June, 2003

Fred R. Coulter, Minister

June 12,2003

Dear Brethren,

We hope that you had an inspiring feast of Pentecost. We certainly did. When we realize that Pentecost pictures the harvest of the firstfruits—the first resurrection of the saints—God seems to open more understanding to us, year by year. A vital key to understanding is the proper, inclusive counting of the fifty days. "The morrow after the seventh Sabbath" can only fall on the first day of the week. Consequently, it is impossible to have Pentecost, the fiftieth day of of the count, fall on a Monday, the second day of the week. Monday can never be "the morrow after the seventh Sabbath." Yet, some churches of God still insist that Pentecost should be kept on a Monday, in spite of the clear instructions of Scripture. That is a shame because they are keeping themselves from having a greater understanding of the full meaning of Pentecost.

God through, the power of His Holy Spirit, reveals that if we keep His commandments properly, He will grant us understanding of His Word: "The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever" (Psa. 111:7-10).

On the one hand, disobedience blinds the mind and unerstanding. On the other hand, those who have a loving, obedience attitude toward God the Father and Jesus Christ, are promised to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Jesus explained this to His disciples: "And His disciples came to Him and asked, 'Why do You speak to them in parables?' And He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has understanding, to him more shall be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have understanding, even what he has shall be taken away from him. For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing, they see not; and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, "In hearing you shall hear, and in no way understand; and in seeing you shall see, and in no way perceive; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and should hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them." But blessed are your eyes,because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard" (Matt. 13:10-17).

Whenever we repent of disobedience or misinterpretation of God's Word, He will grant us forgiveness and proper understanding. This is true in our personal lives, as well as for all the brethren, who are the body of Christ—the Church. Then He can teach us new things and grant us greater understanding of His Word and His fantastic plan. This is what happened when we began to keep Pentecost on the correct day.

I remember, it was in 1974 when I first thought that Pentecost pictured the first resurrection. It happened the first time that the church kept Pentecost on the correct fiftieth day—"on the morrow after the seventh Sabbath"—the first day of the week, instead of Monday, the second day of the week. We had a combined meeting of several churches, totaling nearly 600 brethren, from the southern California area at the Los Angeles Convention Center. A "leading evangelist" was the featured speaker and I gave the announcements and led songs. During the announcements, I mentioned that this was the first time that this particular church was keeping Pentecost on the correct day. Then, I made the comment, "Brethren, who knows, we may realize that Pentecost pictures the first resurrection." The comment sailed over the head of the "leading evangelist," because he was busy checking his sermon notes. He totally missed it. It is a good thing that he missed it, because I am sure that I would have gotten into trouble, since that church believed that the first resurrection was pictured by the feast of Trumpets. Unfortunately, some churches of God still believe that the first resurrection is to occur on Trumpets. Since confusion over which day is the true scriptural Pentecost, and whether Pentecost or Trumpets pictures the first resurrection, I am going to follow up the Pentecost message with a sermon or two to show more clearly that Pentecost does, in fact, picture the resurrection of the saints.

The New Testament Project: We realize that all of you are eager to receive your copy of the New Testament. You will not have much longer to wait. We have reached the point that we have tentatively set the end of August for the completion and final editing of the commentaries. Then, we should be ready to go to press within two weeks. It looks like we will be able to ship the New Testament to you right after the Feast of Tabernacles.

We have a proposal from Dickinson Press of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their quote for printing this book for 5,000 copies, with 704 pages per book, is as follows:

Cover—100 % genuine leather, gold stamped lettering on the front and spine (See sample page of cover). The actual size will be 8.25" x 10.25."

Paper—27 Ib. White Bible, 1000 pages per inch. White Bible paper is also known as India Paper. It is very thin, yet very opaque and durable. This will make the book itself about one inch thick, including the leather cover. The cover and the paper will have rounded corners, making it look like a regular, fine quality Bible.

Printing—Black ink throughout. Text font style Times Romans (the same as in this letter). Scriptures will be two columns with a center reference, a one inch margin at the top and on the sides, with slightly more on the bottom. So there will be room for notes. The size of the type will be 10.5 points (see sample page) and the commentary type size will be 12.5 points (see sample page).

Binding—Deluxe Smyth Sewn, which makes it easy to open and will lay flat. We will have them add a marker ribbon.

Shipping and Mailing—Each New Testament will be shrink-wrapped. We will have it mailed to you directly from Michigan.

Please do not order any New Testaments now. We will make a special mailing announcing when you can order. We will have a special order form for you to fill out and return. We hope to mail this to you by the end of August.

We are sure that you will be pleased when you see the New Testament. You will be able to use it for years and years for your personal Bible study.

Feast of Tabernacles 2003: In our last mailing, we sent out the Feast of Tabernacles letter with all the feast sites listed. However, because there were several typographical errors, we are sending you a new Information Sheet, which has the corrected information. Please note that the correct telephone area code for Alabama is 251, rather than 334. If you have any doubts or questions, concerning the information you can double-check it on our website—www.cbcg.org.

We apologize for the errors, but we have been so busy writing and editing the commentaries for the New Testament that we rushed to get the Feast Letter out to you and it ended up with some errors.

Brethren, we thank you for being faithful to God the Father and Jesus Christ, for helping other brethren, and for your continued support—making the New Testament possible. May God the Father continue to bless you with His love, mercy and grace in your life.

With love in Christ Jesus,

Fred R. Coulter

FRC

THE CHRISTIAN BIBLICAL CHURCH OF GOD

2003 FEAST OF TABERNACLES

INFORMATION SHEET

I/we plan on attending the Feast of Tabernacles, October 11 through October 18, 2003 at:

Circle One and Return

1) Gulf Shores/Foley, Alabama

2) Lancaster, Pennsylvania

3) Goshen, Indiana

4) Tulsa, Oklahoma

5) El Paso, Texas

6) Flagstaff, Arizona

7) Palm Desert, California

8) Cannon Beach, Oregon

9) Fernie, BC, Canada—Send your information sheet to Norbert Bohnert: 3002 South Parkside Drive, Lethbridge AB T1K0E1

10) Moncton, NB,Canada—Send your information sheet to Wayne Stenhouse, Post Office Box 125, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5V2 Canada.

11) I am unable to attend the Feast, please send audio tapes.

 

Feast of Tabernacles 2003

Please respond as soon as possible.

NAME:__________________________________________________

ADDRESS:_______________________________________________

CITY:______________________________State_______Zip________

PHONE NUMBER:_________________________________________

NUMBER OF ADULTS:__________

NUMBER OF CHILDREN:____; AGES:______________

PLEASE NOTE: Each person, family or group is responsible to make his or her own reservations.

However, if you are alone and do not know anyone who will be attending, and you would like to share with someone, a widow or a single person, please let us know and we will put you in contact with someone who is in the same situation. Perhaps something can be worked out.