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But don't we read that all mankind
will rejoice, make merry and even
send gifts to one another at this time?
Sure- that'll be when God's two wit–
nesses are murdcrcd! ( Rev. 11:3, 7-
10.) And soon thereafter, when
Christ takes over "the kingdoms of
this world" (Rev. 11: 15), the nations
will be angry (verse 18) and men will
blaspheme God ( 16:21 ).
Do you catch the ironic drama of
the situation? T he same men who
had pompous1y proclaimed that they
would "su rely obey God if only He
would stop hiding and appear 'like a
man' " will themselves hide under
rocks and blaspheme Him when He
actually does appcar like an omnipo–
tent God!
Why Ooes God Hide Himself'?
He hasn't.
He isn't.
He won't.
lt's man who hidcs from God.
God has revealed H imself- by His
creation, by His patriarchs and
prophets, and by the ministry of J e–
sus Christ. God is revealing Him–
self-to scientists by their . discover–
ies, and to the world by this Work.
God will reveal Himself- to you per–
sonally by H is Spirit now, and to all
mankind by His soon-coming con–
quering return.
But let's not forget poor old Ag–
nostic Arnold- really a nice guy be–
neath his obnoxiously self-confident
exterior. He has a rendezvous with
the shock of his academically shel–
tered life. He will soon shed that pre–
tense of erudite sophistication. Arnie
is going to repent. Hard to believe?
Naturally-but nonetheless true.
He can't even imagine the awe–
somely terrifying sequence of cata–
clysmic eruptions by which the Al–
mighty J esus Christ will conquer this
world. Arnie's calloused, self-pro–
tecting emotions will be taxed
beyond their límíts- he will be shak–
en and whirled like a dried leaf in a
tornado. Of course that'll be the best
thing for him. Beca use at last he's go–
ing to become teachable- like a
wide-eyed child hungry fo r basic
knowledge.
Don't worry- God hasn't been in–
dignantly hurt or His pride wounded
by Arnie's present buffoonery. He is
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1979
just deceived-like the rest of the
world ( Rev. 12:9). God knows that.
He !oves Arnie even now (Rom. 5:8).
So it's going to give God great plea–
sure to mercifully grant Arnold re–
pentance
(ll
Tim. 2:25). God can
hardly wait to see the new, humbly
repentant Arnie, sitting quietly and
listening attentively as one of Jesus
Christ's ministers begins to teach
him the way of truth.
There are thousands of millions of
"Arnies" in today's world-everyone
deceived in his own particular way.
These helpless specks of frustrated
life aren't lost. God is getting ready
to give each and every person his or
her chance for eterna! salvation.
What a fantastic time this is in
~~
The ancient philosophers
knew God existed. They
examined their
world- and found order
and harmony; they
wondered about
life- and found system
and design.
' '
which to live! We are going to see the
very unfolding and fulfillment of
God's pla n!
The Ultimate Revelation
We have thrown at you a mass of his–
torie and prophetic information. No
doubt you believe our general thesis
- that God has continuously re–
vealed Himself to man but man in
general has always hidden himself
from God. But your belief is founded
on secondha-nd data. lt 's right, it's
good-but there's better! How would
you like sorne firsthand evidence?
Your Creator has provided a
way - H e can reveal H imself
through you! He can literally dwell in
you ( l J ohn 4: 12)- Jesus Christ, thc
Creator of this universe, can come
into your mind! (Phi!. 2:5.) How? By
the implantation of His Holy Spirit
(John 14: 17)-which is God's power
to express Himself through you.
God is offering a majesty which
transcends even the most fcrti le
imagination. And you can have it!
How do we know that God can re–
vea! Himself through individual
men? What's our evidence?
We have an absolute twofold
proof: First, the person can keep
God's law for the fi rst time. Of
course God's law will be kept! lf God
is going to manifest Himself through
men, He is obviously going to obey
His own law. Second, the person can
develop progressively more Godlike
character.
The phenomcnally incomprehensi–
ble result of this development occurs
at the resurrection- when, in truth
and in fact, the person himself is
changed into Eterna! God. As wildly
incredible as it surely sounds to our
brainwashed ears, God Almighty is
reproducing Himself- He is making
man e1igible for fu ii -Aedged sonship
in H is God-plane fami ly. T hat seems
like sacrilegious blasphemy to most
worldly religions- but it happens to
be the reason why God created the
entire universe.
Many religionists teach that man
can't keep God's Ten Command–
ments. True. Man alone can't. But,
when God impregnates and aug–
ments man's spirit by His Holy Spirit
( Rom. 8: 16), then man can obey
God's law, because Christ Himself
will help. The world hates obeying
God, and the world ridicules the idea
of God reproducing Himself. As a re–
sult, the world rejects God's revela–
tion through man.
And by rejecting God's revelation,
the world blasphemes God's Holy
Spirit. Religionists tell you "just be–
lieve on the name of the Lord J esus
and you shall be saved." T hey also
make the equally ludicrous claim
that the Holy Spirit is a distinct per–
son. T his is a Aagrant attempt to
both close off the Godhead in an un–
expandable "Trinity" and dcny
God's power to keep His own law
through human beings.
How do you know that God can
reveal Himself through men? You
can't stake your belief on these words
stuck end to end. So preve it! Preve it
(Continued on page 38)
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