September, 2009

Fred R. Coulter

Minister

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September 9, 2009

Dear Brethren,

Because of the upcoming holy days and the Feast of Tabernacles, I am writing this letter so you will receive it a head of time. As we know, God reveals His plan to us through His Sabbath and holy days, but only as we keep them. Jesus called God's plan "The Mysteries of the kingdom of God." However, the world cannot understand it, especially the so-called "Christian" world, because they do not truly believe and obey God, yet they are blinded because they keep their pagan Sunday and holidays. While they may profess some biblical principals, they refuse to keep God's holy Sabbath, His feasts and holy days--which are annual Sabbaths.

On the other hand, this knowledge has been given to the true Christians, the few, the scattered and the faithful in Christ Jesus, as He told His disciples, "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 [because of sin], 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. 13:11-17).

The apostle Paul wrote that God has made known the secret, or mystery of His plan to those whom He has called, who have the Holy Spirit of God; and love and obey Him: "Having predestinated us for sonship to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us objects of His grace in the Beloved Son; in Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He has made to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence; HAVING MADE KNOWN TO US THE MYSTERY OF HIS OWN WILL, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself; that in the divine plan for the fulfilling of the times, He might bring all things together in Christ, both the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth" (Eph. 1:5-10).

Indeed, Jesus did reveal many of the things concerning the mysteries of the Kingdom of God to His apostles and disciples while he was personally teaching them when He was in the flesh. Yet, we find that nearly thirty years after His ascension to the right hand of the Father, that He revealed many more details to His apostles and prophets, as Paul further wrote to the Ephesians: "For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the ministry of the grace of God that was given to me for you; how He made known to me by revelation the mystery (even as I wrote briefly before, so that when you read this, you will be able to comprehend my understanding in the mystery of Christ), which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles might be joint heirs, and a joint body, and joint partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a servant according to the gift of the grace of God, which was given to me through the inner working of His power. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, was this grace given, that I might preach the gospel among the Gentiles--even the unsearchable riches of Christ; and that I might enlighten all as to what is the fellowship of the mystery that has been hidden from the ages in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. 3:1-9).

All the apostles and prophets of the apostolic New Testament Church were given divine relvelations concerning mysteries of the Kingdom of God. The apostle Peter also writes of this: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect strangers scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia; who have been chosen according to the predetermined knowledge of God the Father, by sanctification through the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us, who are being safeguarded by the power of God through faith, for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time .. Concerning which salvation the [Old Testament] prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you have diligently searched out and intently inquired, searching into what way and what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was indicating, testifying beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and these glories that would follow; to whom it was revealed that, not for themselves, but to us they were ministering these things, which now have been announced to you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven--into which things the angels desire to look" (I Pet. 1-5, 10-12).

The prophet Daniel confirms what Peter wrote. When he desired to know what the prophecies actually meant that God gave to him to write, he was told that it was not given to him to know: "And I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, `O my lord, what shall be the end of these things?' And he [the angel] said, `Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and refined. But the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand . But you, go your way till the end be, for you shall rest [in your grave] and stand in your lot at the end of the days [in the resurrection to eternal life]" (Dan. 12:8-10, 13).

Those who are considered wise in the world will never understand because they are of the world and not of God! They reject God and His Word, as Paul writes: "Indeed, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest among them, for God has manifested it to them; for the invisible things of Him are perceived from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that were made--both His eternal power and Godhead--so that they are without excuse; because when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but they became vain in their own reasonings, and their foolish hearts were darkened. While professing themselves to be the wise ones, they became fools" (Rom. 1:18-22).

However, God promised that in the time of the end "the wise would understand." The wise are those whom God has called, who also repent, are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God--they are the wise, because they love and obey God.

True to the promises of Jesus Christ, through the years we have also experienced that God has reveal to his Church more and more of His plan through His ordained feasts. This is why we produced the 576-page book entitled God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days, with four MP3 CD's containing 38 sermons. In this book, the feasts of God are explained in great detail from the Scriptures how the plan of God unfolds--past, present and future. If you do not have this vital book, you may order it at no cost by calling, emailing or writing the office.

In addition, what Daniel began as found in the book of Daniel, the apostle John finished in the book of Revelation. Consequently, it is impossible to understand Daniel without Revelation or to understand Revelation without Daniel. They go hand-in-hand. Moreover, one needs to have a good understanding of the rest of the Bible to grasp the overall picture. True to the promises of God, if we rightly divide the Word of Truth--line upon line, precept upon precept, a little here and a little there--we will understand, not because we are anything of ourselves, but because of the promises of God, "A good understanding have all those who do His commandments" (Psa. 111:10).

If you do not have our series on Daniel and Revelation, with the 38 messages and accompanying charts. This is a very detailed study of all the major prophecies in Daniel and Revelation. This is a great companion study with the book God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days.

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God: The entire plan of God is also called the Kingdom of God, because it is God's plan to establish the Kingdom of God on earth when Jesus Christ returns. All those in the first resurrection to eternal life will rule and reign with Him during the one-thousand year rule of the Kingdom of God. We will bring to all mankind the peace and the love of God--the true righteous government of God with Jesus Christ as King: "And I saw thrones; and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given to them; and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and those who did not worship the beast, or his image, and did not receive the mark in their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years .. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4-6).

After being resurrected from the dead, or if still alive at the resurrection, all the saints will be changed. We will, then, be spirit beings--the immortal, eternal sons and daughters of God. We reign on the earth over the nations: "Worthy are You to take the book, and to open its seals because You were slain, and did redeem us to God by Your own blood, out of every tribe and language and people and nation, and did make us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth .. And to the one who overcomes, and keeps My works unto the end, I will give authority over the nations; and he shall shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces; as I have also received from My Father" (Rev. 5:9-10; 2:26-27)

The Saints are the Hope of the World: Living in the last days, we can see that it is impossible for men to obtain peace and to rule themselves. This is why God has His plan to bring the Kingdom of God to the earth when Jesus returns. Because we are a part of God's plan, to rule and reign with Christ, we are also the hope of the world. In fact, the world is waiting for us, as the apostle Paul writes: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Now you have not received a spirit of bondage again unto fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we call out, `Abba, Father.'

"The Spirit itself bears witness conjointly with our own spirit, testifying that we are the children of God. Now if we are children, we are also heirs--truly, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ--if indeed we suffer together with Him, so that we may also be glorified together [and reign] with Him. For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

"For the earnest expectation of the creation itself is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God; because the creation was subjected to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected it in hope, in order that the creation itself might be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that all the creation is groaning together and travailing together until now. And not only that, but even we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, also groan within ourselves, awaiting the sonship--the redemption of our bodies" (Rom. 8:14-23).

Brethren, let us keep this ultimate hope of God in our hearts and minds as we keep the holy days and feasts of God in the next few weeks. We have GREAT HOPE for yourselves and are part of the HOPE OF THE WORLD under Jesus Christ Our Lord! This is why we are to rejoice in the Sabbath, holy days and feasts of God.

Update on Wayne Stenhouse: Apparently, the stroke that Wayne suffered, as reported in my last letter, weakened him so much that he was unable to recover. He passed away on Sunday, August 31, 2009. He was 62. We will all miss him, as will his wife Sylvia and their daughters, as well as all the brethren that he served in love and humility.

Wayne was dedicated to serving the brethren in love and truth to help perfect them for the resurrection. In his case, he was also perfected for the resurrection. While knowing these things bring us the hope of God, we will still grieve that Wayne died. On the other hand, we all rejoice that he will be in the first resurrection at Jesus' Second Coming.

On Thursday, September 3, 2009, Gary Lucas, a personal friend and elder in UCG conducted his funeral. Because of circumstances, I was not able to attend, however, I recorded a personal tribute to Wayne which was played as part of the funeral services.

We need to keep in mind, whenever a death occurs that the Holy Bible reveals that God's perspective of death is far different than man's fearful view of death. The Lord says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints .. The righteous has hope in his death" And again, "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life." And again "The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest." (Psa. 116:15, Pro. 14:32, Rev. 2:10 and Isa. 57:1-2). So now, Wayne is resting in his place of safety awaiting the resurrection to eternal life. We all look forward to seeing him again, as well as all the saints of all time, on the Sea of Glass.

However, at this time, please remember Sylvia and their daughters and keep them in your prayers. She was a great help to Wayne in the Canadian office. At the present time, she will be able to continue serving the brethren in the physical things of the office--receiving the mail and sending out the CD's, monthly letters, books, booklets and the various series. All the Canadian brethren need to know that the office will continue as usual. We will make arrangements for the administration of the spiritual things that Wayne handled as an elder.

The Bible Project: They have finished folding the signatures and are beginning to Smyth stitch them. When they have finished that they will assemble and bind the Bibles. Unfortunately, the first week in October is a national week-long holiday, so this will set us back a week. Otherwise everything is moving ahead and they are heading for the home stretch..

Feast of Tabernacles Travel Plans: I will begin the Feast in Goshen, Indiana for the first day; the second day I will be in Cincinnati, Ohio; the third day I will be in Nevarro Beach, Florida; the fourth day I will be in Waco, Texas and the remainder of the Feast I will be in Hollister. I am looking forward to see you all at the various sites. Have a tremendous and spiritually uplifting Feast of Tabernacles.

Once again brethren, we thank you for your love and prayers and your continued support through your tithes and offerings. We are praying for you daily for God's love, grace and blessings to be upon you, as well as your continued employment in these difficult economic times.

With love, in Christ Jesus,

Fred R. Coulter

FRC