Restoring All Things

Ron Weinland

Dec. 26, 2009

I’m deeply inspired by how God works out events and timing of events, especially prophesied events.  It’s so awesome – it truly is!  And the farther we go in this and as time continues on like it is, it is absolutely incredible how everything comes together.  I just marvel sometimes to see how God fits everything together, how He brings us to a certain point just like the sermon series we’ve been going through.  We went through our history and then the one last week was about ‘The Elijah to Come’ and things you could never really dream of, never even conceive in your mind and all of a sudden this is where you are.  It’s truly incredible how He works with us and yet all these sermons are woven together to lead us to each sermon that’s following.  And so we’re going through a process here as God leads us and He inspires us and works with us in a very powerful way – and it is really incredibly awesome.

I have to say today that this sermon here is akin to the sermon series I gave in 2005 at the Feast of Tabernacles regarding the truer identity and understanding of Jesus Christ and God the Father...and I’ll come back to that in a moment.  I’ll give you the title of the sermon today first of all.  It’s entitled: Restoring All Things. Restoring All Things... and asking the question: What does that mean for this end-time?

This is a matter where we must understand God’s will for this end-time and what He is going to restore to the Church at this end-time and to all the world because some of this is easy to misunderstand and read into...the expression that’s used here as many have done in the past.  It’s easy for people to read in things from a physical perspective because we tend to do that as human beings...we tend to see the physical first and then God has to show us the spiritual – what it really means – because that’s just our natural proclivity, even with God’s spirit in us that’s what we tend to do; and we come up with carnal physical ideas oftentimes about God’s will and God’s purpose in things we read like this.  However, as in all truth God has to reveal His will and His purpose and we understand how He does that – He does it through human instruments – He always has and continues to do so.  And especially over the past 2,000 years He has done so in and through Jesus Christ who is the head of the Church, the Body of Christ. And so again here; this particular sermon today, I was thinking about this morning and last night about how awesome it is what God is giving to us at this time and again, I think of those 2005 Feast sermons about Yahweh Elohim.  I think of sermons about Jesus Christ, about the Passover series and the sermons about Pentecost later on – about the Wave Sheaf and things that God has made clearer to us.  All those things are immensely exciting because it is about God and it is about His Son.

Today is another big step; it’s an incredible step.  So today, for a beginning here, let’s first look at this term ‘to restore all things’.  This phrase, used in Matthew 17:11, is recorded in most Bible translations as the words of Jesus, which they are, and just as stated in the King James Version, this is how it’s translated...again, as Jesus Christ was speaking - And Jesus answered and said unto them,  as He was discussing with them, they wanted to know about things at the end-time and what was going to take place and they wanted to know about the Elijah that was to come, that was prophesied and so, Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah/Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.  A very powerful statement was given and then He goes on and continues with other information for the disciples.  But this is a very awkward translation and it doesn’t fully give the spiritual intent of what Jesus was actually saying in His reference to an Elijah that was to come before the Messiah.

The word ‘restore’ that’s used here does mean just that and is explained in Greek.  It means: ‘to reconstitute, to construct anew, to build and/or to rebuild’ and it also has to do with health.  It’s used in scriptures concerning people’s health.  It can also deal with ‘the home or a home, an organization’ and so forth.   What does it mean ‘all things’?  That’s a very broad wording that’s used often in times in translations and especially in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John when it talks about various things like all of something, such as ‘all of Judea’.  Sometimes people think that it’s all inclusive of everything and nothing can be left out – no, it depends on the context; it depends on how God is using it.  And you really don’t know the context and how God is using things unless you understand God’s will, unless you understand God’s purpose.  You have to be led by God’s spirit to understand that which is spiritual and so the world naturally just reads things into scriptures like this and we have in the Church oftentimes as well.  We’ve read into it what we thought it might be.  And so again here, the word ‘all things’ can be translated as ‘thoroughly, the whole, all’ indeed, ‘or every’ but it can only be understood, again, by the context and how it’s used.  And so you don’t know what the ‘all’ is or the ‘everything’ or the ‘every’ that it’s talking about, or the ‘whole’ of something without knowing what it’s discussing.

There were some other translations that actually came a little closer to the intent; I’m just going to read 3 of them... where it says...will come and will get everything restored and ready.  Because what is the context?  It’s about the coming of the Messiah.  It’s about preparing something for the coming of the Messiah and candidly, to the intent and the degree God wants it done.  It’s like the gospel... let’s read that because there were incredible arguments over this particular scripture and Mr. Armstrong.

People got into arguments over some of these things and claim, “well, this didn’t happen so He didn’t do it,” and then there were others who came along and said, “Yes he did” and they then try to come up with ‘all the nations’ that the truth went into.  So here is the scripture – Matthew 24:14 - And the gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world.  Does that mean every human is going to hear it?  Does it mean that every person is going to be confronted with the truth?  That’s not what the context is about, and again here, it’s a matter of what God is doing and to what purpose God is doing it...and candidly there are times you really don’t know that until it’s been done...then you can look back and say, “Oh, now I understand.  Now I understand what God’s will was.  Now I understand to what degree it was to go into all the world.”

And then it said, for a witness unto all nations.  There were different things that Mr. Armstrong did at different times.  I think of when he spoke in the ‘Great Hall’ in China – awesome that it even occurred!  A religious leader in the world, let alone any leader in the world was taken to a communist nation like that, given the kind of audience he was in front of different leading people in different parts of the world who were gathered together at that particular time and he spoke and he gave a message.  He didn’t turn to verses, he didn’t turn to scriptures, he didn’t open up his Bible and say, “God has sent me here to tell you thus and thus...” because that wasn’t his audience and that wasn’t God’s purpose to give that kind of a witness.  He did it in a different way.  He did it exactly the way God wanted him to do it – see?  Amazing!  But there were people out there – some of these same people that are like a thorn in the flesh sometimes.  I so look forward when they’re going to get cleaned up – the mockers, those who twist and distort things that happen because they don’t want God’s truth, and they certainly don’t want the ones that God has sent to them – that’s the way it’s ALWAYS been!  And so there are masses of people out there that hated Mr. Armstrong and there were a whole bunch of them that hated him who were KICKED OUT OF the Church of God because of their sins, and because of their foul attitudes and because of the deceptions and those things they tried to bring into the Church of God because of how they were being led.  They weren’t being led by God and so they hated Mr. Armstrong...   And even minsters in the Church did the same thing – they found fault with, “Well, why isn’t he giving a STRONGER message!  If he has this opportunity to preach the gospel into all the world then why doesn’t he give a STRONGER message and indeed GIVE A WITNESS TO THE WORLD about the end-time and God and what God has to say to them!  Why doesn’t he preach to them?!”  He was preaching to them, but those fools couldn’t understand it; because that’s what they were; fools.

To fight against God, to refuse what God gives, man has been very foolish through time for 6,000 years.  Thankfully that’s all getting ready to be changed.  Again here, how can a person know what this is talking about?  Well, you have to have God’s spirit.  You have to be converted, you have to be in the Body of Christ to begin to grasp and understand things that God gives and if your attitude isn’t right, if your spirit isn’t right, if you have sin in your life, if you’re doing things you shouldn’t be doing – you’re not going to get it!  ....spiritually!

And that’s what happened in the Church. That’s why we had so many people finding fault with Matthew 24:14 and Mr. Armstrong.  They just couldn’t get it because their attitudes were foul, because they were becoming weak, because they were sinning, and because the love of many, as God says, was waxing cold. God’s spirit, in other words, was waxing cold in their life because the word that’s used there for love is agape and the source of agape is God, it comes from God.  And so individuals were not yielding themselves to the spirit of God in their life, living as they should be living and so that which was between the ears was a lot of grey matter and physical, but not spiritual in the mind – see?  Sad.  The only way you can understand God’s will is with God’s spirit.  And so examples like this are throughout the scriptures here, over and over again.  ‘All things’, ‘all the world’, ‘all’, what does that mean?  ‘All’.  See?  And so people come up with different ideas. Yet ‘The Plain Truth’ went out to nearly all nations, but for some that wasn’t enough.  We should have, I guess, newsstands in China before we could say it went into China, and yet Mr. Armstrong talked before them and before various leaders and made it very clear it was their responsibility because of the way their government was organized of what went to the people.  And so many doors were shut right then and there.  So, it did go out, and very powerfully so and it did go into all the world but... there are those who just wouldn’t accept that and still today cannot accept that truth.

So again, going back to the three examples here...  speaking how ‘will come’ and ‘will get everything restored and ready’, everything that God wants restored, everything that God intends to be restored, everything that needs to be restored that will fulfill God’s intent and purpose for the prophecies being fulfilled and accomplished, and that’s exciting.  And He’s given some different examples how that’s going to be done and what some of those things are.  ‘Restored and ready’... ready for the return of the Messiah, because that’s what the subject matter is, it’s about the return of the Messiah, it’s about the coming of the Messiah and something God’s going to do in what He’s termed the ‘Elijah to come’.

Another one ...is coming first to get everything ready, well, again, what does ‘everything ready’ mean? Everything that God wants to be ready is going to be ready for His Son to come back, this time as King of Kings and who’s going to know what ‘everything’ is?  God’s Church and only God’s Church because He’s using His Church to get it ready.  And so those who are outside of God’s Church are those who mock and make fun and ridicule God and what He does and they mock His Church and they will not understand nor see it – not at all – sad.

Another one ...and being the world’s reformation, kind of awkward but it does carry with it by definition those things that are going to be accomplished because we understand that.  We understand that God’s getting ready to change the world; things are going to be changed mightily in the world once Jesus Christ returns, once God’s government is established and massive change begins to sweep this earth.  First of all, there won’t be conflict between different governments like there is in the world today. You will be able to travel anywhere in the world and you’re going to have the same government per se, as a whole – a little awkward in the very beginning, but it’ll get there.  One government, one religion, one truth in the world about God and about God’s way of life.  Incredible!  But the transition’s starting now, the preparing for that is starting now.  God is giving more understanding now to prepare people so that it’ll be easier – “Ah, I see it.”  So they’ll be more prepared for it – especially within the scattered nations of Israel, all peoples that are there, as a whole – see?  Not just Israelites!  Yes, some Israelites and also some Gentiles but in those specific regions of the modern-day Israelite nations as a whole.

We see changes taking place, we see things that God is doing to prepare and get ready.  And as I always like to make fully clear, there is only one who will fully restore ‘all things’ to God’s creation.  Acts 3 - speaking of Jesus Christ it says, whom the heaven must receive, the only human being who has ever gone to heaven, the only being who was ever intended to die and go to heaven.  It’s amazing what the world believes; after you die you go down to this really bad place, wherever that ‘down’ is, but it’s a downer.  Or you go up to heaven to be with God, or to be up there on these clouds that kind of float around for eternity, or something like that, the ideas that people conjure up in their minds… how sad.  How sad!  How empty that is!  Not like God at all, not in God’s purpose at all.  And so there is one it says, whom the heavens must receive until time times of restitution, ‘to restore’ and so this word is restitution, when everything will be restored – that’s what it’s talking about.  …until the times of restitution of all things, and in this particular case it is ALL – everything is going to be reconciled to God.  EVERYTHING is going to be brought into unity and oneness with God.  It’s not talking about the physical world, it’s not talking about a physical  universe, it’s not talking about a physical earth and everything on it even though many things are going to change on it.  It’s talking about mankind because mankind is the only thing that goes against God.  Everything else He commanded it to be and it exists and it is, but man is the one that gets in the way.  Man is the problem – selfish human nature, carnal human nature – that’s the problem and so when it speaks of the restitution of all things; it has to do with God’s Family and bringing everything into, everyone into God’s Family that can be brought into that Family.

So again, whom the heavens must receive, speaking of Jesus Christ, until the times of restitution of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began, because God has been telling mankind from the beginning that there is a plan of salvation, that there is that which has to do with a coming Messiah, that there is that which has to do with His Family.  As I have mentioned concerning Herbert W. Armstrong fulfilling a ‘type’ of the Elijah, he was used mightily in restoring and making ready the Church for this end-time by restoring 18 foundational and basic truths of God.  I want to read a portion of this entitled:

The “ELIJAH TO COME”

The Church of God – PKG has indeed been “Preparing for the Kingdom of God.”

I am really quite dumbfounded by that title, by those words, by that which God named the Church – because God did it.  I remember how the name of the Church changed in 2000 and was changed to ‘The Church of God – PKG’, Preparing for the Kingdom of God and little did I know the depth of that meaning, little did I know what God intended to accomplish and perform by the very meaning of what it’s all about – preparing.  And that’s what so much of the Elijah to come is about, and the work that God has given us to do in this end-time.  It’s about preparing for the coming of the Messiah, the Kingdom of God, the establishment of God’s government on this earth.  It’s awesome!  It’s awesome how God brings everything together and shows us, and helps us to understand what He’s been doing for a long time – things we couldn’t even BEGIN to conceive of and understand – incredible!  Going on in this write-up...

Beginning this Sabbath, the Church will take another big step forward in doing that commission given to it in this end-time.

It’s a big step!  Awesome!  Inspiring!  Still a few of those carrots out there...  It’s exciting seeing how God gives us what He does and the excitement and anticipation of those things He’s giving to us, but anyway, going on with what’s written here...

As we covered in a sermon series (”Our Journey of Faith”) about our recent history, I addressed an issue that God had given me which was to acknowledge how He and His Son, Jesus Christ, had made me an apostle as well as a prophet. I had long believed that Herbert W. Armstrong was the last apostle to the Church, but due to the truths that God has revealed over the past several years, it was now time to acknowledge that such truths given are only accomplished through an apostle.

The prophecies given to the Church have been through the office of a prophet, but the doctrines and truths have come through an apostle. And as God inspired Paul to write, we “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Eph. 2:20). In other words, God works in a very specific manner through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the head of the Church, to give truth of doctrine and instruction through His apostles and to give prophecy through His prophets. How the Church then responds to truth (by seeking to live by it) and how it responds in faith to prophetic revelation (living according to it) determines the spiritual relationship each member has with God the Father.

It’s awesome!  And yet our history has been through time, primarily – apostles – and that’s what made it so difficult for us toward the end-time as we went into another phase of time and what God was showing: that it’s also about prophets, but for the end-time.

The Church that was scattered, due to the apostasy, has fragmented into over 500 different organizations, yet only one has been reestablished as God’s true Church.

Reestablished... restored... it’s a part of a prophecy.

It became fully reestablished once again on Pentecost of 1998, as the true remnant with whom God was working.  This is not a popular thing to declare, yet it is simply the truth. God’s Church cannot be organized into many fragmented groups with differing ideas of government and doctrine. This is not God’s way and thus it is fully contrary to the laws of God and how God’s spirit works in His Church.

And so under the next section here entitled...

Mr. Armstrong was a “type” of the Elijah:

Herbert W. Armstrong fulfilled a “type” of the Elijah to come as prophesied in the Old Testament and as prophesied by Jesus Christ.

It was revealed by Jesus Christ that John the Baptist was a “type” of the Elijah to come. He was one sent to prepare the way for the first coming of Jesus Christ, as a voice crying out in the physical wilderness of Judea. Many came to John to receive a baptism of repentance as they increasingly began to look for the coming of the Messiah. They did not know his first coming was to be as a Passover Lamb to be sacrificed for all mankind.

An angel of God appeared to Zacharias and revealed that he and his wife Elizabeth would give birth to a son and that they were to name him John. Zacharias was told that John (later, John the Baptist) would turn many to God and that he would do so in the spirit and power of Elijah. It was also said of John that he would be instrumental in turning the hearts of the fathers (the beliefs and teachings of the fathers of old) to the children (the descendants of the fathers), and the disobedient (those who would later come to John for baptism) to the wisdom of the just (the fathers of old who lived and taught God’s ways to Israel); to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (of whom several hundreds [hundred thousands if we understand it]...(of whom several hundreds were baptized on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. when the Church began, which is the spiritual Body of Christ).

We have to understand that what John was doing at that particular time was preparing for something that God intended.  It was done in a great way, in one respect, and yet in another way people could look at it and say, “Yeah, that’s not that great!  Only 3,000 were baptized on that first day of Pentecost 31 A.D.” but the vast majority of those, if not all, had already been baptized to a baptism of repentance.  And even later on there were those who came into the Church who were baptized by John to a baptism of repentance because their minds were being turned to that which was getting ready to take place – the Messiah is coming.  But they didn’t understand His first coming.  But that’s still what they were being prepared for and so different ones were already being prepared for, listening to, wanting to hear a message from ‘a great teacher’ and the Christ, the Messiah, and the things that Jesus Christ began to do.  Again, incredible what took place nearly 2,000 years ago.

And so there were many that John baptised.  Not all were eventually brought into the Church, but thousands were being prepared... the buzz would go around, as certain things happened it would spread quickly.  It spread quickly throughout Judea and the leaders hated what was going on, and they sent on occasion some to go and see and try to understand some of the things of what John was even doing in this buzz that was going around Judea and why people were going out there like that and why aren’t they coming to us?  You know, like people sometimes do... “Why aren’t they coming to us?  Aren’t we the leaders?  Aren’t we the true representatives of God on earth?”  And they weren’t.  There was one out there who was, preparing the way for the Father’s Son.  It’s incredible when you go back and see something here of a type of that which God wants us to begin grasping now, it is very much about a commission for the end-time that’s going to be done on a far more massive scale for a far greater purpose.  It’s awesome!

There was a time when some had asked me about all the people that might be coming along, “Are they going to get baptized?” and at that time God hadn’t given me these things and I thought, “no, we can’t do that.”  In my mind, we’re too small.  We can’t baptize a lot of people; we’re not going to be able to accomplish that, it’s just not going to happen!  I didn’t foresee, didn’t understand what God was going to bring us to through time here.  Oh yes it’s going to happen.  But at that time, looking at ourselves, looking at what we were, looking at our size and so forth – we weren’t going to make much of a dent in anything... Ooo amazing how God leads us isn’t it?

Going on in the article here...

When Jesus Christ spoke of John the Baptist coming in the spirit and power of Elijah, he made a distinction in the previous verse of that which did not apply to John. “Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things” (Mat. 17:11).

That’s about now – see?  That’s about what’s taking place and going to start taking place now, at this end-time.  Going on...

John the Baptist was not used by God to “restore” anything.

In the sense of doctrine, in the sense of things pertaining to the Church and so forth: there was no Church at that time – see?  Going on...

However, we did see Herbert W. Armstrong used in a very unique way to “restore” truth to the Church that the era of Sardis had lost (they only had three basic truths remaining). God said of Sardis that they were spiritually dead and that was because they had consistently become weaker through time by losing many foundational truths of God. The Church had become so weak that it was ready to die completely. God prevented it from dying out by raising up Herbert W. Armstrong and his wife Loma in order to restore lost truth to the Church.

And what an awesome thing.  They were quite a team.  God using husband and wife in a very powerful way.  Mr. Armstrong was moved and motivated and drawn into the Church through his wife, by what she did, by what God gave to her.  Incredible!  And she was the one that God gave His spirit to in a very unique way to see things and understand certain things that Mr. Armstrong admitted he never did see and learn and once she died that’s when things began to come in on the Church and God allowed that – because she was no longer there to tell her husband about different people and what their spirit really was and what they were really trying to do: And Mr. Armstrong didn’t see that, he wasn’t given that – see?  Amazing how God works.  Going on...

Mr. Armstrong is well known for restoring 18 foundational and basic truths of God that were necessary for the Church (for salvation) in order to be revived and restored to spiritual strength once again. God had strengthened and restored 21 foundational truths for the Church.

If God had not raised up Mr. Armstrong, the Church would not exist today. The Church was given the spiritual life it needed in order to be thrust forward and survive the apostasy that would follow Herbert W. Armstrong’s death. One of the greatest battles of the Church after the apostasy was to once again recapture and reestablish all 21 truths for the Church.

I think back of the history we’ve just gone through and all those things have come flooding back into my mind of those battles we fought and of the different organizations out there and what they were doing with the 21 Truths.  And quite candidly, many of them, and myself including in that because it took a while for God to give me a ‘good boot’, for a better expression here of other things I could say, to rub my nose in it a little bit about #1 of the 18 Truths, which is government!  See?  Because of what had happened in the Church and so forth we went back to looking at bylaws and looking to things to regulate behavior and organization and having control and so forth and it finally came down to either we’re faithful and loyal to God, and if the individuals aren’t then the body is not going to survive.  It comes down to loyalty and faithfulness with God.   You can’t write everything in volumes of books.  You go into a legal office and all you see are volumes of books and people can’t agree.  What is the true spirit of something?  What is the spirit of the constitution?  People who argue about those things!  Amazing!  Let alone the Bible... incredible.

So I think about those battles.  I can’t help but think about them when we have a review of our history and the things that we did; because there was battle after battle – I mean spiritual battle in a massive way and God helped us to address those truths over and over again, one after the other and sometimes several of them at a time because of things that were happening out there with some of the organizations – see?  And it’s because those battles came to our door that God gave more then to fight them...to fight things about Passover and as I mentioned a little while ago – a simple thing about addressing the subject of going to heaven.  We had some in the Church who were trying to even get people in the Church, for a little while at least, to be in heaven! ...for at least 30 days, or maybe 45 days or at least from Pentecost to the Feast of Trumpets, having to do with the return of Christ and these thoughts that there’s going to be that first batch that’s going to be resurrected first.  And then those who are still in the Church and alive and remaining at the return of Christ would be resurrected last, but those first ones, they were going to have 30 days in advance to get ready, to come back...or 45 days in advance to get ready to come back...or from Pentecost to Trumpets in order to come back.  They’re going to be up there in heaven at God’s throne being taught.  And they didn’t understand the power of God’s spirit.

God doesn’t need 30 days.  He doesn’t need 45 days.  He doesn’t need from Pentecost to Trumpets to put into the mind of a born child of God – not begotten anymore, but one who is born now of spirit to just flood our minds, to give into our minds everything we need – from His mind.  That’s the power of God Almighty!  Makes a computer look like a pimple!  We can download things quickly and have massive amounts of information.  We can’t use it all because of our brains but hey, we got the machine there and we can look it up, we can do things like that, but we don’t have it in this brain – but God will download things in our minds in a moment – in a moment!  ...and we will KNOW what we have to do!  The 144,000 will understand everything about the organization of 144,000 under Jesus Christ.  We don’t have to sit up there for 30 days or 45 days or several months to finally say “Oh now I got it!  I’m glad you repeated that one.”  And somebody else holding up their hand about 25 rows back...”Uh, would you repeat that last thing you just said, God.” You know?  “I want to be ready when it’s time.”  I mean that’s how ridiculous it is...really!  And we so minimize the power of God Almighty, we truly do as human beings, and we look as things physically and not spiritually as they are.

So again, thinking of those different battles that we had; things that I really didn’t even want to go into.  I didn’t even want to address that one when it came along but it just got bigger and bigger out there.  Different groups out here were starting to teach some of this garbage out there and it’s like... okay Ron, you need to address this one too...  And that’s what God had to bring me to over and over again.  I didn’t want to go into the battle, and it was like every once in a while God would show “Get in the battle boy!”  You know that’s what we had to do, we had to fight – that’s our job – to fight.  And we had to fight for these things, we truly did in the Church; to make sure that they’re reestablished in the Church once again, because otherwise we wouldn’t be reestablished as His people, because that’s what He was doing – He was reestablishing the Church at that point in time.

And so again, going back up here...

The Church was given the spiritual lift it needed in order to be thrust forward and survive the apostasy that would follow Herbert W. Armstrong’s death. One of the greatest battles of the Church after the apostasy was to once again recapture and reestablish all 21 truths for the Church.

After the apostasy occurred...

So many of these truths were either being omitted or watered down by the scattered organizations that followed the destruction of the temple, when the apostasy occurred.

When Mr. Armstrong began to see that he was being used of God to fulfill a “type” of the Elijah to come, God was also showing him that he was a “type” of Zerubbabel.

As we went into last Sabbath...

This is in reference to rebuilding the temple once it was destroyed. Indeed, God did use Mr. Armstrong as a “type” of Zerubbabel to build up the temple, the Church of God, after it had nearly died out through the Sardis Era. And it should be clear to all that as with John the Baptist, Mr. Armstrong fulfilled a “type” of the prophetic Elijah to come. Yet, former pastors and evangelists in God’s Church are uncertain or fully disbelieving of this great truth!

It’s too bad: those who just don’t understand how God used Mr. Armstrong; cannot acknowledge the truth of the matter and because of that they can’t see then the truth anymore.

So again here; to make ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ God is restoring –this is the definition of the word here as it’s used in the Greek: God is restoring, rebuilding, making ready by way of establishing, or re-establishing things that are fully in the context of preparing for the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of a Millennium.  This is a broad fulfillment and commission God has given and only part of it is going to be covered in this sermon today – there’s a lot more.  So the restoring, re-establishing, making ready of all things is about ‘all things’ that God purposes to restore, establish and make ready; fully in that context.  And this has much to do with the material covered in the book, ‘2008 - God’s Final Witness’ that will be brought to pass.  It involves the work and fulfillment of the 7 Thunders.  It is about things that will be accomplished by 2 Witnesses and it is about truth God is revealing to His Church.  As an example again, it’s very much about restoring or establishment if you will of very basic truth; and of the truth like we talked about earlier here that God gave as an example about Himself – Yahweh Elohim; that He is the Almighty God, the Father of us all.

It hasn’t been that long ago that we went through all that, but it was a quantum leap forward spiritually for the Church.  It was truly an awesome thing that God gave to us sermon after sermon after sermon throughout all eight days of the Feast – focusing on God Almighty, focusing on His plan and His purpose that would be revealed in a far greater way through time and into the millennium and the Great White Throne until we’re all able to become a part of His Family – incredible!  And on that occasion too, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day to reveal such a thing of something we hadn’t come to fully grasp and understand.

He indeed is Yahweh Elohim, He is the Almighty God, the Father of us all and the Father of Jesus Christ and that He is the only one who has immortal life abiding in Him that makes Him the Almighty Eternally Existing God, again, of all existence.  There’s only one.

So, what does all this bring us to here today that is a part of fulfilling the commission of the Elijah to come?  Again, Mr. Armstrong was used by God to raise up the Church again after it had nearly come to an end in Sardis, but the same Church would later be fully destroyed in a moment when all were spewed out from God’s presence and not one stone was left upon another.  That didn’t happen in Sardis.  There were a few that came out of Sardis and came on into Philadelphia – interesting – and quickly after we were spewed out of God’s mouth, God quickly began to bring a few to repentance and slowly but surely began to awaken them and we had a period of time of protection from Satan until we could be make strong again as we went through about our journey of Faith.

God has been restoring, rebuilding, establishing the Church once again; but this time it’s being thrust into the very end of the age and millions (Awesome!)... millions will be made ready for the return of Jesus Christ, as the Christ, or the Messiah, because that’s what His name means: the King of Kings.  Brethren, the example of John the Baptist should not escape us.  Jesus had said that he had come, speaking of John the Baptist, had come in the power and spirit of Elijah – indeed. And he was a ‘type’ of a later, much greater fulfillment.  I’m referring to Mr. Armstrong –that he was, again, a ‘type’ of a later fulfillment of something that would happen later on.  So both were a ‘type’ of things that were to happen later on but they were not the fulfillment of it.  But now is the time for all things, just as to the point and the degree God wants it accomplished, concerning the Elijah to come; for everything to be fulfilled.

So the example of John the Baptist again should ring loudly in our minds, his commission is in the name that he has...John the Baptist: it had to do with baptising, it had to do with preparing people and that’s very much a commission that God has given to us in a very great way – to baptise!  And I understand that more clearly now.  We can understand that more clearly now, because we have wondered about some of these things and we’ve tried to get organized to do more, but God is blessing us to organize to do this far more massively.  Ah, it’s incredible! Truly is! How exciting and how massive a work that God is going to do in a very short time.  It’s incredible!

Part of our commission, and that which has been given to me as the Elijah to come is to baptize, mightily so.  We are to baptise, not a baptism to repentance as John the Baptist, this is far more important, far more meaningful, far more exciting for what God is preparing and what God is doing.  It’s a baptism that places those baptised into the Body of Christ, into the Church of God.  John’s was a baptism to repentance, this is far more powerful when we understand what God is doing and why.  The farther we go into God’s plan the more awesome, the more exciting it becomes, the more power that God pours out to accomplish it – salvation – bringing billions, in time, into His Family.

This baptising that God has given to us, it will be done... and this again, if we understand where we’re going, what’s going to be accomplished – not by the hundreds or a few thousand, but into the tens of thousands, into what I believe God is showing us very clearly –into the hundreds of thousands of people that are going to have the opportunity of being able to be baptized into the Body of Christ before Jesus Christ ever returns and by this means, as well, God’s word, His truth will spread powerfully throughout the regions of the scattered nations of Israel...mightily so.  There’s an incredible thing that happens; as you’re being drawn by God’s spirit and once you receive it, look at what you know.  Those of you who are new, look at how quickly you’re able to see and understand.  See, those of us who came out of the 60’s or 70’s or... I think we have some that go back to the 50’s even...  We look and we can see something very unique because we see something fully different of what you are experiencing versus what we did when we were first called.  You don’t see the full magnitude of it but we are dumbfounded by what we see.  I had some conversations here just before services about some of that – to see what you’re given.  Now the experience takes time to grow in that and to learn to apply all that God gives, but nevertheless, the massiveness of understanding in the sense of knowledge and it having been all put together for you.  We didn’t have anything like that in the 60’s – we really didn’t have anything that came close to that in the 70’s! ...and not in the 80’s either!  ...because God has given so much more to us.  It’s amazing how quickly things fit together more powerfully as well and God is pouring out more of His spirit upon you, and upon the Church to be able to have such an experience.  And so these things that are getting ready to happen in the world, in the scattered nations of Israel are profound to say the least...and you will have the opportunity to experience it all.  It’s exciting.

This will be a short work; it’s not a long work, it’s a short work that God’s going to perform – a great and a powerful work though.

I can’t give you everything about that task today but it’s awesomely exciting because it’s going to come out over the weeks and especially toward the end of February in a greater way.  Some things, just because of what’s coming out at that time, you’ll understand as we go along.  We’ve already taken the first step and didn’t even know how it all fit together, how it will all fit in fully and that was in the establishment and training of a first wave of elders and senior elders in the Church and God was preparing us and we have been able to be blessed to become organized in a way that gives us the ability now to add to that, to build upon that in an awesomely powerful way.  It’s amazing how God builds.

Now we’re going onto the next wave and behind that another wave that will follow even more quickly, but we need to get this next group trained quickly and it’ll be a little different than the first time.  So I want to give you a little bit more at this point.  Just so everyone understands; there has been different organization and structure that has been used in God’s Church over time for accomplishing the different purposes that God has had at any moment in time, any specific time, any given time.  All elders in this specific age of this very end-time are elders in a ministerial capacity.  God has taken me through a few things in the last few weeks to understand certain things that are in the New Testament that I have wondered about in times past that He’s made a lot more clearer and some of that will come out as we continue on here but it has to do with things having to do with a ministerial capacity that God gives.  In other words when baptism takes place we understand that there is another ceremony attached to this and God has given that to reveal who His servants are and that they serve in a very specific capacity.  In other words, there’s a reason why God has organized things in the way He has and even when it comes to baptism.  When a person’s baptised you come into the Church, there are certain things you begin to see and you’re asked certain things before you’re baptised.  You’re baptised, you’re put under the water, you come back out and there’s a unique ceremony that takes place there and not anybody can perform that ceremony; and it helps people to learn something very early on: there is a way that God works in His Church and that’s important to have that grounded and embedded into a person’s mind from the very beginning, from the very get go.  There is a way God works in His Church!

And so again here, there is a way that God has given through this ceremony; we understand the laying on of hands; to reveal who His servants are and that they serve in a specific capacity, one of direct ministerial service to Jesus Christ.  That’s what it is.  It’s a direct ministerial service to Jesus Christ.  Now there are other words that are used in the Bible, like deacon, and people have debated over the use of some of that and there are different words there that have to do with just the word ‘service’.  It just means ‘service’.  Someone can serve somebody at a table and they can use the same words that sometimes are used about the ministry.  The difference being is the context, again, of whether or not it is in the ministry in the service of Jesus Christ to do God’s word, to do God’s will, if you will, or to do God’s work is better stated: to do God’s work, to do something that Jesus Christ can’t do directly, isn’t doing directly.  He does it in a specific way – through human instruments and then that is a ministerial capacity with authority that God has given in the Church and it’s an awesome thing to understand.  So again, a capacity of direct ministerial service to Jesus Christ and God the Father to the Church and carry the authority to serve in that capacity.  It’s very simple.

Let’s turn over to Acts 8 – this is the example of people coming to baptism, people who have hands laid upon them and this example here in Acts 8:12 says - But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and wondered… We’re not going into the rest of the story there, but it’s talking about this other Simon that the world has misconstrued to be Simon Peter in time.  This is Simon Magus.  He’s the one that became the great Peter in the church, a false church, who’s toe on the statue is nearly kissed off.  It’s been kissed so many times it’s worn down.  You wear a rock down so much with so many lips touching it – so many lips rubbing a toe that after a while the toe is not the same size as it started out at.  That’s a lot of lips. It’s a lot of kissing, you know?!  And here’s that Simon: he’s the one that wanted to buy and  use something of a power he saw.  Incredible what took place and how that great church started.  People see all these other little churches that came from the same one and they don’t like such a message.  They hate it.

This time of year now, when you tell them Jesus Christ wasn’t born any time near December 25th, and do you know where the name comes from?  Yeah, that’s right, the mass of Christ.  Where does mass come from?  And you perpetuate this thing that has no basis in the Bible whatsoever.  Oh, people just love that kind of message, don’t they?  People that like to put presents under the tree and talk about Jesus.  “Well, isn’t it okay because it’s all sweet, nice, cuddly things about Jesus being a baby and…”  No, it isn’t okay – it’s sick, perverted, distorted – that’s what it is.  Teaches the wrong things, teaches the wrong things to children from the get go; teaches them to be suspicious about anything they hear about God, you know, to plant something in their mind to where they ask – “what is true?  My own parents lie to me.  There’s no big fat man that comes down through the chimney!  We don’t even have a chimney, you know?! How’d those presents get under the tree?”  What an awesome event.  And then you tell people about Easter and Passover and what was supposed to really be there in the Church and people… don’t they just love that message?  Don’t you have relatives out there, those of you who are new, when you came along and you shared with them a little bit of information when you learned these things…   You learn quickly.  “I should not have shared that information yet, or maybe I should have done it a different way.”  Is there really any good way to tell the truth?  See, that’s the dilemma isn’t it.  And so you tell the truth about Easter, where it came from and what it represents and what it is and you run into the same thing again.

And so it says of Simon... he believed also; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and he wondered beholding the miracles and signs which were done.  It’s amazing how many people have come along and they come to a point where there are things they do believe, but because they have a wrong spirit, wrong motive, wrong desires, what they do with that.

Verse 14 - Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, for a purpose, for a reason here.  There were people who heard.  You know what that says right away?  When there are people who hear the message and they’re responding to it, they believe what they’re hearing – you know what that says?  God’s calling them!  Because God has to do the calling! God is the one that has to open up the mind.  So what do you do?  Ah, these people need baptism, these people need the laying on of hands if they’re going to be repenting and being baptized, they’re going to need the laying on of hands so we’re going to send someone to them to take care of the job that’s ahead here.  To bring them into the Body of Christ because God is calling them; because they see and understand!  That’s how, in the ministry we see very quickly whether someone’s coming along, because of whether they see and understand what they’ve been reading and they believe it, they agree with it.  There’s only one way you can – especially with all that we’ve been given right now!  He’s what?  He’s who?  Riiiight!?

You have to be called of God, you have to have God’s spirit to see and believe such things, you truly do – plus obviously all the truths that bring you to that point in time anyway.  Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard what was happening in Samaria, that people had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they  were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the holy spirit. For as yet it was not yet fallen upon any of them. Only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  But they hadn’t had someone in a ministerial capacity to lay hands upon them yet.  Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the holy spirit. – see?  So there are things that can be done when a person can say certain things about being baptized into Christ.   “Yes, I have repented of my sins and so forth,” but just because you go through a certain part of a ceremony and you acknowledge certain things, does not mean then that the rest can take place, and we have an example then, we’re going to read in a moment as well about where God gave it in advancement in some of that to make clear how He was working but – in other words the giving of His holy spirit.  But in other words, there is a way that God works and He works through a body of individuals that themselves have been set apart for specific purpose, that God will work through in a ministerial capacity, to lay hands upon someone, to have the authority in Christ’s stead, to lay hands upon someone – that someone can be begotten then with the holy spirit of God.

Now, we can’t know all people and all their… whether or not indeed they have been – that’s between them and God, but there is a process that someone must go through before that can become a reality and then that is between them and God, as it always is.  Because we have no capacity, no power to know the hearts and minds of people.  We can only know what is told to us and what we hear.  And so sometimes some come along and they are not really there in that way and so some things do happen, but for people who see and believe these things and they want that baptism and they ask for it and they receive it and then have hands laid upon them because they want the impregnation of God’s spirit, then again, that becomes obvious in their life of what they see and what they know and what they understand and what they seek to live by.

Very powerful verses here, very clear, very simple, very basic, they reveal much, they truly do.  Acts 19:1 – And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples he said unto them, Have you receive the holy spirit since you believed?  So, here are individuals who believed.  You have a certain conversation and you see certain beliefs that people have.  It’s very simple, very easy, very basic – and so asking them, Have you received the holy spirit since you believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any holy spirit. But there were certain things they believe about the coming Messiah, they believed certain things about a message that had been given out beforehand.

Let’s read the rest of it in context.  Verse 3 - And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.  These are some of those who had an earlier baptism. They believed about the Messiah, this is the time of the Messiah to come.  There may have been other things that they heard about Jesus Christ, but they didn’t know nor understand certain things about what had happened in Jerusalem on Pentecost.  They hadn’t heard certain things about the giving of the holy spirit, the impregnation of God’s holy spirit in their life and so they said it was unto John’s baptism.

Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on Him which should come after, that is on Christ Jesus. So they had received that and they came to the point where they believed just as much as those of you who are new believe.  There are certain things, as your being drawn at the beginning, that you just believe.  You can’t explain it.  It is not because you had a Strong’s Concordance.  They didn’t have those things.  It’s not because you had an Old Testament Bible.  They didn’t have those things!  Scrolls were not available in different families to be able to read through the scriptures.  “Oh, I see what it says here.”  They didn’t have those things!  Incredible!  It’s by what they heard and God just put it in the mind and you just know it’s true.  You know, that’s awesome!  You can’t give that understanding to anyone else.  They’ve never experienced that so how do you explain something like that to people?  They don’t get it and if they do have anything conjured up in their mind, it’s generally some protestant thing they’ve heard out there about what other people have said.  You don’t want that in their mind, but, you know, your hands are kind of tied.  And so unless you’ve experienced something like that, you can’t pass that along, you can’t just give that to someone out here so that they understand what you understand.

Verse 5, it goes on to say - When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Now it took on a different dimension.  It wasn’t just a baptism unto repentance, of their desire to change, of their desire to turn to God, to clean up their lives – there was more to it, it had to do now with an acceptance of something beyond that concerning Jesus Christ and the name of Jesus Christ and the Father, God Almighty and what that meant – through the power of God’s spirit.

And then it says, And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the holy spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied.  Now here’s an example of something that took place that wasn’t the norm... it happened on the Day of Pentecost to show something in a very powerful way.  God helped Paul to understand, very powerfully so, certain things that were taking place, that the Church would receive strength concerning different ones who were called – even proselytes and so forth that lived in different areas and God was making it very clear here the power, the authority of this very act taking place here, that it had to be with a baptism of Jesus Christ, not John’s baptism, through the ministry and the importance then of having hands laid upon someone to receive the impregnation of God’s spirit.  There’s only one way that all this can take place.

And then of course there are other examples.  I think of the other example of when the holy spirit had been given to some because they’d received a right baptism and an account where they came along later and they laid hands upon them just to fulfill the formality of it, because God had already shown them – the gospels going to the Gentiles.  Made it very powerfully clear that He’d already given them the holy spirit.  You can’t argue with God.  God did it, but we’re going to lay hands upon them; so they layed hands upon them and as a part of a responsibility and an act that God required.  But anyway, I want to continue on here.

Again, these examples of different things about laying on of hands –it is a ministerial capacity and only someone who has been set apart by God, in that capacity to do a specific job, can lay hands...  Just because we have the impregnation of God’s spirit doesn’t mean we can take it upon ourselves to go out here and baptize someone and lay hands upon them.  That hasn’t been given by God unless it’s been given by God.  There is a way that God works and there is a distinction then throughout scripture of such service, which is, again, some of those things in scripture has caused people some difficulties in understanding.  I think about Stephen.  There are those who claim he was only a deacon; that he didn’t have certain things given by God in authority and yet he did!  Some people misunderstand some of those things that are written about different people and what responsibilities they actually had given to them, but it was a unique service that he was doing, or had done in God’s service, but because of some terminology we’d used during Philadelphia we’ve had some incomplete understanding, if you will.  Something that we grow in through time: when God gives it – we have it.  If He doesn’t give it, we don’t have it.

So, again, only a person who has had hands laid upon them to serve in the ministry of Jesus Christ can themselves lay hands upon others after the ceremony of baptism.  I’ll just tell you now… hundreds of people can be baptized in a moment by people who assist and help out and there can be massive ways to lay hands upon people and to do many, many people – quickly.  And that’s exactly what’s going to take place.  It’s awesome!  Those things will be explained later on in some meetings.  We’re now going to begin a new wave of ordinations which is quite obvious I’m sure by this time to everybody sitting out there – specifically preparing for this part of the commission of the Elijah to come that involves the baptisms of tens of thousands and far more likely as we go forward here, as God is revealing – hundreds of thousands of people being prepared for the coming of the Messiah because there will be a very large Church at His coming. This time He is coming as the Messiah.  Powerful!  And God is going to give us more on these things to understand, to be excited, to be inspired, to be moved, to be motivated by, to give you greater confidence and greater strength of those things that are ahead…more spirit and more power.  I already know I’ve been given more spirit and more of God’s power – see?

Going on… another phase of possibly a few hundred or even several hundred more to be ordained to the service will occur as God awakens some of the Church that was previously scattered after the apostasy.  We’re going to do some of this in an organized fashion, in waves, as time goes on and there are going to be many that God begins to draw as well to add to what is already here of people who are going to serve in a greater capacity in some of those things to accomplish that phase of the commission that God has given.  Think of how many are out there that we’ve known for a long time that are going to come along that are going to have the ability, very quickly, to come on board and participate in a part of this as well.

Right now, we’re going to begin this new phase by ordaining elders, but the specific job title of most will be different and it will be contained in the title that will make that distinction.  Right now we have elders, but they are organized as senior elders and elders.  It’s for the sake of organization.  Mr. Armstrong instituted different things during the time of Philadelphia for the sake of organization, not things that you read in Ephesians.  It’s not there.  Part of it is.  We understand from apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, but there’s a wide variety in there in the sense of how it can be done to perform, to accomplish a specific purpose at any particular time.  Things that Mr. Armstrong did were quite unique.  Things that had to do with Ambassador College and the raising up of Churches was quite unique in how God worked within the Church during Philadelphia.  We’re not in those times anymore.  We’re in a different time and how God works with us is different for a different purpose – see?  But we’re leading into something far greater than Philadelphia ever experienced in a new world, a new age.  But sometimes some people have made the mistake of holding Philadelphia as the epitome, as the best example of it all and it is not.  Quite candidly God has shown it, just as He did with Israel… you know what the example of Israel was?  Without God’s spirit you can’t serve God, you cannot keep the ways and the laws of God.  God has shown through the Church – even with God’s spirit look what you can have – an apostasy... starting with the ministry, because they’re the ones that were first and foremost responsible for the apostasy –see?  Amazing!

Was Philadelphia the example of how things are going to be in the World Tomorrow?  No, no, no, no, no they are not!  That’s why God’s Family has to be here – see?  That’s why the structure has to come out of God’s Family who will be here to work with the Church and those individuals, 144,000, they’re going to know quite quickly when there is a minister out here who is not FAITHFULLY TEACHING THE TRUTH OF GOD TO THE FLOCK!!  And they will be dealt with swiftly if they don’t do that in spirit and in truth!  There was not that assurance during Philadelphia – that could not happen during Philadelphia – see?  And yet people were brought into refreshing programs expected to go out and be faithful servants of God, to loyally and faithfully preach and teach the ways of God, but it DIDN’T HAPPEN!  To the point and degree when it was all said and done toward the end there wasn’t ONE EVANGELIST in God’s Church that could be trusted by Mr. Armstrong!!  NOT ONE! Let along all those in the structure all the way through because it all followed suit.  What an incredible time we have lived through and experienced.  It’s one of the most powerful lessons that God has ever given to mankind – truly is.  That’s why we are so blessed to be a part of going into a new age and a new world and so many who are listening today who are a part of that structure, who have already fought the fight.  They’re going to be changed – those who are still alive – in a moment, in the twinkling of the sound of that Trumpet – that last Trumpet... and those who are dead we get to be a little ahead of you – see – just a little bit.  We don’t know how long – a few minutes?  I don’t know.  It says they’re resurrected first and then those who are still alive – all of a sudden you’re standing there in a physical body and all of a sudden you’re not.  Hang on for the ride.  I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like, let alone being dead and the rest of it.

God’s going to do it – and we’re so close.  Amazing!  It’s not too far away now – all that takes place.  We know the day – amazing!  And so God is blessing us, incredibly so, with what’s coming and so again, different organization at different times and we’ve had the structure then of using elders and senior elders for the sake of organization and structure.  This makes a distinction in their job as far as the organization of the government if you will, of God – at work in the Church to accomplish the work that God has given us.  We’re going to use associate elders.  That’s going to be another that’s going to be added.  An elder – a ministerial elder in the fullest form of ordination – an elder is an elder.  The rest of it is just a matter of the structure and what we’re doing and how we’re doing it – see?  It’s the way it’s being accomplished.  So we’re now going to ordain elders but nearly all will carry the title of associate elder; and again, with the definition I’m about to give.  An associate in the sense of joined with others with equal or nearly equal status.  There’s not much difference in other words, but there is as far as organisation is concerned as to how it’s going to be accomplished – that’s the difference – primarily.  And that will be given then in distinction so it’s a matter of government, it’s a matter of order and how things work.  God’s Church has to have that, we have to have that, we function in that way and God has given us the basis to begin to work with and to add to this in a very powerful way.

This is awesomely exciting but we have to do it in an organized fashion and some of the meetings for some of this that we have later on here, which will be the last weekend of February in the Cincinnati area – a first wave of individuals are going to be brought in primarily for the sake of the meetings and so forth and to get some of this moving and right behind that we have some other waves… we have them coming fast – okay?  It’s going to be exciting for God’s Church - truly is!

And so this job will be first and foremost that of associate elder, which it is for the elders as well, I have mentioned it over and over and over again what God is doing with us; I just didn’t know how much so that that was the primary focus.  The job will be first and foremost one of baptism!  That’s the purpose of what God’s doing at this end-time – to fulfill a commission.  Again, more will be explained in February as to how this is going to be accomplished because I don’t even know it all yet – okay?  I have a framework of what God’s given to me but I know it’ll be there by that time – all of it.

Also, to interject here that there are quite a few of you, because this is hard in some ways, there are quite a few of you who are a part of the 144,000 who simply do not have the physical health necessary for some of this.  You’ve fought your fight - okay?  And there is a reality here that one must have certain physical health and so forth that’s just needed.  So there are those of you who would have been in the first wave by all means, except for some of that.  Some of this is a little difficult in that respect, but as long as you have that peace of mind of knowing and understanding – okay?  We’re not getting younger, the Church has been getting older.  And we have a lot of different ones out there who have already fought the fight – they’re already sealed, but they’ve been very blessed to be able to continue on to see even this sermon today – to hear, to see what God is giving.  Awesome!

The next step we’re taking is a very large one and it’s being given through the office of an apostle and as a part of the commission given to me as the Elijah to come.  I want to go on and read more of this posting then we’ll come back to this.  Going on here in the section entitled:

The Fulfillment of the “Elijah to Come”:

The truth is that neither John the Baptist nor Herbert W. Armstrong fulfilled the complete prophecies concerning the “Elijah to come,” but they fulfilled a “type” of that prophetic fulfillment. The actual fulfillment has not yet occurred, but it is about to be fulfilled in full spirit and truth.

As God has made me both an apostle and a prophet for this end-time, He has also given me to fulfill prophecies being the spokesman of the two end-time witnesses of Revelation 11. In addition, He has given me to fulfill the prophecies of the “Elijah to come” and of Zerubbabel. It is actually God, in and through Jesus Christ, who fulfills all these things, but He is doing so through a human instrument. The Book of Acts makes it very clear that Jesus Christ will come to fully restore all things in God’s great plan after he returns in his second coming as King of kings.

But there are things that God will restore before Jesus Christ returns.

Herbert W. Armstrong did restore truth to the Church—truth lost during Sardis. He also helped to build the Church once again as it had nearly died out. Only a few in Sardis were able to be revived and become part of the era of Philadelphia. But the Church—the Temple of God—had not been destroyed. During the era of Philadelphia and Herbert W. Armstrong, the Church had not fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus Christ that he said would occur before his coming in the complete fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Messiah as ruler over the earth.

After Jesus Christ’s disciples asked about his coming, he prophesied that not one stone of the temple would be left on top of the other. It would be fully destroyed before His coming and that would be the sign that he was now going to return as the Messiah.

In the sense that every stone was not left upon another – it was scattered.  God’s Church was still there, it was scattered and there was that which had to be brought to repentance in order to re-establish the Church.  That’s why Satan was told hands off.  He could not hurt and harm such a body at that, in that state, without government, without organization, you know, with every stone being scattered as it was and that’s why God gave that – the prophecies there and that which He’s revealed of 1260 days that brought us up to Pentecost of 1998 until we could stand again; until we were strengthened and restored enough to stand again.  Incredible when you look back in history and see what God has done and why and when and everything else connected with it.  Going on…

Most of those who were scattered at the time of this prophetic fulfillment about the destruction of the temple do not believe what Jesus said.

It is because they refuse to believe what God said would happen to the Church that these same people refuse to believe how God is working today. These people not only refuse to believe whom God has sent to them, but they go so far as to mock, ridicule, and violently strike out at God’s true servants. They cannot acknowledge the truth that God has revealed through me to His Church. They cannot accept me being the spokesman of the final two end-time witnesses. They mock that God would use a woman and more so mock that she should be my wife, who is the second witness. They ridicule that it is so convenient that she is my wife, or that God would even dare to use a woman in such a position.

Amazing!  Are they in for some surprises…

On Jesus’ last day of human life, these same people would have mocked and ridiculed Jesus Christ and cried out that he should be put to death. But such people would gasp as such a statement and they would declare that they are not at all like that, however they are the very ones who refuse God’s word through His apostle and end-time prophet.

Yes, as hard as it is for these people to stomach such thoughts, God has made my wife an end-time witness and prophet for this end-time. God does use both men and women in His great plan for mankind. There are two great occasions in history where God revealed this truth in a powerful way. One is in the example of Moses’ sister, Miriam, who was a prophet and another in the great example of a judge and prophet of Israel, Deborah.

Yet the scattered organizations, who were once active in the Church of God, ridicule God’s choices and how He works in His Church. It is for this very reason that most will not be awakened spiritually to repentance in this age and they will not enter into the promised land of the beginning of the millennium.

Now the ‘promised land’ we understand has to do with God’s Family but there is that which is a promised land of a new age that God is giving as well for those who live in this age.  Going on...

These must wait until they are resurrected once again at the beginning of the Great White Throne and then at that time awakened spiritually so they can repent of their sins against God. Prophecy does show that a few thousand such people will be brought to repentance as we progress forward in time into the blowing of the Trumpets of the Seventh Seal. These will accept God’s messengers and God’s message.

All the stones of the temple (God’s Church) were cast down and not one was left on the other. God further reveals that the Church had become so complacent and lukewarm that He had to separate it from Himself by spewing (vomiting) it out of His mouth. God used this occasion to bring a few to true repentance and He then began to draw together a remnant that would be re-established as His true Church.

Final Fulfillment:

Since the reestablishment of the Church on Pentecost (after 1260 days of the apostasy had passed) in 1998, God first began by re-establishing the 21 original truths in the Church once again (3 from Sardis and 18 from Philadelphia). Since that time, God has continued to restore more truth to the Church...

How awesome to understand what it all fits into and what the purpose is about.  It’s about the Elijah to come.

...God has continued to restore more truth to the Church and has now fully established 50 truths. God has been using me to “restore” His truth to the Church on a scale that fulfills that full portion of prophecy concerning the “Elijah to come.”

God has also been using me to rebuild the temple that had been cast down after every stone had been moved out of its place—not one stone upon another! God used Mr. Armstrong to revive the Church and rebuild it again, but only after it was dying out and not because it had been destroyed.

So God gave Malachi to prophecy, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 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 [utter destruction]” (Mal. 4:5-6).

Now we understand God does it ALL – God does it all and Jesus Christ. You know, God has given to Him to accomplish and do these things, but He does it as well, as God does, through human instruments as a whole for different things that are accomplished and fulfilled: for the glory and the honour and the majesty of God Almighty.  Going on…

Yes, I have come in the full spirit and power of Elijah. God and His Son have made it so—not me! I seek to fulfill the commission God has given me with all the zeal and power God gives me to do so. And He has given me much to fulfill this task!

John the Baptist was not a prophet. Herbert W. Armstrong was an apostle, but he was not a prophet. Yet God says He will send “Elijah the prophet” before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the LORD.”  I am that prophet and I am to proclaim it so! That is given to me from Jesus Christ and God the Father.

Now I know the Church believes that, but boy does it eat away at people out there.  But God’s going to call many people and even some of those… to repentance.  What a beautiful thing.  Going on…

On December 17, 1994, the Church was cast down after the apostasy of Joe Tkach, Sr., and on that day was the opening of the First Seal of Revelation by Jesus Christ. On September 11, 2001, the Sixth Seal of Revelation was opened. The prophetic “type” of destruction that occurred on that day would be fulfilled on the United States in the blowing of the first five trumpets of the Seventh Seal. That destruction is now very near.

On November 14, 2008, the Seventh Seal was opened and on December 14, 2008, the First Trumpet was blown and God commissioned the beginning of the two end-time witnesses. Although we had believed that this phase of God’s plan would begin eight months earlier, God used that period of time to reveal the Fiftieth Truth concerning Jesus Christ actually returning on Pentecost of 2012, rather than Trumpets of 2011.

Some who like to ridicule and mock stated this was proof that I was not God’s prophet. On the contrary, it helped establish it. All [the prophesied events] that is written in 2008 – God’s Final Witness will come to pass exactly as it is written. The prophesied events have not changed and they will occur as written. Timing has changed only a little, but not the events.

I think about that and how that really bugs some people out there.  It just eats them up, like a cancer, and it does from inside.  They’re being eaten up inside and they don’t even understand what that means.  Amazing!  Those who don’t simply ridicule, but those who seek to destroy me and the Church.  It’s been that way through time.  It’s always been that way out there.  Nothing’s different.  You know, it’s the same through time, those people who hate God – it doesn’t matter what it is, who hate God’s way – and you have to understand where it all comes from - same source.  They just don’t understand, they don’t understand how they are being moved and motivated like they are and why they’re pushed even farther.  They seek to weaken me and the Church with their lies and deceit.  It’s amazing how much people can tell and how people are tuned to that – there are people out there who would far rather listen to a lie and believe a lie.  Isn’t that amazing?  And yet that’s what God says: “You choose to believe a lie.”  There are people who go to the internet – not to listen to sermons; not to listen to the true content of what things are given; not to read – because they hate it in the hearts, they want to read the garbage that people make up, that people twist and distort – because they’d far rather believe the lie.  They don’t know where it comes from - that same old being out there.  They don’t understand, just like Satan doesn’t understand, all that only makes me stronger, makes you stronger – that’s what God uses to make us stronger.  Do you understand that process?  It’s by those very things out there that God actually uses such things, such occasions to make us stronger in spirit, in faith, and He gives us more of His spirit to accomplish what has to be accomplished.

You know, God makes me who I am.  God makes you who you are… He truly does.  Going on in this writing there of the posting…

The timing due to the 50th Truth is in God’s control, as are all things. God alone is responsible for the revelation of Christ’s return and the timing involved. If God changes or in any fashion alters the timing involved, then He will reveal it through His prophet.

God has also altered the timing for massive destruction to begin. God can do that whenever He chooses. He is God!

Some people just don’t like that...

And thank God He heard the cries, petitions, and heart-felt prayers of His people—His Church—when they fasted for two consecutive days that God would have mercy on mankind and through that process of mercy, bring more people to repentance in both the world and the scattered Church.

That’s what we fasted about and we still don’t know the full extent of that one but we will in time, just like all the other things we’ve gone through in our story of our history that brings it all together.  But that one is far more important than you can understand and one day God will give you far greater understanding of what He did and how He did it because of what you did – okay?  It’s to be written – about what you did, as much and more than what was written about Esther and the three days of fasting that they did.

God is being merciful to both the world and the scattered Church, but that does not mean that more will actually repent when all is said and done. Time will tell.

All prophesied events stated in the book will come to pass before Jesus Christ returns on Pentecost, May 27 of 2012.

Going on just to finish up here a little bit more in this portion of the posting...

Prophecies Fast Coming to Pass:

God is continuing to “restore” many things on a greater scale as the world is being made ready for the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. This Sabbath God is beginning the process of restoring things that have been removed from mankind since the days of Adam and Eve.

And most of you should know where I’m heading by now...

Satan has caused much destruction and deception in this world, and slowly but surely he is being stripped of the power of that deceit over mankind.

And that power is being stripped away mightily in God’s Church and for those whom God is going to call and draw.  Going on...

Satan’s time is rapidly coming to a close. His sway and power over mankind is coming to a close!

Thank God because that being has caused so much misery and suffering on this world, he truly has, upon mankind, and to God’s people for 6,000 years.  Finishing off the posting here...

As we move forward and when the Second Trumpet does blow (which can happen tomorrow or late into 2011 – as written in the book, we will not know the time until it happens)...

As we move forward and when the Second Trumpet does blow... people will begin to be humbled in a very great way. The hearts of people...

That’s why it’s happening this way...

The hearts of people will begin to be softened so that they will hear the words of the “fathers” concerning the truth of God’s way of life and salvation for mankind.

They can’t hear it right now.  God isn’t pouring out His spirit on them to give them the ability to hear until something inside here begins to change – it’s their hearts, and because of what they’re going to suffer through that their capacity for hearing on a spiritual plane is going to be magnified many times over and it’s through the process of these Trumpets that God is going to soften the hearts of people to bring them to humility so they can hear as He pours out more of His spirit to accomplish His work for the end-time.  Going on...

And there are those who have condemned me for what I wrote in the book concerning the death of many ministers who were part of the scattering in God’s Church, especially of specific leaders that were mentioned. God has clearly revealed to His Church that I am the “Elijah to come,” and not in “type,” but in fullness of spirit and power. Elijah was known most by what he did to several hundred false prophets. He killed them! Now a prophetic type of that is going to follow upon the Church that was scattered. It is one of the Thunders of God, which God gave to me to proclaim. It was of my choosing,

As I wrote in the book, but I knew when I wrote that that people wouldn’t understand.

It was of my choosing, but my choosing was in unity and harmony with the power and spirit of God. It came from God!

I didn’t come up with this on my own.

Yes, time will prove I am who I say I am. And that is my commission to proclaim such a message!

It’s amazing!  Incredible!  Far more than we can grasp and comprehend I’ll tell you.  It is exciting what God is doing and how God is doing it.  And, I thought I might mention on that part there – that last part – ‘things that follow as well’... See, there are people who have a concept in this world and even in some of the areas that were scattered, that when the final 1260 days began the commission of two individuals began and that certain great events have to happen, that they’re going to perform miracles as listed in Revelation right away.  That’s not God’s purpose.  That’s not God’s will.  I’ve known that for a long time.  The things that God is going to do later on, that it says about two witnesses, most of those things don’t happen until after the 5th Trumpet because it’s not for the purpose of making a show of things, in the beginning.  God is going to do things to soften the hearts of people; that certain things are going to be accomplished that He’s going to do a great and a mighty work – it’s not to prove who we are or prove who I am.  God will do that in time, but the way God works is for a purpose and always a purpose in it.  When Moses did what he did it always had a purpose in it.  When God did what He did through Moses there was always a purpose and a specific timing involved.  It wasn’t about lifting up Moses; it wasn’t about even lifting up the Israelites.  God was going to do that but in His time and His way.  If only mankind could only understand fully the things that God does and how He does it.

Again, the next step we are taking is a very large one.  It is being given through the office of an apostle and as part of the commission given to me as the Elijah to come.  Some may have battles with this while others; most, will see and rejoice.  It’s exciting for the Church, but some are going to have some battles.  And let me be perfectly clear, if you are not able to move to the right hand or the left quickly at this point in time when told by God then you need to examine yourself as God gives instruction in the Bible about examining oneself, proving oneself when He talks about Passover and Corinthians when Paul gives that instruction.  So again, if you are not able to move to the right hand or the left quickly when told by God then you need to examine your standing in the Body of Christ and put yourself to the test to see if you are at one or not.  Any murmuring of this will be fully received as divisive to the Body of Christ, and that means for anyone.   I believe all should understand the seriousness of that statement.  There was murmuring over the 50th Truth, but God had mercy, even on some elders and elders wives.  And some murmured over the organized meeting of 4 days at the Feast of Tabernacles, we kept all 8, but it took a little while for some to fully understand that.  We did it in an organized way for 4 days, and so some murmured over that and God had mercy.  God is very merciful, but now is a time to turn to the left or right when God directs us to do so.  There comes a time when mercy is no longer given – see?

I mentioned in this last posting that Laura is a prophet.  I’m using that term and not the term prophetess.  I despise the use in language of certain things that make a distinction between male and female, man and woman.  It’s a prophet! I hate the distinction that we used in the past of deacon and deaconess because in the minds of too many people it’s still men AND WOMEN!  And that’s wrong!  Okay? Just to make it real blunt.  I mention in the last posting that Laura is a prophet, which I’ve stated before, but I stressed the importance of this in the context of two other great prophets of God who were women: Miriam, the sister of Moses was a prophet of God.  Aaron and herself got into trouble on one occasion when they became upset with Moses as stated in Numbers 12:2 - and they said, speaking of Miriam and Aaron... has the Eternal indeed spoken only through Moses?  has He not also spoken through us? ...because you see GOD HAD because of the jobs they had, when you speak of prophets.  God had spoken through them to Israel.  God had used them in that capacity – and Miriam was a prophet of God.   And she says, hasn’t God also spoken through us? But she had to learn something in a very big way.  Yes, but God spoke to Moses face to face, powerful.  And so she had to learn the lesson there of government.  I had to learn mine, had to have my nose rubbed in it for a little while – thought I understood it.  I became so weak I forgot it!  ...and I left it and God had to bring me back to it again and make me stronger in it than before and make me stronger in it than what Mr. Armstrong was.  It just wasn’t given to him because it wasn’t for his time.  I’m stating things and saying them more boldly because they’re the truth; not because it’s about haughtiness and pride and lifting up oneself, but I have to say them with boldness and strength and power because it’s just true!  There are things that are true and we are to speak the truth.

The other example is of Deborah.  Incredible!  Let’s go over to Judges 4 - and read a part of this account.  So there are those in the Church, even in times past, who believed that God doesn’t work through women – but the examples are in the Bible and the reason there aren’t more of them is because of the heart of man.  The heart of men!  And because of society and the world and because of what we’re going to come to in a little bit here that started with Adam and Eve.  Judges 4:1 - And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Eternal, when Ehud was dead. And the Eternal sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

And verse 3 -  And the children of Israel cried unto the Eternal: isn’t that amazing about people, about Israel, doesn’t matter what it is.  Here you’re blessed and then you begin to sin and sure enough, what happens, the blessings are taken away and all of a sudden...”Oh God save us, help us!” You know?!  Amazing!  Not going to be any different here in the end-time.  And the children of Israel cried unto the Eternal:  it goes on to say, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. And Deborah, a prophet, doesn’t say that in my version, but that’s what she was... the wife of Lapidoth, and I think, “What a unique man he had to be.”  What a unique man that his wife was a prophet and a judge over Israel!  That takes a real man.  Just telling you, if you understand; if you can understand that – took a real man – see?  There aren’t many like that in the world – there aren’t as many as there needs to be within the Church of God to this degree of what I’m talking about here.  And Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah, and they knew where to go.  They had a palm tree named after her.  It’s the palm tree of Deborah!  You want to find Deborah?  She’s under the ‘Palm Tree of Deborah’.  That reminds me of something.  We used to drive between Lubbock, TX and Roswell, NM for services and it’s very barren out there.  Every minister, every one that has ever been out in that area that had to drive that circuit all knew about this old telephone pole out there that had a big old crows or eagles nest on top (I think we called it a crow’s nest) but it was huge.  It was a giant nest up there.  I don’t know how many decades it was out there but everybody remarked about the crow’s nest on the telephone pole between Roswell...and everybody knew where it was – everybody.  Everybody knew this palm tree of Deborah in Israel too.  They knew where this tree was; the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

Isn’t that amazing? They knew who it was through whom God was working.  It wasn’t a mystery to them.  They knew full well who was given insight that was coming from God.  Awesome!  And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam... and said unto him, Has not the Eternal God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?  “You know, God has a job for you Barak.  Go out here and take these people and take care of this.”  Amazing his comeback... notice what else God said through Deborah - And I will draw unto you to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand.  Barak was told to do this and he wasn’t real keen on the idea and yet the prophet of God, the judge of Israel at that time was telling him this is coming from God to you and Sisera’s going to be in your hands.

And Barak said unto her, If you will go with me, Ooo, it’s a brave man... If you will go with me then I’ll go: but if you will not go with me, then I will not go.  Pretty clear message.  And she said, I will surely go with you: notwithstanding the journey that you take shall not be for your honour; for the Eternal shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. She wasn’t talking about herself; talking about another woman – Jael.  There’s a woman – you can read the rest of the story, who went to Sisera and...you read the whole context; brought him into her tent and had him cover himself.  She was kind of leading him to believe he was going to have protection and she took a tent peg and got a hammer and drove it through his skull.  So great praise and honour was given to that woman, to her name.  It’s like Phineas, when he found the two people committing adultery in Israel – took a javelin and ran it through both of them together as they were together, into the ground to stop the plague upon Israel – and great honour was given to him.  God gave great, mighty blessings to him and his family afterwards.  Awesome!  ...for people who stand up for God – see?  Anyway, read the rest of the story.

So the expression was; it’ll be given into the hand of a woman... And Deborah rose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.  And then later on they had this great song that they sang and talked about this great defeat and this great power that God had given and deliverance that God had given.  It’s an awesome story.  Inspiring...

So unlike what many men in times past, primarily in the world, but also many in the Church... yes, unlike what many men in times past have felt about women in God’s service these three examples I have just covered ought to show that God does not prohibit such a thing by any means.  There are a lot of things that happen through time that we’re going to learn as we go along here that go back to the beginning – that were never meant to be so.  I’d like to read to you what we had posted on the Church site in the past in the topics section regarding such service in the Church about women in the ministry... here’s what it said...

Women - As Elders | ↑ top

Based on the practice of the New Testament Church and the teachings of the apostle Paul,

...that women were to remain silent in the church...

...the Church of God-PKG has not ordained women as elders (ministers) in the past...

Little did I know what that was going to lead to...

...(1 Corinthians 14:34 and 1 Timothy 2:12). However, one woman has been chosen by God to be a prophet in this end-time, as well as one of His two witnesses as explained in the topic, "Witnesses - 2."

I want to explain a little bit here.  Women were to remain silent in the Church.  Well, again that has to do with preaching; that has to do with standing up in front of a congregation; and there is a way that God is working and still working in that regard and will continue to work in that regard for a time.  But there may be things that God changes in the Millennium.  I don’t know.  I just know what God has given me now.

As God’s end-time apostle and the Elijah to come and in the greater fulfillment of that commission that I am announcing today that woman are to be ordained as ministers in God’s Church.  This is not for the role of preaching or teaching in Sabbath services of the Church but for other ministerial duties that require ordination: primarily that of baptism with the laying on of hands: for that purpose.  We will have three categories of elders with the women, just as we do with the men.  There will be and already are senior elders; there are three.  Two had hands laid upon them in Atlanta after services last week: Myrtle and Anne.  And I called up Wayne down in Australia; talked to him a little bit on the phone after we did that and said, “Wayne, you heard me talking about turning to the right hand and to the left quickly – you ready to do it?” I think I told him then, “take your wife now, lay hands upon her and ordain her as a senior elder in the Church.” And at some point there he made a comment – he said, concerning the turning to the right hand or the left – he said that the blinkers were on. They call it the indicator down there, so the turn signals on, the blinkers on, in other words, and he’s going to take care of it; in other words he’s making the turn.  So anyway, the three evangelist’s wives are senior elders.  And those things will become clearer as time goes along but a distinction being made here with the three of them because of the uniqueness of their husbands as well and the job they’re doing and they’re being with them in those jobs.

There will be a few elders and most, at this point in time, will be associate elders.  We’re going to have a lot of associate elders out here.  I’ll tell you, it’s exciting to me, it’s inspiring to me.  But all, both men and women in that ordination are ministerial elders.  Certificates will be going out – it’s going to make a distinction there.  It’s all a matter of ministerial elders – okay?  And this will now begin to fulfill two great phases of restoring all things that’s pertinent to the task and commission of the Elijah to come which God has given me to fulfill.  First, this is going to give many more who will help in the commission of baptizing tens of thousands into the body of Christ, the Church of God before the coming of our Messiah.  Secondly this begins a process of accelerating a greater change in removing the curse placed upon mankind from the beginning which was the result of sin and Satan’s deception and deceitful influence upon mankind from the beginning.  That’s why I alluded to what I did in the posting about that which goes all the way back to Adam and Eve.  The attitude of men toward women has been atrocious over the past 6,000 years and God is going to begin to change that spirit more fully as we proceed into the Millennial period at the coming of Jesus Christ and it’s going to change a WHOLE lot more once He’s returned, but God is blessing us the process of STARTING it...to rebuilt, to renew, to restore, to build again, to do that which God has desired for a long, long time.

Let’s go back to the beginning; back to Genesis 3:16 – this is after Satan had done his little yap, yap, yap, yap... ‘God says you shall surely die... oh, you won’t surely die...’  He twists and distorts things that God says – amazing! To the woman He said, this is what God says is a result of, the punishment then.  These are not blessings, these are curses.  This is punishment for disobedience, this is punishment for sin - I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; some translations have it ‘I will greatly multiply your sorrow and pain in your conception’ that’s more than that...there’s been sorrow added in the life of women, in marriage, above and beyond that which has to do with conception.  ...and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; some are wondering if that’s going to be removed.  It may be once Satan’s removed...maybe the millennium will be different.  Wouldn’t that be good news for women!  It would be.  Who knows?  I don’t know.  God will do what He’s going to do.

...in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be to your husband, and He shall rule over you. Then to Adam He said, Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil shall you eat of it all the days of your life; Both thorns and thistles shall it bring forth for you; and you shall eat the herb of the field.  In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.  Incredible what was stated here – see?  What began at the very beginning: sin and what sin brought upon all mankind and all would have done the same thing just as much as ALL would have done the same things in the era of Laodicea when the apostasy occurred.  No distinction.  Every human being that would have been placed in that position would have done exactly the same thing – everyone would have to be vomited out of God’s mouth – amazing!

This has been highly misunderstood for what it’s saying.  Men and ministers alike have used this to say that this was given by God as a role for husbands to be authoritative over their wives.  That is not true, not in fullness and I’ll explain as we go along.  Instead, this is a curse for disobedience; it’s a punishment.  It is that which would naturally follow since neither Adam or Eve obeyed God but followed the way of selfishness and self-centeredness.  There are things that just happen to human beings.  Now God added some things here as well, but there are things that will naturally take place in human life when you disobey God.  When human beings disobey God there are laws that regulate human relationships and from the get go there was one here that worked to destroy the very basis of family – truly.  Going on...

All of mankind has been the same ever since because by nature the way of man rejects God’s true order and laws that govern right relationships.  This is something that can only be changed, in our lives brethren and what we’re going through, can only be changed, in other words the curse removed, if both husband and wife yield to obedience in spirit and truth to the working of God’s spirit in their life.  Marriage takes two: to have a right marriage takes both to be converted and yielding themselves to the change in the mind.  Now if one is called and one still has battles or lack of understanding, there’s still a responsibility of change in your mind and how you live, but to experience a fullness that God intends to be in a marriage can only be experienced when both obey God – see?  Isn’t that what we come into the Church for?  To have all the curses, all the suffering, all the penalties of our life removed?  ...beginning to be healed?  It’s a healing process.  It takes time for this mind to heal.  Ever more so in this, what we’re talking about today.  It is through conversion, baptism and the impregnation of God’s spirit that a man can begin to love his wife!   That his desire be right toward his wife as God commands should be so in the Church.

I have given sermons over this over and over again.  I spoke at the Feast of Tabernacles about a portion of this and not all understood and didn’t fully grasp and comprehend the magnitude of what was given.  Going on...

Again, I want to go back to this and read it again... to the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be to your husband, but the problem? Not reciprocated in like manner by definition of reciprocate: ‘to give or feel something mutually or in return’.  Man hasn’t been like that fully, not at all, and I know there’ll be sermons that follow this to help magnify what God is showing here today about what all this means because it’s powerful... and he shall rule over you. Because of all this, because of his spirit and because of his mind and because of how he thinks or will think or began to think and things that began to happen through time.  It’s amazing what’s happened through time brethren, it really is, and the way man has been toward women.  I’m not going to read the rest because it all boils down to making it very clear here – just like He told Adam about the ground now being cursed.  God would have taken care of everything, provided all, He made it simple, made it easy the way the earth was watered, everything that took place and there would not have been the kind of troubles we have now.  Food in plenty... man has had some pretty bad struggles, a lot of famines, a lot of sorrow, there has been a lot of death through time.

The word ‘desire’ in this expression; your desire shall be to your husband is indeed revealing if you understand the context and usage in Hebrew.  The word is used in two other places.  It’s awesome!  Awesome when you understand how it’s used.  One of them is in the following chapter... 4:6 – it’s about Cain and Abel.  Here Cain killed Abel and so God comes on the scene and talks to Cain and this is what He says: 4:6 - And the Eternal spoke unto Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your countenance fallen? This has to do with the offerings and so forth and it led up to what Cain did and everything that transpired here; we know the story about Cain killing Abel, but there was a time of the sacrifice and so forth and there was that which Abel offered up before God and it was receive by God because it was, well, that’s a sermon in itself, but it was done right and in a right spirit and what was offered up.  Cain wasn’t at all the same way and it goes on to say here - If you do well, shall you not be accepted? and if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And unto you shall be his desire, speaking about sin and that’s kind of obscure here in the King James; but it’s about sin, and you shall rule over him.  Talking about sin.  It’s far better understood in the New King James here where it says – Why are you angry? and why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.  And it’s desire is for you, isn’t that the way it is – sin’s desire.  Mankind is pulled, ‘lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life’.  Sin is so easily there, and it’s desire is for you, but you should rule over it. That’s what God tell us.  But the reality is in life and because of human nature people think they’re free, and they’re not.  What does God say?  “You’re in BONDAGE! You’re in slavery to sin! It rules over you but YOU should rule over it!”  And so when we come in the Church that’s what God shows us.  We’re to rule our lives, take control of our lives, seek to obey God so that we’re not in slavery to sin and the whims of the ‘lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life.’  We’re to take control and we can’t by ourselves and we understand that – we need God’s help to obey God.  We need the spirit of God in our life to obey God.  And so that’s the process where it begins.

What an incredible usage of the terms here...and it’s desire, talking about, will be to you, but you should rule over it, and how God said to the woman what He did about the man, will rule over you.  But your desire is going to be to him, just not reciprocated in like manner.  There has been a lot of sorrow through time because of that, truly has been and men, because of physical stature and because of some other things of the way men are made, have not done a really good job in having a good desire, a right desire, a proper desire toward their wives.  Hence the third example God uses... it’s beautiful!

It’s in the Song of Solomon, and if you understand what the book of the Song of Solomon is about – it’s a love story between a husband and a wife.  It’s quite, quite strong about a husband; about a man and a woman – husband and wife relationship if you will – Jesus Christ and the Church – that’s spiritually if we understand that which is physical; the way it’s supposed to be, then we’ll understand that which is spiritual.  But one verse where this word is used about ‘the desire’. Song of Solomon 7:10 - I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.  Isn’t that what every woman desires?  Isn’t that what God says it should be?  ‘Husbands love your wives.’  Why did He say it that way?  Why doesn’t He tell the woman the same thing?  ...in the same manner?  Well, there are reasons why and this is a part of it!  And it’s about the difference in the mind and the different ways we function and live in life.  On the contrary – a man needs God’s spirit and God’s help to CHANGE the way he is in order to LOVE his wife the way God says he should and not look upon her in a wrong way... as a servant! ... or as something beneath her.  Amazing!  ... the way women have been treated for 6,000 years!  ...and its wrong!  It’s not God’s way and those scriptures in Genesis are not authority for a man to rule harshly over his wife!  Yes, there’s government and order, and that’s why I’ve always said, “If you love your wives, husband, the way God says – YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANY OF THAT!  But there are many men out there at times that just don’t get it, you know?!  They don’t understand because you’re not willing to love your wives the way God says to love.  Incredible!  Something that should be so clear and so powerful that isn’t sometimes to us.

And so God says in essence to the Church – It’s high time the curse begin to be removed from this world because it affects family, it affects what children see when they grow up, it affects how children grow up, it affects how even young children grow up and what they see in their family – of what it’s supposed to be like.  Not what the world says it’s like, but the way it is because it’s done right, so that they can go into a marriage and be blessed and not cursed in their marriage; so they can go into their marriage and have a full and a meaningful life the way God intends for it to be.  This world has been ROBBED by Satan,  because of sin, of the wholesome, exciting relationships that God offers of sharing in a family that people are intended to have from the very beginning.  And people have been looked down upon in society, in cultures, in race but this is the biggest of them all if we can only grasp and understand it.  And I’m telling you there are men out there today in the Church of God; that you need to repent and begin changing your spirit and in your mind toward your wife – that your desire be more fully toward her, to please her.

Her desire is there.  There are many things that women do sometimes and all because of that desire they have, the longing they have for their husbands...there’s peace they will make, there are things they will do...and the husband takes advantage of it.  I see some sermons coming; because we’ve gone a little overtime... but I think we see the beginning of something that God is giving to the Church of something that happened back in the time of Adam and Eve that was never meant to be so.  That’s why the instruction, if you come to understand this, you will far more deeply understand what Paul and other instruction in the New Testament is all about to the Church.  He’s just never put it all together because it wasn’t time yet to restore this to the Church and to the world, but now it’s coming time – see?  And now when people have the big picture of what it comes from, then we can understand more fully why God gave the instruction He did in the New Testament to the Church of husbands toward their wives –see?  And a wife has to be careful too, especially that she not abuse and misuse such understanding either.  It’s a two way street, but the greatest responsibility, as I’ve always said, is to the man first – see?  Why would God give instruction, ‘Husbands agape your wives; love your wives, have a right Godly desire and care and concern toward your wife,’ – if it was already there?  That’s the problem.  It hasn’t been there throughout  history with mankind.  Only a few through time have been blessed to experience such a thing, of those whom God has called.

And there are varying degrees of all that just as there are varying degrees of child labour.  There are those who can go for 24 hours and longer.  I can’t understand that one.  And there are those that can deliver quickly.  So there are varying degrees of suffering even there and so there are in things in marriages as well.  But as a whole, it’s pretty rough.  As a whole; it hasn’t been good on this earth and a lot of things in society and in culture and the very reason things were organized and the reason things even happened in the Old Testament; so often the things that God allowed to a degree and to a point, were because of the curse.  Marriages and the structure of some marriages – that God added certain other laws to that when men had more than one wife and later through time here began to make it very clear that isn’t God’s will for man, it isn’t God’s purpose for man – see?  So anyway, we’re just beginning to see an unravelling of something in a very great way.

So two great things being revealed today in a very powerful way as a part of a commission that God is giving of restoring things, re-establishing, building, rebuilding – of what God wants for the world, of what God desires for the earth, for mankind and for family: because it’s about Family in a very powerful way.  And what we’re discussing here is about a commission given as well and things about ordination and the like that is indeed exciting.  So yes, there is government in the family, but it’s to be one that’s from God and not one that is a result of curses that mankind brought upon himself.  It is not to be authoritative, sheriffing, oppressive, and oppressing – see?  Because as a whole that’s the way it’s been! ...through time.  And even in the ministry, because they didn’t understand things about the marriage and the marriage relationship; they didn’t understand the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church, and the care and the caring and the caring for and the nurturing of the Church that God gave to them to be faithful in – see?  Instead it became about them and authority in a wrong way, in an oppressive way, and that’s where we came to understand the term ‘sheriffing’ that is so wrong – see?  There’s a way to love, to care, to nurture that comes from God, that’s right and good and produces right results.  Not authority for the sake of authority.  It’s never intended to be that way!

Going on... so God is now going to pour out more of His help and His favour to break this curse from mankind and to remove Satan’s perverted hole in the family.  This same spirit has affected the Church through time.

This message today is powerful, in the spirit and the power of Elijah to give women a rightful freedom and love; one that is not to be abused by women either, or it will defeat the purpose of the beauty.  And this is being magnified by greater understanding of the way family should be in God’s begotten Family and the soundness of that is magnified by the open and outward ordination of many women in the Church, in phases as with the men... and we’ve got a pretty big list in different phases that are going to take place here.

Also, this is part of opening a great door in the spirit and in the power of Elijah to restore, to construct anew, to build and rebuild a much greater Church that’s being prepared for the coming of the Messiah.

~~~end

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