Introduction: This was a subject that confused me for many years. I thought,
if I am predestinated to be lost or saved, it didn't matter how I lived. Then I
read what Paul said in I Cor. 9:27 "But I keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself
should be a castaway." I began to study on this subject. In late 1955 I came
across this booklet. It answered my questions very clearly. I am reproducing
this booklet hoping it will help you as much as it did me.
Tom Justus, Minister
Church of God, Sabbath Day
Springdale, Arkansas
March, 1997
Presented By: Church of God UK
Editors introduction. Again this is one of those "original"
articles that brought so many people into the Church about 70 years ago. While
the main theme remains the same, comments [ ] will be added to the end of the
article to show where we think the "original Herbert Armstrong" needed
modifying. So to continue:
THE very fact of the casualties of so many wars has
caused a great deal of added sorrow and grief that is entirely unnecessary-if we
UNDERSTAND! Many have grieved in the belief that loved ones died "lost"-when, if
they understood the truth, those probably were not lost at all!
Several years ago a man, quite worried over the subject of predestination, went to a certain
minister. "Do you believe in predestination?" he asked.
"The Bible teaches it, brother," was the minister's reply.
The minister tried hard to explain. "But that doesn't really mean," he said, "that you have
nothing to do with your own salvation. It doesn't mean that it is all set-your decision and
eternal fate all determined for you in advance. You are to make your own
decision. But God knows all things, even in advance. And so He knows before hand
how you are going to decide."
This didn't satisfy the troubled man at all.
"If God knows before hand how I am going to decide," he reasoned, "then it is all
predetermined. If He knows in advance I am to be LOST, then that's the way I'll have to
decide in the end. And since I'll lose out anyway, WHY TRY? On the other hand, if He
knows now I'm going to repent and accept Christ and be saved, I'll have to do it in the end
anyway, whether I try or not. Then my ultimate fate is predetermined. Isn't that what
predestination means that the ultimate fate of each one is PREdestined- destined,or
determined, IN ADVANCE? And if that's so, then we simply are not free moral
agents, and we have nothing to say about it."
The poor man was more discouraged than ever.
And no wonder. Neither could convince the other, because both were arguing from a false
premise-that predestination has to do with whether each individual shall be lost, or saved.
Does the Bible teach that your ultimate fate is already predestinated?
Neither the preacher nor his perplexed questioner had read carefully what the
Bible does say. What confusion we are in today-what BABYLON! Let's UNDERSTAND
this!
All UN saved Not Finally LOST
But all this perplexity and worry has arisen from another general assumption- one of the
greatest errors of this time, yet almost universally taken for granted without so much as a
thought to inquire into it.
That is the assumption that there are only two classes, living or dead- the SAVED, and the
LOST. How many sermons have you heard based on the theory "there is no
middle-ground! Either you are this minute SAVED, or you're a LOST soul!" This
teaching has led to untold suffering and unnecessary grief.
Thousands are grieving over departed loved ones who had never made a
profession of Christ. Perhaps over one who really lived wickedly; perhaps over
one who lived a good life in the worldly sense, but still had never accepted
Christ or been converted. Still others grieve because of a doubt- they are not
sure whether some loved one died saved.
If this article does no more than dispel some of this needless grief, and bring a little
enlightenment and COMFORT to some of our readers, it will have been worth
while.
So LISTEN! Notice carefully! It's important that you UNDERSTAND!
Suppose this universal assumption were true. See where it leads us!
This teaching comes from the supposition, also generally taken for granted
without question, that this is the one and only age and time
when God is trying desperately to SAVE the world- that the mission of the Church
is to save the world- that this is the ONLY day of salvation, and it is now
about over. "Probation" is about to close. Soon it will be too late.
What of the Ignorant Heathen?
We know, of course, the Bible plainly says there is but one name given under
heaven among men whereby we may be saved- the name of Jesus Christ! (Acts 2:21)
Over in China, India, Japan, other parts of Asia and Africa, many islands,
are millions upon millions-probably at least a billion souls-who, in spite of
the comparatively few missionaries sent to heathen lands, have never so much as
HEARD that ONLY name! Think of it! A billion souls-half the earth's
population-have never heard of Christ! They simply do not KNOW about salvation
from sin- God's Plan for eternal life-have never HEARD the true Gospel!
They cannot be SAVED! And now let us ask, can we believe that a God of Love brought
these souls into the world without their knowledge or consent, permitted them
to live and die without ever having HEARD the precious Gospel-that God has
simply consigned them to eternal punishment because they never HAD A CHANCE?
Or, do we believe that in some manner, God saves them, if they live up to the
best they know, WITHOUT having known and accepted Christ without having been
converted? Is there, then, some OTHER name- some OTHER way to salvation and life
eternal, than through Jesus Christ our Lord? Certainly we can find no such
teaching in the Bible
Then what is the TRUTH?
The amazing, startling TRUTH is that this is NOT the age in which God is
trying to save all the world! It is not the ONLY day of salvation!
Rather, we are nearing, now, the end of the six working days of the
millennial week allotted Satan [1]!
Scripture plainly reveals Satan as the GOD of this world-this AGE (2 Cor.
4:4) the prince of the power of the air (Eph.2:2) the actual spirit RULER of
this present world! He is IN POWER (Luke 4:5-6). He offered to turn over this
power to Jesus, if He would only worship Satan. Jesus actually won the RIGHT to
that power- to dethrone and replace Satan in power-by resisting him in that
temptation. When Christ comes to rule, Satan shall be dethroned and utterly
shorn of power. But he has power, now!
Satan retains that power only by God's express permission! God has, in effect, turned over
ONE WEEK- A millennial week each "day" [2]
an actual thousand years-to Satan. A day is as a thousand years with
God, and a thousand years as a day. It forms a complete period of time.
God's principles never change. Applied to this millennial "week," God has
said to Satan, in effect: "Six 'days' shalt thou labour and do all thy work, but
the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy GOD: in it thou shalt not do any
work!"
Satan's WORK is a labour of deception-of deceiving mankind upon earth-of turning God's
TRUTH upside down-causing honest sincere people to accept a counterfeit for the genuine
deceiving the people into SIN! And how successfully he has worked at his
occupation for six thousand long years!
We are nearing, now, the END of the first six days of Satan's "week." And the coming
SEVENTH millennial day shall be the Sabbath of 'the Lord our GOD! The first
six days God has turned over to Satan, and given him free reign to influence and
to deceive, wherever man would permit. But the coming SEVENTH millennium is
GOD'S day-it shall belong to HIM.
In it, Satan shall not do ANY work-he shall be chained, restrained, thrown
into the symbolic "bottomless pit," (Rev. 20:1-4)- he shall not deceive a single
soul! That day shall not belong to him, thank God!-it shall belong to GOD, who
shall rule through CHRIST!
Jesus plainly said He is "LORD of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:28) And as this
millennial Sabbath dawns, Jesus shall return to earth IN PERSON-as King of kings
not only, but LORD of lords!
He is coming not only to reign and to rule, as King of kings. But as LORD of lords, He is
coming as High Priest to SAVE!
The fact we must now see-the ASTOUNDING fact, almost unbelievable in the light of
erroneous traditions, yet TRUE- is that we have been living in the age of SATAN'S
DOMINION-while Satan, with God's express permission, has been RULING- and NOT
in the age when God has set His hand to SAVE the world!
Notice carefully, now! Shocking as this truth may come to many, yet it is the PLAIN
TRUTH. During this time while Satan has been permitted to reign, it is simply
not given to all to understand God's truth!
For instance, most people suppose Jesus spoke in parables in order to make His meaning
clearer But He didn't. He spoke in parables to HIDE His real meaning-to cover it so they
could not understand! After Jesus had spoken the parable of the sower and the seed, notice:
Mark 4:10-12; Mat. 13:10-13.
Notice, Jesus plainly said that except to His disciples whom He had called,
"it is not given" to even KNOW of the Kingdom-even to them who actually saw
Jesus and heard Him speak in person! They were not permitted to understand!
That's astonishing! But there it is, in your own Bible-READ IT!
But there is no injustice with God. He denies no one an opportunity of
salvation. These many are simply [3] called NOW- at this time-
in this, Satan's age! This is simply not the TIME when God is trying to save
everyone.
If He were- and of course we know Satan is trying to deceive people into loss
of salvation-then Satan surely would be getting the better of the contest. But
it is NOT a contest between God and Satan, at all. God alone rules in high
heaven, and what Satan does he does not do in competition or in spite of God, or
contrary to God's will-he does it only by God's express permission- and God
gives that permission for an express and wise PURPOSE. Some day we shall
understand!
But God denies no one a chance. There is no injustice with God. Everyone is
to have his full chance. But God does things HIS WAY and in HIS TIME, and in HIS
PLAN all are not being called now. Millions who have died without a chance shall
be resurrected and GIVEN their full chance- and without a devil to tempt them!
The space of this article does not permit a full explanation of this, but the
37th chapter of Ezekiel is one very definite revelation of this fact.
Notice, I Corinthians 1:24-26: "But unto them which are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye
see your calling, brethren, how that NOT MANY wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, ARE CALLED."
Notice, "unto them which are called!" Some are called. All are not called, at
this time-during this age of Satan's dominion! "For ye see YOUR calling,
BRETHREN"- Paul is speaking only to those he calls "brethren"-those who had been
called-"how that not many"-notice it, "NOT MANY wise men after the flesh"-and
are not most people wise after the flesh today-does that not include MOST?-"not
many mighty, not many noble"-NOT MANY of these in the world ARE CALLED!
Did Jesus say the Gospel was to be preached to CONVERT all nations? No, only FOR A
WITNESS! "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world,
for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come."- the end of the
AGE! (Mat. 24:14) Then follows the NEW age when the reign of Christ shall
replace that of Satan!
While, during the present age, many in number are called, yet it is but a FEW
comparatively. And those who are called are called to a calling, and what is it?
First a calling to a changed life-a life of overcoming sin and self. And notice
what Jesus said of those now called, who do grow in grace and in knowledge, who
endure unto the end, and who overcome! Notice their ultimate calling!
Rev. 2:26-27: "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron."
When Jesus was here on earth it was His custom, as recorded in Luke 4:18, to
PREACH THE GOSPEL every Sabbath day. And when this Great Millennial Sabbath
dawns, Satan will be imprisoned, and Christ will come not only to rule- He shall
also PREACH! The worldly Pharisees thought it wrong for Him to HEAL on the
Sabbath-and the religionists of this day, mostly, seem to believe it would be
wrong for Him to heal sin- sick souls during the millennial Sabbath! But He
shall do it, just the same!
One of the most wonderful chapters in the Bible is the eleventh of Romans. Few seem to
understand it- yet it's plain! Some, today, say God has rejected
and utterly cast away the Jews (of Judah) [4].
They suppose the Jews are Israel, whereas actually they are merely of the House of Judah,
which split off from Israel in the days of Kings Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Nevertheless,
Romans II speaks undoubtedly of ALL the tribes of Israel.
This marvellous chapter says God has not cast away His people Israel. But it
reveals that only a small portion of Israel are of the election of GRACE at this
time.
The rest are blinded spiritually, and GOD blinded them- deliberately and for a purpose-not
permanently, but until the "fullness of the Gentiles be come in,"- and then
what?
"Then," we read in Romans 11:26, "ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED, as it is
written, there shall come out of Zion the Delivered"- CHRIST, at His second
coming-"and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Israel is spiritually
blinded, now. God blinded them. They are not now being called, to salvation.
They are not being given any chance, now, at all!
The wonderful opportunity that shall come to them after the fullness of the
Gentiles has come in- after the Deliverer comes, and they are no longer blinded-
shall not be a SECOND CHANCE- they have never yet had ANY
chance!
And, if we can but understand, this chapter dealing with national fleshly Israel refers to our
own race-our American and British peoples, as well
as to the Jews (of Judah) It includes MOST of our American people! It
includes, undoubtedly, most of these departed loved ones who died without having
accepted Christ and becoming converted! They may have HEARD the name of Christ,
but they did not understand! God never called them, during their life-time in
THIS AGE! Of course they did not die automatically saved-but, on the other hand,
neither did they die LOST!
That's the comforting TRUTH! The overwhelming majority of our American
people, today, are neither saved nor lost- They simply have not, yet, been
called!
But if God is not trying to save the whole world now- if most are not now called, or given
opportunity for salvation- WHY does God call any, during this age? What's the
PURPOSE of calling some now?
That great purpose is to be trained to RULE with Christ, and to TEACH, under
Him, WHEN HE COMES IN HIS KINGDOM- WHEN all Israel SHALL BE SAVED! We are being
trained, prepared, fitted, thru trial and test, thru hardship, thru persecution,
thru tribulation, with continual Bible study and PRAYER, growing in grace and in
KNOWLEDGE, to be able, THEN, to fill the high office of a king or a priest-
either to rule in the civil sense or to preach GOD'S TRUTH when the time comes
that ALL may be privileged to understand, and to be CALLED.
What a glorious mission is the true Christian LIFE!
So DON'T GRIEVE over departed ones you have felt were LOST. The chances are
they were simply not now called- it was not GIVEN to them to understand-their
chance had not yet come. But they shall be resurrected, the spiritual blindness
removed, and, if YOU are one of the called, and if YOU are faithful and finally
CHOSEN, YOU MAY BE USED THEN TO MINISTER TO THEM, AND TO LEAD THEM INTO
SALVATION AND LIFE ETERNAL.
Oh, what a GLORIOUS HOPE! What truly GOOD NEWS, is the true Gospel of CHRIST,
which most people today simply have NEVER HEARD. They are hearing a FALSE gospel
today!
But Paul in Rom. 11 shows that salvation has come to the FEW, the ELECT in
Israel, and to some of the GENTILES. And WHY? He explains it in Verse 3 1. They
are blinded (verse 25) NOW, that, thru OUR mercy who ARE now called, THEY may
obtain mercy and salvation THEN- when Jesus comes as the great DELIVERER! How
PLAIN, and how WONDERFUL!
But now, how about the hundreds of millions of heathen who never heard?
Will GENTILES- heathen Gentiles- have a chance of salvation after Christ returns?- after the
KINGDOM is set up to rule over ALL NATIONS?
Flesh and blood, remember, cannot inherit the KINGDOM. Only those finally born again-
born of the Spirit- those who shall have become Spirit, and no longer flesh
and blood (John 3:1-8) shall be in the Kingdom!
And they are the saints of this time, NOW called, changed, then, to
immortality. (See I Cor.15:50-54). They are those called during this
dispensation who have endured unto the end, and proved over comers. And they
shall rule, and teach, the nations (Rev. 2:27 and 3:21, Daniel 7:18, 22, 27).
They shall reign on the earth, not up in heaven (Rev. 5:10). They shall rule THE
NATIONS- ordinary mortals of all races, on earth (Rev. 2:26). They shall thus
rule, and teach, for one thousand years- Christ's millennial "Sabbath." (Rev.
20:4, 6).
Those now called, during this time, are called to a life of TRAINING- spiritual character-
training- to fit them for positions of high responsibility in the Kingdom.
The one, for example, who multiplies ten times over in spiritual character what
God gives him at conversion, shall be qualified to rule ten cities. The one who
overcomes, and grows in grace and knowledge only five times, shall be qualified
to rule over five cities. The one who thinks he "got saved" merely by, accepting
Christ" and, deceived by the "no works" teaching, did not grow or develop in his
Christian life at all, will have taken from him even the salvation he though t
he had! See the parable of the "pounds," Luke 19:11-27.
But who shall these converted immortals reign over?
One glimpse into this millennial rule is found in Isaiah 11. It portrays Christ ruling the
world in RIGHTEOUSNESS. It is a time when wild animals are tamed. Babies are being
born, and nursing babes and weaned babies shall be playing with wild animals and deadly
snakes- now tamed and harmless. Now notice:
Isaiah 11:10-11: "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse (Christ),
which shall stand for an ensign of the people; and to it (the Root-Christ) shall
the Gentiles seek.. . . . and it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord
shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant
of His people (Israel) (from Jacobs trouble).
To Christ, then ruling, shall the GENTILES seek! And then, as the returned
DELIVERER, shall He set His hand again the second time to RECOVER ISRAEL AND
JUDAH- the time when the spiritual blindness is removed!
Notice, again: Micah 4:2, "And many nations shall come, and say, 'Come, and
let us go up to the mountain of the Eternal, and the house of the God of Jacob
(The Kingdom of God), and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His
paths."'
And now what of those Gentiles who NEVER HEARD? Notice!
Isaiah 66:15, 19: "For behold the Eternal will come with fire, and with His chariots like a
whirlwind, to render His anger with fury (last plagues) ... And I will set a
sign among them, and I send those that escape of them unto the nations, to
Tarshish, Pul, and Lud (Gentile nations) ... and Javan, to the isles afar off,
that have not heard my fame, neither seen my glory; and they shall declare my
glory among the Gentiles."
When Jesus the Great DELIVERER shall come, the dead in Christ (those who have been
called, and who have accepted the call and been finally saved,) shall be
resurrected out of their graves immortal (1 Cor. 15:50-53); and together they
shall be caught up into the air to meet the coming King, with whom they shall
reign. . . . .
Thus they shall be SEPARATED from all earth's mortals- mark that! The
separation between mortal and immortal is made before Christ ever touches
this earth!
They meet the King Eternal up in the clouds. Where do they go from there? The first four
verses of Zechariah fourteen reveal that in that same day
[5] -not a thousand years afterward-Christ's feet shall stand upon the
Mount of Olives, from whence He ascended!
Then, upon this earth He shall take over HIS throne-the throne of His father David.
(Luke1:32) That, then, is the throne on which the saints made immortal shall sit with Him
(Rev.3:21).
And then what shall happen, during the thousand year reign from then on?
Matthew 25:31-34, 41: "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all
the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and
before Him shall be gathered all nations (Gentiles and Israelites): and he shall
SEPARATE them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then
shall the King say unto them on His right hand, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.
Then shall He say unto them on the left hand, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire."'
Notice, all those called and saved prior to Christ's second appearing on earth had been
SEPARATED from the unsaved before Christ stood upon earth-
while still in the clouds of the air -before He sat upon the
throne of His glory!
The SEPARATION going on after He sits upon that throne ruling over THE NATIONS,
therefore, is a different, and a succeeding separation!
Here are earth's nations- earth's mortals-all nations! And now begins a process of
SEPARATION. It is according to the decisions they make, and the actions they
take. Those who turn to a life of RIGHTEOUSNESS are set on the RIGHT hand. They
are converted- given IMMORTALITY because Christ says to them: "Inherit the
Kingdom!" - and mortal flesh and blood cannot inherit that Kingdom! (1 Cor.
15:50).
Those who do evil then receive the full penalty of the law-DEATH! They are sentenced to
depart into the lake of fire!
Certainly this passage pictures nothing but a process of salvation going on, after Christ's
return, DURING His millennial "Sabbath Day."
That is the great "FALL Harvest of souls!"
The astonishing fact is that the present soul- harvest corresponds to the early Spring grain-
harvest of Palestine. It is so pictured in the annual round of festivals God gave to Israel to
keep His people continually in the understanding of His PLAN! This is the preliminary
harvest of souls! This is the time of SATAN'S dominion. And out of it God is calling a
people for His name, that through our mercy who now are called, the great
majority not now called may, then, obtain mercy! Those now called to salvation
are merely the "first-fruits" of God's salvation (Jas. 1: 18). They are called,
now, to prepare for the office of "king" or "priest," to become the
instrumentality through which Christ will really save the world, when HIS time
comes! What a glorious PLAN, and GOSPEL!
But, some will say, is not this the doctrine of a SECOND CHANCE?
Absolutely not!
One text ought to make that plain, Hebrews 10:26-27: "If we sin willfully,
after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth NO MORE
SACRIFICE FOR SINS, but a CERTAIN fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
indignation."
Those to whom it has not been given to understand - those not now CALLED- have not received the KNOWLEDGE of the Truth.
They may have heard it preached. But most of them do not really grasp it-
they do not really UNDERSTAND! Because the TRUTH is spiritual knowledge, and
spiritual knowledge cannot be transmitted naturally to a mortal human mind!
Spiritual truth is revealed! None receive it, though their ears hear the words,
or their eyes read them, except as GOD opens their understanding and by His
spirit reveals to them the TRUTH!
But, if one has been truly called of God, convicted by God's spirit, his mind opened to the
precious spiritual knowledge of the Truth, then if that man sins willfully, deliberately,
intentionally, without resistence- THAT MAN IS THROUGH! He had had his chance! He
shall have no other, during the coming millennium!
Those who shall then be saved are those who have not, until then, been
CALLED! They are those who NEVER HAD A PREVIOUS CHANCE!
In God's own time, according to His Plan, all shall have their chance! But
each in his order. Those who were born and lived first receive theirs last. And
those born last come in first! The illustration of the "Valley of dry bones" in
Ezekiel 37 shows the whole House of Israel-those spiritually blinded who lived
and died without a chance-resurrected in mortal bodies to mortal life, as
before. It shows their understanding being opened- the KNOWLEDGE coming to them
for the first time. Then God puts His holy spirit within them, and they are
saved!
And so it follows, now, that most of our loved ones who have died unsaved in
all probability did not die LOST! In all probability they were not called,
during this age. But their call is coming later! They shall be resurrected back
to life, and given their fair chance! And you, if you are called- if God reveals
this wonderful TRUTH to your mind- are having YOUR one and only chance NOW- your
chance to prepare and fit yourself to be used of Christ in the loving labour of
helping to save them, then!
Oh, what great MEANING we begin to see in the Christian life! What glorious
PURPOSE! What grave responsibility! Will you make your calling and election
SURE?
And now, in the light of this wonderful revelation of truth, we should be able to
UNDERSTAND this matter of "PREDESTINATION."
Very few understand what "predestination" is. First, consider what it is not. There is no
teaching in the Bible that says the decision you are to make- your final fate
of becoming either saved or LOST, is already predetermined, and that you are
DESTINED finally to arrive at that fate!
Absolutely NO TEXT anywhere in the Bible says anyone is predestinated to be
LOST!
But doesn't the Bible say anything about predestination? Certainly. But it
does not say what people seem to think! People seem to think it says we are
predestinated to be either saved or lost. Some to be saved-others to be lost.
Let us read the only texts in the Bible speaking about "predestination." And
see if you can find anything in any of them about anyone being predestinated to
be LOST. The difficulty is that people have assumed and taken for granted what
is not true.
There are just FOUR places where the word "predestinated" occurs in the
Authorized version.
Romans 8:28-30: "And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
For whom He did foreknow, he also did PREDESTINATE to be conformed to the
image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover
whom He did PREDESTINATE, them He also called: and whom He called, them
He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified."
Ephesians 1:4-5, 11-12: "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in Love: having
PREDESTINATED us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will . . . in whom also we have
obtained an inheritance, being PREDESTINATED according to the purpose of
Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: that we should be
to the praise of His glory, who, first trusted in Christ."
Notice, none of the places in the Bible where predestination is mentioned
says anything about anyone being predestinated to be LOST- predestinated to
reject Christ. No one is predestinated to make a certain decision- to accept or
reject Christ- to be saved or lost. But some have been predestinated to be
called to salvation, NOW!
Of those called NOW, in this age, notice WHEN we were called!
II Timothy 1:9: "God, who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."
And, as in Ephesians 1, quoted above, notice carefully what it SAYS:
God chose us in Him, when? "Before the foundation of the world!" "Having
PREDESTINATED us"- what for? To be LOST? No, "unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ." "Being PREDESTINATED according to the purpose of Him, who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will." Were any predestinated, then, to
be LOST? Is it GOD'S WILL that any be lost? He says it is not! Then can't we see
that "predestination" has nothing to do with WHETHER we shall be lost or saved-
with our decision-with our ultimate fate?
Notice carefully, now!
"Being PREDESTINATED ... that we should be to the praise of His glory, who
FIRST trusted in Christ!" Those predestinated are the FIRST to trust in Christ
merely the first preliminary soul- harvest!
And now do you begin to see the glorious truth-that predestination has
nothing to do with your making a decision or your fate-it has only to do with
the TIME of your calling- whether you are called NOW, in this age, or later!
Notice it in the passage in Romans 8:28-30:
"For whom He did foreknow." How GREAT is God! If you are one now called, God
"foreknew" you- Knew you thousands of years before you were born! and "whom He did
foreknow He also did PREDESTINATE TO be lost? No, "to be conformed to the image of
His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did
PREDESTINATE, them He also CALLED." Not will call in the future---called,
now, in this age.
There it is! Note it!
"Whom He did predestinate, them He also CALLED!"
Predestination has to do with BEING CALLED. Not with being saved or lost. Those now
being called, in this age, were foreknown, and PRE- destinated to be called now- to be the
FIRST to put their hope in Christ. All others have their call later!
God does not decide for you, in advance, whether you shall be saved or lost.
He DID decide far in advance which ones He would call in this FIRST calling, to
be a priest or a king in His Kingdom- to have part in the saving of OTHERS!
How WONDERFUL are God's ways, when He opens our understanding to reveal them
to us!
Let us make our calling and final election SURE! Let us not grieve over
departed loved ones who probably were not called, in this life. God is able to
raise them up again. They will come up in the Great White Throne Judgment. And
in that judgment, The BOOK OF LIFE shall be opened, and many shall then find it.
Judgment, now, is upon the true Church of God- those now called (1 Pet. 4:17).
And WE are later to JUDGE THE WORLD! (1 Cor. 6:2)
The overwhelming majority on earth today are neither saved nor lost. Their
chance has not yet come. This is not their time. But it is coming as certainly
as God's Word is TRUE!
This is NOT the age when Christ is desperately contesting Satan as to whether all humanity
shall be saved or lost. If it were, as most seem to believe, a controversy for souls now,
between Christ and Satan, then Satan surely is winning the contest, and a one
sided contest it is!
But Satan is not more powerful than God! We near, now, the close of the sixth
working day of Satan's week. Soon will come "the Sabbath of THE LORD THY GOD."
Satan shall be chained, Christ shall rule- And PREACH, and SAVE!
[1] Rather, we are nearing, now, the end of the six working
days of the millennial week allotted Satan!
Ed. No, we are now nearing the end of seven working days of
the millennial week. Satan has been influencing man for " six working days".
Satan's firsts "day" was the pre-adamic period or 1000 years when he rebelled
against God. Christ said, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from
heaven. Luke 10:18. When Christ takes over the earth Satan will have had "
ruled" over the earth for seven thousand years. That completes his time. He blew
it. [2] A millennial week each "day" One day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day. 2 Peter3:8. Ed. At the point of time when Christ (with his bride) stand on the earth to
rule, there will be no sun. It will have melted away. Christ will be the
light, as in our day time. With HIM we will have perpetual light
for a period of one thousand years. It will be one thousand years of
daylight, Christ being in place of the sun. HE is after all a GOD being
NOW. [3] But there is no injustice with God. He denies no one an
opportunity of salvation. These many are simply [3] called NOW-
at this time- in this, Satan's age! This is simply not the TIME when God is
trying to save everyone. Ed. The [3] should really have the word NOT put in its place
to make sense. These many are simply NOT called NOW. This has been highlighted because too many religious leaders are happy to
write RELIGION without giving much thought to the confusing effect of not proof
reading the material. [4] Jews (of Judah). Ed. The Jews of Judah are still a scattered people. New York has 2 million of
them. The "Jews" of Palestine are in fact 95% Gentiles of Russia, controlled by
modern day Edom. Hence in the last days Jerusalem will be trodden down of the
Gentiles Luke 21:24.And-For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to
battle: Zech. 14:2. Rev. 16:16 and Joel 3:1,2 cover the same thing. [5 ] in that same day. Ed. Whilst in the Worldwide Church of God under Mr Herbert W Armstrong, he
used the concept that Christ was going to rule on EARTH, the scriptures used
were Zech.14:4-5 and 1 Thess. 4:17. Page 309 Mystery of the ages. The doctrine
being that the resurrected saints and others being changed would meet Christ in
the air and that very same day come down out of the
clouds and stand with him on the Mount of Olives. This doctrine is partly associated with the Secret Rapture Theory and
recently a sect in America apparently waited on a mountain in America for Christ
to descend with a space ship to carry them back to heaven; which of course
didn't happen. While there are elements of truth in what HWA said and what the Rapturist's
and the sects say, overall the basic doctrine is FALSE. This doctrine is covered
in the article The Marriage Supper of the Lamb cd47, 48. Its FREE upon
request. And The Marriage of the Lamb, Spelling it out cd83. The
original author of The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is Todd
Derstine.