Herbert W. Armstrong, Pt. 1

Ron Weinland

May 21, 2016

It's really great to be here and to be able to visit with a few of you before services here. Looking forward to visiting we're going to have afterwards. But again, seeing all the smiling faces and the excitement that everyone is able to have – that's great on this Sabbath day.

I do have a few announcements here I wanted to make before we begin. And first of all I wanted to mention there is still a streamlining and there will continue to be a streamlining and reorganization, restructuring of the ministry all the way. As long as we continue to go forward it's a process of something that God is working with within the Church. We learn much through that process. And it's good. It's awesome. And it speeds up a process whereby we can even learn more. So in the midst of that I wanted to mention that when we were in Texas we had a couple of ordinations down there. So that was exciting.

We had a baptism down there. I don't know if that all came on the system or not, across on the system about the baptism? It did? Okay. I did mention that ahead of time. And it's always good, individuals coming along like that and God working with people at this particular time, especially considering what we've gone through and what we've experienced with that which has always been the case since 31 A.D. when God has called many to be a part, to have an opportunity, and few, few have gone through the process and kept on course and kept fighting. Because you have to fight for this way of life. Because it goes opposite of what the world is teaching. And when you're doing that it doesn't go well, it doesn't fit well with so many in this world around us. And it comes at you in every direction, whether it be through families, whether it be through friends, or whether it be through the jobs you have or come across. Everything in society is geared in a different direction, and thankfully that end-time is going to change.

Anyway, a continual streamlining of the ministry, I wanted to mention that because we've had, again, quite a few that, in that respect, that have had the opportunity to serve for a time and then stepping aside to let others have opportunities to learn and grow in the process as well.

I wanted to mention that the tithe, the 2nd Tithe Assistance forms, hopefully everyone has received information about that, that the information has gone out. And that if you need a form you need to request it from a minister in the area. Then those are to be returned to the minister that's over your particular region, whoever that might be. In most cases it'll be a senior elder, but not always. So wherever that is around the world where you're located, you need to make sure you get those back to the minister that's over your particular region.

Okay. I also wanted to mention something here as an aside. I think most of you probably noticed it anyway. But the sermons given on The Passover, the title, The Passover, that I gave on the first High Day and then on the Sabbath following the last High Day, that Part 1 and Part 2, the live sermons are different than the pre-recorded. The same scriptures, but there is always different things that are given when you give a live sermon as compared to a pre-recorded sermon. So if anyone has interest in those, those are listed on the site on those particular days. And underneath it says, I believe, "Live Sermon," or "Given Live," or something like that.

Okay, today we're going to begin a sermon series that is simply entitled, Herbert W. Armstrong, Part 1. Could give it a lot of different titles but it has much to do with a period of time back in 1978 when God was bringing him back from a point in time where he'd gone through much sickness, heart attack, hospitalization, different things that happened to him. At least that's my memory in the matter.

And when he came back a lot had happened within the Church during the time of his sickness (in the time of his getting weaker), within the Church. A lot had happened from the period of 19... actually, after my wife and I graduated from Ambassador College in 1975 the process had already begun. But it got much worse after we left in '75. '76, '77, and '78, the things that were going on at Ambassador Colleges as a spirit of liberalism began to creep into the ministry and through the Church and then into Ambassador College. And I can only compare what it was like when I was in Bricketwood, there in England going to Ambassador College before it closed down in 1974. And then transferred over to the college there in Texas. But we were more conservative. England is more conservative. Great Britain is more conservative, the ministry there tended to be more conservative, in that respect, which can be good, and it can be bad depending on how people use that. But in most cases, when it comes to the Church and living things that are right and striving to live what is right, it's always far better.

Because liberalism tends to move away from that which is right. Because people take on freedoms that aren't really freedoms. They chose certain freedoms that they think they have, or that they come up with in ideas and begin to move away from those things that have been established by the Church, through the Church, or in this case through the teaching that Mr. Herbert Armstrong had given to the Church for several decades to that point in time.

And by the time I was in Bricketwood, from the time I left Bricketwood and came to Big Sandy then in Texas I could tell a giant change from the two colleges. As a matter of fact, I chose at that time during that year to graduate in three years rather than the four because I had a lot of other college before I ever went to Ambassador, where I actually was in my senior year when God called me (in college) and quit at that particular time to get my life in order, to move out of the area, to get away from people so that I could be in a totally different region around a large Church area down in Wichita, Kansas that had nearly 600 people in that particular congregation at that time. And that gave me time to become established, because I knew I had to get away from that environment if I was going to change. So I went down there during that period of time.

Just give a little bit of history – doesn't hurt at this point in time to give an idea of where the Church was. And by the time, again, going back here to being at Ambassador College then in Bricketwood, and then coming to Big Sandy, a lot of liberalism began to creep in. It was already coming into the Church.  A lot of things that shouldn't have been done were being done. A lot of ministers were letting down.

I remember one, the first – I guess it was the only Feast of Tabernacles – that was held that particular year, because I was only there one year, in the fall of '74. In the fall of '74, went to the Lake of the Ozarks. And I don't remember how many people they had there that year, but my, must have been around 14-15-16,000 people, somewhere in there. That was one of the larger sites at that time. Of course there were a lot of large sites across the United States, but the Lake of the Ozarks, I think, was around 14-15 thousand that year. And that's kind of hard to imagine right now, just telling you about it. Some of you that experienced that, understand that, that we had several Feast sites throughout the United States and many of them ranged from 12-15 thousand, in that particular area, if my memory serves me correct. And awesome, that many people coming together to keep God's Holy Days, God's Feasts. But by that time there was a lot of liberalism that was creeping in.

And I remember at one particular case. A lot of times what happened was different ones from Ambassador would come out and work in the various sites. They would help the sites as far as the different things that were needed in serving in different areas. And one of the things that I was given to do at that particular time was working with some youth groups and some other programs that were going on during that particular time. And they would kind of advertize it at the Feast that we have these different things, activities going on for different age groups. It might be teenagers, it might be young adults, it might be elderly, whatever, functions that people had or ministerial meetings. Whatever it might be.

Anyway, in this particular one here was given the responsibility of having a dance to be put on. But I didn't pick the band. I want to make that real clear. Didn't pick the band that was going to be playing on this particular... it was already set up. And so they needed someone plugged in to help take care of it. So we had tickets that were being sold because there was a cost to get on this paddle-wheeled boat on the Lake of the Ozarks, and we were going to have the dance on the boat. And anyway, to make a long story short, I was on the boat watching people come on and we took off, left the docks, boat was packed with teenagers and a few young adults that were helping out. First couple of songs were.... As soon as the individuals came on, the band came on I knew we were going to have problems. You could just tell by looking at them. This is not going to be good, probably. So I went up to them after the first two songs and told them that this is the kind of music that we had agreed upon, or that I understood we had agreed upon, and that this was a church group, this was a church function and there were certain kinds of music we didn't want to have. So they, about next couple of songs were decent. Then they went right back to doing their same old thing.

I went up to them again and told them, "This isn't the kind of music that we're going to have played on here because this isn't what you're contracted for." And they said, "Well, we're not the original band. They couldn't make it. And so in the contract someone else was able to come. That's us." And I said, "I don't care." I said, "Either we're going to play this or we're not going to play anything." And so he got the mike and he asked all the young people, he says, "How many of you want to turn around and go back, or do you want to continue with the kind of music we have going on right now?" "Oh, we want this music! We want this music!" Most of them. I told them, "I don't care what the rest of them want. This is the way it's going to be." They didn't agree to it so I told the captain of the ship, of the paddle-wheeled boat, "Turn around and go back." We refunded everyone their money.

The next day there were those who wanted me to be in big trouble, in the ministry because the ministry was ticked off because a lot of their children happened to be there at that particular dance and they were ticked off that I'd made the boat turn around and come back. Others were very thankful and made comments of such, that they were thankful that someone would stand up to something like that and say, "No, we're not going to have that."

Anyway, that shows the liberalism and an attitude that was going on within the ministry at that time. I'd say about half of that boat and the people associated with it were deeply upset. Others didn't even ask for the money back because they wanted to support what was being done. Which didn't matter. But anyway, that's a mild thing compared to some of the things that began to happen within the environment of Ambassador College. It began to change mightily. Standards began to be let down, attitudes, and it was coming from the ministry.

And that's what we need to understand, that that's why Mr. Armstrong so often hit government so hard and talked about the importance and the structure within the Church at that particular time of what was given to everyone to be a part of, to support, and to be behind. And when different ones began to let down in their particular jobs, whatever it might be, whenever they began to let down as far as their standards in life, it began to affect the Church. That's why we had an Apostasy later on! Because people in God's Church, primarily with the ministry, and then the Church began to let down in their standards. You can't do that! You either live God's way of life or you don't. You either push forward and uphold things because you represent something that is so awesome – you represent God's way of life on this earth – to whomever you come in contact with. On the job, because there is going to come a day when every person you have been in contact with is going to know who you were, if you were able to continue on and be a part of something that God is going to use. They're going to remember who you are and why you did some of the things you did. Why you stood up in the way you did, whether it be on the Sabbath, concerning the Sabbath on your job, or certain things you stood up to and said, "No, I can't do this because of..." Certain standards, of whatever you're living by and wanting to do you can't support, you can't do at your work. Because sometimes people are asked to do things that just aren't right. And in God's Church you do what is right. You strive to do always what is right. You uphold a particular standard of morality in life and conduct that is unique. Not like the world. Because, in one respect, you really can't care about their standard. What you care about is God's. And sometimes people can do that and sometimes people can't.

And so again, going back to this. Mr. Armstrong was coming along at a time when the ministry began to break down within the Church. And because of that the Church began to break down. Because what went out, what was going out could only be maintained and backed up or supported to the degree that the ministry did so. And therein is one of the greatest lessons this Church can ever learn and be inspired by! One of the greatest things we've ever lived through time, as far as God's Church at any particular time is concerned, is what we've lived at the end of Philadelphia on into Laodicea, and now this final end-time. And that is something that God allowed us to come to see – those that He allowed to come to see it, because the vast majority have never come to see it yet – and that is that mankind even with God's spirit cannot be fully entrusted with His government, with His way of life, because we're weak, physical, human beings. The only way that there can be any guarantee in that at all is if God sees to it and ensures that things are upheld. And He allowed the Church to go into a period of time where He was no longer going to ensure that except through, in one respect, what was accomplished through Mr. Armstrong. He ensured, He inspired, He worked with, He molded and fashioned him to do his job, to do His work to the end. Awesomely so, as He did with others through time to finish a job, to finish a work – worked with, molded and fashioned, knew their minds, helped to transform their minds for the jobs that they were worked with later on to accomplish and to fulfill. That's how God works if we'll yield ourselves to the process.

But He allowed something to happen. I hope we understand this. And this is worth the time we're taking to go through this, to understand why Jesus Christ is going to return with 144,000 to rule this earth and the Church around the world, because it can be guaranteed in no other way that God's way, that God's way, God's truth, and God's laws are upheld with absolute unity and oneness of mind and spirit. I hope we understand that. Because, really, that's awesome to understand. Because Mr. Armstrong was set. He was set in God's way of life very early on, and nothing was going to persuade him, dissuade him from a job that God had placed before him. And that's very obvious. He always had a sense of urgency. I don't care what period of time you read or listen to, things that he has said, and he had a tremendous sense of urgency at every moment in time, and always pressed that upon the Church because the Church needed it. It needed to have that same focus and same sense of urgency of being in the end-times, and of understanding what this world was like, and understanding what the job was before us.

But not so with all the ministry. And so God allowed the Church – not only allowed it but blessed it to become very large. So when I mention Feast sites that were 15-16-17 thousand people: Wisconsin Dells, the Poconos, Lake of the Ozarks. What are some of the other places? St. Petersburg, over 15,000 down there. Wasn't there an island out there somewhere too? Jekyll Island. Big Sandy, obviously. California, there were some sites out there on occasion. I know Lake Tahoe area. Northbrook, Virginia, 8,000 there. Of course, Big Sandy, Texas, a huge gathering there. So I probably forgot one or two. The Poconos. And that's just in the U.S. And awesome the size the Church became. Now, it's not big in the sense of what the world sees a church, but for God's Church since 31 A.D. this was large, very large – and a worldwide Church at that. And yet in the size of the Protestant world or Catholics, or any other kind of religion, relatively small in comparison, but large for God's Church.

And anyway, to understand that what it boiled down to was there was no way to enforce, there is no way to ensure, there is no way to guarantee that if something is being taught from the top down in how God works through His apostle, through Herbert W. Armstrong and the truth that was going out, and that which was taught at Ambassador College to those who were in many cases to go out into the ministry, to serve in the ministry of the Church, that they would do it truthfully, righteously, honestly; that they wouldn't in time come up with some of their own ideas, which is what began to happen and people began to sway away from doctrines. They did it at Ambassador College. There were evangelists that began to teach things that were not correct at college. And so students learn these things. I think of one individual, one evangelist out there that used to sit before Mr. Armstrong when Mr. Armstrong started Ambassador College and taught those who became evangelists later on, and this individual began to teach things about a 14th/15th Passover that we didn't know until later on, much later on. That this is why so many in the ministry after one large, the largest organization of the Church after the Church split-up began, that so many in the ministry had that same mindset. Because that's where they learned it. They learned it from him. And so they always held on to this idea of a 14th/15th Passover and they never really grasped the Passover, that everything happened on the 14th.

Anyway, not a small thing with God, that some would go out and begin to teach things that were not true, that were not correct. But God was using that in a very powerful way to show what happens with human beings – that in time, in a decade and another decade pass, and another decade – Mr. Armstrong couldn't keep tabs on everything. As a matter of fact, he only knew what those who were closest to him could tell him. And a lot of them began to paint a different picture, or give a certain report of what they thought he wanted to hear, when in reality they weren't doing things that were right themselves. Incredible! Mr. Armstrong used to have battles with what was going into The Plain Truth magazine, how things were being stated in The Plain Truth magazine. Incredible! Because we were so large he couldn't keep track of everything. I can't keep track of everything and look how teeny, how small we are today. There is no way one individual can keep on top of everything.

Anyway, that's why God is going to ensure that with human beings, that human beings aren't in full control but God is. God's Church will be. Because those who will be ruling on the earth within the Church and within the government, that is going to be on this earth, it'll be by and through 144,000 who will have tabs on everything and know what's going on. That's an incredible thing to understand.

I'm going to read through some of the things. This isn't the whole amount of what was given through Mr. Armstrong at this time, but again, this was in 1978 at a time when Mr. Armstrong.... I didn't realize it was quite this early. I thought it was a little later in '79 at least or maybe even 1980 when he began to teach about the Temple. That the Temple was the Church. Because, you see, after the Apostasy occurred, how many in the Church, how many of the ministry remembered what he was teaching in those years when God brought him back, and as he talked about, putting the Church back on the right track. Because he knew where it was going. When he became ill there began to be greater factions within the Church, people who were wanting to take over, take control, waiting for him to die! And he knew that! And those things came out! "Whose side are you going to be on? What evangelist are you going to support to lead God's Church?" It wasn't a matter of what God's going to do, and how God's going to work with it. And so people were taking sides and deciding who it was that was going to be the next in power. Because a lot of times what human beings do is they (sadly, even within the church), if you think you're going to get a benefit by buttering up to (or whatever) someone with power, that you're going to have opportunity later on, and so that's what they were doing. They were picking sides of different evangelists, of who they were going to support, who they thought would be in power because that means they would have power, they would have opportunity, they would have things that they could do, to be a part of a... Whatever. Do you understand what I'm saying? What I'm talking about? Okay. It's human nature. And it goes on to this day in God's Church because it's a mind of human beings. It's the way we as human beings are. And there are things we have to battle and we have to fight against. And so those things that happened back then in spirit still happen to this day.

So you may think that, oh, all these incredible things have happened back there in our history and how the Church began to become lukewarm aren't happening anymore, that we are beyond that and above that. Not totally! Because we're human beings and human beings have weaknesses even when we have the impregnation of God's spirit. That's why we have to fight against this carnality, this selfishness all our life until we are finally changed. And we know that. We're taught that. You have a battle on your hands till the day you are either changed or the day you die, and you look forward then, obviously, to the time you will be resurrected and be a part of a spirit family, God's family, the Family of God. Incredible!

I marvel at that one sometimes. The world is so ignorant of God's truth and God's way of life because of what they have been taught by teachers of things they don't understand and don't know, and because of what they've supported since 325 A.D. And the farthest thing from people's minds is to consider that they might become a part of a God family. To them that's blasphemous. To them that's sick, that's distorted, that's perverted. Instead they're going to be changed and some day go to heaven when they die and they're going to be there looking on the face of God or Christ, or whatever, for all eternity, or up there fishing for spiritual fish, whatever it is, I don't know. Sad where the world is today.

Anyway, this isn't all that Mr. Armstrong said in that 1978 Bible Study. But we're going to go through this because there are things that still apply to us, of lessons we can learn. And there are really some things that Mr. Armstrong was talking about back then that apply more to us and to us that wasn't known back then. And this was a time when God was beginning to show.... You take it for granted that you have always known. And some of you, this is what you have always known because you haven't come into the Church until after a remnant came along, after an Apostasy and God had already revealed it in stronger terms, in a stronger way, that the Temple is about the Church of God. That that's where God is building. And that's what God has been building for a long, long time. The 144,000 that are coming make up the primary part of the structure, of the foundations of that Temple and what's coming in that when Jesus Christ returns.

So this hasn't always been known because God was revealing this to Mr. Armstrong at this time. That's what's awesome to understand! In 1978, all those decades that are already gone by, we still didn't understand as a Church that the temple being spoken of in prophecy, being spoken of throughout the pages of the Bible is about the Church of God. And you read certain scriptures today and you think, "Why couldn't that be seen?" It's like everything. Until God shows it to you, you can't know it. You can't know it until it's His time to reveal it. Incredible! To me, that's awesome! Something we should never, ever lose.

Anyway, there are some places here I'm not going to get as loud and as strong as Mr. Armstrong did because he did everything strong, very strong. "Armstrong." It's reflected in his name. And again, he had that sense of urgency and he saw things going on that I didn't grasp until long after the Apostasy, of what was happening within the Church, until God revealed it. Of things that none of us really grasped, and people in the ministry never grasped because it's a spiritual thing anyway.

So anyway, he says here in this particular Bible Study, "Greetings, everybody. I just want to first announce to you that before the Bible Study tonight I'm going to do about a 15-minute televised talk that will be shown in all the Feast sites on the opening night. And it will be quite brief.  ...And so, I'll record this first; and then we'll have a Bible Study. I'm a little disappointed that there're so few people out tonight." I've mentioned that before, what was happening already. 1978. People weren't hungry. If people were spiritually hungry they would have been in the Bible studies. And this was happening across the United States in Church areas, year by year by year. I didn't come along in the ministry, to serve in the ministry until 1982, as far as a fulltime occupation and job in serving the Church. And what I do know is from that point forward, from my own experience, is that Bible studies, people were coming less and less. And that's the common thing that was being spoken of when we would go to headquarters. They would bring us in once every two years or so and have different groups of ministers come in that they could teach and work with – refreshing programs, they called it – so it would take a couple years to get through all the ministry worldwide. And a lot of the things that were being discussed, this was one of them, about Bible studies and about what was happening in the Church.

And anyway, so Mr. Armstrong is addressing this. He'd been ill for a while. And you know what happened? People began to let down. The ministry began to let down. More liberalism began to work into the Church, began to come into the Church. And that's what was happening during the period of his illness and his sickness. Incredible! And so as he is being charged up and being given power and strength and might to put the Church on the right track again people weren't showing up. It shows a spirit. It was Laodicea, rich and increased with goods. They didn't need to be there to listen to God's apostle or whomever it might be that was giving a Bible Study that night.

So he goes on to say, "I'm a little disappointed that there are so few people out tonight. Someone told me that they didn't know I would be here." Which is highly doubtful. Anybody who wants to know who would be there can find out. That's the way it was. "And this is very discouraging and very disheartening." I can imagine. Here is a man that has his strength back, that has a focus and a zeal to do something now that he is more focused on than ever in his life and he sees a condition within the Church that he is highly concerned about. And more than that, he sees a condition within the ministry that troubles him. Because he knows, he has to know very powerfully so that this is how the strength of the Body is going to be determined – by the strength of the ministry that teaches them.

Because it's different than what it is today. Today God has blessed us mightily with technology to be able to have the kind of messages we do. We're smaller. The uniqueness, the support, the kind of people that God has raised up to teach, the evangelists that serve and help as they do, and especially in the last three years. But he was addressing something else. And He's given us.... And please understand God has done this by design in the way we are today as well, that we don't have ministers in different areas teaching things on their own. God hasn't allowed that. He has prevented that because there's danger in that. We lived through it already. It's not going to be repeated. We don't have time for it to be repeated anyway. And if it were done in any other way it would already have been repeated. Okay? I hope we understand that.

So he goes on to say, "I tell you, brethren, I'm going to write an article on the purpose of the Church. I don't think many of our people know it, or else most of our people just... finally want to become ashes under the feet of a few of us some day in the Lake of Fire." He didn't pull any punches. He just told it like it is. What are we here for? What is the purpose of God's Church? And we always need to have that in front of us, brethren.

He goes on to say, "We're not taking this thing seriously! We're in the very last days." Now, he understood that then. God let him understand that we were are the last days. Now, some of us, because you can look back at this in 1978 and say, "Well, it's been a long time since 1978." It's a puny amount of time in 6,000 years! And they are the last days spoken of in scripture, the last days. Ever since he was raised up at the end of Sardis and the beginning of Philadelphia to raise up the Church again and to begin to restore things for the end-time, candidly, for the coming of Jesus Christ to this earth.

He went on to say, "There isn't much time left!" Now, we can look today and say, "There isn't much time left." We hope. I believe with all my being, as I did about 2012, and then grasping out there and trying to understand what happened – perhaps that one year to 2013 – perhaps that is the time! Because that's the only focus I had. That's the only thing I could see as a potential possibility, because God wasn't showing us what we were going through. He didn't reveal to us what was ahead of us yet. He didn't reveal to us what you've just read about. I believe you just read about it, didn't you? The timing? Okay? In the book, Chapter 7? Okay. Awesome things! Awesome things! I hope there are no more numbers behind it. But you know what, if there are I know they're going to come out so perfectly, so minutely, so awesomely that we'll be dumbfounded by it. I just hope and pray that there aren't any more. If it is, it'll probably be accomplished by someone else other than me. And yet, if God wants to keep me alive He will. God has that power. I've lived it already; I know that.

So there isn't much time left. So again, I believe with all my being that is our target, that's what we're looking at. And God has given it to us, to me specifically, to state that as He did with 2012. He could have prevented me. He could have stopped me and said, "No." He could have given me something else to focus upon and see other things. But for your sakes and what you have gone through and what you have learned and what He did with the Church, it's also mentioned there then in Chapter 6, awesome what we've gone through as a Church. And what would we be like if we believe something and didn't seek to tell, and didn't seek to warn? Who would we be? What would we be? I don't care how much people mock and make fun of. Incredible.

He says, "And I tell you the reaction is pretty discouraging. This Church has been going down," and these next two words, "DOWN, DOWN!" I know that came out forcefully and I know how he said it because his preaching is in my ears to this day. I can hear his voice. He went on to say, "I can't bear it all up single-handed and alone. I've got to have someone here to back me up. I get letters from one now and then," he says. And it's quoted here, it says, "'We're back of you 100%.' Well, I need more—100% of the people to be back of me."

Then he went on to say, "This Church has been letting down spiritually." And I'm going to tell you, this Church has been letting down spiritually in the last three years. Okay? I see it now more than ever. I understand it now more than ever. We had opportunity of things we've been taught and trained in, but we haven't all listened and haven't been tuned into the way we should have. And it hurts me when I see people who aren't fighting the fight that's before them, and when they begin to let up in their lives and become more concerned about their home life or their jobs, or whatever it might be.  Yes, indeed, you should be concerned with those things. But when you become consumed with those things to the point they distract you and you let down spiritually, woe to you! Truly! We don't have that kind of time! Don't let the past repeat itself in your life! Fight for this way of life. That's up to you; that's your choice.

I'm just crying out because of things I see just in the short amount of time I've been travelling so far, and the things I become more aware of in people's lives. In marriages where people can't get along! And I think WHY on earth in God's Church does that happen? Why can't a husband and wife love one another as God commands them to? And if you can't love one another in a marriage, how can you love others in the Body of Christ the way God says you should? It blows my mind! Why two people who have dedicated their lives or commit their lives to one another can't work at what God says in this book you're to work at, when you're to love one another. And that means to sacrifice for one another! Isn't that what love is about? About sacrifice? Isn't that what we heard about during the days of Unleavened Bread?

And please, I'm not upset at you, I'm just preaching and teaching what I see on a spiritual plane that God has given me to "see." And so I'm speaking out as I have responsibility to do, to cry out, to say those things that we need to hear! Because I want everyone to make it! I want everyone to be there at the other end of this in three years! Okay? I hate it when I see people give up. I hurt inside when I hear of people who can't get along. And I just tell people now a days, speaking far more candidly than I used to because we have less time, "I can't solve your problems. I can't sit you down in 10 hours, 20 hours, a thousand hours of counselling and change your life! That isn't our job in the ministry!” It never has been the job of the ministry, to counsel with people hundreds of hours to try to get their lives straight, is it? We either live this way of life in truth and the spirit or we don't. Either we're liars or we're yielding ourselves to God and God's spirit to live what is true. And that means sacrifice, to give up our own way, to give up our own way of doing things.

That's why I think of this freedom that God has given and revealed to the Church about women. That this bondage that's been there for 6,000 years, and because man is stronger physically, and because of the way society is and the way the world has been that these things are passed down generation by generation by generation. Of how abusive people can be with power. And men have so abused and misused their power and belittled women so much and put them down so much. I rejoice in what God is doing, that that kind of crap is coming to an end. Because that's what it is! I think that's the first time I've used that word in a sermon. Excuse me. Some would be more upset that I used the word "crap," like I put in that one book, than with the truth I'm telling right now. "Well, a minister shouldn't say that!" Well, it's just feces. It is what it is. It stinks! It's ugly! It doesn't smell good and you want to... That's why we have toilets that flush it out, to get it away from you because it's not even healthy for you, you know!

Brethren, is there any excuse why a husband and a wife cannot love one another? It blows my mind! To the point of giving up your life if need be. I would, just like that. And my wife would, just like that. I know that. Can't we give up littler things in life, little skirmishes, little... Arguing over what? Over what? Instead of working together to resolve it and making life better? If we can't get it – and that's not a really little thing, but it's the thing closest to us in life. It's the closest relationship any human being can ever have in life that God has given, a man and a woman as husband and wife. It is the most potentially rewarding relationship that a human being can ever be given... potentially. And how we use it, that's up to us. How we use it is up to us. Whether people are true and faithful in those things. And we live in a society today where that doesn't exist. And sadly, sometimes, that creeps its ugly head right into God's Church and people will do the sickest things for sex. Sex! Because the human mind is geared very physically.

Wish I could remember that expression Johnny used to give of what a minister told him one time. What was that, Johnny?  Johnny asked a minister one time, "What is the most amazing thing you've ever learned within the ministry?" And the minister responded by saying that he was amazed what people would do for sex, to what lengths they would go to for sex. Even within God's Church! Even within an environment where people are supposed to be living by a standard of morality that is high. Okay? It's the battles. You've got to fight your human nature.

So, anyway, sacrifice. It's about sacrifice. So I hope you understand what I'm saying when I talk about a husband and a wife. Because, you see, that's the beginning of relationships in one respect, of how much a person is willing to sacrifice or whether they're just totally selfish. Because when people don't get along in a relationship I can tell you absolutely there is nothing but wretched, raunchy selfishness involved. Selfishness. Of someone wanting their way rather than giving and sacrificing. It takes sacrifice, and sacrifice takes work. Right relationships take work. They don't just happen, especially in a carnal, physical world. You've got to work at them. You've got to work at resolving issues and differences and so forth and how things are going to be done and to be open and truthful about those things and to grow in those.

So anyway, if we ever think we don't have problems in God's Church, it's had problems since it began. The problems aren't God's Church, the problems are human nature, that get in the way of God's spirit when we let down in our lives and don't live what we should be living toward one another.

And so because there is a spirit involved in what God gave to Mr. Armstrong I know there's a spirit involved in what God is giving right now. Because there's a crying out sometimes that we need to do within God's Church to sober us up to reality. That there are things we had better be living or we're simply playing games. And I have seen hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people in God's Church play games with God, play games with the Church, play games by coming to church and thinking that solves their problems, or whatever it is we somehow think up in our minds sometimes and we're not addressing things then in during the week in our life, we're not crying out to God and saying, "God in Heaven, help me. Strengthen me. Strengthen me in your spirit to do what is right, to live what is right, to fight against the things that are wrong, to make changes." You've got to fight! It isn't just something that all of a sudden you hear one Sabbath and everything's better in your life. Well, sometimes, obviously things do get better, but it depends on what you do with it. It depends on how we respond and how we grow with what God gives to us.

Anyway, this is going to be a twenty part sermon if I don't keep going!

So he said, again, "This Church has been going down, DOWN, DOWN! I can't bear it all up single-handed..." And so again, this thing here about needing 100% of people to back him. He said, "This Church has to been letting down spiritually."

"We're told to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and so much more as we see the day approaching." And so we've grown in understanding of that even more so, because that used to apply more specifically to the Sabbath and how we thought about that. But we understand, indeed, it's the first great way it's revealed in our lives, and it has to do with our fellowship we have together with one another and with God, and so forth.

But anyway, going on he says, "And I guess we don't see it approaching, do we?" Now, I believe we do. I believe, as a whole, God's Church does today more than ever before. And we read through some of the things that are in the book and some of the things that are there and the timing of various things. And you can't just have numbers like that. 1260 days, 7 times that amount, and two specific periods of time that are so unique in themselves, and the fact that there were two periods of time and they both had different numbers associated with them? Those numbers are awesome! The 70? The coming of Christ? The number itself and the significance of it? I think of the numbers that go back and you can count the time of Christ's first coming, and from the things that were prophesied in Daniel. And it came out exactly as God said! And that gets a little complicated when you go back there and talk about the 70-weeks prophecy because it breaks it down meticulously so and the different years that are involved there. And yet it comes out to exactly what it is then when he died in 31 A.D. Incredible! "Cut off in the midst of the week." Seven days, 3½ years. Amazing, some of the things that are there.

And today is no different, except today there's even more. There's more that we have as far as the timing and events and the things that are given there... that you can't make up, they're just there. And either we see them and are inspired and moved by them or not.

And I want to say again, I believe with all my being (at this point) that we have a year before us. Because the book has to be finished and advertized, as happens, as has happened with the other two as well, and there will have to be things in the world that begin to take place to stir up. Because right now I don't care how much money we poured into advertizing, there'd be very, very, very, very few, because it's not God's time. God has to do the calling anyway. But there's a way that God works. And if we can learn from that and understand there's a way that God works, we'll learn much from that.

And I'm really excited about that too, because I realize then that we don't have to go through a full 3½ years of incredible suffering. Because we have, really, no idea how bad it's really going to get before this is all over with. We really don't. We can believe certain things, but there are things in life until you experience it you just don't know it.

It is amazing what's taking place right now. And it's not by coincidence that we're going through some of the things we are in a political system that are coming out. That people are finally seeing some things, or being awakened to some things that either in times past that people have willingly ignored or have been fully ignorant of in the first place and haven't really understood how things work and of some of the ways of which things are done. More and more these things are coming out. Whether it be in corporations and businesses and things that are out there, God is letting people get more of a whiff of what government and things that are taking place, what it's really like. And it's not a pretty thing. And so this is part of a process of an awakening, and I believe very much so as far as this countries concerned, an opportunity when the time is given to it to have the potential to repent. That if these things weren't happening right now they wouldn't have the same potential to repent and there'd be a lot more destruction.

So I hope you understand that what we're experiencing now is so different than what it was back in 2008, because God has a different purpose. Back then it was simply a matter of absolute judgment and the world had already been judged, this country had already been judged, and the execution of that judgment, of what it was going to be, was already predetermined. But now there is an opportunity for mercy if people will listen. If people will listen to God, God will listen to them. That wasn't being offered before. Now, that's an awesome thing to understand. But people still have to make their own choice. But they're going to be awakened to that and it's going to be incredible what begins to take place.

So again, he said, "And I guess we don't see it approaching, do we? I'm going to get back to prophecy. WHERE ARE WE NOW IN PROPHECY?" Something the Church has.... You know, people have wanted to know that through time, haven't they? Daniel wanted to know. Daniel wanted to see certain things. And it makes it very clear that the prophets have always wanted to know through time when they've been given certain things to "see." And we know that in the New Testament, the apostles, there are things they wanted to know. They were looking forward to a specific time, something we lived in this end-time. They were looking forward to a time of an anti-Christ, to him being made manifest to the Church. But John had to learn later on, John came to see spiritually that there were many antichrist's in the Church, but not the anti-Christ, not the "man of sin," the "son of perdition" that was prophesied, that until he was revealed that the timing of Christ then would be clear as far as the Church was concerned. A countdown would begin. We didn't know what that countdown was then. We certainly have a good understanding of what it is now. Incredible!

He said, "I understand that our ministers are not, as far as I know, not any of them have been preaching on prophecy for the last two years." Amazing! And so he says here, because of what he's gone through and because of what he was going through that they haven't been speaking on prophecy at that particular time. "It seems like we've all got discouraged. Maybe we didn't understand the prophecies? Maybe they're not being fulfilled? Maybe they're not working out? Well, I'LL EXPLAIN THAT!" Because that's how the human mind works. Because, you see, the Church at that time was looking at 1972-1975 as a possible time. And you know what? It may well have been. You don't know! You. Don't. Know. The things that God has worked with mankind or this nation or with the scattered nations of Israel, you don't know! I know that God worked with this man in a very powerful way and gave him awesome things to see and to understand. And now because I know that certain things can be fulfilled and accomplished in different ways and even at different times I have a different perspective of this one than I ever have, that I believe God has shown. Because the time is now to see some of those things.

Going on he said, "But God has been holding up things." Awesome! God has been holding up things. "Did you ever read in the seventh chapter of Revelation, how when we get to the place that we haven't reached yet—that will be after the Great Tribulation and after God sends these terrific, well, mind-shattering-almost signs in the heavens (in the stars, the sun, and the moon) to sort of shock this world into realizing that there is a God after all, and He's beginning to intervene. And instead of the things going right on that are scheduled to go at that time, and the last plagues, and the Second Coming of Christ, God sends an angel that says, ‘Wait a minute. Hold up.’” To me that's amazing! Things that weren't fully revealed or understood at that time but things we have lived through. “‘I've still got something else, and we've got to hold up until it gets done.’" Well.... Again, he went on to say here, "Do you know that that's what happened after 1972? And GOD HAS HELD THINGS UP UNTIL THIS JOB GETS DONE."

So one of the unknowns always, even after Sardis, was where will the Church be at any moment in time. Now, God is so awesomely powerful and knows things, but let's us learn and experience through the things that take place. And sometimes things happen because of our choices and our decisions. And even in the world and what would happen with technology there are things that God has chosen not to fully know, in the sense of choices that people will make. Something Mr. Armstrong was given a long time to understand. And the reality is, well, anyway... There is so much that we don't understand, that we don't grasp, how God does what He accomplishes and what He fulfills. But there is that big item in there that has always been there and will always be there till this is all over with: we have our own choices to make. We have the power of choice as to what we're going to choose to do, and what we're going to choose not to do. Whether we're going to choose to continue to fight this and fight more right now, because I know for those who do not change, who need to make some greater changes in their life, if they don't start fighting more right now they're going to lose out. And what a shame to lose out on such opportunities that are before us, to live on into a new age. Before God calls the next wave or begins the next wave to begin to be called, which will continue on and grow and grow and grow until Christ returns this time.... Because we have never lived, we have never even come close to living what's getting ready to take place. And when God begins to pour out His spirit on this world and upon a Church that was scattered to awaken people out of sleep... Because I have come in contact with a lot of people who are with us to this day who have been awakened out of sleep and they know what it's like to all of a sudden read something or hear something and your mind is awakened and you "see" – that you can't see right now and all of a sudden your mind is opened up and you see things and you're awakened out of a spiritual sleep. God can do that at any moment in time by His spirit. It's His power to give. And when He gives it and when He begins to do that we're going to experience something that's going to be awe inspiring. To experience what it means – I think of those especially who have been a part of the Church for a long time now, part of Philadelphia and are part of Laodicea, that period – and to know all those people, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, and into the thousands, in many cases, of people that I've known, we've known, and to be able to embrace so many of them again. The past is the past.

Just like the past three years. It's like it didn't even happen. It's just going right back to exactly the way things were and it's like I have to consciously think about things that happened. It's like it never even happened and we just continue forward from where we are and where we're going and what we're doing. And that's the way it'll be for them. And that's the way it'll be for us, for those of us who know many of them, that all that past doesn't mean anything. Because you know what? When you have God's spirit in your mind and you're of the same mind the past is gone. They're going to know it and you're going to know it and you're just going to go on from where you were except it's going to be more exciting now than ever before because they're going to be able to make up quickly, rapidly. They're going to be able to catch up so quickly. Ever how fast they want to do some reading is how fast they're going to catch up. And they're going to be able to catch up and be where individuals were in understanding of what took place, to understand things that Mr. Armstrong was saying about the Temple, to understand that the stones that were cast down was always about the Church. There are things that weren't understood. Even though Mr. Armstrong came to understand things about the Temple, there were things we didn't grasp nor comprehend about what was going to happen to it.

Anyway, I've lost my spot again! I keep trying to use this thing and put it where I left off. Well, I read this part here about 1972 and says, "And GOD HAS HELD THINGS UP UNTIL THIS JOB GETS DONE. And so we get discouraged and we decide, ‘Well, my Lord delays his coming. Maybe he's not coming. Maybe he's not going to come at all.’" That's what's happened to some in this group here, some who have left this group, some who have left this body. "Well, maybe it's not going to happen at all. Didn't happen when he said it was going to happen in 2012." "Didn't happen in 1972, didn't happen in 1975. Maybe it's not going to happen at all! Maybe he's not really going to come!" Incredible!

He says, "Now, what I'm saying is for the empty seats that are not filled. Obviously, it's not for you people that are here. It's just too bad that those who need it aren't here to hear it."

"It was very disheartening to me to find that we were going to suspend the Bible studies for the summer."

"Now, where are the ministers?" Incredible! This is that example I gave some time back. And I think it was in a recent sermon. But anyway, he went on to say, "We used to have the front row filled with ministers. I don't see one of them. Is there a minister here?" That's what he's asking. He says, "But I can't see you over there. Well, I'm glad there's someone here." So one minister, evidently. He went on to say, "A lot of ministers think, 'Oh well, I don't need to go unless I speak. And if it's that Herbert Armstrong speaking, I don't want to hear him any more anyhow.' I don't know whether that's what you think or not."

He went on to say, "I know none of you would be here if God hadn't used me." What an awesome thing to say! And yet he boldly said it because it's the truth! He said not a one of them would be there if it wasn't for him and what God gave through him, obviously. Because I think of what happened towards the end after the Apostasy and so many within the ministry who couldn't acknowledge that he was God's apostle. Some would... the most that some would seem to be able to do was say, "Well, he was a good teacher and I learned a lot of good things through him, from him." Oh, when I heard things like that I would... my blood boiled. If your blood could boil, mine was boiling when I hear something like that. Because they wouldn't have known diddly-squat! Everything... everything every minister in the scattered Body has ever learned came through Herbert W. Armstrong. That's how God works. Everything! Everything that was true, that they had in their life at any moment in time was strictly because of what God gave through His apostle. But how many forgot? Every one of them! Every one of them, as a whole. There are a few that still use his name and so forth and speak about some of those things that don't really understand, but there aren't very many.

So he said, "I wonder how many of you think you would be here if I hadn't been used?" Incredible! "We need to wake up!" You know, and we go through this so often through the Church. There have been different moments in time where we need a spiritual awakening, we need to make sure that we're awake, that we're on target, that we're filled with zeal and desire for God's way of life and not just... it's easy to get into position where we just go through the motions. That's what happens with human nature. We just get to a point where we get into the motions of paying our tithes, of going to Sabbath services, of going to a Holy Day, but what is the rest of time like in our homes? What is the rest of time like wherever we live? What are we doing? How are we living it? How are we thinking? What are we doing? Does it honor God? Does it glorify God? Is it about a fight we're in, we're engaged in? Do we see the fight? Do we see our weaknesses? Do we see our shortcomings? Do we go before God and acknowledge those things to God and say, "Holy Father, forgive me. Help me to change. Give me your spirit, please. I need your spirit." That's the promise that Jesus Christ gave about, "If you will ask in my name, you'll receive it." It's about help from God. It's not about being able.... Some people read those scriptures and think you can ask for anything and you can have it because if that's what you want and you think it's right and it's okay and you can go and ask God for it and God will give it to you because that's what... That's not what it's talking about at all! It's talking about what He promises you once He calls you. He calls you to succeed. He calls you to produce fruit. He desires that every one of us produce fruit. And so if you'll ask and seek that help and seek His holy spirit then He will give it to you. He will help you to grow.

If you read that in John 14, that's clearly what he's talking about. You go into John 15 about being a part of the vine, you know, being connected to it and not being cut off and being able to produce fruit, that's what it's talking about. You've got to fight for it! You've got to work for it! It doesn't just happen. You have to fight for it, which means you have to work at it

What is your prayer life like? Do you skip days? Do you skip weeks? How much time is it between the moments of time that you talk to God, that you pray to God, that you ask God for His holy spirit? How often is it between times of saying, "Father, forgive me." How often does it go? Are we missing periods of time in there? Is it very long? Or is it something we do regularly on a constant basis, just like we have a desire for God to continually, constantly dwell within us? That we have to constantly, continually be crying out to God for help, for Him to live within us, to help to change the way we think from selfishness. Because we, as human beings, are selfish by nature. We want our way. And every disagreement in life and every argument in life comes when individuals insist on their way! Because they know their way is better!

That's what you see in politics out here today. That's the way humans... That's just human nature in its greatest level of being raw that you can see! Everyone knows what's best for everybody. Everybody knows what's best for the country. Every Senator, every Representative, as a whole, has an idea of what they think is best for everybody else, what's best for your life when it comes to health care, what's best for your life when it comes to military intervention or no military intervention, when it comes to your life when it comes to security and so forth, or people coming across the border. Some know – well, they know – what's best for you! That's the way the world is. And that's just carnal, selfish human nature magnified many, many, many, many, many, many times over. When people are so filled with pride and haughtiness that they know what's best for everybody else. And they can change it, and they can make it better. Bull! Bull! Bull! Bull!

How many elections in life do we have to go through and people be so dumb and so duped into believing that a government's going to be able to answer their problems in life and change things for them. That someone can come along and make the economy all of a sudden be better? What are you going to do to the corporations that are allowing cheating and stealing? What are you going to do to the system out here, the banking system that's so corrupt and so evil? What are you going to do? You can't change that! Nobody can change it! Only God Almighty can change it and that's what He's letting this world come to see. Only God, by His intervention, can change this sick, corrupt world. And that's what He says. And He's allowed it because – especially with technology today – to the level we have that it is so corrupt. Corrupt. Corruption goes very, very deep. And if you think that's changed in any point in time in history... That's just the way it's always been. Kings, queens, rulers, countries, nations, top to the bottom. God warned from the very beginning when people (Israel) wanted their own government, what was going to happen. "You're going to pay higher taxes. Your kids are going to go off to war and be killed in war, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, because you don't look to Me." That's what God said. And what has man's choice been even with those that God gave the opportunity to? Do their own thing. Sick world.

Thank God we're at the end of 6,000 years. To think that people are going to be given freedom to finally come out of Egypt, to finally be able to come out of spiritual Egypt, to come out of bondage. How much do you crave that? I see suffering out here. I see people that God has called that my heart aches for. Reading a letter yesterday, just brings me to tears inside, of some of the things that people have been called out of and what they're fighting and what they're struggling against and wanting to change and become something new and cleansed and live this way of life and the fight that's there.

But I rejoice, too, because I see the change that's taking place as we yield and as people yield to that process. Because it doesn't happen overnight. It's a struggle. But you wish you could just...certain things you could change for people to give them a better life right away. But it doesn't work that way because there's a process of the transforming of the mind that has to take place first. There's healing that has to take place that doesn't happen overnight. Healing that takes place spiritually happens over a long period of time, over a lifetime. And it's hard. Life is hard. Primarily because of the way the world is.

But we're blessed and it's a limited time; we're going to be part of helping to change all of that. We're going to be a part of something that's very positive, of change. But what an awesome thing when hundreds of thousands, millions called to the same thing. Tens of millions, hundreds of millions called to do the same thing, to change the world, to change life, to get rid of prejudices. I loathe prejudice in human nature and how people can hate each other, loathe each other, dislike each other simply out of prejudice. I don't care what that prejudice is – a man toward a woman, a woman toward a man. They both exist in this world around us. Races, whatever it might be. One country toward another country, whatever it might be. One religion toward another. The way that gets solved is one religion is given, one truth is given, one way of life is given. God's going to reveal it. What an awesome opportunity that lies ahead of us, of opportunities we're all going to have. And we get a head start on it. We get to see these things now and begin to work on these things now.

And talking about this last night, I'll tell you what, this going into the Millennium is not going to be a picnic. It's not going to be a picnic. When Mr. Armstrong talks about three and four generations for things to change, I believe that more deeply now than ever before and I realize there's a lot of work involved. I'm talking about decades of work, of the healing of the mind of people around this world, and of working with people, and things that are going to have to take place. I think of one particular religion alone that... I don't know... I don't see many coming through it because they're going to so resist God. They're going to so fight against God because of what they believe. That vast numbers are going to just simply be destroyed. Because, you see, there's not a whole lot of choice in the Millennium. You either yield to the process and work to fight against your human nature and learn to submit and yield to a better way of life or you're not going to be around a long time. That's what God says about certain countries. Says if they won't come up for the Feast of Tabernacles, if they won't keep God's Feasts, if they won't keep God's Holy Days, then He's going to bring problems on their land – drought, things that are going to happen to them. And if they still won't come up...? Read the rest of the story. He's going to destroy them. That's after the Millennium is established.

So people have choices to make, whether they're going to be blessed and be a part of something great, or whether they're going to be destroyed. You think human nature isn't hard, tough to break through? Our minds, the way we think? It's tough. Especially when you have certain ideas on a religious plane.

Even within the areas of Traditional Christianity going to be a lot of people just aren't going to come through it because they're going to hold on to what they believe and they're going to fight against what's coming. Just like... I don't know what chapter that was in, talking about what some are going to say about anti-Christ. Some of that's going to change because of one great church. Some think it is that great church and the individual that's in charge, the head of that. But that great church is going to turn the table in what they say, because they have help from another being. And they're going to say it's right here. That's what they're going to blame. They're going to blame you. They're going to blame the Church for what God does – some of them are.

That's what's going to happen. That's what's going to take place prophetically. That's what God has revealed. Because when they see what happens in the atmosphere above the earth and they see what's coming and they see the power connected with it and they see nations suffering because of it there is going to be a great battle in this world. Powerful. And it doesn't go down easy. A lot is going to be destroyed because of it. Because there is a powerful being out there that'll fight until he can't fight any longer. And he has a lot of power, a lot more than we comprehend.

So anyway, continuing on. He said, "We need to wake up!" And some of us need to wake up spiritually. We've gotten too wrapped up in the world. It's not just going to be an easy ride here on out. You just have to keep fighting until this is over. That's what your life is like when you're called into the Church. You have to constantly fight against your human nature. That's what it's about. So he says, "We need to wake up, I tell you. That if you don't wake up, I can't do it for you." Isn't that amazing? Can't do it for anybody else. Sometimes some people in the Church try to do certain things for others in the church. You can't. You can try to encourage. You can try to, in that respect, but you can't make them make the choices and decisions that they ultimately make. And sometimes they suffer because of the wrong choices and decisions. But you can't change that. The only thing you can change, the only thing you have power to change is yourself. Always know that. Always understand that. God has given you great opportunity and power to change self, to be in unity and oneness with Him. He'll give you the power and the strength to do that. But you can't change anyone else. And so if you make choices and decisions where you let down, where you don't do what you should be doing, where you compromise because of someone else, maybe hasn't been called yet or isn't doing what they should be doing spiritually in their lives and you let down because of them, then shame on you! Because that's happening in God's Church too right now. Okay? It's happening. And not just a little. I'm telling you it's not just a little, it's a lot!

Now, we've been very blessed in this matter of faith, as I've mentioned, okay, in what God has given to us, and a confidence. But that isn't enough. That will not save you. That will not give you help beyond what you need to be doing in your life. You can have understanding of all prophecy. You can understand these things to the nth degree and believe them with all your being and all faith in those things, but you have to live what God gives you to live because that's where the measure is. What are you motivated by? Who do you love? How much do you love them? Who do you not love or refuse to love? Who do you refuse, not to love, to forgive? And there's where problems come in in life.

So he says, "We need to wake up, I tell you. If you don't wake up, I can't do it for you. God have mercy on your soul if you don't!' That's all that I can say. And some of you are going to need it." That's as true today as it was back then. And I hurt more inside when I say something like this, and know that it's been given to me to say to God's Church, because I don't want to see anyone suffer and I don't want to see anyone fail. I want to see everyone succeed. I want to see everyone have better lives, happier lives, richer lives, happier marriages, happier fellowship within the Body, strengthening fellowship within the Body and not get caught up in the stinking, rotten world to where it begins to blind you or weaken you on a spiritual plane.

He says, "Well, I tell you, the day is coming; and Christ needs the Church all prepared and ready." PKG. That ought to send chills up and down your spine, where we are today. He said this back in 1978 and it's truer today than it ever has been, what God gave His apostle then to say to His Church. Because that's so very, very true. This is where we are today. This is what we're being readied for, prepared for. I look forward to the time I get to see him again. It's going to be exciting. It's going to be exciting. He never knew me, but I knew him. And to see him get caught up to date, to see what's happening, to see what happened since the day he died, to see what took place within the Church, it's going to be awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

"Well, I tell you, the day is coming," he says, "and Christ needs the Church all prepared and ready." He doesn't just need it, it's going to be that way. Whatever the Church is, it will be that way, whatever size, whatever it is at that time. And he went on to say, "And I think we're a long ways from that." Little did he know. "I don't know how to wake you people up!" he said. That was 1978! And he saw something spiritually happening with the Church, and primarily in the ministry at that time that he had no power over and he knew it! He saw a spiritual condition that the rest of us did not see at that time. We saw inklings of it here and there but he had a vision of it in a way that no one else could, from his vantage point. He went on to say, "I frankly don't." Let me read that again. He says, "I don't know how to wake you people up. I frankly don't. I just sort of give up." He didn't. But that's what he's saying. He far from gave up, from trying.

“Now we're going to have to pretend this is the opening night now of the Feast of Tabernacles, if you will, for just about fifteen minutes." So he gives all this introduction here now and sets the stage for what's in his mind and makes me wonder about what's coming next then for the opening night of the Feast of Tabernacles. But all designed for a purpose. And he's going to pre-record this now because it's going to be played at all the Feast sites. So this is what he did that particular night in 1978 preparing for the Feast in 1978 that was coming up soon then, because this was just not too long before the Feast. He had to have an opening message there and so this is what he was geared toward.

Now, I thought I would be a lot farther than this. We'll take the time to go into that part of the message. I can do that in another sermon, I'm sure, but I'm going to go ahead and go part way into this – we'll stop there – into this message. Again, shifting gears, understanding that he's addressed some things because he's just come back from a point in time where he's been deathly ill, getting sicker, weaker through time and that long period of time he went through when he was sickly. And then all of a sudden God giving him strength again and him coming back to headquarters in the strength and power that he had in the sense of preaching once again and coming to this particular Bible Study and starting here and addressing things that were very much upon his mind because of the condition of the Church and the ministry at that particular time.

And then he shifted gears and gave this opening message. He said, "Well, greetings everybody!" Now, some of us laugh because we hear that. I hear that. The kind of message, the kind of introduction that he had at different times, you could just hear it ring in your ears. "Well, greetings everybody! Once again, let me ask—as I used to ask time and time again, year after year at these Festivals—WHY ARE WE HERE?" Awesome! We need to know every year why we are at the Feast, or why we're at the days of Unleavened Bread, or why we observe what we do on an annual basis that God has given His Church.

He went on to say, “Now, these annual Festivals were ordained of God, not by man. And, if God did it, He had a reason. And, if God did it, it's very IMPORTANT that we REALIZE THAT REASON. Very important! Now, why did He ordain these Festivals? Because our God, our Creator, knew that His people need to be reminded year after year of what is the most important thing in the lives of us who are His people—to be reminded of what God has prepared for us if we love Him." Powerful! Powerful message in what he's showing here and what he's saying.

He went on to say, "I'd like you to notice what it says in 1 Corinthians 2 beginning with verse 7: ‘But,’" as Paul said in a letter written to the Church in Corinth, “‘But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory.’" I hope we understand that. This is so powerful, what is written here by Paul in Corinthians here. And has a lot to do, frankly, with what Mr. Armstrong had already said about how people learn what they did within the Church. So he's talking about this wisdom. The word "wisdom," I love it. In the book of Proverbs it's "the Word," it's "the Logos," it's the mind of God. It's the being of God. It's who He is. It reveals His thinking. And He communicates those things to those whom He calls. He reveals it in this book, progressively so from Genesis to the end of Revelation. Progressively so through time God has revealed more about Himself, of Himself, of His thinking. But in here it's talking about wisdom. Whenever you hear that spoken of in scripture it's God, it's the mind, the being of God, the thinking of God.

And so he talks about this is hidden. The world doesn't have it. The world thinks it has it. People think they understand. But they believe in fables of Christmas and Easter and things that can be traced back, very easily so, to not be out of the Bible and not from God, but actually condemned by God. But they don't choose those things because this is what they've grown up with and they can't break away from those things in the world.

So he said, it's hidden. "Which God ordained before the world unto our glory." What does that mean? Do you realize that because you see and you understand and you have the ability to see things that God has given from Himself to you in your mind – just like the truths we've gone through recently – that all those things you're able to have is to your glory? How many in the world have ever had those things, had such ability to see and to know God's purpose and God's plan? Very few. So it is to our glory. The sharing in a glory that God gives to us that hasn't been shared with the rest of the world yet. In time God intends to share it with all who will receive it, who will listen. But for us to receive it, that's why we went through that series recently of the 57 Truths, because it's to our glory! The ability, the awesomeness to see what we see, we should never, never lose that. That's why it's good to review those things and think about those things and be in awe of those things. Things we can take for granted, like the Temple of God that's given here. But God has blessed us beyond that in things of understanding about what happened at the end-time because of this truth that Mr. Armstrong began to talk about back in 1978. Awesome! How blessed are we?

So again, "God ordained before the world unto our glory. Which none of the princes of this world," he says, goes on to say that that is the leaders of this world, the "heads of governments, the heads of big business, big bank leaders in every walk of life in the world," the leaders, the well known. Going on in the scripture he quotes, "for had they known it, they would not have crucified," in other words, nailed to the stake, to the pole, "the Lord of glory. Even as it is written – now listen –Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him." Prophetic! Awesome to understand what this means. Awesome to understand what we're given. And even what we grasp to this day with all that we understand we know so little. We truly do. We know so much more than what's ever been given at any point in time but there is so much more to learn. That's what's exciting about God's way of life. We have so much more to learn, so much more to grow in, so much more that is going to be brought to us when Jesus Christ returns.

So he went on to say, “How does knowledge get into your mind? How do you come to know anything at all? How do you know everything you came to know? Well, it's about 95-98% through your eyes and ears; and the rest will come through the sense of smell, taste, or feel." Then he goes on to quote the scripture, “‘But it continues: God has revealed it unto us by His spirit: for the spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God. And so these things are revealed by God—the things that God has in store for us.’"

So he went on to make comment then about this. He said now, "To us, these Festivals are the most important things in our lives. But the last few years we've been getting lazy. We're getting into the Laodicean condition. And that is a condition in which Jesus Christ says He will SPEW US out of His mouth!" Amazing, we have lived through that. And yet he was speaking of that, looking ahead of a time that was prophesied. And he went on to say, "You spit out of your mouth things you don't want in there any longer. And I think we'd better wake up!"

So, it's always a good message, brethren, to never allow yourself to begin to become sluggish spiritually. That's what the word "watch" is about, to always watch, to be alert, to be spiritually on guard. We can't ever let down.  When you're fighting a battle, fighting a war, if you let down... disastrous in times of battle. And how many battles do you go through? How often do you go through battles? You go through a lot. You go through a lot. In God's Church you can be guaranteed you're going to go through battles and you're going to go through a lot of them. And in this end-time that's even been speeded up, it's been repetitive, it's increased because we're being prepared in a speeded-up process to get where we need to be, because we're closing in on the end of an age and we have to be at a certain place. And we will be, as a Body, because God's in charge, because God has the power to accomplish and do exactly what He's going to accomplish and do. And for everyone who is blessed then to benefit from it, will benefit from it, if they fight the fight and yield to the process.

And if anyone does not and doesn't become more stirred up in life or work to make sure that they're not becoming sluggish in any fashion or form spiritually and not allowing themselves to get caught up in petty, petty, petty, petty grievances. You can't get along with somebody else? You can't get along with your own mate? Shame on you! That's all I can say! Shame on you! You stand before God Almighty! You promised God Almighty, "My life is yours. My life is yours and your Son gave his life so that I could have my sins forgiven so that I can have this awesome opportunity that very few on the earth have ever been given. Help me to use it wisely. Help me to throw myself into this. Help me to fight this fight!" No matter how hard it gets you keep fighting! What are we to say? Any battle come along, we're going to say, "That's too much God. I can't go through that. That's too hard!" Well, boo hoo! Boo hoo! "Woe is me! This is too hard! This is too hard for me to have to go through." "I don't like this illness." "I don't like this suffering." "I don't like these trials and problems." "I don't like these economic conditions." I don't like... I don't like... I don't like... Tough! Tough! Tough! You're going to have them anyway! You can have them in the Church or out of the Church. You're going to have problems. The only thing is you can "see" things now that you couldn't see before. You "see" things because God's giving you the ability to know what they are.

Human beings out here are suffering. They have problems in their lives. They have disagreements. They have feuds. They have divorces. They fight. Children are broken up and then broken up again, and then broken up again. And it's hard. It's hard on them. It's hard on families, the battles that people go through. It's throughout society today.

Somebody goes out and commits adultery... Hard on society. Hard on family. Hard on a community. Happens in God's Church! Sick! Sick! Sick! Sick! Sick! Sick! Sick! Sick! It's the greatest pull of mankind and too many yield, give in to it. Too many give into it.

It's like country and western music. I'm always dumbfounded how something that is supposed to be in the Bible belt and they promote the Bible belt and they promote that which is Protestant, and what does their music promote? It's just a way of life. Somebody cheated on somebody else and somebody did this and somebody did that and woe is me and went off to somebody else and I did this and I did that and drank a little bit too much and this is what happened after that. And you know, some of this music, some of the... what is it, messages of the music, just sick. Just sick! It really is! What the world teaches and the hypocrisy that's there. Incredible!

I'm sorry. Well, I'm not. But anyway, you know what I'm saying. Sick, sick world we live in. Needs to be cleaned up. It needs to be cleaned up and we're blessed to be a part of helping to clean it up. How blessed are we? So fight the fight. Fight the fight!

Some of you are pulling back. Some people are pulling back. They're not living what they should be living. It'll get you. If you don't, by hearing this sermon itself and what we're going to go through in this series, get a hold of your life and repent... We've just gone through the Days of Unleavened Bread which picture things about our Passover and repenting and focusing upon what we need to focus upon – God's spirit that's coming. Pentecost. The giving of God's spirit. We need it. We've got to cry out for it. You've got to fight for it. Because it's only by that power that you can fight against your own nature. You can't do it on your own.

So you can't get caught up in your jobs. That's not the end of your life. It's a means to an end only. It's a mean to an end only. It is not your life. Family around you? The future will be your life, when you have what you desire to have with them. It's not in this life yet, okay? Some of it won't be until the last hundred years. So be it. It's going to be a joyous occasion, powerful, mighty, far mightier than what it will be when all those who are scattered are called back, that have the opportunity to come back because they already have a head start. They already understand many things. Don't get pulled into this world! Don't get pulled into your occupation. Don't get pulled into other family matters out here that sometimes pull people away from the truth or the soundness of mind that we're given.

Don't get pulled up into various kinds of weaknesses and conflicts with people. I'll tell you, you're not going to like it if it comes to me and I hear of squabbling going on. I'm going to tell you what you have to do. It's not the other person's fault. It's your fault! See? Two people in a marriage? Whose fault is it? One or both isn't doing what they should be doing – and most cases it's both. Because people get caught up in this battling. And after a while you break down the very fiber of what it's all about and you can't see straight and selfishness enters in and anger enters in and an ability to not... or the inability to forgive enters in and people live then contentiously with one another. And you know that just can't... It cannot be in the Body of Christ, so if you do that you're not in the Body of Christ. You're just kidding yourself. And it's just a matter of time before the formality comes and you're asked, "Don't bother coming back." I'm not going to hesitate.

I'm going to be much stronger than I have been in the past, brethren. It's my job. Much stronger when it comes to not compromising with God. Much stronger when it comes to many things having to do with God and being faithful servants of God. We don't have time to play these games any longer. We don't have time to allow ourselves to get caught up in things in this world around us any longer. We're either a part of this and onboard and moving forward – not only in the right track— but moving forward very fast or we're back here somewhere, I'd say, picking our nose. Whatever. And that doesn't look too good. It's not very pleasant. Sad. Pathetic. That's what it is.

No excuses, again, please. Please, please, please hear this. No excuses in God's Church for people to not get along and love each other. If you fail to love others you're kidding yourself. If you don't love in your marriage like God says you are to do, you're kidding yourself. I'm not playing games with that anymore. I've given people time in times past to make changes. I'm just telling you as a servant of God Almighty and what job I've been given to do. Because I could give that time, because we had time. Right now we don't have any more time. Right now we're moving forward and we're going to start moving forward faster and faster and faster as we go through this process. And we have to be either on track, on target, moving forward with the same mind, with the same spirit... We don't have this thing of not being 100% involved and behind whatever God is doing. We have to throw our lives into this with all our being. That's what we've been called to do. And I don't want to see people dragging behind or pulling behind, because it's not going to be allowed. God isn't going to allow it. We're either on board or we're off. We're either in the Temple or we're out in the court. And if we're out in the court you know what that means.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, The things that God has prepared for those who love Him." We have so much before us. We've been given so much as God's people. We have such an exciting, awesome times in front of us. You can't begin to comprehend what's getting ready to happen to this world.

China, Russia – I don't care if 2019 wasn't the time, this world is headed toward WW3. And people who think they might know China and the Chinese leaders, in the western world? Or Putin and what's in his mind at his age and a desire to have back the Soviet Union? People don't understand what's going on in the minds of people in this world and why they're building their militaries in the way they are. And why the South China Sea is about to erupt. One day... One day.... It only takes one day. Russian jets? If certain ones become president, how long do you think it will be? How much do you think it'll be allowed, a Russian jet passing within 20-30-40ft of a United States ship? How long do you think it'll be before someone gets into a conflict and it escalates rapidly? How long do you think it's going to be? Because they're flexing their muscles for a purpose and a reason, and they're pushing things to the point they are for a purpose and a reason because they have design behind it. And we don't understand that as a people. We're not taught that as a people.

There are things that other people don't even want us to know as a people, of what's really going on out there. I don't want to say what I really think about some of those things going on. But anyway, do we see what's going on in the world? You think China's our friend? Do you think China wants to see us succeed? Or do you think that there aren't just as many generals that made comment on in times past here, they have their eye on this country and they have strategies in place already. They are not a stupid people! And yet oftentimes leaders treat them like and try to talk them up like they're stupid, they're stupid with the economy. No, they're brilliant! They are brilliant! They are – let me repeat that – brilliant in this modern age of what they're doing. They know what they're doing. It's all by design, all with a purpose behind it. It's already in the works.

I hope we see that. I hope we understand that. These are scary times. And that has nothing to do with the guy in the north there and what he's doing. Doesn't take much to start something, does it? Some crackpot like that, and other nations will step in anyway. It's going to be interesting, in one respect, how it all comes down, because it's not too far away. But I believe we have another Feast of Tabernacles beyond this one. How shaky it will be by that time, we don't know. But at some point, brethren, the rug gets pulled out and things are going to happen and they're going to happen speedily, whenever that starts. Whenever it starts there is no pulling back, there is no stopping it then. When God says go, it'll be go. And you're not ready for that. You are not ready for that. You do not grasp what it means in your physical life.

In some ways that's a blessing, at this point in time. But you need to be sobered by that. Because one day these trucks don't keep going up and down the highway. One day the electricity doesn't come that you depend upon, that you rely upon. One day your world changes and it's not going to be easy. It's coming. That's the world we live in. It's not to scare anybody, it's just a reality. And all the more reason then to make sure that we apply ourselves to that which God has given us the opportunity for, to fight to be in His Family, to fight for His way of life, to stand up for it.

Who cares what anybody else thinks. I don't care what anybody else thinks. That's quite obvious, I think. When any more interviews come along, which I think they're going to come along before long, I know what they're going to want to talk about. I don't care. I'm not embarrassed by it. I'm not ashamed of it one iota. I am thankful for what I've experienced. I am thankful for what I've experienced and God's going to use that. Awesome!

You need to stand up for what you believe in your families. You need to be willing to stand for what is true and right no matter what.

We'll stop there today. I need to mark my place here. And we'll continue then next Sabbath with what Mr. Armstrong had to say concerning the Feast of Tabernacles. I guess it was an opening message that he was going to give in the Feast of Tabernacles 1978. We'll continue in that because there is so much more here. Just in that message alone and what he has to say and why he's saying it and lessons that can be learned.

And although he was addressing these things back in 1978 by the time we get through this I think it becomes clearer and clearer how awesome it is that it's for right now, for our lives today. What he said then is for us. Awesome!

Table of Contents

Chapter 1