by divine Beings: “And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left” (vv. 20–21).

During the soon-coming millennial rule of Christ and the resurrected saints, those millions of humans still living on earth will be taught the way to peace, prosperity and true happiness. “Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:2–3).

Now notice verse 5, “For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.” The people each walk in the name of “his god”? What is this inspired prophet talking about?

Possibly, Micah is describing the relationship of people in various cities or provinces to their particular Ruler or Judge—a “born-again” member of the God Family assigned to rule their city or state (Luke 19:17–19).

God’s great purpose in giving us life and breath is that we may join Him and His “firstborn” Son, Jesus, in a real family relationship based on love, service and obedience to the way that produces peace and happiness—the spiritual law of God as revealed in the Ten Commandments and teachings of Christ.

A Stupendous Truth Explained!

Before we are even “converted” in this present life, we must deeply repent of “sin”—which is simply the transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4, KJV). Then we are promised the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) which God gives to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32).

Then, we must overcome through the strength and help of God’s Spirit within us and grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, in the very character of God. For our heavenly Father, through this process, puts His very nature within us. So, in that way, we are not merely “adopted.” But we are literally begotten and finally born of God, having been impregnated with the divine nature and continuing to grow spiritually until we are ready to be “born of God” at the resurrection!

As Supreme Ruler over all that is, God is taking no chances that His sons would ever rebel against Him! Only those who have totally surrendered their lives and wills to God and to their Savior and coming King, Jesus Christ, will be considered worthy of becoming members of the divine Family—the ruling Kingdom of God.

The above analysis should thoroughly disprove one objection which some have voiced against this marvelous truth. Some people think that if the resurrected saints were to become truly God— with the power of God—then there would be a grave danger that they would rebel against God the Father and perhaps start a spirit war as Lucifer did (Isaiah 14:12–15). But this objection reveals an almost total lack of understanding of what real conversion is all about! For after we have surrendered to our Creator, “walked with God” in our Christian lives over years while suffering trials, tests and persecutions (the expected lot that befalls every true Christian), and in spite of these trials, hung in there and endured faithfully to the end (Matthew 24:13)—there is no way we would ever turn aside and fight our own heavenly Father!

As “sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36), we will be like God. Remember, “God cannot be tempted by evil” (James 1:13). God will not sin—because of His very divine character, which is eternally and naturally faithful and righteous. So the idea of a full member of the God Family rebelling or sinning is a contradiction in terms.

Another objection is the idea that since God the Father is uncreated and has always existed, we could never be like Him. But this neglects the wonderful truth that, at the resurrection, we are to be literally born of God! We will not—at that time—be merely “created.” Rather, we will come right out from God, being literally filled with and composed of the Holy Spirit, like God Himself.

For, again, God is reproducing after His kind just as surely as we humans do! His Spirit-born sons, in the resurrection, are not “lesser” types of spirit beings any more than your children turn out to be something less than human!

Another vital point to remember in this connection is that Christ is to “marry” the church at His second coming (2 Corinthians 11:1–2; Revelation 19:7). Is the bride of Christ to be something inferior to Him—a completely different class of being? Will the glorified saints exist on some lower plane of existence from God like a pet dog compared to a human? Think about it!

Some people are sincerely shocked, at first, by this stupendous truth involving our ultimate destiny. But there are others who seem interested only in playing word games to try to confuse the issue and obscure one of the most vital and magnificent truths revealed in the entire Bible—the awesome, inspiring, supreme purpose of our Creator in giving us life and breath and making us “in His image”!

As I have already said, and I repeat once more lest someone try to twist these words, God the Father and Jesus our Head and Savior will always be greater in power and authority than we will be. But, as “sons of the resurrection,” the saints will be on the same level of existence, just as your sons and daughters are on the same human level as you are. Truly, God the Father and Jesus will always have existed longer and done more in the past than any of the resurrected saints. But you and I have lived longer and done more in the past than our human children. Yet they are fully human just as we are!

We need to realize that the continuum of “eternity” goes on and on and that, as full members of the Creator Family, the saints will also join God in ruling, creating and accomplishing awesome projects throughout the universe in ages to come (Isaiah 9:7).

God Is Eternal

One false argument against the truth of our ultimate destiny goes like this: “We can never become fully like God because God has eternally existed and has been the Creator of all that is—and we have not.”

Is there an answer? Part of the real answer is found in Romans

4:17. Here Paul notes that God called Abraham “a father of many nations.” God stated this as a fact long before it ever occurred! So Paul was inspired to write, “God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.”

The ultimate reality is God’s will. God had already willed that Abraham was to be “a father of many nations.” So, in God’s mind, it was a fact because God had willed it so!

In like manner, God must have planned from the beginning to reproduce Himself “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4). Again, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

God’s plan is to bring more full sons of God into His Family so that Christ might be “the firstborn among many brethren.” All this was predestinated—willed—by the mind of God “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). So, in the terms of the will of God—we who overcome are already eternal, have already been given the gift of eternal life through the immutable will of God!

Another clear indication that this is the way God thinks of things is found in Hebrews 7:9–10: Notice this scripture, “Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”

So God says that Levi “paid tithes through Abraham” even though Levi did not yet exist! As Levi was “in the loins” of his great grandfather, Abraham, so we—so to speak—have certainly been in the spiritual “loins” of our heavenly Father who has willed that we become His full sons! So in that way—the way God Himself thinks and acts—the true saints who remain faithful and overcome have always existed in the mind of God.

We were in the “loins” of God when He created the angels, later created the earth and put mankind upon it, and still later when He sent His Son to make possible our entrance into the Eternal Family of God.

Jesus said, “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). And again, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). When we are truly “born of God” and become “sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36), we will have the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). So we will be composed of the Holy Spirit as God and Christ are composed of that same Spirit. The Holy Spirit is eternal and has always existed and will always exist.

Therefore, although we will be new personalities added to the Family of God by a literal spiritual birth in the resurrection, we will always have existed in the mind and will of God. We will have been in the “loins” of our Father from eternity, and we will then be composed of the Spirit, which is eternal.

So our spiritual birth as full sons of God is merely part of the spiritual continuum of God’s will. And once we (if we are overcomers!) are members of the extended Family or Kingdom of God, we also will then join with the Father and our older Brother in creating, recreating, building, working and improving this vast universe. For truly, as God’s Word tells us, “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:7).

True Christians have an absolutely awesome opportunity and future ahead. A billion years from now, when we have been working and creating for an “eternity” under the direction of our Father—the specious arguments and word games employed by the blinded theologians of this world who deny the clear intent of God to make us His genuine sons—will seem trite indeed.

Jesus said, “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14).

God’s Awesome LOVE

God has created humans so that, after a young man and woman marry, they most sincerely desire children. They want to share their home, share their lives and share their love with a little human being made in their image. They look forward to having a baby—a child who, as a full human being, will develop, learn and grow to fully share its life, its plans, hopes and dreams with its parents and other brothers and sisters in a loving family relationship.

So it is with God. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8). And because God is love, He wants to share His love, His glory, His eternity, with billions of others who will become His genuine Sons in the resurrection! If God the Father and Christ were selfish, aloof, or lacking in love and out-flowing concern, perhaps they would want to keep to themselves and not make it possible for others to join their Family in a complete God-plane relationship by literally reproducing themselves.

But in the transcendent spiritual love that motivates our Father and our Lord (Elohim—the God Family), they have chosen to reproduce themselves by placing within surrendered Christians their very own “divine nature.” Then, God nurtures these “begotten” sons through this physical life of overcoming until they, like Christ—”the firstborn from the dead”—are also literally “born” of God as “sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36).

How great is the love of Christ? The inspired Apostle Paul prayed that Christians, “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18–19). How can you be filled with all of the “fullness of God” and not be God?

The love of Christ, and of our Heavenly Father, impels them to share with us their eternal glory as full sons of the kingdom, or Family, of God. In the future, when you read passages in the New Testament concerning the resurrected saints inheriting God’s glory—perhaps they will now have much deeper meaning. For this “mystery, which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26–27).

Yes, men have always wondered, “Why was I born? What is the purpose of life? If there is a real God, why does he try and test mankind so much and allow so much suffering to occur?”

Now, the mystery is solved! If your mind and heart are open, you now know the answer to these profound questions that have puzzled philosophers and scholars for centuries. You should be everlastingly grateful and thankful to our God and our Savior, Jesus the Christ, for making us “after their kind.”

Jesus’ Fervent Prayer

In the final 24 hours of His life, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus offered to God His most complete prayer recorded in the Bible. Let us review some highlights of that inspired prayer, “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:5). Here we find Christ specifically asking that the stupendous glory He had shared with the Father from eternity be restored to Him—He who was to be “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

In verse 11 of John 17, Jesus prayed, “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” Christ and the Father are one God, one Family, one level of existence above all other creatures. Jesus prayed that the saints become one in the same way!

Notice John 17:20–23: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

These words of out-flowing love are inspiring and magnificent. They certainly make clear that those of us willing to utterly surrender to God and let Christ live His life in us through the Holy Spirit will attain to the same type of glory that He attained. We will be completely one with God (as Christ is one with the Father) and therefore obviously be God. This will be the supreme fulfillment of God’s own purpose in giving us life and then calling us to spiritual understanding! “That the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (v. 23).

The indescribable love of our Father is somewhat beyond full human comprehension. Yet we who understand must respond to that love with deep reverence, thankfulness and obedience to our great God. We must strive to “live… by every word of God” (Luke 4:4). And we must learn to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7)— keeping our eyes always on the magnificent goal our God has set for us.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). And how great is that reward!

With all my heart and all my being, I encourage all of you who read this to truly “seek Him“—diligently. Do not allow yourself to put anything ahead of God and His truly wonderful purpose for your life. Learn to truly study the Bible as never before. Learn to get down on your knees before the Supreme Governor of the universe and literally pour out your heart in prayer to Him for the love, the wisdom, and the strength to truly be an overcomer and to become His real son in a world-ruling kingdom soon to be set up on this earth.

Nothing is more exciting. And, when you really understand, nothing is more “real” than what the Great God says will happen! This is the final fulfillment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the ultimate good news—that man can be born into the God kingdom, the God-level of existence.

The ancient patriarch Jacob had 12 sons. They collectively had sons, daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren—millions and millions of descendants—and so became the nation or the “Kingdom of Israel.” So, as Christ assists the Father in “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10), they are bringing into being an entire Spirit-composed nation. It is a spiritual “Kingdom” of God, comprised of real sons of God—who have been literally born of God by the resurrection, and are possessed of the full nature and character of God. Again, I say, this is the ultimate meaning of the “Gospel,” the ultimate good news and transcendent purpose for your life!

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2–3). Now that you understand your ultimate destiny, you know why God wants you to let Him and His Son build within you their holy, righteous character.

God the Father is not a “nicey-nice” wimp, or a stern, unsmiling puritan or an impractical philosopher. He and His firstborn Son, like a loving family, are preparing other sons to join with them in ruling this world and, later, the entire universe. So go out under the stars some clear night—try counting as many stars as you can see and think of the billions of stars scattered across the vast universe which you cannot see—and then meditate on this awe-inspiring purpose for your life and thank God for it! Then, get down on your knees and begin to zealously do your part to make it all possible!

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The Real God: Proofs and Promises

4uwzvo — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 20:53:40 +0000

The Real God: Proofs and Promises 4uwzvo Tue, 03/01/2022 - 20:53

The Real God: Proofs and Promises

Douglas S. Winnail

Booklet Media

#Existence of God

#God

#Promises

Why is the God of the universe not real to most people today? Why is there so much skepticism and doubt about God? If you have ever pondered these questions, the answers could change your life! In this booklet we will examine the sources of modern misunderstandings about God, and consider seven proofs that reveal the true God.

Questions About God?

Have you ever wondered whether God actually exists? Can you know for sure? Can you prove it? Is there one true God, or are there many gods? Is the idea of God merely the product of the human imagination? Does it make any difference if you believe in God or not? These are among the most important questions you could ever ask. However, in our modern secular world, we know more about television schedules, celebrities’ private lives, and professional athletes’ statistics, than we know about God!

While millions profess to believe in God, the true God is just not that real to most people. How real is God to you? Is the God you worship the same God revealed in the pages of the Bible—or is your concept of God something conjured up in men’s mind? Has the doubt and skepticism permeating our society influenced your ideas about God? Today many people have real difficulties when it comes to finding solid answers about God.

It may come as a shock to you, but our modern, sophisticated, well-educated world has been deceived when it comes to life’s biggest questions! The truth about the real God has been perverted and suppressed—not just by atheistic philosophers and secular scientists, but by misguided theologians! This may sound like an outrageous statement, but it is exactly what the Bible revealed would happen, and it is verified by historical facts, as we will see in this booklet.

Atheists claim that God does not exist, and that the idea of God is an invention of the human mind. Agnostics say it is impossible to know whether or not God exists. Evolutionary biologists prefer to think that God is not necessary. Secular scientists want to eliminate God from all discussion on the assumption that the whole idea of God rests on personal belief and not on proof. Unwittingly, misguided and misinformed theologians play into this deception by suggesting that you can take God’s existence on blind faith—just believe—no proof is necessary or possible!

With so-called experts offering such conflicting ideas, it is no wonder that the average person has doubts and reservations about God. Do you have doubts? We ask for a receipt as proof that we have purchased an item. We get a deposit slip when we put money in the bank. Yet when it comes to the most important question in life, we are told we can just “take it on faith”—blindly, without any proof—that God exists! Or we listen to “experts” claiming that God does not exist, or that we cannot know for sure, but we do not seriously question or demand any verification for such dramatic statements.

For much of the last century, many have taken for granted that science can explain the universe without God, and that His existence is doubtful at best. Sometimes it is claimed that intelligent people no longer believe in God—yet nothing could be further from the truth! Theologians who make excuses for the Bible and shrink from making dogmatic statements about God and His Word, in an attempt to harmonize science and religion, have only succeeded in undercutting their own influence. Much of organized religion is in decline today simply because the truth about the real God has been ignored, perverted and suppressed.

The God of the Bible challenges us to prove that He really does exist—and He offers specific ways to do that. The real God predicts the future, and challenges anyone to do the same with any similar degree of accuracy. The God who inspired the Bible boldly states that to live contrary to His instructions invites disaster. The real God is going to send Jesus Christ back to this earth to put a stop to human misrule and establish His kingdom—on this earth, not in heaven—as a world-ruling government with the aid of His saints. Is this the God you worship? Is this the God you hear about when you go to church or tune in a religious broadcast on radio or television? Probably not!

In this booklet, you will see how and why the knowledge of the real God has been perverted and suppressed. You will learn why our modern society is so skeptical when it comes to questions about God. You will see why mankind’s questions about God will just not go away. You will also be able to study for yourself seven definitive proofs that demonstrate that God is real and very much alive.

But first, we need to understand why our modern culture is so skeptical and mixed up when it comes to questions about God, and how it became that way. Let us notice why belief in God has been discounted as being unimportant, and examine the consequences of that misguided approach. You cannot afford to remain in the dark about such fundamental issues. The real answers may shock and surprise you!

Superficial Religion

Current surveys indicate that approximately 95 percent of Americans believe in God—yet many Americans live their lives as if God does not exist. More than 80 percent seldom or never attend church or read a Bible. Only about 30 percent view the Word of God—the Bible—as the ultimate authority in their lives. Most just follow their conscience and do whatever they think is best—or whatever they please! In European countries, belief in God is much lower, and the number of people who do not regularly practice any faith is even greater. In Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Scandinavia, only 30 percent or less believe in a personal God (The Empty Church: The Suicide of Liberal Christianity, Reeves, 1996, pp. 51, 61–65). These figures indicate that for most people today—even in so-called “Christian” countries—belief in God is just not a relevant part of their lives.

While interest in religion among Americans runs high, America has been described as a secular and materialistic society. Vanderbilt Divinity School professor Edward Farley asserts “religiosity is marginal” to most of our cultural institutions—government, business, education and entertainment. Pollster George Gallup found that America is a “nation of biblical illiterates” where fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels of the New Testament (ibid., pp. 49, 63). Fewer than half of Americans can name even five of the Ten Commandments—the fundamental principles that the real God outlined for human society. When one cannot even name the commandments, it is not surprising if one does not live by them!

Today, many practice a superficial “consumer Christianity” or “cafeteria religion”—that is, people pick and choose what religious tenets they wish to believe and reject those teachings that do not appeal to their interests. For many people, religious beliefs are often personal, vague, generalized and casual. Levels of confidence and conviction are often rather low. Doctrinal specifics are usually fuzzy. Each person tends to believe what seems to be right in his or her own eyes. This is part of the legacy of the Protestant Reformation—where the individual, not the church or the Bible—becomes the sole authority (ibid., pp. 61–62). As one teenager responded when asked by a reporter about what she thought about God: “God is everywhere. God is in me. I am God.” These are, as we shall see, sadly misinformed opinions!

America and the European countries are described today as having entered a “post-Christian era” (ibid., chapter 2). We no longer believe the actual teachings of Jesus Christ, as found in the Word of God. The Bible states that Jesus Christ will return to reign on this earth with His saints (Daniel 2:44–45; 7:27; Revelation 5:10, 11:15–18), yet mainstream Christianity teaches, and most professing Christians prefer to believe, that we all go to heaven. God said to remember the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8–11); yet most people “do their own thing” on this day. The Bible condemns fornication, adultery and murder; yet these behaviors permeate our societies. Noted educator, author and American civil servant William Bennett has written, “We have become the kind of society that civilized countries used to send missionaries to” (ibid., p. 66). This is largely because we have forgotten, rejected, or perhaps never heard about the real God. But just how did this happen?

Reason Replaces Religion

The America that on its coins proclaims to the world, “In God We Trust,” developed from European roots. Europe had received the knowledge of the true God from the Apostles, who brought it from Jerusalem to the European peoples. We learn in school that western civilization was built on the noble ideas of Greek democracy and Roman law, yet both the Bible and history reveal how the misguided religious ideas of these ancient pagan cultures have contributed to the current confusion. In the book of Acts, we read that the Apostle Paul told superstitious pagan Athenians about the one true God. Noticing an inscription “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD,” Paul stated: “The One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim unto you” (Acts 17:23–24). They may have practiced democracy, but they were sadly misinformed about religious truth!

In Rome, Paul was even more explicit. He told the Romans that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest [evident] among them, for God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:18–19). He told these educated Romans that they were without excuse for not knowing about the true God, “for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (Romans 1:20). Paul further states that misguided humans “although they knew God… did not glorify Him as God.” As a result, their understanding was darkened so that, “professing to be wise, they became fools… who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature [creation] rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:21–25). The Bible reveals a remarkable human tendency and its consequences: “Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind,” which has led to widespread spiritual confusion, physical immorality and social evils that still confront us today (Romans 1:26–32).

Many today do not realize that the knowledge of the true God and true Christianity, which Paul brought to Greece and Rome, was soon corrupted with a mixture of pagan religious ideas. As Roman Catholic historian Will Durant writes: “Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it.” The form of Christianity that developed in Europe and later spread to America and the rest of the world “was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world” (Caesar and Christ, Durant, 1944, p. 595). Durant and other historians explain that belief in the one true God became belief in a Trinity as a result of the influence of pagan philosophy. They note that perverted Gnostic ideas “obscured the Christian creed” and that theologians schooled in pagan philosophy tried to explain the nature of God through speculation instead of teaching what God had revealed about Himself in Scripture. After centuries of such discussion and debate, it is not surprising that the often abstract God of modern Christianity bears little resemblance to the true God of scripture.

Other European ideas also undermined and altered the teachings about the real God. The Enlightenment of the 18th century, and scientific discoveries that seemed to contradict Scripture, led some to conclude the Bible and its God were only myths (see God’s Funeral, Wilson, 1999). Darwin’s speculations about evolution seemed to remove the need for a God of creation. Julian Huxley, a promoter of Darwin’s ideas, confidently stated: “There is no longer either need or room for supernatural beings capable of affecting the course of events in the evolutionary pattern of thought. The earth was not created, it evolved. So did all the animals and plants that inhabit it, including our human selves, mind and soul as well as brain and body.” Huxley also asserted boldly that, “operationally, God is beginning to resemble not a ruler, but the last fading grin of a cosmic Cheshire cat.” In the face of what seemed to be overpowering discoveries made by scientists, theologians retreated and back-pedaled in their teachings about God.

Huxley made another observation that is still influencing contemporary views of God. He commented: “Our concept of God needs to stress religious experience instead of a belief in a particular dogma.” In other words, God is the warm feelingthat you feel in your heart—not a Supreme Being whose existence you can prove and who intervenes in history. This idea was promoted in the 1600s by the French philosopher Pascal who said: “It is the heart that experiences God, and not the reason.” The Reformation theologian, John Wesley, also spoke of the “warmed heart” as a sign that one had discovered religious truth. Yet all this clashes dramatically with Paul’s admonition to a Greek audience to “prove all things; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). The prophet Malachi quotes God as saying: “Prove Me” (Malachi 3:10, KJV). Proof involves solid and convincing reasons. Belief in the real God involves the mind—not just warm feelings in the heart!

Over the last two centuries, belief in God has come under attack by many intellectuals in the West—the children of the Enlightenment. The German philosopher Nietzsche asserted that “God is a thought.” Freud termed belief in God a form of mental disorder that mankind would eventually grow out of. Karl Marx termed religious belief “the opium of the people.” Atheist H. L. Mencken asserted: “God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable.” Playwright Tennessee Williams described God as a “senile delinquent.” In the 1960s, prominent theologians echoed Nietzsche’s earlier sentiments and actually asked: “Is God dead?” Oxford zoologist Richard Dawkins asserted, in a speech titled A Scientist’s Case Against God, that there is no evidence to support religion, and that better educated people today admit this (Science, August 15, 1997, p. 892). He claims that anyone who believes in a Creator God is “scientifically illiterate.”

In light of such assaults against belief in God, the near absence of powerful biblical teaching by clerics, and the dearth of honest, objective presentations of physical evidence by scientists, it is not surprising that the real God of this universe remains little known to most people today. But questions need to be asked. Are the critics right, or have they been deceived? Have the rantings of secular, atheistic individuals tragically misled our society about God? Let us notice several important lessons that we can learn from the Bible and our recent past that relate to questions about God. We will then examine seven proofs that demonstrate the reality of the true God.

New Evidence, New Lessons

David wrote in the Psalms more than 3,000 years ago: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God'” (Psalm 14:1). Solomon states: “The mouth of fools pours out foolishness” (Proverbs 15:2). Looking back over the last few centuries it is painfully obvious that many of the “enlightened” intellectuals who have molded our modern world were simply wrong! They made foolish assumptions and foolish statements that many people believed! These misguided individuals were essentially the blind leading the blind.

Marx’s communism proved to be a dismal failure that caused untold suffering. Freud’s psychological theories have largely been discredited. While Freud proclaimed religion a neurosis, one of his students, Carl Jung, found religion to be very beneficial in treating psychologically disturbed individuals (God: The Evidence, Glynn, 1997, p. 69). In fact, a growing body of scientific literature documents the positive effects of certain religious beliefs on personal health. Marx and Freud, whose ideas did much to secularize our society by undermining its religious and moral foundation, were sadly mistaken about many things.

The same is now being said about the ideas of Charles Darwin and his free-thinking contemporaries. The evolutionary theories of Darwin that supposedly did away with the need for a Creator God have come under increasing criticism in recent decades. A growing number of scholars—among them cosmologists, biologists, biochemists and paleontologists—are admitting that the theory of evolution simply does not and cannot explain the origin of the earth, the origin of life or the origin of species. The ideas generated by Darwin and others simply do not fit with the facts of the fossil record or what has been discovered about the universe in the last century (see Creation and Evolution, Hayward, 1995; “Debating Darwin,” Christian Century, July 15–22, 1998, pp. 678–681).

As the 20th century comes to a close and we begin a new millennium, questions about God are being asked with a new earnestness. Evolutionists’ purposeless universe has proven to be a psychologically empty and depressing concept. Surprising discoveries about the universe point to an intelligent creator (see Newsweek, July 20, 1998, pp. 47–52; November 9, 1998, p. 88). Naturalistic science that seemed to provide answers to all questions is now recognized as having serious limitations. In the remainder of this booklet, we will see what can be learned about the real God by examining proofs from both the natural world and the Bible. The evidence is astounding and it is powerful—and it comes from “scientifically literate” scholars. You can prove that God exists—you do not have to doubt or just blindly “take it on faith.” The God of the universe is real!

Proof 1 —

Creation Demands a Creator

The theory of evolution postulates that the earth and the universe came into existence slowly over eons of time, or that the universe has always existed. The atheist astronomer Carl Sagan once stated that, “the Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.” However that simply is not true! Studies in cosmology have demonstrated in recent years that there was a time when the cosmos did not exist—that it had a beginning at a specific point in time. This is exactly what the Bible states. In Genesis 1:1 we read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Both the Bible and the discoveries of science clearly indicate that the earth and the universe have not always existed.

Astronomers studying galactic motion have observed that the universe is expanding outward from a given point, but at a decreasing rate of speed. The universe appears to have begun with a large explosion. This is referred to as the “big bang.” Scientists have been able to detect echoes of this explosion that still reverberate through the universe—called the “radiation echo” or “background noise.” Stephen Hawking, a theoretical physicist at Cambridge University, has written that the big bang cosmology may reveal “the mind of God,” and American astrophysicist George Smoot has suggested that background radiation represents “the handwriting of God” (Science, August 15, 1997, p. 890). Such evidence is forcing scientists to reevaluate long-cherished naturalistic theories.

Physicists have also formulated laws concerning thermodynamics. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that the amount of energy in the universe remains constant. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the amount of usableenergy in a closed system (the universe) is decreasing. This means the universe is running down—thus, “it could not have existed forever in the past and will not exist forever into the future” (When Skeptics Ask, Geisler and Brooks, 1996, p. 220). It had a beginning. The existence of radioactive elements (such as carbon-14) which decay at a measurable rate (called a half-life) also points to a time when those elements were made radioactive. Again this points to a beginning. This, too, is contrary to what evolutionists have theorized, but is consistent with Scripture.

But what causative agent brought the universe into being? Science operates on the principle that for every effect there is a cause. But what caused the “big bang?” Was it merely blind, natural forces, or was it an intelligent being, a Creator God who carefully planned it beforehand? Since this was a one-time event that was not observed or repeatable, the scientific method is of little value in rendering a decision on this matter. The subject of origins lies beyond the realm of scientific investigation. However, the Bible describes the origin of the universe and the earth in terms that are compatible with facts ascertained by scientists. The discovery that the universe had a definite beginning agrees with clear statements in the Bible.

Scripture repeatedly refers to God as the Creator of the physical earth and universe (Genesis 1; Isaiah 40:28; Mark 13:19; Revelation 4:11). However, the real God is concerned with far more than just the physical creation. The Bible also reveals there is also an ongoing spiritual dimension to God’s creation.

The Apostle Paul writes that when a person chooses to turn from a self-centered way of life, and chooses to begin living by the teachings of Jesus Christ, that person becomes a “new creation” or a “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). As we will see, God has an incredible purpose for human beings who are willing to embark on this challenging spiritual journey. The Bible indicates very clearly there are more aspects to life than naturalistic science can discover. These aspects are revealed by the Creator—the real God of the universe—and are not discoverable in a laboratory by the scientific method! Creation, in all of its aspects, requires a creator.

Proof 2 —

Life Demands a Life-Giver

The origin of life presents another challenge to those who want to reject the idea of a supernatural God. Evolutionists have suggested that life formed spontaneously in a pool of chemicals as the earth cooled billions of years ago. We are told that carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and ammonia combined randomly, with the aid of solar energy and cosmic rays, to form amino acids and DNA molecules. Over eons of time, cells supposedly developed from these accidental combinations. While this may sound plausible, biochemists know better. Scientists who have tried to produce life by these methods have learned that it is much more difficult than their theories would suggest. A DNA molecule contains as much information as a volume of an encyclopedia. Proposing this evolutionary theory of life’s origins is analogous to suggesting that an explosion in a junk yard could produce a fully assembled automobile—and that this automobile could then begin reproducing itself!

In the 1950s, Stanley Miller performed a simple experiment to see if these theories would actually work. He succeeded in producing some simple amino acids, and his experiment was hailed as proving that life could be generated spontaneously from non-living matter. However, the proclamations were premature. No one has yet produced life from a pool of chemicals (pre-biotic soups)—in spite of a lot of tinkering. Astrophysicist Hugh Ross comments: “Even under highly favorable conditions of a laboratory, these soups have failed to produce anything remotely resembling life. One problem is that they produce only a random distribution of left- and right-handed pre-biotic molecules… Life chemistry demands that all the molecules be either right- or left-handed. With all our learning and technology we cannot even come close to bringing life together in the lab” (The Creator and the Cosmos, Ross, 1993, p. 148).

Forty years after his initial experiment, Miller stated: “The problem of the origin of life has turned out to be much more difficult than I, and most other people, envisioned” (Scientific American, February 1991, p. 117). German biochemist Klaus Dose has observed that all the experimental efforts have “led to a better perception of the problem of the origin of life on earth rather than to its solution. At present all discussions on principal theories and experiments in the field either end in stalemate or in a confession of ignorance” (The Creation Hypothesis, Moreland, 1994, p. 176).

This is not surprising. Anaxamander of Miletus, the ancient Greek philosopher, also speculated that life could develop spontaneously from non-living matter. This superstitious idea prevailed until the 1800s when experiments done by Redi and Pasteur proved otherwise. These now-classic experiments revealed that maggots appearing in spoiled meat came not from the meat but from the eggs of flies that came in contact with the meat. Life came from life—not from non-life. Until recent decades, this was referred to as the law of biogenesis. Only in the last several decades—when scientists have attempted to generate life spontaneously to verify evolutionary theories—has this once-accepted law been ignored. Still, there is no evidence that exceptions to this law exist.

Human beings can speculate that life could be generated spontaneously from non-living matter, but the facts do not agree with these speculations. Man has not been able to produce life—in spite of considerable effort on the part of highly intelligent individuals. Scripture portrays God as creating life. In Genesis 2:7 we read: “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being”—something all the sophisticated laboratories in the world have been unable to begin to duplicate. Life demands a life-giver. There appears to be no other way.

Proof 3 —

Laws Demand a Law-Giver

Science exists because scientists understand that the universe operates in an orderly manner according to laws—the laws of physics (of gravity and of motion), the laws of chemistry and laws of biology. As one writer comments: “Ever since Isaac Newton, science has blared a clear message; the world follows rules, rules that are fundamentally mathematical, rules that humans can figure out” (Newsweek, July 20, 1998, p. 49). Even evolutionists begin their speculations assuming that the rules, or natural laws, worked the same in the beginning as they do today. If the universe did not operate on these rules, or laws, it would cease to function and would come apart in chaos. Notice several examples of how these laws work.

Gravity holds the planets in their orbits. Without gravitational forces there would be no solar systems. Stars and planets would be hurtling through space in a helter-skelter manner. Gravitational forces hold the earth at a distance from the sun that makes it possible for life to exist on this planet. If gravitational forces were either stronger or weaker than they are, stars (such as our sun) would not burn hot enough, or would burn out too rapidly and certain chemical elements essential for life would simply not be produced. Our bodies exist because chemicals combine in only certain ways. If chemical reactions did not occur the same way every time (according to laws), we would cease to exist as living, breathing human beings. Life would cease to exist.

For years, biology textbooks have referred to another law known as fixity of the species—that there seems to be a genetic limit to the amount of variation that can occur within a species. Plant and animal breeders are aware of these limits. Charles Darwin was aware of the variety that could be produced by breeding domestic animals (such as dogs, pigeons, cows and horses). During his cruise on the Beagle, he also observed striking variations among finches and turtles on islands in the Pacific Ocean. In formulating his theory of evolution, he speculated that, given enough time, these small variations could eventually produce totally new species—that natural forces alone could produce new life forms without the need for a creator. These ideas had a profound effect on the Western world—especially on its religion—and seriously undermined belief in God.

However, time has exposed serious problems with Darwin’s ideas. No one has ever observed a new species coming into existence in nature in this way. In spite of many attempts, neither has anyone been able to produce new species by selective breeding. Dogs may vary in size, color and many other characteristics, but they are still dogs. Horses are still horses. Fruit flies are still fruit flies. The Bible clearly states many times that God created each type of plant and animal “according to its kind” (Genesis 1:11–12, 21–25). There is no evidence from the biological world that one species can turn into another. The Bible also indicates that God created human beings after the “God kind”—which, as we will see, has profound implications for the purpose of human life.

Even the fossil record supports this fundamental biblical principle. Darwin speculated that intermediate forms of life must have existed as species evolved, yet he knew this was not the actual case. He wrote in The Origin of Species: “Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain, and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection that can be urged against my theory” (see Geisler and Brooks, p. 228). Darwin assumed these intermediate links would be found, but a hundred years after his book was published they are still missing! This absence of transitional forms has been called “the trade secret” of paleontology. When species appear in the geologic record they appear fully formed. This makes sense if they were created. The evidence of the fossil record lends further support to the biblical concept of the fixity of species and a real God that operates according to laws and rules.

The fundamental question is: how did these laws originate? Where did they come from? Who set them in motion? How are they sustained? Evolutionists do not know. Natural scientists do not have a clue. Physicist Stephen Hawking, a scientist attempting to answer questions about the universe without the aid of Scripture, has acknowledged “the laws [of physics] may have originally been decreed by God” (Ross, p. 91). This is interesting because the Bible refers to the real God repeatedly as the “Lawgiver” (Isaiah 33:22; James 4:12). As the Creator, God designed and set in motion the laws and forces that hold the universe together (Job 28:24–27). We are also told in Scripture that God is “upholding all things [the universe] by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3)—that He sustains the laws that He originated and set in motion.

On the subject of law, the Bible reveals a dimension beyond the physical. While God is described as a law-giver in the physical sense, Scripture contains spiritual laws that God designed to govern human conduct. The Ten Commandments form the basis of the spiritual law of God. We are told plainly that if we obey those laws we will be blessed and if we disobey those laws we will reap negative consequences (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). Solomon wrote in Proverbs that life will be difficult for a person who transgresses the laws of God (Proverbs 13:15, KJV). Why would this be so, unless there is a real God who designed and sustains those laws? Evolutionary theory has no answer for this. One of the reasons people want to do away with the concept of God is that without God there are no laws of conduct and any type of behavior becomes permissible. We are living with the consequences of that philosophy today—and it is destroying our society! The existence of laws requires a law-giver. For those laws to continue to operate, a sustainer is necessary. This is how the real God operates.

Proof 4 —

Design Demands a Designer

One of the most powerful proofs of God’s existence, and one of the most revealing aspects of the true God, is the wondrous evidence of design found throughout the universe—from the smallest atom to the cosmos. It is on the issue of design that naturalistic evolutionary theories have run aground. It is in the area of design that surprising discoveries have been made in recent years that are compelling even skeptical scientists to consider the reality of God.

Solomon wrote: “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens” (Proverbs 3:19). David, referring to the human body stated: “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works” (Psalm 139:14). Abraham Lincoln once observed: “I can see how a man can look upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he can look up into the heavens and say there is no God.” Even Albert Einstein realized “God is not playing dice with the universe.”

The profound truth in these statements has begun to register in the scientific community, as a result of surprising recent discoveries in fields as diverse as molecular biology and cosmology. Darwin acknowledged that “complex organs such as the eye would be difficult to explain in terms of the gradual stepwise process outlined by his theory,” but he did not realize how complicated the molecular biology of vision would turn out to be (Christian Century, July 15–22, 1998, pp. 679–680). Biochemist Michael Behe writes in Darwin’s Black Box that evolutionists’ inability to explain the development of such complicated structures and processes is “a very strong indication that Darwinism is an inadequate framework for understanding the origin of complex biochemical systems” (ibid.).

Discoveries about the universe have been just as profound. As man’s knowledge has grown, so has the evidence that the universe could not have come about by chance. One writer observes: “The very science that ‘killed’ God is, in the eyes of believers, restoring faith. Physicists have found signs that the cosmos is custom made for life and consciousness. It turns out that if the constants of nature—unchanging numbers like the strength of gravity, the charge of the electron and the mass of a proton—were the tiniest bit different, then atoms would not hold together, stars would not burn and life would never have made an appearance” (Newsweek, July 20, 1998, p. 48). Physicist John Polkinghorne, who became an Anglican priest, wrote: “When you realize that the laws of nature must be incredibly finely tuned to produce the universe we see, that conspires to plant the idea that the universe did not just happen, but that there must be a purpose behind it” (ibid.). Astrophysicist Hugh Ross discusses 33 of these finely tuned conditions that make life possible on this earth (see The Creator and the Cosmos, Ross, 1993, pp. 131–145).

A growing number of scientists in the fields of physics, astronomy and cosmology are acknowledging what is called the “anthropic principle” (Greek anthropos=man). This principle, suggested in the 1970s by physicist Brandon Carter, states that for life to exist on earth, all the conditions had to be “pre-planned” from the very beginning of the cosmos. As Harvard Ph.D. Patrick Glynn notes: “The most basic explanation for the universe is that it seems to be a process orchestrated to achieve the end or goal of creating human beings” (God: The Evidence, Glynn, 1997, pp. 7, 32). Glynn states further: “From the scientist’s viewpoint, the fact that the universe looks as though it had a definite beginning might be upsetting enough. But what appears to drive cosmologists nearly to distraction is the anthropic principle”—that the earth and the universe was created for mankind (ibid., p. 42). That is an astounding observation for a scholar to make today!

While a universe pre-planned for mankind may be shocking for atheists and evolutionists to consider, this is exactly what the Bible clearly states. Scripture reveals that God created human beings for a purpose. In Genesis 1:26–28 we read that God created human beings in His own image (not in the image of apes) and gave human beings dominion over the earth—to rule it or manage it. The Apostle Paul told the Romans that we can become “children of God” and “heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ” (Romans 8:14–17). This means we will share, by inheritance, what Jesus Christ has—that is, eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:50–53) and rulership on this earth in the coming kingdom of God (Revelation 5:10). The Bible reveals that human beings were created for the ultimate purpose of becoming part of the family of God (1 John 3:1–4; Hebrews 2:1–11) eventually to rule this earth with Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:10; Daniel 7:27). This is the purpose of human life, yet this exciting information has been perverted and suppressed over the centuries! This is not even understood today by most theologians.

Compare this astounding future, as outlined in the Bible, with the common idea that either we go to heaven and sit on clouds and play harps, or else we burn forever in hell fire. Compare the future revealed by the true God, to zoologist Richard Dawkins’ ideas that, “the universe we observe has… no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but pointless indifference… we are machines for propagating DNA… It is every living object’s sole reason for living” (Science, August 15, 1997, p. 892). Is it any wonder that people today see no real purpose in life, or have no hope or excitement about the future? Science, philosophy and theology have failed to grasp the real meaning of life!

The Bible clearly states that mankind has been deceived by a very clever deceiver (Revelation 12:9). Evolutionary theories that undermine faith in a real God, and the misguided reasoning of theologians, have also played their part in this deception. So have human beings, who simply do not want to consider that God exists, because of the restraints on behavior this would entail. However, the real God who designed this universe also has a design and a purpose for mankind. Scientists are discovering astounding evidence of intelligent design in the cosmos. Scripture reveals God’s amazing, ultimate purpose for mankind. Intelligent and purposeful design—both physical and spiritual—requires a supernatural Designer—a real God!

Proof 5 —

Fulfilled Prophetic Promises

Some of the most compelling evidence for an all-powerful, supernatural God comes from the disciplines of history and prophecy. The astounding accuracy of Bible prophecy is a constant challenge to skeptics. Yet it is amazing to realize how many people, including secular scholars, are simply unaware of how Bible prophecy is so remarkably confirmed by known history. Even more amazing is that prophecy is seldom mentioned today by the clergy—yet fulfilled prophecy absolutely proves that there is a real, all-powerful God. Isaac Newton, one of the most brilliant minds in Western civilization, was fascinated by Bible prophecy (Science, August 15, 1997, p. 892).

The real God of Scripture literally defies others to predict the future accurately and bring it to pass. The prophet Isaiah quotes God as saying: “Present your case… Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods… indeed you are nothing; he who chooses you is an abomination” (Isaiah 41:21–23). Those who study forecasting understand the folly of trying to predict future events in detail—especially in the volatile fields of political science and sociology—yet Scripture does this repeatedly with striking accuracy! Nearly 30 percent of the Bible is devoted to prophecy, yet this subject is rarely the topic of Sunday morning sermons in most churches. It is no wonder the powerful God of the Bible does not seem real today.

A striking example of fulfilled prophecy is found in the book of Ezekiel, which dates from about 600bc. Ezekiel records very different futures for two major Phoenician cities, Tyre and Sidon. This would be like predicting what will happen to San Francisco and Los Angeles, Toronto and Ottawa or London and Paris over the next 2,500 years! Sidon is promised to have a bloody history but to continue to exist (Ezekiel 28:22–23). By contrast, Ezekiel very specifically prophesied that many nations would come against Tyre like waves of the sea (26:3). Tyre would be scraped bare like the top of a rock (v. 4), the debris thrown into the sea (v. 12), never to be rebuilt (v. 14). This mighty city, the center of a great trading empire, would become an insignificant place where fishermen would spread their nets (v. 5). All this has happened—to the letter (see Evidence That Demands a Verdict,McDowell, 1979, vol. 1, pp. 274–281). A real God predicted the future in detail, and brought it to pass (see Isaiah 46:9–10).

Another series of remarkable prophecies concerns specific promises about the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These prophecies were recordedmany centuries before Christ was born. The first two chapters of Matthew quote prophecies that Jesus was to be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). He would have to flee to Egypt (Hosea 11:1). Before His death, he would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). In death, His hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16), and lots would be cast for His garments (Psalm 22:18). David prophesied that Christ would be resurrected (see Psalm 16:10). Here again, the real God of the Bible predicted specific future events and brought them to pass—to the letter!

Fulfilled prophecies, however, are not just limited to ancient history and long-vanished empires. Additional prophecies are being fulfilled today, as you read this booklet! The key to understanding prophecies that apply to our time is the identity of the modern Israelite nations. The God of the Bible promised Abraham that his descendants would become great and be a blessing to the peoples of the earth (Genesis 12:1–3). God foretold that they would eventually come to possess the gates of their enemies (Genesis 22:17; 24:60).

The modern Israelite nations are descendants of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, whose name was changed by God to Israel (Genesis 32:28). Jacob had 12 sons including Judah—the father of the Jews. However, two of Jacob’s grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were prophesied to become the primary inheritors of the birthright promises originally made to Abraham. Manasseh was to become a great nation, but Ephraim was to become a great company of nations (Genesis 48:14–20). The blessings promised to Manasseh and Ephraim have been inherited by the United States and the nations that made up the British Commonwealth. This amazing story and the sobering future that is prophesied for these birthright nations is described in our booklet, available free upon request, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy.

The record of history, as well as of world events today, confirm the incredibly accurate prophecies recorded in the Word of God. The Bible is inspired by an all-powerful, supernatural God. Its prophecies are not merely the product of mortal men trying to formulate a philosophy or religion. Scripture’s fulfilled prophetic promises demand an explanation—they cannot simply be ignored or explained away! The God who inspired those prophecies and brought them to pass has to be real!

Proof 6 —

Answered Prayer

Another dramatic proof of God is that He fulfills His promises of answered prayer. For those who do not believe in God and have never prayed, this is merely a matter of doubt and skepticism. However, for individuals who believe in God and who do pray—which includes up to 90 percent of Americans—answered prayer is one of the most powerful personal proofs that God exists. To those who know their prayers have been answered, the doubts of skeptics are of little significance.

It is from the Bible, not naturalistic science, that we learn about prayer. Scripture abounds with examples of answered prayers. Solomon’s request for wisdom was granted with even additional blessings (1 Kings 3:5–13). We are told that “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain” (James 5:17–18).

The New Testament records many examples of dramatic answers to prayers. Jesus prayed all night, asking God for guidance, before choosing the Twelve Apostles He would use to build His Church (Luke 6:12–13). Jesus had been praying during the hours before He came—walking on the water—to the disciples (Matthew 14:23–25). Lazarus was resurrected from the dead as the result of Jesus’ prayer to God (John 11:41–44). When the members of the fledgling New Testament Church prayed for boldness to preach the gospel, God acknowledged their request by shaking the building in which they were meeting (Acts 4:23–31).

The Bible also teaches us how to pray. Just as a child must learn how to talk, we must learn how to pray. Jesus was asked by His disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Jesus gave us a model to follow (Matthew 6:5–15). We can see from this example that prayer is an earnest conversation with God about our needs and concerns—not just repeating some words and phrases over and over (v. 7). We are told that God hears the prayers of the righteous—individuals attempting to obey Him (1 Peter 3:12; 1 John 3:22). The Bible reveals that the prayers of the saints are pleasing to God—like sweet-smelling incense (Revelation 5:8).

Jesus encouraged His followers to “ask, and it will be given unto you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7–12). One challenge in learning to pray is learning to ask in accord with God’s will (1 John 5:14). To understand God’s will, we must study Scripture—God’s instruction manual. Through prayer, we can talk to God about all our concerns.

If you have sensed a void in your life, if you feel cut off and alone, why not talk to God about it in prayer? If you can see the lack of meaning and purpose in our secular, materialistic world, why not get down on your knees in a private place and talk with your Father? If you have sensed the emptiness and irrelevance of organized religion, just share your feelings with your Creator, the real God of the universe! Ask Him to help you come to understand the Bible and the true meaning of life. Ask Him to guide you to where He is working through His Church. Ask Him to help you learn how to live life according to His instructions, so you can receive the rewards that are His to give. Follow the instructions of Jesus Christ that you read in Matthew 6:5–15 and Luke 11:1–4. Begin to pray!

You can experience the proof of answered prayer for yourself when you begin to ask according to God’s instructions. God does not change (Malachi 3:6). He has answered prayers in the past. He answers prayer today. He will answer prayers in the future. The Bible clearly states, “the eyes of God run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). Answered prayer is a powerful and personal proof that God is real!

Proof 7 —

A Way of Life That Works

The final proof that a real God exists and His Word is true is a sobering one. This proof may be more meaningful to individuals who have lived life and made a few mistakes. However, this can also be an important proof to anyone, young or old, who has “eyes to see and ears to hear”—who can learn by seeing what happens to others. This proof involves comparing the results of two contrasting ways of life.

The message that permeates our modern society is that whatever works is right for you—that there is no such thing as absolute right and wrong. The message God has recorded in the Bible is very different. Scripture shows that there is God’s way of life, and there is the world’s way, where we just do our own thing. And, as the old saying goes: “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

Scripture clearly outlines these two contrasting approaches to life. Moses explained God’s instructions to the ancient Israelites: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:15–20). Today, this is still one of the major challenges of life.

As human beings with free moral agency, we have the freedom to choose to obey God and experience His blessings, or to ignore and live contrary to His instructions (by following our own reasoning) and reap the consequences (Deuteronomy 28; Leviticus 26). Solomon recorded similar advice: “The way of the transgressor is hard,” yet “when a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 13:15; 16:7). Jesus described these same choices—a narrow, challenging way that leads to life, and a wide easy way that most people choose that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13–14).

The sad story of human history is that most people “go with the flow”—we do what seems right in our own minds. Instead of seeking to learn from our Creator how to live life according to His instructions, we seem to prefer doing things our own way. The result of this approach to life is sometimes called the “school of hard knocks.” If your life has been a series of difficulties, disappointments and blind alleys, why not try another approach? Look into the Word of your Creator, and begin to do things His way for a change. Let the “proof of the pudding be in the eating.” Live God’s way, and prove it for yourself!

Let us look briefly at the way of life that God recommends in Scripture, so that you can put His way to the test. Anciently at Mt. Sinai, God gave the Israelites His law (Exodus 20) which they agreed to follow (Exodus 19:5–8). God intended the Israelites to be an example to the whole world as they learned to live according to His divine instructions (Deuteronomy 4:1–10). However, they failed to live up to this agreement and went into captivity as a result of turning their backs on God’s instructions (see Ezekiel 20).

In the New Testament we are told that Jesus came to explain the law more fully for Christians (Matthew 5:17). He explained how to live by the spirit of the law, not just the letter (Matthew 5:21–28). Here again, it was God’s intent that those who choose to follow His instructions would become lights [examples] to the world, that God’s way works.

Jesus clearly stated that “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). He was definitely advocating a better way to live. The contrast between Jesus’ teaching and the ways of this world was likened to the difference between night and day (John 3:16–21). When His disciples began urging people to come out of this world and live according to the real teachings of Jesus (2 Corinthians 6:11–18) they were pelted with accusations that, “those who have turned the world upside down have come here, too” (Acts 17:5–6).

God’s way of life as outlined in the Bible is not some vague, nebulous, watered-down approach that people can take or leave and modify to suit themselves. God’s way is based upon His laws. It involves specific attitudes, behaviors and practices that not everyone is willing to follow and adhere to. We are told the truth of God will actually separate friends and families (Matthew 10:34–36), but it works and following it will bring certain rewards (Revelation 3:10–11).

One of the major reasons that mainstream Christianity is floundering today in western countries is that theologians have watered down the teachings of the Bible so much that religious beliefs have literally no impact on how people live their lives. One mainline denomination has been described as “an institution in free fall… with nothing to hold on to… no shared belief, no common assumptions, no agreed bottom line, no accepted definition” of what it means to belong to that church (The Empty Church, Reeves, 1996, p. 10). A chaplain in that denomination has declared that he “is not in the business of dispensing dogmatic answers about anything” (ibid., p. 24). This is simply not the same church, founded by Jesus Christ, that you read about in the pages of the New Testament! Compromising and watering down Scripture does not work. Churches die, spiritually, when they try to do that. This, too, is living proof that God’s way works—the way that seems right to the human mind does not (Proverbs 14:12). This is what the real God clearly states in His word.

Conclusion:

A Coming Judgment

Modern professing Christianity offers to the world a benign God who is nice, loving, forgiving and endlessly patient. He just lets people do pretty much what they want, and is happy if they pray once in a while and attend church a couple of times a year. However, this false idea of God—which is the product of the human imagination—is not relevant to the lives of most people today, as we have seen in this booklet.

The real God of the Bible, however, stands in striking contrast to mankind’s imaginings! The God that emerges from Scripture is a powerful creator, an intelligent designer, a life-giver and law-giver who intervenes in the course of history yet still answers the prayers of individuals. He has clearly outlined in His word two contrasting ways of life. Although loving and merciful, He is a God of justice and judgement who rewards us according to our works. He gives us the opportunity to make choices, and He lets us reap what we sow. This is why the God of the Bible commands His true servants to “cry aloud and show My people their sins” (Isaiah 58:1) and not just preach “smooth things” that deceive people (Isaiah 30:9–10). God wants human beings to understand what life is all about, so they will learn to make the right choices that bring the lasting rewards they desire—and that are His alone to give. The real God also forgives us when we repent—when we come to understand our mistakes (when we break His laws and sin—see 1 John 3:4). God is pleased when we begin to change our lives, and live as He has instructed.

The Bible reveals that God is working out a plan and purpose on this earth. The realGod is going to send Jesus Christ back to this earth to establish the soon coming Kingdom of God. This is literally the heart and core of the true gospel message. This is what Jesus taught and His disciples proclaimed (Mark 1:14–15; Luke 9:1–2; Acts 8:12; 28:23, 31). This same message will also be proclaimed to the world by God’s true Church just before the end of this age (Matthew 24:14).

At His return, Jesus Christ will literally change the course of human history in a very dramatic fashion. He will judge this earth in righteousness—according to His divine law (Psalm 96:13; Revelation 19:11). He is going to put an end to human suffering and human misrule. The Apostle John writes of this time when God takes His great power and reigns—rewarding His servants and destroying those who destroy [pollute and corrupt] the earth (Revelation 11:15–19). God will make a distinction between those who choose to do things His way and those intent on doing their own thing (Matthew 25:31–46), between those who know what the Bible plainly teaches and those who have been deceived by the false ideas of misguided teachers. That time of judgement appears to be just ahead of us.

Jesus Christ is going to reorient human societies toward real peace, justice and truth (Isaiah 9:6–7; Revelation 11:15–18) with the aid of His saints (Daniel 7:27). The prophet Micah relates: “He shall judge between many nations afar off; and rebuke strong nations; nations shall not lift up swords against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:3). This all-powerful God reveals through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Surely it is coming, and it shall be done, says the Lord” (Ezekiel 39:7–8). The deception, doubt and skepticism about God that so permeate our society will be removed forever.

The real God of the Bible commanded His chosen people not to worship any other god or gods (Exodus 20:1–7). He warned His chosen people about the consequences of following other gods (Deuteronomy 8:11–20). The Apostle Paul told the church at Rome they would incite the wrath of God if they began creating ideas of God according to their own imagination (Romans 1:18–23). He warned the church in Corinth of the same thing (2 Corinthians 11:1–4). Yet all this has happened in our time today. Misguided theologians have chosen “to abandon so-called natural proofs for the existence of the Creator and emphasized personal faith and the presence of God in the human conscience” (Reeves, pp. 95–96). The unfortunate result of this modern, liberal approach is that many have been deceived about the real God.

As the end of this age approaches, do not let yourself be deceived. Jesus clearly warned about this possibility on several occasions (Matthew 7:15–20; 24:4–5, 11, 24). The Apostle Paul urged members of the early New Testament church to “prove all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). You can prove that God exists; you do not need to just blindly “take it on faith.” You can have a real faith, based on real evidence, and a real relationship with your Creator! The God of the universe—the God who inspired the Bible—is real. The Creator, Designer and Sustainer of the cosmos is alive. He is going to bring to pass what He has prophesied in His word. Jesus Christ is going to return to this earth to establish the kingdom of God that will rule over all nations. This is what the gospel of the true God is all about. You can be part of this exciting future if you get to know the real God.

Booklet Category

Doctrine

God

The Bible: Fact or Fiction?

4uwzvo — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:42:44 +0000

The Bible: Fact or Fiction? 4uwzvo Tue, 03/01/2022 - 16:42

The Bible: Fact or Fiction?

Douglas S. Winnail

Booklet Media

#Bible

#Christianity

#God

Is the Bible just a collection of myths and legends, or is it the inspired word of God? Many assume that modern scholarship has discredited the Bible, but the facts of history — and the discoveries of archaeology — confirm its contents to be true! The Bible recounts the past with amazing accuracy — and it predicts the future like no other book! Most of the world has been misled and misinformed about the Bible. You need to understand the truth — and how it can affect your life!

Chapter 1
What Do You Believe About the Bible?

Is the Bible really the inspired word of God? Was it accurately preserved for thousands of years as a unique revelation from the Creator of the universe? Or is it just a collection of humanly devised myths and fables? Do we even have the right books in the Bible, or are important sources missing that would change our view of God, Jesus Christ and Christianity? Can we trust Scripture? Is the Bible vital and relevant today?

Discovering the truth about the Bible could prove to be one of the most important and exciting adventures you have ever embarked upon. Although critics attack the Bible, and preachers ignore or gloss over many of its teachings, the Bible contains a dimension of knowledge that is almost totally missing from our modern world. The Bible reveals the true purpose of life. Bible prophecies not only foretold the rise and fall of ancient nations; they also explain the real significance of world events making headlines today and where those events are heading. In spite of what millions have been led to believe, the Bible is much more than a pious devotional book or an incense-shrouded source of comfort for the troubled and bereaved!

Today, many educated people assume that science and modern scholarship have thoroughly discredited the Bible. This assumption thrives because so many know so little about the Bible. Many people today are simply unaware of discoveries that continue to confirm the historical accuracy of Scripture. Instead, people are encouraged to believe that all religions are equally credible—or equally fanciful—without ever comparing the sourcebooks of those religions. As a result, millions are unaware of how the Bible is unique, and what amazing features distinguish it from all other religious books.

Before you accept the idea that the Bible is “just like any other book,” you need to examine the evidence for yourself. That evidence is eye–opening and extremely informative, and it could change your life! You need to understand why so many today doubt the Bible’s credibility, and what the truth about the Bible can mean to your future.

A Change in Attitude

For thousands of years, Jews and Christians believed, and died for believing, that the Bible was the inspired word of an Almighty God. Down through the ages, antagonists and skeptics have challenged, attacked and ridiculed the Bible. Popes and pagan Roman emperors attempted to destroy Scripture, and even altered its words. Yet, during these same turbulent centuries, the Bible was carefully preserved and its message spread in remarkable ways!

The Bible is surely the most influential book ever written. It has been translated into more languages than any other piece of literature. More than two billion people alive today embrace, at least nominally, its teachings. Even so, many do not realize how profoundly the Bible has influenced the course of all Western civilization. Millions do not understand that biblical laws and teachings provided the basis for social values and legal systems throughout the Western world for centuries. Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most brilliant minds of his century, remarked, “There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.” Britain’s Queen Victoria said of the Bible, “That book accounts for the supremacy of England.” U.S. president Andrew Jackson stated, “That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic stands.” U.S. president George Washington commented, “It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible.” France’s Napoleon observed, “The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all who oppose it” (Halley’s Bible Handbook, pp. 18–19).

Yet much has changed since these statements were made. Today, Bibles can be found in far-flung corners of the globe. But in Western nations founded on biblical principles, there has been a steep decline in respect for the Bible. There is a pervading notion that the Bible is just another book, and that its teachings are archaic, outdated and irrelevant to our modern lives. Many seriously doubt that God inspired Scripture. Millions who live in nations that once learned to read from the Bible, and sent Bible-toting missionaries around the world, cannot even name books in the Bible or explain basic biblical doctrines. Surveys done in recent decades show that even many professing Christians have little real knowledge about the Bible. Coinage in the U.S. proclaims, “In God We Trust.” Yet recent legislation and judicial decisions have made it illegal in the U.S. to display the Ten Commandments in public buildings, or for students to pray in school!

What has produced such a profound shift in attitudes toward the Bible in the very nations that once professed strong belief in Scripture? Why do millions now doubt that God inspired the Bible? Why are billions searching everywhere else for answers found clearly in the Bible? Why do people fail to recognize that the Bible contains prophecies clearly revealing the course of world history, and even the future of specific nations? Why have modern generations chosen to ignore a book that reveals essential details about the future and explains the way to peace and the ultimate purpose for human existence? Why has such vital information remained hidden from so many today?

The answers to these important questions read like a novel laced with danger, intrigue and adventure. You will be surprised by information about the Bible that is readily available, yet has largely gone unappreciated or been ignored. You will be shocked to learn how power-seeking religious leaders have twisted Scripture to support misguided and anti-biblical doctrines.

The more you learn about Scripture, the more you will realize that you can believe the Bible, because it has been inspired and preserved by a real God who is alive today! The Bible is firmly based on the facts of history, not on myth and fiction. The evidence presented in this booklet will make this clear.

The Challenge of Scripture

Many today assume that to believe the Bible, you must ignore the facts of science and history and just proceed on “blind faith.” Some believers relish the old saying, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it”—but this does not fit well with the skepticism that dominates our age. Others want to ignore what Scripture plainly states, and invent ways to “harmonize” the Bible with modern preferences. Many theologians teach that the Bible is only authoritative when it speaks of broad spiritual principles, and suggest that details of science or history in Scripture are merely the untrustworthy additions of human writers.

This desire to accommodate the Bible to the modern world is reflected in an October 2005 document issued by Roman Catholic bishops from England, Scotland and Wales. In “The Gift of Scripture,” the bishops warned that while they consider the Bible true in passages regarding salvation, “we should not expect total accuracy from the Bible in other matters… We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical accuracy.” Even so, the bishops profess respect for Scripture, telling their flock: “We have rediscovered the Bible as a precious treasure, both ancient and ever new.” These double-minded statements reflect the mindset of many theologians today, who say they respect the Bible but deny its authority. When religious leaders urge people to believe in a book that cannot be trusted on many topics, it is not surprising that church attendance in many countries has fallen off dramatically in recent decades.

The plain teachings of the Bible, however, stand in striking contrast to what many religious leaders preach today. The Apostle Paul did not encourage first century Christians to “just believe” in Jesus and merely accept the teachings of the Bible and Christianity “on faith.” Instead, he told his audiences, “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Paul urged people to check into the facts and believe what they could prove to be true! His admonition reflects Old Testament passages where God challenged the ancient Israelites to “prove Me now… if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:8–10, KJV). God urged Israel to put His promises to the test, and promised that He would bless them, to prove that He was real and that His promises were true! Paul knew that true religious belief involves evidence, assurance and certainty, not “blind faith.” He wrote that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). According to the Bible, faith should rest on solid evidence, not just warm, fuzzy, emotional feelings in your heart. You should never believe something in spite of the facts, and that includes believing in the authenticity and authority of the Bible!

The Apostle Peter emphasized the credibility of Scripture and of the Christian message when he wrote: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). Peter also warned his readers to “be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets” because “scoffers will come in the last days” questioning and ridiculing Scripture, “saying, ‘where is the promise of His coming?'” (2 Peter 3:1–9). Peter challenged prevailing misconceptions about Scripture; he did not try to water down fundamental scriptural teaching.

The Bible clearly reveals that the apostolic writers were advocates of Scripture, and of the teachings of the Christian faith! They knew that they were preaching the truth! Their approach followed the example of their teacher, Jesus Christ. The New Testament shows that Christ’s manner of preaching surprised His audiences. “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28–29).

The contents of Scripture can be verified by the facts of history and the discoveries of modern science and archaeology. What is more, the Bible provides answers to life’s big questions. Not only do the hundreds of detailed Bible prophecies accurately reveal the future course of world events; they set the Bible apart from all other religious books! The Bible provides a dimension of knowledge that is simply not available from any other source.

With so much evidence available, the real question that we face today is simply whether or not we can believe the Bible. As you read this booklet, you will see that the answer is, “Yes, we can!”

Chapter 2
Prophecy: The Bible’s Unique Dimension

Many assume that all religions are equally credible, that religious people all worship the same God and that the holy books of various religions are of equal value. Yet nothing could be further from the truth! Scholars confidently claim that no one can predict the future with assurance—and that only fools try! However, these assertions overlook or ignore the incredible phenomenon of Bible prophecy, which distinguishes the Bible from any other book that has ever been written.

The God of the Bible claims that He can predict the future and bring it to pass! The Bible contains hundreds of prophecies that have come true, and are confirmed by history. The Bible also contains dozens of prophecies that are coming alive today! Bible prophecies explain the real significance of global events making headlines today. Bible prophecies also reveal what is ahead for major nations of our modern world—and for the human race! No other book, religious or secular, does this with such accuracy and detail! Prophecy is clearly the Bible’s most striking feature!

Notice this amazing statement by Dr. Gleason Archer, a renowned Old Testament scholar: “The Holy Bible is like no other book in all the world. It is the only book which represents itself as the written revelation of the one true God, intended for the salvation of man, and demonstrating its divine authority by many infallible proofs. Other religious documents, such as the Muhammadan Koran, may claim to be the very word of God, but they contain no such self-authenticating proofs as does the Bible (for example, the phenomena of fulfilled prophecy)” (A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, Archer, p. 9).

Another authoritative source notes: “One of the strongest evidences that the Bible is inspired by God is its predictive prophecy. Unlike any other book, the Bible offers a multitude of specific predictions—some hundreds of years in advance—that have been literally fulfilled or else point to a definite future time when they will come true” (Geisler, p. 609). Old Testament professor Milton C. Fisher recognizes a “sharp distinction between prophetism in Israel and the outwardly similar phenomenon in surrounding cultures… both the type of message and the writings of Israel’s prophets is without parallel” (The Origin of the Bible, Bruce, pp. 105–106). Another scholar has noted that “the Bible… is the most remarkable volume that has ever been produced in some five thousand years… it is the only volume that has ever been produced by men, or a group of men, in which is to be found a large body of prophecies relating to individual nations, to Israel, to all the peoples of the earth, to certain cities, and to the coming One who was to be the Messiah. The ancient world had many different devices for determining the future, known as divination, but not in the entire gamut of Greek and Latin literature… can we find any real specific prophecy of a great historic event to come in the distant future, nor any prophecy of a Savior to arise in the human race” (Evidence That Demands a Verdict, McDowell, p. 22). These are absolutely remarkable statements that clearly recognize the unique nature of Bible prophecy!

The Challenge of Prophecy

Being able to predict the future accurately and consistently is simply not a human trait. Even the best strategic planners acknowledge that detailed prediction of future events—especially geopolitical events—is difficult in the short term, and practically impossible in the long term, at least at any level of detail. Yet the Bible repeatedly predicts the rise and fall of prominent individuals, nations and empires with amazing accuracy and in remarkable detail! Bible scholars have determined that more than one quarter of the Bible—about 27 percent—is devoted to prophecy, and that the Bible contains more than 1,800 predictions, many of which are very specific. Hundreds of specific prophecies, given centuries before their exact fulfillment, are undeniable evidence that an all-powerful God is alive and in control of future events!

Scripture makes this plain when the God of the Bible challenges skeptics to predict the future and bring it to pass! Through the pen of the prophet Isaiah, God thunders: “Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods… indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing; he who chooses you is an abomination” (Isaiah 41:23–24). And again: “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do my pleasure'” (Isaiah 46:9–10). These verses boldly state that no human being can predict the future and bring it to pass on the scale that the God of the Bible claims He can—and has, and will!

This unique capacity to predict the future accurately sets the Bible apart from any other piece of literature. Bible scholars recognize: “Other books claim divine inspiration, such as the Koran, the Book of Mormon, and parts of the [Hindu] Veda. But none of these books contains predictive prophecy. As a result, fulfilled prophecy is a strong indication of the unique, divine authority of the Bible” (The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, McDowell, p. 13). Bible prophecy stands in marked contrast to human attempts to predict the future. A study of 25 top-rated psychics discovered that 92 percent of their predictions were totally wrong, and that chance or general knowledge of circumstances could explain the remaining 8 percent that were accurate (Geisler, p. 615). Anyone familiar with the so-called prophecies of Nostradamus (Michael de Nostredame), the 16th century French psychic who dabbled in astrology, alchemy and other occult practices, is aware that his vague and nebulous verses simply do not compare to biblical prophecies. Specific prophecies, given centuries before they were accurately and consistently fulfilled, are some of the most stunning proofs that the Bible is the inspired word of God!

Hundreds of Prophecies About Jesus Christ!

Some of the Bible’s most striking examples of fulfilled prophecies are those that accurately foretold specific details about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, centuries before He was born! More than 200 prophecies, written centuries before His birth, foretold specific events in His life that were fulfilled to the letter. He would be born of a virgin and named Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23), in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:3–8). He would be a descendant of David (Matthew 1:1; 22:42–45). He would sojourn in Egypt (Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:13–15). His birth would prompt a massacre of children (Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:16–18). He would live in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1–2; Matthew 2:19–23). He would enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:1–5). He would die with transgressors and be buried in the tomb of a rich man (Isaiah 53:9, 12). He would be resurrected after three days (Matthew 12:40; Jonah 1:17).

The remarkable fulfillment of hundreds of specific predictions, recorded centuries earlier in the Hebrew Scriptures, demonstrates beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah of the Bible and the Son of God. It should be noted that “Mohammedanism cannot point to any prophecies of the coming of Mohammed uttered hundreds of years before his birth. Neither can the founders of any cult… rightly identify any ancient text specifically foretelling their appearance” (McDowell, p. 22). Some Muslim scholars cite Old Testament verses that they say prophesied Muhammad (Deuteronomy 18:15–18), but it was Jesus Christ who actually fulfilled those prophecies (see Matthew 21:11; Luke 1:76; 24:19; Acts 3:18–22) more than 600 years before Muhammad was born! The Bible’s prophecies about Jesus Christ are unique among religious writings.

Cities and Kings

The Bible contains more than 1,500 prophecies that foretell in remarkable detail the future of prominent cities, kings and kingdoms. Fulfilled prophecies about the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre stand as a sobering testimony to the power and accuracy of Bible prophecy. When Ezekiel recorded his prophecies (around 585bc), Tyre was one of the great cities of the ancient world. It was situated on an island at the center of a maritime trading network that controlled Mediterranean commerce. Tyre was a wealthy emporium of goods, surrounded by 150-foot-high walls that were considered impregnable. The Bible reports that Tyre’s citizens rejoiced when Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army conquered Jerusalem; they anticipated gaining access to valuable inland trade routes passing through Jerusalem. In response, God delivered a series of specific prophecies of Tyre’s future devastation. Ezekiel wrote that, “because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples’… Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for spreading nets in the midst of the sea… they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst of the water… you shall never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, says the Lord God'” (Ezekiel 26:2–14).

To appreciate the power and scope of Ezekiel’s prophecies, picture someone trying to predict what will happen to New York or London over the next 2,500 years! Yet history records how Ezekiel’s predictions have come to pass. In 585bc, Nebuchadnezzar began a 13-year siege against Tyre. His was the first of many nations that would come like waves against Tyre. Around 530bc, the Persians gained control of Tyre. In 332bc, Alexander destroyed the mainland portion of Tyre and threw the debris into the sea to build a causeway for assaulting the island city. When Alexander conquered the island fortress of Tyre, he battered down the walls and reduced the city to ruins. As Phoenician specialist Glenn Markoe wrote, “The conquest of Alexander… marked the beginning of the end for Tyre and Phoenicia… Tyre would soon recover commercially… yet it would never fully reclaim the pride of place it had enjoyed” (Phoenicians, Markoe, p. 61). Greeks and Romans later dominated what remained of the city. In 638ad, Muslim armies captured Tyre. Crusaders recaptured the city in 1124, and used it as a staging area for military operations. In 1291, the Muslims retook Tyre and laid it in ruins, “after which she never again regained any importance” (Geisler, p. 870). Today, there is a small fishing village near the ruins of the once proud city of Tyre, but the city’s ancient power and splendor, and its extensive trade network, are gone. The site of one of the wealthiest cities in the ancient world has become “a place for spreading nets,” just as the Bible predicted.

The Bible contains prophecies about other cities near Tyre that would have a bloody history but a different future. Sidon, an idol-worshiping Phoenician city about 20 miles north of Tyre, was noted for artistic metalwork and fine cloth. Bible prophecies reveal that Sidon would have a bloody history and suffer from pestilence, but would come to “know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 28:21–23). Nowhere did God prophesy total destruction or oblivion for Sidon. History records that the Assyrians destroyed Sidon in 678bc, but the city was rebuilt, and it submitted to Nebuchadnezzar after suffering from a devastating pestilence. Persians burned the city in about 351bc. Syria and Egypt fought over Sidon, and it became a free city under Roman rule. The Bible indicates that Jesus may have visited Sidon (Matthew 15:21) and that Sidonians heard Jesus preach the gospel (Mark 3:7–8). The Apostle Paul also visited Sidon (Acts 27:3). Today, modern Sidon is known for its gardens and orange groves. Bible prophecy outlined a very different future for Tyre’s sister city Sidon—and it came to pass, just as Scripture predicted!

Around 700bc, the prophet Isaiah recorded several specific prophecies about the downfall of the Babylonian Empire and the destruction of the city of Babylon (see Isaiah 13; 14). At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, Babylon was subject to the Assyrians and would not become a major power for another hundred years. Yet Isaiah foresaw the future glory that Babylon would achieve under Nebuchadnezzar with its Hanging Gardens, magnificent palaces, luxurious living, massive walls and military conquests. Isaiah also foresaw the Medes’ destruction of Babylon, and the city’s ultimate desolation, several hundred years in advance! Isaiah’s prophecies foretold: “The burden against Babylon… I will stir up the Medes against them… And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there… but wild beasts of the desert will lie there… her days will not be prolonged” (Isaiah 13:1–22). History records that these prophecies were fulfilled: “In 539 [bc] Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians… Xerxes destroyed the city in 478, and it was finally abandoned in the 4th century bc” (Eerdmans’ Handbook of the Bible, p. 382).

The Chosen People

Some of the Bible’s most amazing and surprising prophecies deal with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—the twelve tribes of Israel, whom God chose to use for a special purpose (Exodus 19:1–6). God promised Abram (Abraham) that in return for obedience, his descendants would become great and be a blessing to the world (Genesis 12:1–3). Later prophecies stated that Jacob’s descendants through Manasseh and Ephraim would ultimately become a “great” nation, and a great “multitude [company, commonwealth] of nations,” who, along with the other descendants of Jacob, would in Bible prophecy be called Israelites(Genesis 48:14–22). In the Bible, the terms Israel and Israelite generally apply to the descendants of all twelve of Jacob’s sons. The Jews are the descendants of Judah, who was just one of Jacob’s sons. In a more specific sense, Israel applies to the descendants of the ten tribes that made up the nation of Israel (with its capital in Samaria), which broke away from the nation of Judah (with its capital in Jerusalem) when the kingdom of Solomon was divided (see 1 Kings 12). This biblical distinction between the Jews and the other Israelite nations is an important key to understanding Bible prophecy.

Genesis 49 contains a remarkable series of prophecies foretelling how the Israelites—descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons—will be recognized “in the last days.” Reuben will become powerful and have notions of grandeur, but will lack national stability; consider how this description could describe France. Judah (the Jews) will provide the Messiah and retain knowledge of the Law of God. Zebulun will dwell by the sea and become a mercantile people; a description evocative of modern Holland. Dan will leave its mark, having traveled from its base in the Middle East; a description evocative of Denmark and Ireland. Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) will become a colonizing people dwelling in the choice places of the earth—and dwelling “separate from his brothers”—a description perfectly apt to describe the former British Commonwealth nations and the U.S. (see Genesis 49:22–26). These remarkable prophecies were not to be fulfilled only by the Jews—to whom the world gives the name “Israel”—but also by eleven other nations that are part of the “whole house” of Israel. These prophecies reveal keys to the identity and location of the modern descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons—the children of Israel. For a more detailed discussion of this topic, please request our free booklet, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy.

Understanding the true identity of the Israelite nations is not only a key for understanding Bible prophecy; this knowledge is also essential for God’s Church, which must fulfill the commission that Jesus gave. Jesus commissioned His disciples to “go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”—to preach about the coming kingdom of God, and warn the Israelites about terrible trials they would face in the last days because of their disobedience to God’s laws (see Jeremiah 30:7–24). Jesus’ disciples took this commission seriously. In their day, the tribes of Israel were not “lost.” The Apostle James addressed his epistle “to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (James 1:1). Josephus revealed that in the days of the apostles, “ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates… and are an immense multitude” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XI, 5, 2). This explains why several of the apostles, including Peter and Andrew, traveled in that direction.

Historical sources also indicate that Peter, Paul and others traveled to Western Europe and Britain preaching the gospel. The clear implication of these leading apostles’ journeys to the West is that Israelite peoples were there! Examine the history of ancient Ireland, and notice which Israelite tribal name appears in the records. When you study the Genesis 49 prophecies about the characteristics and future history of Jacob’s descendants, you will notice the connection with peoples that currently reside in, or emigrated from, northwest Europe! When you understand the identities of modern Israelite nations, you can begin to understand from Bible prophecy what lies ahead for these nations—and for other nations mentioned in Bible prophecy!

The Future of Nations

Bible prophecies are not just about ancient history. The book of Daniel contains detailed yet sweeping prophecies that provide an outline of history from the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon through the return of Jesus Christ at the end of the age. Modern critics, seeking to discredit the prophetic and supernatural elements in the book of Daniel, have revived ideas put forward by Porphyrius, a third-century pagan philosopher from Tyre. Porphyrius (also called Porphyry) claimed that the book of Daniel was a fraudulent work produced in the second century bc, after the events it recounts had already taken place! However, this theory does not square with the facts. The book of Daniel gives precise dates, locations and names that can be verified. The prophet Ezekiel was a contemporary of Daniel, and mentioned him very respectfully (Ezekiel 14:20). The book of Daniel was widely accepted as inspired, and was included in the Hebrew Bible in the second century bc. Jesus acknowledged Daniel as the author of the book (Matthew 24:15). One respected source notes: “In NT prophecy Daniel is referred to more than any other book in the OT. Moreover, it contains more fulfilled prophecies than any other book in the Bible”(see The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 3).

Daniel recorded a dream about a huge image (Daniel 2). The four parts of the image—head, chest, belly and thighs, legs and feet—pictured four empires that would arise in the future to dominate the Mediterranean world. Bible scholars now recognize these empires as the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greco-Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire. Daniel also revealed that Jesus Christ will strike the last remnant of the Roman Empire on its feet and toes (made of iron and clay) when He returns to set up His kingdom on this earth at the end of this age (Daniel 2:41–45). Daniel described the same four empires as four beasts, and gave additional details about each. The third empire (Greco-Macedonian under Alexander) was pictured with four heads (Daniel 7:6). History records that after Alexander’s death, his empire split into four parts, about 300 years after Daniel recorded the prophecy. Daniel described the fourth beast (the Roman Empire) as having ten horns representing “ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom” (Daniel 7:7, 24). History records the many attempts to continue or revive the Roman Empire down through the centuries. They have all occurred in Europe, including revivals under Charlemagne, Charles V of the Hapsburgs, Napoleon and Mussolini. According to Bible prophecy, the final revival will be lead by a person labeled “the beast,” backed by a religious leader called the “false prophet” (see Revelation 13 and 17). For more information about these end-time prophetic developments, please request our free booklet, The Beast of Revelation.

Daniel also mentions a “little horn” that will disown the first three attempts to continue the Roman Empire, but will be intimately involved with subsequent revivals of the Roman Empire in its various forms. This figure is prophesied as speaking “pompous words against the Most High… persecute the saints… [and] change times and law” (Daniel 7:8, 20, 24–25). This “little horn” foreshadows those religious leaders who have claimed to be the “vicar of Christ” (meaning “in place of Christ”), who murdered Bible-believing Christians through an Inquisition and who replaced commanded biblical Holy Days with pagan holidays. Other prophecies identify this “little horn” as a prominent religious figure whose latter-day counterpart will play a key role in events leading to Jesus Christ’s return (2 Thessalonians 2; Revelation 13; 17).

The ten toes of Daniel’s image (Daniel 2:40–43) correspond to ten kings who will give their power and authority to “the beast,” a powerful and deceptive political leader who will emerge on the scene in Europe just before Jesus Christ returns at the end of the age (Revelation 17:1–13). This political leader will receive support from, and be influenced by, a powerful religious leader—the final manifestation of the “little horn.” Like his predecessors, this “little horn” will play a key role in world politics (Revelation 13; 17). History records that Roman Catholic popes have crowned the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, and that popes and bishops have long influenced European politics. The iron and clay of the ten toes of Daniel’s image foretells the attempts by squabbling European nations to form a union by surrendering their sovereignty to a central government (akin to what the E.U. has done in Brussels). Current attempts to create a united Europe modeled on the old Roman Empire have been backed by several popes and the Roman Church. Daniel and other books of the Bible indicate that the final fulfillment of these remarkable prophecies will occur in the years just ahead!

It is ironic that while these ancient and detailed prophecies are coming alive today, leaders of the Roman Church insist that the symbolic language used in Daniel and Revelation “is not to be interpreted literally. We should not expect to discover in this book [Revelation] details about the end of the world” (The Times, October 5, 2005)—yet that is exactly what these prophetic books claim to reveal! Today, for people who really want to understand where world events are leading, the challenge is: Whom do you believe, theologians or the Bible? This is why it is important to determine whether or not the Bible is truly the word of God—whether it is fact or fiction!

The End of the World

Sadly, modern skeptics—and even many who claim to believe in Jesus Christ—dismiss ideas about the end of the age as pure fantasy and wild-eyed doomsday talk. Yet the Bible takes a linear view of history, and pictures all events moving toward a climax. The prophecies in Daniel take this view, with the climax being Jesus Christ’s return to establish the kingdom of God on this earth. Jesus spoke freely and in detail about specific events that would signal the end of the age. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age” He did not beat around the bush or try to avoid answering the question, as many theologians do today (Matthew 24:3). He told His disciples to watch for a time when they would see widespread religious confusion and deception, and increasingly frequent reports of violence, wars, ethnic strife, famines, disease epidemics and natural disasters on a global scale (Matthew 24:4–7).

These are the very headlines dominating our news today! Yet Jesus said that this would be just the “beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8). Christ went on to reveal that there will be a global persecution of Christians, but that the true gospel of the coming kingdom of God will nevertheless “be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Jesus said that all these events leading up to the climax of this age will occur at a time in history when the very existence of life on this planet will be threatened. Notice Jesus’ description that “unless those days were shortened [by Jesus’ return], no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:22). Jesus admonished His disciples to watch—to remain alert—so that they will recognize when the civilizations of this world are entering their final hour (Matthew 24:36–44; 25:1–13; Mark 13:32–37; Luke 21:34–38).

In the 1950s, world leaders first realized that, with the development of nuclear weapons, mankind has created the capacity to destroy all life from the face of the earth. This was never possible until the last half of the 20th century! Is it just a coincidence that between 1950 and today we have seen the global spread of HIV-AIDS, the return of drug-resistant tuberculosis and the threat of international pandemics of bird flu and other infectious diseases? Is it just a coincidence that today we are concerned with the emerging threat of global warming and the sobering consequences of global climate change? Is it just a coincidence that all this is happening amid rising fears about international terrorism and escalating conflict in the Middle East—all of which Scripture predicted long ago? Is this all coincidence, or are we seeing the approaching fulfillment of ancient Bible prophecies that describe in detail the end of the age? These astoundingly accurate prophecies distinguish the Bible from any other book on this planet, and they offer proof that the Bible was written by “the finger of God.”

Chapter 3
Did God Inspire the Bible?

One of the Bible’s most striking features is that it plainly claims to be the inspired word of an Almighty God. We see this in the words of the Apostle Paul, a highly educated Hebrew who wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God“ (2 Timothy 3:16). The Apostle Peter wrote that the content of Scripture “never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit”(2 Peter 1:21). To early Church leaders, “inspiration was not an ecstatic overpowering of the writer’s consciousness, but rather a high degree of illumination and calm awareness of God’s revelation… extending to every word of Scripture” (The Origin of the Bible, Bruce, et al., p. 38). Scripture indicates, and the early Church recognized, that God inspired the biblical writers to use their own minds and their own styles to write what God wanted them to write.

The Bible describes the process of divine inspiration in the way God worked with Moses, “And God spoke all these words… And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord… when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book… Moses commanded the Levites… Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant” (Exodus 20:1; 24:4; Deuteronomy 31:24–26). Centuries later, Ezra and Nehemiah read to the people of Israel from the “Book of the Law of Moses,” which was also called “the Book of the Law of God” (Nehemiah 8:1, 18). Jesus acknowledged its divine inspiration when He said, “have you not read in the book of Moses… how God spoke to him” (Mark 12:26). The prophet Jeremiah recorded a similar experience: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ‘Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you” (Jeremiah 30:1–2). The phrase, “Thus says the Lord” is used more than 350 times in the Old Testament, clearly implying that the words of Scripture came from God.

As we will see, other religious books may claim divine inspiration like the Bible, yet they lack the specific characteristics that confirm the Bible’s authenticity.

Not only does the Bible claim to be divinely inspired, it claims to be the ultimate source of truth, revealed by the one true God. The Apostle John wrote, “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17, KJV). David wrote, “Your law is truth… all Your commandments are truth… The entirety of Your word is truth” (Psalm 119:142, 151, 160). The prophet Isaiah asserted, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). Isaiah meant that if statements and ideas do not agree with Scripture, we can recognize them as false. The Apostle Paul also calls Scripture “the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

These statements stand in marked contrast to the uncertain words spoken by Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Today, many skeptics and cynics share Pilate’s question. Yet the Bible’s bold claims show that its writers clearly believed that the words they recorded were absolutely true and inspired by a wise and all-powerful God (see Genesis 17:1; Psalm 86:10; Jude 1:25). What is truth? You need to prove that for yourself!

The Bible repeatedly emphasizes, “the Lord is the true God” (Jeremiah 10:10; see also John 17:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 John 5:20). Scripture records that when the ancient Egyptian priests saw the miracles announced by Moses, and saw their own gods powerless, they concluded: “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:16–19). Daniel records that Nebuchadnezzar, pagan king of Babylon, came to the same conclusion after encountering the God of the Bible: “Truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets” (Daniel 2:47). The Bible records that the Apostle Paul, distressed at seeing Athens “given over to idols,” taught superstitious Greek philosophers about the true God (Acts 17:16–34). For more information about the true God of the Bible, request our free booklet, The Real God: Proofs and Promises.

The Bible’s clear and unambiguous message is that Scripture is the inspired word of a real God, and is the ultimate source of truth! This is difficult for many today to believe, because we live in a skeptical age where even so-called biblical scholars doubt that the Bible really is God’s word. However, the Bible’s bold claim that it is the inspired word of an all-powerful God, and is true in its entirety, can be verified in the records of history and the discoveries of archaeology. The evidence is there for anyone willing to look!

Critics Challenge the Bible

Scripture boldly asserts that “the word of our God stands forever” and “the word of the Lord endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25). King David wrote, “His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:5). Yet, down through the centuries, antagonists and critics have tried to undermine, disparage, defy and destroy Scripture, and even mock the God of the Bible. The Bible warns, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked” (Galatians 6:7). The Old Testament records that during the Assyrian invasion of Judah (ca. 700bc), Sennacherib, a pagan Assyrian king, mocked the God of Israel before king Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32:9–19). Shortly thereafter, “the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor… in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he [Sennacherib] returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there” (2 Chronicles 32:21–22).

Historical records confirm that Sennacherib did not conquer Jerusalem, and that his own sons killed him. Secular history does not explain why this occurred. However, the Bible reveals that dire consequences can arise when doubters and critics mock the real God! Next to the exodus from Egypt, this is one of God’s most dramatic interventions in Israel’s history, and the facts of secular history support the biblical record. Incidentally, the Greek historian Herodotus relates that Sennacherib also suffered an embarrassing setback, with supernatural overtones, when his army invaded Egypt and a swarm of field mice chewed up their weapons, causing him to flee from the field near Pelusium with heavy losses (The Histories, 2:141). This truth of Scripture—that God will not be mocked—stands confirmed.

In the century after the apostles, historical sources confirm that Celsus, an articulate pagan philosopher, created a major stir when he wrote a blistering attack against the Bible and Christianity. Celsus wrote that biblical teachings were “absurd,” that the gospel accounts were “a deception” and that anyone who believed in one God was “deluded” (Is the Bible True?, Sheler, p. 9). The Bible survived, and Christianity spread around the world, but few people today have even heard of Celsus! Modern biblical critics who have resurrected Celsus’ ideas should remember that his attack on Scripture was answered by an early religious scholar named Origen, whose eight-volume Against Celsus gave a point-by-point rebuttal in defense of the Bible.

At the beginning of the 4th century, the Roman emperor Diocletian sought to wipe out the Christian religion. He unleashed a terrible persecution of Christians, and commanded that all Bibles be burned. However, within a few short years a new emperor (Constantine) actually ordered the production of 50 Bibles! During the Middle Ages (ca. 500–1500ad), scholars influenced by pagan philosophy taught that scriptural accounts were merely allegories and should not be taken literally. Their allegorical approach assumed that Bible passages hid a deeper meaning, making the literal meaning unimportant. The Bible survived, but this way of thinking also survives today in many theological schools. The allegorical approach is a very subtle way of undermining the Bible’s clear message, because it ignores what the Bible actually says.

Secular scholars in the 18th century became enthralled by the apparent power of human reason and the new discoveries of science. Regarding human reason as the ultimate authority, and armed with a bias against the supernatural, these critics began to offer speculative theories about the Bible’s supposed origins, apparent contradictions and assumed errors. However, the assumptions and speculations of these critics have not stood the test of time. In fact, some of their bold pronouncements now appear extremely presumptuous and naïve. Toward the end of the 18th century, the French philosopher Voltaire predicted that Christianity would be swept from existence within a century. Yet, 50 years after he died, the Geneva Bible Society produced stacks of Bibles in Voltaire’s house on his own press (The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, McDowell, p. 10). The facts of history and the discoveries of archaeology make it plain: secular critics’ ill-founded pronouncements and theories are intellectual castles built on hot air.

Evidence from Archaeology

Over the last 200 years, the rise of biblical criticism spawned many confident assertions by scholars who doubted the inspiration of Scripture. Skeptics at first claimed that since there was no evidence outside the Bible of various people and places mentioned in the Bible, the writers of Scripture must have invented them. This approach found fertile ground in “progressive” schools of theology, and in secular academic circles. The press and media fed these ideas to society, furthering doubts about the Bible’s credibility. This doubt and skepticism persists today, even though ongoing archaeological discoveries continue to validate the Bible’s historical accuracy, and discredit the skeptics’ assumptions!

As recently as 1992, some scholars were confidently asserting, “There are no literary criteria for believing David to be more historical than Joshua, Joshua more historical than Abraham, and Abraham more historical than Adam” (see “House of David Built on Sand,” Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 1994, pp. 54–55). Yet, just one year later, archaeologists digging in upper Galilee discovered a 9th century bc inscription about the “house of David.” Jeffrey Sheler, an award-winning journalist and a religion writer for U.S. News & World Report, wrote: “The fragmentary reference to David was a historical bombshell. Never before had the familiar name of Judah’s ancient warrior king… been found in the records of antiquity outside the pages of the Bible” (Is the Bible True?, p. 60).

For decades, critics viewed the biblical story of David and Goliath as a fanciful tale of religious fiction. Yet, recently, “archaeologists digging at the purported biblical home of Goliath [Gath, see 1 Samuel 17:4] have unearthed a shard of pottery bearing an inscription of the Philistine’s name, a find they claimed lends historical credence to the Bible’s tale of David’s battle with the giant” (The London Times, November 13, 2005). This is the oldest Philistine inscription ever discovered, dated to 950bc—within 70 years of the biblical narrative.

Doubting scholars for years assumed that “there were no Hittites at the time of Abraham, as there were no records of their existence apart from the Old Testament. They must be a myth” (McDowell, p. 11). However, later “archaeological research… uncovered more than 1,200 years of Hittite civilization” (ibid.). In similar fashion, critics assumed that the biblical patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were fictional figures from Hebrew folklore. Yet cuneiform tablets discovered in the royal archives of the palace of Mari in northern Syria, dating from the start of the second millennium bc (the approximate time of the patriarchs) mention “such names as Abam-ram (Abraham), Jacob-el and Benjamites” (When Skeptics Ask, Geisler & Brooks, pp. 186–187). All these discoveries support the biblical record and refute the charges of critics.

Scholars skeptical of the Bible have noted the similarity between the Genesis creation account and Babylonian clay tablets describing the creation of the world. These scholars have glossed over major differences in the accounts, and suggested that biblical writers simply borrowed their material from other sources. However, the discovery of more that 17,000 clay tablets at Ebla (in modern Syria), dating from 2500bc, has overturned the critics’ theories. The Ebla tablets (which predate the Babylonian creation epic by some 600 years) contain “the oldest known creation accounts outside the Bible… The creation tablet is strikingly close to that of Genesis, speaking of one being who created the heavens, moon, stars and earth. Parallels show that the Bible contains the older, less embellished version… They [the Ebla tablets] destroy the critical belief in the evolution of monotheism from supposed earlier polytheism” (Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Geisler, p. 208).

There have been dozens of other remarkable discoveries. The Merneptah Stela describes an Egyptian pharaoh conquering Israel (ca. 1200bc). The Black Obelisk from Nimrud pictures Israelite king Jehu bowing before Assyrian king Shalmaneser III. An inscription near Jerusalem refers to “Joseph, son of Caiaphas” (Caiaphas was the high priest in Jerusalem at the time of Christ’s crucifixion; see Matthew 26:57). An inscribed stone from first century Caesarea reads, “Pontius Pilate, the Prefect of Judea” (Pilate was the Roman governor at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion; see Matthew 27:2). Such evidence, carved in stone, supports the conclusion that the Bible writers were recording facts and not fiction (see The Signature of God, Jeffrey, pp. 72–74; Is the Bible True?, Sheler, pp. 110–112).

The manner in which archaeology has verified the historical accuracy of the Bible has been nothing short of remarkable! As noted archaeologist Nelson Glueck has written, “it may be clearly stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a single biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible” (Rivers in the Desert, Glueck, p. 136). Glueck’s comments echo the words of another prominent archaeologist, William F. Albright, who stated, “There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of Old Testament tradition… The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries… has been progressively discredited” (Evidence That Demands a Verdict, McDowell, vol. 1, p. 65). The evidence of history and archaeology defies the critics, and supports Scripture!

Chapter 4
Has the Bible Been Preserved Accurately?

How can we know whether the text of the Bible has been preserved accurately down through the centuries? Is it logical to believe that a book written by more than 40 authors in different locations over 1,500 years can be trustworthy? Can we prove that the text we have today is reliable?

If the Bible is the inspired word of an Almighty God who encourages people to “check the facts,” we should expect to find convincing evidence that Scripture has been preserved carefully and accurately over time. Such evidence is available—in Scripture itself! Evidence can also be found in Jewish historical literature, in the writings of early Church scholars and in a multitude of modern sources. The evidence for the accurate transmission of the Bible is remarkable, overwhelming and, indeed, irrefutable!

Old Testament Preservation

The Apostle Paul revealed where to find evidence of Scripture’s preservation when he wrote, “What advantage then has the Jew…? to them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1–2). Biblical scholar Bernard Ramm comments, “The Jews preserved it [the Old Testament] as no other manuscript has ever been preserved” (McDowell, p. 9). When God revealed His laws to their ancestors, they were given a mandate: “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it… be careful to observe them [the statutes of God]… teach them to your children and your grandchildren” (Deuteronomy 4:1–10). History clearly shows how this has occurred.

The Bible records that God gave His laws directly to Moses (ca. 1400bc), and that “when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book… Moses commanded the Levites… Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:24–26). This ark was a box containing stone tablets of the law carved by God and the writings of Moses (see Deuteronomy 10:5). It was kept in the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple at Jerusalem. The Bible shows Ezra the priest reading and explaining the “Book of the Law of Moses” to Jews who had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon in the fifth century bc (Nehemiah 8:1–12). By 150bc, there is even evidence from extra-biblical sources that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) was attributed to Moses (The Origin of the Bible, Bruce, et al., p. 56). In the first century ad, Jesus and the apostles also quoted from and referred to the books of Moses as inspired Scripture (see Mark 12:19–27; John 1:17; Romans 10:5). Thus, the Bible provides its own account of how Scripture was preserved and used over generations.

Canon Vs. Confusion

Evidence also exists from the Bible, as well as from historical sources, that the Old Testament consisted of specific books that were widely recognized as divinely inspired. The list of books recognized as inspired became the canon of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible. In the first century ad, both Jesus (Luke 24:44) and the Jewish teacher Philo referred to three major divisions of the Old Testament canon: the Law, the Prophets and the Writings (see Bruce, p. 60). Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, acknowledged that the Hebrew Bible consisted of 22 books—essentially the same text which, divided differently, forms the 39 books of our modern Old Testament—and that these books “have all been accepted as canonical from time immemorial” (ibid., p. 61). The fact that 22 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament comprise the 49 books of the complete Bible (49 is considered a number of completion) indicates that a divine mind was guiding this process. The Bible is not just a haphazard collection of books!

Modern scholars generally agree that the Hebrew Scriptures were recognized as inspired from an early date. According to one source: “The evidence supports the theory that the Hebrew canon was established well before the late first century ad, more than likely as early as the fourth century bc and certainly no later than 150bc” (McDowell, p. 26). Another source states: “No one doubts that the Pentateuch was both complete and canonical by the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, in the fifth century bc… such evidence implies that by the beginning of the Christian era the identity of all the [Old Testament] canonical books was well known and generally accepted” (The Origin of the Bible, Bruce, et al., p. 56). It is worth noting that none of the biblical writers or early Church scholars accepted as inspired the apocryphal books written in the inter-testamental period.

Exact Copies Prepared!

But how reliable are the Old Testament books that we have today? Has the text of the Old Testament been transmitted to us accurately? Consider the evidence. “In Judaism, a succession of scholars was charged with standardizing and preserving the biblical text” during a period extending from about 500bc to about 1000ad(McDowell, pp. 73–77). The earliest scribes, the Sopherim (400bc to 200ad), worked with Ezra and “were regarded as the Bible custodians until the time of Christ” (ibid.). They were followed by the Talmudists (100ad to 500ad) and finally by the Masoretes (500ad to 1000ad). Numerous accounts confirm that these scribes copied the biblical texts with extreme care, counting the number of words in a book, counting the number of times a letter appeared in a book, and even pointing out the middle letter in the Pentateuch and the middle letter in the Bible!

Because of such careful attention to detail in the preparation and transmission of Old Testament manuscripts, modern scholars acknowledge that “the Hebrew Bible has been transmitted with the most minute accuracy… it may safely be said that no other work of antiquity has been so accurately transmitted… [it is] little short of miraculous” (Evidence That Demands a Verdict, McDowell, pp. 55–56). The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 proved just how accurately the Jews have preserved and transmitted the Old Testament text. Before the discovery of the scrolls in a cave near the Dead Sea, the oldest copy of the Hebrew text dated from around 1000ad. The newly discovered scrolls dated to the first century bc—about 1,000 years earlier! The scrolls contained two nearly complete copies of the book of Isaiah, which proved “to be word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The 5 percent of the variations consisted of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling” (When Skeptics Ask, Geisler & Brooks, pp. 158–159). The Dead Sea Scrolls provide solid evidence that the text of the Old Testament has not changed in more than 2,000 years!

The New Testament Preserved

The reliability of the New Testament rests on a wealth of material that is available. Scholars readily acknowledge, “There are earlier and more manuscripts of the New Testament than of any other book in the ancient world” (Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Geisler, p. 93). These manuscripts clearly reveal that the New Testament “has been transmitted to us with no, or next to no, variation” (Evidence That Demands a Verdict, McDowell, p. 44).

More than 24,000 manuscript copies of the New Testament in Greek, Latin and other languages provide evidence about the text. The earliest New Testament manuscripts date within a few decades or a few centuries of the apostolic writers. By comparison, there are only 643 manuscripts of Homer’s Iliad (written in the 8th century bc), and the earliest copy in existence today dates from about 400bc—some 500 years after it was composed. Only 10–20 copies of writings of Julius Caesar, the Roman historian Tacitus, and the Greek historian Herodotus exist today, with the oldest manuscripts copied 1,000 years after the originals were composed (McDowell, pp. 39–43). Compared against the New Testament, no other document from the ancient world has left such a wealth of material documenting the reliable transmission of its text. In addition to the many available manuscripts, early Christian writers quoted the New Testament so extensively that almost the entire New Testament could be reconstructed from other sources.

Critics have theorized that unknown authors composed the gospels centuries after the apostles. Yet the earliest fragment of John’s gospel is dated 130ad, about 30 years after the apostle’s death. This supports the traditional view that John wrote his gospel towards the end of the first century (see McDowell, pp. 39–47). Also, “there is no evidence from the first two Christian centuries that the gospels ever circulated without the names of the authors attached” (Sheler, p. 33). One scholar has observed: “If we compare the present state of the New Testament text with that of any other ancient writing, we must… declare it marvelously correct” (McDowell, p. 45). Another prominent scholar stated: “It cannot be too strongly asserted that in substance the text of the Bible is certain: Especially is this the case with the New Testament… This can be said of no other ancient book in the world” (ibid.).

New Testament Canon

For decades, critics have charged that the books of the New Testament were not written until a century or more after Jesus and the apostles lived, and were probably pieced together by anonymous authors. Such a late composition would allow time for myths and legends to creep into the text. Some progressive theologians and modern authors, as in The DaVinci Code, also assert that the books of the New Testament were selected by politically motivated committees, and that valuable books were deliberately omitted, thereby compromising the Bible’s accuracy and value. However, the internal evidence of the New Testament books, the facts of history and the weight of modern scholarship all refute these ideas!

Today, most credible scholars concur that “the New Testament canon with the Gospels and most of Paul’s Epistles was formed by the end of the first century… The attested date for the canonical Gospels is no later than 60–100” ad (Geisler, p. 520). Neither Luke’s gospel nor the book of Acts (also written by Luke) mention the 70ad destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, which was for Jews the most significant event of the century. Indeed, no New Testament author mentions the destruction of the Temple, which strongly suggests early authorship of the New Testament canon.

The New Testament books themselves reveal that the authors recognized which writings God had inspired, and belonged in the canon. The Apostle Paul wrote that “the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). Paul wrote that the teachings of the apostles were divinely inspired and were to be read in the churches, “because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 5:27). Peter warned that those who were twisting Paul’s writings were twisting “the Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:15–16). Scholars in the early centuries of the Church accepted the apostles’ writings as Scripture, but they “all draw a clear distinction between their own [writings] and the inspired, authoritative apostolic writings” (Bruce, p. 71). This argues strongly that the New Testament canon was recognized very early in Church history.

Tertullian, a religious historian who wrote in the early 200s, appears to be the first writer to call Christian Scripture the “New Testament.” This is significant, because it “placed the New Testament Scripture on a level of inspiration and authority with the Old Testament” (Bruce, p. 66). From the 300s we have records showing that the New Testament canon consisted of 27 books—the same books we have today. A letter written in 367ad by Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, provides the earliest documentation of the exact 27 books of the New Testament canon. His letter, which was “designed to eliminate once and for all the use of certain apocryphal books,” warns: “Let no one add to these; let nothing be taken away” (Bruce, p. 74). Later, in 397ad, a church council in Carthage decreed that “aside from the canonical Scriptures [which the council listed as 27 books] nothing is to be read in church under the Name of Divine Scriptures” (Bruce, p. 74). The clear purpose was to identify which books were part of the inspired New Testament canon, and to eliminate the use of apocryphal literature.

What About Apocryphal Books?

Just what are the apocryphal books? Why were they an issue of controversy in the early Church? Are they relevant today? The “Apocrypha” (which means hidden or concealed) refers to books that neither the Jews nor the early Church ever accepted as inspired or as part of the canon (see Bruce, pp. 79–94; Geisler, pp. 28–34). Most apocryphal books date to the inter-testamental period, and were written by anonymous authors or under the name of a person or a place named in Scripture. These books do not claim to be inspired. They contain no predictive prophecies, but instead contain historical and geographical errors and promote fanciful ideas and false doctrines that contradict canonical Scripture. Jesus and the New Testament writers never acknowledged the Apocrypha as Scripture. “No canonic list or church council accepted the Apocrypha for nearly the first four centuries” (Geisler, p. 33).

Although some apocryphal books were published along with canonical books in the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures produced by 70 scholars in Alexandria ca. 250bc), this translation was not supervised by scribes of the Judaic tradition, who had their centers in Tiberias and Babylon.

Josephus, writing in the first century ad, specifically excluded apocryphal books from the Hebrew canon when he wrote, “we have… but only twenty-two books, which are justly believed to be divine” (Against Apion, 1:8). Philo, a first century Jewish teacher in Alexandria, “quoted the Old Testament prolifically from virtually every canonical book. However, he never once quoted from the Apocrypha as inspired” (Geisler, p. 32). Prominent early writers such as Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius of Alexandria and Jerome all rejected the apocryphal books as inauthentic. In fact, it was Jerome (who prepared the Latin Vulgate Bible ca. 400ad) who first used the term Apocrypha when referring to books that were not considered part of the inspired biblical canon and should not be used to establish doctrine. Jerome disputed with the theologian Augustine, who felt that the apocryphal books were inspired and should be included in the canon, apparently because they had been included in the Septuagint.

The Apocryphal books became a major issue during the Reformation, when Protestants (following Jerome’s thinking) rejected the Apocrypha as uninspired. However, at the Council of Trent in 1546, Roman Catholic leaders (following Augustine’s ideas) declared those books part of the New Testament canon. This was an attempt by the Roman church to counter the influence of Martin Luther and other reformers who were teaching against celibacy, prayers for the dead, and purgatory—ideas that do not come from canonical Scripture but are found in some apocryphal books. Yet this was not the end of the controversy over apocryphal writings.

Gnostic “Gospels”?

In 1945, a group of books commonly called “Gnostic gospels” were found near Nag Hammadi, an Egyptian town north of Luxor, on the Nile. Gnosticism encompassed a collection of heretical ideas that early Church leaders attributed to Simon the Sorcerer (see Acts 8:9–25; Geisler, p. 274). Gnostic writings contain purported “secret sayings” of Christ that differ dramatically from His New Testament teachings. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus flies into a fit of rage and causes a child who has offended Him to wither (3:1–3). In another work, Jesus makes clay birds on the Sabbath; when His parents correct Him, He claps His hands and the birds fly away. The Gospel of Philip suggests that Christ had a romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene. The Gospel of Mary asserts that Mary was the real leader of Christ’s disciples.

Early Church leaders denounced the Gnostic writings as spurious and heretical. Yet modern biblical critics, along with revisionist theologians, creative writers and mystical New Agers, have resurrected these “alternative” gospels and present them as equally credible as canonical Scripture. Dan Brown, author of the widely read fictional novel The DaVinci Code, draws heavily on the heretical ideas of Gnostic writings, as well as on occult, pagan goddess worship and mysticism. In his novel, he “makes the case that Mary Magdalene was… a strong independent figure, patron of Jesus, cofounder of his movement, his only believer in his greatest hour of need, author of her own Gospel, his romantic partner, and the mother of his child. To the millions of women who feel slighted, discriminated against, or unwelcome in churches of all faiths today, the novel is a chance to see early religious history in an entirely different light… The DaVinci Code opens everyone’s eyes to a startlingly different view of the powerful role of women in the birth of Christianity. These themes have become mainstream at Harvard’s divinity school and other intellectual centers” (Secrets of the Code, Bernstein, p. xxvii).

When Dan Brown makes his leading characters say, “almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false” and, “The Bible is a product of man, my dear, not God,” he is promoting an agenda and world view that seeks to undermine and discredit the Bible, and the Jesus Christ of the Bible. Though the plot of The DaVinci Code appears to “advocate a courageous search for truth at any price, its real goal is to undermine one of the fundamental characteristics of the Christian faith—the belief that the original message of the Gospel, enshrined in the Bible, is the unique, inspired word of God” (Cracking the Code, Garlow & Jones, p. 72). The real danger of books like The DaVinci Code comes from doubts planted in the minds of people who lack historical and biblical knowledge. For such people, the fiction of apocryphal writings can appear to be fact, which leads to deception about the true nature of inspired Scripture. One of the primary reasons for public declarations about what books comprised the canons of the Old and New Testaments was to clearly distinguish between inspired books and the false and misleading writings of the Gnostics.

Chapter 5
Real Answers to Life’s Big Questions

Today, many people live in a materialistic world of affluence and abundance. More people enjoy a higher standard of living today than at any other time in human history. Yet with more money in our pockets and more time on our hands, millions of people still find life empty and meaningless. More and more people today are finding that money, material things and searching for the ultimate experience simply do not provide lasting happiness, remove the emptiness or provide meaningful answers to the big questions of life: Why was I born? Why am I here? Why do I exist? What is the real purpose of life? What happens when I die?

Those who take time to look beyond themselves soon notice the tremendous inequities in our modern world, and wonder: Why do millions of human beings suffer from a lack of food, lack of fresh water, lack of sanitation and inadequate shelter? Why are so many people exploited and abused by corrupt leaders in failing countries? Why are wars and deliberate acts of horrific violence and terrorism proliferating around the world? Why is there no peace? Millions want a better world, but know they cannot make it happen. Why, then, does God fail to intervene—if indeed there is a God?

Few people find satisfaction in the vague answers they hear from most religious leaders and secular philosophers. To hear that human beings are merely “trousered apes”—nothing more than bags of DNA struggling to survive in a purposeless universe, awaiting eternal nothingness at death—does not provide an inspiring reason to live. On the other hand, it seems like purposeless fantasy to believe that the goal of life is to spend eternity sitting on a cloud, playing a harp. To hear that “God is love”—and then to witness all the evil and inequality in the world—simply does not add up. Tragically, many today have been led to believe that these answers are “as good as it gets.”

But this is nonsense! Most people who assume that these are the best answers to life’s big questions have never heard the real answers that God recorded in the Bible! Many theologians either do not know or do not believe what the Bible actually says about life’s big questions. Because of our society’s prejudice against the supernatural, fostered by biblical scholars who do not believe in the personal and all-powerful God of the Bible, millions have been conditioned to be skeptical of whatever Scripture might reveal about these subjects. However, the Bible provides real answers to life’s big questions!

The Purpose of Life

Contrary to popular modern notions that life emerged from hot slimy pools of pre-biotic soup (akin to an idea espoused by pagan Greek philosophers) and that human beings evolved from an ape-like ancestor (as postulated by the disciples of Charles Darwin), the Bible reveals that God created human beings in His own image (Genesis 1:26–28). Whether or not you can believe this statement will depend on whether you can accept the plentiful evidence that the Bible is truly the word of God. According to Scripture, human beings were not created to amuse the gods, as some ancient philosophers assumed. The Bible reveals that God created humans so that they could learn to manage the earth (Genesis 1:26–28; 2:15), and build character by learning to discern right from wrong (Genesis 2:16–17). According to Scripture, God established the institutions of marriage and family (Genesis 2:18–24). He also established roles in marriage and revealed important guidelines so that these divinely ordained institutions would function smoothly and successfully (Matthew 19:3–9; Ephesians 5:22–33; 6:1–4; 1 Timothy 2:8–15; 1 Peter 3:1–7).

The reason for the biblical emphasis on learning to manage our own lives, and on functioning smoothly in marriage and family, is that we have been created to become members of God’s spiritual family (see Romans 8:15–17; Hebrews 2:5–11; 1 John 3:1–3). If we qualify to become members of that spiritual family, we will reign with Jesus Christ when He returns to establish the kingdom of God on earth (see Revelation 1:4–6; 5:10). The Bible, when properly understood, clearly reveals that we do not fly off to heaven when we die (see John 3:13; Acts 2:29, 34; 13:36). When you understand what Scripture actually reveals about the purpose of life, you can begin to understand why the teachings of today’s “mainstream” Christianity are not very satisfying or convincing. To learn more about the real purpose of life as it is revealed in Scripture, request our free booklet, Your Ultimate Destiny.

The Plan of God

But what is the cause of the human suffering that has occurred down through time? Why is there so much evil in the world? Why does God allow it? If there is a God, why does He fail to act? People ask these questions because they do not understand that God is working out a plan and a purpose on this earth. Scripture reveals His plan, and it is pictured in the Holy Days that He commanded His people to observe (Leviticus 23). God’s plan reveals not only the cause of, but also the solution to, the problems we see in our world.

Many today do not believe in God’s existence, but even fewer believe that Satan is real. However, Scripture reveals quite a bit about this spirit being. The Bible reveals that Satan was originally an “anointed cherub” covering the throne of God, who sinned, “became filled with violence” and led a rebellion against God involving one-third of the angels (see Ezekiel 28:1–19; Isaiah 14:12–17; Jude 6; Revelation 12:4). We see so much evil in the world today because Satan is the “god of this age… who deceives the whole world” by influencing people to reject the instructions and way of life that God has revealed in the Bible (2 Corinthians 4:3–4: Ephesians 2:1–2). You need to read these scriptures for yourself to verify what the Bible actually says about this individual who has deceived the whole world (Revelation 12:9).

The biblical Holy Days picture the major steps in God’s plan of salvation. Those steps reveal that Jesus Christ came to die for the sins of mankind, to replace Satan as the god of this world. Jesus then raised up His Church (Acts 2)—called the “Church of God” (1 Corinthians 1:2; 10:32; 15:9; 2 Corinthians 1:1)—to preach the gospel of God’s kingdom to the world (Mark 16:15) and to prepare a group of believers to become the “firstfruits” (James 1:18; Romans 8:23; Revelation 14:1–5) who will reign with Him in the coming kingdom of God for a thousand years—a period called the Millennium (Revelation 20:4–6).

The Bible also reveals that when Christ returns, Satan will be bound and put out of commission (Revelation 20:1–2). This is how God will eliminate evil, and will use the individuals whom He has prepared to solve the world’s problems. This will all happen according to God’s plan, which is revealed in Scripture. To learn more about God’s great plan for humanity, request our free booklet The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan. To learn more about the Church that began with Jesus Christ—and the remarkable and perilous course it has traveled through the centuries—request our booklet, God’s Church Through the Ages.

The Age to Come

But what is the real hope for the future? Why should we struggle against the trials and temptations of this world? What is the value of learning to live by God’s laws and the Bible’s instructions? The answers emerge when we understand what the Bible reveals about the kingdom of God, and why it is called the “gospel.” The word “gospel” means “good news” and the biblical message about the kingdom of God is good news—it is exciting news! The gospel of the kingdom of God, as described in the Bible, is not about some warm fuzzy feeling in your heart. It is about a coming world government that Jesus Christ will establish on this earth.

The Bible clearly reveals that Jesus will return to Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4). He will take charge of the kingdoms of this world (Revelation 11:15–18) and set up a world government that will bring true justice and lasting peace to this planet. Jesus will be aided by the saints, individuals who understand the laws of God and have learned to function within the family of God, who will serve as civil and religious leaders—”kings and priests” (Revelation 5:10). God’s government will bring peace and justice to the earth (Isaiah 9:6–7). The saints will also function as teachers (Isaiah 30:20–21) who will explain the laws of God (Isaiah 2:2–4), show people the way to peace (Psalm 119:165) and help them understand the real causes of strife and war (James 4:1–4). Christians are urged to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord” (2 Peter 3:18) so that they will be prepared to rule with Christ in this coming kingdom.

The Bible reveals that in the coming kingdom of God, rebuilt cities will promote a sense of community and will be in harmony with the environment (Isaiah 61:4; 11:6–9; Amos 9:14–15). Our polluted planet will be restored and made productive (Isaiah 35:1–7; Amos 9:13). The global curse of disease will be eliminated as people learn to live by the Bible’s personal and public health laws (see Leviticus 3:17; 7:23–27; 11:1–47). The peoples of the world will learn to speak one language (Zephaniah 3:9), and “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). The Bible speaks of the coming kingdom of God as the “times of refreshing” in which there will be a “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:19–20). The Apostle Paul called this “the world to come” or “the age to come” (Hebrews 2:5). We also call it Tomorrow’s World. The Bible holds out these scriptural teachings as our real hope for the future!

Modern critics scoff at taking Scripture literally, at face value. Many preachers do not even mention the exciting biblical information we have covered in this booklet. Instead, most willingly overlook or even ignore what history reveals about the teachings and beliefs of the early Church. Historian Edward Gibbon wrote: “The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ… a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years; and that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect… would reign upon earth… The assurance of such a Millennium was carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers from Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, who conversed with the immediate disciples… Though it might not be universally received, it appears to have been the reigning sentiment of the orthodox believers; and it seems so well adapted to the desires and apprehensions of mankind, that it must have contributed in a very considerable degree to the progress of the Christian faith” (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon, vol. 1, pp. 187–188).

Gibbon wrote plainly that early Christians believed and taught about the Millennium—the coming kingdom of God. The Bible’s exciting and inspiring gospel of God’s kingdom motivated believers and spurred the growth of the early Church. However, Gibbon also recorded how early theologians, influenced by pagan philosophy—believing they knew better than God’s inspired word—gradually watered down this important teaching of Scripture and then explained it away, first calling it allegory, then calling it heresy. Millions have lost sight of—or have never heard—the real biblical answers to life’s big questions, because most scholars and religious leaders have rejected—or never heard—those answers! This is one reason why so many today find life empty and meaningless.

Conclusion:
Truth and Consequences

In our modern age, many seriously doubt or openly disbelieve that an all-powerful supernatural God inspired Scripture. Many assume that the Bible is no different than any other humanly authored book. Many also assume that modern scholarship has completely discredited the Bible, and that no evidence exists that proves otherwise. Yet, as we have seen in this booklet, the truth is just the opposite! These widely held beliefs and assumptions are, in reality, fictions that are totally contrary to the facts!

The big question that you face, and the challenge that confronts many others today, is: What exactly will you believe about the Bible? Will you believe the facts discussed in this booklet (which only scratches the surface of this vast subject), or will you accept skeptics’ speculations that undermine and discredit the Bible—largely by ignoring the facts?

The God of the Bible can challenge us to “examine all things” and “prove” whether He exists (and whether He inspired the Bible), because there is so much remarkable and irrefutable evidence available! True biblical scholars know that the Bible is unlike any other religious book in the world, and that the most distinctive feature of the Bible is prophecy. Students of prophecy know that the Bible contains hundreds of specific prophecies that have been consistently and accurately fulfilled. No other book on the face of the earth contains such remarkable prophetic material, and human efforts to predict the future simply do not compare to the scope and accuracy of Bible prophecy. All this provides powerful evidence pointing to the Bible’s divine origin.

The facts of history demonstrate that the Bible has been preserved and accurately transmitted for thousands of years, in spite of concerted efforts to outlaw, suppress, corrupt, burn and destroy it. The continued existence of the Bible under such adverse and hostile conditions offers strong support that an all-powerful God inspired such biblical statements as “the word of the Lord endures forever” and “My counsel shall stand.” The remarkable way that archaeological discoveries continue to confirm Scripture’s historical accuracy, and undermine critics’ speculative theories, clearly affirms that the Bible is the inspired word of God! The Bible provides real answers to life’s big questions, unlike academics, philosophers and theologians who offer mere platitudes. This strongly indicates that the Bible’s answers were revealed from a supernatural source.

But why do critics and skeptics—who are often highly educated—ignore the facts and continue to claim that the Bible is only a collection of myths and legends, and is untrustworthy as a source of historical, theological or scientific information? Is it significant that secular-minded scholars have planted doubts about the Bible in the minds of millions of people today? What are the consequences of ignoring evidence that the Bible is the inspired word of God? Scripture provides informative answers and offers sobering warnings.

The Bible reveals the cause of this widespread deception: Satan “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). We can certainly see this when we consider the incredible misconceptions that so many have acquired about the Bible. Jesus prophesied that one sign of the “end of the age” would be the increasing number of false teachers who “will deceive many” by spreading false teachings (Matthew 24:3–5, 11). The Apostle Peter warned that false teachers would subtly bring in “destructive heresies” that would discredit the truth of God and deceive many people (2 Peter 2:1–3). He also warned that “scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts”—casting doubts on Scripture and ignoring the facts of history (see 2 Peter 3:3–9). This deception will be widespread at the end of the age.

However, the Apostle Paul reveals that scoffers and false teachers will reap serious consequences from the God they are mocking and defying. He wrote: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all… who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them… so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God… but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:18–22). Paul’s condemnation of the misguided pagan intellectuals of his day also applies to the misguided scholars and critics of today—who ignore the powerful evidence that points to God as the author and sustainer of the Bible. We need to remember that there is a judgment coming!

The stinging reproofs that the prophet Jeremiah leveled at his contemporaries also apply in our present day. Jeremiah warned that “the prophets become wind, for the word [of God] is not in them… The prophets prophesy falsely… and My people love to have it so… the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood… the prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them… they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams… and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness… they shall not profit this people at all” (Jeremiah 5:13, 31; 8:8; 14:14; 23:26, 30–32). God said through Jeremiah that because His people “have forsaken My law… and have not obeyed My voice… but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts… I will scatter them also among the Gentiles… I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them” (Jeremiah 9:13–16). The Bible clearly reveals that serious consequences will befall those who forsake the laws of God and promote their own theories, or follow those who do.

However, wonderful benefits come to those who prove and believe that the Bible is God’s inspired word, and who follow God’s biblical instructions. King David wrote: “Blessed are [they]… Who walk in the law of the Lord… Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies… Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path… Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble… All Your commandments are truth… The entirety of Your word is truth”(Psalm 119:98, 105, 151, 160, 165). The Bible reveals that God will look favorably on those who develop a deep respect for His word, and are willing to follow its instructions. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2).

The Bible reveals that God has not left human beings to flounder without fundamental guidelines, or without important answers to life’s big questions. God has inspired and preserved the Bible in a way that no other book has ever been preserved. He has filled Scripture with hundreds of prophecies that accurately predict the future—setting the Bible apart from all other religious books on earth. The discoveries of archaeology and the facts of history continue to confirm the validity of Scripture, even though it was written thousands of years ago. These facts are simply astounding and cannot reasonably be denied!

When you weigh critics’ claims about the Bible against the tremendous evidence of the Bible’s divine inspiration, you are left with a clear choice. You can choose to believe that critics’ theories might have some foundation in fact, while waiting for the next theory to change and assumptions to be revised. Or you can trust the evidence from archaeology, history and fulfilled prophecy, which clearly reveals that the Bible is the inspired word of God—fact, not fiction!

Booklet Category

Doctrine

Bible

Grace

Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity

4uwzvo — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 21:30:10 +0000

Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity 4uwzvo Mon, 02/28/2022 - 21:30

Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity

Roderick C. Meredith (1930-2017)

Booklet Media

#False Christianity

#origins of traditions

#paganism

The astounding message in this booklet will affect you in the years just ahead, and it will also affect your eternal future! It is vitally important. This information has been suppressed for many centuries, but it is information that you need to know!

This booklet contains genuinely shocking information for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. It has profound implications for the future of our civilization. Yet the facts contained herein have been documented again and again by respected historians and even many theologians. They are not based on some “pie in the sky” theory or concept.

The now-swiftly-developing result of false religion will dramatically affect your very life within the next decade—far more than you probably imagine! For this explosive revelation is not just for “religious people”—it is for everyone. All our lives will soon be affected.

We all need to ask ourselves: “How did I come to believe what I now believe about religion, morality and the entire purpose of human existence? If my friends and I have just blindly gone along with generally accepted ideas, isn’t it likely that most other people have also done the same? Is it possible that we have blindly accepted false religious ideas which have, in fact, greatly affected the way our entire societies have developed—the kind of legal systems, educational systems and religious systems that we have devised and that we take for granted?”

Have you ever asked yourself these basic questions?

If there is a real God and if the Bible is His inspired revelation to humanity, then we should carefully consider what the Bible clearly says about these questions! For the Bible specifically says: “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV).

Again and again, the Bible clearly shows that most human beings are deceived. Describing the end-times, the Apostle John described the Devil in this manner: ”So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9). The more than two billion “Christians” in the major denominations are part of the “whole world” that John described—and many are deceived! These people and their preachers do not intend to be evil. For a deceived person does not know that he is deceived! It is important that we understand that distinction.

So I am not being “mean” by writing the above, for the God of heaven commands me to preach the Truth. And I cannot help you if I simply share sweet platitudes and pretend that “all is well” when all is not well! For we are now nearing the very end of 6,000 years of human history under the influence of Satan the Devil—whom Jesus Christ called the “ruler of this world” (John 14:30).

“SINCERITY” IS NOT ENOUGH

I am well aware that thousands of you who will read this booklet are very sincere in your desire to be Christian. You truly think that the form of religion you grew up practicing is what Jesus Christ and the apostles taught. Many ministers and priests also sincerely believe the same things. You mean well.

What you need to realize is that billions of other human beings have lived and died without ever understanding or practicing any type of professing Christianity. The majority of the world’s population has never—at any time—professed Christianity! And most of these people have also been very “sincere”—just as you may be. So it is not a matter of “sincerity” or of following the majority. It is a matter of finding the genuine Truth regarding the purpose of human existence, and finding the true way to fulfill that magnificent purpose.

Is “sincere” religiosity enough? No! All religions are not “equal!” If you are willing to prove to yourself that the One great Creator is the true God and that the Bible is His inspired revelation to mankind, then you must understand that there is only one way to eternal life. And that “way” is through the true Jesus Christ of the Bible! As the Apostle Peter stated, “Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10–12).

Yet very few professing Christians even begin to grasp the enormity of the deception orchestrated by Satan the Devil. They find it hard to grasp the fact that Satan has not only deceived those in the pagan, non-Christian world, but that he has devised a counterfeit Christianity and has foisted it off on millions who sincerely think they are following the Christ of the Bible! As the Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” (2 Corinthians 11:3–4).

Indeed, another “Jesus”—a totally different Jesus Christ—has been palmed off on an unsuspecting humanity! Remember, a counterfeit $100 bill is designed to look very much like an authentic bill. Seeing the apparent similarities, people are often deceived into accepting the counterfeit. So it is with Satan, the Master Deceiver! For your own sake, please be willing to consider whether you have been misled into assuming that you are truly following the Christ of the Bible and what He actually taught. For your Bible clearly indicates that only genuine Christians will be protected during the coming holocaust—the Great Tribulation described by Jesus Christ!

Very soon now—within the next several years—the great God of all creation will begin to intervene directly, more powerfully than ever. The hurricanes that come smashing through Florida, New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the United States are only a small prelude to what God will begin to do in these last days. Jesus Christ specifically predicted: “And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven…. And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken (Luke 21:11, 25–26).

The great God will get mankind’s attention! He will help those who are willing to understand to “come out” of this modern Babylon (Revelation 18:4) and to extricate themselves from Satan’s society.

The Apostle Paul was also inspired to tell us that Satan the Devil is the literal “god” of this world’s society! Paul wrote, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4).

THE BASIC PREMISE

The basic premise of this booklet is that our Creator has allowed a very real Devil to absolutely deceive most of humanity for the past 6,000 years. Satan has, in fact, established a counterfeit religion in order to mislead the entire world, but the great Creator will soon intervene to send Jesus Christ back to the earth as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). When He returns, Christ will cast Satan into a bottomless pit, “so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished” (Revelation 20:3).

One of the primary ways Satan deceives most people is to make them think that he does not even exist! So people make jokes about how “the Devil did it,” feeling that there is not a real Devil after all. But, as we have seen, Jesus Christ called Satan “the ruler of this world.”

How did Satan come into being? What are his methods of deception? And, most importantly, how has Satan deceived the whole world? When Jesus Christ quoted from “Daniel the Prophet” (Mark 13:14), He considered those writings as Holy Scripture. In the book of Daniel, we find spirit beings—both angels and demons—described on a number of occasions.

After Daniel had been fasting to seek greater understanding, God sent an angel to encourage him (Daniel 10:10–12). The angel gave Daniel a remarkable explanation about why it had taken him so long to answer Daniel’s prayers. “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come” (vv. 13–14).

Later, this same angel recounted further details of the unseen spiritual world. “Then he said, ‘Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince'” (vv. 20–21).

Clearly, this passage is speaking of spirit wars! It is describing the struggle that goes on behind world affairs in the spirit world. For Satan the Devil is described as “the god of this age” who “has blinded” the unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Satan is also called “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). The angel speaking to Daniel was describing a battle among spirit beings wherein even the great archangel Michael (see Daniel 12:1) had to be called in for assistance!

This world, this “age”—this nearly 6,000-year period from Adam until now—has been, and still is, a society dominated by Satan the Devil and millions of fallen angels or “demons” who followed him in rebellion against the Creator God.

“Satan” is not just a generalized term for evil. Satan is not a blind force. Satan the Devil is a powerful spiritual personality—originally created by God as a cherub—who rebelled against God. His original name “Lucifer” means “light bringer.” But since his rebellion he has been called “Satan”—which means “adversary.”

Notice Isaiah 14:12–15: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”

Here we find the mighty Lucifer plotting to overthrow God! His great capacity and vanity made him decide to compete with his Creator!

In Ezekiel 28:1–16, God describes first the human prince of Tyre. He was obviously a man of great capacity and the full leader—on the human sphere—over this “New York” of the ancient world. Then Ezekiel begins to describe the real “power behind the throne”—the “king” of this pagan city-state. Notice: “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created'” (vv. 12–13). Here we find a personality who existed millennia before Tyre—in the “Garden of Eden!” Yet he was a created being (v. 15), not a member of the God Family.

SATAN HAS A KINGDOM

After his political bargaining and maneuvering to gain followers, Satan was cast out of the “mountain” or Kingdom of God. As Revelation 12:3–4indicates, Satan was able to draw after himself one-third of the angelic host in this rebellion against God! These fallen angels are now called “demons.” Satan now has literally millions of fallen angels who are his followers, and in that sense has a “kingdom” over which he rules in the spirit world.

Matthew recounts the story of Jesus’ temptation by Satan, a very conniving personality. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

This gospel account forewarns us that Satan is not against quoting Scripture. In fact, Satan even had the audacity to quote scripture to the Author of scripture, Jesus Christ! “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone'” (Matthew 4:5–6).

Then Satan offered Jesus “All the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things will I give you if you will fall down and worship me'” (vv. 8–9).

Of course, Jesus knew the spiritual principles involved and correctly applied the appropriate scripture in response, saying: “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” (v. 10). Jesus chose to obey God and to receive His kingdom in God’s time and in God’s way.

Later, when Jesus was accused of using Beelzebub to cast out demons, He said: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his [Satan’s] kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:25–26).

Satan does have a kingdom! He is the invisible “god” of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). He is the prime deceiver of men and nations. “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9).

Satan is the spirit being who will powerfully influence, and perhaps even finally possess, a soon-to-come, charismatic, political dictator who will seduce a mighty world superpower arising in a revived, militant, united Europe—the end-time “Babylon”! Satan will be the “god” who animates and empowers the false religious system that will undergird this world-dominating, economic and military power! Do not just believe me or take my word for it. Look at the Bible for yourself!

God’s word predicts that this coming oppressive system will be literally energized by demons: “After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues'” (Revelation 18:1–4).

Satan will motivate these coming world rulers to fight against Christ at His return as King of kings and Lord of lords. But Christ will depose Satan and his wicked rule will come to a sure end.

SATAN THE “COUNTERFEITER”

Jesus condemned the religious leaders of His day for their hypocrisy. Those ecclesiastical figures made a pretense of being godly, yet refused to follow the spiritual intent of God’s law. Jesus attributed to them Satan’s own character, using the analogy that since their father was Satan, they could only behave “like father, like son.” The Devil lies and murders, so who should be surprised if the Devil’s children do the same, preaching a perverted gospel of deception and falsehood?

It is important to grasp that Satan is the literal “father of lies.” He continually and cleverly lies and deceives mankind, and so do his servants. In fact, lying becomes so common to people under Satan’s influence that they often find it easier to tell a lie than to tell the truth!

As part of his conspiracy to thwart God and overthrow His great plan for mankind, Satan has his own ministers! The Apostle Paul warned Christians about the great deception caused by Satan and his ministers: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13–15).

Satan’s ministers often look like and sound like what deceived people think Christ’s ministers should sound like! But they preach “another Jesus” and proclaim a “different gospel.” It is up to each individual—including you!—to genuinely study the Bible and to prove what Jesus and the early apostles taught and practiced.

THE TWO BABYLONS

The Bible specifically describes not one, but two “Babylons.” Not long after the great flood, one “Babylon” was founded—the ancient city-state established by a man named “Nimrod” (Genesis 10:8–10). The second Babylon is a modern church-state system described in Revelation 17 and 18. Its leaders will literally fight Christ at His Second Coming (Revelation 17:12–14)!

Think about that! Hundreds of millions of people in this end-time “Babylon” are so deceived that they will have the audacity to literally do battle with the returning Son of God and the armies of heaven!

To understand how this system called “Babylon” began, let us go back to the earliest days of man’s history. In Genesis 10—soon after the flood—mankind began to multiply again. Wild animals also multiplied, and people needed protection. At this point, a son of “Cush” was born. The Bible tells us: “Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.’ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar” (Genesis 10:8–10).

So this “mighty hunter”—said to have been a powerfully built man—began to gather people together into cities for protection, and also to put them under his personal control. The beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom was “Babel”—Babylon. From there, he went on to establish other cities and to gather men together in a relationship that made them feel “independent” from God—not needing God’s protection. Finally, mankind—having “one language and one speech” (Genesis 11:1)—began to build a massive skyscraper or “tower” that has been called “The Tower of Babel” (vv. 4–9).

God knew that, under this Babylonish system, mankind was quickly drawing away from Him and would soon invent weapons and means to destroy himself. God said: “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (v. 6). The creative power of the human mind was such that God knew mankind might invent terrible weapons capable of destroying the earth, and that His plan to give mankind 6,000 years to write the lessons of human suffering could be cut short before He intended! So God came down to “confuse their language” and to scatter them over the face of the earth.

But history and consistent, pervasive stories and ancient legends from nearly all nations indicate that the philosophies and religions started by Nimrod and his wicked wife, Semiramis, have continued down to this day. For, after Nimrod’s death, his wife Semiramis claimed that he was now the “sun-god.” As author Alexander Hislop wrote:

“The Chaldean Mysteries can be traced up to the days of Semiramis, who lived only a few centuries after the flood, and who is known to have impressed upon them the image of her own depraved and polluted mind. That beautiful but abandoned queen of Babylon was not only herself a paragon of unbridled lust and licentiousness, but in the Mysteries which she had a chief hand in forming, she was worshipped as Rhea, the great ‘Mother’ of the gods, with such atrocious rites as identified her with Venus, the Mother of all impurity, and raised the very city where she had reigned to a bad eminence among the nations, as the grand seat at once of idolatry and consecrated prostitution. Thus was this Chaldean queen a fit and remarkable prototype of the ‘Woman‘ in the Apocalypse, with the golden cup in her hand, and the name on her forehead, ‘Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.’ The Apocalyptic emblem of the Harlot woman with the cup in her hand was even embodied in the symbols of idolatry derived from ancient Babylon, as they were exhibited in Greece; for thus was the Greek Venus originally represented” (The Two Babylons, pp. 5–6).

COUNTERFEIT RELIGION SPREADS

This Babylonian system of idolatrous worship spread all over the world as the inhabitants of the city itself were scattered (Genesis 11:9). As they went from Babylon, these men took their worship of mother and child, and the various “mystery” symbols, with them. Herodotus, the world traveler and historian of antiquity, witnessed the mystery religion and its rites in many countries, and wrote of how Babylon was the prime evil source from which all systems of idolatry flowed. In his noted work, Nineveh and Its Remains, Layard wrote that we have the united testimony of sacred and profane history that idolatry originated in the area of Babylonia. Alexander Hislop quotes these historians and others confirming this point in his remarkable treatise mentioned above.

Later, the Roman Empire assimilated into its system the gods and religions of the countries over which it ruled. Since Babylon was the source of this paganism, we can easily see how Rome’s early religion was a form of Babylonish worship that had developed under different forms and different names in the countries to which it had gone. In his well-documented book, Pagan and Christian Creeds, Edward Carpenter wrote: “The similarity of ancient pagan legends and beliefs with Christian traditions was so great that they excited the attention and undisguised wrath of the early Christian… not knowing how to explain it, they fell back to the theory the devil, centuries before, caused the pagans to adopt certain beliefs and practices” (p. 25).

Carpenter also quoted Tertullian, an early “church father” living between 160–220ad, as saying: “The devil, by the mysteries of his idols, imitates even the main part of the divine mysteries“ (ibid.).

Also, Carpenter, noted: “Cortez, too, complained that the devil had possibly taught the Mexicans the same thing that God taught Christendom” (ibid.). The famous Spanish explorer found that the originally pagan inhabitants of Mexico were already practicing the same pagan rites, and had many of the same pagan beliefs, that the Roman Catholic church had assimilated!

Since the practices of today’s churches are not the same as the early true church recorded in the New Testament, it is vital to know whether there has been a purposeful mixing of false pagan practices with the true teachings of Christ, the apostles and the Bible. Many historians, such as Edward Gibbon, have noted the change brought about by great numbers of pagans flocking into the early Christian Church and mixing their pagan customs and beliefs with those of the Church (see Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1, chapter 15).

Notice how today’s churches have sprung from the same root as paganism! Satan has created an entire system of “counterfeit Christianity.” He has cleverly guided vain religious leaders to introduce completely pagan ideas, concepts and practices into “Christianity.” Since the word “Christianity” is stamped on the outside of the package, most people assume that the religion of Jesus Christ is being offered. Little do they realize that totally false concepts of God, of Jesus Christ and His message, of the purpose of eternal life and of the way to eternal life—have been wrapped up in a package called “Christianity.” But theirs is a “counterfeit” Christianity that has cut most of mankind off from the true God, and has caused enormous confusion, suffering and death!

Note these excerpts from Pagan and Christian Creeds: “The Christian Church has kept itself severely apart from discussion of heathenism, taking the stand that it, the church, represents a unique and divine revelation and has persuaded mankind of this to such a degree that few people nowadays realize that it has sprung from just the same root as paganism and that it shares by far the most part of its doctrines and rites with the latter” (Carpenter, pp. 11–12).

“The common idea is that the pagan gods fled away at Christ’s coming, yet it is well known to every student that this is contrary to fact. At the time of the recorded appearance of Jesus, and for some centuries before, there were temples without and dedicated to Apollo or Dionysius among the Greeks, or Hercules among the Romans, Mithra among the Persian, Baal and Astarte among the Babylonians, and temples dedicated to many other gods. An outstanding phenomenon is apparent: notwithstanding great geographical distances, racial differences between cults and in detail of services, the general outline of creeds and ceremonials were—if not identical—markedly similar” (ibid., pp. 19–21).

“Not only were these pagan creeds and ceremonies which had existed centuries before Christ’s coming markedly similar to each other, but also they were similar to true Christianity—a fact that cannot be considered accidental. As an example of this, of eleven main deities from seven countries, it was believed of all or nearly all that ‘these deities’ births were on or near Christmas, of a virgin mother, in a cave underground, that they led a life of toil for man. They were called light bringers, healers, mediators, and saviors. They were thought to have been vanquished by the powers of darkness, descended into hell or the underworld, to have arisen and become pioneers of mankind to a heavenly world… Krishna, the god of India is an outstanding parallel with the life of Christ” (ibid., pp. 21–23).

Carpenter goes on to write: “The idea of God sacrificing His Son for the salvation of the world is so remote and remarkable—yet it ranges through all ancient religion and back to the earliest times and is embodied in their rituals” (ibid., p. 133). These unusual customs were so similar to the truth that they strongly suggest there must have been some guiding force behind them. A counterfeit Christianity was being created by the invisible “god” of this age whom Jesus Christ called the “father” of lies (John 8:44).

THE DA VINCI CODE

It is evident that with such marked similarities to actual Christianity, as are shown by the eleven deities from seven countries, one should approach this subject with an open mind to see if a fusion of paganism and true Christianity is present today.

Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code spent many months at or near the top of the best-seller lists. Millions have been enthralled by this fascinating novel. What is so unusual about it?

Though cast in the form of a novel—and containing fiction and error—it can spur a reader to realize that a lot more is under the surface of our religious ideas and practices than usually meets the eye. There are three principal characters in The Da Vinci Code: Sophie Neveu—a gifted French cryptologist; Robert Langdon—a Harvard symbologist; and Leigh Teabing—a former British Royal Historian.

Let us “listen in” on their conversation about the origins of what the world today calls “Christianity”:

“‘Historians still marvel at the brilliance with which Constantine converted the sun-worshipping pagans to Christianity. By fusing pagan symbols, dates, and rituals into the growing Christian tradition, he created a kind of hybrid religion that was acceptable to both parties.’

‘Transmogrification,’ Langdon said. ‘The vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbology are undeniable. Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints. Pictograms of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son Horus became the blueprint for our modern images of the Virgin Mary nursing Baby Jesus. And virtually all the elements of the Catholic ritual—the miter, the altar, the doxology, and the communion, the act of ‘God-eating’—were taken directly from earlier pagan mystery religions.’

Teabing groaned. ‘Don’t get a symbologist started on Christian icons. Nothing in Christianity is original. The pre-Christian God Mithras—called the Son of God and the Light of the World—was born on December 25, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and then resurrected in three days. By the way, December 25 is also the birthday of Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus. The newborn Krishna was presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Even Christianity’s weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Originally,’ Langdon said, ‘Christianity honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagan’s veneration day of the sun.’ He paused, grinning. ‘To this day, most churchgoers attend services on Sunday morning with no idea that they are there on account of the pagan sun god’s weekly tribute—Sunday'” (The Da Vinci Code, pp. 232–233).

THE HISTORICAL TRUTH

“But that is all fiction!” you might say. “Where did this crazy author get all these strange ideas? I am sure that my religion is based completely upon the Bible!”

Please, my friends, do not be too sure!

The Bible itself tells us: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV). The actual truth is—and I do challenge you to prove it—that this part of Dan Brown’s book is based on solid fact. For historian after historian acknowledges that the original Christianity of Jesus and the Apostles was dramatically changed within a few centuries after Jesus’ death! As noted historian Will Durant wrote:

“Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the Church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual; the Greek mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass. Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result. From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity… and a personal immortality of reward and punishment; from Egypt the adoration of the Mother and Child, and the mystic theosophy that made Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and obscured the Christian creed; there, too, Christian monasticism would find its exemplars and its source. From Phrygia came the worship of the Great Mother; from Syria the resurrection drama of Adonis; from Thrace, perhaps, the cult of Dionysus, the dying and saving god.… The Mithraic ritual so closely resembled the eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass that Christian fathers charged the Devil with inventing these similarities to mislead frail minds. Christianity was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world.… [The Eucharist] was a conception long sanctified by time; the pagan mind needed no schooling to receive it; by embodying the ‘mystery of the Mass,’ Christianity became the last and greatest of the mystery religions” (The Story of Civilization, Vol. 5, Durant, pp. 595, 599).

Paul Johnson, a devout Catholic, is one of many highly respected historians who openly acknowledge that the biblical seventh-day Sabbath observed by Christ and the original Apostles was changed. “Many Christians did not make a clear distinction between this sun-cult and their own. They referred to Christ ‘driving his chariot across the sky,’ they held their services on Sunday, knelt towards the East and had their nativity-feast on 25 December, the birthday of the sun at the winter solstice. During the later pagan revival under the Emperor Julian, many Christians found it easy to apostatize because of this confusion; the Bishop of Troy told Julian he had always prayed secretly to the sun. Constantine never abandoned sun-worship and kept the sun on his coins. He made Sunday into a day of rest” (A History of Christianity, pp. 67–69).

What happened after Constantine? The widely read mainstream religious author Jesse Lyman Hurlbut explains:

“The forms and ceremonies of paganism gradually crept into the worship. Some of the old heathen feasts became church festivals with change of name and of worship. About 405ad images of saints and martyrs began to appear in the churches, at first as memorials, then in succession revered, adored, and worshiped. The adoration of the Virgin Mary was substituted for the worship of Venus and Diana; the Lord’s Supper became a sacrifice in place of a memorial; and the elder evolved from a preacher into a priest.… The church and the state became one when Christianity was adopted as the religion of the empire, and out of the unnatural union arose two evils, one in the eastern, the other in the western provinces. In the east the state dominated the church until it lost all energy and uplifting life. In the west [“Rome,” Ed.] as we shall see, the church gradually usurped power over the state, and the result was not Christianity but a more or less corrupt hierarchy controlling the nations of Europe, making the church mainly a political machine” (The Story of the Christian Church, pp. 79–80).

A MODERN “BABYLON” CREATED

So where does all this lead? We have just read Hurlbut’s statement that the professing Christian church of the Middle Ages was “mainly a political machine.” It was saturated with pagan concepts, doctrines and practices. Did the leaders of the Protestant Reformation really bring the professing Christian church “back on track” to the “faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3)—back to the true Christianity of Jesus and the original Apostles? Although sincere, the Protestant reformers carried over most of the anti-law, anti-obedience attitudes they had come to adopt in their rebellion against “Mother Rome.” Like Rome, they were still involved in a paganized system of false doctrines, pagan Holy Days, and false concepts of God, which God Himself describes in Revelation 17:4–5: “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

With this form of “Christianity” as the state religion, masses of former pagans “converted.” Many did so out of convenience rather than conviction, and kept their old beliefs privately. Others came to the new syncretistic faith uneducated in its beliefs, and able to receive only the most basic instruction.

“Babylon” is a symbol of confusion. The formation of the Roman Catholic Church and then the later appearance of dozens of “daughter” churches has certainly brought about a spiritual malaise of conflicting denominations, doctrines, creeds and practices—all supposedly “Christian.” Yet none of them corresponds remotely to the Christianity that the original Apostles and the early Church of God followed for decades after the death of Jesus of Nazareth. They all have retained dozens of pagan ideas, and practices, that would have been utterly foreign to the early Church! Satan has indeed done a masterful job of creating a counterfeit Christianity.

Although Alexander Hislop appears to have remained a Protestant until his death, he carefully pointed out—with much historical documentation—that the modern Roman Catholic Church is a continuation of the ancient Babylonish mystery system, and that its religious festivals and most of its practices were drawn directly from the Babylonian religion and its priesthood. Hislop partially makes the connection with the “daughter” churches that have come out of Rome. But he was evidently blinded to the full meaning of what has happened to modern “Christianity.”

Near the beginning of The Two Babylons, Hislop lays out the basic thesis that he goes on to document in full:

“It has been known all along that Popery was baptized Paganism; but God is now making it manifest, that the Paganism which Rome has baptized is, in all its essential elements, the very Paganism which prevailed in the ancient literal Babylon, when Jehovah opened before Cyrus the two-leaved gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.… Her judgment is now evidently hastening on; and just as it approaches, the Providence of God, conspiring with the Word of God, by light pouring in from all quarters, makes it more and more evident that Rome is in very deed the Babylon of the Apocalypse; that the essential character of her system, the grand objects of her worship, her festivals, her doctrine and discipline, her rites and ceremonies, her priesthood and their orders, have all been derived from ancient Babylon; and, finally, that the Pope himself is truly and properly the lineal representative of Belshazzar. In the warfare that has been waged against the domineering pretensions of Rome, it has too often been counted enough merely to meet and set aside her presumptuous boast, that she is the mother and mistress of all churches—the one Catholic Church, out of whose pale there is no salvation. If ever there was excuse for such a mode of dealing with her, that excuse will hold no longer. If the position I have laid down can be maintained, she must be stripped of the name of a Christian Church altogether; for if it was a Church of Christ that was convened on that night, when the pontiff-king of Babylon, in the midst of his thousand lords, ‘praised the gods of gold, and of silver, and of wood, and of stone’ (Daniel 5:4), then the Church of Rome is entitled to the name of a Christian Church; but not otherwise. This to some, no doubt, will appear a very startling position; but it is one which it is the object of this work to establish; and let the reader judge for himself, whether I do not bring ample evidence to substantiate my position” (Hislop, pp. 2–3).

Later Hislop describes how the Catholic “confessional” was borrowed from paganism, giving priests greater authority over the lay members. He explains that the pagan festivals of Christmas and Easter were introduced into “Christianity” centuries after Christ revealed the full Truth to His apostles. “Indeed,” Hislop writes, “it is admitted by the most learned and candid writers of all parties that the day of our Lord’s birth cannot be determined, and that within the Christian Church no such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and that not till the fourth century was far advanced did it gain much observance. How, then, did the Romish Church fix on December the 25th as Christmas-day? Why, thus: Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise time of the year, in honour of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven; and it may fairly be presumed that, in order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ. This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism half-way was very early developed” (ibid., pp. 92–93).

Indeed.

Meeting paganism half-way “was very early developed,” Hislop writes! Yet God clearly told our ancestors: “Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not” (Jeremiah 10:2–4, KJV). Yet modern day churchgoers persist in doing just that—and then have the audacity to stamp the name “Christian” on the outside of this package of pagan beliefs and practices! Those genuinely interested in the basic history of this relationship between ancient Babylon and modern professing Christianity should, if possible, find and read such books as The Two Babylons, Pagan and Christian Creeds, The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer and many similar works of history and theology. If your mind is open, it is relatively easy to prove to yourself that modern “churchianity” is simply a continuation of the old Babylonian religion, with the name “Christian” stamped on the outside!

HAVE PROTESTANTS “COME OUT” OF BABYLON?

Many conservative Protestant and Orthodox leaders and theologians will wholeheartedly agree that the Roman Catholic Church is, indeed, a continuation of “Babylon.” They are very familiar with the fact that most of the early Protestant leaders clearly identified Rome with the “Babylon” and with the “Great Whore” described in Revelation 17–18.

But what is the real basis of the Protestant churches themselves throughout the world today? Why did the early leaders revolt against the authority of the Roman Catholic Church? To what extent are they responsible for today’s “divided Christendom?”

Did the Protestant reformers succeed in attaining their stated goals? More importantly, the real question is whether the Protestant reformers and their successors have succeeded in returning to the “faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”? (Jude 3).

Each of us needs to examine the well-known saying of Chillingworth, the Protestant theologian, “The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, is the religion of Protestants” (Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, article “Chillingworth, W”). In their constant affirmation of the scriptures as “the inspired rule of faith and practice” (ibid., article “Bible”), the Protestant leaders have committed themselves to follow the religion of Jesus Christ and His apostles in all respects.

Virtually all scholars acknowledge that the primary and original founder of Protestantism was Dr. Martin Luther. Yet Luther constantly rejected the authority of scripture when it pleased his own whims—although he often stated otherwise!

It is remarkable that in rejecting the doctrine of transubstantiation, Luther declares the absolute authority of Scripture in matters of faith and practice. He states: “For that which is asserted without the authority of Scripture or of proven revelation may be held as an opinion, but there is no obligation to believe it…. Transubstantiation… must be considered as an invention of human reason, since it is based neither on Scripture nor sound reasoning” (Documents of the Christian Church, ed. Bettenson, p. 280).

If Luther had only applied this type of scriptural test to all of his doctrines, the world today might be a different type of place! For when he was charged with inserting the word “sola” (alone) into Romans 3:28, he haughtily replied, as cited by historian Johannes Alzog: “Should your Pope give himself any useless annoyance about the word sola, you may promptly reply: It is the will of Dr. Martin Luther that it should be so” (Manual of Universal Church History, p. 199). And, it is worth noting, no other reason for such unscriptural changes as these were ever given. When it came to his personal doctrinal convictions, Martin Luther was truly a self-willed man.

In judging any man or movement, Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:20). Historian Henry C. Vedder recounts the instruction Martin Luther gave to the German princes when thousands of the peasants, who had sincerely followed his revolt against Rome, themselves rebelled against those arrogant princes:

“Rebellion is not a vile murder, but like a great fire that kindles and devastates a country; hence uproar carries with it a land full of murder, bloodshed, makes widows and orphans, and destroys everything, like the greatest calamity. Therefore whosoever can should smite, strangle, and stab, secretly or publicly, and should remember that there is nothing more poisonous, pernicious, and devilish than a rebellious man. Just as when one must slay a mad dog; fight him not and he will fight you, and a whole country with you.

“‘Let the civil power press on confidently and strike as long as it can move a muscle. For here is the advantage: the peasants have bad consciences and unlawful goods, and whenever a peasant is killed therefore he has lost body and soul, and goes forever to the devil. Civil authority, however, has a clean conscience and lawful goods, and can say to God with all security of heart: ‘Behold, my God, thou hast appointed me prince or lord, of that I cannot doubt, and has entrusted me with the sword against evildoers” (Romans 13:4)…. Therefore I will punish and smite as long as I can move a muscle; thou wilt judge and approve.”… Such wonderful times are these that a prince can more easily win heaven by shedding blood than others with prayers‘” (A Short History of the Baptists, pp. 173–174).

Well may we ask ourselves, “If these are the words of a reformer sent from God, then what is the measure of true religion?” Are these the words of a man directed by the Holy Spirit of God? Was the risen Christ using this man to purify His “little flock?”

It is true that Luther and Calvin had personal religious motivations. Luther’s mind was tortured with a perpetual sense of guilt. In his extreme emphasis on salvation by faith alone, he was trying desperately to devise some system where the law of God and the justice of God would have no place.

But Luther’s personal spiritual upheaval would have had little effect on Germany or the world had he not appealed to the political and financial instincts of German princes. And “it is true to say that the motives which led to the Lutheran revolt were to a large extent secular rather than spiritual” (Alfred Plummer, The Continental Reformation, p. 9).

Especially in regard to his insistence on faith alone and his rejection of countless scriptures teaching the need for obedience, Luther was a stubborn, self-willed man.

The Bible teaches: “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4, KJV). This is clearly referring to the Ten Commandments—the spiritual law written by the very finger of God. The inspired James explains: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:10–12).

What law forbids adultery and killing? Obviously, James is referring to theTen Commandments. And he concludes by telling us to speak and act according to this law. And the words of Jesus Christ agree. For when a young man came to ask Him the way to eternal life, He answered, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments,” and He proceeded to name some of the Ten Commandments (Matthew 19:16–19).

Completely ignoring its direct parallel with the teachings of Jesus Christ, Luther haughtily declared of the book of James: “Compared with the Epistles of St. Paul, this is in truth an epistle of straw: it contains absolutely nothing to remind one of the style of the Gospel” (Alzog, Vol. III, p. 208). Luther stubbornly rejected the entire book of James because it did not agree with his doctrines!

In rejecting the first five books of the Bible, Luther declared: “We have no wish either to see or hear Moses. Let us leave Moses to the Jews, to whom he was given to serve as a Mirror of Saxony; he has nothing in common with Pagans and Christians, and we should take no notice of him” (Alzog, Vol. III, p. 207).

Since Luther regarded Moses as having to do with God’s law—which Luther hated—he wanted “nothing to do” with Moses’ inspired writings!

But since Luther’s favorite writer was the Apostle Paul, we wonder how Luther reacted to Paul’s inspired words to Timothy: “From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:15–16). Remember that only the Old Testament Scriptures were written when Timothy was a child.

Since Luther stubbornly wished to “take no notice” of Moses, we might remind him of the Apostle John’s description of the victorious saints of God singing “the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Revelation 15:3). But Luther’s own writings promptly answer: “I look upon the revelations of John to be neither apostolic nor prophetic” (Jules Michelet, The Life of Luther, p. 273). He might then add, “Everyone may form his own judgment of this book; as for myself, I feel an aversionto it, and to me this is sufficient reason for rejecting it” (Alzog, Vol. III, p. 208).

And it is a fact that Martin Luther willfully rejected the authority of any book in the Bible to which he felt an “aversion.”

Now, perhaps, we can understand the real meaning of the religious confusion of our time. Today’s Protestants have inherited from Luther—acknowledged as the greatest leader of the Reformation—a spirit of self-will and a tendency to reject the all-inclusive authority of God’s word!

As historian George P. Fisher wrote, regarding Luther: “In the retention of rites and customs he did not require an explicit authorization from Scripture. Enough that they were not forbidden, and are expedient and useful. His aversion to breaking loose from the essentials of Latin Christianity in matters of doctrine is equally manifest” (History of Christian Doctrine, p. 283).

In Luther’s own words: “No one can deny that we hold, believe, sing, and confess all things in correspondence with the old church, that we make nothing new therein nor add anything thereto, and in this way we belong to the old Church and are one with it” (Thomas M. Lindsay, A History of the Reformation, Vol. I, p. 468).

By their own statements, then, it is proved that the Protestants regarded themselves only as a continuation of the historic Catholic Church, but under a different and “purified” form. Luther himself vehemently affirms their essential oneness with the Catholic Church!

Regarding Calvin, Fisher wrote: “He did not deny that the Christian societies acknowledging the Pope are ‘churches of Christ’…. He indignantly denies that he has withdrawn from the Church” (History of Christian Doctrine, p. 304). Philip Schaff noted Calvin’s description of the historical Roman church: “As our present design is to treat of the visible Church, we may learn even from her the title of mother, how useful and even necessary it is for us to know her” (History of the Christian Church, Vol. VIII, p. 450).

Protestant leaders’ insistence on their basic unity with the Catholic Church, and their identification of her as their “mother” church, is most significant!

GOD IDENTIFIES THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Martin Luther’s earliest New Testament translations include many illustrations picturing the “Whore of Babylon” as the Roman Catholic Church. Describing this widely understood interpretation, Roland Bainton tells us: “Fallen Babylon is plainly Rome” (Here I Stand, p. 258).

Countless Protestant books, pamphlets, and tracts make that same identification today. They brand the Roman Catholic Church as the “great Whore” of Revelation 17.

But, it must be admitted, most Protestant denominational writers have stopped making this identification. After publishing those editions of the Bible, and pamphlets and tracts, they suddenly came to the embarrassing realization that they were telling on themselves!

For the corrupt Roman “mother” church has given birth to harlot daughters! If the clear, consistent principles of scriptural identification are to be honestly applied, the Protestant churches are “harlot daughters” of a paganized, apostate Rome!

They came out of her in protest. But, as we have clearly seen, they retained most of her pagan doctrines and concepts. They are still following Rome’s example of mixing in the politics and wars of this world. And we have seen abundant Protestant testimony that they recognize she is their “mother” church!

Protestant historian Rufus Jones wrote that Luther “started out to inaugurate a Church composed of those who had faith and spiritual vision, and who revealed an ability and power to proclaim the Word of God. But, in reality, he left in full operation a large relic of the ancient creeds, an extensive ‘rump’ of superstitions, traditions and magic, and a heavy inheritance of external authority” (The Church’s Debt to Heretics, p. 228).

In other words, the Protestants still retain many pagan doctrines and traditions inherited from Rome. We have seen that some of these false traditions involve the pagan holidays that the early Catholics adopted and gave Christian-sounding names. We ought to look into these things!

The Protestant churches stand clearly identified by God Almighty as the “harlot daughters” of apostate Rome!

Speaking of this entire Babylonish system, God commands: “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).

The question is whether or not we will obey our Maker!

What Lies Just Ahead

All of this information is not just a philosophical argument against genuinely pagan practices—important as that may be. The understanding of this matter can also help protect sincere and zealous Christians—if they will take action—from the coming “holocaust” described in the Bible as the Great Tribulation! Brilliant author Adrian Hilton describes the background of what is right now underway:

“Jesus had said his kingdom was not of this worldly order, and talked much of the world and the Church being at odds until his return. It was not until Constantine began a process of syncretism that Christians began to understand the nature of the beast which was evolving. The Saturday Jewish Sabbath was replaced by Constantine’s edict forbidding work on ‘the venerable day of the sun’ [Sunday], and the celebration of the Passover was declared illegal—on pain of death. It was replaced by ‘Easter’, celebrated on a Sunday and inherited from a Babylonian cult to the goddess Ishtar. The Roman pseudo-Christianity caused many faithful believers to flee into the mountains of Europe and Asia Minor to escape persecution and death, and there they continued, away from the world’s view, as the true church of Christ. The majority of Christians, however, were awed by the universal influence of the new unity. There was one Empire under the one Emperor, leading one Church under one God. Many believers began to wonder if they had not misunderstood the concept of the kingdom of God—it might have been the Church itself, or even the christianised Empire. Thus the fateful union of Church and State was ratified—a union that was to shape the evolution of Europe for centuries to come” (The Principality and Power of Europe, pp. 23–24).

Later, Hilton continues:

“Just as crucial to the federalizing process is the erosion of the achievements of the Reformation. Even some prominent Evangelical Christian leaders have presented this momentous move of God as one of the greatest tragedies that ever happened to the Church, and state that Protestants ‘destroyed the unity of Christendom’. They fail to mention the true nature of the Papal system of religion, the depths of spiritual darkness in which it keeps its followers, and its diametric opposition to true biblical Christianity. Unity, it seems, is more important than truth. The concept of Christendom, however unbiblical its practice, appears to matter more than the national boundaries set between one principality and another, regardless of the liberties those boundaries defend.

While visiting Austria in 1983, the Pope spoke out against the ‘national and artificial borders’ all over Europe. He added:

‘Europeans should overcome the menacing international confrontations of states and alliances, and create a new united Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals.’

In 1988, he continued this theme when he addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg; an occasion at which many asked why a perceived spiritual leader was addressing the issues of political unity. The Sunday Telegraph, in 1991, summed up the Pope’s plans for the ‘evangelisation’ of Europe. It stated:

‘He is calmly preparing to assume the mantle which he solemnly believes to be his Divine Right—that of new Holy Roman Emperor, reigning from the Urals to the Atlantic.'” (ibid., pp. 36–37).

“BABYLON” REVIVED!

As Britain’s Sunday Telegraph reported, Pope John Paul II expressed his wish to “reign” over a new Holy Roman Empire. A quarter-century later, when Pope Francis spoke before the Council of Europe on November 24, 2014, little had changed. The Pope stressed to delegates importance of Europe’s religious (Roman Catholic) roots. “These roots need to be sought, found and maintained by a daily exercise of memory, for they represent the genetic patrimony of Europe.” It is no coincidence that in a European Empire that rediscovers this “genetic patrimony” the Catholic pontiff would sit in a role of unique influence. But would such an Empire really be a “Holy” Roman Empire? Or would it actually be a revival of an ancient, pagan, Babylonian church-state system that God condemns? This is not just an idle question, because your Bible prophesies that such a return to Europe’s roots will come to pass!

In a prophecy for our time, the prophet Isaiah describes a modern virgin “daughter” of the ancient Babylon, who would profane her own people (Isaiah 47:1–9). God clearly describes this modern Babylon as “the lady of kingdoms” (v. 5). Then God states: “And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ so that you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of them. ‘Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, who dwell securely, who say in your heart, “I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children”; but these two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness because of the multitude of your sorceries, for the great abundance of your enchantments'” (vv. 7–9).

Notice how some of these exact statements are used against the modern Babylon that will fight Christ at His Second Coming! “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her” (Revelation 18:7–8).

This is the soon-coming church-state system in Europe, which will eventually turn on the American and British-descended peoples and bring about the Great Tribulation! It will be a revival of ancient Babylon, with its priestly castes, pagan rituals and doctrines and complete disregard for God’s commands. It will be a clever counterfeit of true Christianity. To millions, though, it will seem like the real thing!

WHY?

Because the vast majority of professing Christians do not genuinely study the Bible. They do not really dig in and try to “prove” all things as God commands. Therefore, even many evangelical Christians—and their ministers—will eventually be caught up in the euphoria of this powerful Babylonish system! For it will be part of the “ecumenical movement.” It will seem like “the thing to do.”

Please remember Jesus’ words: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).

The Jesus Christ of your Bible also gave this powerful warning: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matthew 7:21–23).

The beautiful pageantry, the music, the pomp and ceremony and the intimidating power of this coming Babylonian system will be very impressive. But only those who genuinely do God’s will and keep His commandments—all ten of them—will be in Christ’s soon-coming Kingdom. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).

At the very end of His inspired word, our Creator tells us plainly: “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie” (Revelation 22:14–15). The religious sorcery and idolatry of the Babylonian system will be enticing to millions. The vast majority will follow that way. But the above passage warns about anyone who “loves and practices a lie.” The teachings of modern “Babylon” are filled with lies, misunderstandings and pagan practices. Satan has been extremely clever in creating a counterfeit Christianity, which looks so much like the original that untold millions have been deceived. Those who follow this pagan counterfeit religion will suffer the full fury of their Creator when the Trumpet Plagues and the Seven Last Plagues are poured out on a rebellious world (Revelation 8, 9, 16).

Yet God’s word describes the temporary wealth and power of this system: “For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Revelation 18:23–24). And how will it end? “Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ‘Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore'” (v. 21).

YOU NEED TO ACT!

God warns: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!” (Revelation 18:2). Then God commands: “And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues'” (v. 4).

In this booklet, we have briefly demonstrated that virtually all religions have originated from “Babylon.” The Oriental and African religions have many of the same pagan and false concepts of God and salvation, developed from the original worship of Nimrod and his harlot wife, Semiramis. Professing “Christianity” is massively influenced and diluted by these pagan concepts.

Wherever you are, whoever you are, we urge you to genuinely study the Holy Bible, the inspired revelation which God gave to mankind. For your sake, please, do not just read the Bible for sentiment or to reinforce what you already believe. Learn to genuinely study the Bible and see what it clearly and repeatedly says about the real nature of the Creator God, of eternal life, and of the true way to eternal life. If you are genuinely interested and willing to prove these things, please contact us at the Regional Office nearest you (listed in the back of this booklet)and request one of our most helpful and fundamental booklets, entitled Restoring Original Christianity. Also, if you are willing to take the time to study, request enrollment in the Tomorrow’s World Bible Study Course. Your enrollment is absolutely free and all our booklets and literature are free! We just request that you put forth the time and mental energy to study these materials, diligently compare them with the Bible itself and sincerely prove to yourself where the Truth is actually taught.

We will continue to explain the prophetic events now unfolding to bring about the revival of Babylon—and of the coming Kingdom of God. This message will not be popular! We will be harassed, vilified and persecuted for bringing you the plain truth about what is really happening in world affairs. But we must not be afraid to proclaim the full Truth about genuine Christianity and about the apostasy directed against it by Satan the Devil. For the living God does not take kindly to fools and cowards!

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:7–8). Satan’s counterfeit Christianity must be exposed, understood and repented of!

May God help you to act on this message while you have the opportunity. May God help you to prove to yourself what the Bible really says, and to find out about—and fulfill—the genuine purpose for your life.

Booklet Category

Doctrine

False Religion

Is This the ONLY Day of Salvation?

4uwzvo — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 20:43:19 +0000

Is This the ONLY Day of Salvation? 4uwzvo Mon, 02/28/2022 - 20:43

Is This the ONLY Day of Salvation?

Roderick C. Meredith (1930-2017)

Booklet Media

#Afterlife

#Holy Days

#Resurrection

#Salvation

What will happen to the billions of human beings who have never known the true God—who have never accepted any form of Christianity? Are they forever doomed to a burning Hell or an eternity in outer darkness? What is the real answer to these questions?

You, through no fault of your own, may be blinded to the information this booklet contains.

But you can understand if you are genuinely willing to believe what God says in His inspired word, the Holy Bible. The real answers have been there all along. But Satan the Devil is the “god” of this present world or society (2 Corinthians 4:3–4). Satan is described in your Bible as the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2).

Satan the Devil “broadcasts” wrong ideas and attitudes in this world’s atmosphere. As seen above, he is the “prince” of this world’s atmosphere and influences human society and human behavior far more than most people even begin to realize. Satan confuses people about the plan and purpose of the Great God. The Apostle John was inspired to write: “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9).

And so even the professing Christian world—all divided into more than 400 sects and denominations—has been deceivedabout the very nature of salvation, and about when God is truly going to convert the vast majority of humanity.

Think of it!

Think of the billions of humans—all made in God’s image— who have never believed in any form of Christianity. Today, only a tiny handful of the 1.4 billion people living in China profess to believe in Christianity. The same goes for the more than 1 billion people of India. Then consider the 240 million people of Indonesia and the people of Japan, Pakistan and other heavily populated nations who are all in roughly the same situation! And in the Arab world, extremely few people claim Christianity as their religion.

Then consider the untold billions of people who lived and died in these and in other nations in earlier centuries who never even heard the name “Jesus Christ” during their human lifetimes!

Of course, liberal, modernist preachers and theologians— many of whom do not really believe that Christ was truly God anyway—reason their way around the problem with all kinds of human and philosophical arguments about God “saving” these people some other way. But they cannot quote the direct words of the Bible to back up their human reasoning, because the Bible itself is very clear about who will be granted salvation and eternal life.

God’s Word is CLEAR

Speaking about the dramatic healing of a lame man, the Apostle Peter stated: “Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”(Acts 4:10–12). Now would you not call that a pretty clear statement? Does that leave a lot of room for theologians to reason around and say: “Well, if these people from past ages were basically good people who practiced their religion sincerely, then surely a loving God would grant them eternal life”?

But that bypasses the whole point made by the Apostles and Christ Himself, that eternal life is granted only to those who have come to the true God of creation through a unique relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Through that understanding and that relationship, they come to understand who the true God is and what He requires of humans who wish to enter His everlasting Kingdom. Without that unique understanding and relationship, the people of this world are wandering around in utter blindness and confusion and are not at this time fulfilling their ultimate purpose at all. They may be sincere pagans or heathens, but they are definitely pagans nonetheless!

Again, notice Paul’s inspired instruction to the Ephesian Christians, most of whom may have been sincere worshippers of the local goddess, Diana of the Ephesians. Here is what Paul bluntly told these people: “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:11–13).

Since the inspired Apostle Paul told the sincere pagans that they had “no hope,” why should we assume that others who have practiced non-Christian religions would have any real hope for eternal life and salvation? Why?

Notice now what Jesus Christ Himself said in John 10:1–2: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” Clearly, any who try to obtain salvation some other way are in big trouble! Now read verses 7–8: “Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.'” These words of the Son of God make it very clear that— according to Christ’s teaching—”all” who came before Christ claiming to be saviors or enlightened ones were frauds or imposters!

Again, notice John 6:44. “No one CAN come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” Only those whom God expressly calls are able to understand and respond to the true message of Jesus Christ! And Jesus repeats essentially the same teaching in John 6:65. “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

With all these straightforward scriptures in mind, how dare any self-respecting minister or theologian teach otherwise? How could they dare to imply or indicate that there is some other way to eternal life besides being called by God and surrendering oneself to the God of creation through the true Jesus Christ of the Bible?

What Is God Doing NOW?

“Well,” you may ask: “if God is not trying to save all peoples of the earth now, then just what is His plan and purpose in all of this delay?” Why are the multitudes of the earth not being called now?

The answer is that God is working out His plan in dealing with humanity over a 7,000-year period. For the first 6,000 years, God is allowing humanity to experiment with various forms of religion, education, government and culture. Through spiritual emptiness and physical and emotional agony, humanity is now writing the lesson in human suffering that man’s ways always turn out to be wrong. Having learned this lesson, humanity will be far more ready to listen genuinely when God does open their minds and hearts to His Truth.

“How cruel!” some may say. “Why didn’t God just send a perfect teacher, and show us the right ways in a positive and loving manner?”

My friends, He did do just that!

God did send His Son to this earth as a kind, merciful, loving Teacher who healed the sick, comforted the downtrodden and taught the way to eternal life. Did humanity embrace Him, believe Him and joyously follow His teachings?

No. Instead they killed Him in one of the most slow, painful, agonizing forms of death ever devised by a depraved humanity under the influence of Satan the Devil.

Remember, it was the religious leaders who stirred up the masses to ask for Christ’s death. They wanted to preserve the religious establishment of their day. After all, their jobs were on the line! Even Pilate, the secular Roman governor, perceived the real issue: “For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy” (Mark 15:10).

Additionally, God sent prophet after prophet into the world— especially to teach and warn His people, Israel. Were they warmly received? Notice what God said through Jeremiah: “Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers” (Jeremiah 7:25–26).

So—except for calling a comparatively few dedicated individuals in each age to understand His Truth and to do His Work— God is indeed allowing humanity to go its own way. And where does that way lead? “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Salvation Is Preparation for ETERNITY

The Great Creator, who gives mankind life and breath and all things, wants everyone to be in His Family someday. But being “saved”—and becoming full sons of God in His everlasting Kingdom—goes way beyond what most people understand!

It is not just a matter of “accepting Jesus” in some emotion-filled revival meeting. It is not a matter of just “joining a church.” Rather, it is a matter of being fully surrendered to the God of the Bible through a personal relationship with the true Jesus Christ. It is a matter of a person genuinely yielding heart, mind and will so that the Living Jesus Christ—as High Priest—can fully live His life inside the individual. As the inspired Apostle Paul tells us: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, KJV).

Through completely surrendering to let the true Christ live within us, we can develop—over time—the very character of God! Through Christ within, the true Christian is enabled to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). In that God-ordained manner, the Christian becomes a genuine “overcomer.” For—through Christ living within—Christians gradually overcome themselves, the world and Satan the Devil. Such Christians are far more prepared for eternal life in Christ’s Kingdom than if they just “got saved” or “joined a church” in the traditional sense of this deceived world!

The living Christ said: “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations; ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’; as I also have received from My Father” (Revelation 2:26–27). Again, Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). And it is clearly God’s revealed will that true Christians are those who overcome and allow Christ—through the Holy Spirit—to live His life within them, the same kind of surrendered, obedient life that He lived while in the human flesh.

In that way God’s Kingdom will be populated—not by selfish, rebellious, disobedient malcontents who would make everyone, including themselves, miserable for all eternity—but by individuals who freely responded to God’s call and have allowed Him to build within them His very nature and character. As the Apostle Peter wrote, God’s promises—including the promised Holy Spirit—enable us to “be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

God does not just metaphorically say that we are His children. Rather, He puts His very nature within us through the Holy Spirit. Then, we can reflect His nature in everything that we think, say and do. He can and will build within us a nature and character fit for eternal life in His soon-coming Kingdom!

Building Holy, Righteous Character

How does God build His character in us? He knows that sometimes we will only learn a lesson if we “suffer.”

If we are tempted to become discouraged by some obstacle that we face, we can keep in mind the words of the Apostle Paul: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

We know from history that true Christians have been persecuted since the very first days of the Church. If we “suffer” now, it is as preparation for an eternity of joy and peace and love as a part of God’s family! So we should not be surprised by suffering—we should welcome it as a tool through which God will build our character, and through which we may come to empathize, and even understand in some small measure, what Jesus Christ went through when He suffered for us. The Apostle Peter was aware of this very important point. He wrote: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified” (1 Peter 4:12–14).

Yes, we know that we may face many tribulations on our way to God’s Kingdom (Acts 14:22), but we can welcome these tribulations as opportunities to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord (2 Peter 3:18).

God Desires EVERYONE to be Saved

Again, God desires every human being—all made in His image—to be in His Kingdom some day. God created mankind “in His image” (Genesis 1:26). He made us free moral agents—able to choose between life and death and between good and evil. God tells us in His word: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

In the New Testament, 1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth.” God does not force all men to be saved. Free moral agency is involved, and there are plenty of scriptures to show that some few, at least, will be cast into the “Lake of Fire” (Revelation 19:20), which is the second death” (Revelation 20:14).

Yes, some few will choose to be extinguished for eternity rather than to love and serve God. How can God reconcile His perfect love with His perfect justice? He cannot allow a rebellious spirit into His family, but neither is He a sadist who delights in the torment of His creation. He will not condemn to destruction someone who never was given a chance to hear His Truth, but He expects much of those who have accepted the Truth and the sacrifice made by His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. We read in the book of Hebrews: “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26–27).

Yes, if we sin willfully after God has revealed His Truth to us, then unless we repent we become His “adversaries” deserving of judgment and “fiery indignation.” What is that fiery indignation? It is the Lake of Fire, described in the book of Malachi: “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the LORD of hosts, ‘That will leave them neither root nor branch'” (Malachi 4:1).

Those who reject God will become “stubble.” They will be burned up forever. They will cease to exist! Who will suffer this fate? The Apostle John tells us in the book of Revelation: “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Everyone Will Come To UNDERSTANDING

God will not allow anyone to suffer such a fate without having made a deliberate choice. He will see to it that every individual who was ever born has a chance to be faced with the real truth of God’s will and His purpose. For the word “knowledge” used in 1 Timothy 2:4 is translated from the Greek epignosis, which means “an overview” of the Truth. So, again, every human who has ever lived must be clearly presented with this fundamental knowledge about God and His plan. Each one must have a chance to either accept or reject eternal life on God’s terms. Otherwise, God would indeed be a respecter of persons by allowing billions of humans to live and die without ever learning about the plan of the Creator God and His Son Jesus Christ.

We learn more about God’s will in 2 Peter 3:8–9. “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God counts time in thousands of years. So He is not in a hurry to save everyone until mankind has written indelible lessons in human suffering by going the wrong way. So even though countless preachers have implored their revival crowds to “give your heart to the Lord tonight! This may be your last chance!” —the very preachers uttering these words are showing that they have no idea about the real plan and purpose the Creator God is working out here below.

One scripture that ministers have misused in this way for generations is found in 2 Corinthians 6:2, where God says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Does the above scripture mean that this is “the” day of salvation and that there is no other? The answer is simply a matter of correct translation! Scholars acknowledge that the first part of this passage is an exact quote from Isaiah 49:8. This is correctly translated: “In an acceptable time I have answered thee, and in a day of salvation I have helped thee” (The Holy Scriptures, The Jewish Publication Society of America; emphasis ours). Applying the principle of Isaiah 49, Paul is, in fact, urging the Corinthian Church members not to receive God’s grace in vain (v. 1). These people were already called—already in God’s Church. So this passage is certainly not telling us that this is the only day of salvation for all mankind. Rather, even as many Bible commentaries acknowledge, it is urging the already converted believers to “work out” their salvation to the end (see A Commentary on the Pauline Epistles, Charles B. Williams, Moody, 1953).

As we have seen, God wants “all” to come to the knowledge of salvation. But He is definitely not trying to save everyone now. Otherwise, since most humans have never believed in any form of “Christianity,” we would have to assume that God is somehow helpless—unable to accomplish what He intends to do!

Did Jesus Try to “Save” People?

A very common misconception—based on a misunderstanding of the very subject of this booklet—is that Jesus Christ came to “save” people during His ministry on earth. But He did not! Rather, Jesus—through His atoning death—made it possible for those whom the Father “calls” to be reconciled to God after His death and resurrection.

Near the end of His life in the human flesh, Jesus told His disciples, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). Even Jesus’ disciples did not yet have the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit. They were not yet converted! As Jesus told Peter, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:32, KJV). And, speaking of Jesus’ lifetime, John was inspired to write, “The Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39).

So, in a technical sense, no one was “converted” during Jesus’ human ministry. No one received the Holy Spirit until the Day of Pentecost after Jesus’ death and resurrection (Acts 2). And, surprising to some, Jesus did not even try to convert the multitudes during His ministry. Jesus was not “trying” to save all humanity back then anymore than God is trying to save all humanity now!

Think.

Many were taught in Sunday School—just as I was— that Jesus spoke in parables to “make the meaning more clear.” To this day I can clearly remember my Sunday School class being taught that since most of Jesus’ listeners were farmers, fishermen or shepherds, He taught in parables using agricultural illustrations so that these common working folks would be able to understand better.

But, what does the Bible actually say? Exactly the opposite! For Jesus told His Apostles, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them'” (Mark 4:11–12). Again, Jesus was not trying to “save” these people—at that time!

That is hard for many professing Christians to understand. For they have been taught over and over that Christ, the Apostles and all true Christians are engaged in a sort of “soul-saving” mission! And it is at least implied that if people do not “get saved” in this present lifetime then they are “lost” forever.

Yet, if you carefully read the four Gospels and the book of Acts, it becomes obvious that the vast majority of people alive during the lifetimes of Jesus and the Apostles were never converted to any form of Christianity! Were they all mean and nasty people? Were they all in direct rebellion against God? Are they all “doomed” forever? Was the Work of Jesus and the Apostles a total failure?

Of course not!

Just like most of the philosophers with whom Paul reasoned at the Areopagus (Acts 17:18–34), most people of that time never had any idea about the true Creator God. They just did not know. And God did not try to “call” them—at that time. Again, it is all a matter of timing—a matter of when God decides to call these billions of people who have lived apart from the true God for these past 6,000 years.

Even Israel Has Been BLINDED

As we have seen, God uses Israel as a type of all humanity. In several different passages God’s Word reveals the principle: “First to the Jews, then to the Gentiles” (John 4:22; Acts 20:21; Romans 1:16; 2:9). So Christ and the Apostles first preached to the Jews. Later, in Acts 10, we find the story of how God led Peter to open up salvation to the Gentiles—beginning with the household of Cornelius.

So why are the Jewish people—and the vast majority of those descended from the “lost ten tribes”—not all converted Christians? Because—as with the rest of humanity—God has absolutely blinded them so they cannot understand!

In the book of Romans, Paul was inspired to explain this about the people of Israel: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3). Notice, however, that these people were and are “ignorant” of the righteousness of God. For God has not yet “called” them.

Notice Paul’s explanation: “What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: ‘God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day'” (Romans 11:7–8). The King James Version has verse 7 translated this way: “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.”

But has God “blinded” these people forever? Of course not. As we have explained, God is a just God. He will call each class of people in His own time. That is precisely what mainstream Christianity does not understand. Here is God’s answer to this puzzle: “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob'” (vv. 25–26).

So “all” Israel will be saved! As we will show you in a moment, there is a time coming—a “day of judgment”—when all human beings who have been blinded down through the ages will have the scales removed from their eyes. The old prejudices and old falsehoods will finally be banished. Then they will see. They will see and understand clearly, at last, the great purpose God has been working out here on earth. They will understand why God has let mankind, as a whole, go its own way in spiritual “blindness” these past 6,000 years.

A Time of JUDGMENT

Remember that Jesus said: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). And the Apostle Paul was inspired to write: “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Corinthians 1:26). Does this mean that the “great” men and women of this world down through the ages have been doomed? That they are not to be given a chance for salvation?

Of course not!

Again, what about the arrogant leaders of past worldly kingdoms who killed, raped and abused untold millions of people? Yet they never heard of the true Jesus Christ or His Message. Interestingly, Jesus Himself gives us the answer: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you” (Matthew 11:21–22). The “day of judgment”—as we shall see—is not merely a time of sentencing. Rather, it is a coming time or age when God will resurrect from the dead these billions of people and open their minds and hearts to His purpose. They will then be judged by how they respond—once they have a genuine opportunity to really understand!

Continuing in Matthew 11:23–24, notice Jesus’ startling statement: “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” Think about it! Even the sexual perverts of ancient Sodom will find it “tolerable in the day of judgment” compared with those Capernians who personally knew Jesus and rejected Him!

How can this be?

Again, the answer is that these ancient peoples—sinful though they were—had no knowledge of the true God or His ways. Christ was not to appear as Savior for hundreds of years. Yet, as we have seen, there is no other name whereby we must be saved.

As we have also seen, Satan—the “god” of this age—has blinded those who do not believe! Most people in this age cannot understand the Bible or God’s plan. They have not yet been called.

Again, Satan the Devil is the powerful spirit being “who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). In His prophecies, God speaks about the veil of spiritual blindness that is upon the vast majority of human beings. Then He speaks about a time when He will destroy this veil of blindness after Christ’s return to earth. “And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 25:7–8).

When will that veil be destroyed? When will the “day of judgment” come for the billions over the centuries who never had a genuine opportunity to know God’s will and to accept the true Jesus Christ of the Bible as their Savior?

The “White Throne Judgment”

The book of Revelation gives the time sequence of prophetic events more clearly than any other book in the Bible. Revelation 19:11–21 describes Christ’s return in full glory as King of kings (vv. 14–16). Then, after crushing the armies of the coming European dictator called “the Beast,” Christ casts him and the coming false religious leader into the “Lake of Fire” (v. 20).

Then, in Revelation 20:1, God describes a mighty angel coming down to earth: “He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while” (vv. 2–3). Note that these verses also tell us that Satan has been deceiving the nations of this earth!

After Satan is bound, the glorious Millennial rule of Christ on earth will begin. Speaking of that time, Revelation shows that the true saints “lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (v. 4). Then we are told: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (v. 6).

True Christians who have been genuinely called by God understand His purpose. They know that they are now in training to become kings and priests in the coming reign of Christ on earth—that they will rule even over angels! (1 Corinthians 6:1–3). The coming Millennial rule of Christ and the saints (Daniel 7:26–27) will be a magnificent opportunity to help, to encourage and to teach the confused multitudes of people on earth God’s true ways.

But, again, what happens to the untold billions of “blinded” people who do not live on over into the Millennium—who have never known the true God and His plan?

Keep right on reading Revelation 20! After describing a relatively brief time when Satan is loosed from his prison and—once again—quickly deceives a multitude of people (vv. 7–10), God’s Word begins to tell us about the Great White Throne Judgment period. But before reading this, jump for a moment back to verse 5. Here, inserted as a parenthetical comment after describing the thousand-year rule of the saints, God’s word says: “But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.”

The “rest” of the dead? Yes! Those billions of people from ages past who were never called to salvation and therefore obviously had no chance to be in the first resurrection.

Notice Revelation 20:11–12: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.”

A Truly AWESOME Event

Here we find described perhaps the most awesome event in human history, a time when all people—the unknown, the famous and the infamous—will really come to understand why they were born! These formerly dead people, certainly including many of your own ancestors, are seen “standing before God”—obviously in a resurrection. Then the “books” are opened. The term “books” here is translated from the Greek word biblion, which is the same word translated “Bible”—meaning the books of the Bible!

So finally these formerly blinded people from all ages past— including our own time—have the books of the Bible “opened” to their understanding. The veil which had been over them in the past is now destroyed. Now, at last, these people have their first genuine opportunity to know God, and to decide whether to repent and accept the true Christ as Lord and Savior, or to go their own way.

“Another book is opened”—the “book of life.” Paul describes the saints as having their names written in the “Book of Life” (Philippians 4:3). Revelation 21:27 describes the New Jerusalem as inhabited by “only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

The opportunity for eternal life is at last presented to these multitudes of people “small and great.” They are resurrected back to physical life for perhaps a period of 100 years—long enough for a thorough opportunity for them to learn, grow and be tried and tested as to their willingness to live eternal life God’s way (Isaiah 65:20). They will be called and have a chance to study and to understand the Bible. Then—and only then—God says that these resurrected people will be “judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Revelation 20:12). Now, after being given a genuine chance to know and to act upon the Truth, these people are judged by how they respond to and obey the teachings of the books of the Bible. James was inspired to tell us: “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17–26).

Make no mistake: if these untold billions of formerly blinded individuals are merely judged by the works they did in their former lifetimes—many of them as thieves, prostitutes, dictators and false prophets—then they will all surely perish in the Lake of Fire! For in their past lives they did not accept the only name given under heaven by which we must be saved. They did not truly repent (Acts 2:38) of their wrong ways and surrender their life to Christ and allow Him—through the Holy Spirit—to fashion and mold them and help them to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

God does not have a double standard! These countless individuals deserve to have a real chance—and to be judged on what they do after they have known the Truth of God! Yet countless theologians and ministers—deceived themselves—try to imagine that God will somehow save many of our unrepentant friends and relatives, and multitudes from ages past, without them ever coming to real repentance and true surrender to the Living Christ. These theologians could not be more wrong!

May God help you, however, to understand the truth about the “unsaved” billions this age and of ages past. They never had a real opportunity to accept Jesus Christ. Nor did all the additional billions of people from both the present and past who may only have known about a false Christ (2 Corinthians 11:4), but who never really surrendered to let the Christ of the Bible rule their lives!

No other explanation for this religious dilemma truly makes sense! And the answer has been in your own Bible all along. This is not talking about a second chance. Again, we are only talking about a genuine opportunity to learn about and obey the Truth that a fair and just God is going to reveal to these multitudes of peoples in His time.

The Valley of Dry Bones

Another key scripture that explains this part of God’s plan is found in Ezekiel 37. Here we read the famous story of the “dry bones.” But—wait just a minute!—this is not just a “story.” Rather, this is describing one of the most moving and awesome events in human history.

Let us understand.

Although this passage of scripture is no doubt referring typically to the lost ten tribes of Israel being restored and later reunited with Judah (vv. 15–22), it is also speaking literally about what is going to happen to the untold millions of people of the house of Israel. Realize it or not, these modern-day descendants of the lost ten tribes are now the American and British-descended peoples and the peace-loving, democratic nations of Northwestern Europe. Be sure to study our eye-opening booklet, The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy, for proof of their national origins.

What happens to these people—most of whom have been deceived down through the ages?

First of all, remember a key principle defining the way God works. It is mentioned several times—in different ways in the Bible. Notice Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Note also Romans 2:9–10, which says the same thing. And read verse 11 carefully: “For there is no partiality with God.” The King James Version translates this verse: “For there is no respect of persons with God.” Therefore, in His time, God must give everyone a genuine opportunity for salvation if He is to be fair and is to be no respecter of persons. It is only a matter of timing.

In Ezekiel 37, God reveals that the countless millions of Israelites, formerly blinded to His Truth, will be in a special resurrection—not to condemnation—but to receive God’s Holy Spirit and then be able to understand and obey the Truth. Study Ezekiel 37 carefully, verse by verse. Note that God gives Ezekiel a vision of a massive valley of “dry bones.” He is asked: “Can these bones live?” (v. 3). God then begins to answer this rhetorical question by stating to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live” (v. 5). Then God continues: “I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD” (v. 6).

God deals first with the Israelites—His chosen people—as a type of how He will deal with all humanity. For, again, God is not a respecter of persons! God is obviously planning to resurrect the blinded Israelites and give them a real chance to know Him and His great plan for humanity.

As these vast multitudes are resurrected in this momentous vision, they are described as “an exceeding great army” (v. 10). And who are they? God Himself tells us: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel” (v. 11). So this army of dry bones must include not only those formerly blinded people of the lost ten tribes of Israel, but also the Jewish people who have also been blinded to the message of the true Messiah, and the magnificent plan that He and God the Father have for all mankind.

All these Israelites have been sinners—as has all humanity (Romans 3:23). So, in this resurrection, they are at first afraid and feel guilty: “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off” (v. 11). But God says: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it” (vv. 12–14). As a type of all humanity, these uncounted billions of people will then be given a real chance to understand, to obey their God and be converted and be filled with His Spirit.

Awesome BLESSINGS Through God’s PLAN

Most of us have a loved one, a friend or an “old Uncle Joe” who perhaps was an alcoholic, regularly took God’s name in vain and seldom went to Church. Yet “Uncle Joe” or “Aunt Millie” were often very “nice” people, friendly and helpful. But perhaps they made no profession whatever of Christianity. Are they doomed forever?

Think about it!

As you come to a full understanding of God’s Truth, you will increasingly grasp the fact that even most professing Christians have very little idea of what true Christianity is all about. Along with the rest of humanity, they are simply writing the lessons of human experience during their lifetimes. They will truly need this special resurrection during the Great White Throne Judgment to actually learn these lessons they have been writing in human suffering and experience.

Perhaps you have heard the joke about the religious fellow who called his friend who had “dropped out” of church: “Come on back to church, George. Everyone still likes you and you might even enjoy some of Pastor Boring’s sermons.” But George makes excuses and then says, “I don’t want to go back and fellowship with all of those hypocrites!”

“Oh, that’s all right,” his friend answers him, “there’s always room for one more!”

We may laugh at the truth of this story. But, deep down, most of us know that a whole lot of churchgoers and professing Christians are, in fact, hypocrites. They just attend church as a social convenience, or because it is another tool to help them get ahead in their business or profession, or for some other non-religious reason. And their lives do not reflect the “fruits” of the Holy Spirit at all.

Yet, as we have seen, God’s inspired Word tells us, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). Such a person is not a true Christian!

Are all of these “backsliders,” or weak and often hypocritical individuals, “lost” forever? The only way most religionists can try to think their way around this dilemma is to come up with a solution that directly contradicts the plain words of Scripture. But an understanding of the awesome plan of God—involving this Truth about the Great White Throne Judgment—is the only solution that makes sense both logically and biblically. That is because it happens to be the Truth.

Perhaps most touching of all, think about the countless millions of people down through the ages whose lives were cut short by senseless tragedy—never having fully understood the Gospel of Christ or having a genuine opportunity to learn the Truth of God’s Word, to repent of their sins and accept the real Jesus Christ of the Bible both as Savior and Master. Are all of these darling little children, mentally impaired individuals or others with various handicaps or mitigating circumstances cut off from eternal life?

No way!

These people will be granted a genuine opportunity for salvation in the Great White Throne Judgment period. They will then be given real understanding of God and His awesome plan. The vast majority of them will no doubt choose to obey their Creator and accept eternal life on His terms when they have this opportunity.

Senseless Tragedies or Learning Experiences?

Again my friends, we need to be realistic. The Word of God makes it clear that most people have never been “called” during this age—even most people in so-called “Christian” societies. Millions may know about God. But they do not truly “know” God. For God tells us, “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). And again, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

Millions of people in the United States, Canada, Britain and Europe talk about God. But they do not remotely do what God commands. Jesus Christ commands, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:43–44). Yet most of the horrifying wars and butcheries have been launched in Europe over the past several hundred years. Why? Because—even in the “heart” of so-called “Christendom”—people really do not “know” the true God of the Bible.

Literally hundreds of illustrations could be used to prove this point. But one very memorable one comes to mind. It is in the form of a personal letter which was later made public and verified to be authentic. Some of you may have seen it before. This letter was written by a German soldier to his clergyman father during the Battle of Stalingrad, in which 91,000 German soldiers were taken prisoner by the Russians (only 5,000 survived to return to Germany) in January 1943:

“…In Stalingrad to question God means to deny Him. I must tell you that, dear Father, and I am doubly sorry for it. You brought me up, because I had no mother, and you always kept God before my eyes and my soul. And I doubly regret my words, for they will be my last. After this I will be able to speak no others which could compensate or reconcile.

You are a clergyman, Father. In one’s last letter one says only what is true or what he believes to be true. I have looked for God in every shell crater, in every destroyed house, in every corner, among all my comrades when I lay in my hole, and in the sky. God did not show Himself, when my heart cried out for Him. Houses were destroyed. My comrades were as brave or as cowardly as I. Hunger and murder were on the earth. Bombs and fire came from the heavens. But God was not there. No, Father, there is no God. I write it again, and know that it is terrible and that I cannot make amends for it. And if in spite of all there should be a God, then it will be only with you, in the hymn-books and prayers, the pious sayings of priests and pastors, the ringing of chimes, and the smell of incense. But not in Stalingrad. (Letter 17, Last Letters from Stalingrad, Translated by John E. Vetter, Coronet Press, 1955.)

What profound hurt that professing Christian minister must have felt when he read his son’s letter: “But God was not there. No, Father, there is no God” [Emphasis ours]. If that young man had understood the Truth about God’s Plan, he would at least have realized that all those around him butchering one another were spiritually blinded. The professing ministers and priests who blessed them and sent them into battle were also probably blinded. Later on, in a special resurrection, they will be given a genuine chance—their first real chance—to know God and to do His will!

As we think of the billions of men and women down through the ages who died tragic, seemingly senseless deaths, it should be extremely comforting and even inspiring to realize that those tragic deaths at Stalingrad, in Hitler’s concentration camps, on the “killing fields” of Cambodia, in the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami and in millions of other gruesome situations—those deaths were not the “end” for those involved.

For the God of total love and understanding has awesome plans for those countless millions of human beings made in His image. He is not going to forget them. But, again, He is not going to “sneak” them into His Kingdom through some “side door” apart from real repentance and a genuine acceptance of the true Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord. Rather, in the magnificent Great White Throne Judgment they will have their eyes opened to the transcendent purpose God has in mind for all of humanity.

The suffering these people have gone through, the experiences that have broadened their vision, the lessons they have “written” through those sometimes traumatic experiences—all of this will not have been in vain. For they will live again. They will love again. If their hearts are right, they will experience joy again. An inspiring scripture comes to mind which certainly applies to this “special” resurrection just as surely as it does to the first resurrection: “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54–57).

God’s Purpose STANDS

If Hollywood and the music industry would truly portray the enormous wave of joy and exaltation felt by these multitudes as they finally come to life again and come to know their God, it would really “knock your socks off” as is said in the vernacular! Songwriters could write absolutely thrilling songs of praise and rejoicing about this most stupendous event in the long saga of mankind. And someday, perhaps, in the Kingdom of God, they will!

So there you have it!

God Almighty is not trying to save everyone now. Rather, God is allowing humanity to go its own way for this 6,000 years of human history—under the evil influence of Satan the Devil (Ephesians 2:2). God now intervenes occasionally, when He wishes to, in order to bring about His major purposes in the rise and fall of nations and kingdoms. He also intervenes to call certain individuals to be part of His Church—the “little flock” (Luke 12:32) and to prepare them to be the kings and priests under Christ in the coming Kingdom of God on earth (Revelation 2:26–27; 5:9–10).

But the vast majority of all humanity has been blinded by God Himself. They need the opportunity to learn by human suffering that their ways do not turn out well at all!

Then, in His time, in the transcendent Great White Throne Judgment, God will bring them back to physical life, call them to spiritual understanding and will fill those who are willing with His Holy Spirit. Finally, He will grant them salvation in the Kingdom of God. Yes, I suppose God could have done it another way. But most people must learn by hard human experience that man’s ways are wrong Then, when the opportunity for true understanding comes, they can appreciate God’s ways infinitely more.

After describing how God is going to finally convert “all Israel” in His time (Romans 11:26), the Apostle Paul was inspired by our Creator to tell us: “For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (vv. 32–36).

Booklet Category

Doctrine

The Afterlife

Doctrine

Where Is God’s True Church Today?

Where Are God’s People?

Where Is God?

A “Comfortable” Church?

Do You “Need” to Attend Church?

The Church Jesus Built

Identifying “Signs”

1. The FEAR of God

The Foundation of TRUTH

Complete Surrender to Jesus Christ

2. The True Church Has God’s NAME

The Correct “Name” Is Listed Twelve Times

3. Growth in Grace and Knowledge

Who Really UNDERSTANDS?

4. The “SIGN” of God’s People

5. God’s Church Does the Real WORK of God

God’s Church Has All FIVE Identifying “SIGNS”

Different “Branches” of God’s Church

You Need to ACT!

Is Christmas Christian?

PREFACE THE REASON FOR THE SEASON?

CHAPTER 1 WHY DECEMBER 25?

CHAPTER 2 WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?

CHAPTER 3 DREAMING OF A COMMERCIAL CHRISTMAS?

CREDIT CARD DEBT—”THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST”

CHAPTER 4 SANTA CLAUS OR “HO, HO, HOAX”?

NO, VIRGINIA…

OLD MYTHS

NEW SANTA

CHAPTER 5 EVERGREENS AND OTHER CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

WHY GIFT-GIVING?

WHY DO WE CALL IT “CHRISTMAS?”

CHAPTER 6 CAN CHRISTMAS “SANCTIFY THE PAGAN”?

WHO ADOPTED WHOM?

SANCTIFIED BY TRUTH!

CHAPTER 7 GOD OFFERS A BETTER WAY

WHAT MEMORIAL DID CHRIST COMMAND?

CHAPTER 8 MANY ARE OPTING OUT OF CHRISTMAS

The Filtering Power of Shellfish!

Easter: The Untold Story

THE NEGLECTED TRUTH

CHAPTER 1 WHAT’S IN A NAME?

What History Reveals

Easter and the Egg

CHAPTER 2 THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN

A Heavy Price to Pay

Cakes for the Queen

A Family Tradition

A Sunrise Service and Pagan Gods from the East

CHAPTER 3 WORSHIPING CHRIST IN VAIN

CHAPTER 4 THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS

The Only Sign Jesus Gave

In, After and The

PASCHA OR EASTER?

CHAPTER 5 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PASSOVER?

GOD’S MASTER PLAN

Old Testament

New Testament

CHAPTER 6 “FOR THAT SABBATH WAS A HIGH DAY”

Two Sabbaths

THE SIGN OF JONAH

CHAPTER 7 WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY?

Does It Matter?

Do You Believe the True Gospel?

CHAPTER 1

A MESSAGE ABOUT THE MESSENGER?

FALSE ASSUMPTIONS AND FALSE HOPES

GOSPEL “OF” CHRIST OR “ABOUT” CHRIST?

WHAT ABOUT THE NAME OF JESUS?

CHAPTER 2

WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

WHAT IS A KINGDOM?

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S DREAM

A SUCCESSION OF WORLD-RULING KINGDOMS

OTHER PROPHECIES OF TOMORROW’S WORLD

DID CHRIST SAY THE KINGDOM IS “AT HAND”?

DID THE KINGDOM APPEAR IMMEDIATELY IN APOSTOLIC TIMES?

THE SAINTS’ RULERSHIP IN THE KINGDOM

BORN INTO GOD’S KINGDOM

PREFACE
THE REASON FOR THE SEASON?

CHAPTER 1
WHY DECEMBER 25?

CHAPTER 2
WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?

CHAPTER 3
DREAMING OF A COMMERCIAL CHRISTMAS?

CHAPTER 4
SANTA CLAUS OR “HO, HO, HOAX”?

CHAPTER 5
EVERGREENS AND OTHER CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

CHAPTER 6
CAN CHRISTMAS “SANCTIFY THE PAGAN”?

CHAPTER 7
GOD OFFERS A BETTER WAY

CHAPTER 8
MANY ARE OPTING OUT OF CHRISTMAS

CHAPTER 1
WHAT’S IN A NAME?

CHAPTER 2
THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN

CHAPTER 3
WORSHIPING CHRIST IN VAIN

CHAPTER 4
THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS

CHAPTER 5
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PASSOVER?

CHAPTER 6
“FOR THAT SABBATH WAS A HIGH DAY”

CHAPTER 7
WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY?

Chapter 1
What Do You Believe About the Bible?

Chapter 2
Prophecy: The Bible’s Unique Dimension

Chapter 3
Did God Inspire the Bible?

Chapter 4
Has the Bible Been Preserved Accurately?

Chapter 5
Real Answers to Life’s Big Questions