Finish the Work

Ron Weinland

January 26, 2013

There is a new post entitled, 'World Tension Accelerating, a bit of a spin-off from last week when I went through some articles, but I thought it'd be good for everyone to have everything in a bit of a nutshell because there is so much happening out there and it's very difficult for people to get a good idea of what's really going on in the world in the U.S., Canada, and Australia especially.

I thought I'd mention I've received a lot of emails concerning imprisonment and just thought I'd make a couple comments about that.  I do appreciate that.  But I know a lot of people's response has been part of one of being sad and so forth - this is not a time to be sad in God's Church, this is a time to go forward.  We're going into another chapter. It is what it is; this is nothing new as far as the span of 6,000 years for God's people and we just roll with the punches and go forward and God takes care of what He's going to do and that's the way it is.

I thought I'd mention about the facility; some have been asking about some of that.  It is not the maximum security unit that is one of the largest of the facilities there, nor is it the probably more heavily populated medium security  area but it's what's called a minimum security satellite housing facility. That's a blessing as well how that's all worked out. And I thought I'd also mention because some comments have been made about some of this, as a whole there will be a minimal amount allowed to be placed on a visiting schedule and that will be largely a matter of something that Laura will oversee and no one should think they can just 'pop-in', come over and visit, because it doesn't work that way at all. So you have to work through Laura on that if there is any particular interest in that in one way or another, but again, that's going to be a very small number according to what the site says. Anyway, we'll let you know more later on, we really don't know too much yet, we'll find out as we go along. What can I say?

A little bit different sermon here today. I've gone through a part of what we're going to go through here today before but in a different context. God has blessed us over some recent sermons and sermon series that are foundational to God's great work in His Church to create a Family, and in the midst of this we are able to learn more about family structure, family life, and the incredibly great blessing of sharing life together God's way in family/Family. And so that's been a lot of our focus obviously, the blessing, the benefit of things that God shows us about His Family, of things we're to incorporate in family/Family where we're able to while we can.

So today in a sermon that may possibly be my last before Jesus Christ returns we're going to delve into a sermon entitled, Finish the Work. It's interesting, a lot of the comments have been coming in talk about finishing the race, finishing what's before them, moving forward to the end, things like that to whatever... speaking of the time that Christ returns. And that's what we do. But what I'm referring to here of something we've gone into a bit in the past and we will probably cover some of the same material of what I go through, but in a different context in one respect. It has to do with an article of Mr. Armstrong's in 'Tomorrow's World' back in February of 1972, and I mentioned that I think last Sabbath even just in passing, but it's his personal in the magazine, 'Tomorrow's World' back in 1972. I'm not going to go through some of the same things we went through at that time, or whenever I gave the sermon when I covered some of this, but it's on the site when you go to the site there and you click on Mr. Armstrong's writings, it's the first article that pops up so you can go through it on your own another time if you want.

I want to begin by reading here and then making comments as we go along because this was a period of time when he was addressing an issue in the Church concerning timing of events, of what we in part had believed and looked through at that time and referring back to a booklet that was written called '1975 in Prophecy', and this came out in 1972 so that was 3½ years later, so this was being addressed in January. But primarily around the focus of something different because part of the title of the article here is about the 19-year time cycles and things that they were learning, things that inspired, moved and motivated him. Because there are patterns that God follows and Mr. Armstrong recognized there were patterns in what He, God, was doing with him, through him and in the Church during the period of Philadelphia. And we have noted various patterns, I have mentioned various patterns of various things that God has done in the Church. Sometimes people try to perhaps read some of those things too much into their own life but the reality is it's about God's Church and primarily it's about things that God works out within sometimes the leadership of the Church because it's about a Church or a Church era or whatever it might be, and there always have  been definite patterns throughout time and how God has worked with, and we'll probably find certain patterns in individuals lives as time goes along.

The article went on to mention here after 'The 19-Year Time Cycles' it says, 'What HAPPENED January 7 --' and then basically the thrust of the article is, 'What My Commission IS', and as he sometimes did he used all capitals for 'IS', what his commission IS as opposed to what it is not. And so he's discussing some of those things and the relevance and the inspiration they received by the 19-year time cycles.

Much of the thrust of this and of course the title of this sermon here, just so you'll know where we're going, is called, 'Finish the Work' and that is the thrust of what we're going through because that is our focus and we just continue to move forward. It's a different chapter, God works things out His way and we yield our self to it, it's an awesome process.

"Personal" of Herbert W. Armstrong from Tomorrows World, February 1972.

by Herbert W. Armstrong

The 19-Year Time Cycles

-- What HAPPENED January 7 --

What My Commission IS!

SIGNIFICANT THINGS DID happen on January 7th!

So, there are things especially tied into that period of time that were very moving for him. Now, this is important, especially being the head of the Church on earth under Jesus Christ but you don't have communication back and forth where you can call Him up on the telephone and receive an answer back. It comes through inspiration, through God's spirit, through the Bible or through inspiration that God gave to him in various matters. So when he had to deal with various things he couldn't just go and discuss it and get an answer back right then, he had to make choices and decisions along the way and so this is bringing a part of this into this process here and God gives us other things which inspire us, which motivate us, which move us, that we can look at, sometimes things having to do with 'types' and so forth in scripture. And that's needed, because without those things, if God didn't give those things, if He didn't give things along the way to give great inspiration of where you're going, of the steps you're taking, it could become... Well, it would really be impossible. God has to give inspiration to us, we're human beings, and through time we have to have guidance, we have to have inspiration, we have to have things in our life that move us, that motivate us, that keep us focused, that give us vision, and that's much of what he's talking about here. So that's why so often we go and look at where we've been, so we can see then what God is doing and better grasp where we're going and to have a vision of what God is doing as we're going through a process.  We learn as we go.

And we'll learn through the things we're going through right now. Candidly, I'm inspired by where we are in time regardless of what happens. It may not be something that you jump up and down and you say, "Goody, goody, I'm really looking forward to this one." But that's how you grow and that's how the Church grows. And some things happen, if you look at it and understand it, for the future! Look at the Bible! Look at the things we go through and read! We read stories here that inspire us and motivate us of things that happened long ago, and much of it happened for no other purpose but to give inspiration for those who followed. And so it will be in the Millennium and the Great White Throne. As people read the stories through time of what God's people went through and see the patterns and they'll be inspired and moved and motivated by that, to grasp more deeply the blessings of what they have, of how easy it is for them in comparison. Because it's like pioneers going west, we forge the way, we have been blessed to be a part of that, and then those who follow the way is made easier and better for them and they will receive inspiration from that.

So anyway, he goes on to say....

SIGNIFICANT THINGS DID happen on January 7th!

In this Personal I want to tell you what happened -- but also to make PLAIN and CLEAR:

1) What our Commission IS, and what it is NOT!

2) What are the criteria for determining through whom God is carrying out that Commission which is HIS WORK on earth today.

Thousands know that I, personally, have been called and chosen for a very definite commission in God's service. But I have definitely NOT been called to be a PROPHET -- except as that word, Biblically used, does sometimes refer to a minister or speaker -- one who proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In other words, as he mentions in other places, with inspired interpretation of things that are written in prophecy. He went on to say....

Emphatically I am NOT a prophet, in the sense of one to whom God speaks specially and directly, revealing personally a future event to happen or new truth, or new and special instruction direct from God -- separate from, and apart from what is contained in the Bible. And I never have claimed to be.

So this is inspiring. He recognized how he was being used as an apostle. He goes through and discusses some of these things about what Dr. Hoeh had said at one time about him being an apostle, that he wasn't a prophet. This is the process of something he was learning and something he grasped, how God was working in his life. He went on to say....

THERE IS NO SUCH HUMAN PROPHET LIVING TODAY!

And that's why some of this has been difficult or was difficult for me in the beginning and for the Church in one respect, because we were not accustomed through Philadelphia - there were no prophets, God didn't use them. Now, in the early Church there were and at what point John became a prophet, perhaps after being imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos for a year and having the visions he did and then wrote the book, that was new that God gave to him, some of it involving doctrine because it involved the doctrines of the Church, of things that would happen, various other things, obviously, leading up to the end-time. But he is the only one, in that respect, through that period of time when referring to the apostles who was both an apostle and a prophet, otherwise we really have no knowledge of others through time. So Mr. Armstrong was making it very clear, referring to himself, knowing he was an apostle but he was not a prophet, and this affects drastically in a major way, obviously what...  it reveals what God is doing and what he is not doing at a particular point in time, and Mr. Armstrong understood that. He went on to say....

The Bible is the written Word of God -- and, for our time now, it is COMPLETE! Never have I believed or claimed that God reveals to me new truths not contained in the Bible -- in addition to, or apart from the Bible.

So, in that respect, as I mentioned about John and so forth, I have. There is a way that I recognize that God has worked through me in time. Some things that are a matter of prophecy that have been given in truth, some things that are a matter of an apostle, which I really didn't grasp until later on. God was actually working with me as an apostle before He was a prophet, and there is much to be learned from that as well because things that were revealed to us early on and in through time were not a matter of prophecy, not until we came up to the time the book, 'The Prophesied End-Time' was written, and even then I battled against it and did not want to yield to that process and referred to a prophet, in that respect, as being one through whom inspired interpretation is given of prophecy. And so we have been through different things. But this is how God works with us and reveals things to us through a process.

In a special group festival held at Belknap Springs, in Oregon, in the autumn of 1951, I was shocked -- and so were those there -- to hear Herman L. Hoeh, then recently graduated from Ambassador College, say with conviction, as if with authority, "Mr. Armstrong IS NOT A PROPHET -- but a man called to the same kind of commission as the original evangelists and apostles of the first century Church of God -- to proclaim the Message -- the Announcement -- the Good News of the Kingdom of God -- the Message that Christ brought from God and taught His disciples."

And he's going to refer to this in this letter later on, but he had it deeply imbedded in his mind his purpose - Matthew 24:14. He knew that for so long! He grasped that, he comprehended that, his life revolved around that, that thrust, that vision, to recognize that verse 14 was his, it was for him to get accomplished, and that's what he was focused upon and God gave that by inspiration and he worked at that, awesomely so. He went on to say....

I shook my head in astonishment that he would make that statement.

And looking back in time, he should have talked it over with Mr. Armstrong but he didn't...reveals some things about him that came out later on. Anyway, he says....

I KNEW WELL I was not a prophet. I simply knew I had been called to proclaim Christ's Gospel of the Kingdom of God -- to get a job done -- but I had no illusions about being an evangelist, or an apostle, or anything more than my own part in proclaiming and publishing this Great NEWS, as a witness, to as many as I could reach. I had no vision then of a worldwide ministry.

So, interesting when you go back and you think about some of these things and that being 1951 and how God was working with the Church and yet he was focused upon doing a job that the vision of it yet had not grown to the scale that would later become evident.

I think of the vision we have had from the beginning and basically it's been about the scattered Church, because of the apostasy. That has been our primary thrust, hence the 'News Watch', 'Time is Running Out' and 'The Time Has Run Out'.  'News Watch' and those things there, and the website, everything was geared toward helping people who were scattered. It wasn't a matter of bringing in new people, it wasn't a matter of spreading the gospel to the world - that job had already been done and God wasn't working with us in that fashion, He was working with us in a unique way to reach out to others whom He would be calling and drawing and preparing us for things later on that we had no...no comprehension of what was coming because of that thrust, because of that vision. So in the beginning we had a bit of a vision that would be magnified in time and changed somewhat in time. So again, we always follow God wherever He leads. He went on to say....

Let's take a look at the Church of God of the first century, as we find it revealed in the Book of Acts, beginning from the day of Pentecost, 31 A.D. The Bible was not fully written -- only the Old Testament -- in 31 A.D. God then was still communicating new truth, instruction and knowledge directly and personally to prophets. As the Church progressed, it was the function of a prophet to communicate to the apostles special messages which God had personally revealed to them. Others were inspired in the writing of the books of the New Testament.

We know that history, and again, Mr. Armstrong inspired in even some of these things here, of what to say and understanding the structure and how God was working. He went on to say....

So we read, in Acts 11:28 and 21:10-11, of the prophet Agabus. But today we have the COMPLETE Word of God, for our time, in the Bible.

And, of course, they received much from Christ, and later on when they were moved in 31 A.D. by God's spirit a lot of these things began to come to them, they began to understand them by revelation of things that Jesus Christ had already given, because in that respect He is indeed, obviously, referred to as a prophet and much of that was for what was given to the Church, what He gave to the disciples in their training during that period of time before He died. So he went on to say....

There are no such prophets -- except false ones.

Now a word about what my Commission is NOT. It is NOT to become an infallible expert on, or to preach, chronology.

And so again, this is heavily on his mind because of '1975 in Prophecy' and things they were addressing and so forth.

I feel at present that the whole question of chronology is in confusion, and no one can be positively SURE of dates.

Absolutely, unless God gives it you can't be, and that's why you can go and play with numbers all you want in life and nothing is going to come out unless God gives it, and then we learn along the way as well.

As of the present I, and a majority of our historians in Ambassador College, and researchers in the School of Theology, feel that it is utterly unsafe to try to SET DATES in regard to future prophesied events, especially the return of the living Christ in supreme Power and Glory to rule all nations of the earth.

But we are only human, and it is natural that we should have been curious to know, as far as possible, how much time we had to GET THE JOB DONE. (More about that later.)

And this is nothing new, it goes back to Daniel and goes back to the time of the disciples. Everyone has always wanted to know, tried to figure things out by what has been written, what could possibly be next? Where are things going now? How much time will it be? When will You come back? When are You going to be in Your Kingdom?  ...and so forth, things that were asked.

That, however, in fact, is not our MAIN PURPOSE, OR COMMISSION --

Mr. Armstrong understood he had a specific commission.

...which is to proclaim Christ's Announcement of the advance good NEWS of the coming Kingdom of God to rule all nations -- and the message commonly called salvation -- the fact we may be born again through Jesus Christ -- born into that Kingdom.

Our Commission is to GET THAT JOB DONE!

We have been GETTING IT DONE!

The question which Christ, the Head of God's Work, has NOT revealed in the Bible is, HOW THOROUGHLY He intends it to be done!

So obviously in seeing how God was working with him, knowing his age, many factors here in 1972 - and he still had quite a ways to go - desiring to know what is the next step. He recognized on January 7th they were at a milestone, a 19-year cycle had been fulfilled. He understood the importance of something that had been accomplished now by this time that was very  moving to him, so the natural concern was, "What's next? How much more do we have yet to do?" And so that's what's on his mind and that's what he's sharing.

The prophecy of the proclaiming of this Message IN OUR TIME, is in Matthew 24:14. Jesus said: "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached (and published -- Mark 13:10)...

And that took on, obviously, great meaning by the time Mr. Armstrong came along, a word in a unique way having to do with 'published' when you look at all the material that's been printed and sent out to the world, throughout the world.

...shall be preached (and published -- Mark 13:10) in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end (of this age) come."

Let me say now, that in early July last year (1971), I could not have said that had as yet been done. But, in the literal Scriptural meaning of that commission, as of January 7, 1972, IT HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED! Six months before we had not yet gotten the Message into Japan, nor into the Scandinavian countries. Now we have!

Little bit later, jumping down....

Go back, once again, to the beginning and founding of the Church.

You know, I was just thinking there too, I thought I'd mention this; I think about how they used to send out statistics about how much had gone out, how much that had been accomplished, how many 'Plain Truths', how many TV stations, how many radio stations, as large as the Church was at various times, especially in my recollection in the 70's and then early 80's. And you know, to me it's inspiring to see what God has accomplished, where we are, and what is available out there. Right now there is very little concern, not that much as far as hits on the site because the world is asleep. This world is at a state, we are in a state, if you will, very much like I've said before, of what the Church was like just before the apostasy, and that is what it took to shake the Church up, that is what it took to awaken some of us out of sleep. God gave the opportunity for being awakened to a lot of people at that point in time but He drew certain ones specifically along by design, by purpose. And so we go through many things to get to where we're going but I thought I'd mention here today, I think what an awesome thing - 7 languages for the books right now! Awesome! God does work in a specific way. Why specific ones? Even I believe one that hasn't been used in times past, speaking of Arabic, because God's doing something a bit different now in certain parts of the world. But again, English, Dutch, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, and Portuguese. Awesome! Seven languages! Coincidental? Not by any measure.

I think of as small as we are how much we've been able to do. I think of some of the thrust we've had at different times. This past year we've had approximately 1.5 million dollars going to advertizing. Awesome! And to date there is about 3/4 million books either sent out, 750,000 sent out around the world and the rest downloaded on the...what are those, some of those things on the site. I didn't bring that with me but ebooks, Nook, Kindle... anyway, you know what they are, they're on the site, but different ways that people do now as far as downloading books and so forth. Again, what an awesome thing, as small as we are, to look back, to see what God is doing, because God's going to do what He's going to do exactly to the measure it intends to be done. And so there are things that are already out there.

I think about how awesome it is that all of those seeds are planted. It doesn't mean that people see it or  grasp it; sometimes they even hate it. We've had some situations where people have come along even into the Church, where in the beginning they hated it, made it very clear, hated me. But at some point, because something was already there, at some point God turned on a switch and all of a sudden individuals are able to see something. I marvel at how many come along who still have had a history of hearing, know of, hearing Mr. Armstrong in telecasts or broadcasts, how many have read 'The Plain Truth', have had it in their homes or themselves have had it and some of this history that you run into out here in different areas from time to time. Still massive out there, just in various parts of the world, that there are seeds that are still out there, even when he died in 1986, that are still there because of what God did through him. Awesome!

In God's timing everything is accomplished. So he says, "Now we have gone into all the world." Just going down a little bit farther in the letter, or the article, he says....

Go back, once again, to the beginning and founding of the Church. First, Jesus called His disciples, whom He taught and trained to START getting this job done. Whom did He call? The most highly educated, the leaders of the world?

It's never been that way. As I think back, the only one who was highly educated is the one who most persecuted the Church in the beginning, that was Saul/Paul. He was educated in the system as far as the world was concerned and in the highest of training, candidly, in what he went through as far as Judaism is concerned. Other than that I... yeah, okay, but not to the degree that Paul was. Paul was trained and taught in the ways of Judaism in a very powerful way for a future role and position that he would be holding, being moulded for as far as even the Sanhedrin was concerned.

Whom did He call? The most highly educated, the leaders of the world? No, Peter and Andrew, brothers, fishermen by trade. Then next He called James and John, brothers, also fishermen. He chose Matthew, a publican (tax collector) -- and tax collectors were held in no high regard in Judea.

I have to say they still aren't. But again here, it shows how God works, and there are things we're to learn from that, just like it talks about in Corinthians, and I think he mentions that in a minute so I'll just wait.

After Christ's resurrection, Peter and John were brought before the high priest and chief rulers. They were accused of benefiting and healing a man crippled from birth. It is recorded (Moffatt), "They were astonished to notice how outspoken Peter and John were, and to discover that they were uncultured persons and mere outsiders" (Acts 4:13).

Now, the Moffatt is much better than some other translations because others twist and distort the true meaning of it and this has more to do, that's why Mr. Armstrong was quoting the Moffatt here, they were uncultured persons, in other words, in their ways, in the ways of Judaism and the ways of society around Jerusalem and so forth with the Sadducees and the Pharisees and so forth. So they were considered outsiders and not educated in the 'refined ways', if you will.

These apostles were from Galilee -- outsiders in Jerusalem. The AV renders it, "... and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men," but that is misleading; as the Greek implies, NOT ignorant, and illiterate, in the ordinary sense but, as Moffatt renders it, uncultured in technical learning of Jewish scribes and rulers, and in their acquired mannerisms.

It's a blessing if you don't have those things when you're called into God's Church at that time, and that's the way it is with us.  That's why the less we have of the way of the world in us the better it is, God works with us in that regard and works to change us, we are able to see who we are and what we are.  That's why he goes on to mention here....

Again, speaking of true Christians, we read, in I Corinthians 1:26: "For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh (intellectually), not many mighty, not many noble, are called ...."

And so it's always good that we recognize that about ourselves, that we recognize what God is moulding and fashioning within us is far greater than what this world has to offer and what it gives, but the transformation, the less of the world and it's system that's in us the better it is, the easier it is in some respects to mold and fashion us. And candidly, the world and individuals, the more people have of the world the harder it is for them to repent and change anyway, it's harder to see self because you tend to rely upon self, one's education or one's thoughts of how they think themselves to be when it comes to business or other things if people are highly successful. That's why not many such individuals are ever called that God works with.

The sophisticated churches of the world seek leaders who are intellectual, socially cultured, leaders in the community. But when GOD chooses His human instruments, He is more concerned about the sincere and honest of HEART.

It has to do with what's in us, what God sees that He's going to work with and mold and fashion and change and bring to repentance, those who will yield themselves to the process.

He calls imperfect (ALL men are, anyway) but sincere and dedicated human instruments. THEY ALL MAKE MISTAKES! This fact needs NO APOLOGY!

A little farther down...

Now I began to learn, a truth, a subject, a teaching, or a doctrine at a time. Baptized in 1927 (late spring), I was not ordained to the Ministry until late May, or early June 1931. (Pentecost was May 25th). In my study, I did not receive everything perfectly all at once. There were instances where, having felt I had come to understand the true Biblical teaching on a certain subject, other Scriptures discovered later put a different light on it. I HAD, ON OCCASION, TO CONFESS I HAD BEEN IN ERROR, and to correct it.

And so Mr. Armstrong builds upon this because it's something we need to understand in our individual lives in how God has always worked with those whom He's called, especially if you look at the time of the apostles on with the Church. So there is much to be learned here from his experience and what he's relating in this letter.  He said....

The Apostle Paul, telling us under God's inspiration of how he came to KNOW God's Truth, said: "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is NOT AFTER MAN. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." He received it, as he implies, from an appearance of the living Christ, in person, even after His resurrection and ascension.

I, too, received Christ's Gospel NOT from MAN. I, too, certify that the Gospel I have taught and proclaimed is NOT AFTER MAN. I entered no theological seminary, where I would have received a particular denominational teaching and set of doctrines and practices. I was not taught by MAN. But I was taught, as was Paul, by the revelation of Jesus Christ -- Paul from the living Christ IN PERSON -- who is the Word of God in PERSON -- but I from the WRITTEN WORD OF GOD -- which is the SAME revelation, now set in print.

So again here, some revealed as truth through apostles and some matters through prophecy that are through a prophet, as I mentioned earlier, so God works with us in different ways. Everything I ever received, just to be open and candid about it, which I don't like to talk about but I think is proper from time to time because of how God feeds the Church, is to realize that everything up through the truths that Mr. Armstrong had given God gave those last 18 before he died, 21 in all, the first 3 through Sardis and still had it in the Church, those were given by revelation to Mr. Armstrong. He's showing here that was given by God, by inspiration and similarly - and we understand this - that's what God has done in the Church, that's what He has done through me as far as the truths that went on from that point in time. They weren't given by anyone else, it came from Jesus Christ, and that's what we live by, those things that we're able to see and understand and experience as we've had, especially after the apostasy, and we'll go to some of that in a little bit here, but again very moving things when you recognize how God works with us. And we have to have this history, that's why we went through some history during the Feast of Tabernacles, because it's inspiring to see how God works with us, and I think of the term that was expounded upon more at the Feast this year than ever before, 'the present truth'.  That means more to us than ever before because we grasp in a greater way then how God has been working with the Church through time, speaking of when it began in 31 A.D., speaking specifically of the Church.  So he went on to say....

I did not get it all PERFECTLY at the beginning. No one could. Most of God's truths, assuredly, were revealed perfectly and in truth from the beginning. But, as an example, even Peter says "... our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest...

...or wrestle with.  In other words, God has given some things in scripture, a lot of things candidly, and in this age as well so that individuals out there who... You know, if someone is not being led by God's spirit they're just not being led by God's spirit, you can't understand the truth. And others will pick up on those things and battle with them, and the more that's out there, candidly, the more human nature tends to battle with it, the more even the scattered Body battles with certain things. I think of the things that God has given to us and I understand where they're coming from, because it's so far away from...just the concept of there being a prophet is a hard thing to work through, and how much more for the world? So, to have scoffing and so forth, it is our course, it is what we live through, and the more we've been given the more we should expect that from the world. Thankfully we're, prayerfully getting close to the end of all that...and I'll mention some of that as we go along as well.

So again, he talked about how if there were errors and so forth, sometimes in scripture, whatever it was, as we grow then things are corrected, that some of the truths we have and some of the things we've addressed we've made corrections all along the way but we don't often talk about it as corrections to things we've had in the past, we just...the way God has worked with me, I guess, in one respect is just the truth is the truth and if we grow in it then we grasp it and we'll understand then error, and we don't make a great to-do about it but it's understood. That's how God has had us focus, it's a matter of being led by God's spirit, and those who are being led by God's spirit will see it, will understand it. So why lose sleep over it, why try to prove something to someone if they can't see it. You can't! And so God leads whom He will and the reality is people will follow, and if they don't there are choices that people make, it's the way it's always been. But we've grown in that. He goes on to say a little bit later....

Even the first century Church at Antioch was UNSURE about a truth, and when they appealed to the Headquarters Church at Jerusalem, so were the apostles there -- UNTIL THE HOLY SPIRIT corrected them, and revealed the real truth to them (Acts 15th chapter).

There are so many things written in the Bible that... we think about our lives and where we are and adjustments and changes or growth that God gives to us, the present truth, and we don't grasp what others have gone through in like manner through times past...and especially at the beginning. We read through some of those stories and we don't grasp these were major things they had to address, things about Judaism and so forth. They were making some big changes in the Church getting away from Judaism and some of the practices and the things about the Gentiles especially, that the gospel was to go out - that was a major event in God's Church, a major truth that was given later on. It wasn't given through Christ yet, in that respect, it was given later on as the Church became established that God was showing that He was going to go into all the world and that Gentiles were to become a part of the Church. This was a major shift for them and they had battles with it, Peter had battles with it, he had to be corrected because there were just battles there, but he yielded to the process and he learned through it and God revealed things to him. I think of the cloth that went up and down, different things that we read about as you approach the story here in Acts 15, and they became convicted then by things that God revealed to them. So he says....

Let me ask you this question. Do you know of any large, established, well-recognized professing Christian denomination which has PUBLICLY confessed it had been WRONG in what it had been teaching, and which then CORRECTED the error, and turned to the TRUTH?

We know that the world doesn't do that as a whole, they continue in what they're doing, any shift that's made are minor shifts here and there. He goes on to say....

No, the big established churches and denominations feel they cannot afford to admit having had any error -- having ever mis-taught the people.

I was struck when I was reading this about the Churches that are scattered, they won't acknowledge that either. I don't know of anything major of any kind that anyone is teaching where a major... can anyone think of anything that some group maybe has addressed where they have... because so many as a whole, there are a few, some don’t even like to use his name, some don't even like to use Mr. Armstrong's name, but basically the concept is they're going on with telecasts, with publications, with things because Mr. Armstrong didn't finish the work, he didn't fulfill Matthew 24:14 so that's not even recognized.

And to me, I thought, what an awesome thing here, if people could just grasp and comprehend God's Church has never been stagnant except in one time in history, as a whole, and it began to go backward and God said, "You are spiritually dead." That was Sardis. Only one period of time that was warned about in scripture, and then Philadelphia as God began to work through Mr. Armstrong as a 'type' of 'the Elijah' in restoring truth to the Church and what began to happen through those truths that God gave. Awesome things, and I remember some of the big changes and how Mr. Armstrong addressed them, when he came to Pentecost especially, that was probably the biggest one in my time and it was a major thing for the Church, and the majority of the Church grasped it and they understood it. But many ministers, there were many out there in Church areas that were totally obliterated by what took place, choices that people have to make. It's sometimes a process of pruning or completely being cut off the vine and a way of cleaning the Church and God did that.

But again here, Mr. Armstrong addressed it and we changed. That one there was so major he took nearly a year of study and having others study into it, because he knew this was major and he didn’t take it lightly, and he wanted to make absolutely certain that this was from God and then God let him to that decision and that conclusion anyway, that it wasn't on Monday, it was on Sunday. But that was a major thing for God's Church at that time, it truly was. But I think, what a horrible thing to think that you come to a point in time where you're just stagnant and you're just to be where you were and there is no growth and maturing process that takes place. It doesn't work that way. God continues to give more and more to His people through time, just as you go back and read through what the disciples were given. I'll try to come back to some of this a little bit later here.

THUS THEY HAVE EDUCATED THE PEOPLE...

In other words, what I'm saying here in part, just to make it real clear, is we have gone through so many things since the 21st truth, on beyond that that it's astounding because those things address various things that are changes, they are matters of growth and that is one of the primary signs, in one respect, that this is where God is working, because of an ability, because of what God has given to show that there are things that need to be addressed, that people need to answer, and to stay where you are since 1986 if that's what anyone was trying to do out there, is not the way God works...going on to say here (especially because of what we went through).

THUS THEY HAVE EDUCATED THE PEOPLE TO SUPPOSE THAT IF ANY LEADER, ANY CHURCH, AND WORK OF GOD CAN BE FOUND TO HAVE BEEN IN ERROR IN ANY POINT, THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED. To confess and correct error is to be branded a false prophet!

And I will say that some expect then more from a prophet and there comes a time where there is a distinction made between that which God gives through an apostle and that which is given through a prophet, and that's important in what we're discussing here today. There are things written that are a matter of prophecy that will happen exactly the way God says in His time. There are other things that are given that are a matter of an apostle that have to do with truth, that have to do with understanding truth that was given and those things are absolute as well, but there is a distinction there and that's good for us to understand. As an example, the timing of the change from grasping or thinking that Jesus Christ was going to return on Trumpets. What truth is that? The 50th! Come on people, that was major!  We had to address something, we had to correct something in the Church, like Mr. Armstrong talked about here, that it wasn't a matter of going forward to look to Trumpets, it was a matter of something that we recognized, especially because of what God molded and fashioned within us previous to that, which is inspiring to recognize how God convicts us of things. He helped us to become deeply convicted, out of the awesomeness of the wave sheaf. We became so convicted of that, in that respect, of where it is, of its timing, its meaning, and the reality is the wave sheaf could happen in no other time, that when you come to understand the two wave loaves how that as well is so tied in together that the coming of the 144,000, as with the wave sheaf and what happened there, is so powerful in what it teaches that God made it very clear in a very powerful way when Jesus Christ would return, when the two wave loaves are offered, when the 144,000 are offered up before God! That's an awesome thing! They can't be offered up in the middle of the year, in the middle of the summer! They can't be offered up around Trumpets or the Feast of Tabernacles or after the Feast of Tabernacles or in January! They have to be done in a specific time - on that specific period of Pentecost! Awesome!

But those are things that God brings us to through conviction and strength of His holy spirit through those things that we come to understand in a very powerful way, how God works.  Just like the Passover; I'm still in awe, always will be, of what God has given to us as far as the end depth and ability to comprehend things about the timing of Passover, the meaning of Passover, and the full period of Passover from the time in the evening to the time of the next evening, that it's an entire full day of events. Because when I was in Worldwide and things that didn't seem to fit, and then ministers addressed it in many different ways, usually a couple different ways, but why Christ had to die later on in the afternoon. It just didn't make sense to people and they didn't realize the entirety of the story was something that was done in the evening and something then that was fulfilled in the daylight portion and that there was no conflict, that it was exactly the way God intended it to be. And so some people tried to make comment, tried to understand Judaism, and... Anyway, I don't know if you're moved by those things but you should be moved by those things. The more you have looked into those things, the more you study those things, the more you're convicted of them the stronger you are, truly, the more likely you'll be never to lose it or leave it or give up on it, to realize it is nowhere else. It is nowhere else! You can't go anywhere else and have the kind of truth to that magnification as what has been given to us, 'bane ha erybim', all of those things - those are not small things, they truly aren't.  They're powerful, they're meaningful.

Anyway, we have to finish what God has given to us - see, that's the thrust of this sermon. I don't care what comes to pass - well, I do, if you understand - but in the sense of our relationship, my relationship with God and your relationship with God we follow God! I have been very encouraged by hearing in so many of those emails and things that people oftentimes send it, is a greater conviction than ever before that because of what we went through in May 27th that has made that conviction greater than ever before in God's people, that this is a way of life first and foremost and you keep living it. How much do we treasure that? Just like this sermon series we've been going through about family/Family...how much do we treasure what God gives to us of things that He wants us to become different, to more greatly appreciate what He's offering to us. If we don't grasp that then that's going to affect the measure to what we truly appreciate and long for what He is offering us to become a part of. The less we grasp that and not see it in physical life the more we're able to be removed from it or to fall asleep, and you don't want that to happen in your life! And so God has stirred us up powerfully!

So, whether I have and you have (going back to me), 3½ months or 3½ years, so be it. And if you don't have that mindset you're going to miss the mark. Do I want that to happen? Well, I don't want to happen what's going to happen this week but it's going to happen. How much do you think everyone who has ever had to go through things...? This past week I have grown in such... I can't even describe it and I don't want to go into it too much because it's a personal thing, but I understand and appreciate, if you will, in a way, things about Jesus Christ in a way that I have never grasped to the level I do now. To know... You know, I've preached it, I've talked about it, we're inspired by that example of what He went through, but to think you know exactly what's coming upon you, that you aren't jumping up and down about it but you're going to do it because it's the right thing to do because God has a purpose in it and you do it, and you do it God's way. And I've been very moved by the reality from the beginning, or at least especially this year, most of this year now since May 27th, to strive to follow that example, meaning 'as a lamb'. I'm not a lamb. God says we are like sheep though. We are to respond like that to the world, and 'we are counted as sheep for the slaughter' in like manner, to follow our Passover, the example of Jesus Christ. Not to make waves, not to try to fight back but to let it go it's course. Some have wondered, "Well, why aren't you trying to defend yourself? Why aren't you making it public? Why aren't you combating some of the stories out here?" They must be true, so people read the stories like one person  not with us yet but definitely being called, who's mind is open but not with us yet - and he has choices to make and I'm sure is listening to the sermon today. But wondered why, and talked about the respect he has and so forth, but wondered why, in essence, I didn't pay my taxes. Well, I did. It's what we teach. We teach 'give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and give unto God what is God's', and I would definitely be more concerned about what I give unto God, in that respect, but I am not going to leave the other undone in any fashion or form.

And so that's the way we are! Just like in anything else we live. But people will choose to believe whatever they want to believe. And so there are things you don't have to answer - that's why I mentioned earlier on, to follow that example of Mr. Armstrong. He said, "Why even dignify it with an answer?" Because you know what, people who are led by God's spirit know... we knew who Mr. Armstrong was, we knew what kind of a person he was, we knew how he lived his life. We weren't bothered by all the garbage that was out there! I'm just glad the internet wasn't out there like it is today because that's really tough, what people can say and not be held accountable for it. But anyway, that's how we live our lives.

You should live that way toward your family, toward people at work, or whatever; as a whole they're going to believe and do whatever they want to do anyway and you should be able to understand that and no take it personally. Because it's not about you when it's said and done. It's about God! It's about God and what God is doing! I think of that example of Samuel when God let him know that, in essence, "Samuel, this isn't about you, it's about Me." Because it boils down to people being led by God, whether they're going to follow God or not, and those are the choices we make in our lives. And so again, we go forward, strive to do so with our heads held high in times of hurt and pain and suffering, and in good times as well; it doesn't change. And God works out a plan. It's a beautiful thing, it really is.

But anyway, as I was saying, when Christ perspired and droplets of blood came out, I'm able to look at that and think, "I'm not going through diddly-squat! I'm not going through anything in comparison." And to go to something that's as good and as pleasant as that location is compared to where different ones have had to go in times past, there is no comparison. And so sometimes it's good for us to put things in their proper place, to realize how good we have it. This age, and I think of the age to come, there is not going to be any comparison in anything they have to go through compared to... and that's why it's going to be more inspiring to them, they're going to be able to look at these things.

I have awe and respect for my Elder Brother in ways that I've grown in in the last few months that I haven't been able to conceive of in the same manner in times before. Believe it, know it, inspired by it, yes, but to know what was in His mind, to know what He went through and He did it the way He did it, it's an awesome thing. And we need to have that kind of a relationship. We need to think in those terms in what we do and how we live our lives.

I thought I might share it with you - my wife and I have talked about different things because of things we've done.  There are things that I have been moved by as much as I have been by the 50th Truth or the 51st or the 38th, whatever number it is - as moved by what we did when we came to the decision of putting money over into Europe at one time as any other doctrinal thing was ever given to the Church.  It was something that we believed with all of our being we were supposed to do, so I did it, because I believed it was from God. And there are other things we've done as well, and you know what, in time God has a purpose for it. We thought it might be for something else, and later on when Europe is self-sufficient, if something were to happen and if we are over there the work is going to go on because all these other countries now have their own strong funds, and it wasn't needed. What was needed at that time was advertising because of a thrust that God was giving to us and so it was brought back and used for that...now, that's counted to me as 'income'. They said that's my personal money. What an awesome thing! So I've got to pay taxes on it now...but I can't claim it as any income - kind of a tough thing to deal with isn't it, because if I had that I could easily pay my taxes!

Anyway, but if it wasn't for that and one other thing - if she would have stayed home in all the traveling, because in God's Church husbands and wives have always-always-always-Always been recognized as a team. We are a team. When we go to different Church areas she does more counselling than I ever do. She does! She helps more people than I ever have as far as counselling. Mine is through the sermons, some counselling...not compared to hers. But none of that can be claimed so people make decisions, "Well, you can't claim that you owe taxes, that was your personal money, personal benefit, she just likes to gallivant all over the world. So, you have to pay taxes on that."  If it weren't for those two things next week wouldn’t be happening. Matter of fact, if it wasn't for the first thing - if that hadn't of happened next week wouldn't be happening.  Anyway.

So people will believe what they want to and hold onto what they want to but that's as much as I'm going to say.  ...more than I ever intended to comment on. Because, God's going to show the truth in everything that happens in our lives no matter what happens, that's the way it works.

Back to Mr. Armstrong going through talking about things he went through in his life, things that he experienced, things that were inspiring to him, things that he recognized as far as what his commission was and his yielding to that process, and he goes on there then in talking about one of the greatest proofs of God's Church is a willingness to change, that's our life.  God's called us to change. We're ever to change. You can't be transformed without change. We can't grow in the mind of God without change. And so was the Church because there was never any one point in time where God has given us everything where we're perfect! We're not perfect! We have error in our life, we always have. As long as we're human beings there will be some, and God will allow for us to have that because it's a part of a process whereby we grow.

There will be things that happen through the Millennium that God isn't going to give until the end of the Millennium about the Great White Throne. I realize that there are certain things - how can I say it - that aren't to be spoken about the Great White Throne. We're going to have some surprises, I already know that. And I truly believe with all my being that there is not going to be anything spoken about it during the Millennium. Just like in the past 2,000 years, Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church; there are things He hasn't given to the Church until it's time. Just like things about ordinations of women, things about an understanding of something God is correcting in a structure of government and family that is spiritual in importance not physical as it turned to in the beginning. God didn't intend for it to be that way with husbands and wives, and so He's showing here what is important is the spiritual structure of a family and how families work together spiritually, because when they do and as we do in God's Family, everything functions so perfectly, so good anyway, and there aren't the problems of jealousy, of envying, of pride and power and things that mankind tends to misuse. Those things aren't an issue.

They're not an issue in God's Family. God the Father is over all - eternal - Jesus Christ is always next.  There is no questions, jealousies, anything about that. The structure then of everything else in the Body we're going to receive and accept exactly as it is, without contest, without jealousy, without hurt feelings. And what an awesome thing for family to have that vision of what we're to be like and work together in unity and oneness, perfectly working together. What an awesome thing! That's far more important than a physical structure that doesn't work, but it's the best that man can do and so God allowed us to have it, human beings, because under a physical structure you have to have it and if that's the best you can function under and you don't even do that well, then... anyway, hope you understand what I'm saying.

But what an awesome thing that God just continues to give us more and more, things that we continue to learn and grow in. And so the ability to acknowledge error and to move on, to recognize we're growing and it's a spiritual thing, it's a beautiful, beautiful, awesome thing. And so he went on to say....

If I were looking for God's one true Church, I would assuredly LOOK FOR ONE THAT HAD CONFESSED AND CORRECTED ITS ERRORS! FOR ALL HAVE HAD THEM -- even the early churches (Rev. 2:4, 14, 20)

Any criterion assumes God's TRUE Work through humans is absolutely perfect, unable to be wrong or make mistakes or hold to any error, is a false measuring stick and will mislead you.

And some things God gives for a specific moment in time, that's God's job. I think of May 27th. He could have told us there is another 'day' ahead of time. He could have said, "Now, wait a minute, you have to realize that yes, there are 3½ years there, but that last 'day' is a pretty long one." He could have given that to us. And see, because of going through that I'm ready for whatever comes. My heart is set on, I believe with all my being as much as I did May 27th, I believe May 19th, but I have to say that my mind is more fully open to and yielded to God if there is something else He's going to give to us and teach us. I can't tell Him, "No!" I'm not going to tell Him, no. I'm not going to say, "No, you can't! That doesn't agree with what's in here or what you've given to us so far... and why would you do that?" Because some people said, "Why would God do that, May 27th? That just sounds cruel - cruel and unusual punishment."  Well, what do we deserve? That would answer a lot if we could answer that truthfully.

So anyway, whatever is ahead of us we follow God and we finish the work and it won't be finished until God says it's done. Hopefully that part that we refer to then, like I'm talking about now, is May 19th, truly. If it's something different, at some point past that He will show us. And if it does go past that I don't believe He'll show it to us right away, so you have to be prepared for every eventuality because it's a matter of, 'Is this a way of life?' 'Are you convicted this is God's Church, this is where God has always been working, this is where the truth is and you're going to keep going forward regardless of what's in front of you because you know.' And see, that's important to address those kinds of things before God, because if you say, "No, that can't be..." If we'd said that about a lot of other things we wouldn't be here today, because some have, that's what people come to, "No, that can't be! No, you can't do that! No, that would make it false, that would make you false, that would make the Church false."  And think, no, it doesn't.

So please understand, in no fashion or form am I saying anything is going on beyond that, because I don't believe it. I believe with all my being, again, it's May 19th! That's what I believe! That's why what happens next week is to me even more minor because it's not very long...and if it is, so be it, we do whatever God's put in front of us and we strive to do it joyfully and we strive to do it with inspiration and focus and vision, honoring God because it's about God.

When you pray that prayer, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be (sanctified be) Your name..." That's something we have to yield to and strive to do because it's about God, how we live our life. What we reflect, what we want to reflect, what we strive to reflect is about God and not to bring shame...but we do in our lives whenever we sin, whenever we're weak. But God has mercy upon us and He helps us go beyond that. What an awesome thing! Because overall this is what we're living and strive to live and fight for.

That's why I think about some of the things when they talked about, 'count it joy'.  I understand more fully now what Paul was saying, to count certain things joy. Doesn't mean you jump up and down for them when they happen or some of the things that may affect a change in your life, but when you see the big picture of God is doing this, that God is in control... What an awesome thing, to be baptized and you say, "My life is Yours!" That's what you say at baptism, "My life is yours!" And you know what, the more you're able to yield to that the more God's going to mold and fashion it. He's creating something!  It's a creation! Your life with His spirit in you is a creation! It is greater than galaxies! It is far more important than individual galaxies out there if you look at individual lives! If you look at the Milky Way Galaxy your life is far more important - what God is molding in you - than the galaxy itself, the whole Milky Way. That's the way it is. This is the greatest of God's creation and it is about His Family that will go on for eternity when the galaxy won't. Okay? And we don't understand those things, "Well, what's beyond that?" Anyway, I'm having a hard time grasping what's going to be right at the beginning of the Millennium let alone all the way through the Millennium and the Great White Throne, and let alone what's beyond that...so don't destroy any brain cells over that one.

You may ask, do I, then, feel that we in this Work are full of errors, misleading the people? MOST EMPHATICALLY NO! We have not had to correct error many times. But each time we have corrected an error, we have had one fewer error left.

And I think of truths. Every time God gives a truth there is one fewer error, there is one more thing revealed that gives us understanding. And the more truths that God gives to us the more that it has to be corrected in the process. You can't have more truth without certain things being corrected when you receive it. That's just the way it is - like no place of safety, like no one's going to Petra. How does that affect your life? So if you have a truth come along like that then you have to adjust your thinking about everything else.

If we KNEW of any error still remaining, now, we would CHANGE it! If and when we find one in the future, we shall correct it! The one who follows that principle is THE MOST FREE FROM ERROR.

Beautiful!

So, confessing such an error is one of the SUREST proofs to identify the people through whom the living Christ IS WORKING -- and whom HE is USING!

Awesome! And so I think of sermons that you'll be hearing, because God has given it to me to pass on to the evangelists as well, things about the 57 Truths. We need to have these things deeply embedded in us and God's going to magnify those things and make them stronger in us in that respect by things that we receive in sermons. I think of some of these, some things that, again, I don't want to spend a lot of time on that, you can go through and look at these, but I just think about some of that as you go through them I think of when I was going through this I was thinking, "Yes, God gave that to an apostle, he didn't give it to a prophet," like 22 (1) There has been an apostasy that is unprecedented in the Church of God as prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3.

Now, we have these things so deeply embedded in our mind we think everybody that's scattered should be able to see that one, but they don't, even as to what it says when it starts talking about, in context...the whole context is about the coming of Christ and that He can't come until this event takes place, and to think of what we went through and not be able to say, "Yes, this happened, so who is the man of sin?" You would think that that would help an individual, but again, it's something that God has to give, otherwise people can't see it and the only reason you can is because of God's spirit. The ability to see and know....

I think of a big change we made in this regard, something that's transformed through time here in thinking about the pope, thinking he's going to be a big player in some things at the end. I don't think so, I think he's going to be a very little player, compared to what we used to think because we used to think he's the man of sin and he's the anti-Christ and all those things. No! That's so far away from what those things are talking about but that's some of the wrong thinking that has been in our minds in times past, and candidly, a lot of that's in Protestantism and God's still bringing His people out of some of those things that are just not sound and right.

But what a freedom here when you come to this point and you realize this, yes, it took place in the Church!  All these truths that keep rippling... through an apostle, this has nothing to do with prophecy because it was already written. It was a matter of inspired interpretation, yes, of what it meant, when the time came God revealed to us this is what's taken place, an apostasy, a great falling away, duh!  You think that should be so obvious but it's not!

And so 23 (2) The Man of Sin has been revealed to be Joseph Tkach, Sr., who initiated the end-time apostasy. Going on here, 24 (3) The “temple” in Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians 2, and in many other prophecies, is about the Church of God.  I look at this now and I think, you mean we had to go through this? We actually had to call this a truth? We had to record this, this is a truth that God gave to the Church - because it should be so self-evident. Well, it is to us by now but back then it wasn't, and if you compare that to where we were and to the scattered Church out there it's not self-evident there, it's still a truth that all those who are going to come along eventually have to address in their life when God flips the switch, when God awakens them. What an incredible thing! And you know what? God can flip the switch whenever He wants to. Just like when you were called when He gave you the ability to see and know the Sabbath, when all of a sudden the 7,000 year plan is in your mind, you think everything else is stupid, you couldn't see it before. The meaning from Passover to the Last Great Day and it's all there, you recognize the entire plan of God and all of a sudden it's there in your mind, it's just there. See something that God communicates to the mind, it's there - now you may say, "No, I don't want that." Or, "That's going to cause too much..." because some people have to deal with pride then, an ability to acknowledge, "It's there, it's right, I see it..." then they have to make choices, but God's going to make certain events happen at the same time that will help them.

So on and on here, different things that have been given. And you know what?  It doesn't matter what truth it is, from number 1 to 57 there is so much that's so rich and so powerful in what God has given to us. Sometimes we think we have a good handle on everything, we feel like we see things where we are and we have learned... I think of one individual who wrote me an email yesterday or the day before making comment about how that before May 27th there were certain things that they saw and then certain things later on that are far more powerful to them now because now they really see them. There are things we feel we know by a certain time and then because we go through something it's magnified in our mind, we become far more convicted. All of you are far more convicted about things since that date, because of that date, in the Church than ever before...and that's something that God has molded and fashioned in us. Incredible!

So, I don't want to spend too much time on some of this part here. I could go through each one of them but I'm not. But again, there are certain things here that are a matter of prophecy that God gave, that God's Church has never had because they're not in scripture. It's from a prophet, through a prophet, and so that's why I feel a kinship to John, because God worked with me in a similar sort of manner and things we learn from that, we're inspired by it. It inspires me! There are things I recognize and see as patterns that become very moving and if those things weren't there the ability to have vision, the ability to keep pushing forward, the ability to stand strong, they'd be far less than what they are.

So continuing a little bit farther in Mr. Armstrong's article, he went on to show how God worked with  him and he talked about the importance now of these two 19-year time cycles and the parallels, things that inspired him, and then a little bit later he said....

Another possibly significant analogy: Jeremiah's calling as a prophet was from the 13th year of king Josiah (Jer. 1:2) -- apparently 626 B.C. It seems unlikely Jeremiah would have entered his ministry without some training.

If he underwent a 3-year training...

Now this becomes... this is unique because there are patterns and this is something that happened. You think of Paul, you think of different ones here, you think of the disciples, a 3-3½ years period of time that's always there in different people's lives. Anyway, he gives this example. He says....

If he underwent a 3-year training similar to the training of Christ's disciples, his actual ministry would have begun approximately 623 -- (a date apparently not verifiable historically). The first phase of his ministry carried to the beginning of the siege by Nebuchadnezzar's forces on Jerusalem, 604 B.C. That was 19 years, assuming the preministry training period. His ministry then continued until the fall of Jerusalem, 585 B.C. -- a SECOND 19-YEAR TIME CYCLE.

So again here, he was being inspired by things God was showing him here, that there were periods of time in which God did work with others, specifically in this case a 'type' with Jeremiah, and he says....

However, there is ample reason to believe Jeremiah's ministry continued into, but probably not completely through, a 3rd 19-year period...

Because a lot of that is lost in history and the travels there and going on up into Europe.

...a 3rd 19-year period with his escaping from Jerusalem and, with one of King Zedekiah's daughters, migrating to northern Ireland, where this "King's seed" took root downward, and bore fruit upward.

If you will put yourself in my place -- and in the place of my associates in God's Work -- I think you may imagine how we felt! This was ASTOUNDING -- yet it was FACT!

And again, all capital letters. I get a charge in reading some of these things now because when he emphasised something he wanted it to jump out, and it does! He says...

This was ASTOUNDING -- yet it was FACT!

In other words as to how these 19-year cycles worked out. A little bit farther down here it says... And we know the story but I want to read through it because it's inspiring.

BUT, we checked the early Church. It STARTED on its mission from the day of Pentecost, 31 A.D. (Acts 2). The Apostle Paul said a DOOR was opened for him to get the Message into EUROPE (II Cor. 2:12-13 and Acts 16:8-13). This was in 50 A.D. -- after 19 years.

So he's drawing this analogy of something he is so moved by because he sees how God is working with him after his initial first 3 years and his ordination and then that 19-year cycle that followed, and then all of a sudden it goes into Europe and he sees what happened after 19 years in the early Church, the truth went into Europe. And he had this vision of Matthew 24 and this gospel and now it's beginning to make more sense of what they're supposed to do and the publishing and the publishing arm of the Church and it gave Him far greater inspiration then as these things were taking place, as God was showing him.

This was in 50 A.D. -- after 19 years.

And there is reason to believe that the "Sabbath" mentioned in Acts 16:13 was the ANNUAL Sabbath called the day of Pentecost -- or 19 years to the day from the time the Gospel was first preached by the Church!

There are things we can look at. I look at certain things that have... it becomes a personal thing too with God, but sometimes to be shared as well, but I think of patterns of things that God has worked in with me that go from Passover and also times of Pentecost, have more affinity to those. And anyway he says....

To us these FACTS and probable facts were truly ASTOUNDING!

A little further down it says....

It WAS, to the very DAY, precisely 19 years from the start of this Work...

And see, if that had been a week off or a few days off, but it was to the day, so God gave him greater inspiration and moved by something he was able to see like this. We have had the benefit of what God did through Mr. Armstrong through Philadelphia. He didn't have an ability, he didn't have the benefit of something...except three truths to begin building on. So again, these things have more meaning then, in that respect, to see what God was giving to him at that time, that inspiration, the focus, that vision that he had to have as an apostle, being human as we are as individuals.

It WAS, to the very DAY, precisely 19 years from the start of this Work

until the door was opened to proclaim the Message to EUROPE! This is not surmise, conjecture, or "probably" -- that is FACT! IT HAPPENED!

Again, all these capital letters.

It appeared probable that Jeremiah had been given 19 years for the first portion of his ministry. It was definite that he was given another 19 years for the second phase of his ministry. It is established by prophecy that a third stage of his ministry carried INTO a third 19-year time-cycle -- though probably lasting only an indefinite few or several years during the 3rd 19 years.

Now, he's going through this because he's wondering, what about a 3rd 19-year cycle. He's looking at his age, he's looking at how much more has to be done before this work can be finished, and I'm sure in the back of his mind his hope was that by the time the end comes we won't have to go another 19 years. That's only human.  Anyway, he said....

The early Church was given 19 years for the first phase of its ministry, when the door was opened to carry the Gospel to EUROPE! The same, TO THE PRECISE DAY, was true in our case! And that is FACT!

And I thought I'd just share with you some things Laura and I were going through, quite a few things of different timings and to me they're inspiring because they've been motivating to us and to share some of that. But as I mentioned earlier Passover and Pentecost have always had strong significance to times in our lives and I want to read something else. I want to read a couple letters here before I go on, before I forget them because I wanted to mention a couple things here that I got a charge out of, one especially, it says a lot. And another one here that mentions Laura in this particular case. This individual says...basically they thought about what's going to take place and said that they recognized that some of their reaction to some of this was just their human emotion....

"I truly believe that whatever the purpose and whatever is to follow is as much a part of God's plan as anything else that we believe.  Therefore I do not question it and realize we should not be saddened."

This is good spiritual insight. This is exactly the way it should be.

"We will do whatever it takes to go forward as going back is not an option for me. I've been there and life is not worth living in that state."

"It is truly my believe that God has prepared Laura well for this day or He would not have chosen her for the job before her. As I was thinking of things last night I thought how awesome and merciful God is that He started preparing her even as a child to fulfill His will at this time."

And so they're referring to some stories that they understand about how she was reared, how her parents came into the Church and how her father taught her things that she, because they were so instilled within her, his bible studies that he had and preparations for the end-time, of things that he did because he had this vision and focus that she was molded by that from a very early age, things that have come out in the last many years, especially in the last four years that are very pertinent to our life and so forth. But anyway, this individual went on to say....

"Understanding that the government in God's Church hasn't changed I look forward to the next step and future teachings through God's ministry."

"We will go forward together."

Awesome!  And then another one.

"It's hard to believe that PKG had its first Feast fifteen years ago this year..."

In other words, if we were to be that far. So in other words 14½ please, I don't want to see the 15 years. I will say though that I think that ministers in every place else need to be preparing for Passover because we have to look ahead. You have to have halls ahead of time so make sure you're preparing for those things ahead of time and have that taken care of.

Anyway, this individual goes on to say....

"It's simply incredible how far and how fast God has brought His Church during this short time."

So there are different ways of looking at the time that they're bringing out here and in some ways it's been a long time and in some ways it's been a quick time, a fast time. You think, "Wow, where did it go?"

"I've watched many of the kids grow up and start families of their own, the blessing of starting families with what has been given..."

Talking about for the majority of their lives.

"...is a blessing to be truly discovered in the future. I look forward to seeing that fruit ripen."

"You know, I have watched 2:30 nappers become 2:30 note takers..."

2:30, when we meet? 

"...and riders of bicycles become drivers of cars."

This is very poetic, I love this.

"I've seen hairlines retreat and some just give up. I've noticed smooth skin become wrinkled, hair colors change to grey, and lately had discussions about aches, pains, and canes. I've seen runners slow to walkers and watch fighters given their rest."

Beautiful!

"Where has the time gone? I guess time doesn't move so slow depending on where you're looking."

Beautifully written. I almost choked up on that one part there when you talk about individuals when they've been given their rest, because that's a beautiful thing, when you've lived this way to the end in your own physical life and knowing that that's it, there is no farther to go, you've done your part and you're in God's hands and you think of the resurrection that follows.

Anyway, going back here to some of this that I was talking about. I'm going to just relate some things about my calling. When my mind was opened was right around Pentecost of 1969. I don't know exactly...I went back and looked at the days but I don't remember exactly when I went back from college to that area to work that summer when I began to see the truth. But for all I know I'm going to find out it was on Pentecost, I don't know, but it was right in that area. God did work with me definitely in cycles as Mr. Armstrong talked about. From baptism to entering AC God gave me 3 years to become cleansed, to get cleaned up, to get my life clean, and then 3 years of training. So I have always seen two specific patterns of three. Didn't go through college in the normal 4 years. There are certain events that took place, that happened, the closing down of Ambassador College in Bricketwood and why I then chose to go through more quickly than normal to finish out three years rather than four years and forced to go to another place, which if I hadn't I wouldn't have met her...so, you know, God molding and fashioning certain things, preparing for the future even back then. So we met in Big Sandy at a specific time.

And then I think of what followed that period of time after the college; it was followed by 7 years... See, to me these things - and this has always been in my mind, I've always known this when all these patterns of things that were there, a number that has to do with just like the seven day week and so forth, the cycles of seven that are a matter of something that is complete. And of what God prepared me for to go into the ministry, whereas many went into the ministry immediately after college I was given, we were given, specifically a seven year period of time. And there are things gleaned during that period of time I could not have learned in the ministry. I had to learn various things working in the world, working at various kinds of jobs that I learned in a very powerful way - that's why I make comments I do sometimes to people - that you don't realize oftentimes things that God is molding and fashioning in you in what you're doing in the world that is going to be used in the future. Because God does the fashioning and that's a powerful thing when you are able to look back and see it even more fully, and that's something that was etched upon my mind a long, long time ago and people in the Church even commented about a difference in the ministry because of those seven years. Because people that went out early didn't have that same exposure of things in the world, of dealing in the world and so forth that come. It's like a person who has never had children gives a childrearing sermon or an individual who has never been married gives a marriage sermon - there is something missing. And there was something missing in different Church areas that individuals told me in some of these areas that we didn't have that was different.

And I know that that's what God molded because of that. If I hadn't of gone through that I wouldn't have had that kind of maturity in the things that were stated. God gives the grounding, it's in the mind. I don't know if it's in here but I know when Laura was reading some of this the other night and the reason we're hearing the sermon today is because (was it last Friday night?) she couldn't sleep and so she was reading this letter, this 'Tomorrow's World' personal and telling me about different things that she's excited about and slowly but surely I became more excited about some of them and told her after a time, "Looks like this is probably going to be exactly where the sermon is going." So anyway, we talked about timing of things and so forth, how God has worked, and so I'm just sharing a little bit of this with you.

That took us up through 1982 and God put me into the full-time ministry at that point and that was followed up by 19 years up to 2001. Now, to me this is all significant, the timing, because as Mr. Armstrong saw a change took place, of the gospel beginning to go into Europe after a 19-year time cycle,  to me, after this 19-year time cycle it was at this period of time here that we started doing some of our most extensive travelling and began to go into Europe more, began to see the need of going to Australia, New Zealand and so forth, and although there were some trips that were a little bit ahead of this, not much, in some of the things that took place as a whole, the focus and the understanding of what God was doing and a purpose to continue doing this was etched into our mind literally in this particular year. And to me, then, those things are meaningful to me at the time, or now even as I look back, and I think just in talking about this about Mr. Armstrong, we see patterns in how God works and we become excited about it.

So again, basically when God began to do this with Laura and myself, this period of time, to me it's an awesome thing to think about it, that it's followed by 12 more years. 7 years, 19, and then 12.  What an awesome thing! Complete! Completeness, the 19-year time cycle, and then perfection - meaning that God's plan is brought to perfection, the return of Jesus Christ. What an awesome thing to come out that way on Pentecost. To me it's moving and inspiring to think about that which God is bringing of perfection to this earth and the time cycles and things we sometimes go through in our lives that bring us to that.

I do want to mention something else in a thrust here now within the context of all this before I conclude here. But again, it's so important to grasp how God works in our lives and what He's given to us as far as the truths and the Church are concerned and so forth and the things that ground us in what we've been given. But I'm going to mention here that over the next week, whether it be tomorrow or some time through next Sabbath, that I'm going to request that people in the Church fast.  If you have health issues, please, as I've always mentioned in the past, don't do anything stupid, but as a whole, and this is for members, it's not for young people to have to do in any fashion or form, this is for everyone who's a baptized member.  If somebody else wants to, that's their business, but as a whole it's for baptized members to pick a day within the next week, week and a half, to fast.  I think it would be good to gear it toward having completed it by... if you wait until Sabbath that's fine, or some day in-between now and then. Okay?

And as some guidelines here I think about a particular message that was given on the subject of 'A Fast with Thanksgiving' that was given back in March 31, 2012 here. And we've had different fasts in the Church but this is an important time because of where we are in time and what is taking place in the Church and a crying out, and why we do and why we fast, is first of all to search self and our relationship with God, a desire to draw closer to God, a desire to humble our self before God, that God can work within us even more, to yield ourselves more to Him and the molding and fashioning He's doing - but with purpose as well. And that's why we're going to go through a few verses here in Isaiah 58, because I can't talk about fasting without focusing upon this, and the more I've gone through these verses through time... it's like so many places in the Bible, so often we can read things and God just continues to show more and more and more that's there, and so it is with the fasting we've done in God's Church as He's given more of an insight as to what we're doing, where we're going. And one day when this is all done we're going to look back and we're going to recognize that there have been some incredible things that God has done. He leads us to these things anyway because He does the molding and fashioning. He inspires.

If something is to be done for the Church it's not at a whim. Truth that comes along, it's not at a whim, it's something that God has to give, it's something that comes from Jesus Christ to the Church, and so it is with fasting. And so I mention these things because it has to do with a structure of things of molding and fashioning, just like that two-day fast we had. To me, that's going to be one of the most awesome things spoken of in the future, of some big things that God is going to reveal in time, which He's shown a few, but He's going to show a lot more and give us understanding of the importance of that particular fast at that particular time and what He is going to show to the world that He did in response to that. Because we had choices in that as well, but again, it's something He led His Church to, to do, and for a purpose of something He intended and wanted to give to the world...and it's awesome!

Isaiah 58:6 - Again, before that, the verses before it talks about the wrong ways people fast, to get something out of God. It's like the more I pray surely God's going to hear me, the more I study, that surely I'm going to... all these things that are not real in life and sometimes just to get something as something that's 'owed'. No, God doesn't owe anything, so first of all it's a matter of humility before God, of crying out to God and a matter of repentance and drawing closer to Him and then this being a focus.

Isaiah 58:6 - Is not this the fast that I have chosen? In other words, is it not, or isn't it the purpose, To loosen/open up/undo the bands/the fetters/the cuff/the shackles of that which holds captive... And so whether it be in our own individual lives...and frankly where we are in time now, to realize what we're doing and what our prayers can consist of. Because a fast and yielding ourselves to God and crying out to God, humbling ourselves before God is so right to also be praying that God humble this world, to remove the shackles, to remove the fetters, to undo them, the things that hold people in bondage. Because this world is in bondage. I mean, we see more than ever before now how sick this world is. Some of the most common things that people in the Church talk about anymore, of a realizing you're full of this world, you're filled to the brim with it and you can't wait until God changes it. It should be a part of our prayers, a crying out to God because you see the bondage that's out there, you see how people are suffering, you know it more, it's clearer to you now than it's ever been in your life!

...the bands of wickedness, to undo/remove the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free. The news we hear constantly, this is all it is, and you think of the people that suffer under this and the world that's suffering under everything that's taking place out there because of absolute ignorance.

...and that you break/break down every yolk; in other words, a desire for in a very powerful way God's intervention in bringing these things to an end and a change to this world.  ...to loosen, to undo the bands, the shackles, speaking again of captivity, of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free and to break every yolk. So again, it's an attitude of mind that we have to look at ourselves first, but we're to learn through this process - if we desire this for ourselves shouldn't we desire it for others? So what has to be done? How is that then incorporated into your prayers and your petition before God? That you want this for your family, for the world, for your neighbours, for people at work. Isn't it to deal, to share your bread with the hungry, we look forward to that, to share what we have, what God has given to us with others. We can't wait! ...and that you bring the poor, speaking of the weak and the afflicted, who are cast out of your house? I look forward to that. I mentioned that last time when we went through this sermon, the 63,000 - far greater numbers! I was going to read some of those things about the Church here... I don't have time for, but anyway, God will give us what we need when we need, when it's time.

Well, you can go back and finish the rest of it... matter of fact, you can go back to that particular sermon and listen to some of that if you want.  But anyway, primarily focus on Isaiah 58 and what it means and what it means through the first part of Isaiah 58 because God shows here that this is a part of a process then of how He responds to our petitions and to our humbling ourselves before Him.

So, individually, prayer is important, studying is important, meditation or thinking about God's way of life and how we put it into our lives, just like we have been doing through the sermon series we've been given and changes we need to make in our life (that's what, basically, the word 'meditation' in the Old Testament is referring to).  It's thinking about, giving thought to how to apply God's way of life - and that's for ourselves, and then for others as well, to recognize what this means and to have those petitions go up before God.

So again, that's between you and God, how you go through that in prayer and so forth, but fasting is a very powerful tool even above and beyond in that respect, of something that can very powerfully affect other people's lives.

But, anyway, I want to go on and finish off here today in conclusion here, just quickly get through this to finish this, some comments that he had to say here in wrapping this up. He went on to say toward the end of his letter....

Yes, THINGS DID HAPPEN January 7th! And now THE MOST POWERFUL DOORS ARE OPENING. Next watch for major openings in Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, and elsewhere.

So where are we, now, in the Work?

ALL SYSTEMS ARE "GO!"

Back then that had meaning, that term was used more because of things happening in space with NASA and so forth, and so it had more of a meaning back then than what it does now. Today it sounds maybe a little corny, but he's showing we're going forward, we keep moving forward and we don't stop. At that point there he says....

Welcome aboard! Glad you're GOING WITH us!

And I think of when I read through things like that, I just think about family/Family and how we're able to do all this together and the desire to keep it together as family/Family, that we stay together as family/Family, that we be committed and convicted.

You know, I'm reminded of the time Jesus was criticized, persecuted, misrepresented by His enemies. He asked His disciples, "Will ye also go away?"

And so again, it's that thing we've talked about in times past and that answer that Peter had, and he said...

"Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? THOU hast the words of Eternal Life!"

And he went on to say....

And we in His Work, today, have those SAME WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE!

That's why I think about those 57 Truths, I think about what God has given to us.  This is where it is, we have the words of eternal life, there is no place else to go.

Yes, ALL SYSTEMS ARE "GO!"

With renewed energy...

That's what my petition is, my desire for all of you.

With renewed energy greater than ever before, WE PLUNGE ON TO FINISH THE WORK WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO DO!

~~~end