Articles
for the Benefit of Members and Ex-Members of the WCG
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54
A Message to the WCG
Part 4
This publication is a message of spiritual redirection for members and
ex-members of the WCG. It was first written in 1992, revised in 1994 and also in 1998. It is also available in print from the address at the end.
Understanding God's Mind
Comment: "I
cannot agree with you that God is working with all these people who do not
keep God's Sabbath. If God has not revealed the understanding of His laws to
them, I cannot see how God is working with them. God's love is expressed
through keeping the Commandments. If they don't keep the Sabbath, they are
not of God. They are not called by God at this time, and therefore they are
tools of the devil."
Reply: After pondering what you
said… I felt the need to explain a little more why I am certain God
is definitely working with some other Christians who may not understand
about the Sabbath at the moment. I am not claiming that all who 'keep
Sunday' or all who go to church are true Christians. But many could be
– and many are – Christians without us realising it, and you must
be careful you do not judge them and falsely accuse them of being of the
devil when they are not.
Your reasoning is based on an assumption. You assume that
God must reveal to a person's mind the truth of which day is the
Christian Sabbath before he or she can be used or led by God. You also
assume that in understanding the relevance of the commandments, a person
will automatically understand the truth about the fourth. Yet I know many
Christians, who are truly God-fearing, Spirit-filled, who have repented
deeply of their past sinful lives, and who have turned from their sins, who
do not realise the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week and not the first.
Remember the mark of a true Christian is one who is led
by the Spirit of God (Rom 8:14), one who responds to the lead of the
Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit has not led him or her to an understanding
of the Sabbath yet, then that person is not held accountable by God for not
keeping it in the way God would expect of us who do understand that
necessity. You see, God judges us according to what we know and understand.
God is not going to condemn someone to Gehenna fire because he hasn't kept
the Sabbath holy when he was not made aware of the fact that he was keeping
the wrong day! God is more than reasonable, unlike many humans.
Don't Judge
Testing the spirits (I Jn 4:1) involves training our minds
spiritually. This is not something we were trained to do in the WCG.
Spiritual discernment was often totally lacking in that organisation,
because the synagogue of Satan was in control!
The WCG leadership was often very adept at causing
judgemental approaches to prevail! They may have been inculcated into us
very subtly, but they have had disastrous consequences in our attitudes
towards others. When we judge, condemn, or criticise and accuse without just
cause, we are doing Satan's work, not God's. He is the accuser of the
brethren. We allow the devil to affect our minds, warping our thinking. Such
attitudes do not stem from the love of God.
The principle of not judging our brethren is expounded in
Romans 14 and Paul says "who are you to judge someone else's
servant?" (verse 4, KJV). James repeated the same principle in James
chapter 4: "you – who are you to judge your neighbour?" (Jas
4:12.) "Anyone who speaks against his brother [without justification]
or judges him, speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law
you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgement on it" (Jas 4:11).
These are spiritually deep principles to fully comprehend. They don't make a
lot of sense to most people.
It can be very hard for us to adopt and accept new
concepts – concepts which go totally against what we have believed for
decades. It may take time for you to accept what I am saying. It took me
some time coming to this understanding. It doesn't come overnight, so do be
patient. It will take time to ponder and prayerfully meditate on some of the
things I have been moved by God to write. Don't worry if you don't 'get'
them at the first reading. Read them again some time in the future. Ask God
for wisdom and understanding (Jas 1:5). He will give it to you. But things
rarely come suddenly. If you don't understand everything, just retain an
open mind about other Christians of different persuasion. Better to think
nothing of them than to think bad things about them when those bad things
may be unjustified and wrong.
What True Love Is
I have been with Morris Cerullo, listened to him speak,
seen him 'in action' on several occasions, seen him cast demons out of
people, seen him heal others (not him personally, but the power of the Holy
Spirit through him). He exhibits the love of God. He is warm; he is
friendly; he is compassionate; he cares for people. These were the qualities
which Christ exhibited. These are the 'fruits' He told us to look for in
those who profess to follow Him. They are fruits of a man's heart filled
with the love of God, and motivated by the Holy Spirit.
I know the Bible says, as you rightly say, that the love
of God is expressed through the ten commandments. True. I can even quote
chapter and verse (I Jn 5:3). But what about the rest of the contents of
that letter? One cannot take one part of scripture out of context, or out of
association with the rest. I John 2 verses 9-10 say, "Anyone who claims
to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever
loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make
him stumble".
How does one love one's brother by keeping the Sabbath?
The Sabbath is not a total expression of God's love through us. It is
only part of it. The above verse is talking about our approach towards
others. That is an equally important part of our expression of God's love in
and through us. The other commandments which express concern for others by
not stealing from them, not committing adultery, not lying against them, not
coveting etc, are fully kept in the spirit by a mental attitude and approach
towards others. Such expression of God's love is not always immediately
visible like the observance of a day, but it is nonetheless just as
important a part of Christian conduct. God looks on the heart. We must do
too.
It is possible to keep God's commandments ritualistically
without having God's love living in us. You can avoid stealing, bearing
false witness, murdering, committing adultery and yet not have the love of
God toward other people. Likewise, you can also 'keep' the Sabbath
legalistically without having the love of God. The Pharisees did that! True,
the commandments are an expression of God's love, but only when they are
kept in the true spirit – that of the Spirit of God. Ritualism is empty.
Let us not be deceived that we are in the love of God just because we are
ritualistically keeping God's law!
Those whom I have introduced to you through tape or video
are aware of God's love, and they express it. It's just that their
expression of it has had a different emphasis to that which we have thought
should be emphasised.
Jesus didn't think much of the emphasis the Pharisees
placed on the law, though they kept it meticulously (Matt 23:23). They
kept the Sabbath, the Holy Days, they fasted, they tithed, they did all that
the law required, and yet they were not fit for eternal life! They did not
exhibit the loving nature of God. Some even committed the unpardonable sin
by condemning Jesus for what He did through the power of the Holy Spirit!
Let us not fall into the same satanic trap. Satan knows all God's law inside
out. Keeping the law in a self-righteous, ritualistic way is of no avail.
That was Job's mistake. If we think we are pretty good, or better than
others by virtue of what we have done, we are missing the whole point of why
Jesus had to die for us, and the way of life He brought us.
God works out His plan in mysterious ways at times. What
more clever trap for those who are proud and deceived by Satan into thinking
they are righteous because they observe the law, than for God to be working
more with those who don't look like they are keeping the law because they do
not seem to be keeping the Sabbath?
The Pharisees did not know God's love. They didn't
know they didn't know it. They thought because they observed all points of
the law that they must have had what is pleasing to God and be accepted by
Him. When Jesus came along and showed them up for their lacks, they couldn't
understand it. They thought they were every bit as good as Him. They didn't
know that they lacked what He had, His wonderful love.
Likewise, what you don't know, you don't
know that you don't know! So we have to be careful. This is why God
tells us not to judge by appearance. Appearances can be deceptive. We can
only tell by the fruits – love, joy, peace, patience, selflessness, etc.
Morris Cerullo, Reinhard Bonnke, and Benny Hinn have dedicated their lives
to serving the Church. Morris Cerullo has preached the Gospel with
miraculous testimony for 44 years! A man that gives his life so unselfishly,
who shows compassion for the sick, who is zealous for the Spirit of God, and
who is on fire against the works of the devil, is a man of God. He has
warmth, feeling, caring, sympathy, love. That man is of God, and I know
it!
Jesus inspired John to write one of the most spiritual
statements of discernment in the New Testament in John 13:34-35 – "A
new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so
you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my
disciples if you love one another". He was not talking about keeping
the commandments. They were not knew.
The Sabbath can be kept without an ounce of love for
another person. What Morris Cerullo does cannot be done by human strength
alone. It can only be done through the power of God's Spirit. Do read
Matthew 25:31-46. It illustrates what is most important to God, and for
which He will reward us in the future. There is not one mention of the
Sabbath. I'm not saying the Sabbath is not important, but is it as important
to God as the wonderful attitude we show when we care for others in true
love? The Sabbath can be 'kept' without true love.
Pure religion that God accepts more than anything has
nothing to do with outward Sabbath observance. James said, "Religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being
polluted by the world" (Jas 1:27). If you read the life histories of
men and women like George Mueller, Dr Barnardo, Gladys Aylward, Rees
Howells, you will see that these people displayed these qualities, and God
worked with them despite their ignorance that Sunday was not the Sabbath.
God is responsible for not revealing this truth to them,
so if we sit in judgement of them for their ignorance we sit in judgement of
God.
I'm sure you don't want to do that, but it can occur if we
are narrow-minded or prejudiced, and get things out of proper perspective
– God's perspective.
Comment: "I did not take well to your booklet
on Elijah because the men you mention are probably not Sabbath observers. I
have a friend, a Baptist elder, and he seems at peace in his heart,
observing Sunday instead of the 7th day Sabbath. I wonder could such persons
(as him) be saved (now) by living faith in Jesus and His sacrifice and by
living well, even if not observing the 7th day?"
Reply: I note what you have
written concerning those who do not observe the Sabbath. I understand how
you find it difficult to accept some of what is written in the booklet about
the end-time Elijah, so I shall try to explain. Don't worry if it doesn't
become clear all at once. Some of these concepts take time to perceive. We
must give the Holy Spirit the time and the latitude to lead our minds.
Salvation Is An Unearned Gift
The New Testament shows what God considers most important
in our spiritual lives. Christ came to bring us life; life in its fullness (Jn
10:10). Gone are the days of empty ritualism, in which 'religion' has taught
that we become righteous by what we do. Righteousness does not come by
what we do! The letters of Paul to the Romans and to the Galatians make
this point clear. It is faith in Jesus which makes us righteous
('justifies' us). The salvation of God is not something we can earn, or
achieve by our own efforts alone. It is a gift – the gift of God.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, lest any
man should boast" (Eph 2:8-9).
On one occasion, when Christ confronted the Pharisees in
His day, He chided them by saying, "Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and
have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy and
faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone. You
blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel!" (Matt
23:23-24, KJV.)
The Pharisees kept all the rituals of the law. They kept
the commandments, the Sabbath, the Holy Days, they fasted, they tithed and
were meticulous in their observances. Yet Christ condemned them! There were
things of far greater spiritual importance which they lacked, and one of
those was faith.
In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he goes to some lengths
to point out that justification (being made righteous in God's sight) is not
possible by human effort alone. "…a man is not justified by the works
of the law…" So how is he made right before God, then? "…by
the faith of Jesus Christ…" (Gal 2:16). Righteousness comes by faith
(Gal 5:5). It is not only faith in Jesus, but the faith of
Jesus (Gal 2:16, KJV; Eph 2:8).
Love Is The Pinnacle
It may seem surprising to us that Jesus chooses to give
His faith to some who know nothing of His Sabbath. That aspect seems so
important, so fundamental a truth to us, because God has unlocked it to our
minds, that it is hard for us to conceive how anyone else could overlook
such a pivotal point of understanding. But we must not forget Who it is who
opens people's minds to His Truth. It is the Father who does the drawing (Jn
6:44). He opened our minds to understand about the essential purpose of His
holy time each week. If He does not choose to open others' minds in the same
way or at the same time, it is not for us to judge. He is working out His
purpose in the lives of those He calls.
He gives His Holy Spirit to any who ask Him (Luke 11:13),
and who show a measure of willingness to obey Him. None of us can boast
perfect obedience, nor perfect willingness to be obedient. It is not the
outward obedience to His laws which is the mark of a true Christian, but the
inward sign of the indwelling and guidance of the Holy Spirit (Rom
8:14). God looks on the heart, He looks inside, not like we do (I Sam 16:7).
Of course, we will see the outward manifestation of such
an inward change, in the way our 'lights' shine. "By this shall men
know that ye are my disciples if…" (Jn 13:35). What does the rest of
that verse say?… if you keep My Sabbath day holy? No. It says, "if
you have love one to another".
It's obvious really. Love is the most important thing as
far as God is concerned (I Cor 13:13). This love is not merely keeping the
commandments humanly. This love is elaborated in chapter 13 of First
Corinthians. It is the ultimate weapon against which Satan cannot stand! It
is the power which defeats the enemy.
There are three qualities which are supreme in God's eyes,
and they are listed in the same verse – faith, hope and love.
They are eternal qualities. The Sabbath will one day become obsolete,
when mankind becomes spirit. But faith, hope and love will live on for
eternity.
Hence the reason God places so much emphasis on the
demonstration of these characteristics in us. That is not to say that the
Sabbath is unimportant; it is important. But it is not an end in
itself. It is merely a means to an end, the end being love. That is
why Jesus emphasised to the blind Pharisees the Sabbath was made for man and
not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). They had lost the correct perspective.
Perhaps we can see a little more clearly now why God
accepts some to whom He has not yet revealed truths we take for granted.
They believe in Jesus Christ. They believe Christ is their Saviour, that He
died to pay for the penalties of their sins, and they believe that they will
live with Him forever because they respond to His love for them. They may
respond in a somewhat different way to the way we do, but people are all
different, and God knows how to reach each one, bringing him along to the
point at which he is prepared to make the ultimate commitment to love as God
loves.
Have you made that ultimate commitment in your life, to
love as God loves?
"I Have Other Sheep, Not of This Fold"
I was helped to better understand this aspect through an
analogy given by a prophet. God is calling and drawing many different people
to Him down many different avenues. It is as if God is on a High Mountain,
looking down on us from above, some on this side of the mountain coming to
Him from one direction, others on the other side of the same mountain coming
to Him from another direction. Although the different 'sides' are going in
different directions, they are not diverging, but rather converging, and
heading towards union with the One God. When they reach the top of the
mountain they see the different sides from which they have come, and they
will all believe the same, because they are then all one in God.
It is only when we truly live in God that we can
have His mind and His perspective about these apparent
anomalies we see in Christendom.
It is interesting that the verse about unity in the faith,
in Ephesians 4:13, says, "until we all come into the unity of
the faith…" (KJV.) It is not something that has been achieved yet,
but a future event. Jesus predicted divisions in religious philosophy after
His death, not unity (Luke 12:51).
Jesus gave a similar revelation in John 10:16. "I
have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They
too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock, and one
Shepherd" (NIV). He doesn't say when this will happen. It
may be very close to the end before a convergence in view comes about.
Isaiah 52:8 indicates that this unity may not occur until "the Lord
shall bring again Zion."
What is noteworthy, however, is that these others will
also listen to the voice of Jesus. That not only implies they
hear Him, but they believe what He tells them. We may not be
privy to all He tells them. Our duty is to act on what He tells us.
There is a very relevant text in Romans 10:9-10, where
Paul says "that if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe
in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with
your mouth that you confess and are saved." Of course, we realise that
there are other statements elsewhere in the Bible which explain that
repentance and baptism are necessary requirements for believers to follow
once they believe, but belief is paramount. Hence the reason God draws so
many who believe but who seem to have so incomplete an understanding
in other ways.
There are numerous scriptures which describe or refer to
belief. You may like to look them up for yourself in a concordance. The
following are some of them. Jn 3:15,16,18,36; 5:24; 6:47; 7:38,39; 9:35,38;
11:25,26; 12:44; Rom 1:16; 3:22; 4:24; 6:8; 9:33; 10:9,10,11. They describe
how belief in Christ is essentially what saves us.
The letter of Paul to the Romans was written to point out
that salvation is primarily attainable by 'believing' and not by
'achieving'. 'Works' of and by themselves are valueless (in the context of
earning our salvation). None has kept the law perfectly (Rom 3:23), so we
can't hope to come to God on the strength of our own achievements alone. It
is faith which is pleasing to God (Heb 11:6). Abraham was extolled by
God because Abraham's righteousness involved belief (faith), and his
belief or faith in God was inseparable from his works as an expression of
righteousness (Gal 3:6). God considered Abraham's faith as
righteousness (Rom 4:3). True, he demonstrated it by what he did, but
what he did was prompted by his faith in God (Jas 2:21-24). Faith came
first; works second. The works in this case which God accepted as an
expression of Abraham's faith had nothing to do with Sabbath observance. God
can use any number of different experiences in life to test our faith and
reliance upon Him.
Sabbath Not The Only Test Command
In the case of Rees Howells, a man of God at the beginning
of this century, one of his greatest tests in life was that of not wearing a
hat! That may sound ludicrous, but because of the prevailing customs of the
time, it was a much greater test of his obedience to God than allowing all
the tramps in the neighbourhood to come and live in his home. (See Rees
Howells – Intercessor, by Norman Grubb). There is no denying God used
Rees Howells. It was because he walked so closely with God that he was
privileged to be the intercessor whose prayers dramatically altered the
course of the second world war and produced miracles such as occurred at
Dunkirk, and El Alamein, etc.
It was not God's purpose at that time to reveal the
identity of the true Sabbath to him, nor to reveal the pagan origins of
Christmas or Easter, etc. God had His reasons for withholding this
information from him then, and from others whom He is working with now. One
day we will fully understand these things, but for now we will have to look
to the 'fruits' of such individuals' lives, (as Jesus told us in Matthew
7:16-20 and Matt 12:33), to see whether they are of God or not. The fruits
of the Holy Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-24 – love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, faith, etc.
Your Baptist friend you mentioned in your letter may well
exhibit those qualities, in which case there is every reason to suppose that
his contact with God is as good as ours. It may be better! And there is
every reason to believe that he is also saved by his faith in Jesus. As he
continues to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit, he will continue to move
into the fullness of the perfect love and will of God for him. We must do
the same, in the way God leads us. We have to accept for now that those
directions may appear to be temporarily different.
It is not what we know that is important to God, but what
we do with what we know. It is our response which God regards.
We are judged according to how well we live according to the understanding
God has given us. To whom little is given, little will be required. To whom
much is given much will be required! We have a responsibility to God for the
priceless understanding He has given us of the saving power of the blood of
Christ. What could be more important than faith in that awesome
sacrifice, and faith in the new life that Christ has made possible?
A Message From The Book Of Jonah
The fifth book of the 'minor' prophets – the account of
God's calling to, and the response from, Jonah – contains an important
lesson for all of us today. It is an account which highlights the weaknesses
inherent in us all, regardless of how much we understand God's plan and
purpose for humanity.
It is a disappointing description of prejudice and
selfishness which we can all fall prey to, if we are not constantly on guard
against such satanic symptoms.
Jonah was told by God to go and warn the Ninevites that
they should turn back to God, and repent of their wrong ways. They were
given 40 days to do so, and if they didn't, then God determined to destroy
the city.
Rather than obey God, Jonah fled from his commission. He
tried to 'run' away by ship to Spain. But no one can flee from God. Needless
to say, God caught up with Jonah! The story is so well known that we need
not repeat here all that followed. Suffice it to say that the three days and
three nights which Jonah spent inside the blackness and isolation of the
great fish made Jonah realise vividly his absolute dependence upon God.
He cried out to God inside that monster in a way he had
never cried out to God before. The experience changed his life, and changed
his approach to God's call on his life.
When God caused the huge fish to spew him out on the
shore, Jonah was now prepared to do all that God required of him. He
travelled the long road to Nineveh and preached through that vast metropolis
the message God had instructed him.
The city repented. It turned from its evil ways, much to
Jonah's disappointment. He realised before he went to deliver that
message, that the greatest city in that part of the world at that time would
probably change according to God's warning. He knew that God "is a
gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God
who relents from sending calamity" (Jon 4:1-2).
The trouble is, Jonah was not like God! Nor are we. We
have to grow to become like God.
Jonah resented this change he saw taking place for the
better in others, so much so that he resented God and wished to die! Pure
selfishness!
He wanted to see the God of Israel reserved for his nation
– Jonah's nation – alone.
There is an unavoidable parallel here for God's people
today. Dare any of us imagine we have God's exclusive favour, while all
others in other denominations are damned? Or that we are God's ‘one and
only’. Or that because of our heritage, we deserve God's attention and
others do not?
Hardly! God is not exclusive. God would have all
men come to know Him and receive from Him all that He wants to share with us
(I Tim 2:4). That's not to say that all men want to partake of all
that God wishes to offer them, but they can partake of His limitless
goodness to the extent they allow God to come into their lives.
It would be unrealistic to think that all the Ninevites
changed their ways or that they started to obey all the commandments
which Israel did. It is unlikely they began to keep the Sabbaths. However,
their change (according to their consciences, Rom 2:14) to more equitable
conduct was sufficient for God to spare them at that time, in line with the
purposes He was working out.
As Jonah brooded over this radical turnaround in the
fortunes of Nineveh, God worked further with him. A 'vine' or castor-oil
plant grew up over his resting place. He took comfort temporarily in this
welcome shade from the burning heat – until God caused the plant to die
(Jon 4:6-8).
His mood deteriorated as rapidly as the condition of the
plant! God asked him to analyse why he should express more sorrow for the
demise of the 'vine', than he could express for the impending destruction of
120,000 people "who cannot tell their right hand from their
left"! (Jon 4:9-11.)
There are some significant points in this account that
warrant closer examination. The 'vine' which protected Jonah from the
scorching heat of the sun, was probably the castor-oil plant, sometimes
referred to as "palm-Christ", a fast-growing 'vine' with large
protective leaves that offer shelter. Are we not in the palms of Christ's
hands, protected from the searing trials with which Satan would want to
destroy us?
The phrase, "who cannot tell their right hand from
their left", physically is a reference to the young – generally
children under the age of three or four. Spiritually, the parallel should be
obvious. God does not hold as fully accountable those who have an immature
and incomplete understanding of what is required of them. God looks on the
heart, not on the head. Those who spiritually do not perceive their right
hand from their left, are less accountable than those who are spiritually
mature (Luke 12:48).
The outcome of this unusual episode in history was that
Israel slipped further into apostasy, while Assyria reformed. The great
capital of heathendom became the recipients of God's abundant grace, but
those to whom God had formerly stretched out His hand turned further away
from Him.
Such an ironic twist in human behaviour caused the
'rightful' inheritors of the kingdom of heaven to witness its transfer to
those they had formerly regarded with contempt. God operates according to
merit, not according to tradition or human expectation. The Ninevites had
demonstrated their willingness to yield the spiritual fruits.
Jesus warned us in the New Testament of the dangers of the
same cruel twist of fate. Sabbatarians often regard themselves as the 'firstfruits'.
However, if they do not shed their prejudices towards other Christians who
have not yet come to see what they see, they may find themselves shut
outside the door. The parable of Matthew chapter 22 relates how those whom
God initially calls to His wedding banquet often pay no attention, and fail
to respond correctly. Disdain and disregard for the prophets God sent to
help prepare them, disqualified many from their inheritance. The wedding
banquet will be attended by many 'unlikely' characters. But they are not
'unlikely' to God, because they have on the appropriate garments.
Do we?
Malcolm B Heap
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