Are You Growing in Maturity?

Recently I read in the news about a man in Manchester who was a sci fi fan, who had built up a huge collection of toys from Star Wars, including light sabers.

He kept arguing with his wife, and eventually she destroyed his collection. He was so mad at her, he killed her.

So what can we conclude from this?

The husband was obviously very immature still, wanting to play with his toys rather than live in the real world. His wife was also immature, for destroying his collection. He also claims that she had threatened to kill him while he was sleeping.

If they were both that immature, then why were they ever married? They were obviously a complete mis-match, and neither of them were mature enough for the responsibilities of marriage.

So what of ourselves? Are we mature enough? Regardless of our current marital status, are we mature enough to marry Christ?

When Christ returns, He will marry His Church. We know that, it’s in Revelation.

But there is a period of time to go yet, before that marriage will take place.

In the meantime, what is going to happen with us?

Turn to Revelation 19:6–8 which reads:

“I heard what sounded like the noise from a large crowd, like the noise of raging waters, like the noise of loud thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! The Lord our God, the Almighty, has become king. Let us rejoice, be happy, and give him glory because it’s time for the marriage of the lamb. His bride has made herself ready. She has been given the privilege of wearing dazzling, pure linen.’ This fine linen represents the things that God’s holy people do that have his approval.” (God’s Word Translation).

So when Christ returns, we see a rejoicing from a large crowd, or a great multitude — these will be the people who come out of the Great Tribulation, who did not have the Holy Spirit, who are not a part of the Firstfruits but repented when they heard the preaching of the Two Witnesses. They are happy because the Church, which is the Bride of Christ, will be ready for the marriage.

But we see that the Bride has made herself ready. She gets to wear the pure linen, because of doing those things that have God’s approval, i.e. the things that please God.

So how does the Bride make herself ready?

One thing to consider is to be mature.

1 Corinthians 14:20 states: “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature” (NKJV).

The Dictionary.com website defines mature as:

“Fully developed in body or mind, as a person” when used as an adjective, and “to complete or perfect” and “to bring to full development” as a verb.

So the act becoming mature is to become complete and perfect, being fully developed. This is one way of making ourselves ready for our marriage to Christ.

There are times when some Christians do not behave in a mature way. We might expect that from a new or young Christian, but when people have been in the Church a long time, we expect to see some sign of maturity that comes from experience and age, along with wisdom and a certain expectation of a high standard of behaviour.

When a man who has been a Christian for a long time decides to take another member to court for an alleged action that may or may not have happened, what does that say about that man’s maturity?

So what if that were happening with a long-time elder in high authority in church group, having a lawsuit against another member in another country who now attends a different church group, and thus the elder sees an opportunity to attack a former associate in order to benefit either himself or his group. This is not maturity — this is corruption!

A sign of maturity is that a person will not engage in corruption or try to attack another person.

Psalm 15:1-3 tells us:

“LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend” (NKJV).

We see that to dwell with God, a person must walk uprightly and speak the truth, and not do evil against others.

There are many aspects to being mature, and right behaviour towards others is one thing a mature person should have.

If someone does you wrong, why would you retaliate?

In Matthew 5:38–40 Christ tells us:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also” (NKJV).

A mature person does not react badly to provocation. In immature person, if someone hits them, will immediately hit back at the person without thinking. A mature person stops and considers the situation carefully. There may be times when someone hits you and you need to run away, and at other times you have to take it on the chin. Maturity and wisdom are needed to decide what to do, but a knee-jerk reaction is not a mature response.

Of course your situation may be someone taking you to court. Then you have a duty to respond and defend yourself, and tell the truth, but not to lie about the person or what happened, nor to seek revenge. What if someone wrongs you, should you take that person to court? If they are a brother, i.e. a church member, what do we read in the Bible?

“When one of you has a complaint against another, how dare you go to court to settle the matter in front of wicked people. Why don’t you settle it in front of God’s holy people? Don’t you know that God’s people will judge the world? So if you’re going to judge the world, aren’t you capable of judging insignificant cases? Don’t you know that we will judge angels, not to mention things in this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:1–3, God’s Word Translation).

Whatever the situation, the mature approach would be to treat others with respect, and try to understand why they are doing what they doing, which may involve some dialogue and asking questions, without being quick to judge or jump to conclusions.

“But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!” (1 Corinthians 6:6–8, NKJV).

But some Christians are quick to dismiss the Scriptures, stating that the person they are suing is not actually a brother.

“It may be that some people will not listen to what we say in this letter. Take note of them and don’t associate with them so that they will feel ashamed. Yet, don’t treat them like enemies, but instruct them like brothers and sisters.” (2 Thessalonians 3:14–16, God’s Word Translation).

Even if a person behaves badly, and you cannot associate with them because of bad behaviour, it is only right to still regard them as brothers and sisters, rather than enemies.

As we get older and certainly more experienced in life and as a Christian, as should be maturing.

Children start off immature and grow up, eventually becoming mature, but it’s a long slow process.

The Apostle Paul at times had to address Church members as if they were children, behaving in an immature way, such as in 1 Corinthians 3:1–3,

“My friends, you are acting like the people of this world. That’s why I could not speak to you as spiritual people. You are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned. So I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk. You could not take solid food, and you still cannot, because you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves that you are not spiritual and that you are acting like the people of this world.” (Contemporary English Version).

I hope that we are all trying to be mature, and not immature like the examples I mentioned earlier.

There are other things to consider in becoming mature, so maybe consider these points as you go about your life, and whether you react in a mature way or an immature way to events that occur.

For example, if someone pushes in front of you in a queue, do you make a scene, or do you refrain from doing anything immature and remain calm?

If you drive, and you get stuck at a red light for a while, or stuck in traffic, or someone cuts in front of you, do you complain and whine, and be immature, or do you have a mature approach and use the time wisely? For example, if travelling with others you can talk to them. If alone, you can meditate on something, or for your journey get something worthwhile to listen to. There are plenty of bad drivers on the road, but there is no point in getting mad at the immature morons who drive badly.

It is easy to just react to situations and act in an immature way, but as time goes by, we should be considering how we respond to this situations.

What other ways can you think of how to behave in a mature way?

Some thoughts about the current crisis in UCG

Since the time of Christ there have been many organisations around the world claiming to be the true Church. But sometimes there are divisions within these groups, people leave and go to another Church group, or some may decide to set up their own Church organisation.
A lot of these people may well base their choices on their belief in the whereabouts of the Government of God. Either they think the leadership of their current Church is no longer the Government of God and so they have to leave, or they think the leaders are the Government of God and so they stay. But does the administration of a religious organisation constitute God’s Government?
The dictionary definition of government explains that government is a way a thing is done or happens, in society, business, the home, etc. A society is governed by laws, rules and regulations and these laws, rules and regulations are government. Government is defined as the act or manner of governing. A group of individuals are not the act or manner by which a state or community is governed and, therefore, a collective body of men within the Church cannot be a government.
Too many Churches of God today get hung up on saying that they are the Government of God. Just recently I read an article by a certain Church which stated that other Churches which did things differently are not following the Government of God. Specifically, this particular Church stated that Herbert Armstrong (the former leader of the Worldwide Church of God until his death in 1986) was the Government of God, and that the leader of this Church was now following in his footsteps and the true successor to Mr. Armstrong and thus he claimed to be the Government of God, or at least that the Government of God was in his Church and not in Churches like the United Church of God, which is administered by a Council of Elders, which was claimed to be the wrong way to run the Government of God.
So what is the situation with the United Church of God (UCG)? The leadership is a Council of Elders plus a President. Some say that this is not the correct form of government for a Church, and that it should be just one man at the top as it was with Herbert Armstrong in WCG.
But it is wrong to look to a body of men or a particular organisation as government, because the laws governing the Church did not originate from men but from God. “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Only God the Father and Jesus Christ can be considered to be the Government of God. Their laws and rules, their way of life, are what we should live by. We should be ruled by God and not by our own carnal selves.
Any Church group usually has leadership. But those leaders are not the Government of God, rather they are an administration that should look after the needs of the Church, to do things like collect donations, hire meeting places for Sabbath services, ensure that there are ministers and elders to serve congregations, arrange Feast sites, publish booklets, run a website and record video and audio materials, etc. The administration should be living according to the Government of God and setting an example to others, and teaching the ways of God to people.
It does not matter which type of administration a Church chooses to have, whether it is one man at the top, or a Council of Elders, or a President or some other method.
But each of us, as members of the Church of God, must first seek a close relationship with God (“Seek first the Kingdom of God”, Matthew 6:33), and we should live “by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).
To anyone who is thinking of changing churches, think about why you are doing so. Is it because you think another group has a better “government”? There are times when it is necessary to change churches, such as it was in 1995 when a large number of members of the WCG left that Church to form and join the UCG, due to the abandonment of the laws of God by the administration of the WCG. If the Church you attend no longer teaches the truth (such as the Sabbath, the Second Coming of Christ and our eternal inheritance in the Kingdom of God), then by all means leave to join a Church that does teach the truth from the Bible. Currently there are probably errors in all the Churches and in what they teach, even if just small errors, but that is not enough to justify condemning a Church, as the administration of any Church is only human. And as humans, we are carnal and subject to our own whims, misguided thoughts and to be deceived by Satan.
We should all, in the Church of God as a whole, remember that we are a family. We are part of God’s family. And currently Satan is trying his best to attack and divide the family. Families often stick together. And in the Church, we should stick together. It does not matter if we cannot get along to the point of all being in one organisation at the moment; God sees what is happening and allows it — for the time being, at least. But spiritually we are all part of one body, the head of which is Christ.
Rather than make a hasty decision to move to another Church of God group, far better to stay in the congregation into which God has placed you, and to serve the brethren there to the best of your ability. And even if we do not agree on every point of doctrine, we can at least show love to each other and have concern for each other.
So let’s all just try to get along, with godly love, being a part of God’s family, and looking to God the Father and Jesus Christ the Head of His Church, and remember that we shall be spending an eternity together so let’s not be so divided now, as we certainly shall not be divided in the future but shall be joined together in unity in the Kingdom of God forever.

Why Do We Not Have Confessionals Like the Catholic Church?

In the Catholic church, members are required to confess their sins to the priests. They go to the church building, and enter a small room or something more like a booth, and inside will sit a catholic priest, who will listen to the confession of sin. The place they go into to confess is called a confessional and then the priest forgives the person’s sins.

Quoting from what I found on the Internet: “A confessional is a small, enclosed booth used for the Sacrament of Penance, often called confession, or Reconciliation. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation, and also in the Lutheran Church. In the Catholic Church, confessions are only to be heard in a confessional or oratory, except for a just reason (1983 Code of Canon Law).”
In more recent times, the rules have been updated to allow the confessional to be in a room. But whether in a room or a booth, there is usually some form of screen between the lay member and the priest. They do not see each other’s face, but hear each other’s words.
If it is necessary to walk by a confessional, it is considered polite to cover one’s ear with one’s hand, to show respect for the sanctity of the confessional. This is a pious practice even when no one is in the confessional.
So it seems that in the Catholic church, the confessional is a very important place which people have a lot of respect for.
But, if we as repentant Christians are feeling guilty over our sins, why is it that in the Church of God we do not have a confessional? Should we confess our sins to a priest or minister?
Let’s look more at what the Catholic church does and the origins of the confessional, and what we as Christians should do when we sin and need to repent and get forgiveness.
I am going to quote from a well-known book called The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop. Some of you may have read this book or have a copy on your bookshelf. This book looks at how the rituals and beliefs of ancient Babylon have continued down to our present age and how they are especially apparent in the Catholic church.
This is what the book says about the confessional:
“The clerical power of the Roman priesthood culminated in the erection of the confessional. That confessional was itself borrowed from Babylon. The confession required of the votaries of Rome is entirely different from the confession prescribed in the Word of God. The dictate of Scripture in regard to confession is, ‘Confess your faults to one another’ (James 5:16), which implies that the priest should confess to the people, as well as the people to the priest, if either should sin against the other... In [the Roman system] secret confession to the priest, according to a prescribed form, was required of all who were admitted to the ‘Mysteries’; and till such confession had been made, no complete initiation could take place.”
The confessional was not an invention of the Catholic church. They got it from ancient Babylon. Some of you may know how the Catholic church got started. It was the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century A.D. who started the Catholic church, in part as a means to unite the religions of the Roman Empire, using the themes and ideas of Christianity but the days and customs of the pagan religions, including that of the Babylonian Mystery Religion.
Quoting again from The Two Babylons, about the practices of the Babylonian Mystery Religion:
“In requiring the candidates for initiation to make confession to the priest of all their secret faults and shortcomings and sins, was just to put them entirely in their power of those to whom the inmost feelings of their souls and their most important secrets were confided... in the same way, and for the very same purposes, has Rome erected the confessional. Instead of requiring priests and people alike, as the Scripture does, to ‘confess their faults to one another,’ when either have offended the other, it commands all, on pain of perdition, to confess to the priest, whether they have transgressed against him or no, while the priest is under no obligation to confess to the people at all.
In conformity with the principle out of which the confessional grew, the Church, that is, the clergy, claimed to be the sole depositories of the true faith of Christianity. [that’s referring here to the Catholic church of course rather than the true Church]. As the Chaldean priests were believed alone to possess the key to the understanding of the Mythology of Babylon, a key handed down to them from primeval antiquity, so the priests of Rome set up to be the sole interpreters of Scripture; they only had the true tradition, transmitted from age to age, without which it was impossible to arrive at its true meaning. They, therefore, require implicit faith in their dogmas; all men were bound to believe as the Church believed, while the Church in this way could shape its faith as it pleased. As possessing supreme authority... over the faith...”
In other words, the Catholic priests decided they had supreme authority over the faith of the people, copying the way it was done in the Babylonian Mystery Religion. The people had to confess their sins to the priests, but the priests did not have to confess anything to anyone.
James 5:16 was quoted, which reads in full:
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Looking at the context, this is in reference to being anointed when sick. Admitting sin is linked to healing, including spiritual healing. So we should be confessing our sins, to one another, and not just to a minister. We should also pray for one another, so we can be healed. We can forgive others for what they do against us personally, but not to the point of removing the death penalty for sin — only God can do that.
God expects us, if we sin against a person, to apologise and confess what we did. Otherwise we cannot be healed if we are sick. In the Catholic church, a person must go to the priest in a confessional, where no one is really seen, and confess sins to the priest. The priest does not have to confess his sins to anyone. And the person does not confess their sins to other lay members in the Catholic church.
But God says we should confess our sins to each other. Christians are never to stop praying, particularly for each other. We should never hesitate to turn to our fellow believers with our prayer requests and needs, nor should we neglect to pray for them regularly.
The Message translation of the Bible has James 5:16 as
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.”
It is good for us to pray for each other, and knowing what problems and trials each person is going through. This is quite different to the Catholic approach, where you just confess to the priest and hope that the priest is going to do something on your behalf to put you right with God, believing that your sins are forgiven because the priest forgave you.
If we sin and want forgiveness for sin, as we should want forgiveness, remember Christ’s words in Matthew 6:12 in regards to how we should pray to the Father:
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
In the Catholic church, the lay member does not have a relationship with God the Father. They have a relationship with the priest, who acts as a go-between, which is probably why they call their priests “father”. Of course, Christ said in Matthew 23:9:
“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.”
In God’s Church, we can pray to God the Father, we do not need a go-between, certainly not a human priest. We can confess our sins to God directly and ask for forgiveness.
In the Catholic church, the people put their trust in men, but Jeremiah 17:5 tells us:
“Thus says the LORD: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD.’”
Catholic priests regard themselves as being able to forgive people of their sins, as if they were God. But God warns us not to trust in men in that way. No man can save you from sin.
According to the website Catholic.org, “The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is a Sacrament in which we are sorry for our sins, confess them to a priest, receive forgiveness for them and are reconciled with God and the Church.”
But, no priest can forgive anyone’s sins. He can’t even forgive his own sins! And who can forgive the priests sins? Does he go to confession too? If the priest goes directly to God, then why can’t you? Even the corrupt religious leaders of Jesus’s time knew that only God can forgive sin, as we read in Mark 2:7 “...who can forgive sins but God alone?”
I mentioned earlier that going to the confessional is a “sacrament of penance”. so what is a Sacrament that the Catholic church refers to? It’s not found in the Bible. The definition of “Sacrament” is: “A formal religious act conferring a specific grace on those who receive it.” The Catholic teaching is that there is a “power” to the Sacraments. So the catholics go to the confessional, confess their sins, and the priest says the person is forgiven, and then that person goes away happy. And probably goes away, sins again, and goes again to confession to get forgiveness again. All without any true repentance, and true understanding of what they did wrong, and no desire to live a sinless life. And believing that the priest has the power to forgive them of their sins.
But who died for us so that our sins could be forgiven? It is none other than Jesus Christ. He died for our sins. As we read in 1 Corinthians 15:3:
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”
No Catholic priest has ever died for our sins, nor for his own sins. Only Christ’s death can pay for our sins.
Turn to 1 John 1:9, which reads:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Christ died so we can be forgiven by God.
But what about John 20:23, someone might ask? Doesn’t that say that the Church can forgive sins? The Catholic church states: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, gave the Church the power to forgive sins when he breathed on the Apostles and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven.’ (John 20:22-23).”
But what do the verses actually say? Turn to John 20:22-23:
“And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ ”
If what the Catholic Church teaches is true (i.e., that priests have been given the power to forgive sins), then it must also be true that they have been given the power to REFUSE to forgive your sins. If this is true, then it creates a serious doctrinal contradiction in the teachings of Christ, who said in Matthew 6:15, “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Today’s NIV).
Clearly, we have a discrepancy here. If priests did have the power to forgive your sins, but refused to do so, then it would still be a sin. So what did Jesus mean in John 20:23? To understand John 20:23, you need to consider Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation to every one who believes...”
Jesus simply explained to the Apostles that by preaching the Gospel, they held the keys to salvation. Those who believed the Gospel were forgiven; those who did not believe were not going to be saved. The Gospel is the key to salvation, depending on whether you believe it or not.
It is wrong to claim that Jesus gave the Apostles the power to forgive sin. There is only ONE MEDIATOR between God the Father and men, and that’s Christ Jesus — Look at 1 Timothy 2:5:
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
We’ve also read in Matthew 6:15 that God requires us to forgive others who seek our forgiveness.
In addition, not one mention is made anywhere in the New Testament of an Apostle ever forgiving someone’s sins. This fact alone speaks volumes against the Catholic religion.
In the New Testament not one mention is ever made of an Apostle having the power to forgive someone’s sins. When Stephen preached the Gospel in Acts 7, he never offered to forgive anyone’s sins. When Peter preached the Gospel on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, he never offered to forgive anyone’s sins. When Paul preached to King Agrippa in Acts 26, he didn’t offer to forgive the king’s sins.
Notice what Peter said to Simon, the former sorcerer, when Simon tried to buy God’s power, in Acts 8:22:
“Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.” (NIV)
The Apostle Peter told Simon to pray to God for forgiveness! Peter didn’t claim the power to forgive Simon’s sins, nor did Peter tell him to go find a confessional booth. In all the Epistles which the Apostle Paul wrote, he never mentioned or taught anything about the power to forgive another person’s sins.
Only God can truly forgive sins. Sins incur the death penalty, and only the sacrifice of Christ, who became our mediator, takes that death penalty away.
We must repent of our sins and confess them to God, and forgive those who sin against us, to receive the forgiveness we need.
The Bible does not support the Catholic system of the Confessional and in God’s Church we do not need to confess to a priest as we have direct contact with God through prayer, and only God can forgive us and give us eternal life.