| Isaiah 25:1 |
Vol. 4.01
January 2012 |
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THE REIGN OF THE
LORD IN ZION – The News of Life. Obadiah 21
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Prepare the
Table, Watch in the Watchtower, Eat, Drink ...
Isaiah 21:5 |
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This is a monthly Christian
Newsletter and hereby state the object of its publication: That we are living in
the last days — the end of the
Gospel age; as well as the dawning of the long prayed for Kingdom of Christ in
power; are facts not only discernible by the close Student of the word, led by
the Spirit; but the outward signs recognizable by the world, bear the same
testimony: And we are desirous that the “household of Faith” be fully awake. Not
only help awaken but to assist them to “put on the whole Armor of God that they
may be able to stand in this evil day”. And beside all this, that giving all
diligence, they add to their Faith, Virtue, and to virtue, Knowledge,
Self-control, Patience, Godliness, brotherly Kindness, and Love; whom trust in
the merit of Christ’s Sacrifice for the world. Luke 21:36; Matt. 6:10; Eph.6:13;
2 Peter 1:4-11
Subscription:
We encourage the sincere and honest
ones, sensing the demands of the hour, to subscribe for this free monthly
publication, stating clearly their addresses. Given the Newsletter is free,
subscription fee is the exact cost of postage (stamp and envelope) by Uganda
post office; and these are the postage fees stated per year: Uganda sh.10,800,
Kenya sh.900, Tanzania sh.14,200 and Rwanda F.10,800.
All payment by cash should be
posted to our address. However, a sincere person of God who cannot afford the
postage fee, please write to us stating the fact, so by the Lord’s providence
you may be added to the list of the poor for us to continue sending you this
publication.
THE CALL OF THE CHURCH
The Jewish priests were taken from
amongst their fellows and especially ordained, or set apart, for their work to
represent their people before God, offering for them both their gifts and their
sacrifices for sins. In this arrangement the priests were able to sympathize
with the people, because they were subject to the same weaknesses and also had
need of the forgiveness of their own sins. But even amongst these imperfect,
blemished, sinful priests, who needed to make offerings for their own sins, none
was allowed to take this office of himself. God must call him to the office.
Thus it was with Aaron. God called him to be the head priest. So, the Apostle
points out, it must be with the antitypical priests on a higher plane. Christ,
the High Priest spiritual, and his elect Church, the Royal Priesthood on the
spirit plane, must also be called of God. They could not assume the office
otherwise. “Christ did not glorify himself to make himself a High Priest.” God
honored him in this way, however, saying to him in the prophecy of the Psalms,
“Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee”; and again, “Thou art a Priest
forever after the Order of Melchizedek.” —Psalm 2:7, 110:4.
MANY CALLED, FEW CHOSEN
There was a great multitude on the shore who heard the Lord’s teachings, but not
to all of them did his message come with the same force and to the same end
(Math. 4:18-22). Only a few were specially chosen and called. Doubtless there
were elementary conditions in the hearts of these four disciples that
constituted them the ones ready and worthy to receive the special message. There
may have been Israelites indeed in the multitude on the shore who were not yet
ripe for the special invitation of discipleship, just as these same four who now
forsook all to follow the Lord had been with him more or less for about a year,
yet had not until now reached the place where they were ready to forsake all.
All down through the Gospel age the Lord’s invitations have been extended
chiefly to those in the humbler walks of life — not many great, not many rich,
not many wise, not many learned, not many noble, hath God chosen, but the mean
things of the world, the things not esteemed — mainly the poor of this world
rich in faith. (1 Cor. 1:26-28; James 2:5). The Lord’s dealing is practically
the same with all. He does not invite them at first to a full consecration, but
rather gives them leading and instruction along lines of justification, and
after they have grown in knowledge to some degree they have the privilege of
forsaking all to be his special disciples, to be fishers of men.
One difficulty with Christians, in general, of all denominations is that this
second step of full consecration is rarely brought to their attention. Under the
false teaching that it is a question respecting heaven or hell that they must
decide between, the majority seem to feel satisfied that if they are reasonably
decent, reasonably honest, they will escape eternal torment, and are not
ambitious beyond this. They thus claim themselves to be, and are reckoned by
others as disciples of Christ, whereas in reality they still belong to the
multitude who hear with more or less of joy and bear witness to the wonderful
words proceeding from the Lord’s mouth, but who fail to attain the position of
special disciples, not appreciating and not taught that to be the Lord’s
disciples we must “take up our cross and follow him.” O, how necessary to the
saints is the Truth! How wonderful the Lord’s words, “Sanctify them through your
truth, your Word is truth!” Error can never sanctify, and in proportion as it is
mixed in our minds with the Truth, to that extent is the latter diluted and
lacking in power.
TERMS OF DISCIPLESHIP TO FOLLOW CHRIST
1. Then said Jesus
unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me. (Math. 16:24)
DENY HIMSELF/ Forsaking ALL to follow Christ.
The important thing decided at the moment and decided positively and permanently
was that they accepted the Lord’s invitation to enter the Father’s service with
him — fishing on a higher and grander scale, for men — gathering them into the
Gospel net, with a view to their ultimate glorification as New Creatures in
Christ and participants with him in the glory, honor, and immortality of his
Kingdom soon to be established. Let us each remember the importance of a
positive decision respecting our consecration to the Lord, our acceptance of
service under him as our Master and Captain. Let us then as wisely as possible
arrange life’s affairs so as to be without carefulness respecting earthly things
that we may the more readily and more completely give all of our time and energy
to the most important of all works, the service of God, tidings of great joy for
all people.
With these, however, it is necessary that there be a forsaking of boats and
fishing tackle, etc., in the heart from the moment that a full consecration is
made to the Lord. We cannot serve God and Mammon. We cannot have two objects in
life, both equally prominent to our attention. The Lord will not have it so with
those who are to be his joint-heirs in the Kingdom. This class must appreciate
the privilege of fellowship in his labor, sufferings and hopes of glory to such
an extent that their hearts will no longer be in the ordinary affairs of life,
their ambitions will no longer be for wealth or name or fame from the world’s
standpoint. All such ambitions and hopes we must “forsake” if we would be his
disciples. He must be first, joint-heirship with him must be our ambition;
otherwise our hearts would not be in a condition that would be pleasing to the
Lord or that would not be single for his service; we would be of the kind
described as double minded, unstable in all our works and ways — James 1:8.
Undoubtedly this is a difficulty with a large number of those who have named the
name of Christ and professed consecration to him and his service.
“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he has, he
cannot be my disciple.”
— Luke 14:33. To be a disciple of Christ signifies much more, both in the way of
responsibility and of advantage, than many seem to think. Our Lord’s words are
very explicit in defining the terms of discipleship to be nothing less than a
full, complete consecration of all that we have (Deny yourself) and are to him
who has bought us with his own precious blood. It must be a consecration to
daily cross bearing and to following in the footsteps of Christ, even unto
death.
2. Hear the terms: “He
that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not
his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” (Math. 10:37-38).
The terms are too plain to be misunderstood. They signify nothing less than, as
Paul expresses it, the presenting of our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1) No one of those
failing to do this is recognized of the Lord as his disciple, or enjoys the
privileges of that relationship; and, further, only those who do this
intelligently and freely are accepted of Him. That the Lord would not have any
one take upon himself the responsibilities of this relationship without due
deliberation and forethought, is shown by his reasoning on the subject, saying,
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first and counts
the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it? lest haply, after he has laid
the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock
him, saying, this man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king,
going to make war against another king, sits not down first and consults whether
he be able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty
thousand. And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an
embassy and desires conditions of peace.” — Luke 14:28-32.
3. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my
word, then are you my disciples indeed; And you shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31-32)
The Lord’s expression — “disciples indeed” — implies a distinction
between real and merely nominal disciples. And since we desire to continue to be
his real, sincere disciples, let us mark the expressed condition: “If you
continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.” The hypocrisy of
merely nominal discipleship is an abomination to the Lord. It is a blessed thing
to take the first step in the Christian life — that of belief in and acceptance
of Christ as our Redeemer and Lord; but the reward of this step depends entirely
upon our continuance in His Word, in the attitude of true disciples. It is not
difficult to do this, yet the disposition of human pride is to wander away from
the simplicity of divine truth and to seek out new theories and philosophies of
our own, or to pry into those of other men, who desire to be considered wise and
great according to this world’s estimate.
The reward of continued discipleship is, “You shall know the truth” — not that
we shall be “ever seeking and never coming to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim.
3:7). Here is the mistake that many make: failing to continue in the Word of the
Lord, they delve into various human philosophies which ignore or pervert the
Word of the Lord and set up opposing theories. There is no promise, to those who
seek for truth among these, that they shall ever find it. And they never do.
Divine truth is never found except in the divinely appointed channels: and those
channels are the Lord and the apostles and prophets. To continue in the doctrine
set forth in their inspired writings, to study and meditate upon them, to trust
implicitly in them, and to faithfully conform our characters to them, is what is
implied in continuing in the Word of the Lord.
4.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him MUST worship him in spirit and
in TRUTH. (John 4:24)
“Sanctify them through your truth: Your word is TRUTH.” (John 17:17 MKJV). The
66 books of the Bible are the Truth and not men's theories or creed books!
Proverbs 20:27 NIV—
“The lamp of the LORD searches the SPIRIT of a man; it searches out his inmost
being.” The inner most being of a man being his heart or mind!
HAVE YOU FOUND THE TRUTH?
l
Are you among the lost
—
from the word of God, that the dead St. John or holy Mary pray for us when the
Scriptures teach to the contrary that the dead know not anything, nor have
knowledge and wisdom? (Ecc. 9:5,10) In Psalm 115:17
—
“The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.”
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That the spirit of so and so has gone to heaven or purgatory or hell at death of
a man; When the Scriptures teach to the contrary
—
(Gen. 3:19) In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto
the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust you are, and unto dust shall
you return.
(Dan. 12:2) And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
(Isa. 26:19) Your dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they
arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for your dew is as the dew of
herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
If people will be resurrected to living here on earth (also see Jesus own word
in John 5:27-29), how come the Gospel says that such a holy Pastor/father has
gone to heaven at his death? Is there a scripture which states that such dead
ones in heaven will come back to be resurrected here on the earth? Remember that
Jesus went to hell at his death (Acts 2:31 KJV)
—
was Jesus a sinner?
Where is the source of the Gospel that nullifies God’s own statement that the
dead shall return to the dust? Who is he that tempts to nullify God’s Truth
except the father of lies and his many agents? (John 8:44,45)
l
Did you really know that you and the cow, chickens, goats you eat go to one
place?
(Ecc. 3:18 KJV) I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men,
that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are
beasts.
(Ecc. 3:19) For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one
thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have
all one breath (spirit); so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast:
for all is vanity.
(Ecc. 3:20) All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and ALL turn
to dust again.
(Ecc. 3:21) Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the
beast that goes downward to the earth?
l
That mighty angels are questioning the spirit of dead believer in Islam, in
Cabrini. This is the same Gospel in the heathen shrine as well as in Papal
Temples, that the dead can talk and answer even praying! This is contrary to the
Bible teaching—which
declares that the dead do not know anything, even do not remember God;
(Psalm 6:5) For in death there is no remembrance of you: in the grave who shall
give you thanks? Also, Ecc. 9:5-6,10 and Psalm 115:17 confirm this! Remember,
Moslems accept the book of Psalm/Zabbuli as of the prophets!
l
SO IF YOU HAVE NEVER DENIED YOURSELF, as the Master advises, a condition before
being accepted as his follower (Math. 16:24), can you by any other way be part
of his Church? If one baptized you without such personal knowledge nor decision
and promised you heaven freely, is such one not the agent of the other Deceiver?
(John 8:44-45; Jeremiah 14:14)
The LORD by his great mercies calls such honest ones in great systems of error (denominations)
to come out, seeing they are fed with complete “doctrines of the devils” (1 Tim.
4:1):
(Rev. 18:2-3) And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the
great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold
of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all
nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of
the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth
are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
(Rev. 18:4-5) And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of
her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive
not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities.
How is the WAY?
FIND THE TRUTH!
—
See Your Opportunity for a FREE BIBLE STUDY COURSE by correspondence
—
“And the TRUTH shall make you free.” John 8:32!
THE DIVINE PLAN OF AGES
“A Plan of Ages, which he formed for the
ANOINTED Jesus our Lord”
— Eph. 3:11, Emp. Diag.
“Write down the Vision and make it plain upon tables that every
one may read it fluently.”
— Hab. 2:2-3 L.T.
The 3 Worlds
— 2 Peter 3:5-13
YOUR OPPORTUNITY:
|
Free BIBLE STUDY Course
By
Correspondence
&
Open
to All Christians from all
Churches
OMUSOMO
GWA BAIBULI nga gwabwerere!
You can write to us or Call us:
Uganda Bible Students,
P.O. Box 28734 Kampala,
Tel:
(+256) 0753 116 202 /
0776 116202
Or 0782 318 033
Email: Eliezer_biblestudy@yahoo.com
FIND THE TRUTH ! … John 17:17
Math.25:6: “Behold the Bridegroom …”
|
SOME BIBLE TOPICS TO BE COVERED:
(EGIMU KU MITWE EGIYIGIBWA)
1. Why does God permit Evil/ Satan to do
injury?
(Lwaki Katonda owekisa aleka Satan okukola
obubi?)
2. The Most Holy Faith — the Faith which was
delivered to all Saints.
(Okukkiriza okutukuvu enyo - Okwaweebwa
abatukuvu ba Katonda.)
3.
The study of Bible Covenants.
(Okuyiga Endagaano Za Katonda mu baibuli)
4.
Church History— The Seven Churches and
Seven Angels; Rev. 2
(Ekanisa Omusanvu ne
Bamalayika baazo Musanvu
—
Okubikkulirwa 2)
5.
The Armageddon & The End of the World.
(Olutalo ddekabusa era
olwenkomerero y’ensi)
6.
Tongues, Miracles, Visions and Prophesying.
(Ebyamagero, Okulabikirwa, Okwogera mu nnimi
era n’Obwanabbi)
7.
The TRUE Christian Baptism!
(Okubatizibwa okuli mu byawandikibwa, okw’amazima.)
And many others (Nebirala)!!!!
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DESIRING GOD’S GREAT BLESSING!
Desiring to obtain God’s blessing but indifferent in doing His will results in
failure. Serving and improving the life conditions of your fellow men towards
God, is one source of God’s blessing. Therefore, desiring to spread God’s
Message of life but thinking you are too busy with work of whatever sort, poor
to give financial support as you may not have enough for food, or you are not
talented to speak, or feeling bodily imperfection that a person may ask you what
you can not explain; yes in whatever form of constraint: We advise you to
consider the many and varied opportunities the LORD of heaven has placed before
you to serve your fellow men and women; Example, obtain copies of this monthly
Newsletter — look at People interested in God’s word around you; at work place,
home, neighbors, at your church, sending a copy to mother, father, friends &
relatives in different places of the Country. Those who could promote this work
in other right way, the opportunity stands. Yes, how refreshing and motivating
you may contribute to changing Peoples lives, and yourself be God’s righteous
Servant in the belief of Christ and the TRUTH.
GROWING IN FAITH
Growth in faith is
a desired state of Christian for desired fruitage of Christ likeness; But this
must be in line with the will of God as expressed in 1 Thess. 5:21 KJV — “Prove
all things; hold fast that which is good.” In line with this exhortation we
advise all who are earnest students of Scriptures and our Newsletter, to prove
all our studies with the only standard given by God (Isaiah 34:16) and please
communicate to us! It is also, our privilege to share the message of God’s love
with others; hence we advise those who received the first publications to share
them with God’s People.
Christ’s Kingdom is a monthly
Publication by Uganda Bible Students:
All
enquiries and subscriptions to be addressed to:
The Editor, Christ’s Kingdom, P. O. Box 28734, Kampala, Uganda.
Email:
Eliezer_biblestudy@yahoo.com
Tel: (+256) 753 116202 / 0776 116 202.
www.godsplan-today.com
You can visit www.bibletoday.com for more on
Bible studies.
