Sabbath 27/6/34/120

Dear Friends,

We are about to go into the Feast of Tabernacles.  We are commanded to eat the fat and drink the sweet as told to us by Nehemiah 8:10. This was to take the fat of the pasture and the fruit of the vine which was the sweet wine of the harvests. This was as commanded in the Law of God in Deuteronomy 14:22-26.

Deuteronomy 14:22-26
[22] "You shall tithe all the yield of your seed, which comes forth from the field year by year. [23] And before the LORD your God, in the place which he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of your herd and flock; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. [24] And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to bring the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there, [25] then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses, [26] and spend the money for whatever you desire, oxen, or sheep, or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves; and you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.
 
This command was to tithe and from that tithe for the feasts we are to take the tithe to the feast or if it is too far to carry the produce, to bind that tithe up as money and go to the place which has been chosen for the feast site and there to buy “whatsoever your heart lusts after, ox or sheep or wine or strong drink;” whatsoever you desire.

Some come into the Church of God and seek entrance to CCG and think they are righteous in refusing to drink alcohol and any who do are looked down on by these self righteous hypocrites.

The Church of God has not drunk grape juice at the Passover for two thousand years and it was impossible to keep grape juice and stop it going into wine until recent times. Anyone who says that Christ did not drink wine and drank grape juice at the Lord’s Supper and that the wine he drank and made was in fact grape juice is an unmitigated liar and an accuser of Jesus Christ and the brethren. They would refuse Christ baptism in his own church. There are churches emanating out of the US and Muslim groups that falsely accuse those of the elect and refuse wine to the brethren where they have power to do so for no other reason than to obstruct the passage of the elect into the kingdom of God and they are hypocrites. They are accusers of the brethren. They lie and they deceive and they seethe with violence and deceit.

The first miracle Christ performed was the miracle of turning water into wine. It was not grape juice. Some time ago Sam Bacchiocchi (now deceased) wrote a work on Wine in the Bible and tried to claim that if Christ had made that much wine he would have sinned and effectively disqualified himself as the Messiah. The facts and significance of that miracle are discussed in the paper The Significance of the Wedding in Cana of Galilee (No. 050).

Sam tried to claim that they drank grape juice where wine was mentioned in a good sense in the Bible and it was fermented and fermented wine where wine was mentioned in a bad sense. I was annoyed with Sam over that fabrication and the fabrication about making grape juice and being able to hold it for long periods at a time.

Rabbis and scientific experts in the field of wine making were consulted and the paper Wine in the Bible (No. 188) was written to produce a factual exposition on the matter. 

We have had people try to join CCG under false pretences knowing that we will not allow them into the church unless they drink wine at the Lord’s Supper/Passover and not grape juice. We simply will not allow anyone to be baptised into the Body of Christ who does not drink wine at the Lord’s Supper. Their baptisms are thereby rendered invalid and the Church of God will not tolerate such self-righteousness. It is an accusation against Christ himself.

Now let us be very clear on this matter. We do not care if anyone drinks or not socially. If a person has a problem with alcohol then they had better not drink if they become drunkards. Everyone may do as they like.  However, they will take a 5 ml glass of wine at the Lord’s Supper and they will wash one another’s feet and they will take unleavened bread or they will be refused admittance; and if they get in by false pretences we will revoke their baptism and remove them from the church. If they cannot control themselves over 5 ml of wine once a year they are unfit for the kingdom of God. We will not tolerate this view and we will not allow anyone into the CCG with this view. We have refused many people and groups entry and baptism and we will continue to do so.

We have had the issue raised previously and it was raised again in Africa this year and in other areas in Australia and Ukraine and the Middle East and who knows where else.

Instructions have been issued to make it very clear that such people are to be refused admission. Like Vegetarianism it is a doctrine of demons and we will not tolerate it. It is an accusation against the laws of God and the position and life of Christ. We will not tolerate it.

Go now to the feast. Take your tithe and eat the fat and drink the sweet. Buy whatsoever your heart desires be it whatever meat or wine or strong drink you desire and do not tolerate any comment from these hypocrites. If you have not tithed then you have robbed God (Mal. 3:8-9). You are cursed with a curse because of it and you wonder why the land groans under duress and drought and pests and parasites. Africa groans because it robs God and does not tithe and has nothing and does not understand why it has nothing and seeks righteousness in accusations against Christ.  All males are commanded to go before God in the feasts three times a year and they are not to come empty handed. Females of the elect are expected to be there also. The collection is to be taken up at Ingathering on the first night of the feast and the fat of the feast shall not remain until the morning. Look at the paper Tithing (No. 161). 

Soon God will deal with this world and this age and bring it to a close. The whole world will tremble before Christ and the Host but it will obey God and it will do what it is told and there will be no doubt as to who stands justified before God.

Give glory to God that He has given us the opportunity to be part of the body of Christ. Enjoy your feast together. This message is to be sent out early so that we may all understand what it is that is expected of us.

Wade Cox
Coordinator General