Herbert W. Armstrong, Pt. 2

Ron Weinland

June 4, 2016

We are now going to continue in a new sermon series that I began when we were down in the Richmond, Virginia area a couple of weeks ago, and that series is entitled Herbert W. Armstrong, and this is Part 2.

And again, it's about a sermon that he gave back in... actually, a Bible Study he gave back in 1978 concerning the Temple of God. And I understand a lot of people have found this particular, the writing of that particular Bible Study, and that's great that you're able to get those things and get it in printed form to maybe follow along if you want – not fully necessary, but that might be helpful to some. But again, that I didn't have the full write-up, so this prompted me to go on there, because I only had a condensed version of it. So I got the whole thing now. I have it all now. So I'm going back and catching some things I missed that weren't in the original write-up that I was reading from last week.

So we're going to back up just a little bit from where I was a couple of weeks ago and continue on from there. So I want to pick up, again, just at the very end, Mr. Armstrong, quoting him. He asked the question, breaking in here, "Do you know what happened after 1972?" Now, a lot of this some of you are not familiar with at all, what took place. But there was a period of time when the thought was there, the potential was there (in our belief) that Jesus Christ would be returning in 1975. And so we were looking at particular times. There was a booklet out called, I think it was, 1975 in Prophecy, and so there was that potential, that thought. And, candidly, when I came into the Church that's a lot of what my thinking was at that particular time, that that's what we were headed for. But earlier on in 1972, around that period of time, Mr. Armstrong started to address things that were written in that particular booklet and letting us know that we shouldn't be focusing and zeroing in on that too much at that particular time. But this is what he's saying about that particular period of time.

How many of you were around? 1972? Okay. So he asked the question, again, "Do you know that is what happened after 1972? And GOD HAS HELD THINGS UP UNTIL THIS JOB GETS DONE." I think that's awesome, to think about that now going back, because there are things we don't always understand that God's doing. There are things we do or we go through, that God takes us through that we don't fully comprehend; a lot of it, candidly, until we've gone through it, or even after we've been through it for a while then we can look back and God begins to help us to understand what it is that He's doing and what it is we've experienced. And we learn from that. Most of the lessons and most of the truths, candidly (that we learned after the Apostasy), that God gave to the Church, most of those truths – almost all of them – had to do with looking back and God showing us what it is we went through and what it is that was fulfilled prophetically as far as the Church is concerned.

So again, Mr. Armstrong is addressing something here and saying, "God has held things up until this job gets done." That causes me pause as a servant of God, to think back because of what we've gone through and what he went through at that particular time, because sometimes we want everything in a nice, neat, little package and we don't like it to be ruffled up in any fashion or form. And yet not everything, especially prophetic, is wrapped up that way. And a lot of it goes back to what God has been revealing to us in recent time, is that a lot of the things that take place in prophecy are dependent upon human response. A lot of the things in how we respond as a Church, or how the world is responding to God at a particular time and how He's working with the world, they can change mightily because of choices people make, or leaders make, or nations make, or peoples of nations make. And so the same thing is true here.

I can't help but think back a little bit. What did it take to lead the Church out of Sardis? What did it take for God working through Mr. Armstrong as an apostle to begin restoring things to the Church that had been lost. When you look back and you look at where Mr. Armstrong came along and we had (the Church) had three basic doctrines that existed at that time – the name of the Church, Church of God, obviously; the Sabbath, the Sabbath day, the seventh day Sabbath, (not even the Holy Days were known at that particular point in time); and tithing, the first tithe only. Everything else had gone by the wayside as far as the Church was concerned. Now, that's mind-boggling! So how long does it take in looking forward in time and working with people, how long is it going to take to stir up a Body and to begin teaching a people of other truths as God began to reveal them? How long did it take when God began to show Mr. Armstrong that there were Holy Days, annual Holy Days? How long did they deal with that before they began teaching it? Before he was convicted with all of his being that this is to be taught to the Church? Took him seven years! Seven years once he came to see and to understand and to know the Holy Days. God showed those things to him and he understood them, annual Holy Days, and he and Loma (his wife) kept them for seven years, and then he began to teach it to the Church because of the conviction and what he was learning through time. Took time! Took time to get those things started and moving.

And what about all the other truths that came along in time that God gave to Mr. Armstrong? Now, that's awesome! So did that change some things because of human response and because of what we're like and because what of a spoiled western world was like where God began to work? Because He began to work in Manasseh, in this country. That's where He began to work, because of what God had given to this nation and what God intended to give to the Church at the end-time in a very powerful way, even as a matter of that which is prosperous, prosperity, finances. Because people that were called, people who were called were called primarily first and foremost in the beginning out of this country. The wealthiest nation on earth! Coincidence or design? God does everything by great design. But still, there are time factors involved and always this matter of human response. And God gives us time. He doesn't make... You can't make people respond in a specific way. You can't make people grow in character. You can't make people grow in truth. You can give it to them. You can inspire them by the power of Your – speaking of God – the holy spirit, and people are moved by that, but the choices of what they do with it and where they are at any moment in time is dependent upon them. Awesome!

1975? The world could have entered into a World War at that time, a nuclear war, but it wasn't ready. God wasn't ready. The world wasn't ready to the degree God wanted it to be, and for the truth to have gone out in the world as a witness unto all the world – the gospel – till a specific moment in time. So even the time of Mr. Armstrong's life and what he was able to do until 1986, in January, wasn't all by accident. God sustained his life for the exact time that He wanted, needed, desired for the Church and for what was coming.

We're going to learn so much more about these things as time goes along. God is very meticulous in everything He does, but there is so much that is still dependent upon human response and how we respond to Almighty God and what He's doing in our lives. And those things are a matter of choice. There are things that God is doing right now with the world and with nations, and even with this country in a very big way that we're going to learn a lot about at some point in the future, of what He did and why certain things came out in the manner that they did to prayerfully, to hopefully to give every opportunity to a people. Not just to this nation but starting here with this nation, an opportunity to repent and change. Now, that's awesome! It truly is.

And so we are focused again – please, let me spell this out – we are focused on Pentecost of 2019 right now and God has given this as a goal that we have set before us. It's what we're looking to as a finish line. But we understand with all of our being if it goes past that we keep RUNNING! WE DON'T STOP! Things don't come to an end! So you've got to plan accordingly from the lessons you learned in going toward 2012, and prayerfully it will come to an end at that point in time. But that's what God has given me as a target, as a mission to do, if you will, a commission, a focus to be given to the Church and to the world. Because we're going to teach this. We're going to preach this. And if something happens, so be it! If people mock and make fun, so be it! That's been the way it's been for 6,000 years! What's new?! But we as God's Church and God's people, we go forward with conviction in faith because we know what we have. We have God's truth and God's way of life! That's awesome!

So, 2019? I'm going to say it a lot between now and Pentecost 2019. And I do hope and pray that the world is made ready by that time and that God finishes what needs to be finished and accomplished at that moment in time. But if it doesn't, there'll be something even more exciting, more awesome as far as time goes on and what we will learn and what God will give to us. Look at what God has given to us in three years, four years time. I'll tell you right now, you cannot go back and read every one of the posts that have come up and come out – you do not fully understand everything that God has given. There is much more there to be taught. There is much more there to be expounded upon and to be explained. We read through things sometimes and we absorb what we see, but that doesn't mean we "see" it all. That doesn't mean we get it all. It's just like this book, this Bible. How often do we go through things and all of a sudden we see things we've never seen before? Isn't that the way it is with every truth that has ever come along?

Had some conversation here just before services about some of the scattered group out there, about what they still believe. Comment was made, "They don't know who the 144,000 are." They don't have the slightest inkling! They're not talking about it, as a whole. They don't know what it means. And for those who do, because I've heard some of that from some of the ministers in times past, they genuinely believe that they – not just they – but their organization has to become so large that 144,000 baptized members who have conquered and overcome can come out of that! And how long is that going to take from where they are?

So again, truth after truth after truth, of things they don't understand. They can't. They can't see it yet, because when you're asleep you can't see what you can't see. And so there are awesome things that God has given to us, and still giving to us, and we don't "see" it all. Though you've read now all seven chapters you do not, you cannot "see" it all yet. There is an overview of things that have been given. It is awesome. It's inspiring. But we can only "see" what God gives us to see at a moment in time. Just as with this book there'll be things in that book and the book before that, that in time when God lets us "see" it that we'll be dumbfounded, "Oh! It was there all the time!" God gave it to us all the time, but we couldn't "see" it. That's the way it works. And that's awesome! And that's inspiring if we understand how God works in our lives. And we should know by now.

Wow! We got through a couple sentences here. And that's still that last sermon!

So anyway, again, he said, "Do you know that is what happened after 1972? And GOD HAS HELD THINGS UP UNTIL THIS JOB GETS DONE! So we get discouraged and we decide, "Well, my Lord delays his coming. Maybe he's not going to come at all." 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 the ones who need it aren't here to hear it." And that's when he went on to say, "Now, where are the ministers?" You remember me talking about that. Incredible! Even back then, 1978, a spirit that candidly began with the ministry – first and foremost with the ministry that came through Ambassador College, that Mr. Armstrong even worked with in the very beginning. Evangelists whom he worked with and taught personally, that sat at his feet as he taught them about God's way of life. Those individuals first and foremost became lukewarm. They had a lukewarm Laodicean spirit LONG BEFORE the rest of the Church did! Because those things came from the ministry. The attitude and spirit came from the ministry.

I hope we understand what took place in God's Church. We need to because there are great lessons to be learned from all this, to understand from all this. Because they were the ones given the responsibility to faithfully pass along the truth to the Church that came through Mr. Armstrong to them, the only truth that they ever understood and grasped because of what God gave through Mr. Armstrong to them. And what did they do with it?

So what do we do with the truth that God gives to us? And how faithful are we to God's truth? That's the test and that's the trial, isn't it? Because we still have people out here who are not being faithful to God's truth. And I'll tell you what is becoming clearer, we went through a period of time called "the Measuring of the Temple," and the dedication, and that “Year of Dedication” that finished that particular 3½ years up, but I'll tell you what – the process is becoming clearer – this is not over with yet. God's Church is going to be cleansed from top to bottom! And if you want this way of life you're going to have to fight for it with more effort, more on your part than what you're doing right now, as a whole, for the Body. This is not a time to drift. It is not a time to take it easy.

I'm sorry, brethren, but I'll tell you what, God is letting me see some things that we need stirred up in spirit and power, because what Mr. Armstrong gave in 1978 is for the Church of God right now! Very powerfully so! That we need to fight for this way of life, that you need to work hard for it, and that there is no coasting spiritually in your life. Pray? Better be increasing it. Better be working on it and refining it and making it better, pounding it down fine when you pray to God. Not just a general prayer everyday that kind of gets into a repetition of the same thing of what it was yesterday, and after a while it's like the kind of prayers that we basically quit in God's Church because it became Protestant, of praying at a meal. Because it's the same ole, same ole thing and it doesn't mean anything after a while. It becomes Protestant! Does that make sense, what I'm saying? Okay.

Please forgive me. I'm not trying... I'm not chewing anyone out. I am stirred up by God's spirit. I am stirred up because of things that I'm seeing that God is letting me see that we need to be doing, every one of us, in striving for this way of life with all of our being, to be there, to be able to support, to be able to pray about the things we need to pray about, to be ourselves stirred up. Because some people aren't stirred up in God's spirit right now in God's Church! They aren't moved and motivated like they should be! Where are we in time? Did we take it kind of easy the past three years? I'll tell you what, yes, we did. And shame on us as God's people! Just because of where I was? And we kind of pull back a little bit and began to coast a little bit? Do you think that happened? I'm telling you it happened. It happened way too much, it truly did. And now is a time to wake up more than ever before in our lives spiritually and realize God is not going to allow us to coast into His Kingdom or coast into the Millennium. We have work to do and we have to apply ourselves, brethren, we truly do.

I ache inside when I see things that people are going through sometimes, when I think, "Give me a break!" You don't know how to live toward each other? You don't know how to talk to each other? You don't know how to treat each other? You don't know how to love each other? You jab at each other! You pick at each other! You find fault with each other! You judge others in the Body of Christ?! I would fear to do that before I ever took a Passover, and yet people took a Passover this year and didn't fear it as much as they should have. We should love one another in the Body of Christ with a great love... a great love. But that love comes from God. It requires God's spirit in us. It requires God's love in us. We don't have that kind of love. It comes from God Almighty. And we need that kind of love. And we need to treat every member in the Body with that kind of love. You know, not judgmental, not condemning, not harsh, not jealous. We have jealousy still going on in the body! Amazing! Envying and jealousy that goes on in the Body. I think, "Why? Do we not understand the Body yet? Do we not understand how God's Body works? The Body of Christ? The Church of God? Do we not grasp that we need each other? Do we not grasp the importance of every member? We want to see them succeed; we want to see them do well in the Body? See? Because if we really grasped that with all of our being spiritually, we're not going to mistreat someone else, we're not going to speak ill of someone else about someone else or to someone else, better yet.

So again, we have work to do. That's what this series is about. We have work to do. And God wants us to be prepared to do it. We're getting ready to do it. We're getting ready to push forward. I don't know all that's ahead of us, but I know it's going to be awesome. I know it's going to be exciting. And I know that what we started to go through at one particular point in time, when people began to come along, when our numbers began to increase – which has since decreased – because new ones were being brought along that we have to be in the right shape spiritually, we have to be of the right mindset to help them along. Not to hurt them, but to help them, see, to nurture, to be a part there for them, to let them experience what it's like to be a part of God's Church, people with God's spirit who love them and welcome them and are there to help them. See?

Anyway, going on. After he asked about where are the ministers then he went on to say some of the things that I didn't have the complete transcript for and I want to read some of that in here. So some of it's mixed in here, what I had, but not all of it. Anyway, he went on to say, after addressing... again, after addressing what he questioned about the ministry not being there for the Bible Study he went on to say, "Brethren, let me tell you, I've been working harder these last 3 or 4 weeks than I have worked at any time in the last 15 years." Now, that's awesome! Here he had the sickness he had, the heart problems he had and came back stronger than ever before and God was giving him strength and he was focused and he understood something very powerfully so. He began to teach mightily, "The Church has to be put back on the right track!" Because he could see what was happening in the ministry. Now, he wasn't able to know everybody in the Church and what was happening in the Church, but because of the shape of the ministry he knew exactly what was taking place within the rest of the Church! Because he knew what they were doing and how they were doing it.

So he went on to say, again, "I've been working harder these last 3 or 4 weeks than I have worked at any time in the last 15 years. I'm getting more done. I'm getting more accomplished." You think of his age at that particular point – 1978? 88? Somewhere in there, 87, 88. Incredible. He went on to say, "It's pretty hard to go against everything when everybody just lays down and does nothing." Whew! Powerful words if you understand the size of the Church and the strength of the Church and... Incredible. He went on to say after that, "We need to wake up!" That's the same message today, brethren. It's the exact same message today! More than ever before we need to wake up! We cannot coast! We cannot take it easy! We have to fight against our human nature! It's an enemy. Our human nature, it fights against God and we have to fight against it. That's what it means, in essence, to sacrifice. In order to love others you've got to sacrifice, you've got to fight against yourself. You've got to fight against your own human nature. We understand that. But we need to understand it more deeply and we need to understand that this is needed now more than ever before in our lives, needed more in the Church than ever before. We are small but God's going to do mighty things. "Not by might nor by power, but by My strength," God says. We are small for a reason right now! Because God is making it abundantly clear it is not an organization that was left over, of 7,000 people, or of 5,000 people, or 16,000 people. It's not being done that way, because then individuals and an organization would tend to take it to themselves, "Look what..." being lifted up with pride like what happened to us in times past, lifted up, thinking we're rich and increased with goods. God isn't going to allow that to happen. He's going to do mighty things through that which is small, because He's going to make it abundantly clear He and His Son did it by their might, by their power.

Now, that's awesome to understand. It truly is. It's exciting to be a part of something like that. The opportunities we have because of that, that's incredible, brethren.

So he says, "We need to wake up, I tell you! But 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 I can say. And some of you are going to need it!" I hope... Still have people going by the wayside because they aren't living what they should be living and have to be disfellowshipped. Incredible! Incredible! Think that wouldn't happen anymore after a time. But you know, it's frustrating as a minister, as a pastor. What can you do? You can't do it for anybody. It's up to everyone to make their own choices and decisions, whether they're going to fight for this way of life – fight, fight, fight – or not.

He went on to say, "And now I want to get my voice down a little bit, if I can, for this; because you will hear this again on the television screen the opening night of the Feast, wherever you are. I might mention now, before I start, that I am planning tentatively, if God is willing, to be at the site they tell me is the largest of the Feast sites—at St. Petersburg, Florida—for the opening night and for the first Holy Day. And they probably will have to hear this a day or so later, or else not hear it at all, because I will be there in person on that opening night. And I won't say much more than I'm saying here, because I'm not going to preach a whole sermon on that night — I believe it's a Sunday night. I'll have to check that with the calendar again – and then preach a whole sermon on the next day."

"But, naturally, I'm not making any effort to cover all the Feast sites in the United States and Canada again this year, as I have done." Can you imagine? One after another, after another as he did at times past. And then at this point here addressing the reality that he can't do that, isn't going to do that. And he mentioned here, “At least one Feast site in Canada several years, up until last year. And last year I was just starting to recover from complete heart failure, and I wasn't able to attend the Feast at all. But God has brought me back, and I am here. Well, I tell you, the day is coming, and Christ needs the Church all prepared and ready!" It wasn't for then! That's incredible! But that's a truth. And that's exactly how it's going to be, prepared... Prepared. How awesome that we have a name. Names aren't by accident when it comes to what God does in the Church. Truly, they aren't by accident. They have purpose. They have design. There is a reason that was given long time ago here when we began.

So he says, "...the Church all prepared and ready! And I think we're a long way from that." But we aren't. But there are some who are dragging, and God isn't going to allow that. Either we get stirred up more – and those of us, those in the Body who are striving, working, we need to work harder. We need to apply ourselves more. But there are some who are dragging and you've got to do this yourself because you want it. You've got to fight yourself because you want it. So he said again here, "And I think we're a long way from that. I don't know how to wake you people up! I frankly don't. I just sort of give up." So, again, read part of that. So we press forward. That's what we have to do. That's what we are to do.

So he went on to say, "Now, if you men with the television screens are ready, I'll open up. And we're going to have to pretend that this is the opening night now at the Feast of Tabernacles, if you will, for just about 15 minutes."

So again, going to read part of this: "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?” And he went on to say that some of the things that I think would be good to cover here as this is not in the material I had in the first sermon. So continuing on he said, "I wonder if you realize that this is the largest annual Church conclave, or convention, on the face of the earth." Now, some of us that are new we don't grasp, we don't know that history. The largest religious, as he said here, Church, I should say, conclave or convention on the face of the earth. I think of what was accomplished in the Worldwide Church of God through Mr. Armstrong. It truly is awesome. You think about the size and how things – even compared to the rest of the world – being such a small group of people, a small organization doing something far greater than any other religious group out here who made us pale into insignificance in numbers. When you talk about numbers, they were in the millions, and here, tens of thousands in God's Church. And what does God do with so few? Awesome!

"Now there was, at one time, I think a larger number of people than we have at any one site meeting in the Rose Bowl. I don't remember whether it was Jehovah's Witness or Mormons, or who, but there was something. But that was only one time, and it didn't happen the next year or the year before. But ours is a Festival that comes year after year in Feast sites all over the world. And we have around 100,000 attending in the combined Feast sites at the various parts... in various parts of the world."

"Now, these annual Festivals were ordained of God, not by man. And if God did it, then 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." That's, to me, an incredible thing, because he goes on to explain some of these things. He explains how that there are people in the ministry who weren't even teaching what the Holy Days meant anymore. Incredible that these things could have happened in the Church!

Anyway, 1 Corinthians 2:8. It's good to be reminded of some of the things that are stated here in scripture. I think there even was a verse before that that I probably ought to read just to give us a little bit of the context. So, again here, 1 Corinthians, he's showing here why these things are to be taught every year, year by year at the Feast and what has been given to us as a people. Yes, verse 7, I want to read that—But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. Incredible! Before anything ever began God had a plan and a purpose and a design of how things were going to work out, and as far as truth that would be given, even including Holy Days, that we would need annual Holy Days as His people, and the weekly Sabbath. All those things preordained. And yet it's going through here talking about something that's a mystery because it's a mystery in the context that the world, people can't see it out here. It's like things that you "see," that as I discussed here earlier with some, talking about some of the scattered groups that are out here, of things they can't "see." When you're asleep you can't see. You can't see what you can't see. And the same thing with the world. When they hear some of the truths of what you believe, sometimes some of it may seem exciting to them for a little bit, and then after a while you lose them totally because they just can't put it together in their mind because God hasn't given them the capacity, the ability. And so it's just a mystery to them. But we see it clearly. You see 57 Truths, as a whole, in the Body, clearly, powerfully. They're clear to you. But you can't give that to anybody else.

...the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages unto our glory. To our glory, a glory that we're able to share in, be blessed with. Because... And sometimes we don't esteem this to the level we should, brethren. God is blessing you with His mind, with His being, His Word, His logos, His thought, how He thinks. To me, that's one of the most beautiful, awesome things to grasp and comprehend and desire in life, is to be able to know thinking that is in unity with God, to think like God. Now, we're a long way from that, but God gives us a little bit to begin that process as we're transformed. That's what we're being transformed into, so our thinking is more like God, coming into unity with God. A change is taking place in the mind away from selfishness to other things and to exciting truths that God wants us to comprehend. I think of some of the things... Well, I don't want to get there because that's going to be a Feast sermon, some of the Feast sermons.

Anyway, going on here, verse 8—Which none of the princes of this world knew, speaking of the hidden wisdom of God, which is a mystery. In other words, he went on to say, "...heads of big business; big banks; leaders in every walk of life in the world.” For had they known it, they would not have crucified, in other words, nailed to a pole, the Lord of glory. But as it is written… He said, "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 who love Him. This is exactly where we left off then a couple of weeks ago, so we're going to continue on now.

He went on to say, "How does knowledge come into your mind? How do you come to know anything at all? How do you know everything you ever came to know? Well, it's about 95-98% through the eyes and the ears, and the rest will come through the sense of smell, taste, or feel." But it continues: 1 Corinthians 2:10—God has revealed them unto us by His spirit... This is awesome! It really is, brethren. You ought to be inspired by that, to read something like this, to understand that this is how God communicates to you. It is to your mind by the power of His holy spirit. This is why you see what you do. None of its by your own ability! That's why so many are lost today! That's why so many have gone by the wayside! That's what happened to Laodicea! That's why they did what they did, as a whole, or we did what we did. Because no one did it by their own ability. It's everything by God's power in our mind, and we have powerful witness of that. What happens to people when they are gone? Mind slams shut just as fast as it was opened – faster! Faster! Because you lose, you lose it. You no longer see the Sabbath. And you think that's...?

I wish everyone – I don't either, let me back up. But to have the experience of the Apostasy, to see what happened to the mind of human beings, the mind of people in God's Church, the mind of ministers who taught God's way of life Sabbath after Sabbath, Holy Day after Holy Day for twenty, thirty, forty years in God's Church, teaching, and all of a sudden their mind slams shut and they couldn't see the Holy Days anymore! They couldn't see God's plan in the Holy Days anymore! How does that happen? Well, the reason they were able to see it for as long as they saw it was because God allowed them to see it. He gave that to them. He gave it to the mind. God has to give that. You can't do it by your own ability. If you leave, you're gone. If you sin and you won't repent and you're cut off from the Body of Christ, you're cut off from God's spirit and that flow, and the mercy – think of the mercy that God gives to us, the patience. I think of the mercy and patience God gives to me. And what about each of us? Can we see ourselves and realize how merciful? That the only reason we're here is because of God's mercy and patience and because we have an opportunity to do something, that He's giving us an opportunity to be a part of something so awesome? And that we see what we see not by our intellect. I don't care how smart, how intelligent, how talented anyone is, it comes from God. It's by God's spirit. Because when it gets cut off you will lose what you had. You may have... You may hold on to certain things like maybe even the Sabbath, but you'll do it by your own intellect and you'll screw it up by your own intellect as well. It will no longer have the meaning and the depth and the insight and the purpose that God gives through the power of His holy spirit. You'll make up your own ideas, just like the Protestant world does about whatever doctrine that they hold dear to themselves.

We only know the truth of God because God gives it to us. He loves us. He shares it with us. And we're blessed to share it with one another in life. You're able to share. You get through hearing a sermon, you get through reading a post, and you're able to share, you're able to converse with others in the body because we are blessed to see the same thing. We can go anywhere in the world and talk to someone in God's Church and they see the same thing. And you talk to anyone else – they can't see it. You can't talk to them about it. You can't share it with them. You can only share it with those whom God is working with and whom God has called. Awesome! Truly awesome!

God has revealed them unto us by His spirit for the spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God. It's just more and more and more. And the longer we're in the Church the more He can give to us and the more building that can take place and the more power that can work there through the power of His spirit to help us to see what we see, truths that we "see."

He went on to say, "And so these things are revealed by God—the things that God has in store for us. 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 the condition in which Jesus Christ says he will SPEW US out of his mouth!" He didn't know. He didn't know what was going to happen when that happened. He wasn't around to see what happened when the Church was spewed out of his mouth. But he believed it. He saw it because God blessed him to see it, "This is what's going to happen." How it would happen? What would take place in the Church? Couldn't know that; wasn't given yet. It wasn't to be given.

He went on to say, "You spit out of the mouth things you don't want in there any longer. And I think we'd better wake up!" Now, God isn't going to allow this Body, this remnant body, to become Laodicean. Just want that to be real clear. He's not going to allow that because of where we are in time and what He's already given to us and what He has planned and purposed. But He will allow individuals to become Laodicean in spirit. He will allow individuals, if by their choice they don't fight for this way of life, if they aren't stirred up in spirit, if they don't desire to draw closer to Him, if they don't acknowledge in their own being and mind that everything they have is God-given and God gives through the power of His holy spirit and that He does it and we're so blessed to have that and that we need to work hard, and harder than what we are.

And if individuals aren't willing to do those things, they won't be around much longer. They won't be around much longer. Because the majority of the cleansing has already taken place. And now we're being warned, if you will, admonished, if you will, that if we've been dragging along a little bit or a lot over the past few years, now is the time to, as Mr. Armstrong said, WAKE UP! Now is the time to wake up and ask God to help us to be awakened spiritually and be on fire spiritually. I can't help but get up here and be on fire about God's word, about what God gives to us to see and to know and to understand. Now would to God we could all be filled with fire! The right kind, if you will, God's spirit that fires you up in life and stirs you up so that when you read something you're stirred up, you're excited by it, you're moved by it! Now, if we're not moved by it something's wrong! Truly! If we're not moved by the things we have and stirred up by it and get excited and go share with God and say, "Thank you, Father, for sharing that. Thank you for giving us this. Thank you for helping us to see this. Thank you for your patience and your mercy. Help me to respond with zeal. Help me to respond with enthusiasm and excitement for your word!" That's why we went through the 57 Truths, because we need to be more excited about what God has given to us, because those are mighty things that God has shared with us of His mind, of His purpose, of His design, of His plan. It's exciting! It's inspiring! Should move and excite us mightily.

We don't have a whole lot of time to get done what we need to get done. But we do all need to be moving forward strong – not dragging the Body. Not dragging the Body in any fashion or form. Because I'll just tell you what God has given to me: If anyone is dragging the Body, bye-bye, sayonara, auf wiedersehen, dos vedanya, goodbye. I'm sorry. Can't have that! Because God's not going to allow it. I know that because I know what He's given to me, to be stronger in this than ever before, see? And I do not hesitate, as God's servant, to let someone know if you're not... This is not a time to play around any longer. This is not a time to play games with God in God's Church and God's truth. This is a time to press forward. This is a time to fight! I don't know how I could express that even more, to fight for this way of life. To fight for it. To want it! No one can give that to you. The want in you has to come out of you! I WANT what God has! I WANT what He's offering us! I cry out to God for it!

But no more playing of games. No more playing around on the sides here, you know, in the arena on the sides and not doing what we need to be doing – maybe getting more involved with employment, family on the outside, whatever it is that pulls us away! Those things exist, but they cannot pull you away! They can't pull you away from God's Church! They can by your choice, don't misunderstand... You know what I'm saying. Don't let them pull you away. Because they're pulling people away! Those kinds of things in life, life around you, the things you get involved in. If this way of life, if this Church, if what God is offering to you, if the truth isn't forefront in your mind and your being and with all of your desire, other things are going to pull at you and you're going to get sidetracked and you're not going to be around at next year's Feast of Tabernacles. You won't be here for next year's Feast of Tabernacles! And I'll tell you right now, some aren't going to be here for next year's Feast of Tabernacles – if they make it to this year's Feast! Now, that hurts. I don't like that. I don't like to preach about that. But that's what we have to address. Light a fire under yourself. Cry out to God for help.

Do you want to be there? Do you want...? You know, there are sixty-some thousand going to come along who are right now just asleep as sleep can be. They're in a spiritual coma. But when the light goes on, when God gives them the ability to "see" what they have done and where they are and to "see" things that you see now? Because we have that evidence in the truth in the Church as well, that when God starts drawing someone out of being asleep, all of a sudden it's there, they "see" it. Just like when you were first called and you began to see the Sabbath and the Holy Days and you "see" it. And how they respond then, and repent... There are going to be all kind of responses, don't misunderstand me. Some of them are going to be slow and barely be able to get into the Millennium, in that respect. But others are going to be on fire and they're going to pass some people up that have been around here for several years, fast. And that would be to our shame, because look what we've been given for as long as we've been given it to build upon.

And some, when you have opportunity in the remnant, in this Body that we've all been given, to sin against that, to treat that shabbily, to not throw ourselves into it, to grasp what we have been given and fight for it with all of our being is a far greater sin than what happened with Laodicea. Because everyone was destined as a part of Laodicea because God allowed it for a purpose – everyone succumbed to it. No one had the power to resist it. It's human nature and God allowed human nature to go it's full length after having been richly blessed spiritually to the degree it was. But now to be awakened, to grasp what took place in the Apostasy, to grasp the truths we've been given now and the abundance of blessings God's given to us and not to treat that with the kind of value we should be placing upon it just as we went through that sermon series, The 57 Truths, how much do we esteem and are in awe of what God has given to us? See? And that's what it comes down to. And I know, I understand that many are, mightily so, but maybe not to where we need to be or should be. And if there are just a few, seven, twelve, twenty, twenty-four, fifty that are lagging behind – not even being drug anymore – but not doing their part, that hurts. I don't want to see that. Driving up here today and think of all the people that have gone by the wayside who aren't here now. Not talking about all who used to be in the area in the Church. But I'm talking about after the Apostasy and those that came along and were a part of this Body and what God was working with before we were actually given the name of this body. And to see how many have gone by the wayside? That's mind-boggling! And it hurts. It doesn't feel good. I can see faces of people and I think of that song, "We walked to God's house side by side and counsel blended sweet," and so many of them have turned so hateful and evil in heart. Sad. Began to treat others, began to treat those in the truth with hatred, with ugliness. It's hard. It's not easy. It's the way of life, the things you go through. But brethren, if you want it you've got to fight for it with all of your being. Truly. Truly. Truly.

So again, I'm sorry I'm getting some of these interrupted here, places. But again, things about the Feast, it's not just the Feast, it's all the truths we've been given. All the truths – Feast, Holy Days, yes, he was addressing that, but I think of all we've been given.

Anyway, he went on to say, "I tell you, we need," again, "we need to wake up!" And there are some in the body right now that I know that God is going to shake them and has already started the process, of shaking some people up, that that shaking, sometimes to grab someone... You know when someone's asleep, sometimes just to give them a nudge. Have you ever done that? Gone up to somebody and said something and they don't hear a thing you're saying? They're out of it. They're asleep. They're in deep sleep. And you maybe go up and pat them on the side there, on the arm there, or whatever, and they just roll over. They're still not... they're not going to wake up. They're tired. Whatever it is. And you have to shake, to shake them out of their sleep.

What does it take on us sometimes, to shake us out of our sleep, spiritual sleep that we're drifting off into? Well, I'll tell you what, it's not a pretty thing, because it comes right up to the edge when it comes to that which is spiritual in God's Church. And sometimes past the edge, saying, "You're no longer a part." "You're no longer a part. Get your life in order. And when you feel that it is and you desire this way of life you're always welcome to contact us again." Not just welcome, but hopefully that's what happens. You don't want that, because at that point in your life few have ever gone past that. My experience has been there have been some who have, and I always rejoice in those individuals when they're able to address those things and come back fighting. I highly respect... I think of people out here that fight for things, fight for this way of life, that I wish everybody in the Body fought in the same way, and yet they would be looked down upon in some cases. I respect highly someone that gets knocked down and keeps fighting, gets knocked down and keeps fighting, gets knocked down and keeps fighting and fighting, and fighting. Because that's what you have to do with this way of life. That's what you have to do with this way of life if you really... Do you know what that reflects? Reveals, I should say? The desire that's in you. What is your desire? How much do you want this? So trials that come along sometimes, and sometimes feeling like we're getting knocked down by certain things, your opportunity to fight against that? See, either we're going to or we won't. And if we don't then is God going to continue giving us more? Or is there a choice and a decision made then about that individual? Millennium/Great White Throne. Because that's what happens. I've oversimplified it a little bit, but that's what happens. Fight for this way of life! Don't take it for granted! Don't take it for granted that you're going to be here at next year's Feast of Tabernacles. You don't know what's coming your way. You don't know what might try and test you yet. How are you going to deal with it? What can pull you away? What can pull you away?

That's why I love some of the scriptures that talk about, "What is it," in essence, "What can pull you away from the truth?" What power? What conviction do you have to fight against whatever it is that pulls at you? How strong are you? What kind of a stand are you willing to truly make, above and beyond where you are right now, for this way of life? How deeply embedded is that in you? What will you stand against? I don't care what it is for me. I really don't. There is... Well, anyway. And you've got to be convicted with all of your being. You truly do.

So he said, "I tell you, we need to wake up." I've never had a 12 part sermon yet; this may be the one. And if it is, I rejoice in that because I know where I'm going. I'm going all the way through this Bible Study to the end. We may pick up speed at some point.

"I tell you, we need to wake up! And the ministry needs to wake up! God's ministers need a new SPIRIT OF URGENCY and POWER." He saw things back in 1978 that I know now hurt him when he saw them, that he ached inside when he saw them. Because he knew if the ministry is this way where is the Church in their area? Because they can only be stirred up to the degree the minister is stirred up, because that's how it works, as a whole. Could some come through it without that? Yes, but very, very few, as a whole, and generally there are other reasons for that.

So again, he said, "Jesus Christ, the LIVING HEAD OF THE CHURCH, has been moving swiftly these last couple of months (these three or four months) to put his Church BACK ON THE TRACK—and so much more, because we now see the day approaching when Christ is going to appear." 1978. That was 1978! How convicted are you?  I know some of you are – to your last breath. Cause that might mean you're 80 years old, 90 years old, 100 years old? But you're convicted of this to your last breath. That's what it has to be, whatever it is!

And I think back at that point of time there, 1978. How many of you were here in 1978? Quite a few... quite a few. A small a group as we have, that's a lot. It's good to see. Exciting. Inspiring. You've had to do a lot of fighting along the way, but that fight isn't over, is it? And you know that. And the rest of us, the rest of all of you need to know that with all of your being.

So again, that's just the way our lives were back then. I've kind of joked about it, every car we've ever had we thought it was going to be the last one... the last one. Don't have to worry about getting another one. Cause I don't like having to go through that process. Always going to be, "This may be the last one." I so hope it's the last one now! But if it isn't, I'll get another one. Just keep going; that's what you have to do. But that's the way your life is. That's the way our life has been in God's Church.

Anyway, he went on to say, "WE are that generation." How many of us in that period of time, part of that generation? "And WE are the ones that are getting sleepy. And we're ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH..." 1978. He died in 1986, worked hard. The Church was stirred up. The Church was benefitted awesomely over the years that followed of him hitting it over and over again, putting the Church back on the right track. And people responded in a very powerful way. But as soon as he died it took about two years and things started going south (an old expression). They weren't good in what was happening. Until finally the Apostasy in 1994, the end.

So he said, "And we're ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH, brethren! And we're deciding that ‘MY LORD DELAY'S HIS COMING. LET'S SLUMBER, AND SLEEP.’ We read in the 25th chapter of Matthew while some of them were sleeping like that the Lord came and THE DOOR WAS SHUT. And they pounded on the door, and tried to get in. But Christ is going to say, ‘Go away, I never knew you. You haven't known me, and you haven't cared.’" Amazing! We understand things about Matthew 25. Now I think of how God has given us the ability to see things that we never saw before in there as well.

Going on, he said, "So I've assigned to the ministers that are speaking here and at the various Feast sites THE IMPERATIVE OBLIGATION to preach the meaning and the purpose of these Festivals. Not only the Feast of Tabernacles, but all the Festivals that show THE MASTER PLAN of God working out His purpose here below. Now, I plan to speak on this very theme tomorrow, on the first of the Holy Days." So again, this is his doing this televised thing that's going to be shown on the first night at the Feast.

He went on to say, "Let me say that this is the 51st year of these Festivals for me. I first began keeping them with my wife—my wife of 50 years, who was taken from me in death now way over 11 years ago. (But, God has given me another wife, finally.) But she and I began keeping these Festivals alone for seven years before we told the brethren that I had discovered that they were ordained forever and that we should be keeping them now." Awesome! Already discussed that. "That Christ did. The early apostles did. The early Church did. And, when I told the brethren in the Church then (and they were the Church that we find described as the SARDIS CHURCH in the Bible, the one that was spiritually dead), they laughed me to scorn. That's all. And they would not keep these Festivals. And so, far as I know, those same people have not begun to keep them even to this day." So he's saying, talking about that Sardis group with whom he split with, that they wouldn't accept any of these. And they couldn't see it so what happens when God reveals truth to individuals and they're cut off from the flow of His spirit? Well, we've experienced that a lot.

Going on, "And my wife and I kept them for seven years until the parent Church of this PHILADELPHIA ERA of the Church was founded, in August of 1933 in Eugene, Oregon. And that is the parent Church. And so, I've been continuing to keep these Festivals for 51 years. I know I'm the only one here that can say that. But I just want to tell you how much gratitude it gives me to see that it has grown into what is now, the largest Festival (or convention, or conclave) held by any church, or religious organization or group on the face of this earth every year. So now, there will be announcements. I will see you again tomorrow. And so I will say, good night, until tomorrow."

So you read through something like this and Mr. Armstrong giving this introduction to the Feast that was going to be played everywhere, and a bit of a history going back. Always a bit of history that God gives to us to bring us up to date where we are, to help us to see what He's been doing. And I think of the mixed emotions he had to have at this point in time because of what he had to say. Hope we see that. Because he's going through and explaining some things here about how important these Holy Days are, how important they are to God's Church. He's talked about ministers not preaching on the Holy Days and he made it an "IMPERATIVE OBLIGATION"— big capital letters, as it is written there, because he said it with tremendous force, power when he said it in this particular night or this particular thing that was going to be played on that night of the Feast when the Feast began. Because a lot of us don't realize that back then at that point in time there was a, as soon as you got to the Feast site, that evening there was an opening service. And a lot of times there there were – I don't know when that changed – but there were two services every day. So some of us experienced that, many haven't.

Anyway, so again, he was moved and excited by God's purpose and God's plan, of what God had done to bring the Church to what it was at that point in time. And yet what he was seeing was not pleasant because he saw a Church that was starting to become Laodicean in spirit. He saw a ministry that was becoming Laodicean. And as I mentioned, God isn't going to allow that to happen to this remnant Church, brethren. We're either going to be in or out. We're either going to be more on fire and excited and inspired.... And no one can do this for you! Just like Mr. Armstrong said he couldn't do this for anyone. He can't give it to anyone. I can't give this to anyone. And God already has – that's what's awesome – God already has given this to us. But it's what we do with it and it's how we respond that's so important, whether or not it stirs us up. And if we're not stirred up and moved and excited and motivated and make some changes... I mean make some changes in our life then something's wrong with our hearing and we're in grave danger. We're in grave danger spiritually, because the Body is going to continue to be cleansed and continue to become stronger and stronger spiritually. And we all have to make the choice to be a part of that or not. What a shame for the "or not's." And it's been that way ever since I've been in God's Church. But now is a far more critical time because of where we are. You're going to have to fight more, truly.

Then Mr. Armstrong went back to the flow of the Bible Study after he had given this intro to the Feast of Tabernacles, and he went on to say, "Now maybe we can get back on what I thought I would bring to you tonight as a Bible Study. Maybe I should have gone right into the prophecies, but I had something else that I thought I would go through. Did you ever wonder about THE TEMPLE THAT CHRIST IS COMING TO?" Awesome! This is incredible what he's addressing here! Because the Church didn't know at this time! They didn't really grasp that! That started in 1978 when he started to teach about this, that the Temple is the Church. You think, maybe, that the Church has always understood that – those of you who are new. 1978 he began to zero in on it. God gave him the power, the purpose to begin zeroing in on this, of who the Church is, of what the Church is, that it is the Temple of God. And that was just the beginning of the scratching of the surface in all this. I think of all the things that have been added after the Apostasy, that God revealed. And I think what a shame to everyone that was a part of the Body worldwide in Worldwide that lost this. Because a ministry lost it powerfully so. And then the Church lost it powerfully so because it wasn't taught and they didn't grasp it on a spiritual plane. They didn't grasp the significance of what that meant. Had they been able to do so we'd all have been able to "see" the Apostasy for what it was. We couldn't see it for what it was, the beginning, immediately.

He went on to say, again here, "Did you ever wonder about THE TEMPLE THAT CHRIST IS COMING TO? Now, you read in Malachi, the first chapter. (I mean the third chapter, and the first verse.)" So it's repeating exactly what he said. So let's just notice this, Malachi 3:1. And I think of how much more God has added to us since that time that wasn't learned quickly. A little bit by little bit over a pretty good period of time before we came to grasp some of these things even more deeply. Malachi 3:1—Behold you, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And we might not get into it, but there's really a lot more here. Anyway. "Now, that messenger was a human messenger for Christ's first coming." So this is what was given at that particular time. This is where the Church was at this point in time and this is what he had to say about it. "You'll read in the first chapter of Mark and beginning in verses 1, 2, and 3, and along in there, that it was John the Baptist preparing the way before the first coming."

So let's just take a little bit of time and notice some of these things. Again, Behold, I send you my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, reading all this, even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in. Behold he shall come says the Eternal of hosts. What a long prophecy. Not long in words, but long in fulfillment from the time it was given in Malachi to finally when it began to be "seen" in a small way during the time of Christ and to the disciples, the apostles at that time, and then all the way up to Mr. Armstrong, and then now. It's incredible!

Let's turn over to Matthew 17. We'll read some of this in there. This is in an area of scripture that's often referred to as the transfiguration, what took place with Christ three of the disciples that were with him. And they had gone up, they experienced something, they saw something, they came back down. So we're just breaking into the story here, verse 9. It says, [Matthew 17:9]—As they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, this vision, what they saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. They didn't know what he was talking about. They just knew they weren't to tell anyone until something happened. And they didn't know what had happened until after it happened. Incredible! And so they did it afterwards; they wrote these things. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elias, which is one that they saw, or Elijah, must first come? Speaking of the coming of God's Kingdom and what was going to be done, what was going to be accomplished. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias (Elijah) truly shall first come and restore all things. But I say to you that Elias has come already, and they did not know him but have done to him whatsoever they wanted. Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. So again, they didn't know what he was talking about here, about the Son of Man going to suffer of them as well. But it does say something here something they were given to see and understand at this point in time, of what he was talking about. Then the disciples understood that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist. And so Mr. Armstrong very powerfully, very clearly explained and showed that John the Baptist came in the spirit and the power of Elias (Elijah). He did what he did by the power of God's spirit for a purpose to accomplish a certain thing, to accomplish certain things that had to take place that had great meaning here when you refer back to Elijah and that spirit and that power that God worked through him.

Let's turn over here to Acts 3 and notice something else that's stated here. But again, there are things here that, again, talking about what had to be accomplished, what would happen before Christ would come. And so even before his first coming here it's talking about something that was done on a physical plane, in part, to be accomplished as far as Jesus Christ coming in the flesh as a human being living on this earth. And yet we're understanding that those prophecies apply to a time later on, of something that would have to happen toward the end time because there would be another coming – this one here the most awesome of all, in that respect, because Jesus Christ then returning as King of kings, as Lord of lords and what would be accomplished and fulfilled then. And Mr. Armstrong began to grasp and some in the ministry began to grasp and began to even have discussion with him that he was fulfilling some of these very same prophesies, and of what was to be restored in the Church, especially if you understand what took place after Sardis and the truths that God began to give before Jesus Christ would come, began to give within the Church. And those things have continued on. That's why we understand that there is more than one, there is more than two, and we understand there have been three occasions of this to be fulfilled. One on a very, on a more physical plane in the sense of his first coming, and two because of what had to happen toward the end-time after the Church was strengthened after Sardis that would lead all the way to the end, the end of an age.

Acts 3:1. I'm going to go through all this. There's a lot here, a lot of verses. I'm going to take the time to go through some of these, of what happened back here beginning on Pentecost in 31 A.D. because it leads up to a lot of things covered here. But I think it's worthwhile to discuss some of this in the context of this particular sermon and recognizing where we are in time.

Acts 3:1—Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful... So at this particular gate, he was always there. And it says, to ask alms of those who entered into the temple. So asking for an offering. Some people call it a hand out, whatever it is, asking for charity. He was always there seeking help. And so, anyway, we're going through the story of what took place here and what happened in this particular instance because it builds up to what is revealed later on – all part of the story. ...And so, who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked alms. So they were asking them. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, so he listened. He looked up at them expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold I do not have; but such as I have I give it to you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. Awesome! Awesome!

Now, how did they know to do that? You think they did it because they just decided they were going to say this? Do we understand? Are we at a place in our lives where we grasp that God Almighty and Jesus Christ gave this to them in their mind, communicated to them to their mind that this was to be done at that moment in time? Because if they'd done it on their own will without God communicating to them they would have been presumptuous and it wouldn't have happened. I hope we grasp that. I hope we understand how God's spirit works. They didn't just decide on their own that they could do this, that they were to do this. They were moved by God's spirit. That's a powerful thing in how God leads and guides and directs His purpose, how He leads and guides and directs His Church, how He leads and guides and directs His apostles and prophets. Because it's always been the same way. Truly has been. Awesome! It's by God's power. It's what God does. It's not what any human being does. It's not by their ability. Not at all. It's all done by God.

And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up. This is all for a great purpose. This was in the very beginning, right after Pentecost in 31 A.D. these things began to happen, some of the things that God began to move and work through the apostles that He began to do. And that's, even that is an awesome story – of healings, of miracles that God did in the beginning. Because some in God's Church through times past, even going back into Philadelphia and other times, have had this kind of thinking that that's something that is a proof of God's ministry, of God's apostles, of God's Church – of things of healing and so forth. And yet it is not. It is not. It's an awesome thing when God does something of that nature, but it was for the purpose of drawing people. It was for the purpose.... Think of the things that Jesus Christ did. It was for the purpose of drawing attention. People didn't understand what was going on, and very few were called out of those people's that saw and witnessed some of the things they witnessed. But God used it. And God used this for the Church to encourage a Church. The Church was just getting started. And God was showing something in a very powerful way that what Jesus Christ began, he's still doing – he is still doing in his Church through those that he's raised up to do a particular work at that time.

So, anyway, I've spoken about these things in times past and I've always felt, always believed that very few understand what that means and why those things are not happening now. Because this is not a time – I've made comment about this – this is not a time in God's Church for healings, as a whole. God does intervene at times in an individual basis in people's lives. But you know what happens most of the time because of a greater purpose that He's doing? He lets us experience those things. He lets us go through those things. He lets us grow old. He lets us get weak. He lets us have things happen to us, physical ailment and pain and hurt and suffering so that we can learn from it because we have to make choices all along the line. He doesn't always intervene and take away your problems, does He? And that's how we grow. It's one of the primary ways we grow because we live in faith. We don't get shaken by that. We don't get dissuaded by that. That's not the proof of our being a part of God's Church. That isn't the thing that holds us into God's Church – not by any measure. But they can be tools to help us grow.

If we asked God every time we turned around and had something... "I'm going through this financial trouble." Did you make... What kind of decisions...? "Well, that's another matter. I'm sorry; I repent of that." Just talking about human nature. But there are times in life we pray about finances... and that's good to pray about things in our life and share with God. But just because certain things don't always work out and we have to suffer through them and we have difficulty going through them doesn't mean that God isn't there. We learn that in God's Church. We truly do, in a very powerful way. The truth you know, the truth you're able to see is far, far greater. The miracle – that's why I can't help but think back years ago thinking about some of these things when God was revealing them – the greatest miracle that ever happened and it happens in your life is the transforming of your mind. To be able to see truth, to be able to change, to be able to think differently. There is nothing greater that can happen in the human mind because that's where all physical things and physical healing leads to, a grasping and understanding. That is something God is doing with the mind. His desire is to heal your mind. Which would you rather have? The healing of your mind or your body healed? What is more important? Being in strong, physical health till the day you die or having the truth of God in your life and knowing the truth and being able to have your mind transformed because of it? They're not comparable. You can't compare the two. You can't begin to compare the two, truly.

Anyway, could give a sermon on that. And if I don't stop, I probably will.

So he said, I don't have silver or gold to give to you; but what I do have, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And jumping up he stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and jumping, and praising God. Can you imagine? He didn't know the truth. Doesn't show here that he was ever called into the Church, but he was there for a purpose.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God. And they knew that it was he who sat for alms at the gate called Beautiful of the temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to him. Now, it didn't make people repent and change and receive the truth, because you can't unless your mind is opened, unless you're drawn to the truth. Now, if someone did then it's because God had opened their mind and they were drawn to the Church. But it wasn't because of this. And these kinds of things don't change people. Going through the Red Sea, a giant sea with two walls of water on both sides of you don't change your mind in the way you think and your attitude and the way you think about others! It doesn't change selfishness! It doesn't transform the mind. You get on the other side and you start complaining, "This is hard! We had it better back there when we were back there in our camps and stunk and smelled and we had food, you know, and not out here in the desert where there is no water right now, no abundance in food." You think of the Israelites. Anyway, we are the same way spiritually sometimes in our lives. We look at them and think, "How could they ever have done that?" All we have to do is look in a spiritual mirror at ourselves and we can understand how they did that.

So they were filled with amazement of what they saw, but it didn't change a thing. They went right back to living the same old way of life! Isn't that incredible? It only benefited those who were a part of God's Church. It only gave strength and benefit and help and encouragement to those who were being called, truly, to realize that something was going to continue on, that God was doing something great. Awesome!

Verse 11—And as the lame man who was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, You men of Israel... So this was a part of what happened, an opportunity to preach something, an opportunity to teach something. How many really heard it? Anyway, something to write about, something that's written for us and has been for all who have been able to read it for the past nearly 2,000 years now. And when Peter saw it, he answered the people, You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why do you look so earnestly on us as though we by our power or holiness have made this man to walk? Is that what moves you? Is that what stirs you? You're looking on us as though we have some great power that we made him walk, and so you're moved by that and you wonder at that, at who we are or what we are? They're missing the mark. They're missing the point. They don't...

Anyway, he went on to say, The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified His Son Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted to you. Shows the depth of the thinking of human beings, doesn't it? Incredible! He's saying he's the one, the one that you'd rather have a murderer released to you and would rather see him nailed to a pole. The Just One, he's the one that's done this.

Verse 15—And killed the Prince of life, whom God has raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. Pretty powerful opening. Pretty powerful door to preach something. How many did it benefit? Only those who were called. Only those drawn by God's spirit could benefit. Only those whom God would call through time could benefit by reading through the story. Because it's inspiring. Inspires me as I read it! Should inspire you as you read it. Almost sends chills up and down your spine when you realize he said, "In the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk!" Awesome! A lame man, and power that was given to him physically. That's awesome! Inspiring! And his name, going on, and his name through faith in his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. It wasn't something that this man had. It wasn't something that this individual had in his beliefs, in the sense of his convictions of someone who died and was resurrected for him, who died for him and was now at the right hand of God Almighty and giving his power. This individual wasn't being drawn at this point in time it doesn't show or reveal in any fashion or form. It wasn't a foreknowledge he had. Pentecost just started! It was the apostles. It was what they knew. It's by what they did because of that belief that they had and the faith that they had. And they did what they were inspired in the mind to know and to see at a moment's time and they stated what they stated because it was communicated to them in their being. Awesome! Awesome!

And now, it goes on to say, and now, brethren, I would not that through ignorance you did it, as your rulers also did. But those things, which God before had shown by the mouth of all the prophets, that Christ should suffer, He has so fulfilled. And so again, here it's preaching to those who can hear – only to those who can hear. All the others standing around there who couldn't hear, they didn't benefit from it. Not then. You know what? Someday they will. Someday they will and all this will come back to them in a moment. They'll be mightily moved by it because they were there.

Verse 19—Repent, therefore, and be converted. That's one of the first things people coming into God's Church, that they're told, in essence, or they're to come to see and understand. We're to repent. The word that means "to think differently." If you want to change, if you want to respond to God's calling you've got to begin to think differently from your way to God's way. See? To accept, to receive what God feeds us, what He gives to us, what He delivers to us. To think differently and be converted. And that thinking differently indeed means to repent. It means to go before God and ask for forgiveness of our sins. And that's a part of the process of transformation and thinking differently, obviously. "And be converted," changed. We're to change.

And we are not to coast! We are not to take it easy! We're not to drift along and just go through the motions of our everyday life, getting up every day, doing the same routine day after day in the sense of a physical world around us and getting drug out there into our thinking about it, or pulled out there in our thinking about it. Yeah, we have work to do. We have things we need to accomplish and do in a physical world, but our motivation and our focus needs to be what God has called us to share in, to be a part of. And a lot of that has to do with just our responding and changing. Changing. Being converted. Thinking differently. Being different. Growing! We can't coast! This way of life is not about coasting! Every time I see somebody coasting I know what's happening in their life – they're right at the brink and the edge, living on the edge. And in time they're gone – gone, gone, gone, gone! I don't like that.

Think of all those in Detroit that I preached to since God's blessed us, since the Apostasy, and where are they? Where are they? What choices did they make? What truths did they not like? What power did they not like? Because a lot of it has to do with authority and power God gives. And God's going to do it one way, in a powerful way, and people who won't yield to that and think they have a better way or it should be done some other way God doesn't have patience with it. "This is the way, walk you in it." This is the truth. This is how it's coming to you. That's how God works with us. Incredible. It's about God. It's about the truth. It's about the way of life He's given us to live. It's not about how we think it ought to be. That isn't how God works.

So anyway, he went on to say, Repent you, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And He shall send Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you. Whom the heaven must receive until the time of the restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. The one who truly fulfills all the things having to do with the spirit of Elijah. He is the one. Jesus Christ is the one to restore all things. And you know where it leads? Which is a sermon for the future. It leads to God Almighty. It leads to everyone coming to God Almighty, to being in His Kingdom, when it's all finally finished, when it's all finally complete – when everything can be handed back over to God Almighty. That's awesome to understand! There is a lot of work to be done in the next 1,100 years. And there is a lot of time to restore a lot that needs to be restored. Because it's not just about things that were lost in the Church. It's not just about things, it's about things that go back to the beginning before man was ever put here, before the earth was ever created, when Lucifer did what he did. To restore everything. It's going back to restore everything going all the way back to restoring peace, to when there finally will be spiritual Jerusalem. Incredible! Because that's where it's going, the restitution of all things. And Jesus Christ is the one that fulfills this all. And he's, frankly, the one who fulfills it anyway. He did through Mr. Armstrong. He has through his apostles.

Now returning to the flow of what Mr. Armstrong was teaching in that Bible Study. He said here of “Malachi 3:1—And the Lord whom you seek [which is Jesus Christ], shall SUDDENLY come to his temple... Well, what about that? Where is THAT TEMPLE?" Now, I read this today and I think that's a marvel! 1978! That this wasn't being focused upon, built upon, preached in a powerful way to the Church until this Bible Study. I don't know about you, but to me, that's astounding. To not know, to not see completely and fully what this meant, what it meant here in Malachi, what it means in so many of the old Testament prophecies that talk about a Temple and what God was doing and what it's about and all the scriptures throughout the New Testament, to understand fully what this is all about? To understand what it says in Matthew 24, the stones of the Temple? Because we didn't grasp that. We didn't even grasp that then! That they'd all be scattered, torn down, that that was about what was going to happen during the time of the Apostasy? We didn't know that. Awesome!

Now he went on to say, "Now, I remember we were discussing that over at Bricket Wood some ten years ago." So he's going back ten years now, in 1968 what they were discussing at Bricket Wood. I came along in 1972 in Bricket Wood and they were still discussing it, parts of it. Because they could only discuss what God brought to light through Mr. Armstrong. And they'd begin to discuss some things and begin to throw some things around, but not see it yet, because it wasn't time yet to see it all.

Says, "Now, I remember we were discussing that over at Bricket Wood some ten years ago. And we said, 'Well, is there any indication that the Jews are going to build a temple?'" Because that's what the focus was, it's a physical thing, the building of the temple. Because, you see, it's about certain prophecies that the Church understood had to be fulfilled, that had to take place in the end-time. And there are certain prophecies about an abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. So for this to happen, when is the temple going to be rebuilt? For this to happen again so that Jesus Christ will return? Because it happened before so it's going to happen again. Didn't see it spiritually at all because God hadn't given it. You cannot see what you cannot see. And then when you do you look back on something like this in kind of a marvel. I look back at this in somewhat of a marvel thinking, "That's awesome! You can't see what you can't ‘see.’" Isn't that what he just read back there in 1 Corinthians? We can only see what we can see. We compare spiritual things with spiritual things when God gives them because God has to give them. So even the scriptures he quoted in 1 Corinthians 2, we weren't there yet, on this part, to grasp and understand what it meant. I don't know about you, but all I can say is, "Mind-boggling! Incredible!"

Anyway, he went on to say, "And there was a rumor that maybe the Jews, when they took Jerusalem in the Six Day War… And that was back... In fact, that was just after my wife died, in the year 1967." So they were looking back, they were thinking about that period of time and thinking maybe... maybe. "The Israelis took over the old city of Jerusalem," he went on to say, "And Jerusalem (you know, like the city of Berlin), had been a divided city up to that time. And many of us wondered at that time..." Wondered, "…how is this going to be fulfilled?" And so he's talking about him, probably some of the ministry there who were teachers and instructors over Ambassador College, Bricket Wood. That's who he'd be meeting with, some of the evangelists. And so they were talking about some of these things. "And many of us wondered at that time if the Jews were going to demolish the Dome of the Rock, which is the large Moslem temple there, and build a temple to which Christ would come." Because, you see... Well, that's a toughie. It's the third holiest site of Islam, is it? I think it's the third holiest, isn't it? And I don't want to go into some of the history of things that have happened in times past, but anyway, that would be quite an uprising if they did come in there and try to do that, wouldn't it? That makes you think a little bit more... Anyway.

So it's said here they were wondering about this. He says, "But I don't know why we didn't understand. IT'S VERY, VERY PLAIN IN THE BIBLE ABOUT THAT TEMPLE. And I thought maybe it would be good if I explained that to you tonight." And where were all the ministers who needed it? Where? I look back at history, at some things that take place and I think of the very thing that happened. The evangelists weren't there. The instructors, ordained instructors at the college, they weren't there at the Bible Study, at the very Bible Study they needed to have more, probably, than anything else that Mr. Armstrong had said in a long, long, long time.

But because they weren't there you know what happened? God didn't let them have it later. God didn't let them have it later either. They may have grasped a little bit here and there about what was being said, but they didn't get it spiritually. Because later on when things began to happen toward the end, before the Apostasy, and afterwards and those ministers who came through it and some of these things discussed in part, couldn't grasp and understand, could not remember what Mr. Armstrong taught at a Bible Study back in 1978 and continued to teach in the Church and speak about at different times from that point forward. And so they weren't allowed to keep it. And because they weren't allowed to keep it they never grasped what happened to them. They were never given "the eyes to see" what happened during the Apostasy, because they rejected what God gave at that time. Incredible! They looked down upon it. They didn't esteem it as they should have.

That's not a small thing I'm talking to you about today. This, what we're going through right now, is not a small thing that happened in God's Church. It was a turning point, in a very powerful way, of things that were to happen later on – much of it to God's ministry... and the Church as well.

Now going on it says, he went on to say, "Now these books..." There are things in history that happen sometimes that blow me away, truly. And this is incredible what we're going through in this particular Bible Study and we're discussing, because so much of it applies to us today on a spiritual plane that they couldn't see. It wasn't for the Church back then, but it is for us today. Awesome to go back and see all the history of what's happened to us and what God's giving to us through this.

So he went on to say, "Now, these books of the Old Testament are not so-called ‘Old Testament stuff.’ THEY WERE WRITTEN FOR US!" Some people had that attitude in the Church at times, "That's the Old Testament!" Oh? Anyway, "I'm going now to the book of Haggai. What I just read was in the last book of the Old Testament, in Malachi. But these books were written at a time when BOTH Israel and Judah were IN CAPTIVITY. And the only people in Jerusalem was a small contingent, comparatively small, of the Jews who had been sent back 70 years after the destruction of the temple (which means about, let me see, that would be around 475 B.C.) to build the second temple. And so, as a matter of fact, this book of Haggai talks about the building of the second temple. And it starts out... You may think this is just some old history. Oh, no, it isn't. This is a prophecy for NOW. So, let's listen..." So this is in [Haggai] 1:1. Ah, you know what, that's a good place to begin next week.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1