In the latest member letter, which you will receive shortly, Mr.
Link mentions that Mr. Armstrong, in the latter part of his life,
preached repeatedly about the two trees. Mr. Link also states that Mr.
Armstrong remarked on numerous occasions that some “just did not get
it.” We remember well those sermons, which he gave on that subject, and
I am glad that some of us did get it and remained faithful to God and
His way.

For the benefit of those who were not around then, or
who might not have been church members, I want to discuss just what Mr.
Armstrong meant by these statements.

The two trees are mentioned
in Genesis 2:16-17 and Genesis 3:1-6, respectively. They are called the
“tree of life,” and the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” They
represent two ways of life. One–the tree of life–is the give way, the
way of co-operation and love, which will lead to eternal life. The
other one–the tree of the knowledge of good and evil–is the get way,
the way of competition and strife, which, if not repented of, will
ultimately lead to eternal death, from which there is no resurrection.

The
one way is based on the demonstration of love by keeping the
commandments of God. The first four of the Ten Commandments show us how
to love God; the last six show us how to love our neighbor. The get way
is going against God’s laws and results in sinning.

History has
shown that many people, who were viewed once as being Church members,
“did not get it,” since they turned their backs on God and went back
into the world. Peter compares this action with a dog turning to his
own vomit.

It is really a matter of choice. God lamented that
fact when He asked: “Why will you die, O Israel?” They were making the
wrong choice, adopting the way of get which leads to pain, suffering
and death. In Deuteronomy 30:15-16, God tells ancient Israel (and
spiritual Israel today): “See, I have set before you today life and
good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your
God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes,
and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your
God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.”

God
continues His warning in Deuteronomy 30:19-20: “I call heaven and earth
as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and
death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and
your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that
you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your
life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land
which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to
give them.”

Notice that we demonstrate LOVE through obedience.
Let us not become part of future statistics, listing those who are not
getting it, brethren, but let us rather ensure, through faithful
obedience, that we make the right choice. Let us always turn from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and let us continue to choose
the tree of LIFE.

The Canadian minority government was defeated on Monday, November
28, in a non-confidence vote by the opposition parties, which will
force an election in January of 2006. This motion was brought on in
part by a financial scandal of the current party which had wasted some
300 plus million Canadian dollars of taxpayers’ money. This situation
just serves as an example of broader application: Political leaders may
have good intentions when first elected but they are soon at the trough
wondering what perks can be taken advantage of. Another incident of
lavish spending of tax money by politicians occurred last week: Three
men from back East dined in a restaurant in the West. Their meal cost
Canadians $1000.00. This is only one of many examples of people wasting
taxpayers’ money.

In addition, even the idea that a taxpayer
owns his home and property is just an illusion. They pay property taxes
on it annually. If you lived for 1,000 years and would pay taxes
throughout that time, eventually you would pay more taxes than the
actual purchase price or value of the property. To say you own it is
not the reality of the situation. If you fail to pay the taxes, the
government can seize your property, sell it, recover the taxes owed and
give you the cash balance, if any–so, in effect, you have lost your
property. If they want to build a railway through your property, it is
expropriated by the government. They may pay you the market
value–mostly an amount far below the actual price you could have
received if it had not been for the expropriation–and you lose the
property.

In ancient Israel land was allocated to the twelve
tribes (except for the tribe of Levi), and the tribe members were given
property within the boundaries of the appropriated land. They did not
pay taxes on the land–it was theirs free and clear. They could however
“sell” by choice or if they fell into poverty, but not “for good.” The
land was God’s and was not to be sold permanently (Leviticus 25:23). If
you sold the land you could redeem it; that is, buy it back and pay the
“lease” or “rental” value of the property for the time it had not been
in your possession. The return of the property to its permanent owner
took place on the Jubilee year, which occurred every 50 years
(Leviticus 25:9-10), and which always started on the Feast of
Atonement. That way, no one would be destitute of land forever, since
the land went back to the original owners.

By contrast, the
governments of this world try to give us the illusion that we actually
own the land and “our” property, yet in reality it is nothing but a
temporary lease for us and our descendents.

We also notice that
countries like Canada or the United States are indebted to foreigners.
A rich Texan friend of the U.S. President purchased the company where I
work for some 6 billion dollars. So now our company–a major utility
and distribution facility of natural gas and oil–is owned by
Americans. In today’s Canadian papers, the lead articles in the
financial sections were: ” WHITE KNIGHT COMES TO THE RESCUE.” It
reported about a German company (“Krupps”) buying a huge steel company
in Canada, which has been around since 1912 and which employs some
11,000 workers. Foreign ownership in Canada–and the USA, for that
matter–is on the increase. Ultimately, foreign owners will “foreclose”
on Canadian and US land and property. God foretold this in the Bible,
as punishment for our national disobedience to His laws.

However,
the good news is that foreign ownership of our companies and land will
end in the future. As the Day of Atonement pictures, the current god of
this earth–Satan the devil– will be replaced by Christ when He
returns to this earth to RULE this world JUSTLY and to usher in the
Millennium.

Sometime in the future, that which is pictured by the
Day of Atonement and the Jubilee year will have become reality: We, as
saints ruling with and under Christ, will allocate land to the
inhabitants of the earth which shall not be taken away for taxes,
expropriation or foreign ownership. That day will be a tremendous time
of happiness for all to rejoice in.

Some time ago, I watched an interesting program, which showed how deserts like the Sahara only required water to blossom like a rich oasis. One could notice various grasses, herbs and plants growing without first having to plant or sow them. The reason is that the seeds are there now–being preserved in the dry sand until moisture arrives in order for them to germinate. The seeds from grasses, plants, herbs and trees are carried there by the wind. It is interesting that seed will keep “alive” for a long time if kept in a dry location. Scientists have found wheat in the pyramids of Egypt, which was over 3,000 years old. When they planted the seed in soil and watered it, it grew and produced more wheat. The same applies to seed in the desert. All that is required is water.

From this example, we can draw an analogy with humans. We know, of course, that God does the calling. When we respond, repent and are baptized, we then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The human mind has now been seeded by God with the fruit of His Spirit, and all that is required to bring the fruit to fruition is the working of God’s Holy Spirit in us. The process begins for us to produce and manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are all character attributes of our loving Father and Jesus Christ.

The more water you give to a parched desert, the more vegetation it will produce. The more of God’s Spirit we receive, the more fruitful we become. The key is to ask for more of God’s Spirit in order to produce more fruit to the glory of God. Luke 11:13 tells us: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” We must ask and God is faithful to give. Then we are in a position to produce the fruit of the Spirit to the benefit of our fellow man, so that, when they see these manifested in and through us, they may give glory to God.

Remember the principle: The more Holy Spirit is flowing through us, the more fruit we will produce. The real question is: How are we doing?

I recently corresponded with a person I have known for some time. He doesn’t support any group and is, for all intents and purposes, an independent. When I mentioned that to him, he said that was a phrase coined by Mr. Armstrong, as if, therefore, it had to be wrong. The person felt this way: “I am a believer. I am a part of the spiritual body of believers.” The question is, is that enough? After all, demons also believe, yet they tremble. James 2:19 says: “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe–and tremble!”

I felt somewhat frustrated by our discourse in certain matters and made this observation: Independents seem to believe that a miraculous metamorphosis occurs in their minds. They think that their biblical knowledge undergoes exponential growth to the point where they no longer need a minister to tell them what the Bible teaches, or to correct and exhort them. They are quite content to stay home, to support no group in particular, and to think everything is just fine.

Notice, however, what Ephesians 4:11-13 says: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…”

Please notice that this growth is achieved by GOD, using His ministry. We are further admonished in Hebrews 10:25, not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. These clear admonitions apparently fall on deaf ears when it comes to some independents.

This is what Mr. Armstrong thought about independents: “What about a single member, ‘a joint, or part,’ going off by itself–or following a man instead of the Church of God that is in direct continuous succession from the apostolic Church founded by Christ, in A.D.31? He is like a joint or a piece of wood or stone, entirely outside of, and therefore no part of the body of Christ that shall marry Christ” (The Incredible Human Potential, ed.1978., pp.123, 124-125).

When we look at the original independent, it was none other than Satan, whose line of reasoning followed a path similar to this: “I was put in charge of the earth and I really don’t like being directed on how to run my show. I have pondered this deeply and really feel that the way of get is superior to the way of give. My mind is so increased with knowledge of this new understanding that I will share it with my leaders who will pass it on to their followers. This way of get must be imposed on God and the rest of the angels who just don’t get it. The time has come to make war against the Creator God to take over the universe and to impose my great understanding and knowledge on Him and His angels. He must be deposed of His power and rulership, to enable me to carry out my plans.”

The rest is history.

God placed His ministry in His Church for the benefit of the whole body. Let us never think that we would be better off as independents! Rather, let each of us–as members of the body–grow in grace and knowledge, in willing participation and in a growing understanding of this vital endtime work of God’s Church!

Christ asked His apostles the question, “Who Am I?”, in a slightly different format. Matthew 16:13 records Christ’s saying: “‘Who DO MEN SAY that I, the Son of Man, am ?'” Their answer was, as preserved in verse 14: “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then pressing them a little further, He asked them point blank, in verse 15: “‘But who do you say that I am?'” Peter answered that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Christ not only concurred with Peter’s statement, but He told him this was revealed to him by God (compare verses 16-17).

If someone was to ask you who you are, what would your answer be? Would it be that you are the son or daughter of your father, Mr.___, who came from a certain part of Canada or the US or Europe or another part of the world? That you are a mechanic or a computer programmer, a builder, or of another occupation and trade? These answers may be accurate, but they would be incomplete.

Ask yourself, “Who am I?”

What does God, through the Bible, say we are? 1 Peter 2:9 calls you a chosen son or daughter of the living God, a priest, a holy individual, and a special person. If you continue to the end, you will be fulfilling and carrying out kingly and priestly functions. 1 John 3:1-2 calls you a child of God.

There is a saying: A person will rise to his expectation. If you are constantly told you are inferior or not too bright, you will in all likelihood be or become that way. On the other hand, God has already determined what we are and will be in the future–if we do our part. So it is our responsibility to rise to HIS expectation and conduct ourselves as priests, holy individuals, special in God’s eyes (which we are), and as children of God, to rule with Christ in the Kingdom.

There is another saying: The cream rises to the top. God looks at us as “the cream.” We don’t say this to be puffed up. Rather, we need to consider that regardless of our position in this life, “God has chosen the weak… of the world” for His purpose (1 Corinthians 1:27). However, we are destined for greatness. 1 Corinthians 3:23 tells us that we are Christ’s. We are destined for glory and rulership. We should never take our eyes off our future goal.

The answer to our original question, “Who am I?”, is this: “I am a special person in God’s eyes, a potential king and priest and much more than that. I am a begotten child, a son or daughter of God, to be born as an immortal God being, when Christ returns.” We must never forget that!

In the miracles that Christ performed to feed the people, bread was always involved. One example can be found in Matthew 14:13-21. On that occasion He fed five thousand people. Another example is recorded in Mark 8:1-9, where bread was once again given to feed four thousand people. It is quite evident that bread in those days was a major staple of life. It wasn’t like the bread we have today, made with bleached white flour, with the nourishment all but eliminated by the polluting hands of man. Rather, the bread common to man in Jesus’ time consisted of whole grains with the full benefit of the wheat germ and enzymes God has placed in wheat, barley and other whole grains.

This may give us a better understanding why David, when he and his men were literally famished, was given the showbread to eat, since it had valuable and lasting sustenance. This incident is referred to in Luke 6:3-4 by Christ. Historically, we read about the event in 1 Samuel 21:1-6.

From a physical standpoint, bread is a critical part of a person’s diet. We realize, of course, that “bread” in the Bible can and does include “food” in general — it does not literally have to exclusively mean, “bread.” This is magnified by the model prayer in Matthew 6:11: “Give us this day our daily bread.” We see here that it is daily bread or sustenance that we are to pray for.

However, physical bread is not enough. A further remarkable statement is made by Christ regarding bread in Luke 4:4: “But Jesus answered him, saying, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”‘”

It is evident that man’s physical existence is linked to physical bread or food, but his eternal existence is linked to the spiritual bread, the Word of God–in other words, the Bible.

We need to eat this spiritual bread daily just as one prays daily for his physical bread. We need to digest God’s Word, think about it, ponder it and make it a necessary part of our very being.

At the time of Christ, no man would consider not eating bread for a prolonged period of time, unless he was fasting. We should not go prolonged periods without reading and meditating on God’s Word. Rather, we should follow David’s example, when he stated in Psalm 119:15-16. “I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget YOUR word.”

The way we do this is by daily Bible study and by making the Bible a part of our thinking, our being, our way of living.

Remember: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.