OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD 1563GladTidingsGladTidings

Discover the Bible Discover the Bible –– page 3page 3The Light of the World The Light of the World –– page 5page 5

A Beacon of Hope A Beacon of Hope –– page 7page 7

Bible Talks, Study Classes, Sunday Schools and Youth Clubs areheld regularly by Christadelphians worldwide. The address ofyour nearest group can be obtained either from one of the Glad Tidings Distributors listed above, or from one of the contactaddresses listed on the back cover.

Bible VersionsThe version most used in this issue isthe New King James Version (NKJV)and other versions are sometimes

used.

✤ The New King James Version iscopyrighted by Thomas Nelson.

✤ The English Standard Version is published by Harper CollinsPublishers © 2001 by CrosswayBibles, a division of Good NewsPublishers. Used by permission.

✤ The New International Version is copyrighted 1978 by New York Bible Society

GladTidingsO F T H E K I N G D O M O F G O D

130th Year 1563A monthly magazine published by the Christadelphians (brothers and sisters in Christ) andavailable throughout the world.

AcknowledgementsPhotographs:

Cover & Page 3: Castle Hill,Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England,UK Jon & Ethan Barrett

Other Illustrations

Pages 5-6a,7a,8,11-12,18-19:Clipart.com; 6b: WikipediaCommons; 7b: GeoffreyLockwood.

ContentsH14

Glad Tidings Distributorsfor orders and payments

United Kingdom – Cilla Palmer, “Highlands”, 78 Mildenhall Road, Fordham, Ely, Cambs, England CB7 5NR Tel: (01638)723959 (24 hrs & Fax) cilla@gladtidings.fsnet.co.uk

Australia – Jon Fry, 19 Macey Street, Croydon South, Victoria, Australia, 3136

gladtidingsaustralia@gmail.comCanada – Vivian Thorp, 5377 Birdcage Walk,

Burlington, Ontario, Canada, L7L 3K5 vivianthorp@bell.net

New Zealand – Neil Todd, 14 Morpeth Place, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 7, New Zealand

South Africa – A. J. Oosthuizen, P.O.Box 50357, Musgrave Road,Durban 4062, South Africa antoost@mweb.co.za

U.S.A. – Pat Hemingray, 3079 Kilburn West, Rochester Hills, USA, MI 48306

Other Countries – Andrew Johnson, 22 Hazel Drive, Hollywood, Birmingham, England, B47 5RJandrew@gladtidings.me.uk

Editor: Owen Tecwyn Morgan, 26 The Crescent, Hampton-in-Arden, Solihull, England, B92 OBP glad.tidings@virgin.net

Publisher: The Glad Tidings Publishing Association A registered charity – Number 248352

Contents

Discover the Bible ...........3

The Light of the World ...5

A Beacon of Hope............7

Hidden Treasure ..............9

God is Always Right!.....12

The Letter to the ...............Galatians.....................14

How Do We Praise theLord?............................16

Is Your God Dead? .........18

Its objectives are – to encourage the study of the Bible as God'sinspired message to men; to call attention to the Divine offerof forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ; and to warn menand women that soon Christ will return to Earth as judge andruler of God’s world-wide Kingdom.

130th Year 3

a place where beacons were lit to passon warning signals. There are marksleft by people of the Iron Age, whoestablished a hill fort there. Then, afterthe Norman Conquest of Britain in1066, a small castle was built (hencethe name “Castle Hill”), and early inthe 14th century an attempt wasmade to found a town on the hill, butit came to nothing.

Passers ByOf course, none of that informationwould be evident if you were justpassing by. You would have to stop andlook, perhaps visit, then enquire andyou might even need a bit of experthelp to point out the salient details.That’s true of many things in life. Wehave to choose how best to use ourlimited resources; what to see and do;what we really want out of life. But howwould we feel if we passed by the mostimportant thing in life in pursuit ofsomething which was much less valu-able?

All through history people havepursued the things they consideredimportant and neglected things thatreally mattered, but sometimes theoutcome can be tragic. In Bible historythe last king who reigned in Jerusalemwas named Zedekiah and with him inthe besieged city was one of God’sgreat prophets, a man namedJeremiah.

For eleven years Zedekiah failed toface up to the threat posed by KingNebuchadnezzar of Babylon who con-quered Jerusalem several times andwas finally determined to destroy thecity which had given him such trouble.Jeremiah gave the king the advice that

If you have an enquiring mind, or arejust curious about things you seearound you, hill tops are a good placeto look. Nowadays the chances arethat masts for telephone or televisionare located there, but sometimesthere are much more interesting thingsto spot and survey.

Castle HillThe tower on this month’s front coveris properly called the Victoria Tower,situated on Castle Hill, Huddersfield, innorthern England. If you bothered tomake enquiries you would find that itwas first opened in June 1899 andthat it was built to commemorateQueen Victoria’s sixty year reign overthe British Empire, which is why it issometimes termed the Jubilee Tower.Built of stone from the nearby CroslandHill it is 106 feet (32.3 m) high, which,added to the height of the hill itself,makes the top 1,000 feet (305 m)above sea level. So much thoughtwent into its design and it required aconsiderable effort and expense toconstruct it, which is why it is nowclassed as an ancient monument.

Visit the site, as the two young menare doing as they climb the steps, andyou would find out far more about thehistory of the site. Castle Hill was once

Discover the Bible

4 Glad Tidings

By believing God’s Word and bybeing baptized into the saving name ofJesus we can be saved from our sins.But notice what the Scripture recordsabout people who didn’t take the timeto enquire, who couldn’t be botheredto discover the truth about Jesus Christand about God’s plan for them:

Those who passed by blasphemedhim, wagging their heads and saying,“Aha! You who destroy the temple andbuild it in three days, save yourself,and come down from the cross!”(Mark 15:29–30).

Those who passed him by failed torecognise the Lord Jesus Christ, theSon of God; nor did they realise thathe was dying for them. But there wereothers who stayed long enough tomarvel at the way he died and the gra-cious things he said during his ordeal.The Roman centurion who supervisedthe crucifixion was one who stayed andmarvelled and the crowd who lingeredleft the hilltop very sorrowfully:

“the whole crowd who came togetherto that sight, seeing what had beendone, beat their breasts and returned”(Luke 23:47,48).

Our ChallengeWe weren’t there of course and therewon’t be another such occasion forJesus died “once for all” (Hebrews7:27). But we have the choice whetheror not to pay the Bible any attention. Ina world that offers much, we can easilychoose to ignore God’s message to us.Don’t be a passer-by! Discover whatthe Bible really teaches by reading itand find out about the marvellousmessage it contains. It’s a lifechanger!

Editor

if he would become Nebuchadnezzar’sservant then he and his people couldcontinue to live in Jerusalem and notbe destroyed (Jeremiah 27:12-13).

But Zedekiah and his princes wouldnot listen to Jeremiah’s wise counsel.They persisted in their resistance andeventually Jerusalem was taken and itspeople were exiled or killed. Jeremiah’slament for their foolishness and dis-obedience contains these words:

Is it nothing to you, all you who passby? Behold and see if there is anysorrow like my sorrow, which has beenbrought on me, which the Lord hasinflicted In the day of His fierce anger(Lamentations 1:12).

Easily MissedJeremiah’s lament is that people whodid not have to suffer brought that suf-fering upon themselves because theywouldn’t listen to the message hebrought from God. Their minds werefixed upon other things: how to defendthe city, what to eat, how to avoid thesickness that was going around, andsuchlike. It was a mistake they paiddearly for as the Babylonians took theirrevenge. King Zedekiah saw his sonskilled, was blinded and ended his lifeas a captive in Babylon.

But one man’s failure to face up toGod’s message doesn’t change humannature. For it was in Jerusalem, manyyears later, that a crowd shouted forthe death of an innocent man andrejoiced when they saw him crucifiedon a hilltop near the city. His deathshould have been a signal to them thatGod’s purpose had reached a conclu-sion. For with the death of Jesus therewas a way of forgiveness and recon-ciliation opened up. Jesus died tomake it possible for our sins to be for-given.

130th Year 5

John’s Gospel records a saying of theLord Jesus Christ which is full ofmeaning. Speaking to people whochallenged his teaching, he said:

“I am the light of the world” (John8:12).

It was not something his hearersimmediately understood but it wouldhave reminded his disciples that earlierhe had told them something similar:

“You are the light of the world. A citythat is set on a hill cannot be hidden.Nor do they light a lamp and put itunder a basket, but on a lampstand,and it gives light to all who are in thehouse. Let your light so shine beforemen, that they may see your goodworks and glorify your Father inheaven” (Matthew 5:14–16).

Better than the Sun? Jesus knew just as we all do that thesun is what lights this world, so whatdid he mean? This is another examplewhere Jesus, who was a master com-municator, used everyday things toteach very powerful lessons. In whatare known as his parables, he spoke ofsheep, goats, and shepherds. He men-tioned seed, vines, and farmers. Hetalked about coins, wealth and poverty,and all sorts of things that the peoplehe lived amongst could relate to. And,of course, the sun was and still is adaily presence in the lives of allhumanity.

It is the sun that makes all life onthis earth possible. It gives warmth toland and sea; it is the driving forcebehind the clouds, the wind and therain. It nourishes the trees and plants,

giving us the very air we breathe andthe food we eat. Without the sun therewould be no life.

But the sun is a very powerful force;it doesn’t just provide light, it emits allsorts of radiation, which in other thansmall doses can be very harmful. Sono one should look directly at the sunwith the naked eyes; it is so bright itcould blind someone.

Life-GiverThe light Jesus was talking about is notthat fierce or that destructive. It is thelight of wisdom, the enlightenmentthat shows men and women the way tosalvation. That becomes clear whenwe read his saying in full:

Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “Iam the light of the world. He whofollows me shall not walk in darkness,but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

At the beginning of John’s Gospel weare told that from the beginning thepurpose of God is to give life tomankind and that eternal life would bepossible because of the coming ofGod’s Son: “In him was life, and thelife was the light of men” (John 1:4).Long before Jesus was born the

The Light of the WorldThe Light of the World

6 Glad Tidings

prophet Isaiah had spoken about acoming Messiah who would bringenlightenment and he too used thepicture of a dark world being trans-formed by a new light:

The people who walked in darknesshave seen a great light; those whodwelt in the land of the shadow ofdeath, upon them a light has shined(Isaiah 9:2).

Discover the LightWhether we know it or not, all of us livein what Isaiah called “the land of theshadow of death”. By nature we aredistanced from God and we need themessage that Jesus brings to lead usto a right relationship with Him. Godsent His Son to make that possibleand if we allow His words to affect theway we live, then He promises us abetter and more enriched life now, andthe hope of life everlasting in thekingdom that Jesus will establish onearth when he returns. Speaking ofthis great hope and the power of Godthe Apostle Paul says that God:

“has saved us and called us with aholy calling, not according to ourworks, but according to His ownpurpose and grace which was given to

us in Christ Jesus before time began,but has now been revealed by theappearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ,who has abolished death and broughtlife and immortality to light through thegospel (2 Timothy 1:9–10).

Even before God gave that greatcommand: “Let there be light”(Genesis 1:3), when He created theheaven and the earth, it was His planand purpose to send His Son to bringenlightenment into all our lives. Jesusis the true light of the world. We can alllook at Jesus without fear of damagefor he is a light that will lead us to theKingdom of God. What we have to dois to open our Bibles and our eyes, andthen follow him.

Kevin Charlesworth

Castle Hill, Huddersfield showing the fire beacon (shown opposite). Photo: Richard Harvey

130th Year 7

be seen throughout the country on hillstelling of a time gone by and remindingus of particular events.

Trumpet BlastsSometimes messages of celebrationare sounded out with trumpets to com-memorate such events as thebeginning of a new year. In Bible timestrumpets were used to good effect tosound out warnings in battle as well asto signal celebrations such as thecoronation of a king. One particularincident recorded in the Scripturesused to be a puzzle to Bible students,wondering how it might be fulfilled. Itconcerns the return of Jesus to theearth.

Communications are part of everydaylife. We send and receive messagesalmost without a second thoughtbecause the electronic age hasbrought almost instant communicationwith people around the globe. FromAmerica to New Zealand and all pointsin-between we can not only hearabout, but actually see, events as theyhappen on our small but powerful elec-tronic devices.

Warning DevicesFifty years ago or so we used to talkabout ‘the 4 minute warning’ of anuclear attack. We were assured thatRadar could pick up the sign ofimpending disaster from an air attack,to allow people to take shelter quickly.Before the invention of such electronicdevices other, much slower but stilleffective, methods were used to givewarnings. For instance, in some partsof the world the jungle drums beat outa warning message and that drumbeat could carry sound long distancesand relay messages of importance.The need to warn the public of dangerwas obviously important to save lives.

A rather effective method of commu-nication in this country was the firebeacon. These simple constructionswere established on high hills toenable messages to be sent through arelay system, warning people of animpending event. Castle Hill, pho-tographed on the front cover, wasoften used for this very purpose. Thismethod was used effectively in 1588to warn of the Spanish Armada, whenSpain had assembled a large fleet ofships to invade England. Now fallingout of use these constructions can still

A Beacon of HopeA Beacon of Hope

8 Glad Tidings

These words in the book of Reve-lation speak of Jesus’ return andindicate that this will be an eventwhich will be seen worldwide. Now,because of modern communications,we can understand that this will besomething that everyone will be able tosee:

Behold, he is coming with clouds, andevery eye will see him, even they whopierced him. And all the tribes of theearth will mourn because of him. Evenso, Amen (Revelation 1:7).

Discovering Jesus ChristIt may come as a surprise to someonewho is new to Bible teaching, but thegreat news is that the Lord Jesus Christis to return to the earth to take overthe government of the world and makethe world a beautiful place in which tolive. This was what the disciples weretold when Jesus was about to ascendto heaven, where he now lives:

Now when he (Jesus) had spokenthese things, while they watched, hewas taken up, and a cloud receivedhim out of their sight. And while theylooked steadfastly toward heaven ashe went up, behold, two men stood bythem in white apparel, who also said,“Men of Galilee, why do you standgazing up into heaven? This sameJesus, who was taken up from you intoheaven, will so come in like manner asyou saw him go into heaven” (Acts1:9–11).

The apostle Paul is one of many NewTestament writers who pick up thesame theme:

For the grace of God that brings salva-tion has appeared to all men, teachingus that, denying ungodliness andworldly lusts, we should live soberly,righteously, and godly in the present

age, looking for the blessed hope andglorious appearing of our great Godand Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11–13).

Beacons were sources of informa-tion and often brought messages ofhope and celebration. The Bible – likea beacon − spreads this message ofhope and encouragement around theworld. The promise of Jesus’ return tothe earth is great news. He will comewith all the authority and power of Godto establish God’s Kingdom on earthand bring again that state of peacewhich the world surely needs. Ourprayer should be “Come Lord Jesus”.

Martin Spencer

If you want to access backnumbers of “Glad Tidings” youcan find copies for the last few

years on our website:

www.gladtidingsmagazine.org

130th Year 9

The possibility of findingburied treasure appeals tomost of us, if only we knewwhere to look!

It might require sailing the seven seasin search of a desert island or followingsome ancient map where X marks thespot and digging to reveal a hiddenchest full of coins and jewels. It couldbe that we inherit a fortune from a longlost relative or buy a vase or a paintingfrom a charity shop, or find somethingthrown away in a skip that turns out tobe worth a huge sum of money.

Unlikely PlacesHuddersfield may seem an unlikelyplace to find treasure, but in 1897 aman discovered 81 coins dating from1440 to 1550 at Netherton and theynow reside in the Tolson museum andare on their list of 10 top treasures.More recently, in 2011 a metal-detect-ing club discovered jewellery in a fieldat Emley, which an inquest hasdeclared to be treasure.

The word ‘treasure’ means things wevalue and need not mean things ofmonetary value at all, for there areplenty of things that are far moreimportant and of much more valuethan financial gain. We treasure friend-ship and the love of our children andfamilies. We have treasured memories,which are of no financial value. A curefrom a serious illness would always bepreferred to any amount of money, orgold or precious jewels.

The Bible is like a treasure chest forit contains pearls of wisdom and pre-cious things that money cannot buy.Jesus told parables that explain someof these treasures.

Discovering TreasureParables are stories with a morallesson or teaching and one of theparables Jesus told was about a manwho found treasure hidden in a field.He was so overjoyed with his find thathe sold everything he had to buy thefield so that he could own the treasure.

What did this parable mean? It wasthe fifth of seven parables that Jesustold in Matthew chapter 13 and theycaused his disciples some confusion.They came to Jesus privately andasked him why he was telling thesestories instead of just communicatinga direct message and this is what hesaid:

Because it has been given to you toknow the mysteries of the kingdom ofheaven, but to them it has not beengiven (Matthew 13:11).

Hidden TreasureHidden Treasure

Jesus explained the meaning ofsome parables to his disciples, but heexplained that the meaning would behidden to others unless they searchedit out diligently and found it – like theman who found the hidden treasure inthe field.

Kingdom of GodFrom the outset of his ministry thewhole teaching of Jesus centred on thekingdom of God, as can be clearlyseen in Mark’s account of the gospel:

Now after John was put in prison,Jesus came to Galilee, preaching thegospel of the kingdom of God, andsaying, “The time is fulfilled, and thekingdom of God is at hand. Repent,and believe in the gospel” (Mark1:14–15).

Thus in Matthew chapter 13, six outof the seven parables shown therebegin with the words “the kingdom ofheaven is like” and the seed that issown in the parable of the Sower is“the word of the kingdom.”

Clearly then, all these parables areabout aspects of ‘the kingdom of God’or ‘the kingdom of heaven’ as Matthewterms it, these being interchangeableterms (compare Matt 4:17 with Mark1:14-15; Matt 5:3 with Luke 6:20;and Matt 13:31 with Mark 4:30-31).

Hidden TreasureHere’s the parable about the man whostumbled across hidden treasure:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is liketreasure hidden in a field, which a manfound and hid; and for joy over it hegoes and sells all that he has and buysthat field (Matthew 13:44).

Notice that the treasure was hidden.It was not lost or mislaid; it had beendeliberately hidden. This matches per-

fectly with the explanation Jesus hadgiven for speaking in parables(Matthew 13:11). In this instance(unlike the next parable Jesus told) theman appears to have stumbled acrossthe treasure, perhaps when he wasworking in the field. When he found thetreasure he immediately recognizedand appreciated its great value andrealised that to possess the treasurehe needed to own the field.

It is a mark of how valuable thistreasure was to him that he went andsold everything he had in order to buythe field and possess the treasure. Itwas clearly the most important thing inthe world to this man, so he gave upall to obtain it.

Seeking TreasureThe next parable is similar except thetreasure is a pearl of great value andthe finder is a man who made it hisbusiness to find precious things:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like amerchant seeking beautiful pearls,who, when he had found one pearl ofgreat price, went and sold all that hehad and bought it (Matthew 13:45–46).

This man was a merchant seekingprecious pearls and upon finding this“pearl of great price”, like the otherman he sold all that he had to buy it.When he found it, he knew its truevalue and, just as the disciples haddone (Mark 10:28), he gave up all thathe had to make that pearl his own. Butwhat was so valuable about the hiddentreasure or the discovered pearl thatcaused the finders to abandon all elseto possess their finds?

Key ParableThe first parable Jesus told on thatoccasion is identified as a key to all the

10 Glad Tidings

subsequent ones (Mark4:13) as Jesus gave hisdisciples a step-by-stepguide to its interpreta-tion. In the parable afarmer sows his seedwhich lands on differenttypes of ground (somegood and some bad)and the crop it yieldsvaries accordingly. Thisis the explanation Jesusgives:

❖ The Sower is Jesus

❖ The Seed is theword of the kingdom− (what Jesustaught)

❖ The different Soil types are thehearts and minds of those whohear his message and the fruit ishow the recipients respond to thatword.

❖ The Treasure then is the word ofthe kingdom – the gospel: the goodnews of the kingdom of God.

What makes this news so valuableand such a precious treasure is thatthe gospel of the Kingdom of God isthe answer to all mankind’s problems.Jesus will return to earth with all ofGod’s power which has been given himto enable him to rule the world and puteverything right. The world will then bechanged to a world of peace and right-eousness and those who are judgedworthy will be given everlasting life.

No wonder there have been peoplein all ages, including the present, whowere and are willing to give up every-thing that they might possess thisgreat truth and have hold of this greattreasure. The treasure we see in theBible − the Word of God – has a value

which is so great it is incom-parable. There is nothingmore valuable than havingan understanding of thismessage hidden in the Bible.

It gives the opportunity tobecome a follower ofJesus and to have thepromise of being part ofGod’s future plan forJesus and for the world;it is a treasure beyondvalue.

Food For ThoughtWhat this world has to

offer us here and now mayseem to be so secure and

may make us feel secure. But thethings we enjoy now can be lost ortaken away in a moment. These arethings that Jesus described as “thedeceitfulness of riches” (Matt 13:22)and this is the advice he gives to allwho would follow him:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasureson earth, where moth and rust destroyand where thieves break in and steal;but lay up for yourselves treasures inheaven, where neither moth nor rustdestroys and where thieves do notbreak in and steal. For where yourtreasure is, there your heart will bealso (Matthew 6:19–21).

If all our hopes and desires are in theLord Jesus and the Kingdom of Godthen those hopes are stored (safe andabsolutely secure) with Jesus. He isnow in heaven waiting for the timewhen God will send him back to earthto set up God’s Kingdom and to rewardhis faithful followers with the gift ofeverlasting life.

Kevin Waterhouse

130th Year 11

12 Glad Tidings

Why Animal Sacrifices?Throughout Old Testament times, theworship and service of God involvedthe sacrificing of animals. God is theKing; He can forgive anyone He wantsto forgive, but we humans are in thismess of failure and death because wehave broken His laws. We can under-stand therefore that God is right toinsist that we realize this: that weadmit that He is right and we arewrong. This is the lesson that the sac-rificing of animals was meant to teach.

People have misunderstood this.They have thought that God wanted tobe appeased by a gift, or that Hewanted to vent His anger in some wayso instead of killing the sinner He hadan animal killed instead. This is a bigmistake because the Living God is notlike that. The facts are the other wayround. The sacrifices were not killed tochange God’s mind or attitude; theywere killed to help the sinner admitthat he or she was doing wrong andneeded God’s forgiveness. Just as achild who has done wrong tells hisparents that he (or she) is sorry and isthen forgiven, so it is with us and God.

Sacrifices − Their MeaningThe animal was brought by the personwho had sinned, and was usually killedby him for it represented himself. Hepressed his hands on the animal’shead, confessed his sin and then killedit by shedding its blood (as describedin Leviticus 5:5-6 & Numbers 5:7-8).

It was a sad and solemn moment.For the worshipper was showing thathe knew he was wrong and, like Adamin Genesis 2:17, he did not deserve tolive any longer. He was acting out hisown death, which would of coursecome to him sooner or later in theordinary way; and he was admittingthat God was right in that judgementand that he was wrong.

When the person’s attitude wasright, he was forgiven, just like therepentant child. But if his attitude wasnot right, the sacrifice had no value atall, because what brought forgivenesswas not the sacrifice itself but thestate of mind of the person who hadsinned:

The sacrifice of the wicked is anabomination to the LORD, but theprayer of the upright is His delight(Proverbs 15:8).

A Christadelphian’s Faith − 16

God is Always Right!God is Always Right!When things go wrong for us we might think that God has got things wrong for

us. But He never does that and His purpose is always designed to achieve thebest outcome, as John Woodall now explains.

130th Year 13

The sacrifice of the wicked is anabomination; how much more whenhe brings it with wicked intent!(Proverbs 21:27).

Life Out of DeathIn some Old Testament rituals there

was the idea of giving up the old lifeand starting a new one. When a leperwas healed, two birds were used: onewas killed and the other flew away free– the first bird showed that the old dis-eased life was ‘dead’: the free birdshowed that a new healthy life hadbegun (Leviticus 14).

Once each year, two goats wereused: one was killed and the other wassent into the desert – it was a symbolor picture of the fact that death wasdue to the people because of the sinscommitted in the old year, but theirsins were ‘carried into the wilderness’by the living goat so they were given afresh start (Leviticus 16).

Again, there were ways for individu-als to give their lives to God in aspecial way, but then some mishapcould occur that would spoil thatspecial relationship with Him. In thatcase they shaved off all their hair andlet it start to grow again – the spoilt lifewas ‘thrown away’ and a new lifebegan (Numbers 6:9).

CircumcisionFrom the time of Abraham onwards, allJewish male children had a small pieceof flesh cut off (Genesis 17:10).Indeed, if it was not done, that manhimself would be “cut off from hispeople!” (verse 14). This was meant toteach them that if they truly were tobe the people of the Living God therewere things in life that they must giveup, ‘cut off’ or ‘sacrifice’.

Of itself, circumcision didn’t makethem superior at all; in fact it wasmeant to teach the opposite, thatunless they cut ungodly ways out oftheir lives they were not God’s peopleat all. Moses tried to teach them thisby telling them to: “circumcise theforeskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer” (Deuteronomy10:16). See also Jeremiah 4, verse 4.But it was not a lesson they readilyaccepted and there was a great deal ofprejudice about people who weredescribed by Jews as “the uncircum-cised”.

Admitting that God is rightIn these different ways, God wasencouraging people to accept that theywere wrong and He was right: theymust change, come back to Him andbe forgiven. Most people would not dothat, but in the Bible (the Old Testa-ment as well as the New), we can readthe encouraging stories of those whoreally did want to belong to God.

They tried to make sacrifices in theirlives because of their love of God, andin return they received blessings out ofall proportion to anything they gave up.Jesus said:

Everyone who has left houses or broth-ers or sisters or father or mother orwife or children or lands, for myname’s sake, shall receive a hundred-fold, and inherit eternal life (Matthew19:29).

In the future, by God’s mercy andgrace, such people will be equal to theangels (Luke 20:35,36). The goodnews is that we can be among them.What a remarkable discovery that is!

John Woodall

Paul now presents seven argumentsin support of his case. Firstly, he insis-ted, the gospel he had preached tothem had not been taught him byother men, but had come by directrevelation from Jesus himself. (Thiswas probably during the time he spentin the wilderness after his conversion− Galatians 1:15-18.) When he metthe apostles in Jerusalem 14 yearslater, they listened to his preaching,and gave him their blessing for hisgospel was the same as theirs.

At that visit to Jerusalem he took theyoung man Titus with him – a Gentilebeliever. The other apostles hadaccepted Titus as a brother. They hadnot insisted he should be circumcised.So circumcision was not part of theapostolic gospel.

Peter’s ActionsSimon Peter had been convinced afterthe conversion of Cornelius that Godwanted Gentiles to be saved, and fromthat time had sat down at the sametable as Gentiles in perfect fellowship.But when visitors from Jerusalemcame to Antioch, he had gone back tokeeping himself apart from the GentileChristians in the congregation. Paulhad to publically rebuke the apostle, inspite of his seniority, and Peter hadgraciously accepted the rebuke. SoPeter agreed that Gentiles wereacceptable without circumcision.

The believers in Galatia had beenblessed by the amazing gifts of theHoly Spirit to help their work for God.Did these gifts come because they hadobeyed the commands of the Law, orbecause they believed in God’s grace?

14 Glad Tidings

Galatia was a region in the centre ofpresent-day Turkey. Paul and Barnabasvisited Galatia on their First Journey,and made many converts there. Sometime after their return several JewishChristians from Jerusalem travelled toGalatia, and began to teach the newdisciples there that to be saved theymust all be circumcised and keep theLaw of Moses. These men were notsent out by the apostles: they wereexpressing their own point of view.

Paul’s ResponseWhen the Apostle Paul heard of thisdevelopment, he was deeply dis-turbed. He had already had a brushwith these preachers (they are some-times called Judaisers) at Antioch. Hecould see his work of preaching to theGentiles being undermined, andChristianity being reduced to an off-shoot of Judaism. Unable to leaveAntioch to visit his friends, he wrotethem the Letter to the Galatians.

All his skills as a trained lawyer comeinto action to present logical andpowerful arguments to prove thesetravelling preachers were wrong – thatsalvation comes by faith in Jesus, notby keeping the Old Testament laws.Paul begins his letter with the warningthat there is only one gospel. The truthabout Jesus and his Kingdom is notopen to modification. What the apos-tles preached, he says, is what wehave to believe. Maybe this is a valu-able reminder in our own day, when somany groups all claim to be Christian.We must go back to the Bible to dis-cover the original gospel.

Books of the Bible – 35

The Letter to the GalatiansThe Letter to the Galatians

130th Year 15

There was only one answer. Then there was the case of father

Abraham. Reading his story in Genesis,do we find the promises God made tohim conditional upon his obedience tolots of commandments? No, says theapostle, the blessings God promised toAbraham and his Seed (offspring) weremade long before the Law came along,and they were unconditional. It wasAbraham’s faith that commended himto God, and by the same faith we canbe counted as Abraham’s offspring,even if we are Gentiles.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there isneither slave nor free, there is neithermale nor female; for you are all one inChrist Jesus. And if you are Christ’s,then you are Abraham’s seed, andheirs according to the promise (Gala-tians 3:28–29).

Analogy and AllegoryIn a powerful analogy, Paul likens theLaw to a ‘pedagogue’ – the slave in animportant household whose duty it wasto make sure the children went toschool and learned their lessons. TheLaw was intended to teach peopleabout the coming of Jesus the Saviour,who would fulfil in his own death thesigns and sacrifices of the Law. Now hehad come, and taken away sins by hisdeath, it followed that the Law wasredundant. It had no more purpose. Togo back to it would be like going backto the irksome timetables of schoolafter you have moved on and startedwork.

Paul’s last argument is a beautifulpiece of Bible exposition. It is an alle-gory, beloved of the Greeks. Abraham,the apostle reminds us, had two sons.The first to be born was Ishmael, sonof Hagar, Abraham’s wife’s slave.Ishmael was ousted from his position

as favourite son after Isaac was bornto Sarah herself − by a miracle − inher old age. God himself had decreedthat Isaac was to inherit Abraham’spromises, and that the slave girl andher son must be sent away into thedesert of Sinai.

Now, says Paul, these events,though true, serve as an allegory. Wehave two mountains, and two women.Mount Sinai, where God gave the Lawto Moses, is in Ishmael’s country,Arabia. It represents Hagar the slave. Itstands for the Law, which brings anendless slavery to a list of rules.

By contrast, Isaac, son of Sarah,represents Jesus, the son God sent tosave us. And Sarah, alias Mount Zion(Jerusalem), represents the grace andfreedom God has given us in Christ.Jerusalem, not Sinai, is the truemother of the Christian.

Good Outcome?We can assume that Paul’s argumentsworked, because we hear no moreabout the travelling preachers andwhen, not long after, the great Councilwas held in Jerusalem to discuss theposition of Gentile believers, they wereneither obliged to be circumcised norto keep the Law.

But Paul has one last word. Justbecause we have been set free fromthe onerous rules of the Law, this doesnot mean we can do what we like.Rather, we must reach up to a higherstandard still. It is not good enoughjust to control the bad ways of theflesh (Galatians 5:19-23). We have toaim to produce the fruit of the Spirit,the qualities that God looks for in thegarden of our lives – love, joy, long suf-fering, peace and kindness.

David M Pearce

16 Glad Tidings

Many years ago I was told that I was toaccept a new assistant. He came in, apleasant broad shouldered man, whohad been a prison warder. I soon foundhim to be honest, trustworthy and anexcellent worker. He told me that heworshipped in a small church on theedge of the town, with a congregationof six.

One day he was quite excited as“Songs of Praise” was to visit thechurch. In Britain, this is a televisionprogramme that tours the country andfeatures congregations singing avariety of different hymns each week.He told me on the Monday followingthe broadcast that the church was fullto overflowing.

A week later, however, he came inrather saddened as, on that Sundaythey had returned to the original sixmembers of the congregation. He saidthat he felt the programme was a goodidea, but that many people attendedjust so they could be seen on thescreen. He thought that they musthave failed to understand that theywere singing to the mightiest Being inthe universe. A few weeks later hisbungalow was burgled, and a monthlater he died.

PraiseI always remembered my assistantwith gratitude, but his experience leftme wondering how best we shouldpraise God. Do we come with full-hearted thankfulness to praise God forall the wonderful things he has doneand still does for the children of men?Are we grateful that God so mercifully

gave His Son that we might have theopportunity of eternal life? I like ahymn that starts:

Praise, O praise our God and King;Hymns of adoration sing;

For His mercies still endure,Ever faithful, ever sure.

We can only sing it if our heart isgiven willingly in service, to the OneTrue God. Note that word ‘One’.Nowhere in Scripture are we told thatGod is other than One. So when wesing, we are offering praise to the greatCreator of the universe, and when weoffer prayer, we do so through His dearSon, who is our mediator.

For there is one God and one Mediatorbetween God and men, the Man ChristJesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

AppreciationWe cannot be half-hearted when afurther hymn has us singing:

Lord, Thee I’ll praise with all myheart,

Thy wonders all proclaim;

How Do We Praise theHow Do We Praise theLord?Lord?

King Solomon emphasised that ourlives are overruled by heaven, or wechoose our own way which can onlyresult in death and no more. If webring God into our hearts and praiseand thank Him every day, it can makea big difference in our present lives,and for evermore in the future.

FavouritesA favourite hymn that expresses theChristian’s one desire has thesewords:

Lord, impart to us Thy wisdom,Zeal and strength and courage too;Let thy grace and help be near us,

In all things whate’er we do.May Thy blessing,

Keep our every action true.

The Lord Jesus extends to each of usa glorious invitation:

He who overcomes shall be clothed inwhite garments, and I will not blot outhis name from the Book of Life; but Iwill confess his name before my Fatherand before His angels (Revelation3:5).

What more could we want? No oneon earth can promise that! How weshould praise the Lord!

Ken Clark

130th Year 17

In Thee, Most High, I’ll greatly joy,And sing unto Thy Name.

Christianity requires that all our lifeshould be given willingly in service tothe Father. We are not just asked to beChristians for a special day in a weekor month. Each day should be full ofthe knowledge that God is graciousand that we experience so many bles-sings from His hand. Any words thatwe sing should reflect our appreciationand thankfulness. They should not besung out of a sense of duty, but joyful-ly, recognising our great privilege.

Sing JoyfullyKing David once said that it was essen-tial to praise God in song and to glorifyHim. He put the thought so clearly inone of his Psalms:

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Letus shout joyfully to the Rock of our sal-vation. Let us come before Hispresence with thanksgiving; let usshout joyfully to Him with psalms(Psalm 95:1–2).

There is no way that we can hidefrom God what we are thinking, asanother hymn says:

Lord Thou hast searched and seen usthrough;

Thine eye commands with piercingview,

Our rising and our resting hours,Our hearts and minds with all their

powers.

We can only stand in amazement ata Creator who knows our every thoughtand action. Time and again in the Bibleit is emphasised that no-one can hidefrom God. Do we really want to? Ourevery desire should be for God to ruleour lives each day.

Praise Him with the sound ofthe trumpet; Praise Him with thelute and harp! Praise Him with thetimbrel and dance; Praise Him withstringed instruments and flutes!Praise Him with loud cymbals;Praise Him with clashing cymbals!Let everything that has breathpraise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

(Psalm 150:3–6).

18 Glad Tidings

This is not, however, an isolatedexample. The Bible prophets warnagainst the stupidity of making an idolout of wood and then worshipping it. InIsaiah 44:9-17 the prophet mocks theperson who cuts down a tree, makes afire of part of it to warm himself andalso to cook his food, and makes therest into a carved image saying“Deliver me, for you are my god!”

Similar actions are deplored inJeremiah 10:2-5 and Psalm 115:4-8:

“Their idols are silver and gold, thework of men’s hands, they havemouths but they do not speak; eyesthey have but they do not see; theyhave ears, but they do not hear; nosesthey have but they do not smell; theyhave hands but they do not handle;feet they have but they do not walk;nor do they mutter through theirthroat.”

This sounds like a ludicrous question,as surely no-one would want to trust inan unconscious God. However, it is notas stupid as it seems.

Jemma was a four-year old girl with avivid imagination. Tragically hermother had died at her birth. Jemma’sfather was doing a wonderful job ofbringing up the little girl, but Jemmawas acutely aware that she did nothave a mother. One day Jemma’sfather overheard her talking to one ofher dolls. “You are my mummy” shesaid, hugging the doll “and you lookafter me. You are beautiful and I willalways love you.”

Man-made godsWe can attribute Jemma’s behaviourto her young age. However, beforedoing so we should maybe think morecarefully. Adult behaviour is sometimesvery similar. For example, the book ofExodus tells us how God worked greatmiracles to enable Moses to lead theHebrews out of slavery in Egypt intothe wilderness on the way to their ownland. Not long after witnessing thesegreat events the people started tocomplain.

Assisted by Aaron they made amodel of a calf, out of gold melteddown from their own ornaments. Thisis what they said about the calf: “Thisis your god, O Israel, that brought youout of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus32:4).

In this day and age it seems silly toattribute supernatural powers to some-thing that you have made, especiallygiving it credit for things that happenedbefore it was even created.

Is Your God Dead?Is Your God Dead?

130th Year 19

The divine verdict is:

“Those who make them are like them;so is everyone who trusts in them.” (v.8)

One True GodThe Bible consistently states that thereis only one God. For example in Isaiah:

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts; ‘Iam the First and I am the Last; besidesMe there is no God’ (Isaiah 44:6)

The Jews were forbidden to worshipother gods (Exodus 20:1-5) and thiswas re-iterated by Jesus (Matthew4:10). In fact, we are asked to put Godfirst in our lives with nothing at allhigher than God.

You may not worship idols of wood,metal or stone, and you may try to putGod first in your life. There is, however,another important aspect to this.When the Bible teaches that there isonly one God, it does not mean that allreligions are ultimately worshipping thesame God and that it does not really

matter which one you follow. It meansthe exact opposite: there is only oneGod and it is essential to find out whatHe wants and to try to obey Him. Evendoing the right things for the wrongreasons can be unacceptable (seeProverbs 21:27; Jeremiah 6:19-20; ICorinthians chapter 13). Jesus warnedthat enthusiasm and commitment arenot enough (Matthew 23:15).

Discovering GodHow do you decide what your God islike and what he asks of you? Somepeople do this by their own reasoningand intuition. So we hear statementslike these:

❖ “I can’t imagine God disapprovingof that if He is a God of love”;

❖ “I’ve never hurt anyone so I’m sureGod will protect me”;

rather than:

❖ “The Bible teaches that …”. If you personally are defining your

God then you are creating an idol justas much as the man who carved out ashape from a tree. Your God might beappealing to you, but is no more theimmortal creator of the universe thanJemma’s doll was her mother, and yourGod – effectively a figment of yourimagination − is powerless, andunconscious. You are fooling yourself.

It is a matter of life and death toread the Bible to try to understand whothe one true God is, how He definesright and wrong, and what He expectsof us. This is the only way to ensurethat your God is the living God of theBible (I Thessalonians 1:9). Then dis-cover God’s plan for you.

Anna Hart

Local Information

To find out about your nearestChristadelphian Meeting, or ifyou want some free Bible liter-ature, or would like to enrol ona correspondence course, writeto the address nearest you.

United KingdomGlad Tidings Magazine, FREEPOST,NAT7259, Ely, CB7 5BR cilla@gladtidings.fsnet.co.uk

Africa & EuropeChristadelphian Bible Mission, 404 Shaftmoor Lane, Birmingham,B28 8SZ, UK requests@cbm.org.uk

The AmericasCBMA, 19111 Kinsie Street, Northridge, California, USA, 91324ksommerville@unitedagencies.com

Caribbean CBMC, Box 55541, Unit 119,15280, 101 Avenue, Surrey, BC,Canada, V3R 0J7philsnobelen@shaw.ca

IndiaT Galbraith, GPO Box 159, Hyderabad, 5000001, India

South and East Asia ACBM, PO Box 42, Wallacia, NSW2745,Australiacoelmada@ozemail.com.au

Printed by Jarvis North West Print

Addresses for the Free Offer :Addresses for the Free Offer :In the UK write to: Glad Tidings Magazine,

FREEPOST, NAT7259, Ely CB7 5BRcilla@gladtidings.fsnet.co.uk

In Africa and Europe write to: Anne Bayley,68 Hay Lane, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands,

England, B90 4TAIn other countries, to: Andrew Johnson,

22 Hazel Drive, Hollywood, Birmingham, England,B47 5RJ

andrew@gladtidings.me.uk

GladTidingsOF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

If you would like toreceive the Glad Tidings maga-zine FREE for 6months – sendyour name andaddress to one ofthe addressesbelow. Or go to ourwebsite.

Your Name (BLOCK CAPITALS please)

Address

Post Code

Country

Visit our website:

www.gladtidingsmagazine.org

Free Offer Contact Details