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Doctrine:
Legalism:
Mine Ordinances:
The following is Frank
Sandford's article "Mine Ordinances". Although the date of the work is not
immediately available, it is a snapshot view of the legalisms Frank Sandford's ministry
encouraged, promulgated, and regulated. The Kingdom faithful will counter that these
"ordinances" are merely what any dedicated Christian follower are responsible
for. They say these rules are but some of what the "Restoration of All Things"
are all about, and due to Mr. S's unquavering steadfastness are restored to us today.
My Bible teaches that Jesus
came to fulfill the law. The lead in to that verse, which the Kingdom accentuated,
was that "I came not to destroy the law...". Mr. Sandford drew from that
verse that since the law was not destroyed, it was still to be enforced. It would
seem however, that what Christ's expression intended to convey to the listener (and
reader) was that the law was there to lead into the New Covenant, not to pound the old one
home. Paul tells us, essentially, that the Old Covenant failed. But it seems
Frank Sandford felt that it needed to be "re-vitalized" in the form of his
"Restoration", as he expresses below.
Mine
Ordinances:
"Ye have turned aside from mine ordinances
from the days of your fathers and have
not kept them:" Mal. 3:7-12 also 16,17.
In this same chapter two forerunners of the King are
mentioned John the Baptist and "Elijah the prophet'' each of whom restores to his
generation the things ordained by his God.
What then, are the special commandments essential to the of the present generation?
I Repentance.
"God now commiandeth all men everywhere to repent:" Acts 17:30.
The first text along the banks of the Jordan was, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand."
That same word was the opening message from the Master's lips.
And finally the doctrine of repentance is made emphatic by the herald of the Lord's second
coming.
The globe is out of joint with its Maker, and without godly sorrow [we] can never
successfully approach Him with whom we have to do.
II Restitution.
In Exodus 22:3,5,6 and 12 we read of
"restitutution" - "full restitution" - "surely make
restitution" - "and of the best . . . shall he make restitutuion," while in
Num. 5:6,7, A.R.V. we read of "restitution in full."
Inasmuch as we are now living in "the times of restitution of all things'' (Acts
3:2l) we should expect restitution absolute.
It is utterly useless to "repent of having, stolen unless you immediately restore
that $5.00 with the statement, "I have been a thief, will you forgive me?"
III The Acceptation of the Glad Tidings.
The Master followed John with the terse
sentence, "Repent ye believe the gospel:" Mark 1:15.
It is not enough to repent of theft.
You must believe the word of the Son of God which will save you from further
thieving. He came "to seek and save" each member of the human race that
would receive His words.
page 2
There is no such thing as the favor of God if you doubt the speech of the one sent of God.
He that failed to receive the testimony of the Son concerning the Father or the speech of
the Father concerning His Son ''hath made Him a liar."
That deadly insult will not be forgotten, "Without faith it is impossible to please
Him." Sin was defined by the Son of God, not as murder or breaking the ten
commandments, but as unbelief: "of sin because they believe not on Me." That
unbelief in the Master is the secret of murder, adultery, theft, and every evil deed.
The penalty of not believing the glad tidings is eternal banishment from the presence of
God.
You cannot do as you please about believing the gospel "He that believeth ... shall
be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned."
The life blood of the Son of God cannot be lightly esteemed. You will settle for the
wickedness of unbelief, or in other words, the rejection of the favor God has sought to
show you - you will settle for that when you look your Judge in the face and hear Him
utter these fearful words - "Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels."
IV Confession of that Belief in God's Appointed Way, or Baptism.
''Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them."
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."
It is well to confess Christ by kneeling. It is proper to confess Him by "calling
upon the name of the lord." It is essential to stand to your feet and bear testimony
as to what He has done for your soul.
But none of these will serve as a substitute for burial in baptism. That is the divine
plan. Happy are they who adopt it and do so heartily, for to such He will "show His
salvation."
V The Distinct Reception of the Spirit of God.
When on the day of Pentecost they asked,
"What shall we do?" the answer instantaneously given was "Repent and be
baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
page 3
That does not mean that you will necessarily receive the Spirit of God as a definite act
then and there, but the way is open for the reception of the Third Person of the trinity,
For instance, all Samaria was swept by the power of God as recorded in the 8th chapter of
Acts. Yet we read "that the Holy Ghost was fallen upon none of them."
The baptismal services had brought great joy to that city, BUT NOT the definite reception
of the Spirit. Peter and John had definite prayer for that result, accompanied by the
laying on of hands
With every stain of life washed away as one comes dripping from baptismal waters, oh, what
an opportunity to let the Guest - the divine Guest knocking at the door of the heart -
enter into His own temple - the human body!
VI The Lord's Supper.
"Eat ye all of it."
This is food for the soul - nay sustenance for body and soul.
This is "eternal life" - the bread of life which will make you triumphant forty
billion years hence.
"This do ye in remembrance of Me" - as though the Master were lonely and desired
never to be forgotten. Grant Him that desire. Partake of His body.
Remember Him inasmuch as He never forgot you and is even now in the presence of God
appearing there for us."
In fact, He has no other occupation, for "He ever liveth to make intercession for
us" for you, for me as truly so as when He triumphantly prayed in behalf of Peter.
Never make idle excuses for staying away from the Lord's Supper - it is your very life.
VII Regular Attendance at Religious Services.
"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together ... but exhorting one another; and so much the more as ye see the day
approaching:" Heb. 10:25.
This is a divine statement that the frequency of our gathering should be increased as we
approach unto the second coming of our Lord.
God has ordained that we should not only have the "communion of the Holy Ghost'' but
the communion of the saints as well in the church gatherings of the kingdom.
See to it then, that there be no lazy
excuse from regular attendance upon divine service.
This, however, does not call for us to gather with those who belong
to sects and schisms, to divisions in the body of Christ, to denominational circles, to
the ten thousand and one forms of religion, the most of which is but partially right,
while a large proportion of religious activities are actually unscriptural, and in many
cases absolutely false. From all such we have the divine injunction, "save ourselves
from the untoward generation."
The apostle Paul, even in his day, was compelled to use similar
language: "mark them that are causing the divisions ... contrary to the doctrine
which ye learned and turn away from them."
To those words we add the words he wrote so long, ago to the Corinthians: "AND BE YE
SEPARATE.'' Your separation with the herald TODAY is your success in evangelizing the
world TOMORROW.
VIII Divine Healing.
When our forefathers set forth from Egypt for
the Promised Land, God spake to them on the way saying, "If thou wilt diligently
hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His eyes, and
wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the
diseases upon thee which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am Jehovah that healeth
thee."
That was a nationally given promise that the scripturally ordered life might receive
divine healing in case of need..
When Isaiah uttered his prophecy (53:4) "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows," he was referring, not only to mental ills, but to diseases of the body
as well.
This is revealed in Matt 8:16,17 where the Holy Spirit translates the Hebrew into Greek,
plainly stating, this fact: "And when even was come, they brought
unto Him many possessed with demons, and He cast out the spirits with a word; and healed
all that were sick that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet
saying,
'Himself took our Infirmities and bare our diseases or, as it is
translated in the A.V., "bare our sickness."
The custom of divine healing introduced by Moses, especially emphasized by Jesus Christ,
was continued by the twelve apostles of the Lamb as is recorded in Mark 6:13: "And
they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed
them."
James, the brother of Jesus, continued this practice in the following language: "Is
any sick among you, 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 shall save him
that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up."
page 5
Then is added a very important thought one often passed over without due consideration:
"and if he have committed sins it shall be forgiven him."
Usually the best of people are nagged with the thought, "Perhaps there is something
wrong in my life." James meets that squarely by saying, "Even so, the sin shall
be forgiven and the sickness removed provided you carry out the God given directions of
the New Testament."
IX Tithe Giving, or Financial partnership with Jehovah.
In Malachi this is the special ordinance which has been disregarded: ''from the days of
your fathers ye have turned aside from mine ordinances and have not kept them ... Will a
man rob God?"
Yet, in substance, Jehovah states, "Ye have robbed Me of tithes and offerings."
The "tithes" means one tenth of the income which, as a Partner, Jehovah is to
receive, the remaining nine tenths being the property of the godly Israelite.
"Bring ye the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in My house, and
prove Me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of
heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive
it."
More than that the Great I Am states, "I will rebuke the devourer for your sake ...
and all nations shall call you 'happy' for ye shall be a delightsome Land saith Jehovah of
hosts."
Jesus Christ referred to this custom in Matt. 23:23 when He rebuked the Pharisees saying,
"Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of
the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought Ye to have done and not to leave the
other undone."
This was an emphatic statement that the godly Israelite should deliver one tenth of his
income, i.e., "the tithe." for the interests of Jehovah Himself.
X The Evangelization of the World During Our Generation,
To "the poor" the gospel was preached
in the days of Jesus.
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To the rich as well as to "the poor" the glad tidings of the kingdom must be
given ere the Master's return: "Go ye, make disciples of all nations," and they
were to teach others "to observe all things whatsoever I have conmanded you."
Hence, we, as well as they, are solemnly responsible for the spiritual interests of the
people now upon the globe.
No person is worthy of the privileges connected with this wonderful baptism except the one
who is ready and even eager to give that same privilege to others.
XI The Right Attitude Concerning Things Restored by the Restorer.
You cannot tread down with impunity the things
he has devoted his entire life to. You cannot do this without the loss of the favor of
God.
For instance, Passover: "Ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever:" Ex.
12:14.
Yet in Hosea 2:11, because of the great defection in worshipping the two calves at Dan and
Beersheba, Jehovah said "I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feasts ... her
sabbaths and all her solemn assemblies.
This was done as the ten tribes of Israel were carried away into Assyrian captivity.
Afterwards they wandered across Europe, finally reached the British Isles, there received
the gospel, and under its benign influences the tribe of Manassah finally reached America.
Here the feasts are restored by Elijah, and having been restored., lo, Passover, Pentecost
and the Feast of Ingathering with their mighty blessings are to sweep the globe.
Reverence then, the kingdom with its restorations, and you will triumphantly reach, not
only the portals of the millennium, but with joy unspeakable pass through the same into
the presence of the Master.
XII The Great Commission.
It is one thing to read in the Bible that you
are responsible for the evangelization of the world; it is an entirely different thing to
hear a voice saying to you, "Remove the covering cast over the face of all the
earth," an a little later the words "each of you."
This makes us solemnly responsible for the removal of the blindness which has so long
characterized the human race.
page 7
We may not remove the scales from a rejecting sinner's eyes, but we are commissioned to do
so from every Pauline soul on the face of the earth.
What we are commissioned to do - THAT we can and must and will do.
These various ordinances faithfully observed are the twelve tribes
of victory, and not one can be omitted without fatal results.
If you fail to repent you are forever lost; if you repent, it is just as essential that
you should restore that $5.00;" if you restore that sum, it is still essential that
you heartily accept the gospel; but it is just as essential that you confess that
acceptation of the gospel by yielding your body to baptism.
Again, you can never be a triumphant Christian except you definitely receive the Holy
Spirit.
Neither can you do anything but limp along in an unsatisfactory way if you are careless
about the Lord's Supper, tithe giving, divine healing, or the evangelization of the world.
Even these essential steps will be lost if you tread down the restorations of the herald
of the King or fail,to enter into the solemnity of your God given commission.
And the glad tidings of the kingdom MUST be preached in all the world "must first be
published unto all the nations" "SHALL be preached in the whole inhabited earth
for a testimony unto all the nations: and then shall the end come:" Mark 13:10; Matt.
24:14.
Keep then wholesouledly all My solemn ordinances till life's work is done and THUS win the
"Well done" of your Master'.
XIII Worship God.
If you wish to add Levi to the "twelve
tribes of victory" representing the Temple or, in a spiritual sense, adoration of
your Maker, you will do well.
A Christian may be entirely proper in keeping the ordinances, yet the Father Himself is
greater than His commandments and should be worshipped not for what He does, but for what
He actually is.
"Such the Father seeks" - "true worshippers who worship the Father in
spirit and truth."
As Jesus desires to be remembered by His Suppers, so the Father desires appreciation,
adoration, worship, such as "the only Potentate" is worthy of receiving.
There is no grander moment than when you forget to ask something for yourself, forget even
praise or thanksgiving, and wholesouledly worship the Great I Am.,
"God make the converts worshippers!"
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