Our Test cover is a composite of the cover pictures of your last four lessons. Each Correspondence Course Test is designed to TEACH, as well as help you evaluate your progress. You will enjoy this convenient means of putting to PRACTICAL USE the knowledge you have learned. -------------------- an open letter from THE EDITOR ...

A UNITED STATES Senator preached a sermon in a Methodist pulpit in Los Angeles. Of all things, imagine a well-known senator saying that PATRIOTISM is a false god to many people! And he is right.

"Love of country can transcend the love of God," he said, "and we must, in time of stress, avoid making patriotism a religion.

He said a number of things I could have said myself. Among the idols professing Christians worship, he cited PROSPERITY, SCIENCE, PATRIOTISM, PEACE -- and so people actually make an idol of the Bible, strange as that may sound. "Some," he said, "worship the Bible for ITSELF, NOT as containing TRUTHS necessary for salvation" -- and, I add, as a GUIDE to a WAY OF LIFE.

What is YOUR idol? What are YOU really dedicated to? Is it earning a living -- making money? What absorbs your mind, your thoughts, your time -- what are you really DEVOTED TO? Is it GOD -- above all else? Or is it your hobby, your wife or husband, your children, your home, your sports or amusements and entertainments? What do you keep your MIND on most of the time? What most occupies your INTEREST? Is it friends -- society. Is it PEOPLE -- or is it THINGS?

Is it GOD? If not, then it is an IDOL. You are breaking the first Commandment. You have this other god, BEFORE Him. Just WHAT IS RELIGION?

Is it merely an incidental interest, secondary TO MANY other things, such as earning a living, your home, your family, your friends, hobbies, sports, entertainments? Possibly secondary to TV or movies?

Religion is your CONNECTION WITH GOD -- your relationship with Him. Religion is realizing the PURPOSE of your life -- the reason why God had you to be born -- the reason you draw the breath of air and exist -- the PURPOSE or end-GOAL of your life, and HOW to live that life so as to arrive there.

I have written of the "Seven Laws of SUCCESS". They are really the seven laws of LIFE. They are the seven laws of RELIGION. Yet most people do not know, or practice or apply, a single one of them.

The first is to have the RIGHT GOAL.

That GOAL -- God's PURPOSE for having put the breath of life in you -- is that you be born of GOD, to share with Him the GLORY of creation, to inherit His divine NATURE, to be LIKE HIM -- to do what He does, to accomplish what He accomplishes, enjoy what He ENJOYS -- peace, happiness, joy, resplendent GLORY in LIFE EVER-LASTING.

No other goal could be as great. It is superlative.

But what are you, NOW? Just a mass of matter, put together like a machine. Your present existence has to be constantly SUSTAINED. You have to keep drawing a breath of air into your lungs about every second. You have to eat food about three times every day. You have to take care of eliminating the impurities from food, and of bathing and cleansing. Maybe you don't REALLY have to "brush your teeth after every meal" as a certain toothpaste TV commercial keeps repeating like a phonograph record that got stuck. But you DO have to maintain and sustain your physical anatomy to keep on existing -- and even then you are aging and degenerating every day and every year -- and the most certain thing in this existence we call "life" is that this machine process is going to run down -- YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.

Actually, we have to simply KEEP PUMPING LIFE INTO ourselves constantly -- daily -- to continue existing -- to continue consciousness.

Yet most people keep on, day after day, year after year, pumping that existence into themselves, with NO MORE PURPOSE than to try to be comfortable, free from pain, and to be pleasing the five senses -- with their minds on the passing physical and material things of the moment -- things that are not lasting, and are soon gone.

Unless God's own CHARACTER is formed and developed in your mind and your life, replacing the carnality that is there now, you will have missed your GOAL. God's PURPOSE is to CREATE within you, during this life, a new and perfect CHARACTER.

If you are converted -- that is, if you do once establish actual CONTACT with God -- He supernaturally puts within you His HOLY SPIRIT. This impregnates you with HIS LIFE -- begets you as His child, actually yet unborn. But it does put within you a NEW NATURE, entirely opposite to HUMAN NATURE with which you were first born. You are, as Scripture says, given "exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE" (II Pet. 1:4). Of course the old human nature REMAINS; and YOUR MIND makes the continual decisions whether to yield to the downward pull and appetites and established habits of human nature, or to resist it by yielding to the new Divine nature -- to BE LED BY GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT.

This, then, BECOMES YOUR VERY LIFE!

You can succeed only if your GOAL is kept constantly -- continually -- before your eyes. When you drive a car, if you take your eyes and attention off of what is in front of you (and sometimes coming from the side or behind) even for two or three seconds, you may find yourself "coming to" in a hospital, dying, and saying, "it all happened so SUDDENLY!" Driving CAREFULLY means BEING ALERT -- being DILIGENT every second -- and your mind and attention on the matter of DRIVING -- not conversation or other things.

In the same manner, if you let other interests, material pursuits, steal first place in your mind and heart and INTEREST, even for a few days, you are endangering a SPIRITUAL SMASHUP that will let you wake up being plunged into the LAKE OF FIRE, which will mean eternal DEATH.

That's why God doesn't want you to have these other gods BEFORE Him. For your own sake -- in your own interest -- you must keep Him enthroned and enshrined constantly ABOVE ALL. You must study HIS WORD in order to be INSTRUCTED by Him.

Instructed in what? Instructed in true KNOWLEDGE -- knowledge of God's PURPOSE for you -- knowledge of and about GOD -- and knowledge of HOW TO LIVE. Jesus Christ said you must actually LIVE BY the words of the Bible. It is your GUIDE TO LIVING -- your INSTRUCTION BOOK the Maker sent along to instruct you in HOW to OPERATE this mechanism that is YOU.

More, you must study His Word -- your BIBLE -- to find what you now believe that is wrong, and what you are DOING that is wrong -- to be CORRECTED and reproved by it. You must study it to let it INSTRUCT you in the ways of God's RIGHTEOUSNESS -- HIS WAY OF LIFE. And then you must DEVOTE yourself to LIVING IT!

Still, without daily PRAYER YOU cannot maintain CONTACT with God. And when that CONTACT is broken, you are CUT-OFF from Him -- and His Spiritual LIFE, LOVE, and very NATURE ceases flowing into you. For, understand, these divine attributes of His Spirit DO FLOW! They are IN MOTION. They do not stagnate. You either GROW spiritually -- in knowledge -- in grace -- in God's character -- or you deteriorate back toward becoming carnally minded, to die in ETERNAL PUNISHMENT in the lake of fire!

But if God, and the things of God -- His revealed knowledge -- His Law -- His love -- His WAY for you to live -- are FOREMOST in your mind, your thoughts, your interest, then you are PRAYING to God on your knees every day, and maintaining a SPIRIT OF PRAYER -- a MENTAL ATTITUDE OF PRAYER at other times during the day. The contact with God MUST NOT BE BROKEN!

THIS kind of Christian life -- the only kind that truly IS Christian -- requires, as the Bible emphasizes repeatedly, zealous DILIGENCE. You must CONCENTRATE on it. You must be DEDICATED to it. It requires utter CONSECRATION. It requires total EARNESTNESS.

Yes, it requires the application of the other six laws of SUCCESS -- education, in which the Bible is the main textbook; good physical health; DRIVE, or concentrated DILIGENCE and EFFORT; resourcefulness; sticking to it -- enduring; and continual contact with and the guidance, help, and power of GOD.

True spiritual-mindedness is NOT a sticky sentimentalism. It is NOT a certain emotional mood. It is NOT the use of a certain religious phraseology, saying constantly, "Praise the Lord," or, "Glory Hallelujah." I have known many people whose TALK is SO very "spiritual" -- but whose hearts were as far from God as the prophet Isaiah described. -------------------------------------------------- PHOTO: Store full of consumer goods. God wants us to prosper (III John 2). But our people idolize physical things. Isaiah cries out, "Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made" (Isaiah 2:8). --------------------------------------------------

Jesus Christ was a perfectly SPIRITUAL man. But He did not go about using such mushy language. He was NOT a girlish, effeminate, sentimental or emotional weakling. He was a strong, virile, masterful, yet kind and gentle MAN. He possessed LEADERSHIP, STRENGTH, PURPOSE, SUPREME STRONG WILL -- and yet these masculine qualities of strength and power were perfectly blended with wisdom, judgment, knowledge, understanding, justice, and also patience, compassion and mercy. He was filled with PEACE, LOVE and FAITH. And His WILL, strong as it was, was totally yielded and obedient to God. All this was the character of God.

He is our PATTERN. We must imitate Him -- copy Him.

Look at the men of God in the Old Testament. Abraham, Noah, Joseph, David, Daniel, Elijah. They were all different from Christ in one respect -- in which you and I must also be different -- they had human weaknesses, and all did sin, yet these men all repented and strove to overcome. But they were all men of strong PURPOSE, strong WILL guided by God, all possessed leadership, but also love and faith and a consecrated OBEDIENCE to the will of GOD. But they were not effeminate, sentimental men indulging in an affected, put-on, religious-sounding way of talking.

Look at the apostles Peter and Paul. They were the same. You don't find any of this pseudo "spirituality" in them -- yet they were the truly SPIRITUAL men, devoted to obeying God and serving the needs of the people.

But one thing to watch and guard against every second, in the way of attitude, is resentment, bitterness, hatred. Don't let ANYTHING, no matter how unjust, make you sour and bitter. That is the deadliest mental and spiritual POISON. We must LOVE even our enemies who perpetrate the greatest outrages -- though we do not condone their evils.

If you ever think I'M wrong about anything, DON'T GET SOUR OR BITTER ABOUT IT -- let GOD correct and punish me -- vengence is HIS, you know. Resentment against me won't either punish me or benefit you, but it could consign YOU to ETERNAL punishment! Whether YOU believe it or not, I have come, by years of experience learning the HARD WAY, to have supreme faith that GOD will never neglect to correct or punish ME whenever I deserve it! You may TRUST HIM to do it.

Remember what a GLORIOUS GOAL we have before us!

How GRATEFUL we ought to be! How our hearts ought to be FLOODED with love and gratitude to the Great God for His matchless LOVE toward us. I'm sure we don't "grasp what a supreme price He paid to make it possible. He wants us to be CHANGED -- to overcome and root out this debasing rotten carnality we all have in us -- and to GROW into His righteous that we may SHARE His GLORY.

And, you know, I believe God wants and LONGS to share the supreme GLORY that He has with YOU! Make it your supreme overall life VOCATION, and WORK HARD AT IT!

The Japanese spy who stealthily and secretly obtained all the information the Japanese needed to bomb Pearl Harbor said that he was not a very brilliant man, and learning came hard to him. BUT HE WORKED HARD AT IT, relentlessly, with zeal, and with purpose, and with diligence. He SUCCEEDED -- in terrible DESTRUCTION -- in plunging the United States into World War II -- and, finally, in the ignominious defeat of his own nation.

Let US work hard AT OUR CALLING AND MISSION of being real Christians. We shall succeed, with GOD'S help -- in final and eternal GLORY. -------------------------------------------------- PHOTO: Below, motion picture marquee advertises "Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." Ironically, the movie portrayed this world as the idolatrous, pleasure-mad, irreligious society that it really is. --------------------------------------------------

TEST NUMBER ELEVEN

THIS examination is given to help you BETTER UNDERSTAND your Bible and EVALUATE your progress. It is a SIMPLE TEST covering your studies in the last four lessons. It's a quick review to help you REMEMBER and put to PRACTICAL USE the vital knowledge you have learned.

Notice that FOUR CHOICES are given under each question. ONLY ONE is the CORRECT answer. The other three are WRONG. (Generally speaking, the INCORRECT answers are FALSE ideas which are taught and believed about the subject.)

SELECT THE ONE RIGHT ANSWER FROM AMONG THESE FOUR CHOICES. Then CIRCLE the letter of the answer you believe to be correct. The correct answer to the first question is already circled for you as an example.

The questions are divided into four parts -- each part corresponding to one of your last four lessons. Answer as many questions as you can without referring to the lessons. Take sufficient time to understand each question. If you find any difficult questions, do be sure to REFER TO THE LESSONS.

Once you have finished going over the questions and are satisfied with your answers, check your circled selections with the correct answers listed at the bottom of page 16. Then count the number of questions you missed and find your grade in the grading section located on the same page. That's all there is to it. There's NOTHING to send back to us.

Lesson 41

YOU WERE BORN TO RULE!
1. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. You were born to become a physical king.

B. We can never know why we were born.

C. You were born to become a member of the universe-ruling Family of God.

D. Science, not the Bible, holds the key to our future destiny.

2. What part do God's annual festivals have in His Master Plan of Salvation for mankind?

A. They are merely ancient "Jewish" feasts that have no meaning for us today.

B. They give us the OUTLINE of God's Plan of Salvation.

C. No part at all, since the Apostles never kept the festivals mentioned in the Old Testament.

D. They have absolutely nothing to do with salvation.

3. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE? The Passover

A. is the first step in God's Plan of Salvation.

B. has no part in God's Plan for mankind.

C. pictures Christ as having died for our past sins.

D. has been rejected by professing Christianity and replaced by Easter.

4. Which ONE of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The organized churches today do not understand God's Plan because they don't keep the festivals commanded in the Bible.

B. Christmas, Easter and Halloween give the outline of God's Master Plan of Salvation.

C. The Ten Commandments were "nailed to the Cross."

D. Christ kept His Father's Commandments in our stead.

5. During the Millennium

A. men will continue to rule the earth with their human forms of government.

B. Jesus Christ and the saints will rule all the nations.

C. the earth will be totally uninhabited.

D. the saints will be in heaven enjoying the "beatific vision."

6. During the 100 years following the Millennium,

A. all people who have ever lived and have never had a chance to learn and understand the truth of God, will have their opportunity to become members of the God Family.

B. everyone will have gone to heaven and the earth will become desolate.

C. all of the "unsaved" people who died since Adam will be resurrected and condemned to the Lake of Fire.

D. there will be no human beings alive on earth.

7. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. Man is merely an animal of high intelligence.

B. Man, through the God-directed process of evolution, evolved from lower forms of life.

C. Man is a very special creation of God, created in His image.

D. God is not in the process of reproducing His own kind.

8. God is

A. a holy "Trinity."

B. only a figment of the imagination of our ignorant ancestors.

C. certainly not a Family.

D. a Divine Family that will increase suddenly at the resurrection when spirit-begotten Christians will have been born of God.

9. The Kingdom of God

A. is not the greatest goal we could endeavor to attain.

B. will become the greatest of all things.

C. cannot be inherited.

D. is already established in the hearts of "born-again" Christians.

10. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE? Jesus Christ

A. is the heir of the entire universe.

B. will appoint those who have qualified in this life to positions of rulership in the coming Kingdom of God.

C. is the firstborn among many brethren.

D. will rule the universe alone.

11. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. Abraham will be in God's Kingdom because he believed and obeyed God.

B. Abraham qualified to dwell in the New Jerusalem because he merely BELIEVED what God said was true.

C. Abraham never expected God's own city in heaven to ever be transported to earth.

D. We can't be sure whether Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be in the Kingdom of God after all.

12. What must we do NOW to prepare for the Kingdom of God?

A. We must begin yielding ourselves to God by BURYING our old sinful way of life in the water of baptism, and then CONTINUE to live by God's Word.

B. Yielding ourselves to God's authority is not part of our preparation.

C. Yielding ourselves to ANY higher authority is sufficient.

D. It isn't at all important "to whom" we yield ourselves.

13. Which one of these four statements is FALSE? Christ

A. will rule under God the Father in the coming Kingdom of God.

B. is our living example of obedience.

C. was able to learn valuable lessons in obedience by the things He suffered on this earth.

D. kept God's Law perfectly for us so that we need not obey it. 14. Baptism

A. is accomplished by sprinkling water on one's forehead.

B. is an outward sign of submission to God.

C. does not represent the burial of the old sinful self.

D. is not a prerequisite to becoming a Christian in this modern 20th century space age.

15. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. God's Church is the spiritual "Mother" of all true Christians.

B. You do not need to be baptized and receive God's Spirit to become a member of God's True Church.

C. We can draw no analogy between the feeding of an unborn child and the feeding of a yet unborn spiritual son of God.

D. We do not need to receive spiritual food in order to grow spiritually and be born of God.

16. The True Church of God

A. began when a group of believers "saw the truth" and assembled themselves together.

B. is actually the Kingdom of God on earth.

C. was planned and built by Jesus Christ.

D. does not exist for the purpose of instructing and training future members of the ruling Family of God -- the Kingdom of God.

17. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. Christ appointed the Apostle Peter as the FIRST of a long succession of "popes" to head God's Church.

B. The True Church was founded on the day Christ rose from the dead.

C. Christ never authorized His ministers to teach and protect the members of His Church.

D. Christ planned and built His Church for the purpose of feeding its members spiritual food.

18. Christ's command, "Feed my sheep,"

A. was not actually directed to all His Apostles.

B. was given to His Apostles to make sure all the poor among early Christians would have enough to eat.

C. means that He has commissioned His Church to instruct its baptized members in HOW TO LIVE by God's Word

 D. means that He has commanded His Church to send a warning witness to all nations before His Second Coming.

19. The seven Churches of God described in Revelation 2 and 3

A. have existed CONTEMPORANEOUSLY from the Apostolic Era until now.

B. represent prophetically the seven SUCCESSIVE periods, or stages, of the continued existence of God's one True Church.

C. are nothing we should be concerned about today.

D. are all prophesied to exist simultaneously in the end time.

20. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. We can rule in God's Kingdom even if we don't yield ourselves to God.

B. Individual church members must GROW spiritually in order to receive a reward in the Kingdom of God.

C. One cannot grow spiritually unless he is fed spiritual food.

D. One's spiritual character will grow if he consistently puts doing God's will FIRST.

21. How can we learn to rule in God's Kingdom?

A. By just taking over the great responsibilities of God when born into His Family.

B. By learning to rule over the physical responsibilities and possessions we have been given in this life, and by submitting to God.

C. By not doing anything -- Christ has done it all for us.

D. There is nothing we can do to learn to rule in God's Kingdom.

22. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. This life is the training period in which spirit-begotten Christians are preparing for rulership in the soon-coming Kingdom of God.

B. Only those who endure to the end will receive salvation and a reward in God's Kingdom.

C. God will make you a member of His Family whether you submit to His rule or not.

D. God will not save any person He does not govern.

Lesson 42

WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR ETERNITY?

23. Man's future way of life as a spirit being

A. is to slave and toil for all eternity.

B. is eternal retirement.

C. is to perform creative work.

D. is not revealed to us.

24. Jesus Christ and the Father

A. live busy, active lives.

B. have rested since the end of Creation Week.

C. already have done everything worth doing long ago.

D. will not work so much once billions of other sons have been born to rule with them.

25. The "reward" Jesus Christ will bring with Him

A. is the same for each born-again Christian.

B. is a specific job, or responsibility, given to those who grow and overcome in this life.

C. is eternal life.

D. is not defined in the Bible. 26. Eternal life

A. is all that God has promised His sons.

B. is the natural result of keeping God's commandments.

C. is a prerequisite to receiving God's reward.

D. is not a gift, since we must qualify to receive it.

27. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. All seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 are promised the same reward.

B. Each of the seven churches will be given different, but equal rewards.

C. Every overcomer is promised an identical reward -- eternal life.

D. Different eras of the True Church will be given different functions in the Kingdom of God as rewards.

28. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. Different types of jobs will be apportioned as rewards according to the special type of training each church has received.

B. The Philadelphia overcomers will be especially fitted, by experience, to operate a "headquarters" work in the Kingdom of God.

C. The "pillars" are those whose jobs are so important that, symbolically, they hold up the entire "building."

D. Isolated Philadelphia members today lack the opportunity to receive training for the "headquarters" work that is to be carried out in the World Tomorrow.

29. The job of the Laodicean Church will be

A. to rule over Gentiles.

B. to rule Israelites only.

C. to assist Christ in the personal administration of His office.

D. to set the overall governmental policies for the World Tomorrow.

30. The Thyatira Church qualified for its job

A. by virtue of having the greatest number of members.

B. by having had specialized experience in dealing with pagan religion, superstition and Gentile ignorance.

C. because they allowed "Jezebel" to influence them.

D. because God is obligated to give an extra special reward to those who suffered in the Inquisition.

31. The Sardis Church

A. is not promised any SPECIAL reward or responsibility in the Kingdom of God.

B. is promised a unique reward.

C. is characterized by many zealous "live wires" among its members.

D. was always a unified, well-governed, perfectly taught group.

32. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. Neither Ephesus, Smyrna nor Pergamos is promised a special GROUP reward.

B. The Ephesus Church had to contend with deceitful men who were posing as true apostles.

C. The Pergamos Church was spiritually strong, unwilling to compromise with paganized "Christianity."

D. The Smyrna Church was composed mainly of POOR people who were persecuted by Satan's church.

33. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. There will be no rewards left for most of the saints.

B. Many of the individual saints will be given rulership over cities and other local governments.

C. Christ will also reward the smallest as well as the greatest in His Kingdom.

D. It will take literally millions of different jobs to create civilization as it ought to be.

34. How will Christ determine who will receive which rewards?

A. He will cast lots.

B. According to whom He likes best.

C. He will apportion responsibility according to each saint's spiritual growth and accomplishment by the end of his Christian life.

D. It will be on the basis of filling all the best positions with those who lived earliest.

35. Spiritual ability

A. cannot be increased.

B. must be increased during each saint's Christian life.

C. does not depend on how much one does with what one has been given.

D. is treated lightly in the parable of the talents.

36. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. How many times over one has increased his talents is not important.

B. Christ will not reward His children according to their spiritual growth.

C. A ruler of a great city in the World Tomorrow could not conceivably rule over more than someone else who rules over a whole nation.

D. Those with limited natural ability who accomplish MORE, proportionately speaking, than those with greater natural ability, will receive GREATER rewards.

37. Should all Christians continually strive to overcome and grow spiritually?

A. Everyone MUST strive hard at first, and overcome to a certain level. Then he can slack off as long as he does not backslide.

B. No, because our jobs in God's Kingdom will be so small they will not require much training in this life.

C. Yes, because the biggest rewards will be given to those who have grown and overcome the most during this life.

D. That depends entirely on how long one has been converted.

38. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. If one is obedient only "when the chips are down" -- that is all God requires.

B. If a person with little ability doubles his capability, he will obtain as great a reward as an Einstein who doubles his.

C. One who does not use his talents will see them all taken away from him, and even the gift of eternal life he thought he had.

D. Saul had the opportunity to qualify to rule over Israel in the Kingdom of God, but neglected it.

39. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. Christ qualified to be a King by serving, not by lording it over others.

B. He who wants to be great in God's sight must be the servant of others.

C. Kingship is a reward because it gives a greater opportunity to serve.

D. Being a servant now has nothing to do with preparing us to be future rulers.

40. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. Little children cannot learn to rule by merely doing chores, or taking care of toys, other inanimate objects and animals.

B. A woman ruling wisely over her children has as much opportunity to learn to be a ruler as her husband has.

C. A "father" is one who serves and leads to show the way, like God, the greatest Father of all.

D. The Kingdom of God will need millions of "fathers" -- scientists, advisers, inventors, specialists in every field.

41. Those who are given positions of rulership at the beginning of the Millennium will

A. rule only to the end of the Millennium.

B. rule only until there are no mortal beings left on earth to rule over,

C. not rule with Christ forever and ever.

D. acquire undreamed of powers to make the earth a happy, productive, peaceful place.

Lesson 43

WHAT IT MEANS TO "LIVE BY FAITH"

42. Why do we live in a faithless generation?

A. Because few people today can "work up" faith.

B. Because it is impossible to live in this materialistic world and know God.

C. Because most people take God's existence for granted.

D. Because most people don't know God and His truth.

43. What is the ONLY way to please God?

A. By merely believing that God exists.

B. By just accepting Jesus as our Savior.

C. By having active, LIVING faith -- faith coupled with OBEDIENCE!

D. Living by faith has nothing to do with pleasing God.

44. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. Faith is the "power of positive thinking."

B. The person who TRUSTS in his OWN heart is wise.

C. Sanctimonious sentimentality, feelings and emotions are EVIDENCE of having the faith of God.

12 D. The faith of God is a SPIRITUAL matter -- not physical!
 

45. Faith

A. has nothing to do with relying on God's Word.

B. in itself is no evidence of anything.

C. is simply a trust in the invisible God to perform what He has promised to do.

D. is solely the result of "an act of the will" whenever we make up our minds to believe anything.

46. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. We can have absolute confidence that God will do whatever He has promised in His Word.

B. Most people do not have Godly faith because they do not know God's Word -- the Bible.

C. Faith is based on the fact that things not seen are more real than temporary things that may be seen, felt or touched.

D. Faith is like magic -- if you fully believe something, it will somehow come true WITHOUT God's help.

47. Abraham's faith

A. was tested only once.

B. grew without the need of trials or tests.

C. was accounted to him for righteousness because he OBEYED God through faith.

D. was sufficient without any obedience.

48. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. Abraham believed that God would make a great nation of him and give him the Promised Land, but he died before either came to pass.

B. In his own heart and will, Abraham actually killed -- completely gave up -- his only son.

C. Abraham KNEW God was able even to raise up Isaac from the dead to fulfill His promise.

D. Abraham was not fully persuaded God was able to bring about WHATEVER He promised.

49. Why is faith important?

A. Because faith is all that is required for salvation.

B. Because it takes faith to OBEY God.

C. It isn't important -- especially to those who desire God's promised blessings.

D. It's just to show that we are following in Abraham's footsteps.

50. What does the experience of Noah teach us about faith?

A. That God always tests His people privately, without other people knowing about it.

B. That God gives PHYSICAL evidence to prove what He has promised will come to pass.

C. Tests of faith are soon over -- they never last long.

D. To stand alone -- if necessary -- against the entire world in believing and obeying God.

51. How far does God expect us to trust Him?

A. Certainly not to the brink of death, as did Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

B. Daniel's three friends were hesitant about trusting God to the end.

13 C. God always delivers us before we have to actually suffer in any way.

D. Unto DEATH!

52. Might God actually allow one to die, who was faithfully trusting in Him?

A. No, that could never happen. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were mistaken in thinking it could.

B. With each trial God will always make a way of escape short of death.

C. Yes, because one must be willing to give up his life for Jesus Christ and His ways. But God has promised to resurrect all who have diligently served Him.

D. God would be unfair to decide that anyone should wait until the resurrection for deliverance or healing.

53. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. Jesus Christ actually gave up His life in FAITH, KNOWING He would be resurrected.

B. Jesus had the faith to obey ALL of God's Commandments, though of Himself He could do NOTHING.

C. Most professing Christians have a DEAD faith -- a mere belief in the FACTS of Christ's existence and His sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

D. We cannot have the same faith Jesus Christ had ADDED TO OUR faith.

54. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. OUR own human faith is necessary to believe in the existence of God and in Jesus' sacrifice for our sins.

B. OUR own human faith is the only faith required for salvation.

C. Christ never added His faith to Abraham.

D. Christ's faith is not IN His True Church today -- nor is He Himself actually living His life in each individual Christian.

55. The faith of Christ -- Christ's faith --

A. is OUR belief in Christ.

B. must be earned.

C. is a gift imparted by the Holy Spirit.

D. means Christ's religion.

56. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. The faith of Christ is something we can generate within ourselves.

B. "Saving faith" is the very faith of Christ which enables us to DO God's will.

C. You will know when Christ puts His faith in you because it is imparted suddenly, fully grown and matured.

D. We should concentrate on somehow "working up" the faith by which we are saved.

57. The way to EXERCISE the faith of Christ is

A. to step out and put His faith to work in total obedience.

B. to make a tentative move and then wait to see if God blesses you.

C. to neglect DOING what He commands us to do through His faith.

D. to sit back and do nothing.

58. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. If God is really with you, you will not have any SERIOUS troubles.

B. Appearances, circumstances and other physical factors are no evidence at all in predicting the performance of a miracle by God.

C. The WAY in which God answers is usually totally unexpected.

D. Ancient Israel lacked faith and disobeyed God because of not having the Holy Spirit.

59. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. Faith must always be linked with obedience because faith without works is dead.

B. One with CHRIST'S FAITH in him will deliberately disobey the Ten Commandments.

C. The ancient Israelites remained faithless and disobedient even after seeing God's tremendous miracles.

D. One with Christ's faith in him really believes God's ways are ALWAYS best.

60. How can one REJOICE in the midst of trials?

A. By knowing they will not last long.

B. By gritting one's teeth and bearing it.

C. By realizing EVERYONE has troubles.

D. By realizing trials help to build the character of God in one.

61. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. The doubter of God's promises is actually calling Him a liar.

B. We should ASK God for more faith.

C. Temptations come from God.

D. We must continually grow in God's faith through prayer in order to resist sudden temptations.

Lesson 44

COUNTDOWN ON CIVILIZATION HAS BEGUN!

62. World food supply

A. is adequate, although shortages exist in local areas.

B. can be permanently increased by the use of fertilizers and irrigation.

C. is inadequate over two thirds of the globe.

D. can be made adequate by United States and Canadian surpluses.

63. World population

A. has been increasing at the rate of two and one-half to three percent a year.

B. can be controlled by immediately instituting birth control programs.

C. will gradually level out in relation to food supply.

D. is no proof that the end of this age is near. Man will be able to produce food for the 7 billion people predicted for the year 2000.

64. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. Over most of the world during the past fifty years, the average person has been enjoying more and more of almost everything.

B. North America has a significant surplus of food.

C. Most of "Christianity" is expecting Jesus Christ to return shortly.

D. The Bible prophesies that mockers and scoffers would be a sign that the end of this age is near.

65. The end-time tribulation

A. will not come suddenly and unexpectedly on anyone.

B. is to be preceded by famine, pestilence, and earthquakes.

C. is not prophesied to be warned of by God's human agents.

D. will not come on those who have deliberately scoffed and rejected God's warnings.

66. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. The reason many prophecies seem to apply to the end-time is because they did not come to pass when they were meant to.

B. Jude did not write concerning the antichrists who would appear in our day

C. Joel and other prophets were IN VISION translated into the end-time -- they saw and wrote of end-time events today.

D. The existence of-many antichrists today -- those teaching contrary to the doctrines of CHRIST -- is a sign that Christ's coming is yet far in the future.

67. God's time plan

A. is not revealed in the Bible.

B. is either ignored, or declared already complete, by many ministers.

C. could have allowed Jesus Christ to return at any moment during the last 150 years.

D. was fulfilled as soon as world wars and worldwide troubles began.

68. Worldwide famines

A. will be a warning that the end of this age is very near.

B. are not one of the "signs of the times" we were warned to watch for.

C. could NOT be the result of man's sins.

D. could not come as a result of bad weather.

69. Can pestilence -- disease -- again bring death to multiple millions in this modern world?

A. Wonder drugs and better medical practices make a recurrence of Middle Ages-type plagues impossible.

B. Vaccination and serum immunization have permanently eliminated most of the old diseases.

C. Yes, for smoke, smog, drugs and food additives weaken man's natural resistance, while helping to create strains of SUPER GERMS.

D. Possibly, but if such epidemics were to start, the sick could quickly be isolated from all other people.

70. The Great Tribulation

A. is God's wrath on this lawless world.

B. comes BEFORE the Day of the Lord.

C. has nothing to do with Satan's wrath.

D. does not include religious persecution.

71. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. After failing in another attempt to invade and conquer heaven, Satan's wrath against God's people will intensify.

B. Only those true Christians who receive special protection from God will escape Satan's wrath.

C. Satan will seek to destroy God's Church that will have been taken to a place of safety.

D. Satan will cease his persecution of true Christians and give up, once God has removed the Philadelphia Church to safety.

72. The lukewarm Laodiceans of God's Church

A. will not be forced to experience the fierceness of the Great Tribulation in order to be awakened from spiritual lethargy.

B. will be exposed to a redoubled attempt by Satan to deceive and destroy them, after the Philadelphia stage of God's Church is taken to a place of safety.

C. could never include those who neglect prayer and spiritual growth, while thinking themselves Church of God overcomers.

D. are concerned with the welfare of others more than themselves.

73. Daniel actively sought God's salvation by

A. ignoring the matter of WHEN God would set up His kingdom.

B. diligently searching out the "times" with the idea of hiding himself at the right moment.

C. fasting and by prayer.

D. trying desperately to get King Nebuchadnezzar converted in order to turn that realm into the Kingdom of God.

74. Nebuchadnezzar

A. was not warned by Daniel to repent.

B. was given over to a wild animal's mind because he refused to repent.

C. was never given an opportunity to rule the world as God's representative.

D. was not a type of Babylon and its "seven times" punishment of having wild animal-type minds inflicted on a succession of Babylonish, Gentile world empires.

75. The seven "times" of the Gentiles

A. are in prophetic fulfillment equal to 1260 years.

B. are equal to 2000 years.

C. ended at the birth of the Messiah.

D. will end in the very near future.

76. The "times of the Gentiles"

A. are a time of blessings on the Gentile nations.

B. are certainly not a punishment like Nebuchadnezzar's punishment.

C. were never mentioned by Jesus.

D. are the period of time the Gentiles are cut off, because of disobedience, from the blessings of God.

77. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. Shortly before Christ appears, an "abomination of desolation" is to "stand in the holy place" in Jerusalem.

B. The "abomination of desolation" will be a false "god" set in place of the true God.

C. Nothing is said in the Bible of the future appearance of a personage who would claim to be God.

D. Christians in Palestine are warned to leave the area when they see Jerusalem encircled by armies.

78. What is the significance of the SIGN of armies surrounding Jerusalem?

A. The Jews will then be able to completely break free from the shackles of Gentile powers.

B. It means the war will be confined to hand-to-hand combat between foot soldiers.

C. It is the signal that the city is about to be taken captive and the women ravished.

D. It shows that few people -- all members of the military -- will actually be killed.

79. Which ONE of these four statements is TRUE?

A. Roughly one of every two human beings left alive will die in the FINAL war.

B. World population will go on increasing until the FINAL war breaks out.

C. America and Britain will remain relatively untouched because of superior weapons and stored food supplies.

D. About one seventh of all Israelites will survive the final war.

80. Which ONE of these four statements is FALSE?

A. Satan would succeed in annihilating all of physical Israel if Michael would not stand up to deliver a REMNANT.

B. Only one tenth of Israel will remain alive at Christ's coming.

C. There is no use in working to build up what may well be destroyed in less than ten years.

D. God has planned to "cut short" the time allotted to this world whenever His purposes in it have been fulfilled.

81. The exact day of Christ's Second Coming

A. can be accurately predicted by His Church.

B. should be prepared for by closing our businesses, quitting work and waiting.

C. will catch unawares those who devote themselves completely to pressing forward with the Work God has given them to do.

D. is known only by God the Father. Now That You've Finished ...

You are now ready to correct your own test. All you need to do is compare YOUR ANSWERS with the correct answers listed at the bottom of page 16. After you have done this, simply count the number of questions you missed. Your grade will be next to that number in one of the columns of the grading section located on the same page.

REMEMBER! You are to grade YOURSELF. There is absolutely NOTHING TO SEND BACK TO US.

Be sure to KEEP this test and REVIEW the questions occasionally. Why? Because reviewing will impress the true answers more firmly upon your mind. And reviewing the false answers will help you realize more clearly some of the FALSE ideas which you may have taken for granted. You will thereby grasp and retain the truth more readily as it is revealed to you in the Bible through future lessons. -------------------------------------------------- RELATED STUDY HELPS

Be sure to request your copy of the free booklets and reprinted articles listed below, if you do not already have them. They will help you further understand the subject covered in Lessons 41, 42, 43 and 44. LESSONS 41-42:

WHAT Do You MEAN ... "THE UNPARDONABLE SIN"? LESSON 43:

WHAT IS FAITH?

This Universal Lack of SELF-CONFIDENCE LESSON 44:

MIDDLE EAST in Prophecy

The 2300 Days

Are Christians AGAIN to be MARTYRED?

There Is A WAY of Escape -------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT!

When you have finished taking the test, compare your answers with the correct answers below. Then grade yourself. CORRECT ANSWERS FOR TEST ELEVEN 1-C 10-D 19-B 28-D 37-C 46-D 55-C 64-D 73-C 2-B 11-A 20-A 29-C 38-A 47-C 56-B 65-B 74-B 3-B 12-A 21-B 30-B 39-D 48-D 57-A 66-C 75-D 4-A 13-D 22-C 31-A 40-A 49-B 58-A 67-B 76-D 5-B 14-B 23-C 32-C 41-D 50-D 59-B 68-A 77-C 6-A 15-A 24-A 33-A 42-D 51-D 60-D 69-C 78-C 7-C 16-C 25-B 34-C 43-C 52-C 61-C 70-B 79-A 8-D 17-D 26-C 35-B 44-D 53-D 62-C 71-D 80-C 9-B 18-C 27-D 36-D 45-C 54-A 63-A 72-B 81-D -------------------- YOUR GRADE 1 - 99 13 - 84 2 - 97 14 - 82 3 - 96 15 - 81 4 - 95 16 - 80 5 - 94 17 - 78 6 - 92 18 - 77 7 - 91 19 - 76 8 - 90 20 - 75 9 - 89 21 - 73 10 - 87 22 - 72 11 - 86 23 - 71 12 - 85 24 - 70 --------------------------------------------------