NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
A Christian’s life is to be one of continuous growth in knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures through attentive and sustained study of God’s holy Bible; not of what men say the Bible says but of the Bible itself. The Bible is the sure Word of God which is unchanging and on which we can rely. Christians are admonished by the Scriptures not to place their trust in men (1 Thess 5:21; Acts 17:10-11).
God commands us to grow in knowledge and with all our knowledge, to get understanding (not the same thing as knowledge e.g., the world has knowledge but no understanding).
Pro 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Pro 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Pro 16:16 How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Having commanded growth He has not left us without the means to grow. It would be nonsensical for God to command His faithful to have continuous growth in knowledge and understanding of the truth and in the grace of Christ and not have provided them with the means to do so.
But there are stages to Christian spiritual growth which build on one another and one cannot go from one stage to the next without first having completed the preceding stage. Just as a human being starts life very small and goes through successive stages of development which build on one another resulting in a mature adult so are there similar stages to becoming a spiritually mature Christian.
The newly-begotten human being is kept alive and grows by firstly being fed by the mother and upon attaining greater maturity, by feeding itself. The life of a human being cannot be sustained without it receiving or getting for itself an adequate amount of food on a daily basis. The process is similar for the newly-begotten Christian who starts off his spiritual life as a babe-in-Christ and who requires a daily intake of spiritual food to stay alive and grow to spiritual maturity.
When we were first called by God the Father we were given enough knowledge of the truth to bring us to the point where we had to make a decision as to whether we would continue on with our lives as they were before having been given this knowledge or would we make the decision to follow God’s calling and commit ourselves to obey Him in all things to the best of our abilities until the end of our natural lives.
When we decide to follow God’s calling we commit ourselves to obeying Him to the best of our abilities in all things and we embark on a lifelong study of the Scriptures that will provide us with the spiritual nourishment needed for us to remain spiritually alive and growing. In time, with constant study of the Scriptures, we grow from babyhood to adulthood, spiritually speaking. We become spiritually mature Christians capable of feeding themselves and of rightly discerning truth from error using the Bible as our criterion of truth; not books written by men about the Bible. We become able to correctly identify and reject any and all erroneous teachings as we come upon them and we gladly accept and rejoice over the truth God gives us as we study His Word, the Holy Bible.
At first, we have but a little truth and as newcomers to the faith we are like the eunuch at the court of Candace who was reading the Bible on his own but could not understand it. God sent him a helper, the apostle Philip who explained to him the meaning of the passages of Scripture he was reading (Acts 8:26-31).
God has provided the means for teaching new converts, the ordained ministry of God’s Church (2Cor’ns 1:24). However, the men ordained to teaching positions in God’s Church can and have strayed from the truth (2Pet 2:1; Acts 20:30). God puts the responsibility on the individual Christian for ensuring they are not being misled by requiring that they check against the Bible all that is taught them to make sure it is the truth (Acts 17: 10-11; 1Thess. 5:21).
Most of you will recall how Mr. Armstrong always said to check out with your Bible everything he taught. You will also recall how the ministry always reminded us while we were undergoing counseling for baptism that we should prove everything they taught us from the pages of our Bible.
This is true for all members of God’s Church whether they be newcomers to the faith or long term members. Constant vigilance must be maintained and all this has been fully covered in a study on this site “Are Christians Personally Responsible for Proving all Things?” God makes the individual Christian responsible for his own salvation; salvation is not a group process. It is not a matter of belonging to the right group or of following the right man. The only person Mr. Armstrong could ever save was himself.
New converts are spiritual embryos who have been begotten by God the Father who is the one who calls men out of the world. Their life sustaining nourishment is the knowledge given them by God’s Holy Spirit. Newcomers to the faith receive and prove what is taught them by constantly referring to their Bible as they are enjoined by God to do and in this way, they grow in spiritual maturity going from being babes to spiritually mature adults who know the truth so well that they would be able to teach it were it to be required of them.
We know this from the reprimand given to the Church by Paul in the book of Hebrews. Paul was telling long term members of the Church (like many of us are) that for the time they had been in the Church and with all the teachings they had received and their own, regular personal studies which they should have been doing, they should know the truth so well that they should be able to teach it; but, that was not the case.
Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
As a rule, if you want to know how well you know something, try teaching or explaining it to someone else; if you can’t, then your grasp of the subject is not as good as you might have thought. It is of course understood that God’s truth is not something that can be explained to the world no matter how well one may master it and this is not what I am talking about here.
A Christian’s development in the faith can also be likened to the building of a brick wall and shortly we will examine the applicable Scriptures that use a similar analogy.
When building a brick wall there is a specific sequence that needs to be followed and one cannot go to the next level of the sequence until the first one has been mastered. The mid-level bricks cannot be laid until the lower level bricks have been correctly laid on the foundation and the higher level bricks likewise cannot be laid until the mid-level bricks have been correctly installed on the lower level brick which have to have been correctly laid on the foundation. If one thinks of these building blocks as being knowledge then the message is that knowledge builds upon knowledge with some of it being the basic blocks upon which other knowledge can be laid. If we have yet to master the basic truth given the Church then we can’t progress to the next level of knowledge and understanding as it requires that the first or basic level information blocks or bricks be correctly laid on the foundation.
God expects Christians to grow spiritually all through their human lives (2Pet 3.18). Spiritual growth results from constant feeding on God’s truth as contained in His Holy Bible. Feeding on God’s truth is what keeps God’s spiritually begotten children growing and if growing, spiritually alive and developing toward becoming an adult spiritually speaking.
Weaned from the Milk Drawn from the Breast
Let’s now examine a few Scriptures that allows us to understand the functioning of the spiritual growth process that God expects from Christians and what is the responsibility of Christians in that process.
Also, let’s review what is the reward of those who engage in continuous, attentive, detailed study of the fundamental truth God placed in His Church through the apostles and which was restored in the end-time by God’s promised Elijah who was to come and restore all things (Mal 4:5: Mat 17:10-11).
God in the book of Isaiah tells us who are those to whom He can teach knowledge and who are those to whom He cannot and, why He can’t.
Isa 28:9 Whom shall he [God] teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
To whom shall God be able to teach knowledge; it is to those who have been called, chosen and who have embarked on a lifelong process of conversion and are no longer babes-in-Christ as a result of their continuous and attentive study of the Scriptures. They have grown in spiritual maturity; they are drawn from the breast and weaned from the milk; they have mastered truth which God calls the milk of the word. This milk is a body of truth — the foundational truth of God’s Church (1 Cor 3:10) — which new converts have to first master to have the perspective and tools required for them to go into the Bible on their own and learn truth which God calls the “meat” of the Word. (Do Christians have to Grow in Knowledge?)
Why is it necessary to weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast to learn those other things which God wants to teach us? Because this knowledge is to be found a little here and a little there all over the Bible and it is essential that all these bits and pieces be correctly put together for us to get the meaning God wants to convey to us. And, to be able to do so, we must have mastered the milk of the Word teachings of the Bible which are the foundational truths given the apostles by Christ. Christians learn the meat of God’s truth through prayer (we talk to God) and study of the Bible (God talks to us); not books written by men about the Bible.
Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
In Isa 28 God tells us that He has knowledge that He can only teach to those who are weaned from the milk; to those who are no longer babes-in-Christ; to those who by their persistent and attentive study of the Scriptures and their sustained efforts to grow in knowledge and understanding have grown to the point where God can show them truth that He cannot teach to those who are still babes in Christ and are still using milk.
God through Paul makes it clear in Hebrews that new converts or babes-in-Christ are required to grow to the point where they no longer need milk.
Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye [members of God’s Church] ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
The truth of the Bible is given God’s called out ones in a gradual fashion. Newcomers to the faith are taught the milk of God’s truth by the ministry whose task it is to teach new converts and to be helpers of their faith (See 2nd Cor 1:24 below). The ministry is not the author nor the finisher of the faith of those coming to conversion (See Heb 12:2 hereunder). All Christians whether newcomers to the faith or long term Church members are individually responsible for their own salvation (See Philip 2:12 below) and for making sure that the ministry is teaching them the truth by proving all things from the pages of their Bible (See Acts 17:11 below); NOT by reading what other men say the Bible says which includes the ministry and even Mr. Armstrong who always told us to never simply believe him but to prove all he taught with the Bible.
Those that have mastered the fundamental truth of the Bible or first principles of the oracles of God as Paul says it, are those that have become skillful in the use of God’s Word and who would be able to teach the fundamental truth or first principles of the oracles of God were it necessary for them to do so. These are the individuals who no longer have need of milk; they have become spiritually mature.
2Co 1:24 Not for that we [the ministry] have dominion over your faith [we cannot impose our wills on you regarding what it is you should believe; we do not exercise rule over what you believe], but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.
Christians believe what they believe because God has called them and they have followed their calling; it is through God’s Holy Spirit working in them that they can know God’s spiritual truth which is only knowable by revelation. It is not the doing of any man. They believe what they believe because God has shown it to them through the work of the ordained ministry which they have checked out against their Bible and their own Bible studies.
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Paul would no longer come among the congregations he had founded; like Mr. Armstrong he would die and the true believers would be left on their own. Please note that Paul doesn’t say that it is only when he would no longer be able to be there that Church members were to work out their own salvation. They were to have been doing so while he was with them; but now that he would no longer be there, there were to do so even more.
The message is clear, Christians are responsible for working out their own salvation. It is not and never has been the responsibility of the ministry who are to be but helpers whose role is not to impose their teachings on the brethren or rule (have dominion) over their faith as the Bible states it. The only teachings coming from the ministry that converts are to believe is what can be proven from the pages of their Bible. The ministry is not the means by which understanding of God’s spiritual truth is made to increase in true Christians and Paul says it very well in 1 Cor’ns 3.
1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
1Co 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
The Corinthians were associating themselves with different teachers whom they taught to be more capable than others. In this instance, some were saying they were of Paul and others that they were of Apollos but Paul tells them that they are still babes-in-the-faith and that up to that time he has not been able to feed them with meat because of their lack of growth in spiritual maturity. Paul emphasizes to them that he and Apollos are only ministers used by God to teach them; the understanding that they can have of God’s spiritual truth is not the result of one teacher being better than another but rather of God’s Holy Spirit giving them understanding. Paul planted, Apollos watered but it is God that gave them the increase in understanding.
While babes-in-Christ we are taught the basics of God’s truth by the ordained ministry. But even as babes-in-Christ, we are responsible for checking out the basics of God’s truth with our Bible.
Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
All throughout our Christians lives we are held individually responsible for proving all things from the pages of our Bible to protect ourselves from false teachings and false teachers who were to arise and have arisen right from within the one true Church (Acts 20:30) throughout the centuries since its foundation right on up to our days. Please note that these false teachers would arise not in the world which does not have nor can know the truth but right within the very church of God.
Act 20:30 Also of your own selves [the elders of the Church] shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Summary
So what have we learned so far? Christians are to grow in knowledge and understanding their whole life long. They start off their Christian lives as babes-in-Christ and are taught the first principles of the oracles or the fundamental truth of the Church by the ordained ministry. But, whether newcomers to the faith or long term members, all have to be always proving the truth of what is taught them by the ordained ministry when there is one, against the pages of their Bible.
The role of the ministry is not to introduce new truth into the Church but to faithfully teach the truth once delivered to the saints by the Christ through the apostles to God’s Church. Individual Christians are fully responsible for their own salvation; not the ministry whose role is to be helper of their joy or faith; they are not the source nor the end of members’ faith, Christ is the author and finisher of our salvation and truth comes by revelation from God.
We have also seen that knowledge builds upon knowledge, here a little and there a little and for us to be able to know and understand the knowledge hidden here and there in the Bible we have to be weaned from the milk and to have grown to the point where we have become spiritually mature Christians who have mastered the fundamental truth of God’s Church so well that they would be able to teach them if they had to.
The spiritually mature are the ones that know and understand the fundamental truth of God’s Church so well they could teach it.
If indeed, following many years of sustained, patient, attentive and detailed study of the fundamental truth of the Church we have become able to teach it, then we are ready to examine what Paul says regarding building on the foundation of truth of God’s Church which is the theme of this Web site.
The Foundation
As we have seen God tells us that the ones to whom He can teach knowledge are those that are drawn from the breast and weaned from the milk. But, what is the milk of the Word which once mastered will allow God to teach us knowledge?
Paul, an apostle who was personally taught by Christ, tells us what is the milk of the Word (See Heb 5:12 below). It is the first principles of the oracles of God which newcomers to the faith are taught and which have to be fully mastered by Church members to the point of being able to teach them as the apostle Paul was able to teach it to them.
The truth given by Christ to Paul and the apostles and, that they (the apostles) gave to the first century congregations of the Church of God is what Paul calls “the first principles of the oracles of God.” It is the same truth that was restored to God’s Church by God’s promised end-time Elijah who was to come and restore all things.
Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
And as we can see, Paul calls the first principles of the oracles of God, the milk. And in Hebrews 5:13, he makes it clear that those whose level of knowledge and understanding is still at the “milk” level are unskillful in the use of their Bible, the word of righteousness. They still do not know and understand the milk of the Word and consequently cannot build on this foundation of truth so as to learn other truth which Paul calls “strong meat” in Heb 5:12.
Paul gave the Corinthian Churches the truth he and the apostles had received directly from Christ and this body of truth constitutes the foundation that Paul laid and upon which others are to build “and another buildeth thereon.”
1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
Please note, that Paul clearly states that others are to build on the foundation. Who are “the others” that are to build on the foundation? It can be no others but the true Christians who have mastered the milk of the Word teachings of God’s Church, who have become spiritually mature and capable of understanding the strong meat of God’s Word. This knowledge, the strong meat, is not part of the foundation of truth given by Christ to the apostles who in turn gave it to the Church.
Please note that Paul was not saying that he was not capable of teaching them those truth of the Word that are strong meat nor was he saying he would have liked to be able to teach them to the members.
Paul was responsible for laying the foundation but the members are responsible for building on it and this involves discovering and adding truth onto the foundation which perfectly fits onto it and is the strong meat that only spiritually mature Christians can know like a baby who has sufficiently developed to be weaned from its mother’s breast can start eating solid food.
Until one has mastered the body of truth making up God’s Church foundation, it is impossible, and it stands to reason that this is so, for members to build on it; one cannot build on a non-existent or incomplete foundation.
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
[Christ laid the foundation i.e., the truth He gave the apostles and which was given the ministry of God’s Church and men (pastors, teachers, elders, etc.) are not to change any of it; no other foundations can be laid by any man. And, this foundation was laid for a reason; others are to build on it.]
1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
[This verse makes it clear that true Christians will not all build on the foundation with the same quality of material; the quality of material used will range from gold to stubble. The quality of the material used is an indication of its spiritual value with gold being the highest. This means that not everything that will be built upon the foundation by true Christians will be able to withstand being tested by the fire of God’s truth at the time of the resurrection of the saints.]
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
[If one has been building with gold and silver i.e., the truth discovered by this Christian as a result of his continuing study of the Bible and which was not part of the foundation were of such quality that they can withstand being tested by fire i.e., when compared to the whole truth of God that we will know in the resurrection, the truth he had discovered by his studies beyond the foundational truth given the Church are found to be accurate; they are gold and silver. Since this Christian was careful on how he built on the foundation, he will be given a reward. Recall that we are rewarded according to our works and in this case, according to the quality of our work.]
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Here is a very important point which needs to be highlighted. Many members of God’s Church are wary of studying the Bible on their own for fear of going off track. However, if it should happen that some of the truth discovered were wood, hay or stubble in quality spiritually speaking, then these truth will be destroyed when in the resurrection they get to know the full truth of God and come to realize, they really didn’t fit on the foundation; they were wood and stubble.
BUT, A VERY IMPORTANT POINT TO NOTICE HERE. Those individuals of which some of their findings were wood, hay or stubble, though losing them in the resurrection i.e., they will then realize they were not true though they seemed to fit on the foundation, do not themselves lose their salvation. WHY? Because what had been found though not true did not undo any of the foundational truth which no man can change as Paul says (“other foundation can no man lay”).
It will occur that some of mature Christians’ discoveries will be truth that seems to fit on the foundation in that they were not undoing any part of the foundation but nonetheless though they didn’t undo any of the foundation they were also not true.
God wants true Christians to build on the foundation of truth given the Church so as to have continued spiritual growth all throughout their natural lives. As long as one is not trying to undo the foundation and does not accept anything that undoes any of the truth of the foundation, then though some findings seem to fit but don’t really fit (the wood, the hay, the stubble), no loss of salvation will occur. The individual will be like a man going through fire and though personally suffering loss like being burnt here and there and having some hair singed, he will escape with his life; in this case, his eternal life.
Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA), like Paul and the apostles, is dead and as God instructed first century Church Christians through Paul, and us today; they were and, we are, to build on the foundation of truth given to God’s Church by Christ to the apostles and Paul, and restored by HWA to God’s Philadelphia Era Church.
God commands us to grow in knowledge and understanding all throughout our lives and this requires as a minimum becoming spiritually mature Christians who have mastered the foundational truth of the Church which is what will allow us to go on to build on that foundation; a process that will end when our lives end.
The individual Christian must master the foundational truth of the Church and this can only occur through sustained and attentive study of the foundational truth of the Church. Until that has occurred, as Paul says, that Christian remains unskillful in the use of the Word of God and remains at a “milk of the Word” level of knowledge and understanding of the truth and is cut off from learning other truth which build on the foundation and which Paul calls “strong meat.”
Salvation not a Group Process
Paul instructed the congregations of his days on what they were to do after his death (he was going to Rome and he knew that there he would die) and today we find ourselves in the same situation as the Christians of Paul’s time since the death of HWA.
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
The church leaders directly taught by Christ (the apostles, Paul and Mr. Armstrong) have died and the members God’s true Church as instructed by Paul through the Bible, including us today, are to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling AND to build on the foundation of truth God gave the Church through the apostles and Paul and which was restored to God’s Church by God’s promised end-time Elijah.
Please note that Paul says that even while he was there, they were to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling and now that he would no longer be with them, they were to do so even more than when he was with them; circumstances that relate directly to God’s Church today. God through Paul makes it very clear that individual Christians are responsible for working out their own salvation; Paul could not do it for them. God places the responsibility on the individual Christian; the only man Mr. Armstrong could ever save was himself.
If this is the case, and it is, then the criterion of truth for true Christians cannot be the ministry who are but men; it can only be God’s Word. Even as babes-in-Christ, true Christians are to prove from the pages of their Bible that what the ministry teaches them is the truth of God. You will recall how Mr. Armstrong thundered repeatedly to the Church that no one should ever take his word on what he was teaching but that everyone should check it out and prove it in their Bible. The same message was repeatedly given to those undergoing counseling for baptism. At no time were converts to believe what was being taught them by Mr. Armstrong (HWA) or the ministry without proving it from their Bible. Mr. Armstrong never taught that the members were to rely on the ministry or him as the ultimate criterion in determining the truth of a matter.
All were responsible for proving the Church’s teachings out of their Bible; they were not to rely on men. But, as we have been the eyewitnesses, most did not; they relied on the ministry; a ministry which has largely fallen away and which the many have followed.
True Christians have been given the foundational truth of the church; they have been given the knowledge and ability to correctly read the Bible; and the means to determine whether new understandings which are not part of the foundational truth given the Church are in accordance with the truth of God. Christians are individually responsible for their own salvation and spiritual growth which requires constant effort and continuing, attentive study of God’s truth as recorded in the Bible. God expects all Christians to become weaned from the milk and to be drawn from the breast as all Christians must eventually become spiritually mature Christians able to feed themselves. As spiritually mature Christians they are not looking to men to feed them; they have learned to tie their own shoes, dress themselves and feed themselves spiritually speaking and don’t need to rely on anyone else to do it for them; they have become spiritual adults. What men say is not their criterion; what the Bible says is their one and only criterion as it should always have been since the beginning of their calling and conversion if they have correctly understood what HWA always taught and that is “Don’t believe me, believe your Bible.”
Why is it important for Christians to grow from being babes-in-Christ to spiritual maturity? Christians are spiritual embryos and if not growing are dead embryos. There is no time in the development of an embryo where it can cease growing for any extended period of time and remain alive. Spiritual embryos are fed by the spiritual food they get from constant growth in knowledge and understanding of God’s truth which can only occur through their constant and attentive study of God’s Holy Bible.
Spiritual growth is also the way we can know that God is with us. Christ, God’s Spokesman, said that He would manifest Himself to true Christians.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
How would that occur?
How Does God Manifest Himself to His Elect?
When Christ was with His disciples, He told them that He would manifest Himself to them.
How would He manifest Himself to the disciples and their spiritual descendants through the ages and us today?
Would He take on non-scary physical appearances and meet with them personally to teach them, encourage them, comfort them in their moments of need, strengthen and sustain them?
How did Christ say to the disciples that He would manifest Himself; did it involve any physical appearance to them or us today?
Let’s see what Christ Himself said.
In the book of John we read how Christ would manifest Himself to God’s Church which collectively is the elect.
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Joh 14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Joh 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
Joh 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, [it should read “Spirit”) whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
[The Father would send the Holy Spirit to the disciples and to all true Christians throughout the centuries and it would do WHAT? HOW would Christ’s presence be manifested to them? The Holy Spirit would bring all things to their remembrance and TEACH THEM ALL THINGS.]
So as we can see, Christ said He would manifest Himself to true Christians by appearing to them in a non-scary fashion and teaching them as He had done with the apostles; right? Hmmm! That doesn’t sound right does it?
Christ said that the Father and Him would dwell in true believers and that the Father would send the Comforter or Holy Spirit to teach them all things and bring all things to their remembrance which He had taught them (the disciples). Christ said He had to go so the Comforter which the Father would send could come to them.
God would manifest Himself to true believer through the Holy Spirit which would also be the means whereby He would teach them all things.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, [it should read “Spirit”] whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Joh 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
So, how do Christians know if God is with them and if they are pleasing God? God through the Holy Spirit will teach them; He will give them knowledge, spiritual knowledge which is the lifeblood keeping alive and growing the spiritual embryos that are true Christians who have been spiritually begotten of God the Father.
This Comforter which is God’s Holy Spirit would teach them and us today, all things. The Comforter would bring all things that Christ had taught His disciples to their remembrance and they, the apostles and Paul would teach it to the Church as the foundational truth of the Church. HWA restored the same truth to the Church as God’s promised Elijah who was to restore all things originally given the Church and lost through the centuries of persecutions that came upon the Church. There would have been no need for an end-time Elijah that would restore all things if all along, the truth given God’s Church had not been lost because of persecution.
God’s Holy Spirit (not men) is the means used by God to teach all things since the beginning of the first era Spirit-begotten Church; a process which continues to this day. Growth in knowledge and understanding of God’s spiritual truth is only possible through the in-dwelling presence of the Comforter in true Christians. Words by themselves are not enough; the whole world has full access to the Holy Bible and is unable to correctly understand it. The Bible to the world is just so many words which for the most part are incomprehensible gobbledygook.
Isa 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them [that do not obey God; the world that cannot know God] precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
We who have been in God’s church for a rather long time have to be different than those of the Churches that Paul and God through him, speak of in the book of Hebrews.
Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye [members of God’s Church] ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God [the foundational truth]; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat
Paul says he had to teach them the basics (the milk of the Word; the foundational truth) all over again because as explained in verse 14 below; they had not taken it to heart and had not been applying it in their lives.
They had not yet mastered the foundational truth Paul gave them and which he had received directly from Christ; they were still babes-in-Christ; they were not drawn from the breast and weaned from the milk; they had not grown and matured spiritually, and consequently, they were unable to build on the foundation and to learn new knowledge which Paul, continuing the physical comparison of Is 28:9 of a Christian’s growth with that of a human baby likens to strong meat the truth that can be known from being able to build on the foundation of truth given the Church. A baby still at its mother’s breast cannot eat solid food like meat.
They were spiritually speaking, unable to progress past the foundational truth given them as they had forgotten it. God was not manifesting Himself to them. They had not progressed as newcomers to the faith from being babes-in-Christ as they should have had they been studying and proving the truth given them and applying it in their lives. It is necessary for them and all true Christians to first know and practice the milk of the word basic teachings given to the apostles and Paul by Christ and through them, to the Church. But, the Corinthians had forgotten them and needed to be taught them all over again after having been part of the Church long enough that as Paul tells them, they should by that time know the basics so well that they should be able to teach them. But they had forgotten the milk of the Word teachings they had received as they were not applying them in their lives.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
If as Christians we are still not drawn from the breast and weaned from the milk then God through Paul tells us that we are unskillful in the word of righteousness; in other words, we still have our training wheels on our Bible; we are not yet spiritually mature and are unable to study and correctly understand other truth of the Bible which are not part of the foundational truth God gave His Church. We are unable to go beyond the milk of the Word as we don’t yet master it and consequently, we are cut off from knowing the strong meat of the Word which requires the spiritual maturity to build on the foundational truth given by God through Christ to Paul and the apostles and, to us by HWA. (I Cor’ns 3:10 -15)
God’s Holy Spirit is the means whereby we can know (the Holy Spirit teaches us all things and is the way God manifests Himself to true Christians) and understand the spiritual truth of God and; it is only given and only remains with those who are actively obeying Him.
Act 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
The ability to understand truth which is not part of the foundational truth given the Church (the strong meat of which Paul speaks) is only possible for those who have become mature Christians having spent quality time and making a sustained effort to understand the difference between good and evil as explained by God in His Holy Bible and trying to the best of their abilities to apply this understanding in their everyday lives.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Spiritually mature Christians know how to read the Bible, can feed themselves and can come to know the strong meat truth of the Bible as they diligently and attentively study their Bible. God manifests Himself to them, not by appearing to them and teaching them personally, but by opening their minds to more and more of the truth contained in the Bible as they pray, study and become more spiritually mature and are able to come to know and understand the strong meat of the Word.
We are to grow as God commands and God provides the means for us to do so but it takes time, determination, sustained effort and attentive study of God’s Word to do so but for those who love the Word of God and enjoy through study conversing with God, this is not such a difficult thing to do. I would daresay, it is even quite a pleasant experience.
Hopefully, all remaining members of God’s Philadelphia Era Church after the death of Mr. Armstrong, are striving to become spiritually mature so as to be able to experience the joy of discovering truth which was not part of the foundational truth given the Church and which God has left for spiritually mature Christians as a means for them to grow in knowledge and understanding and which is the means whereby He manifests His continued presence to His elect.
In order to be able to become spiritually mature Christians able to correctly read the Bible and build on the foundational truth of the Church which is the truth taught by Christ to the apostles and Paul, and through them, to the Church, we must with determination and resolve study them until we master them; until we no longer think we know them but until we know that we know them. Only then will we become skilful users of the Word and approved of God.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly [correctly] dividing [understanding] the word of truth.
God commands true Christians to grow in knowledge and understanding of His truth and in the grace of Christ. Christians grow and remain live spiritual embryos capable of being born at Christ’s 2nd Coming as glorified spirit beings through the spiritual food they consume on a daily basis which supplies the sustenance and the ability to grow and become spiritually mature Christians able to come to know and understand the strong meat of the Word which is otherwise impossible for them to know.
It’s never too late to get started on a methodical and continuing study of the foundational truth given God’s Church by Christ through the apostles and restored to the end-time Church by God’s end-time promised Elijah who was to come and restore all things.
As the Scriptures say, if you do, you will receive a reward in this life and in the life to come.
What will YOU do?
God's Spiritual Nation 