Our Journey of Faith – Pt. 7

Ron Weinland

Dec. 12, 2009

Anyway, it’s just... it’s absolutely incredible what’s taking place and the last minute things if you will, that’s what I’m calling them – last minute things that we’re doing to have the Church fully set, fully prepared, and it’s so easy when you get to a certain point in time looking back and seeing what God has done.  We don’t always know where we’re going.  We don’t always know the direction God is taking us, but something that you can bank on is, something that’s absolute, is to understand that we follow God.  That’s what this series is about, you know, talking about a journey of faith, and it is a journey of faith.  It has been since the beginning of time starting with the very first that was one who spoke for God’s way of life and killed by his own brother, you know, speaking of Abel, a preacher of righteousness, and those few who existed until the time of the flood – very few – that lived God’s way of life, who proclaimed God’s way of life.  And then Noah came along and his own sons didn’t follow this way of life and it wasn’t until 10 generations later, finally, while Noah was still alive, because he lived another three hundred and some years... what?  ...350 years after the flood; whatever it was.  Here he is 600 years old.  We can’t grasp that.

You know, most people today, in traditional Christianity, they read something like that and they consider themselves scholars, those who teach in their (like to call it cemetery’s) seminaries and teach about the Bible and so forth. These “learned men”, they talk about some biblical events as being a nice story, like it’s written for children and it didn’t really happen that way, but it’s a nice story the way it’s written.  No, it happened that way!  People lived that long!  God shortened the lifespan of man because of the evil of mankind and of the lessons that are to be learned from that.  You think about what people teach and what they say out there and they don’t understand what God says is true.  The stories in the Bible – they’re true!  And yet people look at them as nice stories for children and there’s not a whole lot that’s  real strong...things about prophecy, but they act like who can understand that until you get to the time of Christ and their view of the bible can be “we have the New Testament with a whole new thing  totally different than that Old Testament with that Old Testament God... you know, that harsh God”  Incredible how people think about God and about what God is doing.

Abram.  10 generations after Noah!  I hope you’re as dumbfounded by that as I am.  Every time I think about it; when I think if Noah and what he went through and his sons who saw the destruction of this earth, who saw the destruction of everything except what was on that ark; they came off that ark and they didn’t honour God.  They weren’t in fear of God.  They didn’t teach their children God’s way of life and it wasn’t until 10 generations later, finally one of Noah’s descendents, Abraham, came along and God began to work with him.  And then Noah died.  But God had to bring along another individual to proclaim His way of life and God began an awesome thing through Abraham all the way down through time and so it’s always been a journey of faith – following God wherever He leads us and we don’t always know where He’s going.  And when God told Abraham, “Get up out of this land that you live in with all of your relatives, with all your family, with everyone who’s here – take them and leave.  Take your family and leave.”  So they went to a different area and it says, ‘Abraham obeyed’.  Simple as that, and that’s what we do as well.  It’s a matter of obeying God when He says to do certain things – we do it.  He didn’t know what it was going to be like, that’s what it says, but he was willing to give up everything to follow God, to go in whatever direction that God led him.  And we come to the children of Israel, whatever direction God led they were to follow and that’s the way our life is – not that they did it very much by faith obviously, except for the leadership there.  That’s the sermon series we’ve been going through and because of that we’re talking about where God is leading us now.  We’re up to the brink at the end of time.

It’s amazing when you look back here: we’re a year into the last 3½ years – a little over a year now has gone by.  How blessed are we?  How blessed?  One day you are going to be dumbfounded by what God says concerning His Church; of those who were willing to fast for 2 days – not three, not to do something that was done with Esther and those in that particular time, with Queen Esther and what took place with her life and that which the Jewish people have passed down through time in remembrance of what she did.  But God has done something on a greater plane through His Church, toward the end-time, for the world.  You know what is one of the main things; and a lot of times has come out over and over again in radio interviews from different ones?  It’s kind of this attitude of, “this God of yours...this harsh God of yours... why would He want to destroy the earth?”  And they don’t realize that it’s not God that’s doing it.  Man’s going to do it to himself!  It’s what man is doing to himself.  I think of the 1950’s – saw a blurb on TV the other day about some of that... about how society was so much different at that time because there was still that fear.  I don’t know for those who are old enough, if in your schools you had the drills or not where you had to get underneath your school house or to climb under desks, to do different things because of a fear of nuclear war with the Russians, because there was that fear.

Here was something on the world scene that man had never known before.  Something of such power after WWII, of what took place in Japan to end the war...and people were afraid.  Especially because of the rhetoric going back and forth between Russia and the United States and different ones.  They would have these test patterns come up on your TV or these things talking about warnings and such and schools would teach certain things happening and how to protect yourself and what you have to do in a nuclear explosion.  I don’t remember too much of that because we weren’t too worried in Kansas I guess.  But I know of various people who’ve told me about things that they went through.  Did any of you have any of that in your schools?  Okay... some here, yeah, have their hands held up that they remember some of that.  The world has dramatically changed since that time hasn’t it?  And people aren’t as afraid, and yet we have the ability to destroy the earth by the nuclear weapons that are there 40 times over plus.  It only takes once!  All life – enough nuclear weaponry to destroy life – that many times over and it only takes once – astounding!  And so the end-time here, is about what’s taking place and what man’s going to bring upon himself.  But an awesome thing is taking place: God is providing mercy to this earth by withholding certain things that could have taken place a whole lot sooner than this.  So we’re going to learn a lot about this as time goes on because you can always look back and say, “Ah, now I understand!”  It’s hard to follow; it’s hard to look forward when God tells us to do certain things.

This is Part 7 today of the series, Our Journey of Faith.  This is going to be the last of this particular series.  We may come back to some other portions as we push a little forward here in time, surpassing some of this period of time, but there are many sermons frankly that I’ve got to get to here before we get to the fast and during the fast and after the fast and we may get into some other things having to do with Our Journey of Faith, but we’re going to call it something else because I don’t want twelve parts or fourteen parts of the same sermon series, you know.  We receive enough static from people out there as it is, but they can make fun of seven if they want.  We’ll stop there on this particular series.  But it’s exciting where we’re going.  We’re going back through and talking about ‘News Watch’.  We’re going to try to put it on the website, don’t hold your breath, it will get there hopefully before the end is over here so you still have the ability to download it.  We’re going to try to make it available to you, the ‘News Watch’ so you can go through and read these because if you go through part of it, those of you who want to, or all of it – it does give you a sense of history of where we were at certain points in time because they all have dates and it shows where we were at that time and how things unfolded.  Again, not knowing where God is leading us, not knowing even where we are at times, but it’s awesome to see what God was showing us at specific moments in time and so we’ve been going through a lot of this. I think of 1998 when the Church officially began again, because it was spewed out of God’s mouth.  The Church came to a screeching halt and exactly what Jesus Christ prophesied in Matthew 24 and things that are prophesied in other places came to pass.  We lived through that.  When He told the disciples when they were walking around a physical temple and they were talking about the magnificence of what was built there, the construction, and they wanted to know – ‘What will be the sign of your coming?’  ...of being the Messiah.  Now sometimes we don’t think about it and we have new people listening all the time so I have to go back and repeat some of these things.  So some of you who’ve heard this a thousand times already this is a thousand and one; this may be some people’s first time.

But as they were walking around the temple they thought that Jesus Christ, being the Messiah, was going to begin rule in their lifetime.  They didn’t know that Jesus Christ was going to die.  They truly  believed that He was the one that was going to start rule, at some point there to take away the Roman influence and that Judah would rise up again; Israel would rise up again; and that they would actually have such power and influence that it would be over the entire world.  That’s what they believed back then – see?  But it wasn’t for then; that’s why the disciples didn’t know what to do when Jesus Christ died.  They thought it was all over with. They were going to go back fishing and whatever else.  They didn’t know what to do.  They didn’t get it until later.  And so Jesus Christ told them, speaking of a spiritual temple; He said the time would come when not one stone would be left upon another – when every stone would be cast down.  Well, that’s never happened in history, to the Church, to the temple of God until our time and it started with the 1st Seal being opened up; when that infamous sermon was given in Atlanta in December 1994.  Many of us sitting here lived through that and it was an incredible thing to go through but it was at that moment as well that God spewed the entirety of His Church out of His mouth.  That’s what it says, He vomited it out of His mouth, an era of His own Church, His own people...because of our sins, because of what we had done, because of our falling asleep, because of our not obeying what Jesus Christ told us and what we were told over and over again about being watchful and being spiritually alert.  So we all fell asleep and we all were cut off from the flow of God’s spirit.

And so the history of our Church is that God had to re-establish us because the Church can’t die – see?  It’s a basic truth.  The Church can never die out.  And so there were those that God began to work with.  He gave protection from Satan for a period of 3½ years and then when we came to the end of that 3½ years, on Pentecost of 1998, God had re-established us so that we could stand once again spiritually strong enough and organized to the point that His Church was once again re-established. It’s an awesome thing that we’ve lived through; and that’s why we’re going through some of this history.  And I mentioned then in that particular period of time that in April, 1998 Terry Wrozak was ordained.  Ralph Dowd... you know I didn’t mention that last week, that Ralph Dowd...I had the opportunity of laying hands upon him with other ministers in the Church in Worldwide.  That was clear back in September of 1986, I happened to be in the Cincinnati area.  I marvel at that because I think... look who is with us and there’s no one that’s in the ministry, that’s a part of the ministry that God hasn’t brought in in a specific way.  That’s an awesome thing to understand.  And then I mentioned in 1998, at the Feast of Tabernacles, the first one we hosted up in Niagara Falls then, Johnny Harrell was brought along.  Amazing things that have taken place.  Who would have ever dreamed back then... if somebody back then would have told us that God had re-established His Church – that we were the only Church at that time... some tried to tell me.  Ralph tried to tell us some things about how God only works through one man.  I wasn’t ready for that then – see?  And I thought, “Ralph – that’s a little strong!” because I was still weak, even after the Church had been re-established and I had to have some things about government brought to light in a very powerful way in my mind.  I had to go through some things to have it powerfully etched into my mind and my being.

And so, again, even though Ralph made those comments, you know he made those comments about how Gods only worked through one man – I was not ready to say, I was not presumptuous enough to say at that point in time until God had shown me very clearly so, and that wasn’t a part of anything – that we...this organization was the only organization through whom God was working.  That’s a pretty strong thing to say.  That’s a pretty strong thing to come through too in time, and yet that’s something I resisted for a time because I felt like we were still scattered and God was working with different ones out here, but no, He had brought us to a point in time in 1998 and later on I was finally able to come to that point in time where I was able to say it.  And some in the Church had difficulty with that because they had family members and different ones in different organizations and so forth.

We had that opportunity to start again at that particular point in time and so I’ve been going through ‘News Watch’ here and I think I’d already gone through: ‘A Bridge over the River Kwai’, giving some things here in the book about all these people who wanted to build all these bridges in organizations because they wanted the same thing we had in the past, and it doesn’t work that way because there were false doctrines that some wanted to bring along.

Then we finally came to May – one year later after being re-established if you will, as God’s Church – the remnant of God’s Church in May 1998, just up to Pentecost.  God gave us, in this particular article here: ‘Counting Pentecost’ and He gave us more.  There’s more in this booklet than we had understood before.  That’s an awesome thing to understand – just like He did with Passover.  God brought us to a point when He gave us the doctrine; things about Passover, that He helped us to understand things of Hebrew and things in the Bible that we hadn’t understood in the Church to that point to the same degree because we had the challenge before us of being able to shut the mouths, if you will, the ignorance of individuals who’d been taught in Ambassador College who were teaching something opposite – and so God let us go a little bit farther with even greater proof about what is true.  Mr. Armstrong only gave over 3 scriptures to prove 14th Passover’s on the 14th day and only on that day and not any other portion of time – not into any of the 15th and he gave three scriptures to prove it.  We came to a point in time where ministers wouldn’t accept that truth anymore.  Sad.  And so God gave us more...And then more was given with Pentecost.

After that then, June/July of 1999 we had in the article – ‘Dead, Revived, Rejected!’ – God was making it really clear to us, helping us to have a greater sense again of our history.  Revelation, the message to all the 7 Churches, the 7 Church eras and what happened in the last 3 eras which toward the end-time.  Dead: speaking of the Sardis Era.  There were people in the Church who had a difficult time coming to a point, again, of believing that God was working with era’s in the Church!  ...because that got watered down through Mr. Tkach and others.  That was so watered down that we, in the Church had become weak in that doctrine about the reality, in essence, that there have been Church eras since the time of 31 A.D. when the Church began, when the holy spirit began to be poured out and so we went through time and we came to the time then when finally one era was dead.  Dead!  God said, ‘you are dead, spiritually, what you have is dying.’  There were only three doctrines left in the Church that were true – wasn’t God’s Church anymore, it was coming to an end and so what’d God do?  He raised up Mr. Armstrong – late 1920’s, and called him.  Church was back on track and becoming stronger in the 1930’s and that was the ‘Revived’... ‘Dead, Revived...’  The Church had to be revived, the Church has to be there at the return of Jesus Christ, there are things that had to be restored once again to God’s Church and so God began to restore doctrine one again – truth to the Church that the Church had lost through time – primarily because of one great church and all her churches that followed her, her doctrines – because of false teachings.  They turned away from Passover and some of the other things that came out of and also started in 325 A.D. that are just a matter of history.  All you have to do is go back and it’s a matter of history.

And then finally the Church era that was ‘...Rejected!’  All of us!  We came to a point in time where everyone that was still a part of the Church of God were rejected, God rejected us.  We were spewed out of His mouth!  Every stone of the temple fell down.  I can’t remember how it was stated in the opening prayer, but something about a thankfulness, and I understand what was being conveyed and it’s fine... about for the faithfulness of me, of a faithful leader.  I wasn’t.  None of us were.  We all sinned.  We were all spewed out of God’s mouth and the reality is I wouldn’t be faithful today if God hadn’t made me what I am.  God makes us who we are. We are in God’s hands and if we follow God then He makes us what we are and it’s all by what God, through His Son Jesus Christ, does to us in moulding and fashioning us.  It’s not by what we do.  It’s not by how good we are.  And so I understand the comment, and I appreciate a part of what was said there, but the reality is – we’re faithful only if God blesses us to be faithful...if that makes sense to you.  He has to be the one that awakens us.  He has to be the one who calls you and then you have choices to make and we do have choices, and I know that’s the heart and core of what is there, but please understand too – every one of us – we are here because God has made us faithful.  Do we understand that?  Truly?  God has made us faithful.  We didn’t do it.  We didn’t do it on our own by any fashion or form.  We’re here by God’s mercy and God’s grace, truly, every one of us.

That’s the way it was with the Church and that’s why I comment so often about those who are no longer with us, those who can’t be with us...had a conversation with someone just before services about all the ministers... going through something I’m going to begin reading a part of probably next Sabbath but coincidently so, because of a sermon that was coming up, my wife came across an old ‘Worldwide News’ and she thought I might want to read it because it’s about some of the things we’ve been talking about and sure enough – there it is.  Things that Mr. Armstrong has had to say and what He went through during a particular point in time, and again, I don’t want to get off track here with where we are in that ‘News Watch’ but it’s an awesome process of where God has taken us, where He’s taking us now and where we’re continuing to go and I’ll come back to some of those things next week... got off track there a little bit...  I want to get back on course here because I want to finish this today.

I’m excited about what’s coming and it’s hard for me to hold back here a little bit but again, God’s the one who re-establishes and as I mentioned I did have a conversation beforehand about some who were not able to continue on, who haven’t been able to continue on; evangelists in God’s Church.  Well, I’ll go ahead and mention it... even Mr. Armstrong, in an article, was talking about Stan Radar and how Stan Radar was used because God gave him as a blessing to the Church in Worldwide to fight a court case in California.  And that’s the only reason he was there – okay?  Because of some battles that were coming and God prepared the Church to be able to fight some of those things and so a man with an incredible mind in legal matters was used in a very powerful way to physically help the Church in that respect and.  My wife and I were commenting how it was 1981 when we were under a pastor in Houston up to a certain point in time there before this was article was written and before Mr. Armstrong was explaining some of the history of what had happened.  Mr. Leroy Neff was our pastor.  And Mr Armstrong asked Mr. Neff to come to headquarters to be the Treasurer of the Church.  Stanley Radar had been to a point in time there and had fought some of the battles in the court case and so forth.  And my wife and I marvelled – there wasn’t one person at headquarters that he could give that job to.  There wasn’t one evangelist in the Church of God that he could give that job to because of the problems he was already having with them – 1981.  Amazing what has taken place.  Because of some of their betrayals, some of them not following him, some of them not doing the things they should have been doing, Mr. Armstrong couldn’t entrust role to them so he brought in a pastor of a Church to do it because he was faithful.  Faithful to Mr. Armstrong; faithful to God.

I’m going to jump ahead now to, again, August/September 1999 – went through a series here: ‘True Fellowship with God’, showing how that is accomplished, how we do that spiritually.  And then finally December 1999.  I’m bringing this in because the title of the article is...

The End?

This addresses a matter of Y2K.  Most people haven’t heard Y2K mentioned in a long time.  It’s been 10 years since you heard about Y2K and all the hoopla that went along with it. This was the first time that I realized that I had to do and say something that I believed God was leading me in prophetically and this was the article that it came out in.  And I want to read it to you today because this was the beginning of what I began to recognize as I didn’t understand how God was working with me fully.  This was just a little bit of an initiation, if you will, of something where I began to realize I have to say something that’s more of a prophetic nature, if you will, even though it’s short term; but I’ve got to make some dogmatic statement here to the Church because I believe it’s from God and I believe I’m to say it ahead of time.  And so this was my first experience with this and it wasn’t easy because I had never done anything like that.  So in this particular article of ‘News Watch’... just jumping in here a little bit it says...

Perhaps we feel we’ve heard “wolf, wolf” too many times.  Ironically, we are to be watching for wolves as well as other signs that show where we are in time.  Regardless of what may or may not soon transpire, we should always have a sense of urgency about our calling and the times in which we live in.

We have been hearing a lot of hype about Y2K for a long time, and now it is here.

Do all of you remember what your thoughts were by December, 1999?  Did any of you fill up a bathtub with water?  Did any of you do certain things concerning your computers and so forth?  There were businesses that were hiring people and some people making some really good money at that time because in the months up to this point in time there were people waiting for disaster to strike with computers across the world and people expected things to turn upside down, truly did.

We have been hearing a lot of hype about Y2K for a long time, and now it is here. Starting nearly two years ago, I was being asked why I wasn’t warning people about it.

So starting in 1998 there was hype beginning about Y2K; what was going to happen when we hit the year 2000 because of programming and all these things.  And so there was this panic taking place.  Some people got rich off the panic!  It’s amazing what happened out there, but we’ve forgotten about these things...10 years ago, it’s hard for me to remember what happened last week, let alone 10 years ago.  So we forget.  But anyway, bringing this back to mind...

... I was being asked [again here] why I wasn’t warning people about it.

...Because some in the churches were warning people about Y2K.  So going on in the article...

The reason is because Y2K will come and go without much fanfare.  Rather than great economic devastation, the likely response from our ability to effectively combat the problem will likely be a stronger economic confidence.  Such attitudes will only serve to accelerate the eventual burst from an overinflated bubble in world stock markets.  Y2K cannot be a major global problem because it does not fit into the timing of prophesied events.

That was hard for me to write in December, 1999.  We’re getting ready to go right through the clock and I realized that was a beginning of something where you have to do certain things and that is: put your reputation on the line.  Because if you’re wrong, you’re wrong.  Is this from God or isn’t it from God?  And I believed that this was from God.  Going on...

But those events may indeed begin to fall more quickly into place right after the year 2000.

It’s amazing what began to fall into place – year 2001 in a very powerful way especially.  So anyway, that was my first experience in that and that was a beginning of a process where I began to understand how God was working with me, I began to understand how God was communicating to me, in the mind, how God works with us, how God leads us.  You look at the prophets of old and there’s a way that God always leads and I began to understand that process.

Then we came up to a point in time - January 2000 – the next month.  This was quite eventful for the Church because it was at this point in time, because of sermons that were going out, often time I would make comment about Toledo and yet people would see our address was Temperance, Michigan and it was causing some confusion out there.  So where’s this Temperance, Michigan and why do you always mention in your sermons that you’re in Toledo?  So I thought for uniformity and because we were sending out the ‘News Watch’ into different areas of the country as well as the world.  Different ones in the Church in our past were finding out about the article here, the article ‘News Watch’ and they were wanting tapes to be sent to them, sermons and so forth, and so we were sending them out.  And so there was a need to begin to make a bit of a change here and so we did.  We got a Toledo address.  And there were people who didn’t like it.  There was an elder in the Church who didn’t like it because you see, he lived in Temperance, Michigan and he wasn’t going to be checking the mail anymore – and so he wasn’t real nuts about it going down to Toledo.  And another change was taking place... the Church was now going to be called ‘The Church of God – PKG’: Preparing for the Kingdom of God.  God was showing us what we were to do.  God was showing us the direction we were to be travelling on our journey of faith...and He was beginning to make that clear.

Two big changes and a lot of flak came over them.  People didn’t like the idea of a change in name for the Church of God because we’d been known and were incorporated before that as ‘The United Church of God’ before ‘United’ ever came along, ‘The United Church of God – Toledo’.  And so we were making changes and it was right at this time here then that God came in and cleaned up the Toledo and Detroit Church.  Over half the people left in a short time right after this.  Incredible some of the things that were taking place in 1999.  It was in November of 1999 my wife and I had been invited over to Europe.  The Dalrymples, as I mentioned last Sabbath, invited us over there – we accepted.  He was working for Proctor and Gamble at the time and was stationed in the area of Belgium.  We accepted the invitation because we had some that were in contact with us in The Netherlands and in the United Kingdom.  So we were going to make a productive trip out of this to go to the United Kingdom to speak to a group over there and we were going to go up and have Sabbath with some in the central part of The Netherlands.

And as I mentioned last Sabbath; I would never had gone and spend the kind of money necessary to go over there at that time because I just couldn’t.  I’ve watched very closely those things through time and it took me a while to get to a point in time where I began to realize, no, this is what God wants you to do, this is where you are to use God’s tithes because it’s all God’s.  And so I didn’t take that lightly and wouldn’t use any of the monies for that particular trip.  I wouldn’t have dreamed of accepting it in any other fashion, but we did it and then I began to understand...there are people that are going to be called over here; then it was Australia as well, people in Australia and New Zealand that God’s working with.  Began to understand there’s more than just the United States and God is doing something with us.  We didn’t know what.  It was very small, but we knew that God was doing more and it so happens then, as we went up to The Netherlands and visited there that this individual we visited turned out to be not so faithful, but his daughter that was living in Belgium was in a part of that group, and son-in-law, and some others there in The Netherlands...and it came to a point in time where they made a split because this individual that we visited with was taking my sermons and doing some things in Dutch not too faithfully in repeating things I was saying and was adding some of his own ideas.  So this other group had listened to enough of my stuff, read enough stuff to know that something was wrong there.  They asked for our sermons directly and it wasn’t too long before they became a part of us.  When we visit over there now, that core group is still there.

And then we went to the UK and visited with an individual that I am saddened about because two weeks ado I had to mention his name..  We were invited to his apartment and there were 19 people there and one of them was Philip Burman, who is an elder.  But so was this individual until a few weeks ago.  But that’s how it all began over in Europe.  And God has continued to bless the work there and in other areas as well but it’s amazing some of the things when you look back and see how God works with us and again, a part of a history of some things of how God was working with us to show us there’s more to be done.  You have to be more broad-minded than just what’s happening in the United States and otherwise we wouldn’t have done some of these things, we wouldn’t have been able to have a vision of doing more.  And so we continued to follow God where God was leading us.

We finally came to Feb/March 2000 and the article is entitled:  ‘Twenty-One Truths’.  It is amazing what happened in God’s Church.  People would speak of Mr. Armstrong, they would use his name in some of the scattered groups to their advantage; that was the only reason they used his name.  Not because they believed it, because they didn’t in so many of their teachings.  I’m going to mention next Sabbath here – just tell you a little bit about it... It’s going to be covering some things at the end of this sermon here about the Elijah to come that Mr. Armstrong fulfilled and I went through a four part series at one point going through what Rod Meredith, I think it was Global at that time, I don’t think they had changed to Living yet, but of what Rod Meredith had to say about Mr. Armstrong and I showed a sermon he gave of how sick it was that he would not recognize Mr. Armstrong as the Elijah to come.  This series I gave might be available on the Church site today, if it isn’t we’re going to make sure those sermons get on there because maybe it’s not there, but I want to make sure those sermons are available as well because I played his own words on the tape so you could listen to his own words, not what I said he said, but what he said – and then I showed where he was in great error for what he said and what he did.  And so again here...

“Twenty-One Truths”

And what are those?  Three that were still in Sardis and the 18 basic foundational truths that God restored through Mr. Armstrong to His Church and so I want to read a part of this article for you today.  Again...

Anyone with much experience around God’s true Church should be familiar with twenty-one foundational truths.  These truths are also referred to as the “trunk of the tree.”  Although most people are familiar with these truths, many have turned away from them.

It is a miraculous process by which we are led into God’s truth.  Brethren seem to have forgotten this process by which God has personally intervened in our lives to give us His truth.  Our ability to know His truth is something that God alone can give.  It is God’s free gift to us.  It is a serious offense to willingly turn away from those truths once they have been given to us.

So again at the beginning of the Church here we had to have some foundational truths again re-established and to make it very clear out here; either people are teaching these things in the scattered groups or they’re not God’s anymore – they’re cut off from God if they’re not teaching these foundational things.  Going on...

God’s truth is not discovered by personal intellect and scholastic insight.  No amount of human research can piece together the plan of God that is revealed through His spirit.  Do we truly believe God’s own words about how He reveals truth to us, or do we actually believe in something else?

You know, you’d think you wouldn’t have to tell this to people in God’s scattered Church but we did because people were that weak.  Going on...

Our recent history reveals that the overwhelming majority of brethren have come to believe in something different.

Let’s be reminded of how this supernatural revelation of truth is able to come into our minds and become a part of our understanding.  The apostle Paul made it clear that what he preached was not a matter of his own human intellect or reasoning.

And so I’m quoting here now I Corinthians 2:4 if you want to jot this down.  I Corinthians 2 - Paul said...

“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom,

There are a lot of people in this world who receive a following because of the way they’re able to communicate – because of the talent they have naturally – physically.  And so some of these groups out here, people that you can turn on to watch on Sunday morning and some of these huge audiences and so forth – they have great charismatic movements out here that take place that they truly do move... (there’s more than just them moving people when you understand it)... but anyway, there are people out here who are very, very talented in communicating and communicating ideas as it says here...  “...with enticing words...”  Paul was saying his preaching wasn’t with ‘enticing words of man’s wisdom’ it wasn’t a matter of intellect...

...but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

...In other words, of God’s power.  It was because of God’s spirit; so that spirit is what moved him to speak, that spirit is what gave life to what he had to say and made his words come alive; and he said, that’s what it’s done by.  I think of one individual that was a part of the Church and I’ll mention a little bit next week as well... I think of Garner Ted Armstrong.  Great charisma as an individual; great presence:  he was so blessed: looks, voice, mind, and he had such opportunities.  So much so that his father let him be on radio and TV to preach a message and his mind began to rely upon and began to see himself and began to be lifted up with pride and he began to take those things to himself; so much so that when it finally came down toward the end he had a great argument with his father and said that the people that were coming into the Church were coming in because of what he was doing on radio and TV.  When you stop giving the honour and the glory and the credit to God – you’re definitely gone...and he was gone, spiritually in every way because people come into the Church – not because of who it is, not because of their ability.  It’s because of what God does in giving the ability to others to hear what is being said.  God is the one who draws people to the message – see?  Paul is making it clear that this was done...

... in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,

Not because of human intellect or human ability...

... but in the power of God” (I Corinthians 2:4-5, KJV)

Because the truth is the truth.  The only way to be convicted of what is true is by God’s spirit because you believe that it’s true.  It’s a matter of the truth, not because of how it’s said, not because of who says it.  Going on...

Paul is making it clear to those who hear him that the ministry must depend upon the power of God to work in them to preach His word.  A minister cannot rely upon his own human reasoning and skill to preach to others, but sadly many do.

Going on in verse 7, same chapter...

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,

Now, why did he talk that way?  Because he’s saying that when he speaks about God the world can’t hear it.  If it were possible at that time, for Paul, or if it’d been possible in the time of Mr. Armstrong, which Mr. Armstrong reached out to millions by what was said over TV and radio... if it were possible to blanket the earth with radio and television all at the same time, or at the same time of day so that any time people went on to listen to the radio or TV they would hear the same thing, it’d be gobbledygook.  They’d hear some things but they wouldn’t understand the message.  They wouldn’t understand what was being said, it would be a mystery to them.  If they were starting to talk about Passover and the meaning of Passover, the meaning of Pentecost, if he was starting to talk about the Feast of Trumpets or the Feast of Tabernacles and starts talking about the Millennium, or the Great White Throne and talking of how there are resurrections to life again, to human life again and to repeat what John said in Revelation about a second death... people would just scratch their heads and say, “second death?  What’s he talking about?”  Because they don’t have any concept... “How can you die twice?”  It’d be gobbledygook to them and that’s what a mystery means.  They would hear something but those whom God is calling, as their minds are being opened, can see it.  They’re able to hear it because it’s God’s spirit that reveals it in the mind.  You’re able to come to see, “Oh, that makes so much sense... now I understand!”

When you tell them that the word ‘hell’ in the Old Testament and New Testament is a word that means the same thing in both languages in Hebrew and Greek and it means ‘a hole in the ground’ and it’s primarily used in language in Hebrew and Greek to mean ‘the grave.’  So you mean that when people die they’re put in the grave?  Yeah, isn’t that what everybody does as a whole?  You put them into a hole in the ground?  And that’s what the word ‘hell’ means, but they have this concept of ‘hell’ of being some place where there are these little things running around with pitch forks and it’s hot and flames are all around and you’re being tormented for eternity.  That’s a bunch of bull!  The Bible doesn’t teach that anywhere!  But there are those that teach it out there.  Incredible!  And it just means that people have died.  That’s what happens when you die; you’re put in the ground and it is exactly what God says, but people don’t want to believe God.  ‘From the dust you come and to the dust you return.’  Isn’t that what we hear?  Ashes to ashes...  we go back to the elements of the earth.  Our bodies decay.  Some people think they don’t but rather believe that as soon as you die you’re not in that grave, you’re either up there in heaven or you’re down there... well, somewhere down there, we don’t know where that ‘down there’ is, but you know the science tells us that the earth... that there can’t be a hole in there that there’s something else, but somewhere we go if you’ve lived bad, you know, and you’re tormented for eternity.  I’m so glad – see – I believed very early on... what a perverted god that would be, what a sick god that would be... to allow anyone to be tortured for eternity?  Where is mercy?  Where is love? Where is grace in that?  And they paint God as that kind of a God – some do.

The one who paints God that way is Satan because he toys with man, he wants man to believe certain things about God because of things that have happened to him and things that he thinks are unjust about God.  He likes to make fun of God...like Christmas.  ‘Better not shout, better not cry, there’s someone watching over you to see whether you’ve been good or bad.’  Making fun of God – it’s like God’s up there watching just to see who’s going to be good and who’s going to be bad and He’ll give you toys, He’ll give you gifts if you’re good but something bad is going to happen if you do bad.  You know?  And He’s up there in the north and these little elves that serve Him... he makes fun of the angelic realm who has remained faithful to God.  Amazing what Satan has done.  Sorry to get off on some of that but if the truth were able to go out to the whole world it’d be a mystery to the world except for those whom God is calling.  Only those who are called can understand and hear what’s true and see it and believe it.  It’s not given to the world yet.  That’s getting ready to change, thankfully.

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,

Because the world can’t hear it as a whole, but some can.

...even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:” (verse 7)

Hidden wisdom.  It’s hidden with God.  Only God can give it.  Only God can give the truth to people.  You can’t figure it out on your own.  And I’d like to use this opportunity in this moment to remind people out there in the Church, in the Church that was scattered... please, please, please understand how God works.  That God will reveal the truth to you and give you all the truth you need in one primary way...so be careful when you try to go about it in other ways.  I’ll mention this again later on in a different context.  Don’t try to figure out on your own what has not been given.  Don’t try to read God into different things in your life and so forth.  Going on in the article...

That mystery is the hidden truth which contains the plan of God and the gospel of the Kingdom of God, which God alone can reveal.

God’s ministry can only teach and lead people in God’s truth through the power of His spirit working through them.  Although that truth can be written and preached with inspiration from the power of God, it is still a mystery to all who hear it, and they will not understand, unless God’s spirit is also at work in them to reveal it to them.

That’s why, again, going on here and quoting now verses 10-11 in the same chapter...

“But God hath revealed them [hidden truths] unto us by his spirit: for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?

In other words man is only able to come to knowledge by his own ability as a human being to understand physical things around him.  Man can’t understand spiritual things.  Oh, they’ll talk about things they think are spiritual and they’ll tell stories about what they think is spiritual but it’s not – see?  And so man can only understand things that are physical and have great ability out there to understand physical things around us.  We have incredible ability to understand things of science and so forth.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?

In other words the limited ability that God has given in the human mind.

Even so the things of God...

Now either this is true, or it isn’t... and people in the Church forgot it; people in the Church began to not believe it.  Ministers failed to believe this and hold onto this very basic truth.

Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Meaning you cannot know the truth unless God’s spirit gives it to you.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,

Not that which is physical by intellect...

...but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (verse 10-12)

And so God communicates to us.  He doesn’t do it by speaking to us directly.  He does it in the mind, through the spirit.  He gives the mind the ability to understand what we hear and what we read – see?  He gives us that ability.  We see it and others don’t.  That’s why I love the book of John – love it! Because it shows so many examples over and over again, making it so abundantly clear – this very thing... how Nicodemus, when he went to Christ and Jesus Christ was talking to him about being born again and that  Nicodemus couldn’t understand it.  Here he was supposedly a great religious leader and he couldn’t understand the things that Christ was saying.  Christ told him that you can’t understand it because it’s spirit, it’s spiritual – you can’t understand spiritual things.  Nicodemus, when he heard he had to be born again could only think in terms of what was physical.  He said, “You mean I have to crawl back into my mother... how does a person crawl back into their mother’s womb and be born again?  How can you be born again?”  So blinded!  Now God’s spirit is given to us and we understand what that means.  The world thinks they understand what it means to be born again and they’re out in left field because they made something up that’s not true, that’s not real.

And then we come to the woman at the well.  Think of those examples.  She heard Christ talking about living water and she didn’t want to have to come to that well every day.  She said, “Give me that water.”  She thought of her work load and what it would be like during the day if she didn’t have to go to the well every day to get water.  “Give me that living water!”  She didn’t get it; what this living water was that Christ spoke of.

Jesus Christ said in John 6 that every ‘human being has to eat His flesh and drink His blood’.  It says ‘many of His disciples quit following Him after that.’  They couldn’t take it.  There was a large portion that just quit following Him at that time because to eat a human body was unclean, you can’t eat unclean food let alone a human body.  To drink blood?!  That’s against the Old Testament law, you can’t do that, so they didn’t get it because all they understood was something physical.  They didn’t understand what it meant about Passover, that we understand.  So how do you understand those things?  Only by God’s spirit and I’ll tell you something else... the only way you can keep believing it is by God’s spirit because if the holy spirit is cut off, you’ll lose it in time – you’ll lose it.  You’ll lose the truth.  It’s exactly what happened to the Church.  People began to lose the truth.  Going on with the article...

So Paul makes it clear that man cannot receive the truth of God through human ability, but that His word can only be received and understood through spiritual discernment as he says, “But the natural man [natural carnal human beings as we are as human beings]receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:

Ooo, do we know that one?  What’s it like when you start saying things that are the truth?  ...when you start telling the truth about the Sabbath.  Do people say, “Oh, I’m so glad you shared that with me.  I’m so glad to hear that God has a 7,000 year plan.  I am excited to know that!  All those other things that were wrong, I can just throw them away now that I’ve been told the truth.   I know that they’re all lies now.”  People don’t respond that way.  They get hostile, they get upset, because they don’t understand!  Some people get totally hostile because it says ‘the natural human mind cannot receive the things of God’ unless God draws them and begins to give it to them a little bit at a time.  Human beings can’t receive the truth of God naturally.  On the contrary, they will fight against it!  They will resist it!  And that’s the 6,000 year witness of mankind – that man has resisted God through time, has resisted the law of God, the ways of God.  Man hates the commandments of God and those who claim that they have the commandments or that they uphold the commandments – they’ve even changed some on occasion. And there’s one they hate... You can ask them, “You mean, it’s okay to commit adultery?”

“No, no, no, that’s a good law.”

“It’s okay to steal?  I can have your car?”

“No, that’s a good law.”

“Oh, you mean it’s okay to lie?”

“No, no, no, that’s...you shouldn’t do that, it’s a good law.”

“You mean you should keep the 7th day Sabbath?”

“That was done away with by Christ.  That was done away with.”  They don’t like it, they hate it, they hate things about God.

The natural man,

Paul says in the New Testament...

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him:

So you start talking about the truth and God’s way of life and it’s foolishness to people.  You learn real quick like, if you believe 21 truths, let alone 50... but if you believe the initial 21 truths and you start telling those to people, they’re going to think that you have gone off the deep end... that you now believe in Holy Days and not holidays?  That you no longer believe in certain things and now you believe in something totally different?  They truly think you’re stark raving mad sometimes, they just can’t help it.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (verse 14)

God has to give it. God has to even draw you to the truth.  That’s why this world has to go through what it does, because it will not listen to God.  That’s why we’re getting ready to go through some horrifying things on this earth, because man will not humble himself to listen to God and so God is going to let mankind have his fill of his own ways, of his own government, of his own teachings, and everything else that takes place here – because of what man’s going to do to mankind here at the end.  So God’s going to allow it to happen...thankfully in a condensed frame of time.  See, Satan hasn’t even been allowed to do the things, thankfully, that he’s going to do, because Satan’s behind all this.  Satan is the one who stirs these things up, slowly but surely, the things that will happen.  When you have the time of the 5th Trumpet, Satan is in full swing then; with what happens in Europe, Satan is in full swing.  You’re going to see some awesome things take place, brethren, in the Church and outside the Church.  We’re rapidly heading into things – we truly are.  Going on...

The truth that God reveals to us is something that is to become a part of our very mind and thinking.  We are to grow in it and thereby come into greater unity and harmony of spirit with God.  James explains this process in other terms that should be inspiring to us.  We are told to “receive with meekness the engrafted word” (James 1:21, KJV)

So it takes a certain attitude.  Meekness is a teachable spirit.  We have to be of a teachable spirit, a meek spirit, a humble spirit.  That’s the opposite of pride.  That’s the opposite of already having the answers.  If you already have the answers; if you already believe something contrary to what God is giving then you won’t listen to the truth, and that’s the problem with the world.  That’s why God is going to let this world experience that they have no answers; their religion has no answers; their government has no answers to the problem... on and on it goes.  Going on...

Even more revealing, if we can only understand, is what James wrote, when speaking of God, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,

That is a marvellous thing to understand.  How are we begotten?  Well, we understand it’s through the power of the holy spirit when hands are layed upon us; but what does that mean?  His word, His word is in our mind, it’s placed in our mind.  That’s an awesome thing!  Our thoughts, our mind, it’s like becoming a part of God’s mind, if you will... God in us and us in God – that’s what we’re shown -  ‘the engrafted word’; that which we can now have in our minds that we didn’t have before.  That’s how we’re begotten.  You have to have the word of God, the mind of God, the being of God come alive in your mind and that’s about His word, His truth, His ways...where you’re in unity with that and you come in greater unity and you begin to grow spiritually.  Mr. Armstrong talked about how the Church of God is in a stage of embryo right now until we’re finally born... in the womb of a mother, as it were, until we’re finally born.  So this is where the begettal begins – it begins in the mind and the mind begins to change and becomes converted and grows in spirit and understanding until we can finally be born spirit, no longer physical: born into the God Family – Elohim.

“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures [GK.-creation]” (James 1:18, KJV)

I’ve often talked about how this is the greatest part of God’s creation – His Church.  The process that begins that brings us into His Family.  It takes a long time to bring about His Family.  Doesn’t take long to bring parts of the universe into being; He commands it and it comes into being.  We don’t understand that.  And He sustains it by His power.  We don’t understand that.  But for us, because it’s a choice, because character can’t be automatically given to us, otherwise we’d be just robots if it’s just programmed into us.  God gives us choice and He desires that we choose His way over and over again.  Israel, He said, ‘this day I set before you life and death – choose life!’  And they didn’t.  Amazing!  Well, it’s not amazing... going on...

Do we grasp that the begettal of God’s spirit in our lives involves a begettal of His truth in our minds?  Do we really grasp that His truth comes only from Him?  He must reveal truth to us through the power of His spirit.  Therefore, who are we to decide to change or disbelieve that truth?

People do.  Going on...

Yet, that is what so many brethren have done and continue to do.

What truth has God revealed to us?  Many will argue about these matters, but the truth is the truth.  The only choice before us is whether or not we will accept it.  We can refuse it, but in so doing we will be refusing and rejecting God in our life.  That is precisely what most have already done.

I went into twenty-one truths in this article here, trying to re-establish it within the Church again, trying to help people to hold onto it again, to understand what God restored over 50+ years through Mr. Armstrong, because we came to a point in time where the Church was dead and it had to be revived during Philadelphia, and that’s what God did.  He revived the Church, restored truth to the Church, otherwise not a one of us would be here today if it wasn’t for what God did through Mr. Armstrong.  We wouldn’t have these truths if God hadn’t done these things through a particular work in Philadelphia.

So farther down in the article...

Hold Fast

These twenty-one truths have been revealed to God’s Church, with eighteen being restored during the Philadelphian era.

Farther down...

Truth was revealed and again restored to God’s Church during Philadelphia. [...the Philadelphia era] Jesus told them that He was now coming quickly.  The end was coming upon the Church, and Laodicea would be the last church to come on the scene, then Jesus Christ would come at the close of Laodicea.  Our task is to be faithful stewards of what God has delivered to us.  We are to hold fast to the truth He restored and revealed during Philadelphia, the same truth He has revealed to each of us through a special calling He has given to us.

Today some ministers are boldly and defiantly teaching against the need to hold fast to the eighteen truths revealed through Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.  Instead, the idea of holding fast to such things is minimized, criticized, ridiculed, discredited, and disparaged.

People were tearing it down in all the groups that were out there.

Efforts to debunk or detract from the genuine importance of these truths, as being restored to the Church during Philadelphia are hideous acts of false witnessing.

What can you say?  People who sat there and listened to Mr. Armstrong; people who were taught in classes by Mr. Armstrong...that when we came to the end he couldn’t even trust them, couldn’t entrust to them the finances of the Church, to be a treasurer.  Amazing!

And so we have the 18 Truths, we talked about those things, talking about the government of God – see... I had become very weak in that one and I had to be reminded: God works through one man, primarily, first and foremost, to the Church.  And God did to the Jewish people and to the scattered nations of Israel...the lost sheep, if you will, through Peter.  And then God raised up Paul as an apostle, as the one He was going to work through to the Gentiles.  Incredible things that we’ve gone through in history, through our journey of faith.

Another article here – I made up a phrase: ‘BLITZ ZEIT’   You’ve heard the word ‘blitzkrieg’?  Fast acting war the way the Germans moved in WWII and so forth.  Talking about, over and over again here – things that were happening to God’s Church – things that God was working with us to re-establish once again within the Church because of what had happened.  Every stone had been cast down and now God was going through a process here of a remnant group that He was going to rebuild and strengthen again those things that God had given during Philadelphia and that’s what we began to live through.  That’s what we have been living through.

Going all the way down through time here we finally came up to the 1st Quarter 2001 – we still hadn’t come to 9/11.  That was a dramatic thing that happened – 9/11 – the 6th Seal and we hadn’t even come to that point in time yet where it was literally opened up for the Church and for the world.  We didn’t understand that.  I want to mention this article here because this is the 1st Quarter 2001 – because God was starting to move me in a different direction to begin doing something a different way.  To this point in time there’d been several ‘News Watch’ that had been written and as I mentioned before many a time, I’m not a writer and I didn’t like writing these things but I felt a responsibility, I felt a need and  drive, if you will, within me that I knew God was stirring me up to do this and I continued to do it and again, I know that I’m not a writer and we had to have people help edit these things because I’m not that good with the English language, so we had people to help edit and work with some of my English so it would be written better so that people would take it more seriously – because human nature, with the more intellect that people have – the tendency is – “Oh, if this is written that way then God’s working with him?”  But God was working with me and anyway... I’ve actually gotten better in English through time because of all the writing.  Not a whole lot, but I’ve gotten a little bit better.

Anyway, a section here about: ‘A SPIRITUAL WAR’.  Something that was mentioned here was...

...News Watch and Time is Running Out, a recent publication, have focused on the need to get back to the trunk of the tree, to those foundational truths restored to the Church during the Philadelphian period, through Mr. Armstrong.

Always upholding what God gave to us in that period of time because those were the things that were being torn down: basic foundational things that God gave through Mr. Armstrong.  We came out with that first publication, ‘Time is Running Out.’  I began to learn that you can use a computer to create publications.  You can get pictures, there are stock photos out there in the world that you can sometimes get for free, or you can purchase, and generally the ones I liked the most I had to purchase.  So we purchased some and used some of those photos and changed them a little bit and made a booklet, ‘Time is Running Out’.  Most of the articles in it came out of or were based upon articles I had written for ‘News Watch’.  And so it was a matter of re-doing some of that and adding to it and coming out with a booklet.  That was our first experience with having something published, going to a publisher and having him print these for us and sending them out in mass to the Church.  That was just a beginning because all of these things led to writing the book, ‘The Prophesied End-Time’.  God finally brought me to a point where after ‘Time is Running Out’ and ‘Time Has Run Out’, the next stage was to write a book.  And that process that I’ve gone through... the process of what God was giving and what God gave at that time and it’s been an incredible journey.  And it’s those experiences that have made me what I am today and have given me the ability to do what I’m doing and going to do in the future: some of what I’ll talk about next week.

Finally we came to the 3rd Quarter 2001 – here we are approaching 9/11 and so went to a section here entitled...

THIS IS THE END-TIME – PT. 1

This was a four part series and I began to write quarterly for ‘News Watch’ because I was working on other things and I hated writing so I got away from doing it monthly and started doing it quarterly and began to work on another booklet as time went along here.  Finally by the 2nd Quarter 2002 – we came to...

THIS IS THE END-TIME – PT. 4

And the article before that; I want to jump back here to the other one before that because toward the end of that I had in here a section called...

A Transition in Time

I want read the date here.  This was written in the 1st Quarter of 2002 and God was beginning to show some things in Revelation about prophecy and so I addressed the topic of...

A Transition in Time

The fifth and sixth seals unveil a change in focus from events happing to the Church (spiritual Israel) to events that will happen to the world and especially physical Israel – the modern-day nations of Israel.

I didn’t understand the significance fully of these things.  God was showing us where we were in time.  He was showing us things that had happened during the first 4 Seals and the 5th Seal and He was bringing us up to the 6th Seal and we didn’t even know it yet.  We didn’t understand it until we can look back and then you realize how incredible it is when God leads us and reveals these things to us and how a transition was beginning to take place from that which was spiritual for the Church to that which is physical to the world. And so toward the end of that article I said...

Do you grasp it?  We have already lived through the opening of the first five seals of Revelation.  Time is short! [going on] Not only have we lived through the opening of the first five seals, but we have just entered into the time of the opening of the sixth seal!

Didn’t understand it, but knew we were entering into it.  Had no idea except for what God was giving.

The next issue of News Watch will continue with a closer focus upon where we are now concerning the opening of the sixth seal.  This will be an inset to the story flow of what we have covered in Proof #6 – we are in the end-time.

1st Quarter of 2002 – 9/11 had already happened but I didn’t understand what had taken place yet – God was still revealing these things and showing us what was taking place.  Going on...

THIS IS THE END-TIME! Pt. 4

This article will conclude the series covering the seven areas of proof that we are in the end-time.  The first section of this issue is an inset to the story flow that was covered in Proof #6, and it continues with a closer focus upon where we are now concerning the opening of the sixth seal.

I didn’t know fully where we were and God was showing us what had happened at the end of 2001 and this was the 2nd Quarter and God was then showing us more fully the significance of the 6th Seal.

THE SIXTH SEAL & 6,000 YEARS

The sixth seal of Revelation marks an awesomely dramatic time for all human history.  It sets the way for the conclusive events that must take place before the Kingdom of God can finally come to this earth.  This seal establishes the fulfillment of a very specific work that God has been doing for the past 6,000 years.  It is at this time that the calling and choosing of all who will be resurrected first into that Kingdom will have been fully determined by God.

I still didn’t understand the significance of 9/11 – not fully, but God was beginning to show that it was the opening of the 6th Seal, it was going to be in that transition time leading up to a sealing that was going to take place for the Church.  Awesome!  In other words, before the 7th Seal could be opened it would all be set – the 144,000; everything that God had been working on through time would be firmly established.  And so began to go through some of those things and was talking in this article here about the long work of Pentecost.  For 6,000 years God has been working... and even called it that, ‘The Long Work of Pentecost’ and we still didn’t even know we were going to be resurrected on Pentecost, but it’s the long work of Pentecost.  Why?  Because it’s about the firstfruits.  For 6,000 years God has moulded and fashioned people’s lives who are going to be in that Family, that are going to come with Jesus Christ when He returns to this earth.  That is a most profound thing to understand about what God is doing.  And so God was blessing us to understand some of these things in a deeper way and where we were in time.  Going on...

The opening of the sixth seal reveals a time for awesome fulfillment in the Work of God over the past 6,000 years.  All who will become part of His family, from the first harvest of all mankind, will have been determined and sealed before final tribulation comes on this world.  But before these firstfruits can enter into that family, the world must first go through a time of trouble such as it has never encountered throughout all human history.

And then went on to talk about an exact number in Pentecost – meaning 144,000.  This was a hard thing to go through because in the Church we’ve had this concept: because Mr. Armstrong, as I’ll read next Sabbath, Mr. Armstrong believed he would live on into a period of time when both Laodicea and Philadelphia would be side by side.  He believed that God had called him to fulfill something, to continue on to accomplish something to the very end and yet that wasn’t God’s purpose for him.  He was to fulfill a job for an era of Philadelphia but not live into Laodicea.  But because of that, some of those ideas, God didn’t reveal then what He was doing fully and what was going to come in time – an apostasy.  And so because of those things Mr. Armstrong struggled with who are they to be given authority?  Is the baton to be passed?  And so he was going through a struggle because of things about his health and so... anyway, you’ll see some of that in the writings and so forth when I begin to go through some of that next Sabbath, but because of that there was this idea that there would be 144,000 who would come out of the era of Philadelphia and there would be a great multitude added to that that would come out of Laodicea – who would become a part of the Kingdom of God and return with Jesus Christ...that there (and it didn’t have a number) would be all kinds of people that returned with Jesus Christ above and beyond 144,000. God brought us to this point in time to understand, no, that’s not the case.  144,000 can’t come out of Philadelphia.  That was pretty easy to see.  Look at what happened to Philadelphia: 1/3 quit, 1/3 went back to Protestantism, and a 1/3 were scattered.  Look what happened to us and we only had a maximum number of people around 96-97,000 people that had been baptized to that point in time.  And then we were pretty much dissolved in 1994; it came to an end and we were scattered all over the place, with that 1/3 that was even left.  And so, because of what happened God began to show us... no, what’s repeated over and over again about those who come with Jesus Christ – that there’s only a specific number; 144,000...not one more and not one less.  God is the master builder.  God is all powerful and in His construction of His Temple He is building it minutely so, exactly so – every piece fitting into place in ways we can’t even begin to comprehend: 144,000 that are going to return with Jesus Christ and they’ve all been determined already.  We know that.  We’ve already gone through that period of time.  It’s already set – see?  Anybody else who’s drawn in from the past, from Worldwide who was baptized before 1994, cannot be a part of the 144,000 – will not be.  Able to live on into a new age?  ...to continue on?  Absolutely! The rest have to wait till the final 100 years.

Going into a particular section entitled...

7th AREA OF PROOF

And this is in the 2nd Quarter now of 2002.

The 7th area of proof, that we are in the end-time, will be the last proof we cover in this series.  This last area contains fewer scriptures than the previous proofs, but it may very well prove to be one of the most important areas of scripture that needs to be understood by the Church today.

It is likely that most of the scattered Church today would not acknowledge this proof as being fulfilled prophecy, let alone acknowledge it as being critically important to our salvation, which it is, and that will be explained as we go through this last proof.  Denying this proof would be tantamount to denying the truth that God has revealed to His Church in these end-times.

And so now this is quoting Malachi 4:5-6...

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD [Eternal]: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6).

Very powerful what’s being said here.  Then going on in the article...

These verses, of and by themselves, are not sufficient to understand the importance of this prophecy.  Other verses that speak of this fulfillment must be examined along with this prophetic announcement that is to be accomplished before the “coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD [Eternal].”

Debate has fluctuated within the environs of the Church as to whether or not Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong fulfilled this prophecy of the end-time Elijah.  Rather than get bogged down with all the arguments pro and con, it would be better to simply focus on what is true concerning these events about this subject and to focus on what is true about our history that is in agreement with this subject.

A section here entitled...

Don’t Confuse Scriptures

Sometimes people become confused with what is being stated in other related scriptures and this prophetic announcement in Malachi.  A long-time evangelist in the Church recently gave a sermon on this subject and was himself confused about these scriptures.

And I refer to that as being Rod Meredith...that he gave a sermon around this period of time and I went into a 4 part sermon series playing portions of his sermon, of what he had to say about Mr. Armstrong and the confusing way of what he was doing to the Church because he did not, in any fashion or form, acknowledge the reality of what Mr. Armstrong fulfilled.  That 4 part series went through and discussed some of these things and so I brought that out and talked about that.

Don’t confuse this prophecy in Malachi with things said about John the Baptist.

So there are things that Jesus Christ revealed that John fulfilled, and there are things that Mr. Armstrong fulfilled, and there is a distinction in them.  And so in Matthew 17, we’re going to read that now; and it says...

“And his disciples asked him, saying.  Why then say the scribes that Elias [Elijah]...

Or ‘Elias’ as it says here, but it’s Elijah, speaking of the Old Testament...

... must first come?

And so they’re asking Him because it’s about Messiah and they themselves don’t feel like they’ve seen an Elijah yet; and so they don’t understand that Jesus Christ is coming twice – that the Messiah had to come twice and they don’t understand that yet.  And so Jesus Christ does address something about his first coming and Mr. Armstrong addresses that... I’ll go through that next Sabbath as well, as we go into another subject here... but this is a good place to end this particular series because it launches us into next Sabbath then of what we’re going to begin covering in more in depth about what Mr. Armstrong wrote and so forth.  But going on here...Matthew 17

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias [Elijah] truly shall first come, and restore all things.

So, He’s saying here that Elijah will come and will restore all things.  And then He goes on to talk about John the Baptist.  Now John the Baptist didn’t restore things, but He’s saying here that this prophecy is going to be fulfilled, but they still had no concept of a second coming; they still had no concept of what was going to take place in time.  And you can’t know until you’re there.  Now we can look back and say, “Now I know what happened.”  See?  You’re able to look at it and understand.  You’re able to learn from it.  And so Jesus Christ is saying, “Yes indeed it’s true that Elijah shall truly come first, and restore all things.”

But I say unto you, That Elias [Elijah] is come already,

See?  So yes this has to be fulfilled yet, that’s what He’s saying, but also that there’s a duality here that Jesus Christ is explaining – something that John the Baptist fulfilled because there’s a duality about Christ...about His first coming and about a second coming – see?  And so He went on to say...

That Elias [Elijah] is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they [liked or] listed.[ as it says here]  Likewise also the Son of man suffers of them.

And so they understood then as time went along here that He’s speaking about John the Baptist and that’s what it says here...

Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:10-13).

So He was telling them: look what they did to John – see?  And they’re going to do to the Son of man whatever they desire too.  So, they didn’t understand that.  They didn’t understand that Jesus Christ was going to be put to death.  They didn’t understand till later on.  Amazing!  So often there are things we just don’t understand until we’re there and something is accomplished and fulfilled and that’s why we’re going on about the journey of faith – we’re looking back and seeing what God has done and it’s a marvel where we’ve been, what God gave to us, and where we are now... what God has given to the Church.

I made comment many times about how God continues to draw us and work with us and how He does it and I remember specifically at the Feast in Colorado Springs when God began to, in a very powerful way, as part of a message, began to teach the Church the importance of being unified: the importance of being at one with everything that He was giving.  And we’ve gone through time and we’ve had struggles with that because there’s only one way that God gives that to the Church.  There is that which we have, there is that which we’ve had in time that had to be restored and built up again within the Church – speaking of the 21 Truths we talked about, because of what the Church did to those, of what Mr. Tkach did, and what so many of the groups did, and what so many of the scattered groups were doing to the truth.  And so those things had to be re-established once again within the Church in a very powerful way, that God gave to us and helping us to become stronger in those truths – before we could begin to build upon them.  Because God’s given many more truths beyond the 21 truths.  It’s awesome what God has given to us.  It’s PROFOUND what God has given to us, it truly is!  And so starting at that Feast God began to give a message to the Church about the importance of unity and oneness, because God was also making it very clear to me we had people there that were not there.  There were people with us that I knew were not with us and I knew that were going to go by the wayside.  I’ve lived through it so many times – see?  And you can only go so far and God will give time and patience and mercy, but once it’s set and people begin to go in a certain direction, unless you’re brought to a massive point of repentance... there are certain things that are just going to happen in life.  And so there were certain ones that sure enough left because they were not in unity and oneness with us.

And God began to give us more truth then, after that Feast.  He began revealing more and more to the Church of God in the way that He works; through me to the Church.  You know, in those times I couldn’t say things like that.  It was hard for me at times talking about what God was doing and how God was working with me, but I’ve become stronger in that through time.  I had to be because of where God was leading us.  So I don’t apologize for those things.  I used to almost apologize in the Church for certain things I was saying and came to a point in time where, no, it’s just a matter of reality.  It is what it is.  The truth is the truth.  And we understand that.

The reason I mention these things at this juncture is because we have things coming that are going to try people based upon whether you’re on a journey of faith, faithful stewards of what God has given to you, whether to this point in time you’re willing to move exactly as I’ve talked about in times past...when God says turn right you turn right; when He says turn left you turn left – and you do it quickly because you don’t have the luxury to do what so many did when God revealed the 50th Truth.  That was a great lesson for us to learn from because there were elders and there were elders wives and there were people out there who had trouble with the 50th Truth, who had trouble understanding a change that God was showing to us – that Jesus Christ was not returning during Trumpets in 2011; that He’s returning during Pentecost 2012.  And so some people were battling with “How can you be a prophet if you said that your job began at a certain date – if you said...” well, that’s God’s job to give me what I have.  It’s God’s responsibility of what He gives to the Church; it isn’t mine.  Didn’t change my job as a prophet one iota.  It was just a greater truth being given to us and it was a great thing to give to the Church to see whether we would follow Him because so much of what’s still happening and what has been happening is still about the Church!  It’s just going to become greater and greater as we go forward – more powerful in time – the Church.  It’s always about His Family first and foremost – see?  And so God brought us to that point and it tried people, it shook the faith of people, and it was a struggle.  I went to Jerusalem because I knew I was to be in Jerusalem when my job began, so I went back because I knew I was supposed to be there when my job began...as much as I knew when God gave me that Y2K wasn’t going to have any effect – that it had nothing to do with prophecy, that it conflicted with prophecy.  It was just a bunch of hoopla – see?  As much as God gave that and in a stronger way, because by that time, as time has gone on, I’ve known more effectively what God is giving me when He’s giving it to me, just like what’s been happening this week.

He’s going to give the Church some doctrine the Church has never had in the Church of God before.  And before God gave that doctrine He made it clear to the Church that I am an apostle.  That had to be established first before this could ever take place.  I didn’t know where God was leading us in all this.  There may be other things that are coming down the pike... I know there’d have to be – that we don’t know about...but some are going to have battles with it, because you’re not able to turn to the right hand or to the left hand immediately when you need to.  You don’t have the luxury of time now that we had when the 50th Truth came out.

I still marvel when I think back about that, of that period of time when I knew that it was to be given and I believed with all my being that God intended it to be given during the Feast of Trumpets – and then God showed me we can’t make it that long.  There’ll be many who will be gone by that time, who cannot spiritually endure that length of time; so give it now.  That’s what God gave to me.  So some had to start learning lessons from that...divisiveness...to show in any fashion or form divisiveness, to speak to another member of the Body of Christ divisiveness...to say things of disagreement with what God’s apostle, or at that time God’s prophet was giving to the Church and telling the Church?  To say something against that to another member in the Body of Christ is divisive and worthy of becoming disfellowshipped from the Church of God.  But God didn’t do that to us, but that’s what it’s worthy of.  God does not tolerate divisiveness in the Body of Christ.  He does not tolerate those kinds of things – so those kinds of things had to be repented of by those who were a part of that.  And so God let us learn some big lessons at that time.

Sometimes I’m blown over by what human nature can do – even in the environs of the Church of God – you know?  When I tell an elder you’re not to be on Facebook and I tell him twice – “People you’re not to be on Facebook; in the ministry.”  And a week before he’s put out he’s still trying to talk people to get onto Facebook with him!  Mind boggling!  Speaking against what was being given and they knew it – they knew what I’d said about it – they knew what I’d told the Church – they knew what I’d told the ministry...those people being asked, “Will you join on Facebook with me.”  He’s not an elder in God’s Church; no longer a member either.  Anyway... incredible sometimes things that happen.

So I’m saying these things in advance because brethren, there are some things coming, and it’s not what’s coming next week, and the week after that – because that’s going to be big too, but what’s coming behind that, to me, is a lot bigger - because you see God establishes doctrine in the Church through apostles – not prophets.  Prophecy is given to the Church through prophets.  Well, we haven’t even had that in the past, you know, as far as the Church is concerned.

So, we’re at a unique time in history.  Time... like the booklets for the Church... Time is Running Out.  You know what day it is today.  I’ve been told several times.  I don’t go and look at that – what is it? Some of you know...somebody told me earlier...896  – see, I knew somebody had to know – I heard it earlier – somebody mentioned it.  That many days left... or that many days we’re into it and you think – how many days are left and you think... WOW!  Look at where we are.  I know a year’s gone by.  I was reminded here the other day as far as God’s calendar, a week ago that we’ve already gone past a year now.  If you look at the actual date on the other calendar, that doesn’t mean a whole lot because we’re not quite at a year yet, because it’s counted differently than God’s calendar, but incredible how fast we’re moving forward and where we are in time and to think we can meet and be here like we are today... it is astounding!  ...and it’s exciting!  Truly is exciting.  It’s exciting what God does and how God does it.

But you go back through and you look at things in the Bible... I just want you to think about this a little bit because of what’s following right behind the next couple of sermons.  There are going to be some things coming: that it’s a matter of doctrine and it’s a matter of something you cannot go to any scripture in the Old Testament and say, “Ah, see... there it is.”  And you can’t go to some place in the New Testament and say, “Ah...there it is.”  Think that’ll try you?  Think that’ll be difficult?  Because I could go through and show you things, which I may do, written in the New Testament over and over again that was not written in the New Testament, but that was doctrine given through apostles, doctrine given through John, doctrine given through Peter, a lot of doctrine given through Paul that was never written in the Old Testament, but is doctrine given to the Church, of something the Church was going to do, and how the Church was going to function and what was true within the Church and the environment of the Church that could only be given by God through apostles.  And so we go up through the time of John, and you know what?  We have nothing else that’s ever been added in this book since John.  A long time ago, nearly 1,900 years – and now we will.  And I’ll tell you that some of you are going to have battles.  It’s going to test you to the core of your being!  ...at where you are, spiritually.  It’s going to slap some of you in the face hard because of how you think about people.  I better shut up before I give it.

But that’s where we are in time.  Have you been hearing that message?  Turn to the right hand when God says turn right; turn to the left hand when God says turn left – be ready to move quickly because things are going to happen quickly...they truly are and it’s exciting what God is doing and it’s all for a purpose of preparing for the Kingdom of God.  I can’t give you more.  But I see a picture coming together in an inspiring way.  Every day this past week a picture has been becoming stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger, more exciting, more inspiring, more moving, and I’m looking forward to giving it, but I’m not looking forward to the response of some.  There may be a few that can’t take it and leave the Church.  I can’t help that.  I can’t give it to you...God’s spirit.  I can’t give you the ability to understand, to see clearly things that God gives and why He gives it – see?

So, going on here about John the Baptist; what Jesus Christ said...

John the Baptist was not involved in any restoration, but he did come in the spirit and the power of Elijah to accomplish part of a dual fulfillment concerning this prophecy of an Elijah to come.  It is really quite simple because John was to pave the way for the first-coming of Jesus Christ – doing so in the spirit and power of Elijah.  But the prophecy is dual, because another person was to come into the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way for the second-coming of Jesus Christ.

Part of the purpose in this duality is revealed by Gabriel as Zacharias [it says here] is being told about his future son, John. “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias [or Elijah], to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).  John the Baptist would be involved with helping to make a people ready for Jesus Christ’s first-coming.

We will go through some of this next week and talk about some of the things that Mr. Armstrong was beginning to understand, things about Zerubbabel and what he was doing and how God was working with him and things about Elijah...because he brings up about how some had talked about him being Elijah and he said he was not Elijah to come and yet how he was beginning to see because he saw the evidence of the past to that present moment in time.  It’s exactly how he’s described it.  It comes to a point in time where the truth is the truth and it is what it is.  And so he was able to see it and able to say it then.  Came to a point in time where it was obvious what was there and yet he wasn’t given everything.

Some of the reasons why some things were done with Y.O.U. and we had different programs within the church; there was a great motivation in that, which was good for the Church... was because of this thing about turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers because it was seen only physically.  It was not understood for what is truly there about Elijah.  It’s spiritual.  It isn’t physical.  The hearts of the fathers: Who are our fathers?  ...speaks of in the scriptures?  I have gone through sermons in the past and explained those things but we talk about the fathers of old, of what God gave to them and what was in them and that message that God gave to them and what was in their heart, to the children that would come later.  That’s how the Bible speaks, and then the children were turned to those messages of their forefathers, of things that were given to Noah, to Abraham, to the prophets of old, to Moses - through time; it’s a spiritual thing and that’s what happens when God draws us and calls us.  He turns our hearts – see?  ...to His way of life.  And this is a beautiful poetic way of describing that, of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers because it’s something that God has to do by His spirit; of giving that to us, of giving that in our mind; that which was in those of old; to the children, and through that process then we begin to respond and our hearts are then turned to that message and that truth.  It’s a beautiful way of God giving that and revealing that.

Making it very clear that John’s work was a matter of what was repentance and then the first coming of Jesus Christ and making a people ready so that when the Day of Pentecost came, you know what? There were people primed and ready.  There were people who were already beginning to look toward a Messiah that was going to come and that’s why so many people were beginning to listen and that’s why different ones began to talk about it and that’s why the Roman government (well the one there) and the Jews hated some of the things that were taking place; about things that were being said about a Christ and about a Messiah.

And so again, Mr. Armstrong was fulfilling those things about an Elijah to come and yet people in the Church were denying that as a part of what was really taking place, a part of what was really happening.  So going on in this article here...

This prophecy concerning Jesus Christ should not be confused with prophecy concerning an “Elijah to come.”

There are scriptures that talk specifically about before that because there is an individual out there using Acts, that didn’t understand it, and it talks about one ‘whom heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things’.  When you go through that particular section of Acts there, in Acts 3:19-26; that’s talking about Jesus Christ.  When it speaks of ‘that Prophet’, speaking of one that Moses spoke of... ‘that Prophet’ is Jesus Christ.  There is an individual out here in the Philadelphia Church who believed he was ‘that prophet’.  I think what a sick thing!  No, Jesus Christ is and the restoration of all things – that’s when Jesus Christ returns; and that’s not what’s talked about concerning Malachi and other areas when it talks about the ‘restitution of all things’ before, in essence, the ‘coming of the Messiah’.  That’s a totally different matter.  Just trying to make a point with some of the people; don’t confuse the scriptures in those matters.  I want to jump down to the end here.

Going back through this article and everything said about it...

To deny that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong was the Elijah to come before the end-time is either ignorance or willing denial of what is true concerning our history and what God did through him.

Anybody that would deny what God did through him is a liar!  ...and a false witness – see?  That’s why I basically attacked that one sermon – because he’s a liar and a false witness.  Calling a spade a spade.  Some people say that’s too harsh, that’s too hard.  Really?!  Really...?  Did Paul not warn about liars and false prophets who were in the Church’s midst?  Absolutely and he named them by name and so people don’t like it when I name people by name in those things, but people need to be warned and people need to be told the truth – you know?  John the Baptist, speaking of things that happened later on and speaking of Judas Iscariot... called him by name.  He’s written in history, infamy, in time,  because of what he did.  Mr. Tkach?  Same thing.

I remember when we first started talking about the man of sin, son of perdition, and there were people in the Church of God who were very uncomfortable... well, my wife’s smiling because she wasn’t too comfortable with me saying it either... like ‘Ooo, that’s pretty strong to mention somebody’s name.” Because we weren’t accustomed to that in the Church.  I wasn’t comfortable with saying it in the beginning, but I knew I had a job to do.  So there are people in the Church of God, you know... you just weren’t real comfortable with that taking place, with that being said, and I understand that.  It wasn’t comfortable because we weren’t accustomed to that kind of thing – see?  And so I think of people like this and how they confuse God’s people instead of leading them back to the truck of the tree – instead of saying that Mr. Armstrong was used by God and every truth... if that evangelist had said, “Every truth I’ve ever had, every truth I know came from that...”  Everything he says on the TV today that happens to be true – CAME from Mr. Armstrong!  It didn’t come from him!  God didn’t give it through him.  God hasn’t given anything through him!  ...except what is true that came through Mr. Armstrong.  And yet he won’t acknowledge what God did through him – that he was the Elijah to come, that God used him to restore truth to the Church because the Church wouldn’t be here if God hadn’t done those things.  The Church of God would not be here today if Mr. Armstrong hadn’t fulfilled scriptures concerning the Elijah to come to restore the things that the Church had lost – because it was dead.  You’re here today, I’m here today, everyone out there that knows anything that’s true concerning the 18 truths, 21 truths is because of what God did through Mr. Armstrong.  And we wouldn’t have the rest of the truths if God hadn’t given us those truths through Mr. Armstrong.  How was he used?  As the Elijah to come, as a Zerubbabel, to rebuild things in the Church that had come to a point that were dead and dying; to build upon those things – candidly to restore.

So going on here and finishing this part that I want to read.

It is God who restored necessary truth to the Church so that a people would be ready for the second-coming of Jesus Christ.

And He did it through Mr. Armstrong.  What an awesome thing to understand.  It’s a sad thing, though, as I look back in our history and I think what a sad thing though of so many out there who don’t believe that today.  So many who have lost track of those things.  I look forward to the day that they’re reminded of it.  For the vast majority of them, in the Great White Throne.  I look forward to the day that they’re awakened, both physically and spiritually.  Because you see, the vast majority of the world only has to be awakened, resurrected physically, but for the Church that fell asleep, the thousands who won’t live into the Millennium – the tens of thousands that were baptized who will not live into the Millennium – they’re going to be resurrected again at the Great White Throne, but they have to be awakened spiritually at the same time.  God is going to use that at that time to do both for them.  They’re unique and it’ll be a glorious time, an exciting time... I look forward to hugging them, to being with them, to talking to different ones, to being there to help them to get back on track again and one of the first things I’m going to discuss with them is why they knew what they knew – because of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.

~~~end

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