NetServices

Seek First the Kingdom

On October 21, 2006, Edwin Pope will give the sermon, titled, "Seek First the Kingdom."

The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org at 12:30 pm Pacific Time (which is 2:30 pm Central Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.

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Editorial

Stay Unified
by Rene Messier

Coming home from a hard days work, the head of household  was a bit dismayed to hear his two sons fighting and squabbling in the basement. Ordering them to stop, he said to them: "Boys, I would like you to come outside to learn a lesson." He went to one of the trees in the yard and picked up a twig, which was about  twenty inches long. He handed it to his eldest son and said: “ Break this.” His son did so with ease. He then picked up eight twigs, gave them to his eldest son and told him: “ Break these.” The son tried very hard, but he could not do so. He even smashed the twigs across his knees and still could not break them. He finally admitted that he was unable to break the eight twigs. The father looked at his sons and said: “ There is strength in unity.” This was a statement of truth and also a lesson both boys never forgot. 

By the time you read this editorial, the Feast of Tabernacles will be over. Hopefully, you have been inspired and are determined to help finishing the Work that God has given us to do. This must be done in a unified way, working together as a team. Fighting and squabbling would only play into the adversary's hands. We must stay focused on the job ahead, remaining faithful to God and doing His Work in a truly united and enthusiastic manner, as God opens the doors of opportunities for us. Let us all stay unified, while remembering Mrs. Loma Armstrong’s favorite Scripture in Psalm 133:1: "Behold , how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!”

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Current Events

Iraq War--Disheartening!

In a somber article from the Associated Press, as reported by CTV.ca, the ongoing war in Iraq seems increasingly hopeless: "The U.S. military on Thursday acknowledged its two-month drive to crush insurgent and militia violence in the Iraqi capital had fallen short, calling the raging bloodshed disheartening and saying it was rethinking what to do next to rein in gunmen, torturers and bombers."

This less than optimistic report comes at a time when the administration of President George Bush is busy campaigning to keep its Republican hold in Congress. Across the nation, there is a growing anti-war sentiment emerging--with parallels now being drawn to the Viet Nam war. Many question the run-away costs of this war, and certainly the tragic human loses are garnering outcries from both participants and from the majority of other nations who strongly oppose America's lead in this engagement.

In the face of such seeming hopelessness in our generation, please read our free booklet, "Should You Fight In Wars?" Also, we invite you to view our StandingWatch program presented by Evangelist Norbert Link. See up to date commentary in light of Biblical prophecy--posted at www.StandingWatch.org

Iraq War--More Bad News!

The Guardian Unlimited (10/20/06) published a rather dire assessment of U.S. prospects in the war in Iraq: "A day after George Bush conceded for the first time that America may have reached the equivalent of a Tet offensive in Iraq, the Pentagon yesterday admitted defeat in its strategy of securing Baghdad.

"The admission from President Bush that the US may have arrived at a turning point in this war - the Tet offensive led to a massive loss of confidence in the American presence in Vietnam - comes during one of the deadliest months for US forces since the invasion.

"Yesterday the number of US troops killed since October 1 rose to 73, deepening the sense that America is trapped in an unwinnable situation and further damaging Republican chances in midterm elections that are less than three weeks away."

All of this bad news is coinciding with the current trip of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who has spent this week in east Asia trying to secure enforcement of the U.N. Security Council's resolution against North Korea. Secretary Rice is finding a cool reception to America's goal in the matter.

North Korea

In an Associated Press article, as reported by the Las Vegas SUN on October 17, 2006, recent UN sanctions were being viewed as an act of war by leaders in North Korea: "The U.N. Security Council 'resolution cannot be construed otherwise than a declaration of a war,' the ministry said, calling the sanctions 'a product of the U.S. hostile policy toward' North Korea."

The article points out that China's role in enforcing this U.N. resolution is problematic, at best. China is concerned that any strict enforcement would lead to massive migration by the citizens of North Korea into China.

The somewhat hesitant steps undertaken by members of the U.N. surrounding the issue of nuclear weapons' development by the North Korean government has undermined the bold pronouncements by the U.S. government. The article highlights some of this effect:

"The North found a sympathetic ear in Iran, which has also been condemned for its nuclear program. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected the American-initiated measures and accused the U.S. of using the U.N. Security Council as a 'weapon to impose its hegemony.'

"In Washington, Rice warned that U.N. sanctions on North Korea should also be seen by Iran as a strong signal to abandon its nuclear ambitions or face a rebuke from a united international community.

"'The Iranian government is watching,' she said. 'It can now see that the international community will respond' to efforts to acquire nuclear weapons."

However, up to this time, the world is not safer. Rather, new nations are emerging to arm themselves with more of the frightening doomsday weapons that Biblical prophecy clearly foretells! For more incisive information about what will happen in the future of our generation, please refer to our booklet, "The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord."

Muslim Image?

In a revealing speech by Egypt's President Mubarak, as reported by Reuters (10/20/06), the question of the role of Muslims in advocating radicalism was challenged. The article quoted Mr. Mubarak as follows:

"'The Muslim world is facing a ferocious attack, describing Islam wrongly and offending Muslims' sacred (symbols and figures) and beliefs,' Mubarak said in a speech marking Lailat al-Qadr, the night Muslims believe God started the revelation of the Koran to Prophet Mohammed more than 1400 years ago."

"'Don't we Muslims share part of the responsibility for the wrong perceptions about Islam? Have we done our duty in correcting the image of Islam and Muslims?' he said."

Battle lines are being drawn that will only lead to an escalation in these hostilities. We explain where all of this world tension and strife is headed in our free booklet, "Europe in Prophecy-The Unfolding of End-Time Events."

Russia--Turmoil!

While other events take center stage, political relationships between Europe and Russia are building--however tenuously!

Reuters, for October 20, 2006, presented some very interesting perspectives from an interview with a German government official:

"Germany said on Thursday the political atmosphere inside Russia was growing more and more uncertain but urged the EU to seize its 'window of opportunity' to bring Russia closer to Europe before it is too late.

"Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler made these comments in an interview with Reuters before Russian President Vladimir Putin meets European Union leaders on Friday in Finland."

The Reuters article also pointed out a very interesting dynamic in the German-Russian relationship:

"The Russian president, who speaks German and spent many years in the country as an agent for the KGB, the former Soviet Union's secret police, has made economic and political relations with Europe's largest economy a top priority."

News from Russia is troubling. Following the death of a well-known journalist, other measures to give the Kremlin more control of non-governmental organizations have Europeans concerned about the climate of individual rights in Russia. Worrisome, as well, is the Asian lure for Russia in its international dealings.

The European Union--although now only loosely integrated--is rising to become the new economic crossroads of the world. At the head of this surge is the leadership of a powerful German nation. All of this stands in contrast to the weakening world status of the United States. More information is available in our booklet, "The Fall and Rise of Britain and America."

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Q & A

After Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, would they still have lived eternally, if they had eaten subsequently from the tree of life?

In order to answer this question, we need to explain first what the two trees symbolized.

As we read in the first three chapters of the book of Genesis, when God created Adam and Eve, He placed them in a beautiful garden, called the garden of Eden or Paradise. In that garden, God had planted two special trees. Although these trees were literal trees, they also had specific symbolic meaning and significance. The two trees were called the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God said that man could eat from all trees in the garden, including the tree of life, but man was forbidden to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, God offered man to eat FREELY from the tree of life. The Church of God has long understood and consistently taught that the tree of life was symbolic of the Holy Spirit. If man had eaten from the tree of life, he would have received the free gift of the Holy Spirit of God, and with it godly understanding and wisdom as how to live. Adam and Eve would have received, with the Holy Spirit of God, a down-payment or a guarantee of eternal life, and they would have been, in due time, upon continuously living the right way, changed to immortal Spirit beings.

Adam and Eve did not eat from the tree of life, but they did eat, instead, from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In not eating from the tree of life, and in eating instead from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man decided to reject God's Holy Spirit, eternal life and godly wisdom, and to accept the wisdom of this world, which leads to death. God had told them ahead of time about the consequences of their decision. We read in Genesis 2:17 that God said that man would die if they were to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Correctly translated, God said: “dying you shall die.” The Broadman Bible Commentary explains:: “Genesis 2:17b may be read, ‘In the day that you eat of it, you shall proceed to die.'”

But Satan told Eve something different. We read, in Genesis 3:5, that Satan told Eve, in effect, that she would not die, but that she would be like God knowing, or better, DECIDING for herself, what is good and what is evil. Eve saw, as we read in Genesis 3:6, that the tree would make man wise--but the reference is to human wisdom, not the wisdom from God which can only come through the tree of life--the Holy Spirit. And so, man has used his own wisdom ever since, by rejecting, generally speaking, the wisdom of God (compare 1 Corinthians 2:1-7; 3:18-20).

We are now prepared to answer the question posed in this Q&A. After both Adam and Eve decided to disobey God and to eat from the forbidden fruit, God confronted Adam and Eve. He saw from their reaction that they refused to repent of what they had done. Rather, they proceeded to excuse or even justify their wrong decision. As a consequence, God said, as recorded in Genesis 3:22-23: "'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know [or better, to decide for himself what he thinks is] good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'--therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden..."

Would Adam and Eve have lived forever, if they had eaten from the tree of life, after having already eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Realize that the tree of life was symbolic of the Holy Spirit. So, even if they had received the Holy Spirit by eating from the tree of life, God could always take away from Adam and Eve the Holy Spirit, preventing them from becoming immortal.

Some commentaries feel that the tree of life symbolized more than just the receipt of the Holy Spirit. They reason that it actually symbolized the immediate receipt of immortality.

For instance, the Ryrie Study Bible writes:

"Driving Adam and Eve from the garden was both a punishment and an act of mercy, lest they should eat of the tree of life and live forever in a state of death and alienation."

The better view, however, is that Adam and Eve would not have changed into immortality, even if they had partaken of the tree of life. Remember that God had already told them that they would DIE, since they had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Matthew Henry's Commentary writes:

"'Behold, the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil!…' this was said to awaken and humble them, and to bring them to a sense of their sin and folly, and to repentance for it. God thus fills their faces with shame, that they may seek His name…The reason God gave why He shut man out of paradise; not only because he had put forth his hand, and taken of the tree of knowledge, which was his sin, but lest he should again put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life and FLATTER HIMSELF WITH A CONCEIT THAT THEREBY HE SHOULD LIVE FOR EVER."

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown agree with Henry’s conclusion that Adam and Eve would not have become immortal, even if they had eaten from the tree of life:

"'And God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us'--not spoken in irony as is generally supposed, but in deep compassion. The words should be rendered, 'Behold, what has become [by sin] of the man who was as one of us!' Formed, at first, in our image to know good and evil--how sad his condition now. 'and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take of the tree of life.' This tree being a pledge of immortal life with which obedience should be rewarded, man lost… all claim to this tree; and therefore, that he might not eat of it or DELUDE HIMSELF with the idea that eating of it WOULD RESTORE WHAT HE HAD FORFEITED, the Lord sent him forth from the garden."

Man was made from the dust of the ground. God said: "FOR DUST YOU ARE, AND TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN" (Genesis 3:19). For man to acquire immortality, God would have had to change mortal man into an immortal being. Eating from the tree of life and thereby receiving the Holy Spirit, would not have made man immortal, all by itself. Even when we receive the Holy Spirit today, we are not immediately changed into immortal Spirit beings. We still die--physically--and need to be resurrected from the dead to immortality. In addition, we can even still die spiritually, after having received the Holy Spirit--if we lose the Holy Spirit and commit the unpardonable sin, which cannot be forgiven.

We therefore hold that Adam and Eve would not have been changed automatically to immortal Spirit beings upon eating from the tree of life. Furthermore, God did not want them to eat from the tree of life and receive the Holy Spirit, as He did not see any repentance in them for their disobedience. God does not grant His Holy Spirit to those who disobey Him--rather, we read in Acts 5:32 that God gives His Holy Spirit only to those who are obedient to Him. Revelation 22:14-15 confirms that only those have access to the tree of life--the Holy Spirit--who "do His commandments... But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie."

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

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Youth Forum

Military Service

by Simon Akl (17)

This past summer there have been, and still are, on-going conflicts in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Being at an age where I might soon have to be confronted with the pressure of serving in the military, should there be a mandatory draft, I have been thinking a lot about war and if God’s people should be fighting and participating willingly or unwillingly in it.

As we look at and analyze the many existing conflicts, we see that they always lead to more division, destruction and even death. Most wars are only fought because of political interests and benefits, and as a result, many innocent lives are being wasted purposelessly on both sides. God’s people have been commanded not to kill other human beings. We have also been admonished, however unpopular and rejected by humans in general, to love, respect, and pray for our enemies. God has equipped our hearts, minds, and souls with a creativity and imagination to communicate, negotiate and resolve issues diplomatically and in a Godly manner, based on love, respect and charity. 

In this world, people rush to war first before even resorting to any sincere peaceful dialogue to resolve their interests in a respectful way. Hence, we can see that God’s way of life is not being implemented and followed, but it is neglected and rejected by the rulers of this age. God’s people know that their citizenship is in heaven and that God's Kingdom is not of this world. Therefore, we must not give in to what this world is erroneously asking or commanding us to do, whatever the consequences are or might be. We are not to take part in these corrupted wars which are being fought and should refrain from any participation in them--while looking forward to such time when Jesus Christ returns to this earth to bring peace and restore all things, according to the decree of the Father since the beginning of this world.

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Prayers

Updates and Requests

During the recent Feast of Tabernacles, we received a letter from Mrs. Phyllis Gregg thanking us for our prayers and concern on her behalf. Due to ongoing health problems, please keep Mrs. Gregg in your prayers.

NOTE: We will have a report on the Feast of Tabernacles conducted in both Great Britain and in the United States in next week's Update.

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Matt 28:19-20

Preaching the Gospel and Feeding the Flock

We have received our latest booklet from the printer in Canada. This publication, titled "Teach Us To Pray!," was distributed at both of our Feast sites. We will be sending the new booklet to the rest of our mailing list in a short time. If your wish a copy, please write to us or view it on the church websites.

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This Update is an official publication by the ministry of the Church of the Eternal God in the United States of America; the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship in Canada; and the Global Church of God in the United Kingdom.

Editorial Team: Norbert Link, Dave Harris, Rene Messier, Brian Gale, Wray Zehrung, Margaret Adair, Joan Pope, Johanna Link.

Technical Team: Wray Zehrung, Eric Rank, Shana Rank

Regular Contributors: Michael Bannen, Terry and Connie Grade

How This Work is Being Financed:

Our activities and literature, including booklets, weekly updates, sermon tapes, and video and audio broadcasts, are provided free of charge. They are made possible by the tithes, offerings and contributions of Church members and others who have elected to support this Work.

While we do not solicit the general public for funds, contributions are gratefully welcomed and are tax-deductible in the U.S. and Canada.

Donations should be sent to the following addresses:

United States: Church of the Eternal God, P.O. Box 270519, San Diego, CA 92198

Canada: Church of God, ACF, Box 1480, Summerland, B.C. V0H 1Z0

United Kingdom: Global Church of God, PO Box 2111, Derby DE1 1ZR, England

 
 
 
 
Matthew 5:14

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

-Matthew 5:14
 
 
Church of the Eternal God Booklets

"And the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

-Matthew 24:14