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[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

A Time of Need

The coronavirus pandemic, major rioting, fires, wars, and natural disasters caused many to consider 2020 a year to forget. The effects of this pandemic damaged economies all over the world and intensified the negative conditions in poorer countries. Regulations countering the pandemic included quarantines and, in some cases, months of isolation. Some communities even enforced stringent curfews confining families to their homes for long periods of time. But one of the most damaging effects on many individuals was that of separation from face-to-face socialization leading to severe loneliness.

Loneliness has always been a social problem, but the problem has become so severe in Japan that the government established a “Minister for Loneliness”! The Independent reported: “Japan has appointed a minister for loneliness following a recent rise in the number of suicides and the coronavirus pandemic’s exacerbation of the issue”

Is loneliness one of your serious problems? If so, you need to solve that problem and experience success, happiness, contentment, and hope. Your Bible gives multiple solutions. One of the major solutions to loneliness is the help of a faithful friend. You need to know the way to true love and peace. And you need to know Who can be your greatest friend!

Stay tuned!

What is True Friendship?

Warm greetings to all our friends around the world!

We all need friends, but the national shutdowns due to the coronavirus have interfered with normal socialization and fellowship. The coronavirus pandemic caused many governments to virtually “shut down” cities, states, provinces, and whole nations. In April 2020, BBC News reported: “Coronavirus: The world in lockdown in maps and charts.” The report described “How the world shut down. The approaches to dealing with coronavirus across the world have been wide-ranging to say the least. In Colombia the days that you’re allowed to leave the house depend on the number of your national ID card; in Serbia a designated dog-walking hour was introduced; and in Belarus the president has gone against medical advice, recommending vodka and saunas as a way to stay safe. Some of the more common approaches have seen governments issue recommendations on social distancing for part or all of the country, while others have acted to restrict all non-essential internal movement. The latter is often called a lockdown” (BBC.com).

BBC News indicated that starting in April of 2020, more than 70 countries introduced nation-wide lockdowns, including France, Germany, the UK, Russia, Italy, Spain, South Africa, and New Zealand. The restrictions in some areas resulted in strict isolation affecting the mental health of many. The nation of Japan, facing an unprecedented increase in death and suicide in pandemic-stricken 2020, instituted an aggressive solution to loneliness; it appointed a Minister for Loneliness. The Independent reported: “Japan has appointed a minister for loneliness following a recent rise in the number of suicides and the coronavirus pandemic’s exacerbation of the issue”.

On today’s program, we’ll discuss principles of friendship and biblical examples of both faithful and unfaithful friendships. We will also discuss the Bible’s awesome revelation of One who can be our greatest Friend!

Ancient King David, before he became king, was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be the next king after King Saul. You can read about that in 1 Kings the sixteenth chapter. Most of you know the story of David’s victory over the giant Goliath and his subsequent military victories. King Saul was jealous and even tried to kill David two times. But Saul’s son Jonathan, who would ordinarily be considered the next king, became David’s best friend. In 1 Samuel 20, Jonathan affirms to David that he will do all he can to protect David from King Saul’s anger, and pledges his friendship with David. 1 Samuel 20:16:

“So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ‘Let the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.’”

And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.

This rare example of faithful and loving friendship was in the context of God’s blessing. Remember the remarkable statement in Acts 13:22 regarding David’s character:

“And when He [God] had removed him, [King Saul] He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’”

Yet, King David knew that his closest fellowship was with God, who had blessed him and delivered him through numerous trials. When betrayed by his old friend Ahithophel, David reflected in Psalm 55:16,

“As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.”

My friends, you and I need that same close relationship with God. As it tells us in James 4:8,

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

James also mentions that the patriarch Abraham “believed God… And he was called a friend of God” (James 2:23).

Who is your closest friend?

Over the years, I’ve had many, many friends, but who is my BEST friend? God blessed me with a wonderful wife, and now over 57 years of marriage. But what was it that we had in common? We had similar backgrounds in culture and education, but what cemented our friendship, our love, was the way of life God called us to live. You’ve heard that way of life on [the] Tomorrow’s World program. It’s the way of True Christianity. There are counterfeit forms of Christianity which, frankly, have turned off some who might actually have been interested in biblical Christianity. I hope you’ve seen our Tomorrow’s World telecast “What is Biblical Christianity?”

Where can you find true and faithful friends? You can find them in a loving group of biblical Christians who follow the true Jesus Christ of your Bible.

Friendship is Love

Tomorrow’s World magazine author Phil Sena gives us this perspective in his Tomorrow’s Youth column, “BREAK FREE FROM LONELINESS.”

“What is loneliness? It is complicated. It is not just one thing—and it can be caused by any number of factors. Some feel that no one else shares their values. Some feel they have no one to share their life with. Some simply feel that no one cares about them. These feelings can lead to a sense of isolation and alienation—and to a deep sadness, even despondency, making ordinary life more painful than the people around them can understand” (March–April, 2010).

My friends, we need to find those who care for others. And it’s important to know the biblical values that produce loving relationships and friendships. And while it may not be easy when you are feeling lonely, we must exercise love for our neighbor and reach out to others. Mr. Sena gives this advice:

“Connect with others. There are other people who like some of the same things you like, or who believe the things you believe. Although it may be difficult at first, making the effort to meet some of those people will change your life. Reach out to people who share your interests, and soon your loneliness will cease. One of the best ways to break through loneliness is to realize that there are other lonely people, and that you may be able to help them. Is there someone in your community who needs help? It does not need to be something big; maybe just taking the time to listen to an elderly shut-in or encouraging a niece or nephew by playing catch. Making a difference in someone else’s life will make a big difference in your own” (ibid.).

Yes, you can reach out to others! Pray and ask God to help you love your neighbor. That is the second Great Commandment God gives us. You can read that in Mark 12:31. Most people know of the golden rule, but how many practice it as a way of life? Jesus stated it this way in Matthew 7:12:

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Tomorrow’s World presenter, Rod McNair, authored this inspiring article, “HOW TO FIGHT LONELINESS—FIVE WAYS TO OVERCOME.” It’s in the January–February 2020 edition of Tomorrow’s World magazine. You can access it on our TomorrowsWorld.org website. He gives five principles for fighting loneliness. We don’t have the time to mention all of them, so I’ll just mention the fifth principle here, but I urge you to go to TomorrowsWorld.org and read the whole article for yourself.

We’re discussing the importance of friends. Mr. McNair reminds us of a vital principle: SPEND TIME WITH YOUR MOST IMPORTANT FRIEND. He comments: “Before His crucifixion, Jesus Christ told His disciples, ‘No longer do I call you servants… but I have called you friends’ (John 15:15). That’s an amazing statement from the Savior of all mankind!”

The Savior of the World, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, paid the penalty of our sins by shedding His blood for you and me. God’s love is forever. God IS love, as it tells us in 1 John 4:8, 16. That love facilitates a powerful friendship with those who are willing to live godly, and to follow the example of our Savior.

How can we practice true friendship? Let’s look at the patriarch Job and his three friends. God allowed Satan to afflict Job to test him. Even though Job’s three friends misjudged Job, they still had an unusual willingness to share in his suffering. Notice the time they spent with him in silence. Job 2:13:

“So they [Job’s three friends] sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.”

Would you have the compassion and patience toward a friend for seven days in silence? That’s dedication. The book of Proverbs also gives us principles of friendship. Proverbs 12:26:

“The righteous should choose his friends carefully….”

Many make the mistake of compromising their character and values just to have a friend. If you are a faithful friend, you stand up for godly principles and never compromise. Proverbs 17:9:

“He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.”

A faithful friend does not carelessly disclose the weaknesses of others, but strives to help him or her overcome a character flaw. Proverbs 17:17:

“A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.”

Or as the New Revised Standard Version translates it,

“A friend loves at all times, and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.”

As we practice friendship, we need to know the Greatest Friend of all. Who is He? He is the One who loves you and gave His life for the sins of the world, and for your sins and mine! Yes, the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ can be your BEST friend. So, we ought to know more about the true Jesus Christ of the Bible. The Apostle Paul warned that there are counterfeit presentations of Jesus. Turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians 11:3. The Corinthians were fooled by people who SEEMED religious. Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 11:3,

“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. [Now listen to this!] For if he who comes preaches ANOTHER JESUS whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!”

The Corinthians tolerated “another Jesus.” As shocking as it may sound, many professing Christians today accept “another Jesus” and not the Jesus of your Bible! My friends, which Jesus do you follow? A king? Or a weakling wandering around in the desert? Can you really know the TRUE Jesus as He was in the flesh? And can you really know Him as He is NOW, the glorified Son of God at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven? Yes, you can.

Jesus Christ—The One Who Gave Everything for His Friends

John 15:15:

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

Yes, your greatest friend should be your Savior, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth! But notice, He gave this requirement, John 15:9:

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

My friends, not only can you overcome loneliness, you can find the way to true life, happiness, and friendship. But you need to prove and know the true Jesus of your Bible! There are many differences between the Jesus most people imagine, and the Jesus of your Bible. We’ve covered these points on previous programs, but let me mention just a few. The true Jesus of your Bible: 1. Observed the weekly seventh-day Sabbath (not Sunday. He is Lord of the Sabbath as it states in Mark 2:28–29). 2. Was born in the autumn, near the Feast of Trumpets (in September or October), not on December 25. There were shepherds living in the fields, Luke 2:8, in the autumn, not in the winter. You may want to do your own research to see whose ancient birthday was celebrated on December 25). 3. Taught that we must keep the Ten Commandments (contrary to modern popular teaching. Read Matthew 19:17). 4. Observed the biblical festivals and annual Holy Days (not pagan days with Christian names. He observed the Feast of Tabernacles, for example. See John the seventh chapter).

My friends, I urge you to read the New Testament with a fresh perspective. Read what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote about Him. You need to study and know the real Jesus of your Bible. You may find Him very different from the traditional images that are promoted around the world.

Yes, the true Christ of your Bible is alive today! But where is He? What is He doing? Where is Jesus? He is at the right hand of the throne of God in heaven. You can read about that glorious throne in Revelation the fourth chapter! And you can read about His glorious, radiant, powerful appearance in Revelation 1:12–16! Yes, Christ ascended to heaven. And what is He doing? The book of Hebrews is called the priesthood book. The true Jesus of your Bible is called our great High Priest! Jesus is able to sympathize with our sufferings. Why? Because He suffered in the flesh. He knows pain and He knows betrayal and He knows the temptations we face. How do we know that? Turn again in the book of Hebrews to chapter 4 and verse 15. My friends, you have a great High Priest in heaven who knows you and intercedes for you. Listen to this in Hebrews 4:14:

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Listen to this encouraging scripture. Hebrews 7:24:

“But He [Christ as our Great High Priest], because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore [Listen to this] He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:24–25).

Yes, the true Jesus of your Bible ever lives to intercede for you and your sins and your problems, and He is doing a Work on this earth right now, preparing the way for His Second Coming! He commissioned His Church to preach the gospel. You’ve been hearing that gospel on this program, my friends—the same gospel Jesus preached, the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God. Just read about that in Mark 1:14 and 15. Jesus also prophesied that the gospel would be preached at the end of the age;

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

The true Jesus of your Bible actively guides His true servants in fulfilling the great commission. As He promised in the last verse of Matthew 28,

“… lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

My friends, you need to study your Bible and prove which Jesus is the true Christ!

Entering Into Fellowship With God

Doubting Thomas exclaimed that Jesus was “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28). The book of Hebrews reveals that Jesus is our “great High Priest” (Hebrews 4:14). He is called “King of kings and Lord of lords” in Revelation 19:16. In Isaiah 9:6, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth is called “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Remember how John the Baptist described Jesus. John told the crowds that followed him, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Jesus is also “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He is the “resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). My friends, you can research in Bible dictionaries and commentaries and find many more wonderful titles and names for the Jesus of your Bible. Now, let’s look at one final description in John the fourth chapter. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well information only the Messiah could tell her. Then, she told the whole community about Jesus. They urged Jesus to stay with them. After they listened to Jesus, they came to the conclusion and the reality the world will soon know. John 4:42:

“Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.’”

My friends, who is Jesus? He is the Savior of the world. And as it tells us in Acts 4:12:

“… there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

The Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, is alive! He is now preparing to return to this earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. That same Jesus wants to be your best friend.

My friends, we all should pray as Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:10,

“Your Kingdom come.”

The Kingdom of God is coming to this earth. The King of kings, the Prince of peace, will transform this carnal, selfish, warring world into a millennium of peace and prosperity. That’s the good news of the gospel. But will you be ready? Remember, Jesus said,

“He who believes and is baptized will be saved…” (Mark 16:16).

My friends, if you’ve studied biblical baptism, and if you’ve come to the place in your life where you have repented and have accepted Christ’s sacrifice, His shed blood for the remission of your sins, and if you have accepted His authority over your life, we invite you to counsel with one of our ministers. We have representatives in many regions around the world.

Thank you for watching! Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss another Tomorrow’s World video, and if you would like a copy of our booklet What Is A True Christian? for free, click the link in the description. See you next time.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Who Will Be Saved by God?

Is it true that billions of people who live and die without accepting Jesus Christ are lost forever? If so, would that include those who never heard His name? What about babies who died before they were old enough to comprehend what it means, to accept the only name under heaven whereby one may be saved? What if their parents were Hindus, Muslims, atheists, or simply not interested in religion? Is there any hope for them or, for that matter, their parents? What about the Apostle Paul’s warning that even Satan has his ministers who appear as ministers of righteousness? As he said, some were worshiping a different Jesus, had a different spirit and a different gospel. Does this mean all of these are lost? No matter how sincere one may be, can all the differing sects and denominations, teaching very different doctrines, with radically different approaches, be right?

Are all these ignorant and deceived people lost forever? Is God fair? Does He love everyone, or only the few?

The surprising answer comes straight from the pages of the Bible, so stay with me!

The Name by Which We Are Saved

Welcome to Tomorrow’s World where we open the Bible for answers to the truly big questions of life. Today I’ll be answering the questions, with all their ramifications: Does God love everyone? Is He giving everyone a fair chance? Are people who never heard of Christ lost forever?

The Apostle John quotes Jesus as saying:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

This is likely the most quoted scripture in all the Bible, but how many understand it? How many understand that Jesus was saying that His Father loves, not just the few, but the whole world? And He went on to say:

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17).

The world is not a reference to planet Earth, but rather to the people who dwell here. But then there is that troubling scripture that tells us there is only one name under heaven whereby one can be saved. We read this in Acts, the fourth chapter. The context is the occasion where Peter called on the name of Jesus Christ to heal a crippled man. The result was that Peter and John were hauled before the council. We pick up the story beginning in verse 9:

If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole (Acts 4:9–10).

Then in verse 12, referring to the name of Jesus Christ, we read:

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). 

So here we have a dilemma. No matter how you count it, with this passage in mind, by any reckoning there have always been more that are “unsaved” than “saved.” Think of the billions who lived and died who never even knew of the Bible or its message. Think of the people who died in North or South America or some faraway island prior to the life of Jesus Christ.

Are these not part of the world? Are they forever lost? Is God so weak that He cannot save the world that He says He loves? Is the adversary stronger than God? If not, this leads us to the inevitable question “Is God fair?” Is He a respecter of persons? Has everyone—or will everyone—have a genuine and fair chance for the opportunity for salvation?

We had a repairman in our home one evening and we got into a discussion on this subject. He contended that if someone far away wanted to know about God, that God would reach him some way. Not only was that illogical, it’s contrary to scripture. Note what the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 10 and verses 13 and 14.

For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:13–14).

The fairness of God is a question many have struggled with. There are numerous ways theologians try to explain this conundrum, but all explanations coming from mainline Christianity miss the mark.

Not Calling Everyone Now

Why is it that clergymen and their denominations fail to see what is obvious from the Bible when it comes to the unsaved millions—many of whom never heard of Jesus? The answer is multi-faceted, but let me give you two simple biblical answers. The first is:

#1: God is not calling everyone now!

Now let me repeat that:

#1: God is not calling everyone now!

I understand that this is not what most of you have been taught, but this truth is right there in the Bible. It may come as a shock to you, but Jesus plainly tells us that only selected ones can come to Him. Read it for yourself. If you don’t have a Bible in front of you, write down these verses and check it out for yourself. As we always say here at Tomorrow’s World, don’t believe us just because we say it—believe it because you read it in your own Bible. Here it is in John 6:44:

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:44).

We know that a principle is especially important when it is repeated and that is exactly what we see here. Jesus repeats this shocking truth in verse 65:

And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father” (John 6:65).

This is hardly the whole story, as there are numerous passages that tell us the same thing. For example, many people know that Jesus spoke a lot of parables, but how many understand WHY? What was the purpose for His parables? My Sunday school teacher thought it was to make the meaning clear to a bunch of fishermen and shepherds. Was that correct? Can we know? The answer is yes, we can know, because Jesus’ own disciples asked Him that very question. Will we believe Him? Turn to Matthew 13, beginning in verse 10:

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” (Matthew 13:10).

There’s the question. Now what is the answer? Here it is straight from the mouth of Jesus:

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…” (Matthew 13:11).

Mark also relates the same incident and adds a few more details, so let’s pick it up in Mark 4, beginning in verse 10:

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them’” (Mark 4:10–12).

Jesus then explained to His disciples the Parable of the Sower. In this parable, the seeds are sown. Some fall by the wayside, others on stony ground with little soil. Some of the seeds begin growing, but are choked by weeds, and the remaining seeds fall on good ground where they sprout and produce varying amounts of the crop. Then, after relating a couple additional parables, we read Mark’s often overlooked comment in verse 34:

But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples (Mark 4:34).

The simple biblical truth that God is not calling everyone now, and this truth sadly escapes clergymen and lay members alike.

The Real Purpose of the Law

As a reminder, the Bible tells us:

#1: God is not calling everyone now!

And reason number 2 is:

#2: God only gives His spirit of understanding to those who obey Him!

Preaching in the name of Jesus Christ was a dangerous business in the first century and in many parts of the world since then. On one occasion the early apostles were thrown into prison, but miraculously set free by an angel who instructed them to go back to the temple and speak the words of life. They were once again called before the Council, where we pick up the account in Acts 5, verse 27:

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” (Acts 5:27–28).

The apostles’ response was a stinging rebuke—something the high priest and those around him were not used to. Who did these uneducated men from Galilee think they were?

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:29–31).

Now notice this statement found in the midst of this account:

And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them (Acts 5:32–33).

What Peter and the others strongly intimated was that these religious leaders were NOT obeying God and were therefore not being led by God’s spirit. There is a powerful lesson in this for us. If we don’t obey God, we’ll not be given the Holy Spirit, and it is Christ living in us by the power of the Holy Spirit that opens our minds to understanding.

When the Prophet Daniel wanted to understand the timing of visions given to him, he was instructed:

Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand (Daniel 12:9–10).

Wickedness is more than substance abuse, sexual immorality, murder, and theft. All these are wickedness, but at the heart and core of wickedness is the rejection of and rebellion toward God and His will, as expressed in His law. Why is it that people cannot understand, that the New Covenant, instead of doing away with the law, makes it more binding?

Jesus did not mince words when He gave His famous Sermon on the Mount. Read it for yourself in Matthew 5, verses 17 and 18.

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled (Matthew 5:17–18).

Have heaven and earth passed away? So why do people reason around His clear statement? One tactic they use is to say the expression “all is fulfilled” means the law was done away at Christ’s crucifixion—that everything was done at that time—but does that fit the context of His statement? Not hardly. Instead of doing away with the law, He shows that He expects more of us. He holds us to a higher standard.

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).

He went on to give examples of what He meant. He pointed out the sixth commandment that forbids murder, but He went on to show that holding hatred in your heart is the spirit of murder. He said in verses 27 and 28:

You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27–28).

Now is there anyone who thinks the letter of the law (avoiding the very act of adultery) is harder to keep than the spirit of the law, as explained by Jesus? Yet, we see a constant attack on the law of God by the very people who say they believe in Jesus! No wonder He chided the people of His day, as we read in Luke 6:46:

But why do you call Me “Lord, Lord,” and not do the things which I say? (Luke 6:46).

The Bible is clear on the subject. Instead of doing away with the law of God, Jesus made it more binding, and by the power of His spirit, He makes it a part of our very way of life. It’s the way of godly love—true, genuine love. As it tells us in 1 John 5:3:

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).

And notice Hebrews 10:16:

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them… (Hebrews 10:16).

Let’s review our second point once again:

#2: God only gives His spirit of understanding to those who obey Him!

Now why is this so important to understand the love of God for all mankind? It explains why so many fail to understand the fairness of God, and the hope He holds out for millions who appear to be lost today.

God’s master plan is revealed in the pages of the Bible.

Sadly, human traditions have replaced the statutes of God that reveal a master plan that gives hope for the millions who never heard the name of Jesus Christ, those who died too young to accept salvation through Christ, and those who are simply deceived.

God’s Annual Holy Days Show the Way

We learn from the Bible about certain Holy Days and Festivals that Jesus, His Apostles, and others observed. History also confirms that the first century Christian Church kept these days—days very different from today’s popular professing Christian holidays. Sadly, the days that Jesus kept, have been neglected, and are hardly known, even though found in the pages of the Bible.

Here is a list of them, along with a few of the numerous New Testament references to them:

Passover Luke 2:41; Luke 22:8, 11, 15

Feast of Unleavened Bread 1 Corinthians 5:7–8

Pentecost Acts 2; Acts 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8

Feast of Trumpets Matt. 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:52; Revelation 11:15

Day of Atonement Acts 27:9

Feast of Tabernacles John 7

Last Great Day John 7:37–39

Note that these are only a few of the scriptures. There are many more that the New Testament references to these days. Now for comparison sake, let’s list all the places where the following popular holidays are found in the Bible:

Lent

Easter

Halloween

Christmas

Does anyone see a problem here?

Easter, the name of the pagan goddess, Ishtar, is found in Acts 12:4 in the King James Version, it’s recognized as a terrible translation for the word that is rightly translated Passover. The New King James Version and all modern translations rightfully translate it as Passover.

Passover reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice given to pay the penalty of our sins. The Days of Unleavened Bread follow and show us what our response should be to that sacrifice. Notice it in 1 Corinthians 5:7–8:

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7–8).

Pentecost is next, and it reminds us that we need Christ abiding in us, writing the law of God in our hearts and minds. The Feast of Trumpets is listed next in order in Leviticus 23. Its New Testament meaning is discerned by searching the scriptures that refer to the blowing of trumpets. We discover that this Feast refers to seven trumpet plagues found in the book of Revelation, with the seventh trumpet blown introducing the return of Christ to rule over all the earth.

The Day of Atonement follows close behind and teaches us that there will never be harmony on earth so long as Satan is around. This day describes his removal from influencing mankind for 1,000 years. That thousand-year reign is pictured by what is called the Feast of Tabernacles.

The seventh and final festival in God’s plan is called The Last Great Day. And a great day it is! It looks forward to a very specific time in the future when God will resurrect to life all those who never heard the true gospel message, or if they did, they were so deceived by Satan that they couldn’t understand it. This Feast foreshadows the time when billions of people will have their first real opportunity to choose God’s way. Go to Revelation 20.

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away… (Revelation 20:11).

This is after the thousand-year reign of Christ.

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books (Revelation 20:12).

The books that are opened are the books of the Bible that have been closed to these people. Note also that the book of life is opened, not closed. Jesus referred to this time of judgment in Matthew 11:21–24:

And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. (Matthew 11:23–24).

Note that this is not describing a second chance but a real first chance when their minds will be opened.

Thank you for watching! Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss another Tomorrow’s World video, and if you would like a copy of our booklet, “Is This the Only Day of Salvation” (it’s free of charge), click the link in the description. See you next time.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

A Time of Troubles

The COVID pandemic has wreaked havoc all over the world. Think about how far reaching its effects have been, in a relatively short time. It’s destroyed businesses. It’s weakened whole economies. And stimulus packages have caused national debts to rise higher than ever. COVID’s effects have been seen in the political arena as well. COVID policies have caused controversy in local and national politics. Frustration has erupted into public protests and even riots. And of course, the disease has taken the lives of millions of people. It has caused the suffering of people in virtually every corner of the globe, being especially hard on the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.

As time goes on, many are putting their hope in vaccines to turn the tide on this crisis. And vaccines are being rolled out and distributed, to the relief of many. Others are resigned to riding it out until populations reach herd immunity, when most people will have been exposed to the disease. In either case, many believe at some point things will get back to normal.

But will they?

What if the COVID pandemic goes on longer than we expect? What if new, more contagious strains develop that are resistant to vaccines? Or, what if this is only the beginning of far worse diseases we have never dreamed of?

This program isn’t going to forecast never-ending doom and gloom. That’s not our belief or our focus. There is a lot of good news to talk about. God has a plan for our world. But we also must be realistic and face the future honestly. Something that is all too rare today.

We tell you the truth at Tomorrow’s World. And that truth involves warnings about perilous times to come, and the hope that springs from the pages of your Bible.

Long Term Effects of COVID-19 on the World

At the beginning of 2020, the COVID pandemic hit with a vengeance. Within a matter of months, nations all over the world were scrambling to react to the crisis. The pandemic has been blamed for a multitude of problems, including a spike in mental illness. Notice what the New York Times magazine reported on January 21, 2021:

“Even before we entered this darkest of winters, when Covid-19 is relentlessly causing more and more sickness and death — not to mention additional stress, isolation and economic pain — there was evidence suggesting that significantly more people have thought about ending their lives during the pandemic than in recent years” (Will the Pandemic Result in More Suicides?” NYTimes.com, January 21, 2021).

Only time will tell how greatly this pandemic has affected the mental health of people all over the world. But early signs are not good.

The COVID pandemic also punched massive holes in economies around the world. How bad is it? Notice what was reported in The Economist magazine on January 9, 2021:

“The economic toll of the covid-19 pandemic is incalculable... The semi-annual Global Economic Prospects report released this week... calculates that the world economy probably shrank by 4.3% in 2020, a setback matched only by the Depression and the two world wars. But this dramatic figure still understates the cost. It measures the world economy’s fall from where it was before the pandemic, not from where it would have been had the virus not spread” (“What is the economic cost of covid-19?” Economist.com, January 7, 2021).

How bad will it get? The article goes on to say the crisis could ultimately be responsible for $10 trillion of lost revenue in economies around the world, in 2020 and 2021. These are not theoretical numbers. Most of us have friends or family who have lost businesses or wages. We’ve seen it first-hand. Or, we’ve experienced it ourselves. It’s a serious crisis.

And, of course, the disease itself has taken the lives of people all over the world. The “Our World in Data” website tracks this. According to their figures, 2.47 million people have died around the world because of COVID, as of February 21, 2021 (“Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19),” Statistics and Research, OurWorldinData.org). Most of us have been touched by this disease to one degree or another. Maybe you’ve watched a friend suffer or even die. Perhaps your own spouse, or a parent. You may have contracted it yourself. We can’t overstate the suffering some have experienced because of this disease.

We can all agree, this crisis has been a crushing blow to millions around the world. The hope is that the worst is behind us. But even if it is, even if new variants don’t arise, what about the future? Will it really be over?

As I said in the beginning, we need to look squarely at reality. Scientists expect more extreme diseases to come, from viruses we’ve never faced. Back in 2018, the Economist ran an article that talked about “disease X.” Disease X was a theoretical pathogen, named by the World Health Organization, to represent a yet unknown disease. The author states:

“By listing Disease X, an undetermined disease, the WHO is acknowledging that outbreaks do not always come from an identified source and that, as it admits, “a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease” (“What is Disease X?” Economist.com, May 23, 2018).

What a statement! Who would have known, back in 2018, what we’d be going through today. What the WHO was trying to do was prepare not just for diseases they knew about, but those that are as yet unknown. But what is that saying? What that means is they expected new diseases to arise. And the lesson recent history has taught us is a new virus can plow into the world like a tornado. What about the next one?

In more recent times, other virus hunters have echoed the same thing. Peter Piot (“Pea - Uht”), is a special advisor on the coronavirus to the European Commission President. He’s a well-known micro-biologist from Belgium who has spent much of his life studying viruses. His most notable work was playing a role in discovering the ebola virus. On September 23, 2020 an interview of him was posted by the Politico website. It was entitled, “Belgian virus hunter warns of looming ‘age of pandemics’.” Notice what Mr. Piot said in this interview:

“The frequency of epidemics is ‘really increasing,’ he noted, with many of these viruses — like SARS and Ebola — coming from animals. Viruses that might have remained local could be spreading more easily due to widespread travel, he suggested. ‘But now, something happens in a city that most people never heard of — Wuhan — and boom, goes to the whole world,’ he said... Piot said that he spent the last six years giving speeches titled: ‘Are we ready for the next pandemic?’” (“Belgian virus hunter warns of looming ‘age of pandemics,’” Politico.eu, September 23, 2020).

You may recall that our lead presenter Gerald Weston also explained the source of many of these viruses, on a previous telecast. It was entitled, “Why Does God Allow Pandemics?” In that telecast, he explained that many viruses come not just from animals, but from humans eating animals God never intended to be eaten. The Bible calls them “unclean.” If you’d like to review that telecast, you can find it on TomorrowsWorld.org.

Mr. Piot has been warning the world for years. Were we ready for COVID? Is he correct when he says we may be entering an age of pandemics?

This is not the first time we’ve been warned about diseases on the horizon. In the early 1990s, my wife had a microbiology college professor tell his class that he worried about the future. His concern was the overuse of antibiotics, and the growth of viruses resistant to antibiotics. He said, “We may come to a point where we are forced to go back to praying at the bedside of the sick.”

What a statement. Do you realize you don’t have to wait for a deadly illness to ask for God’s merciful healing?

Future Outbreaks Predicted

The experts tell us we should expect unknown diseases in the future. And frankly, they’ve been warning us for years. It’s not if, but when. And because of our modern transportation, it’s very difficult to limit an outbreak to one place. It quickly spreads all over the world.

I quoted from scientific experts in the last segment, but now let’s look at Bible prophecy. What do we learn from the Bible?

Way back at the time of Moses, God issued harsh warnings to the ancient nation of Israel if they would disobey Him. Notice what it says in Deuteronomy 28:58–59:

“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses” (Deuteronomy 28:58–59).

Longtime viewers of Tomorrow’s World know the Bible shows many of our Western nations today are actually descendants of the ancient nation of Israel. And much of prophecy is dual. There is an end-time fulfillment, as well.

More and more Western cultures blatantly disregard biblical values of human life and sexuality and morality. Greed, pride, and violence are the norm. As our sins mount, God may allow more diseases to come on us to wake us up!

Now, does this mean every time someone gets sick and even dies, it’s divine judgment? No. We all age and will grow old if we live long enough! And all of us will suffer from SOME health issues at some point in our life. And we will even die—that’s part of life.

At the same time, we’ve got to realize, God in His word says He sometimes uses disease epidemics to get His people’s attention. Notice, going on, in Deuteronomy 28:60:

“Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed” (Deuteronomy 28:60–61).

Bible prophecy also shows judgments coming on the whole world, as a result of sin. Toward the end of Jesus’ ministry, His disciples asked Him what would be the sign of His coming. After warning of deception and wars, notice what He said in Matthew 24:7–8:

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:7–8).

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines pestilence as:

“[A] contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating” (“Pestilence,” Merriam-Webster.com).

Note this carefully. This is not us claiming to know what the future holds; it’s a direct prophecy coming from the words of your Savior, Jesus of Nazareth. These are HIS words, and if we are a believer in Jesus Christ, we need to take note. Disease epidemics will come.

Now, He didn’t say we should be anxious and worried about it. In fact, in verse 6 He said, “See that you are not troubled.” Through Christ, we can have peace—even in difficult times to come. But we also must take His warning seriously.

Toward the end of the first century, the Apostle John saw a vision of the future. He recorded it in the Book of Revelation. After the prophesied seven seals, and the seven trumpet plagues, we read of the “seven last plagues.” Notice how the fifth plague is described, in Revelation 16:10–11:

“Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds” (Revelation 16:10–11).

We humans can be extremely hard headed. Even when the last plagues come, to wake up a sinning mankind, some will stubbornly refuse to repent of their sins.

Turning to God for Healing—How Strong is Your Faith?

So, what should we do?

Let’s face it, we are all physical. We all are subject to the ravages of time, age and at some point, disease.At some point we will die. It’s the normal cycle of life and death. But because we are physical, and our God is loving, He has also given us the blessing of divine healing.

When Jesus began His ministry, He immediately began preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God. But He also cast out demons and healed the sick. People came from all over to be healed. He saw their suffering and had compassion on them.

Let’s look at one particular case. A ruler came and asked Him to help his young daughter. She was sick and close to death. Jesus agreed to go with him, but on the way, something else happened. This is found in Mark 5:25–26:

“Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse” (Mark 5:25–26).

There are always those who are ready to prey on the vulnerable. That hasn’t changed, has it? At the same time, we know of outstanding examples in the medical field today who use their expertise and training to really serve their fellow man. Many of them have put their lives on the line in this time, fighting infectious diseases; for that, we’re grateful.

But think about it. No matter how dedicated physicians may be, they are still limited. There are times when they have done all they can do, and can do no more. They cannot heal in the ultimate sense. Only God can heal. And Jesus did heal this woman. Mark 5:27:

“When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well”” (Mark 5:27–28).

And He did make her well. That’s the power Jesus had. That’s the power of your and my Savior. And He still does heal—I’ve personally witnessed that in my life. And maybe you have, too. That needs to be real to us. Because He is real.

Jesus proceeded to the house of the ruler who had requested His help. When He got there, He heard the sad news: the little girl had already died. In fact, there were already mourners in the house. We pick up the story in Mark 5:36:

“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not be afraid; only believe.’… Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.… But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying” (Mark 5:36, 38, 40).

Notice, when Jesus healed, He didn’t make a big show of it. There was no fanfare, no spotlight, no sleight-of-hand. In fact, as we see here, He made all those who were wailing and carrying on leave the house. Then, those remaining were just a few, with the parents. It was a quiet, private matter. And this is what He did, as told in Mark 5:41:

“Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, ‘Talitha, cumi,’ which is translated, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’ Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat” (Mark 5:41–43).

He healed her. Actually, He raised her from the dead! Not with a lot of noise and production. In fact, He told them, don’t make a big deal of this to others! He wasn’t seeking a crowd. Healing was a part of His MINISTRY, as a sign of Who He was. And, He did it simply out of compassion for these desperate people.

Does God heal today? Absolutely. Notice what James 5:14–15 says:

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:14–15).

The Living Church of God has dedicated ministers around the globe. One of their duties is to pray over the sick and anoint them with oil. It’s not a strange or unusual ritual. It’s just a simple, quiet prayer with the one who is sick and the anointing of the person with a tiny bit of olive oil. It’s done just as it says here in James 5:14. God does heal. I’ve seen it myself, with my own eyes.

Now, are there times when we ask for God’s healing and we don’t get better immediately? Absolutely. We must understand, God has a plan for us. And His ultimate priority is to get us into His kingdom. And that means He sometimes allows us to suffer, to learn about trusting Him and having faith in Him. Paul learned that when He asked God for deliverance from a trial and was not delivered. Notice the answer from God to Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:9:

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We sometimes learn the most by learning to wait and be patient. Even so, God does want us to ask when we need help.

And notice something else. As it describes in Acts 19:11, there were times when Paul could not pray over someone in person, and in those cases he would pray over and anoint a cloth that would then be sent to that person, who would then apply the cloth to themselves in prayer. Let’s read it together:

“Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them” (Acts 19:11–12).

The Living Church of God follows that practice as well, sending out anointed cloths to those who ask, in genuine faith, to be healed.

Jesus Christ Cares About Your Health and Future

Earlier in today’s program, I mentioned the micro-biology professor saying there would come a time when we would again have to pray at the bedside of the sick. But think about it; Are we only going to do that when we are absolutely forced to? Or, can we begin to seek God now, every day, to guide us and teach us—and heal us—when we’re sick? The answer is obvious; God wants us to seek Him now.

In John 10:10, notice what Jesus Christ said, as recorded by the apostle John:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

God wants to give us eternal life, through the resurrection. But He also wants us to enjoy the blessings of life now—and that includes divine healing.

Look to God. Realize that COVID may just be a blip on the radar. But we can be prepared for whatever comes next, if we have faith and trust in God.

Hey, it’s me again! Thank you for watching and remember to subscribe so you don’t miss another Tomorrow’s World video, and if you’d like a copy of our free booklet Does God Heal Today? go to TWtv.org/heal or click the link in the description. See you next time.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Spirits Are Real. What Do You Know About Them?

There is more to the world than what we can see. Beyond the physical realm we can see, touch, feel, and hear, there is an invisible realm—the spirit world, inhabited by both angels and demons. This world impacts us in many ways, but truth about it is sparse. Most people’s beliefs about angels and demons are built upon rumors, speculations, and bad religion. However, Almighty God—the Creator of the spirit world—reveals the truth we need in His word.

Join us right now on Tomorrow’s World as we look at six myths about angels and demons and expose them to the light of Scripture.

Real Spirit Beings, Distinct from Humanity

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible. And when it comes to making sense of your world, that includes the INVISIBLE part of your world—the SPIRIT world. Today we will look at six myths that many people believe about angels and demons and replace them with the truth of God’s word.

We’ll also give you the opportunity to request a completely free DVD titled “The Occult and the Spirit World.” Be sure to take note of the information we’ll provide so you know how to get your own free copy.

When it comes to angels and demons, regrettably, myths and misunderstandings abound! So many people believe so many different things about these denizens of the spirit realm. But we don’t need to guess, nor do we need to shrug our shoulders and say we simply don’t know. Because if anyone knows the TRUTH about the spirit realm, and about angels and demons, it’s God. And He reveals that truth in his word. So, without further ado, let’s jump right in.

Myth #1: Our first myth is that there is no such thing as the Devil or demons. [That] Satan is just a symbol for evil in the world.

This sort of statement is commonly made by individuals who see themselves as too “enlightened” to believe in tales of a “pointy-tailed” devil with a pitchfork and horns, and by those who have innocently believed them.

But it is false. There IS a very real devil. He is alive. He is intelligent. He is evil. And He is a spirit being who influences people, governments, and events in this world. On this fact, the Bible is extremely plain.

Jesus speaks very plainly of this malevolent entity in many passages, such as in Matthew 12. There, the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting demons out by the power of the devil, and Jesus responds,

Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? (vv. 25–26).

So, not only is Satan referred to as a very real individual here, but Jesus also notes that he has a kingdom of demons under him.

And in Luke 22:31, we read of a warning Jesus gave to Simon Peter about how the devil had set his sights on the disciple:

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.”

We will speak more about the personhood and personality of Satan later in the program. But, clearly, the Bible and the Son of God, Himself, speak of the devil and his demons as real, personal entities, not some vague, impersonal “force” or “evil influence.” Such beliefs are simply myths.

Myth #2: So here is our next myth: Angels are the spirits of dead human beings.

This is a common belief among more people than you might think. Pop culture reinforces the idea, going back, for instance, to the old 1959 song “Teen Angel” and the 1969 movie “The Littlest Angel.” But the idea persists, and some think that, when good people die, they BECOME angels in heaven. Sometimes at a funeral or speaking with a loved one of a recently deceased person, you will hear words of comfort, for instance, in which someone says that, quote, “Heaven has gained another angel.”

But this is a myth, and wrong on many accounts. First, upon death, humans do not live again until their resurrection. This fact of a future resurrection is made plain in many places in your Bible, such as Paul’s comment to Felix in Caesarea:

I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15).

Even so, it is also incorrect because human beings and angels are completely DIFFERENT categories of living beings. Humans are created in God’s own image with a startling potential NOT to be angels, but to be a part of God’s own family, inheriting all things under Jesus Christ.

As for angels, they were created—among other possible reasons—to SERVE mankind. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 1, we read,

And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire”… Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? (vv. 7, 14).

Angels are to SERVE, at God’s direction, human beings who will inherit salvation. That inheritance highlights the difference between humans and angels, when we understand it. Actually, the difference between angels and humans is far bigger than this, but we’ll discuss that later in our program.

So, are angels the spirits of dead human beings? Not at all. Mankind and “angelkind” are completely different kinds of beings. While they may have some similarities—such as intelligence, moral accountability, and free will—one does NOT come from the other.

Dangerous to Humans, Subservient to God

Myth #3: Satan is God’s opposite, balancing God’s good with the devil’s evil.

Some myths have a seed of truth to them, and this one does. Satan’s CHARACTER is certainly the opposite of God’s in many ways. While God cannot lie and Christ, the Son of God, is called a “life-giving spirit,” the devil is called the father of lies and “a murderer from the beginning.”

But the idea that, somehow, God and the devil “balance our universe” with good and evil, as if Satan is sort of an eternal “anti-God”—like the eastern idea of Yin and Yang—gives the devil far too much credit.

Satan the Devil is a CREATED being, far less powerful than the All-Powerful God, though he was not created AS the devil. No, God created an angel called, in most English Bibles, “Lucifer,” who eventually rebelled against his Creator. We see one of the descriptions of this given in Ezekiel 28. There, in the midst of a passage containing prophecies about the ruler of the ancient city of Tyre, God inspires the prophet Ezekiel to address the demonic power BEHIND the throne, as well, Satan the Devil. Through the prophet, the Lord says to him,

You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you (vv. 14–15).

Pride, vanity, and selfish ambition corrupted the wisdom of this being (vv. 16–17) until he rose in rebellion against his Creator. Isaiah 14 records his rebellious thoughts, as God says through the prophet in verses 13 and 14,

For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”

The result is a thunderous and disastrous defeat for the corrupted angel—just as rebellion against God ALWAYS brings. We have more details for you about this angelic rebellion and the origins of the devil in today’s free DVD, “The Occult and the Spirit World.” But for now, suffice it to say that there is no equality between God and the Devil in any sense. While God has existed forever and is all powerful, Satan has a beginning and is NOT all powerful. In fact, a time is coming when he will be restrained forever, able to influence others no more for the rest of time. We pray that day comes soon!

Myth #4: In the meantime, let’s look at myth number four: Cherubs look like sweet little children with wings.

It is hard to get farther off the mark than this myth does. Most of us have seen paintings, statues, or other depictions of so-called “cherubs.” They look like sweet, innocent infants or children, often wearing little clothing and usually flying about with little wings.

However, “cherubs”—or /ker’əb/ as it would be more properly pronounced—are nothing like these depictions AT ALL. Cherubs are very real spirit beings—angels who attend to God at His very throne in heaven and serve at His command. Genesis 3:24 tells us that after God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He placed cherubs on the east side of the garden with a flaming sword, preventing mankind from reentering. That doesn’t exactly sound like the job for a bunch of winged infants, does it? It isn’t. Because cherubs are NOT winged infants. We read a description of them in the book of Ezekiel. There, the curtain between us and the spirit world is parted for Ezekiel, and he is allowed to see these beings who are normally hidden from our sight. Here is his description of angelic beings who serve at God’s throne:

And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings.… As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle… Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies… [T]heir appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning (Ezekiel 1:5–8, 10–11, 13).

Now, THAT sounds like something that could wield a flaming sword and keep someone out of the Garden of Eden! And Ezekiel makes plain in chapter 10 and verse 20 that these creatures are cherubs—or, as the plural is in Hebrew, cherubim.

Regrettably, popular depictions of angelic creatures are rarely meant to serve biblical accuracy. What we see in paintings, statues, and movies are generally based more on human fantasy than God’s word and meant to serve human purposes, not God’s.

In fact, in our next segment, we’ll address whether we should be representing angels at all, and what dangers may lie in doing so.

Angels Serve, While Demons Rebel

Myth #5 Is that angels and humans had offspring in the ancient past.

This myth is based on a misunderstanding of a statement in Genesis 6. Let’s take a look here in Genesis 6, beginning in verse 1:

Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

In verse 4 it adds,

There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Some have taken the words “sons of God” to mean angels, and they take this passage to imply that sinning angels selected human women to breed with and create a race of half-human, half-angel “hybrids.”

One reason that some believe this is a description of angels having children with human women is the use of the phrase “sons of God,” which is used in the book of Job to refer to angels.

However, the description “sons of God” is not limited to angels in the Old Testament. For instance, through Hosea God promises to Israel that, if they repent, they shall become His people again and shall be called “sons of the living God” (Hosea 1:10).

In fact, in Deuteronomy 14 and verse 1, we read that God declares to Israel, “You are the children of the LORD your God….” The English translation of the New King James Version inadvertently hides the fact that the word translated “children” is exactly the same Hebrew word that is translated “sons” in Genesis 6. So, the idea that this phrasing is used exclusively for the angels is simply false. It is also used to describe human beings.

Add to this the fact that Genesis 1 speaks of creatures reproducing only after their own kind and Jesus Christ’s statement in Luke 20 [vv. 34–36] plainly says that angels do not marry.

Even the mention of “giants” in Genesis 6 doesn’t support this myth, as nowhere does Genesis 6:4 say that the “giants” were the offspring of this union—in fact, it says that such giant humans were already in the world before these marriages. Note, it says, “There were giants on the earth in those days, AND ALSO AFTERWARD….”

There are a number of ways that Genesis 6 can be understood, but the answer must always be consistent with the REST of the Bible. As Jesus Himself warns us in John 10:35, “…the Scripture cannot be broken….”

The biblical evidence weighs heavily against this myth, which, frankly, belongs more in the realm of science fiction and perverse fantasy. In fact, to say that an angel can produce a child in the world is potentially blasphemous, given that the Bible describes only God as producing a son through the miraculous pregnancy of Mary—and a future family of sons through the Work He and His Son are doing in the Church of God that Christ founded.

Myth #6: This brings us to our sixth and final myth of today’s program: Angels can be worshiped, revered, or even prayed to.

To be sure, angels are very real spirit beings, and, as we noticed earlier, God tells us that He made them to serve and care for humanity as we progress on our path toward salvation. But we can’t allow knowing this to cause us to fixate on them or begin to give them the sort of honor that should be reserved for God alone—or to give them the kind of attention that the Bible forbids.

For instance, in the book of Revelation, when the Apostle John was overwhelmed during the vision Christ had given him, he fell down at the feet of one of the angels who was guiding him. But notice how this angel responds:

Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God” (Revelation 22:9).

That’s how righteous angels respond. They do not want attention and they recognize that only God should be worshiped. Meanwhile, how do demonic, fallen angels respond? We see that in the devil’s example at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness. Read the account in Matthew 4. There, the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, noting that he had the power to give Jesus those kingdoms. He only asked one thing: “All these things I will give You [Satan said] if You will fall down and worship me” (v. 9).

Unlike righteous angels, who understand that only God the Father and the Son of God deserve our worship, adoration, and reverence, the fallen angels SEEK that attention and worship for themselves.

Rather than pray to angels or risk giving them a place in our lives that only God should occupy, we should do as as Jesus Christ did and resist temptation saying with Him,

Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him ONLY you shall serve” (v. 10).

This is one of many reasons why we should not decorate our home, clothing, or jewelry with images or statues of angels. Not only do such images often differ from the Bible’s descriptions of angels, but God plainly forbids crafting images of beings in heaven for religious purposes. And righteous angels have no INTEREST in being depicted, unlike Satan and the demons, who crave such attention. God’s angels redirect attention to HIM, not to themselves. In fact, the Apostle Paul notes that sometimes Christians interact with angels and aren’t even aware (Hebrews 13:2). Because righteous angels want your attention directed to their Creator, not to themselves.

Those are our six myths, but more important than all of them is one, very important TRUTH. One of the most important truths about the spirit world that few human beings on earth understand, yet every angel and demon surely does.

Mankind’s True Destiny as Part of God’s Family

As we close today, we need to discuss one more vital difference between humanity and angels—a difference we alluded to earlier in our program.

We pointed out that human beings do not become angels. But what do they become, then? The destiny of humanity is very much related to the angels and the spirit realm, but it is very different than many understand.

Consider the words of the Apostle Paul to those in ancient Corinth who were dragging their fellow Christians to worldly, pagan courts, instead of seeking wise individuals in the Church to help them settle their problems:

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? (1 Corinthians 6:2–3).

Indeed, those who yield to Jesus Christ and God the Father in this life will actually one day JUDGE ANGELS. Human beings are destined for something so much greater and more glorious than any angel will ever experience. God’s plan is not to help each of us one day “join the angels.” His plan is to help each of us join HIM—as members of the Family of God, ruling, reigning, and inheriting all things.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Putting Faith in the Bible

Is the Bible the word of God? Or is it merely the writings of delusional men? According to one of today’s most outspoken anti-god crusaders, it’s the latter. One can hear the disdain coming from Richard Dawkins when he declared in The God Delusion:

To be fair, much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and “improved” by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine centuries (Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, 2006, p. 90).

On the surface, Dawkins may sound good to those who have an anti-biblical bias, or are simply ignorant of the Bible, but his facts are not quite correct, and he fails to see the overall picture and the unity of thought found in this remarkable book. So what is the answer to the question? Is the book we know of as the Bible the word of God or the work of men?

I’ll answer this question today on Tomorrow’s World, and give you three reasons you can have confidence in the Bible. And I’ll also be offering a resource to further strengthen your understanding, so be sure to have writing material available on how to receive a free copy of The Bible: Fact or Fiction? And stay tuned, as I’ll be right back!

Evolution or God?

A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World. I’m happy you’re joining us today, because you need to know the answer to the question, “Is the book that we call the Bible the word of God, or the work of mere men?” You may believe that it is or that it isn’t, but have you, not just believed, but have you proved the answer to this question for yourself? You need to know for sure, because how you answer this question has a great impact on how you live your life. Is this book reliable? Can you count on its teachings and its promises, such as the promise of life after death?

You need to prove this one way or the other, and I’m asserting today that you can prove the Bible is more than the work of mere men. It’s the work of the Creator of life—the One who knows best how we ought to live our lives, and the One who has a plan for you and for me. To accompany today’s program, we are offering a resource that gives even more information on this subject, so be sure to take down the contact information that will be shown at different times during this program to receive a free copy of The Bible: Fact or Fiction?

Where do we start in proving the Bible? The answer is that we start with whether there is a God who inspired it. To prove the Bible we have to prove God. So:

Reason #1: The Author of the Bible is real, and you can prove His existence

The theory of evolution has become a great destroyer of faith and from a very young age we are bombarded in nature programs and in school with the idea that life wasn’t created, but is the result of evolutionary processes. And individuals such as Dawkins ridicule those who believe in God.

Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is the belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence (“Editorial: A scientist’s case against God,” The Independent, April 20, 1992).

In the mind of Dawkins, belief in God is based on blind faith, but evolution, on the other hand, is founded on factual evidence. However, not all evolutionists share his disdain, but recognize that evolution also requires faith. In a February 13, 1993 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in which the topic under discussion was how to deal with “The New Antievolutionism,” Michael Ruse, a giant in the field of evolution and philosophy, made the following revealing statement:

And certainly, there’s no doubt about it, that in the past, and I think also in the present, for many evolutionists, evolution has functioned as something with elements which are, let us say, akin to being a secular religion (“Speech by Professor Michael Ruse,” ARN.org, February 13, 1993).

Now lest any misunderstand, Ruse is a hardline evolutionist, and he made that abundantly clear in his symposium speech and in his answers to questions presented to him. Yet, he continued with his admissions that evolution is a secular religion:

But I am coming here and saying, I think that philosophically that one should be sensitive to what I think history shows, namely, that evolution…akin to religion, involves making certain a priori or metaphysical assumptions, which at some level cannot be proven empirically (ibid.).

While Dawkins and many others ridicule faith in God as lacking evidence, it would serve them well, as Ruse was trying to explain to those in attendance at the symposium, to look in the mirror and admit their own faith in their Darwinian god.

Now, we cannot prove that God exists by disproving evolution, but frankly, what are the alternatives? If evolution is shown to be a false religion, maybe one needs to look more closely at that alternative.

This brings me to a crucial point of scientific fact. Before evolution you first must have life, and life rising spontaneously is simply impossible.

The Miracle of Life in a Cell

Life evolving from some primordial soup sounds so inviting, a sure thing. Give the right conditions and it has to happen, but does it? How easy is it to put together a living organism, no matter how “simple”?

Michael Denton highlights what all knowledgeable biologists must admit—life is complex beyond belief:

Although the tiniest bacterial cells are incredibly small… each is in effect a veritable micro-miniaturized factory containing thousands of exquisitely designed pieces of intricate molecular machinery… far more complicated than any machine built by man and absolutely without parallel in the non-living world (Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Denton, 1986, p. 250).

Now think about that. “The tiniest bacterial cells” are “far more complicated than any machine built by man.” And that, my friends, is no exaggeration. He states further:

The complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together suddenly by some kind of freakish, vastly improbable, event. Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle (Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Denton, p. 264).

The next time a news report comes out about finding water on some distant rock, as though that’s all that’s needed for life, consider this statement from evolutionist Bill Bryson in his new book The Body:

You could call together all the brainiest people who are alive now or have ever lived and endow them with the complete sum of human knowledge, and they could not between them make a single living cell… (The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Bill Bryson, 2019, p. 4).

Congratulations to all evolutionists on your unmatched faith. In the next paragraph he refers to life as a “miracle.” Bryson understands that DNA is needed to make our cells, but what is DNA? He says:

Your DNA is simply an instruction manual for making you. (ibid, p. 6).

But how did this instruction manual come to be? Who wrote the code? And get this: It takes protein machines to carry out the instructions to make the proteins. How did the first proteins come into being?

Now if life did not arise by chance, then the best inference is that there is a God of intelligence beyond our imagination and our very existence calls for the question, why? Why do we exist—for what purpose? And would that Creator not give us understanding to that purpose? So where might we look for His revelation? Could it be that the marvelous book known as the Bible is the answer?

Bible Prophecy Fulfilled

[Our first point was] Reason #1: The Author of the Bible is real, and you can prove His existence, and #2: Fulfilled prophecy proves the Bible is the word of God.

It may surprise you to learn that one-fourth to one-third of the Bible is prophecy. And through the words of this amazing book, One claims to be God Almighty, the One who can foretell history in advance. Notice this challenge found in Isaiah 46, and verses 9 and 10:

Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9–10).

Has God through the Bible accurately predicted the future? Yes, He has. Many easy to understand prophecies have already come to pass, such as some found in the book of Daniel.

Shortly after taking the throne of the Chaldean (or Babylonian) empire, King Nebuchadnezzar had an unusually realistic dream. In it he saw an image of a man and Daniel was called to interpret its meaning. Here is how Daniel described Nebuchadnezzar’s image—Daniel 2, beginning in verse 32:

This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces (Daniel 2:32–34).

Daniel then explained that the head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldean kingdom and that there would be three kingdoms to follow. Notice it in verses 39 and 40:

But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others (Daniel 2:39–40).

History confirms the following four kingdoms:

Babylon

Medo-Persian Empire

Greco-Macedonian Empire

Roman Empire

The descriptions of these four world powers are given greater detail in Daniel 7 and Revelation chapters 13 and 17, but we won’t take time on this program to go into those details. However, in the eighth chapter of Daniel, very specific details are given regarding the relationship between the two middle kingdoms where they are described as a ram and a goat...

The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king (Daniel 8:20–22).

True to this prophecy, Alexander the Great of Macedonia rose up on the Grecian peninsula and overthrew the Medes and the Persians. His empire stretched from Greece to India and south into Egypt. We read further in this prophecy that, upon his death in 323 BC, his kingdom would be divided among four of his generals into four separate kingdoms. Daniel 8:22,

As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power (Daniel 8:22).

While we have past prophecies that we can look to, and there are far more than most people can imagine, there are other prophecies that are happening right now before our eyes. As we have shown on this program numerous times, Daniel accurately describes the time of the end as being a time of great knowledge and transportation explosions. Notice it in 12:4:

But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase (Daniel 12:4).

And there are many, and I mean many, prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. After all, the Bible contains one-fourth to one-third prophecy and that is a lot of prophecy.

There is yet another proof of the Bible that I want to give you today.

God’s Ways Work

The first reason we covered on today’s program is:

Reason #1: The Author of the Bible is real, and you can prove His existence

Reason #2: Fulfilled prophecy proves the Bible is the word of God

Now for our third reason:

Reason #3: The proof of the pudding is in the eating

To put it another way, God knows best how we ought to live our lives. Consider this challenge given in the book of Deuteronomy in 30:19:

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live (Deuteronomy 30:19).

That is the challenge set before each and every one of us. But the Bible also reveals something important about our nature—we would rather trust our own judgment than that of our Creator. This point is made in numerous scriptures as well as the recorded history of man, but notice how it is put succinctly in Proverbs 14:12. Where it says,

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12).

God reveals that there are two ways of life. One leads to all kinds of blessings and life. The other leads to trouble ending in death. Man’s proclivity is to choose the latter. So let’s see how the Bible gives us the right way to live.

One of the Ten Commandments says very simply,

You shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14).

Now I’ve chosen this one because we might all agree that murder and stealing are not good—at least not good for the other person—but rejecting the temptation to commit adultery not only benefits others, but obedience to this command protects the self. Sadly, many in our world violate this command. Most rational people recognize that adultery is a scourge on society that hurts marriages, children, and individuals who commit this sin. As we are advised in 1 Corinthians 6:18,

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18).

Does anyone disagree that sexually transmitted diseases are only one negative result of sexual immorality? These diseases could be wiped out in a single generation if these intimate acts were confined to faithful, monogamous marriage relations. Yet, human reason allows for people to argue otherwise against all observable wisdom and facts. One could cite many examples of how God knows best, but I want to focus on another example of God’s law as revealed in the Bible, and it’s one that the whole world is currently paying a heavy price for rejecting.

God, out of loving concern, gave mankind laws of clean and unclean meats. He told us what is good for man to eat and what is not. The distinction is first mentioned in the flood account where Noah was told to take animals aboard the Ark, but not all animals were the same. Notice it in Genesis 7:2:

You shall take with you SEVEN each of every clean animal, a male and his female; TWO each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female (Genesis 7:2).

This was centuries before Moses. However, the Bible waits until Moses to delineate the differences between clean and unclean. Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 spell out those differences. The majority of mankind rejects these instructions and the result in one word? Coronavirus.

The year 2020 will go down in history as the year COVID-19 devastated the lives and economies of individuals and nations. Whether the coronavirus came from a “wet market” or from a biohazard lab, the origin is the horseshoe bat. Since the 2003–2004 SARS outbreak, this bat, and the coronavirus it carries, has been studied extensively, as it is believed to be the source of that outbreak. However, even though bats are used in Chinese medicine and at the dinner table in China, these viruses normally have to first infect another animal before they can spread human to human.

Popular Science published an article during the SARS crisis in which it stated the following:

In theory, SARS leapt from a wild beast to a human when it acquired the molecular “keys” to gain entry to our cells, explains [Michael] Lai. To do that, it may have first mingled with a human virus brewing inside another species. A pig, for example, can serve as a genetic mixing bowl when co-infected with two viruses, allowing them to swap genes (“SARS: Where Did It Come From?” PopSci.com, July 2, 2003).

The article goes on to make this remarkable statement:

“The fact that both SARS and most flu viruses originated in southern China is no surprise,” says virologist Michael Lai, who believes that the region’s social customs of catching and eating wild game expose people to animal viruses (ibid.).

Now consider the profound implications of this. The cause of most flu viruses is known and if you stop the cause, you stop the flu. Wild game is not the problem, but the KIND of wild game is. Note that the bat and pig are both listed as unclean according to the Bible. So are camels, primates (such as monkeys), and other exotic foods eaten in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere in the world. Ebola, MERS, the Nipah Virus, the 1918 flu pandemic, COVID-19, and many other diseases are the result of handling biblically unclean meats. While scientists have figured this out, humanity in general has not. We’ve failed to discover God’s revealed truth as shown in the Bible. We think we can reject His revelation and get away with it. So who’s smarter? We will do well to respect God’s instruction book for mankind.

You can prove the Bible to be the word of God. And as we have seen on today’s program:

Reason #1: The Author of the Bible is real, and you can prove His existence

Reason #2: Fulfilled prophecy proves the Bible is the word of God

Reason #3: The proof of the pudding is in the eating

Thank you for watching. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss another Tomorrow’s World video. And if you’d like to get our free booklet The Bible: Fact or Fiction, just click here. See you next time.