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IICIIEIJBI.f
HUMO POTOTIAL...
)'Cars
an
bis
own
bired house.
a.nd
recetved
alt lhat came
an
unto
ham,
preaclrlng
thc
kingdomofGod ..." (Acts
28:30).
Oid
Paul
pre•cb aay
oth<r
gos~/7
To tbe
Ga.lahans he wrote...Bul thougb we, or an
ilDgel from bcaven. prcach any other gospel
unto you lhan 1hat which we havc preached
unto
you.
let him
be
accursed.
As
wc s.a.id
be(ore~
so say
t
now apan.
lf
an.y mao
prc.ach any other go.pcl unto
)VU
than lhar
ye h1ve reccivcd, Jet bim be a.ccursed"
(GaJ.
1:8·9).
But verses
6
and
1
showed lhat the Gala–
uans
had. alrcady, tumcd
10
anotber ¡ospcl
Jcs...
spo~
of bis mes..ge - tbe kongdom
ofGod -
a.•
lhe ' 'word" that he spoke. The
apo.sOes.
as
you'JJ read 1U through lhe
book
of Ac15, went evcrywhere j>'Qdúng "the
word" - meanong tbc kingdom ofGod.
Tbe Va.sl Comprebens¡veness
ora full
Undcnranding
t
mu.st call the reader's auention a¡ain at
th" pomt.IO 1he fact that
a
1\oll and
<Omplete
understanding of 1he message senl by God
the Fa1her
10
all mankind, by bís divine
mcsseager Jesus
Chris&..
anvolves
a vast com–
prehension of ()od's grea1 purposc, and of
evcnt.s prehlstoric.
h.istotic,
present and
ru–
ture
1
migbt
say
it
mtat\S an
m·e:rall under–
standang of
~rJfhing!
Onee
undcrstood.
it
wdl secm tbal man, with bis suppo.sedly stu·
pendous fund of knowledge, such as dís–
s.tmLnatec!
ta
\he
pc:a.t
v.ru\'cailies.. u. •n
fac::t.
..._,.ntitc~rwilf"Seem
i.s
.r
man
~OW$,
now,
almost nothing! Por
the missing
dimcnsiori
in
knowlcdse
is thc all-imponanc k.nowl·
edgt'
So
1
as.k the rcader
10
expcct
OREAT
THJI"'OS
to be revealed in this and eoming
arhclc.s.
Tbc
~Gospcls~
llein¡
Preachtd Today
1 havc said lhat you bear many gospel
program.s
today. Onc
uses
tht slogan,
"Preaebing Cbnst to tbe Nations." One
ma,bt
ask, ··wen.
what's
W..ONO
about
preacltlng
ABOUT
Chrisl?" Or, "What 's
wrong
about preadúog a gospel of graee?"
Or
"Wha~s
""""t
aboul proclaimm&
a
mes–
sasc
about
sa.lvauon'r
1 have sbown you the.Scriplures showing
thcy
startcd,
evcn
in
the
first
c:entury,
prcachingabout a
DlPr&liN'T
Jcsu.s -
a Jcsus
who abolíshed
b"
Fatber's ct>mmandments
- who tumcd "grace" in
lO
liceose
10
disobey
(U
Cor.
11 :4, 13·15 and
Jude
4).
They do
not IOday prcach the
UAL
Jesus. who said,
"1
have kept
m
y Father's commaodmenl5,•
and that he set
w
an cxample that we should
keep them atso.
lf lhosc
wbo
claim 10 preach a gospcl of
SALVAnON
undcrstood
and
proclaimcd
WttAT
salvataon
really
1$
whelhcr
at is
go-–
ing to a
PLACI:l,
bcing changed into a differ–
cnt
CONOI"tiON, OfWHAl' - Of WH.i'Rf. -
and
uow it may be obtained, il might be
a
pan
of tbe uue &o.p<l. But
ttldtly~ •gos~t·
pro·
grams
do
not
1eacb what salvation
mJI/y IJ
or how
one
may receivc it. When the
bllnd lead tbe bliod, they all faU 1010 lhe
do
!Ch.
Just
Wbatls 1he
Kln2dom
ofGod!
So
1fs time we come
&O
UNOEUTAND
just
whatu
tbe kJn,dom ofOod!
Whal
is
a kongdom1 The Bible speaks of
scvcral kiogdom.s. Thc
fttst
wodd cmpirc
-
tbc Cbaldeao
f!mpi~
onen called "Baby·
Ion• -
was
a
tingdom. God inspircd tbe
prophet Daniel to say to its king, Nebuchad–
neuar,
.....
the
God
or
heaven
bath
g.iven
Wf!EK f!NOING FEB. 22.
1975
1tt
s,;.rl
by
Stanloy
R. R11der
BOMBAY, JANUARY 26, 1975
Once again we have found that circulll$tances do force us to be flexible and
ready
10
change our schedule, no maner how carefully we have 1r1ed
10
plan and
conuvl events,
as
Mr. Armstroog travels throughoul the world bringing
bis
message of hope to mankind.
We are wrapping up our first vi.sit to Bombay, a magnificent cily wbere we
bave made many friends. Upoo amval we were met by
Dr.
Nagendra Singh of
the lntem.atiooal Coun of Justice at the Hague, who was ma.king one of
b1s
owo
now infrequent visits to Bombay, nnd on the evening of tbe 21st, Dr. Singh
introduced Mr. Armstrong to more than
400
distinguished guests representing
lhe legislature, judiciary and executive brancb of the state governmeot.
as
well
as
community leaders from the fields of education, industry and comnierce. Mr.
Annstrong spoke for more than
30
minutes to a very warm and enthusiastic
audieooe.
But the very next day, after meeting with community leaders concerning our
plans for
a
major campaign in May, we were advised that we would have 10
move up our schedule because of a varie1y of factors beyond our con1rol. aod
March
1
was fixed to culmina1e
a
week-long campaign beginning on February
21: This
has mean1
a
cbange in our scbedules for March, April and May. bul
during the ncxt few days we are making the necessary adjuslments as we move
from Bomba
y
to Cairo aod on
10
Europc.
Everyooe bere
is
very much conoemed about the situation in tbe Middle
East,
as
well as the increasing importance of the !odian Ocean, as
a
consequenC<l
of the worldwide oil problem. Mr.
Kissingc~
commented about the potential
use
of force lO avoid 5tra.ngulallon, and, ofcourse. the terrible possobwty of
a
major
confrontatioo betweeo lhe U.S. and the U.S.S.R. should momeotum toward !he
peaceful solution in the Middle Bast be lost.
As
you readers of
Plain T111th
bave Ion& recog¡'lited, we have devoted
significan! spaoe for a great maoy years to lhe problems of the impcnding energy
crisis, famine and eoology. in addit.•o n to
all
of the. other economic, so<:ial and
moral issues of our time. Each of those three enumerated issucs
has
ftgured
prominently in our discussions
with
the pcople here.
1t
brings
10
mind comments
tbat Pnme Minister lndira Gandhi made to Mr. Armstrong several 'years ago
wben she said that "all the problems confronting mankind can be found right
here in
l.ndia."
One does not have
10
look very far to find them, but India
is
trying
10
oveq:ome them aod to belp its people, althougb onentimes only its
failures to overcome are empbasized by the media in other parts of the world.
Since our first visit to India we have published numerous articles about its
pcople, as weU
as
its etrorts, and we have bcen complimented by representatives
of the tovcrnment
oo
the
ricbness
of our arucles and their fairness. With India
coming more and more to imponance in the eyes of those who heretofore have
failed to recogni:te its pivotal posilion in the world, we shall
be
spcoding more
time in India during th.c next
yar
-
bere
m
Bombay,
as
weU
as
New
Delhi,
Madras aod Calcutta.
o
thcc a •on¡dom, powcr. and .strenglh, and
glory" (Dan.
2:31).
Tbeo tbcre was 1he Kingdom or Israel -
the faouly deoceodcd from lsnoel, which be·
camc
one
orcanh·s nations
or g.ovcmments.
The K.lngdom of Israel wu
a
foreru.nner
of lhc kingdom ofGod.
lt
wiJJ be compo.sed
of thc Spoñt-bom chiltlren of
God -
lhe
family of Ood. orsanized in
lO
a
govemong
Jcingdom.
Therefore tbe kingdom of Ood will be
dual:
(1)
A
OovtJU<VE!<T.
A govemmeol - or
kingdom - is composcd of four lhinss: (a) a
KINO,
ruling over
(b)
people, subjeciS or cili–
~ens
within (e) a deftnile jutísdictioo of lerri·
tory, woth (d) Jaws and m or¡anized system
of
admtntstcring
thcm,
·
.
(2} A
r•MrLY
(a.s
the Kingdom of Israel
was a family of tbe childrcn of Israel) - in
this
case the family or
God - •
famlly inlo
which bumans may be bom, whi<h sbaU be a
OOVtRNINO
or RUUNG family that shall
have jurisdictioo
ovcr ALL
I"'ATIONS - thllt
i.s.
the
wuou
SAI"rn -
and, latcr. thc cnl'irc
univcrse.
TbcKillgclom:A
Covem.mtnl
Christ is 10 be the
King
of 1he kingdom of
God.
He
ís
tbc
S~n
of God. wbom he ad–
tlrcssed
Uo
tbe Falher. When the chun:h. by
a rcsurrec::lion or instantancous
clrang~
rrom mortal
10
icnmonal ([rom physical
composiüon
to
spirit eompo$ttion) bec:omes
tbc
spirit-oompooed children of God. Chli$t
will many lhc chun:h whoch shall become
his wife. So
wc.
have
Fathcr.
Son. wife, and
children
o(
tbe J'athcr- all a
FAMJLV
n:la–
tiotUbip- tbe diviDe
qoo
family!
Noboc, now. some of the.
propbeaes~
"Thcrcfore 1he Lord himsclf shall give
you a sign;
Bchold, a
virg.in
shall
wnceive.
and bear a son. and shaU
ca1l
bis
Game
lm·
manuel(which meaos "()od with us"r (lsa.
7: 14).
"For unto us (Israel) a child
is
born. un1o
us a son is given: and
tite
gowrn.mtnl
shall
be upon his shoulder: and
bís
name sbaU be
called Wondeñul. Counsclor, The mighty
Ood, The cverlasting Fathcr, The Prince
or
Peace. Of lhc
incrcase
or
his govtrnment
and
peace tbere shall be oo end. upon tbe tbtonc
or
Oa\id..
and upoo bis:
k.mgdom.
to
order
•t.
and lo cstablish
1l
wllh judgment and w11h
jtLujce rrom henceforch even
ror
ever.
The
zeal of the Lord of hosiS will perform thos"
(lsa.
9:6-7).
The angel Gabnel
IS
a
super an:hangel -
a cherub -
onc
of
only
thrce
mcnuoncd
m
1he Bible. 11
is
recordcd, "And
in
the sixlh
montb (of the pre"'ancy of f!lwbeth)lhe
angel Gabriel w.u seo
e
rrom
God
unto a
city
of GaliJce. nemed Naureth.
to •
vlrgin es–
pouscd (betrothed) 10
a man
whose name
was !o.eph. of tbe house of Oavod; and lile
vargin?s
u.me
WM
Mary. And lhe
anscl
carne in unto ber, and said, Ha1l, chou that
art
highly favored. lhe Lord is witb lhee:
blesse<! art
chou
among womcn.
...
And the
angcl wd un10 ber. Fear
not.
Mary:
for
tbou basl found favor wilh God. Aod, be·
hold. 'tbou shah conceive in lhy womb, and
bring forlh • son. and shah
call
his name
JesU$.
He
shall be grcat, and shall be caUed
thc Son of the Higheu; and the Lord Ood
shaU givc unto him
1he t/tr()nl
or
bis father
Ortvid: and
he sña/1 reign
ovec the house
or
Jacob for ever. and of
bis
kio&dom there
•hall be
no
end" (l.uke
1:26-33)
Whcn Jcsus was
on
trial for hlS life be(ore
i>ilate,
Píl:ue said unto him...Art thou a
king
thco?
Jcsw:
answcrcd. Thou
sayesc
that
1
a.m
a
bng. To tbos eod was
1
bom, and for lhos
cause c:ame
1
into
the world,
thac
t
should
bearwicne.ss lmw tho
cruth."
However, JC$us also explained
lO
Pilace
1ha1
Jus
klñtdom - hís rulcnhip - was not
or tbis wortd - this time: - tbJs prescnt
.,C'.
Jesus
a'nfvlerea,
11
Myktiogdom
l.!not'of
tn/}.
world . . .
but now
is
m
y
kingdcm
not
fcom
bence" (John
18:37, 36).
What Oorlst's Cospel
WasAII About
1 say Chli$t's gospcl - tbe messagc he
brought from Ood -
was
tbe advanc:e
&oocJ
news of
!he
establishmenl of the kingdom of
Ood. Bul j ust what
all
does thal ínelude?
And why
is
the kingdom of God neees–
sary?
Jusi how does it alfect and rela1e directly
to
your
ptl'50nal
and
individuallife?
Actually. Chrisl's mcssage of God's ct>m·
lng k.ingdom
is
directly ct>ncemcd with
world oondidoos as
lhcy
are - with human
nature -
it$
source:
21nd origin -
with
world
evils., sutrering, unha.ppiness - with
world
peaee~
lt's
cooccmcd wilh
¡ovemmcnl
- -
with
the reason
prese:nt human govcmmcncs
fail to be the bencfac1ors of lheor peoples
they aresupposcd 10 be.
His mwage hits direct.ly at thc
w:ry
roots
of
individUal
persona! happtness aod
at
the
awcsome transccndcnt potenHal of each
human
Hre.
lt
is
conccrned with the:
CAUSflS
or
prcsent
C:ooditions
tbat affcct evcry
human and
with
lhe
WAY
that will solve 111
problcms.
Burü
isconccmed with
far.
far
more.
h
ls
conccrncd with God's trcmendous.
overwbelming. ovecall purpose as Creaior or
the entate univcne. h's oonc:emed with the
entirt vast universe.
tUled
with
iu uoc:oun·
table galaxies. nebulac. suo.s. stars. planets.
aod with ()od's purpooc: for them. Jrs con·
c:emcd wotb
aU
tbe 1ngels - wolh tbe faet
that one third or all ()od's created angels
turncd che wroog way. into
SIN
from
wbich
thcrc can
be
no rcdcmption. and God•s great
purpose
and
plan
&O
prevctlt sud\ a catas–
lrOphc happening to the other two 1hirds.
Most
of
these thing.s
are
ncvcr remotcl)'
considered in religious teachmgs in lhl$
world. Qod's
mc.s.saa.e is conoemed wuh
overa.Uuuth.
What has been covered so far should be
considcred as tncrely
che
iotroduction to che
enoirc story ofChrisl's &<»pcl. o
13