New Moon 1/5/28/120
Dear Friends,
This month is the Fifth Month of the Sabbath Year. We are drawing very close now to the Reading of the Law. Each of us should be looking at the preparation. The Sabbath studies should be concentrating on the background works and texts for the Law series. We will study the Law series themselves at the reading.
We are translating the Law series into many languages and they are being published and read in many nations.
This process of development is ongoing. We should all look at the paper The Ascents of Moses (No. 70) to see just how prolonged were the ascents to the Mountain for the development of the Law in consultation with Jesus Christ.
Each of us is tried by circumstances. Do not be discouraged with the trials we face. God is securing the work for the next seven years ahead of us. The weak links get strengthened or removed. There is much to do and only limited time and resources available.
Remember to place your requests for assistance to us in good time. Remember also that we have many to assist and so; please do what you can for yourselves.
You will meet many people that you have only spoken to in emails or heard about in passing. People will come from all over the world to the administrative site, but there will also be other readings in other nations and continents. If you are not at the administration site, then try to help the people who are trying to come to understand in the other areas. No one should be idle this year. Remember our task is to teach and help others.
We note that the access to the sites has dropped to their annual lows and we are now at the base levels we experience each year. By the Feast we will have come out of that trough and we will have commenced to rise to the new levels. We will again rise and set new targets and new minimums for the year ahead. Each year we grow and go much further ahead of the past years levels.
We should all be encouraged with that progress. We should all be encouraged with the work that we have accomplished and the sheer volume of material we have made available to the nations. The Spanish work is now progressing and has moved slightly ahead of the Indonesian work and also that of the French. These are our three leading areas now. As the translation teams progress we will see them advance and develop in downloads.
We will report to the conference at Tabernacles on the relationship of this year at Tabernacles to the previous Sabbath Year levels at the same time. We have made much progress over that time and are many times what we were then. We were very happy with the progress then and so what we have achieved since is very impressive and a testimony to the dedication of the brethren.
Each of us should try to look to the positive and think on every good thing. Do not be discouraged by the trials that beset us. The Church is a living, breathing organism that is the Temple of God. God has chosen to place His Spirit there and to develop all of us in that Spirit. Please pray that God does not take His Spirit from any of us but develops us in the Spirit as sons of God dedicated to be raised in power from the Resurrection of the Dead.
Remember that no one has ascended into heaven save him who descended from heaven, namely the Son of Man, Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:13). We are all to follow his lead from the Resurrection of the Dead. Hold fast to the faith and to the vision of the Kingdom of God. Do not be dismayed by the aberrant teachings of the false Christians. Remember, anyone who says that they are a Christian and claims that when they die they will go to heaven is by definition a false Christian, denying the Resurrection of the Dead vested in the return of Jesus Christ.
Also, if they don’t keep the Sabbath, then they don’t keep the Law and if they don’t keep the Law they sin, for sin is transgression of the Law (1Jn. 3:4).
Do not be sidetracked by winds of doctrine and deviations from the faith once delivered. Do not follow a multitude to do evil, neither speak in a cause after many to wrest judgment (Ex. 23:2). That applies also to the teaching of false doctrines and historical novelties in the Churches of God. The Holy Spirit will guide us in all things. Look to the history of the Church and its declared doctrines. Be strong in the faith.
Each of us should run the race to win and run it so as to help all others cross the finish line together.
We should try to hold on to our crowns and help others retain their crowns also. Love one another and show thereby that we love God.
He who says that the Law of God is done away transgresses the Law and is an infidel.
Each of us should be looking at the ways in which we can serve God and the faith. Greater love has no person than this; that they lay down their lives for their friends. Try to help each other, encourage each other and lead by example.
Each of us is a sinner. By our calling we confound the mighty and show the wisdom and glory of God.
In the Church of God there is no Jew or Greek. There is neither black, nor white, nor yellow but all are one family and brothers in Christ.
We are called to the faith as sons of God and brides of Christ. Do not be dismayed if you fall but rather repent and pick yourselves up and start again.
This year we study the problems and the Law and all learn from what we are shown.
If we do not understand all things, then we will learn, and the Holy Spirit will guide the Church into truth. God does all things decently and in order. He ensures that we come to wisdom and understanding as time and circumstance dictate. We are given what we need in order to do what we are given to do. The body is one body working towards understanding in the truth. If you don’t understand, then God will show you if you are faithful and diligent in study and obedience.
Friends, work together and love one another. Use this month and the next to study, as there are only two months left to go until we arrive at Trumpets and the Feast season.
Look towards being together at the Feast and do not lose site of the goal ahead of us.
Wade Cox
Coordinator General
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