Articles for the Benefit of Members and Ex-Members of the WCG

* * *

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