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Christian Biblical Church of God
Post Office Box 1442
Hollister, California 95024-1442
(831)-637-1875
Fred R. Coulter
Minister
November 20, 2007
Dear Brethren,
IT IS DONE!
We have completed all the final editing and compiling of the new Bible—The
Holy Bible In Its Original Order. Thursday, November 15, John and
Hiedi Vogele shipped, via UPS Air International Express, the complete hard
copy of the Bible text, commentaries and appendices—1416 pages total, plus
two CDs—off to the printer. Additional “backup” copies of the CDs—which
contain all the formatted pages of the entire Bible—were sent in a separate
air express package. The manufacturer, LithoPak, Inc. of Hong Kong,
China, will immediately begin the process of printing and binding
this beautiful new Bible. It will be approximately 60 days until we receive
them through the
port of Oakland,
California, and begin mailing them to you.
You will be pleasantly
surprised, delighted and enthusiastic when you see the beautiful artwork on
the front and back of the presentation box, and the gold-stamped,
handcrafted lambskin cover. The paper is a special high-quality French Bible
paper with gold-gilded edges and two marker ribbons—one black and one gold.
It will be triple bound—Smythe stitched, spine stitched and glued. The
scriptural text pages have wide margins for study notes and center column
references with scriptural studies and additional explanations of critical
words. And, although it is composed of 1416 pages, it is only 1-3/8 inches
thick.
Beyond its physical
appearance, the most important aspect of this new Bible is that it is the
first Bible—with the Old and New Testaments together—ever printed in the
original God-inspired manuscript order. (As students of the Bible, it will
take some time to become accustomed to the new manuscript order of the books
of the Old Testament.) As you will come to see, once the correct order is
established, God’s sevenfold division of the Bible becomes apparent within
the 49 books of the Bible—22 for the Old Testament and 27 for New Testament.
Note that 49 is the product of 7 x 7, further demonstrating the perfect
order God intended in revealing His Word to mankind—and especially to
His Church. There is so much more to tell you about this new Bible, but it
is all contained in the commentaries and appendices. You can read all about
it when you receive your own personal copy.
This past Sabbath I talked
with Robert Martin of our
Fairfield, California,
fellowship group. Robert showed me his first edition of The New
Testament In Its Original Order. The date he received it was January 31,
2004. He commented that now, only four years later, we will have the
complete Bible in January 2008!
Brethren, each one of us is
an important part of a small army of faithful, end-time defenders of the
Truth of God! Those directly involved in translating, writing, editing,
proof-reading and compiling the new Bible are but part of this small army.
All the money to pay for this project (it is completely paid for) has been
freely given. From those who have been able to give much, to the widower’s
and widow’s “mite,” we are all in this together. Such an undertaking
as this could not be accomplished without God the Father and Jesus Christ’s
continuous divine guidance and intervention.
We constantly need to remind ourselves that
we are part of a greater work that Jesus Christ is personally
accomplishing in various ways throughout all His churches, as well as in the
world at large—all in preparation for His return and the establishment of
the Kingdom of God on earth. Furthermore, the greatest work God the Father
and Jesus Christ are doing is the spiritual work in leading us to develop
godly character and the mind of Christ. In fact, today, you are attending
God’s “Spiritual College,” and you are
preparing for your graduation; you will receive your diploma at the first
resurrection. Everything else is secondary to this GREAT overall purpose.
When loving and serving God—whether in the
spiritual or the physical aspects of our small part in this great work of
Christ—we need to fully realize, as Jesus told His disciples, that we have
been blessed to enter into the labor of others: “Jesus said to them, ‘My
meat [His goal and driving purpose] is to do the will of Him Who sent Me,
and to finish His work. Do not say that there are yet four months, and
then the harvest comes. I say to you, look around. Lift up your eyes
and see the fields, for they are already white to harvest. And the one
who reaps receives a reward, and gathers fruit unto eternal life; so that
the one who is sowing and the one who is reaping may both rejoice together
[that is, the combined work of all those that God has ever used—from the
beginning in Genesis to the completion of God’s plan in Revelation]. For in
this the saying is true, that one sows and another reaps. I sent you to
reap that in which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have
entered into their labor’ ” (John 4:34-38).
The apostle Paul made it
clear that we are all part of the same household. As Paul writes, this is
why Jesus came and why we have been called: “And that He might
reconcile both [Israelites, Jews and Gentiles] to God in one body through
the cross, having slain the enmity [of sin and a carnal nature] by it [the
crucifixion and resurrection].
“Now when He came, He
preached the gospel—peace to you who were far off and to those who
were near. For through Him we both have direct access by one
Spirit to the Father. So then, you are no longer aliens and foreigners;
but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of the
household of God. You are being built up on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets [and their writings], Jesus Christ Himself [and His
teachings] being the Chief Cornerstone in Whom all the building,
being conjointly fitted together, is increasing into a holy temple in
the Lord; in Whom you also are being built together for a habitation
of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:16-22).
As we study the Scriptures
from Genesis to Revelation, we need to retain this great overview and
purpose of God and the work that Jesus Christ is doing in each one of us. We
as ministers and elders are to be helpers of your joy in your calling of
God. We are to serve the brethren and teach them the Word of God in spirit
and in truth that they may grow in grace and knowledge. Paul wrote of the
central, overall purpose of the ministry in serving and teaching the heirs
of salvation: “And He gave some as apostles, and some prophets, and
some evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ; until we all come into the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; so that
we no longer be children, tossed and carried about with every wind of
doctrine by the sleight of men in cunning craftiness, with a view to
the systematizing of the error; but holding the truth in love, may in all
things grow up into Him Who is the Head, even Christ from Whom
all the body, fitly framed and compacted together by that which every
joint supplies, according to its inner working in the
measure of each individual part, is making the increase of the body unto
the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:11-16). This is the single
minded focus that we all—teachers and brethren alike—must have.
Concerning attaining the
goal of perfection, Jesus said: “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a
servant above his master. It is sufficient for the disciple that he
become as his teacher, and the servant as his master” (Matt. 10:25). Jesus is the Great Teacher. We are to develop the
character of Jesus Christ by letting the mind of Christ be in us through the
power of the Holy Spirit. As Paul wrote, “Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). This is accomplished through
loving God the Father and Jesus Christ “with all our heart, mind, soul and
strength”—and “loving our neighbors as ourselves.” Indeed, we must love each
other as Jesus has loved us.
Paul continually reminded
the brethren that in order to develop the mind of Christ, they always needed
to be loving and obedient to God, because it is God Who is spiritually
working in them to give them the will and desire to do the things that are
pleasing to Him: “So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not
as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God Who works in you both to
will and to do according to His good pleasure. Do all things
without complaints and disputes; so that you may be blameless and without
offense, innocent children of God in the midst of a crooked and
perverted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
holding forth the Word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ,
that I have not run in vain, nor labored in vain” (Phil. 2:12-16).
These words of the apostle
Paul best express the motivation, reason and purpose behind this Bible
Project. It is our heartfelt desire that everyone one who receives this new
Bible—The Holy Bible In Its Original Order—may more fully
understand the Word of God and be inspired to grow in the grace and the
knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Finally, the following
prayer of Paul is also our prayer for all who receive this new Bible: “For
this cause, I also, after hearing of the faith in the Lord Jesus that is
among you, and the love toward all the saints, do not cease to give thanks
for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. And may the eyes of
your mind be enlightened in order that you may comprehend what is the hope
of His calling, and what is the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe, according to the inner working of His mighty
power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead,
and set Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far
above every principality and authority and power and lordship, and every
name that is named—not only in this age, but also in the age to come;
for He has subordinated all things under His feet, and has given Him to
be head over all things to the Church, which is His body—the fullness of
Him Who fills all things in all” (Eph. 1:15-23).
Due to all the work in
finalizing the Bible Project and getting it off to the printers, I have been
late in writing this short November letter to you. Perhaps next month I can
write a longer letter covering specific prophetic events we need to be
watching.
Once again, brethren, thank
you for your love, and for your prayers—for all of us and for all the
brethren—that you offer up daily to God the Father and Jesus Christ. Also,
thank you for your continued support, so that working together we have been
able to complete this enormous Bible Project. May God the Father continue to
bless you with His love and grace in everything you and yours do.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
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