Sabbath Message

Sabbath Message by Wade Cox

Pentecost 8-9/3/29/120

Dear Friends,

This Pentecost we will review the two Pentecost messages of 26 and 28/120. They have relevance to this year and the start of the new Sabbatical cycle and the 21 years of the sanctification of the nations (see the paper Sanctification of the Nations (No. 77)).

The paper of 26/120 or 2003 gave rise to the paper The Ascents of Moses (No. 70).

It is important that we give thanks for the fact that the brethren are able to work together and we are able to meet and to keep Pentecost.

It is a great pleasure once again to be able to write free of the unnecessary pressures of created administrative problems. As you can see we are producing large numbers of the Children’s Bible Studies and the Summaries. There are 81 Children’s Bible Studies produced already. Also the new papers are being produced now on a more regular basis. The translations are moving ahead. Asia is doing well with the Indo-Malay and Mandarin Chinese, and the Philippines has commenced a new Tagalog translator under the guidance of Angel Vazquez, the area coordinator there. The Indian languages will soon get some new impetus under Alan Brach and Nathan Thuramanathan. The French team has worked out some new procedures and the Spanish team is at work and waiting on an increased budget.

We will have a few new papers out for this Pentecost. Some of those papers are required because of the newer problems we are experiencing, for example, in areas where Islam permits polygamy under its Shari’a system and also where the African tribes have it as a tribal system. To deal with this issue, Wong Wei Keong, the chairman of the Malaysian Conference and the coordinator for the Chinese work and myself are producing a paper on Polygamy in the Bible and the Koran (No. 293) so that we might be better equipped to deal with the problem. That work will be available from this Pentecost.

We hope to get the first elements of the Commentary on the Koran out from this time as well.

There is a great deal to be done in such a short time. Please pray that we are able to be consolidated and given the funds and people to enable the work to go ahead in power.

Have a wonderful Pentecost or Feast of Weeks.

Make the most of the time we have together.

Pray for all those who are of the faith and pray for their consolidation and strength. Pray that the whole world can turn and repent and be saved.

Wade Cox
Coordinator General

Pentecost Message by Wade Cox
Pentecost 7-8/3/26/120

Dear Friends,

We have now reached the end of the Omer Count and have arrived at the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, meaning the counting of fifty days.

Most of you will be meeting together this period of the feast to renew acquaintances with those in your area. Remember that at this time, at the services at 9 AM, on Pentecost the Holy Spirit was given to the brethren and we all became consubstantial with the Father. This was the same gift given to Christ as the first fruits of the elect.

The world teaches that Christ was consubstantial with the Father as part of a Triune God and of which we have no real part. That is quite untrue and shows the basis of the Satanic deception underlying the attacks on our faith made through the system calling itself Christian but which in fact has no part in the faith. Please study the paper Consubstantial with the Father (No. 81), and also The Holy Spirit (No. 117).

These papers will show you the function of the Holy Spirit and how that power acts on you. It also shows the way in which the Church was set apart to receive the Spirit.

We might take particular notice of the way that Israel was taken out of Egypt and set apart. The sequence has meaning in the way God interacted with them each day of the Omer Count.

On the fifteenth day of the Second Month, which is the Second Passover, God intervened. The children of Israel had left Elim and had entered the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai on the Fifteenth day of the Second Month. On this day the whole congregation of Israel had murmured against Moses and Aaron (Ex. 16:1-3). As a result God gave them manna to eat and the manna lasted for forty years from that time. The Lord sent them quail in the evening, of such quantity that many died of their gluttony. The next morning on the sixteenth day they began eating manna and had bread to eat and they knew that their Lord Yahovah, He was God (Ex. 16:13-16).

The 22nd day of the Second Month, called Zif or Iyar, in the year of the Exodus, was a Sabbath. On the 21st day of the month of the Second Passover there was twice as much Manna gathered so that the Sabbath was kept holy and the Manna did not go bad. The quails had fallen on the evening after the Sabbath and the Manna began on Sunday Morning. Thus the Second Passover was also a period of preparation and setting aside to the Lord.

From this point, on the First day of the week, which is the 23rd day of the Second Month, they moved to Rephidim and they had no water and again they murmured against Moses. Moses was told to stand there before the Rock in Horeb and they were fed with water from the Rock. They all ate of the spiritual food and drank of the Rock which was Christ.

At Rephidim from the 23rd day after they had been given water they were attacked by Amalek. They won after a fierce battle and Moses erected the altar of Yahovah-Nissi, for Yaho had sworn that the war between He and Amalek would continue from generation to generation (Ex. 17:15-16).

At Horeb before the Mountain of God, the Judgment was established in Israel and the elders were set aside to be judges in Israel. Jethro, priest of Midian and father-in-law to Moses, sacrificed for them and set them aside to eat bread with Moses before God (Ex. 18:11-12).

In the last week of the Second Month the captains of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands of the host were set aside and the leadership in Israel was established. Moses heard the cases too hard for them all. And Jethro departed into Midian (Ex. 18:24-27).

Then on the Third Month, on the same day they left Egypt, they arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai (Ex. 19:1-2). They had departed from Rephidim and had entered the desert of Sinai, and there, Israel pitched before the Mountain of God. In all this period they were being taken out of Egypt, and over fifty days they were taken from Rameses to the Mountain of God to receive the Law.

Moses had been preparing himself over this period of the Omer count. The Manna was given during this period in the measure of one Omer per man each day. This was the measure of Heavenly food that was given to Israel in preparation for the occupation of the Promised Land.

During the year of the Exodus, the Day of Pentecost fell on Sunday 6 Sivan. The period between 1 and 6 Sivan was spent in preparing Israel to receive the Law of God. Moses ascended the Mountain of God six times.

The ascents and descents were from the Book of Exodus:

Ascent Number Descent
19:3-6 First 19:7-8
19:8-13 Second 19:14-19
19:20-24 Third 19:25
24:9-32:14 Fourth 32:15-30
32:31-33 Fifth 32:34-34:3
34:4-28 Sixth 34:29-35

The two sets of three ascents are marked off by two great events, which are the giving of the Law and the setting up of the Tabernacle. Bullinger has notes on these aspects listed in his notes to Exodus 19:3 (Companion Bible). The sequence of the giving of the Law and the establishment of the Tabernacle was to herald the giving of the Holy Spirit through the activities of Christ and the final building of the Temple of God from Pentecost 30 CE, which Temple we are.

In this sequence God set Israel aside as a possession reserved for Himself. This was the sense of the wording of a peculiar treasure used in the text in Exodus 19:3. The nation of Israel was to become the first of the nations to be brought into the Plan of Salvation. Ultimately the entire world would be given salvation as the prophecies foretell, and since Pentecost 30 CE this has been happening on a progressive basis.

Over the first six days of the Third Month Moses spent his time ascending and descending the mountain three times. The fourth and the sixth ascents are marked by the giving of the first, and second sets of tablets of the Law. Moses spent over forty days and nights in fasting on the Mountain of God, but not for the period before the giving of the first set of tablets, and Moses was not on the mountain exclusively for the Third month called Sivan or Ramadan. Moreover, the Third Month was not entirely spent before the Law was actually given. Furthermore, the second set of the Law was not given in the Month of Sivan or Ramadan. Thus, the end of the Third Month signifies nothing other than the arrival of the New Moon of the Fourth Month.

The Fourth ascent saw the elders of Israel set aside before God. The law in its structure had been given on the earlier occasions but the set of Tablets had not been made. Moses ascended with the elders of Israel and the elohim who was the Angel of the Presence of God appeared to the elders and Moses. Moses was with the elders and then left them in charge of Aaron and Hur and He and Joshua went to the mountain. For six days the cloud covered the Mountain of God and then God called Moses from out of the cloud and he then went forward and was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. Thus we might deduce that the period of forty-six days occurred well after Pentecost. Bullinger dates the six days and the seventh as the 20th to the 25th and the 26th of Sivan being the Fourth Sabbath of Sivan (cf. fn. to Ex. 24:16-18). Thus the forty days on the Mountain began at the end of Sivan and not at the beginning. It certainly could not have begun any earlier than the 13th day of the Third Month. The forty days ended, in the case of the twentieth of Sivan, on the New Moon of the fifth month Ab after the Fourth Month, which was named for the god Tammuz associated with the idolatry of Israel.

Thus the testing of Israel continued on after the first disclosure of the Law, while Moses was waiting to receive the tablets of stone and the capacity to erect the Tabernacle. He broke the first set of tablets on the descent well after Pentecost, probably at the beginning of the New Moon of Ab. Thus we are tested continually. Moses ascended again and received another set of tablets and another set of instructions. Each time Israel was tested in waiting and obedience. So too are we tested as the Church of God.

All these things were done to serve as examples for us. The Tabernacle was constructed as an example for that which lies in heaven and which will come to us and which we will join as the City of God.

All of the nations of the world are now able to partake of the Salvation of God conveyed by and through the Holy Spirit.

Only by the grace of God and the Power of the Holy Spirit, which is the power of God are we able to be saved and to become elohim.

We can only do that by obedience and love of one another.

Remember that Moses was tested also and he did not agree to the killing of Israel but he did, with his own hands and the assistance of the Priesthood, kill the idolaters in Levi. So too are we to purge our own midst of idolatry and murmurers.

Love one another and love God through obedience.

Be rejuvenated in the Spirit at Pentecost and be prepared for the work that lies ahead.

Wade Cox
Coordinator General.

Pentecost Message by Wade Cox
Pentecost 8/3/28/120
Dear Friends,

Today is the day of Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks. We have been through a series of messages dealing with the defence of the Church and of each other in the faith. What makes us a body is the Holy Spirit. That Spirit was given on this day and we commemorate that fact each year.

It is the Holy Spirit that guides us and binds us together. It makes us a body and enables us to have a relationship with God and to have eternal life.

Too often we overlook the fact that it is the Holy Spirit that does the work among us all in the Church. It fills us all, binds us all and directs us all.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of power and of a sound mind. Through its power we are able to achieve all things. That power is a spirit of love that makes us all into beings capable of becoming elohim or gods. That procedure is outlined in the work, The Elect as Elohim (No. 1).

It often sounds strange to Trinitarians, who confine God to three beings, to be told that God is an extended being who is extending Himself to encompass all humanity. In the end, every person who has ever lived, who is a descendent of Adam and part of the creation without the corruption of the fallen host, will become an elohim or god.

The word “elohim” is a plural word that encompasses single entities and a plurality as gods and extends to cover the entire Host of the Sons of God.

This future that is being extended to all mankind is a very exciting prospect. In the end, every person will be given the opportunity to obey God and to participate in His plan.

We have emphasised again and again the requirement that we have love for one another, and to show love to one another. Perhaps some of us think that we overemphasise the fact. However, it is on that fact that we are identified and on that basis that we are judged in our ability to be part of the Temple of God.
Each person walks with God and Jesus Christ. Christ is our head and God is the head of Christ. Each person has direct communication with God, and no one can take that away from each one of us except ourselves. We allow Satan to interfere with our relationship. He has no power over us except that which we grant through our own weakness and as allowed by God.

In this Feast we come together for two days. It does not seem a long time and is soon gone, but the brethren come together to reinforce the Holy Spirit at this time. It is every bit as important as the other two feasts of longer duration. Often the brethren tend to diminish the importance of the offerings at this time also and tend to give slightly less. Sometimes that is because they are unsure of Tabernacles and how much they will have left to get there and to stay for the duration of the longer feast. However, remember during this Feast the importance of the work that has to be done. Remember also your brothers and sisters who are not as blessed as you have been in worldly terms. Give as you can to assist us to help them.

Cast your bread upon the waters and it will come back after many days.

Also the Word of God does not return empty. As we work, so too is the Holy Spirit able to reach those destined to be called. We have to work to enable others to be called. By our diligence they are able to see and to hear and understand. Often, when their eyes are opened, they are then faced with a search for the faith and the true Church of God.

Recently, a man who had been baptised for many years came to us and said that the fallout from the destruction of the Churches of God over the last twenty years had discouraged him. He was academically qualified. He said: “I know that CCG is speaking the truth and is doing so in an academically correct manner. I really have no option, knowing what I know. I cannot sit at home and do nothing. I have an obligation to support you;” or words to that effect. He knew that somewhere Christ was working and he had an obligation to find and to support that work, or he would be judged as burying his talent. From what the Spirit had shown him, the faith was being preached in CCG out of all the Churches of God he had seen and with which he had contact. [Many see and know but do nothing, or worse still, try to undermine what is being done.]

Often we get emails of congratulations for making the work available to the home churches. Yet many of them do not see the real and serious obligation placed on all of us to support the work.

The Holy Spirit could no doubt go and convert the entire world and crush the demons in a moment. Indeed, we might be completely superfluous to the work. But God has not chosen to do it that way. He has chosen to give each of us a grain of mustard seed and to use us to build that edifice using the gifts of the Spirit as He has given us those gifts. We are used to work and to train each other as He has chosen to call us and give us the Holy Spirit. He did not make the Spirit available to the world for four thousand years of the creation. Only with the advent of the Messiah did he make it available to us, and then only on a limited basis. It seems to be arbitrary and perhaps elitist, but that is what He has chosen to do, and who are we to complain or question it?

We should be grateful that we are given to understand. We should also be careful that we do not murmur in what we have to do. In loving one another, we also should show respect to one another. We should esteem others better than ourselves. Give thanks in all things and rejoice in all things.

We see the sacrifice of the brethren first hand in the administration. Often the brethren do not see just how much some of us do, and often we underestimate what is done for us by others in the Church. Often we do not see and appreciate the effort and value of the prayers of the brethren. Much of the work of God is done on the knees of aging widows and widowers with scant funds. What is esteemed as foolishness by the world is deemed of power in the Holy Spirit. The demons know who we are and long to look into what is revealed to and through us.

Give thanks for the work and the workers we have been given. Ask God to add to us that we might accomplish more in accordance with His plan.

Do not be dismayed by the fact that we are small and have little strength. We will be made pillars in the Temple of our God. Love one another and use this Pentecost to reinforce our relationships. Renew the Holy Spirit in power and strength through our love of God and our love of one another.