Elders Letter: James Russell, Elder;
Dear Brethren and Co-workers;
With Passover and days of Unleavened Bread approaching, a more personal and confrontational mode
of examining our selves is required. God's Word reveals three main areas of danger that require's this examining
of our self. These are: faithfulness to doctrine, building character and unity of shared beliefs. Each is critical and
vital in importance to the health and integrity of the Church of God. The greatest, mortal danger to the Church
of God is the toleration of sin, public and private. God's called are to confront sin and live in obedience to the
Word of God. A lack of attention to build character is a sure sign of rebellion before the Lord.
When a baptized called out one sins, their sin is to be confronted in accordance with the pattern revealed
in scripture. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, chastised them severely for their sins! "Know you not that the
unrighteous (sinner) shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but you are washed,
but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor
6:9-11).
The Apostle Paul warned against participation in the Lord's Supper amidst sinning! The Passover meal
itself is a memorial of the broken body and shed blood of our Savior, and must not be desecrated by the presence
of sin and controversies within His church! When encouraging God's followers to partake of the Passover, Paul
said, "For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do shew the Lord's death till He come. Wherefore
whosoever shall eat this bread,; and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that
eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For
this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should
not be judged" (1 Cor 11:26-31). The discipline at the Passover table is one of the most important disciplinary
functions of God's church! Partaking of Passover is only for those baptized believers who are under the discipline
of God's Word!
Something we all need to think about, is: God loves us so much, He literally came to earth, died for our
sins, was buried and rose again the third day. Searching the world over, there is absolutely no greater love than
that. And because God loves us so much, He wants the absolute best for our lives. However, only He knows
exactly what that best is and only He knows what it will take to implement it in our lives. Consequently, we need
to unconditionally trust Him and know that everything He allows into our lives comes only as a result of His love.
In other words, all the circumstances in• our life, every single event, occurs only by His loving permission!
When faced with times of trouble remember that God loves you. He knows what is best for you, and He has a
plan for your life. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not
of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon Me, and you shall go and pray unto Me, and I will
hearken unto you. And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart" (Jer
29:11-13).
One other area we find God's encouraging words is found in the New Testament book of Romans: "Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 8:35,38-39).
Church of God, In Truth