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Christian Biblical Church of God
Post Office Box 1442
Hollister, California 95024-1442
(831)-637-1875
Fred R. Coulter, Minister
April 7, 2005
Dear Brethren,
We realize that we have sent you a lot of tapes
in the past few weeks, and we hope the extra
tapes have not been an overload. It was not
planned this way, but the shooting that occurred
in Wisconsin necessitated the sending of
additional material. In my forty-five years in
the Church of God, this was the worst thing ever
to hit one of the churches. As I wrote
previously, it will take us some time to more
fully understand the whys and wherefores of this
situation. Only God knows all the facts. In the
meantime, we need to continue to pray for the
brethren and for God's healing of the trauma
that the survivors experienced.
For the past several months and in particular
the last two weeks, people in the USA have been
confronted with the Terri Schiavo case. Terri
finally died March 31 after being deprived of
food and water for nearly two weeks. This case
has gone in and out of the courts for over a
decade. As a result, it has stirred a heated
discussion about life and death issues such as
who has the right to live or to die. In spite of
the euthanasia debates in the media, the
slaughter of the unborn and all other kinds of
heinous crimes and sins continue to abound.
Then on Sabbath April 2, 2005, the pope, John
Paul II died. This was a momentous event. There
is no doubt that his successor will undoubtedly
have a tremendous impact on this world as the
Catholic Church seeks to expand its power and
authority in the world and align all religions
in a new universal religion. This is Satan's
time and he is exposing some of the workings of
the Catholic Church to the world. While watching
all the television coverage on the pope's death,
all the pomp, rituals and ceremonies connected
with the death and burial of the pope, clearly
revealed the idolatry and paganism of
Catholicism. I delivered a sermon about the
Biblical Truth About the Papacy.
As I later learned, I began the sermon at
the exact time that the Vatican announced the
pope's death. We are including it in this
mailing for you to that you will be up to date
on this on the prophecies of the coming pope. I
read some of the Catholic prophecies about the
coming final pope and the coming "Great
Monarch." You will be surprised how closely they
match the prophecies in the book of Revelation.
These events clearly show that the world cannot
seem to understand that when the laws and
commandments of God are set aside, the end
result is lawlessness in society. Over 6,000
years of human history has proved this again and
again. Secularists lament the horrible crimes
that are being committed and demand more police
protection and laws while at the same time
insisting that neither society nor the
government ought to publicly acknowledge God,
and the Ten Commandments should be expunged from
public schools and other public places.
Without God's unchanging standard to guide them,
people are doing what seems to be right in their
own eyes. Jesus said of the end times, "And then
shall many be led into sin, and shall betray one
another, and shall hate one another; and many
false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive
many; and because lawlessness shall be
multiplied, the love of many shall grow cold"
(Matt. 24:10-12). Then Jesus admonished His
followers to remain faithful and endure to the
end: "But the one who endures to the end,
that one shall be saved" (verse 13).
I am sure that we all feel much like Lot felt
when he lived in Sodom—frustrated and
emotionally oppressed because of the sins of his
society. But God was faithful to him and rescued
him and his two daughters from destruction: "And
if He personally rescued righteous Lot, who
was oppressed by the lawless ones
living in licentious conduct; (For that
righteous man, dwelling among them, through
seeing and hearing their
lawless activities, was tormented day by
day in his
righteous soul;) the Lord
knows how to rescue the godly out
of temptation, and to reserve the
unrighteous to the day of judgment to
be punished" (II Pet. 2:7-9).
Regardless of the sins of the world around us,
we are to keep our minds on Jesus Christ and our
calling because we have God's promise that He
will always be there to help us. He will never
fail us; He will never leave us! He will never
forsake us "... for He has said, 'In no way will
I ever leave you; no—I will never forsake you in
any way.' So then, let us boldly say,
"The Lord ismy helper, and I
will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' ...
Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, and today, and forever"
(Heb. 13:5-6, 8).
One of the ways that Jesus Christ fulfills these
promises is through our keeping the weekly
Sabbath and holy days that He has commanded us
to keep. Regardless of what the world does or
does not do, we are able to continue to grow in
the grace and knowledge of Our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Passover and Unleavened Bread:
This year the Passover and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread occur later on the Roman
Calendar, so it is no surprise that spring is
also delayed in coming. However, these feasts
are right on time according to the calculated
Hebrew Calendar. The special calendar
calculations that God gave to the Levites
thousands of years ago were not devised by men.
Thus, the Hebrew Calendar is not a Jewish
calendar but God's sacred calendar. He gave it
to his people Israel and also to the Church so
that we would be able to keep the feasts in
their proper seasons.
Many have undertaken to devise their own
calendar system against what God has revealed.
All their reasonings and so-called proofs about
calendar error notwithstanding, there are no
errors in the sacred calculated Hebrew
Calendar—it is always on time. Therefore, anyone
who dares to create his own calendar scheme is
seeking to change the times and seasons that God
has created and established for us.
When viewed in the light of God's Word, changing
the days that God Himself has commanded us to
observe is tantamount to changing the Word of
God. This is the very reason that God has given
us the sacred calculated Hebrew Calendar—so that
everyone does not "do that which is right in his
own eyes," having feasts on different days and
thereby causing confusion among the brethren.
These holy days and feasts are God's holy days
and feasts. He and He alone has set the times
and has given the sacred calculated Hebrew
Calendar so that we will keep them at the time
God wants us to keep them.
Sabbath and Holy Days Are God’s Appointments For
Us:
Everett Fox's translation of The First
Five Books of Moses—the Shocken Bible
Volume One leaves no doubt that God has set
these times and not man. (Note that Fox
transliterates the names of God and Moses from
the Hebrew). "YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak
to the Children of Israel and say to them: The
appointed-times of YHWH, which you are to
proclaim to them as proclamations of holiness—these
are they, my appointed-times: For six
days may work be done, but on the seventh day
(is) Sabbath, Sabbath-Ceasing, a proclamation of
holiness, any-kind of work you are not to do. It
is Sabbath to YHWH, throughout your settlements"
(Lev. 23:1-3).
God Himself makes it absolutely clear that the
Sabbath, the seventh day of each week, is an
appointed time for us to rest from our labors
and to assemble before Him and worship Him. This
is the day that God the Father Himself and Jesus
Christ have set aside as the appointed time to
fellowship with us through prayer, teaching, and
study from God's Word, and it is also a time for
us to fellowship with the brethren. This is what
the apostle John meant when he wrote, "That
which was from the
beginning, that which we have heard, that which
we have seen with our own eyes, that which we
observed for ourselves and our own hands
handled, concerning the Word of life; (And the
life was manifested, and we have seen, and are
bearing witness, and are reporting to you the
eternal life, which was with the Father, and was
manifested to us;) that which we have seen and
have heard we are reporting to you in order that
you also may have fellowship . with us; for the
fellowship—indeed, our fellowship—is
with the Father and with His own Son, Jesus
Christ. These things we are also writing to you,
so that your joy may be completely full" (I John
1:1-4). If we miss that day or do not keep God's
appointed time, how then can God fellowship with
us? This is the problem with Sunday keeping and
the holidays of the world. They assemble on the
wrong days and during the wrong seasons of the
year.
God has provided these special days so that we
can grow in the love of God and develop the mind
of Jesus Christ and the character of God. This
is what fellowship with God the Father and Jesus
Christ is all about. Yet, this is not all
accomplished on the Sabbath or holy days. The
daily fellowship with God the Father and Jesus
Christ involves prayer and study through the
power of the Holy Spirit, whereby we grow in
understanding of God's love for us and our love
for God and the brethren.
When we understand this fellowship with God the
Father and Jesus Christ, then we understand that
the feasts and holy days of God are appointed
times or annual Sabbaths. "These are the
appointed-times of YHWH, proclamations of
holiness, which you are to proclaim at their
appointed-times: on the first New-Moon
[month], on the fourteenth after the New-Moon
[month], between the setting times (is Passover
to YHWH. On the fifteenth day after this
New-Moon [month] is the pilgrimage-festival of
matzot [unleavened bread] to YHWH: for seven
days, matzot
you are to eat! On the first day a
proclamation of holiness shall there be for
you, any-kind of servile work you are not to do.
You are to bring-near a fire-offering to YHWH,
for seven days, on the seventh day (is) a
proclamation of holiness, any-kind of
servile work you are not to do" (Fox,
The First Five Books of Moses—the
Shocken Bible Volume One, verses 4-8).
This year, 2005, the Passover falls on Friday
night April 22. The Night to be Much Observed,
which begins the first day of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, falls on Saturday night April
23. Then, Sunday, April 24 is the day portion of
the first holy day as well as the Wave Sheaf
Offering Day. We have provided new taped sermons
for the first day and seventh day of the feast.
They are not sermons from last year. Also, to
help make the feast meaningful, you can
certainly use the extra tapes that you have
received during the days between the first and
seventh days. After all, it is the Feast of
Unleavened Bread for seven days, not just the
first and seventh days!
How We Are Unleavened in Christ Jesus:
Contrary to the claims of Orthodox
Christendom, the New Testament does indeed show
that Christians are to keep the feasts and holy
days of God. In fact, far from doing away with
the feasts and holy days, the apostle Paul
commanded the Gentile church in Corinth to keep
the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
He also taught that leaven is a type of sin.
Just as leaven puffs up bread dough, sin puffs
up human nature—the vanity of sinful human
nature.
The problem in the church at Corinth was
grievous sexual sin by one man and the sin of
the congregation in tolerating it: "It
is commonly reported that there is
sexual immorality among you, and such immorality
as is not even named among the Gentiles—allowing
one to have his own
father's wife. You are puffed up and did not
grieve instead, so that he who did this deed
might be taken out of your midst. For I indeed,
being absent in body but present in spirit, have
already judged concerning him who has so
shamelessly
committed this evil deed as if I were
present: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when you are gathered together, and my spirit,
together with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ
to deliver such a one to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
"Your glorying is not good. Don't you
know that a little leaven leavens the whole
lump?
Therefore, purge out the old leaven, so that
you may become a new lump, even as
you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover
was sacrificed for us. For this reason, let us
keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with
the leaven of malice and wickedness, but
with the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth" (I Cor. 5:1-8).
We keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened
Bread because Jesus Christ was sacrificed for
us! We keep these days because they are part of
the laws and commandments of God in the Old and
New Testaments. As Paul taught, when we put the
leaven out of our homes as God has commanded, it
is a type of our putting sin out of our lives.
While we have our part to do, God the Father and
Jesus Christ give us the ability to overcome sin
through the power of the Holy Spirit. Day by
day, God continuously forgives our sins by His
grace and mercy through the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ (I John 1:6-9, Luke 11:4). Likewise, God
is converting our carnal, sinful minds by
writing and inscribing His laws and commandments
into our hearts and minds (Heb. 10:16-17).
Conversion is a life-long process of growing and
overcoming through the divine help and power of
the Holy Spirit. The apostle Peter was inspired
to give us God's step-by-step process for
continuous Christian growth: "According as His
divine power has given to us all things that
pertain to life and godliness, through the
knowledge of Him Who called us by His own
glory and virtue; through which He has given
to us the greatest and most precious
promises, that through these you may become
partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust. And for this very reason
also, having applied all diligence besides, add
to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
and to knowledge, self-control; and to
self-control, endurance; and to endurance,
godliness; and to godliness, brotherly love; and
to brotherly love, the love of God.
"For if these things exist and abound in
you, they will
cause you to be neither lacking
effort nor lacking fruit in the knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
But the one in whom these things are not present
is spiritually
blind—so short-sighted that he has
forgotten that he was purified from his old
sins. For this reason, brethren, be even more
diligent to make your calling and election sure;
because if you are doing these
things, you will never fall at any time" (II
Pet. 1:3-10).
Through this life-long process—daily, weekly and
yearly—we get the leaven of sin out and the
righteousness of God and His love in. This is
the spiritual conversion and perfection through
Christ. As Paul wrote, this is how God the
Father develops the mind of Jesus Christ within
each one of us: "Now then, if there be
any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort
of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any deep inner affections and
compassions, fulfill my joy, that you be of the
same mind, having the same love, being joined
together in soul, minding the one thing. Let
nothing be done through contention or
vainglory, but in humility, each esteeming the
others above himself. Let each one look not
only after his own things, but let
each one also consider the things of
others. Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:1-5).
Brethren, once again thank you for all your
love, prayers and faithful support so that
together we may continue to reach out to the
brethren and new people, whom God will call. May
God the Father and Jesus Christ bless you and
all the brethren with a meaningful and wonderful
Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
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