Herbert W. Armstrong, Pt. 3

Ronald Weinland

June 18, 2016

Well, greetings to everyone out there on this Pentecost weekend, and to all of you gathered together here today in the Scottsdale, actually Scottsdale, Arizona, not Phoenix. So, anyway, welcome to everyone here. People from clear across the country, whether it be New York to California. Obviously California is a little closer. Tennessee up to Utah. And what state have I missed? Any? I'm sorry, Colorado, yes. Colorado. Idaho... Idaho. I'm really doing bad here today. Where? Oh yeah, Georgia. Saw you coming in. Georgia, Colorado, Washington. I should just go up and down each row because several of you came in later, not all of you. Have to find some kind of an excuse here. I haven't been doing very well in that area, trying to make sure I catch everybody ahead of time. So, anyway.

I thought I'd make comment here in talking with different ones of you and also to some in other areas this past week, or even in the last couple of weeks. It's kind of unique when you approach a Holy Day season, whether it be Unleavened Bread or even Pentecost or the Feast season in the fall, that a lot of things come our way. And this year here even more so it seems like, in a lot of cases, people being bombarded with things from the outside, whatever it might be, making a little more difficult, the trials a little more difficult. And so if anyone is out there experiencing some really difficult times, don't feel alone. Okay? We're in this together. Those things are pretty common, but I think especially this year even more so there are things that are more stirred up it seems like and a lot of those things are there to distract people, to get you sidetracked from what your focus needs to be, should be, and getting your lives in a stronger relationship with God. And so if... There are beings out there that don't like that.

Anyway. I have some other announcements I hope to make within the context of this sermon as we go along here. One other thing I do want to make comment – I have the dress for Hawaii; this is Arizona. We are up above a hundred today, I believe. 103 isn't it today? And that's a warm... that's a cool front, I should say. That's a cool front for here because it was... What was it... a 114? 117? Oh, wow! But it's a dry heat. And so some in Cincinnati made comment about being down here, being so hot and so forth. Well, you have to be careful what you say sometimes, because it's in the mid-90's, I think, up there today, and it's much muggier up there. And I'd far rather have the dry heat than the kind of stuff there in the Cincinnati area right now. So I guess the planning wasn't all that bad. Just kidding!

It really is great to be here, to see everyone, familiar faces. And people haven't changed much. It's been quite a long time since we've been able to have the opportunity of being here... and seeing smiling faces and so forth. But great to have a good size crowd here today.

And before I begin, I'm not getting on to anyone as I go through this sermon, okay? But I will be speaking stronger than perhaps sometimes. And some of you have been hearing that in sermons anyway. It is the subject matter. It isn't directed specifically at you, though it's for all of us. Okay? We understand that. But there may be a few times... I just thought I'd give that before I get started here, that I'm not picking on anyone. Because there are things that happen sometimes, you say in sermons, that is going to affect different ones and more so than others. It's going to affect all of us totally if we take it personally, which we are to take sermons personally, to drink in what we can drink in, to receive what God has for us. But, anyway, just wanted to say that before I got started.

Today we are now going to pick up from where we left off in the current sermon series entitled, Herbert W. Armstrong, and of course, this here is Part 3.

And what I'm going to be doing from time to time, I intend to primarily be speaking when I visit other areas, but when I'm in the Cincinnati area, as a whole, when I can I'm going to plug in some other sermons from some of the others. So, again here, this is a continuation of this particular series here and we're going to back up just a little bit and look at what Mr. Armstrong was focusing upon as he introduced the scripture in Malachi 3:1 that we left off on a couple of weeks ago, and this referring to as he was commenting on the temple that Malachi was referencing.

So, again, I just want to quote this, you don't need to turn there necessarily, but he quoted, "Malachi 3:1," and it says, "And the Lord whom you seek, who is Jesus Christ, shall SUDDENLY come to his temple. Well, what about that? What is THAT TEMPLE?" I still marvel as I read this. And I was going over it here again this morning, just reading some of this thinking about it. And I, first of all, recognize an awesome blessing that I have, an ability of when I came into the Church back in 1969, and then '72 going to Ambassador College, and being able to focus upon in a very powerful way the latter part of his work. Not there during the first part, nor the middle part, but the latter part of his work. And the things that were impressed upon my mind, and this period of time being one of them, especially after he'd had his heart attack and was brought back with the kind of power that he had, and then went all the way up to 1986 in January when he died and the kind of power that God gave to him to finish a job that he had to do, that God had given him specifically for the Philadelphia era of His Church. And those things are awesome when you understand some of our history and what we've gone through and the lessons that are to be learned.

As I mention many times, all the eras that are mentioned there in Revelation, all the Church eras, the seven eras, we can glean out of all seven eras, but there are specific eras that were specific periods of time that highlighted, that was a hallmark, if you will, or an identification of that particular era, what they would be like and what they would need to focus upon even more so. And so Mr. Armstrong was given a period of time, the Philadelphia era, to do a specific work toward the end-time. And in that period of time, basically, even starting with this message here, is when he was being given the strength once again to come back very powerfully for the sake of the Church and for the work that was yet to be done. And this was in 1978. And I don't remember the exact month, June or July I believe it was. He was getting ready and prepared a message here for the beginning of the Feast, the opening night, that was going to be presented everywhere. And that was part of what we've been going through. And now he's talking about this that was being revealed to him.

Now, what's awesome to me was it wasn't until 1978 that God began to show him what the temple was all about. We read things like this and there is so much that we have in knowledge and information that God has given to us and it's as though we've always had it, we've always known it. And we haven't. Just like this, there are periods of time. That's why I love the phrase, "the present truth!" Because you cannot know any more than what God gives you to know at any moment specifically in time. And there is nothing we learn on our own. If there is no other lesson in life that you can learn – because so many in God's Church forgot this and began to turn away from this basic knowledge of a calling that God gives – you can only know and continue to know what God gives you to know. You can't know any more! You can't know any more than what God gives you!

Now, I get a little riled up when I think about that, when I speak about that, because I have seen hundreds and hundreds of people, and especially in the ministry – I'm not talking about a few, I'm talking about hundreds that I've personally known – that turned away from this basic knowledge! Because if they had known this or remembered it and kept it in their mind they would have known how they came into God's Church! They came into God's Church through everything that Mr. Armstrong gave to them! They didn't come in by their own intellect, by what they were able to receive out of a Bible or through their study in a Strong's Concordance. And today we have computers where we can search things so quickly, so fast. And no one learns more and no one learns the truth on their own! That is such a farce! And so people later on when they could make the comment – and I'm talking about, not people, I'm talking about those ordained in the ministry who were there ten, twenty, thirty, forty years in God's ministry and could only say about Mr. Armstrong later on, "Well, he was a great teacher," or "He was a good..." They wouldn't even say "great." "He was a good teacher and I learned a lot of things from him."

My blood pressure is up right now. And for me, that's probably good. But I'll tell you what, that just riles me up! "I learned a lot of good things from him." And I'd like to take such a person –and I heard it from several people, several ministers – like to grab them by the collar around their neck and pull them up and say, "Don't you understand that you learned everything that you know through what God gave to that man! You didn't learn diddly-squat on your own! And you don't have any knowledge that's true right now save what you got from and through him." Now, it comes from God, we understand that, but there's a way that God works in His Church. And if what I've said up to this point in time, if that's all a person knows, they know a lot. They know a lot! Because everybody that went by the wayside went by the wayside because they didn't remember that basic truth about their calling. God. Does. The. Calling. He brings us to His Church and then He feeds us and He nurtures us through His ministry. That's how He works! That's how His spirit works! That's how his spirit comes into our life, through the teachings He gives. And so here is present truth, after so long a time. So basic! This is basic stuff to us. But they didn't know it in Philadelphia in 1978, in the beginning of it. They didn't know it! They didn't know that the temple spoken of in the Old Testament over and over and over again was all about God's Church.

Now, that ought to be awesome to you, to understand that. They didn't know it! They couldn't know it. They didn't grasp it! And here God was revealing it to His apostle, Mr. Armstrong, in 1978. And now they're going to have new knowledge to build upon. And this very knowledge that God gave to him after his heart attack, and after he came back stronger than he ever was in any part of his life, and all the things that led up to his death and the power that he was given, the ministry didn't retain. They didn't retain this truth. For if they had retained it they would have understood after the Apostasy what happened to God's Church, the Temple, when one stone was not left upon another and all the prophecies that Jesus Christ gave that were going to happen in Matthew 24, and Chapter 25 of Matthew. So it's awesome how God works with us.

We ought to be so humbled to understand who we are, what we are, that we rely upon our Great God to teach us, to lead us, to guide us, to direct us. And we should have a great thirst and hunger to be fed by Him, to be nurtured by Him, to be empowered by Him. Because that's where it all comes from. Doesn't come out of us. What comes out of us is evil. Do you realize that? If you're talking about us, of and by ourselves, what comes out of us is not good. Human nature is not good. It is evil because it is based on selfishness, and selfishness is evil; it isn't good. I hope we understand that. Selfishness is not good.

When a person is motivated by selfishness there is no love of God in that, so that in it self should teach us great things. The love of God comes from God. That mind that is the opposite of selfishness comes from God. He is the source. And only through a transformation of your spirit that's in your mind, through the power of His holy spirit, can you begin to exercise things that come from Him, His love.

I want to add another part here in this series. I think of a question that came up recently by a young person in the Church. Astute. Needs to be asked; needs to be answered. We all need to know the answer. I don't know that we do. I don't believe we do. When I first came back I started talking about the strength and the power and where we were in the Church as a matter of faith – stronger than I've ever seen it in God's Church. But the individually astutely asked, in essence, then why have I been speaking here, especially in this particular series, about the weaknesses in God's Church and the lack of strength in God's people? Because I have. And I hope you understand that. I hope you understand the great difference there. It's a matter of we are not where we need to be. Having great faith and believing all the things that we're able to believe is not enough.

That's why if you can go back and learn from and grasp... And this is one the most powerful ways to grow. It's one of the most powerful ways I have come to know and understand God. It's by seeing what He gives to us and when He gives it to us. I have learned through time to go back and look at what God's giving and to see a pattern. It's a building process. If we understand God, we will see that as He gives us things, things to learn and truth, that He's building. He's building in our lives. He's building in the Temple. And as we yield to that process we continue to grow and grow and grow.

And so though we be strong in faith, we have more that we need to grow in. That's why if you go back and just look at the titles of the sermons in the last few months we should see what God's doing. Because, you see, this is what God's doing. He's doing something specific today in the sermon series and He has in several sermons before this. And one of the big things is this matter of love. It's a matter of love. If we don't know how to love, if we aren't transformed in our minds to a point of being able to better love one another and to have a love that is not selfish – I'm talking about something that is not motivated by selfishness. Because there are so many things in our lives that, candidly, when it comes to relationships, are simply motivated by selfishness. And that's ugly. It's evil. We really need to come to see that. It's ugly, ugly, ugly, despicably ugly. It really is. Human selfishness stinks. It's a cesspool. It's evil. It's rotten! But it so rules human life. And it rules a lot of lives, too much so. And within the Church that should not rule our lives. It should not have the kind of control that it does. On the contrary, we should be conquering and overcoming selfishness. We should be coming to a point in time in our life that we loathe and hate selfishness. We should hate the motivation of selfishness when we see how we've treated or talked about someone, when we see that mind and think, "Where did that... Did that come from God? Does that come from God?" Does that kind of thinking?

That's why, I guess, I'm going to have to be real candid and open about certain things that mercy is shown, and God shows a lot of mercy in the Church. And there have been a lot of people being shown mercy in the last few months. There have been a lot of people put out since I've come back. I don't like that. Out of fellowship with the Church, a continual cleaning up of the Church. Some have been allowed to come back – strictly in mercy at this point in time – not because they've proven themselves, not because of fruit in their life. And I'm speaking boldly and candidly about that. I'm just telling you a reality. Okay? Because they're not living what they should be living. We are to love one another. I'm not a referee in human relationships. I'm not a referee in human relationships, and neither is any other minister in God's Church. See? I'm not going to sit down for hours and hours and hours and go through with people, like we tended to do in times past, and sit down with families, husbands and wives, and listen to different stories and both sides of the story, of where they're coming from and then try to referee the situation or tell them what they should or shouldn't be doing.

I can tell you what you should be doing! You should be loving one another! Okay? And if you don't know how to love one another by now then something is wrong with you. It's not wrong with God. It's not wrong with the other person. It's wrong with you! Regardless of how the other person responds to you, you have one option in life, and that's to love others. That's to be caring toward others. It's to learn to be unselfish towards others, and giving.

So I'm not going to play a referee. I'm just going to come back and tell you you better love each other or get out of this Church! Why are you here? If you can't resolve your differences... Now, sometimes you can't make another person do something different, but you can live this way and you can love another person and you can show love toward them. Okay? And they may not respond. That's their fault! But you better do your part. And God will judge. And God will deal with you. And these situations that are coming up and continuing on, I'm just telling you, I'm warning everyone that God is dealing with these situations and He will intervene in your life. I don't have to. He will take care of it. Okay? Because we're at a time in the Church of God that we are beyond playing games with God.

So... I don't like giving sermons like this, but I'll tell you what, they're needed. We need to get along with the program that's in front of us. We need to get our minds right with God and we need to live this way of life right toward one another. There is no excuse for two people to argue, to despise each other, to loathe what the other one is doing in a marriage, in a relationship of any kind within God's Church. To be envious toward someone else, to be jealous toward someone else, to dislike someone else, to hold something against someone else, to not be willing to forgive and forget everything that's happened in the past, to put it behind. That doesn't mean you have to be stupid in how you deal with people if someone has mistreated you and continues to mistreat you. But you've got to give them time. Where is the forgiveness? Where is the patience? Where is the long suffering!

God says we're to be long suffering. I think of how He's been long suffering with me in my life. Long suffering because He sees the potential of something greater if we'll continue to respond and have a little growth here, a little growth here and keep growing. But when we're not growing... Wow! Do we understand where we are? Do we understand the time we live in? That's my life. I don't think I have a whole lot more time. I know I have exactly as much time as God's going to give me, just as He gave to Mr. Armstrong, to get a job done. I don't know how much longer that is. Might be right at three years. Might be twelve. Might be more. It doesn't bother me. It shouldn't bother you. If God has a purpose for something continuing on... You know what? This is God's work! And if God wants to alter something for a different purpose, who am I? Do I necessarily enjoy it, to go through all that? I don't enjoy having to go through all the trials of life. But I know there is no other way I can change and grow and be a part of God's Family and so I embrace it and I love it. I love every trial I've gone through, every hardship I've gone through. Because it's made me something different. And that's what's unique about God's way of life. Embrace the hardships but strive to make changes in your personal life, because a lot of times God will show you things as well that need to be changed in your life as you go through some of the hardships. And a lot of it goes back to how you think and how you reason and what needs to be changed in your thinking.

So that's why I'm going to make it abundantly clear about 2019. I believe it with all my being that that's where we're headed. But I also know and understand that that can change at any moment in time if God has a purpose for it. I'm ready for that. Whether I'll be allowed to go on beyond that, I have no idea – if it goes on beyond that. So what are you in this for? What are you here for? Why are you in Sabbath services? Why are we at this Pentecost weekend, wherever we are, wherever you're gathered together? You love God. You love God's way of life. You love the truth, the Sabbaths, the Holy Days, the changes you're able to make in your life, that you're able to grow and become something different.

I loathe what I was before I was called at 19. I loathe the ugliness of human nature even by that age, what a person has become. Because you are what you are by that time. You are what you are in life. Everything you went through in your young childhood years, through your teenage years makes you what you are later on. And you're pretty well set as to who you are by that time. And so whenever it is that God reaches down and draws you out of that, how awesome is that? How awesome is that? I don't care what kind of hardships we go through. I don't care what kind of trials we go through. How much value do you place on that? Anyway, that has a lot to do with the message today.

We are the Temple and we're blessed to know many things. We have been given more than any people at any time in history. That's awesome. We know more about God. We know more about Jesus Christ. We know more about the Church. We know more about God's purpose. We know more truth than at any time in human history. Paul! Peter! James! John! They didn't come close to knowing what you know. Daniel! David! Moses! Now, the most important part, they knew. And do you know what that most important part was and is? It's how you live toward one another. It's the change in mind. God can give you all knowledge, all understanding at any moment in time. He can open up your mind and fill your mind at any moment in time. But it's what you live and how you live it that's important.

That's what this Church is all about. It's about change. It's about birth. It's about being begotten, being begotten into this way of life and having opportunity to begin to go through a transformation in a form of an embryo, and then one day then be born and change completely – not just the mind that begins to be transformed and changed so that we can be born, but eventually our entire life becomes spirit in composition, and a fully spirit mind always in unity and harmony, always with God in it and each one of us in God. That which we're able to experience now in various ways, in various strengths. Sometimes we get cut off totally because of our sin. We don't even realize that. You don't know it, it just happens, because God will not dwell in sin. That's why repentance is so important. As soon as you have sinned you better know, you better do it, you better go before God and say, "Father, forgive me." I don't care how many times. You've got to keep fighting. You keep fighting it. You keep fighting against your mind. You keep fighting against the sin and you keep asking God for forgiveness and for help to change so that He'll continue to dwell in you. Because you can't last too long on your own and you start getting weak and you start letting down in different things and one thing leads to another and eventually....

Many have been called. Talking about that before services. So many people have been called through time. So many people, for whatever reason, have turned their back on their calling, have turned their back on the mercy that God gave to them and went a different way for another person, for sex, sexual pull, whatever it might be, addictions of certain kinds because they can't deal with reality of life, or just don't want to deal with the hardship, don't want to have to deal with the fact that you have to address human nature and you get tired of the fight and the battle. What do you mean you get tired of the battle and the fight? This is what it is to go from the point of begettal to the point of birth. You have to go through that. And if you choose not to then you can't have that birth. That's as simple as it gets. It's a battle. How much do we want that? Are we willing to go through the battle and fight?

Going back to this. So he says, "Well, what about it? Where is THAT TEMPLE?" He went on to say, "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?’ 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. The Israelis took over the old city of Jerusalem. 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 if the Jews were going to demolish the Dome of the Rock (which is the large Moslem temple there), and build the temple to which Christ would come." 1967. Fully, fully, 100% believing that the temple on the temple mount, in that area, right there in Jerusalem had to be rebuilt! Why? Because of what it says about the end-time about the Abomination of Desolation. Not knowing it was spiritual, but knowing there had to be another time like Antiochus Epiphanies who offered the swine upon the altar and desecrated it in the holy areas. And so that's why we've talked about what we have, about a temple being built and so forth, and it wasn't about a physical temple. But this is what they believed all the way up till 1978, still believing this – that a temple had to be built. And Mr. Armstrong in 1978 started saying, "No, it's about the Church!" And he did so up till 1986 when he says the Temple is about the Church! And the ministry lost sight of it and didn't hold on to that truth. Otherwise, they would have known the Abomination happened in the Temple of God just as God said it would. Spiritual!

So he went on to say, "But I don't know why we didn't understand." Well, he knew, but he didn't say it here. "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."

"Now those books in the Old Testament are not so-called ‘Old Testament stuff.’ THEY ARE WRITTEN FOR US. I'm going now to the book of Haggai. What I just read was in the last book in 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 that 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 that second temple. As it starts out, you may think this is just some old history. Oh, no, it isn't! This is prophecy for NOW! So, let's listen."

What an incredible thing that the ministry that wasn't there foreshadowed what would come. They didn't hear. They weren't there to listen. Shows a spirit and an attitude that was already deeply, deeply, deeply entrenched in God's Church that would show its ugly head after Mr. Armstrong died. Incredible what can happen to human beings.

So anyway, we're back to where we left off the other sermon. Little bit longer and I could have had one whole sermon just on this, I guess. Anyway. "Haggai 1:1—In the second year… This is Haggai—that just about the second or third in the Old Testament." As he says, "Last book of the Old Testament. Haggai 1:1—In the second year of Darius the king... And this was the Medo-Persian Empire now. ...in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Eternal to Haggai, the prophet, unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel (now, Zerubbabel is the governor of Judah), and to Joshua (who is the high priest)," and he went on to say here in the scripture, "...the son of Josedech, saying, Thus speaks the Eternal of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." And he went on to say, "You know, that's a prophecy for today. And that's what we're saying today. And when we see what the Lord's House is, you will see that what I've been saying to you up to now is absolutely true."

"Haggai 1:3—Then came the word of the Eternal by Haggai the prophet saying, It is time for you, yes, you, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?" Or, "Is it a time..." I'll read that again in a moment. But he went on to say, "The temple—they were sent there to build the second temple of God, and that's the one that was still there existent at the time that Jesus Christ came. Only the Roman king, Herod (who was king over that part of the Roman Empire occupied by the Jews at that time) had added some to it and had enlarged it somewhat, but it was the same temple."

"Haggai 1:4— (again) Is it time for you, Oh you," or in other words, "Yes, you." That's what it's talking about here, "...to dwell in your ceiled houses," and this is where the word "ceiling" comes from. It's the same type of thing. Has to do with, refers to providing a covering. House isn't too complete if it doesn't have a roof over the top, a ceiling to protect you from the elements and so forth. There's a lot of meaning in this in what it's saying here. And so he's saying, again here, God is saying, "Is it time for you, oh you, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?" It's an attitude. It's a way of thinking.

So he went on to say, Mr. Armstrong did, "Many of us are more concerned about the houses in which we live than the House of God that I'm going to show you about." Where are we? Where is our thinking? Where is our time in our thinking in our minds, in our lives day by day by day? Is it about God's Church? Is it about God? Is that our focus in the things we do and why we do what we do? Do we grasp that our occupation, our job, or whatever we have, is simply a means to an end? It is not your life! It is not your life! The Church, God's calling, your mind being impregnated with God's spirit, that's your life! And the other is simply a means to an end, to a purpose, to allow you to be able to grow, to learn, and to learn things through that that have to do with things that are going to happen later on in your life. It's not the thing that rules our life. It's not the thing that controls our life. Or do other family members, or other things, relatives? Or what do we get wrapped up in our lives that distract us from God? What is it? Because I'll tell you what! There's a lot out there.

There's a lot out there in the scattered Church that's distracting a lot of people from what their focus needs to be – especially if we understand that we are potentially – I say that, "potentially" down to the wire as far as a timing, a specific timing in a very ordered fashion that God has given to His Church. That the next potential time is 2019. I believe with all my being because of the timing and the things that God has shown that this is powerful, brethren. But that's my life. That's my focus. That's my belief. I don't know about everybody else. I believe it's yours too. But I'll tell you what, too many people are getting distracted and sidetracked from different things and getting wrapped up in different things and family that has nothing to do with the Church. Family is family. I understand that. I appreciate that – that's good. To a point! But so much so that you begin to drift away from the truth? You begin to drift away from the Church? It begins to pull you away from Sabbath services even when you have the potential to be there? It causes you to drift away from whatever it might be, to being fed by God? Perhaps drifting away from prayer or whatever it might be, listening to sermons like perhaps maybe you did more of at a time in your life? I don't know? But I see a lot of people drifting, too many people drifting in God's Church. And I don't like it. It causes hurt. It causes pain. It causes suffering. It causes pain and suffering in your own life because you're not doing something right. What is our focus?

That's what this is all about, this scripture in Haggai. We're more concerned about the house we live in and putting the roof over our head? Or is that just an understanding that this is something, a means to an end? It's not our life. How important are those things in our life? How distracting are they in our life? So much so that we'll have a particular home that we live in and not pay second tithe or save second tithe? Think that can happen in God's Church? Or are we ready to reduce the size a little bit and say, "Hey! I'm going to obey the Almighty God! I am not going to STEAL from my Great God!" That's what it says in Malachi: "Why have you robbed me? And they say, Where have we robbed you? He says, In tithes and offerings." And then to have the audacity to turn right around and say, "I need help to go to the Feast of Tabernacles." Shame on you! That's despicable! That's sick! Can that happen in God's Church? I'm telling you, no, it's not going to happen in God's Church. It's not going to be allowed to happen in God's Church. Okay? That's not God's Church! Things like that happen year after year after year after year in God's church. Blows my mind. Blows my mind.

I don't know about you, but I know we can live with a lot less if we have to in life. Say, "Well, that's easy for you to say." Done it many times, see? You do what you have to do to obey God. You do what you have to do. If you have to move into a one room place that's not too warm in the winter time without a stove, without a refrigerator, and you put your milk on the window sill when it's the wintertime so you do have a bit of a refrigerator, maybe, you know? So be it! Been there, done that! I know what that's like in order to obey God. Okay? You do what you have to do! So what are we? Do we have to have more? Are we more concerned about having more and so we rob from God in order to do more that we think we have to have? We have to have our internet? We have to have two or three cells phones, or whatever it is, or my cell phone and I have to have the internet with that and I can't go with.... I remember people in times past when they first started coming out with Cable TV asking for second tithe. Paying $45 a month for Cable TV. Now, let's see... that's a good... How much money is that you can have extra for the Feast of Tabernacles? But, "Oh, my family and I, we can't go without Cable TV." (I'm slapping myself in the face and it hurts. And I'm sure it's turned red as hard as I hit, for those listening out there today.) I have lived, I have counselled through such things – not once, not twice – way, way, way too much. And I think, "You want to ask God Almighty... You're not going to sacrifice. You're not going to obey. But you want the help and you're not willing to do anything on your own? What are you in this for? Is this like a government handout or something? Is that what this is all about?" Is that what we look to God for, to take care of all of our needs? And if that's the attitude we have there, do we have it in other areas of our life? Okay? Those things are not a part of God's Church...and they're still in God's church. I mean in the environs of God's church. But I'm telling you right now, that's not in God's Church. I hope you understand what I'm saying. And I hope that any who are of any frame of mind anywhere close to that are repenting mightily and getting their lives in order and on track and moving forward, because I'll just tell you what, there's a far greater penalty going to be absorbed as a result of doing some of those things at this time than maybe at other times. And the reason being is because of the timing of where you live right now. We live at the end when Jesus Christ is returning to this earth and the Millennium is coming. More has been given to us and more is expected of us. Do we understand that more that is given, we're to be more responsible if more is given by God Almighty?

And so people in the past, did they get by with those things? They didn't get by with them either. They're no longer... At some point in time they didn't continue on in God's Church. All individuals I know that have ever been like that, they're gone. They can't have anything to do with God's Church because God won't tolerate it. He won't tolerate stealing from Him. To steal from God, to do something else in our life, whether it be in our home or whatever it might be, that's one thing, but to compare that with Almighty God? To have the audacity, the guts, the... I don't even call it guts; it's just absolute blind ignorance, stupidity and evil to steal from God. It shouldn't be in the mind.

We're either in this because we love God and we want this way of life and we're working to make change in our life and we get the big picture that Jesus Christ is about to return to this earth and this earth is about to go through the worst times it's ever gone through ever, ever, ever and never will have to go through it again, thank God. And you want God to be there on your side. You are going to want the protection and the favor of God at that time in your life. And, if possible, in the lives of others that you intercede for at times. Whether that can be granted or whether it can't be is God's determination at that moment in time. But where He can, He will, depending on different people's response to Him.

This is not a game. This is not the Baptist Church. This is not the Catholic Church. This is not the Seventh Day Adventist Church where people can go and they can go to services and then go back, you know, to their homes and somehow feel a little bit better just kind of feeling a little bit better that they have done their part, that they've gone through the motions so they can feel better about themselves. This isn't about so that we can feel better about ourselves. No, when we come to Sabbath services we don't always feel better about ourselves. We should feel better about God and the blessings we have with God and being right with God and the power of life that God gives to us and will give to us as we recognize the need for more repentance or more zealous repentance in our life in order to draw closer to Him. We live in serious times. Do we know what we've been given? How do we respond to that then?

At some point nuclear weapons are going to go off. That's the time we live in. I don't think it's going to happen real soon because I think we've already gone through a period of time that shows us exactly what we're going to go through. God let us experience it. Because, you see, in the Church it was always the concept and the idea, just like no understanding of what the Temple was until 1978, as the fact of what was going to happen when the Great Tribulation came. That it would last for 3½ years. That there would be great suffering for 3½ years. And so the last time around when we experienced... it didn't start... made us think. Made us wonder what happened. It's like the Apostasy happened, what happened? Why did this happen? What is this that has taken place? And from that you can begin to learn. Just like going back in sermons and listening, you can begin to learn, see what God is doing. Because you know what? This is God's Church and you can learn from what happens to God's Church. If you believe it's God's Church, you're going to learn from that. How did this happen? Why did it happen? An Apostasy! Duh! Of course!

And so we're going through things now, we've gone through things. I already know, because of the book. That comes first. Because the message is in the book. It was given in a way that, even talking here in services beforehand, the speed in which it was written was for you... and for me. Now, the speed in which it gets out there is not that important because it's going to take a while. There's a lot of work involved in getting it out there. That's one of the reasons my son is here in the States right now. We have to go through some things, talk about some things, hash around some ideas and so forth, and changes on the website, how the book's going to be presented, what the cover is going to be like. Just put the words on a blank sheet of paper? Whatever. What are we going to do? Why? What's the purpose? What is...? And so we look to God to lead and guide and direct us. Things you can be praying about, that God give favor and help so we know – so you're a part of it. That's how God works.

Just like the Feast of Tabernacles. What do we tell people well before the Feast of Tabernacles? Pray about the sermons. Pray about the inspiration for the sermons. Because you know what? That makes you a part of it. God wants that in your life. He wants to know where is your mind? And if you pray about those things... Because He's going to give a certain... He's going to give something, period. Can He give more? Yes. But He'll give you more because you're a part of it, because your spirit is there. And His desire to work through your spirit so that you can receive more, that's how He works. And so you cry out for those things? He'll bless you for it. He'll give you more because of that. Two people can be sitting and hearing the same sermon – they're never going to hear the same thing. And the big difference a lot of times is going to depend upon what did you put into it before you went there and the desire you have to hear what's there. Awesome!

Anyway, after reading this about talking about where is our focus, "Is it time for you, yes you, to dwell in your ceiled houses," you’re protected, your covered houses, "and that this house lie waste?" How much are we concerned about the House of God, the Temple of God, the Church of God? Is that our focus? Do we realize that's what we've been called into? That's what we're called into by God Almighty, to be a part of the construction. Whether it be things for the Millennium or whether a continuation of some things for some people in an incredible resurrection that's going to take place before long of God's government.

So as he went on to say, I'll read it again, "Many of us are more concerned about the houses in which we live than the House of God that I'm going to show you about." So a timely message – timely, timely, timely. It was timely then, prophetic, actually, then, because the ministers weren't there to hear it. Prophetic.

"Verse 5—Now, therefore, says the Eternal of hosts; Consider your ways!" Consider your ways. Think about what you're doing. Think about where you are. Think about your thinking. Think about your relationship with Almighty God. Think about what's important in your life. Where are you placing your priorities? Is God number one? Because it always comes down to that: Is God first? And we will be tried in those things in life. We will have trials come along. Things will happen naturally. Things will happen as just a matter of human life. And it's always going to come down to: Is God first? In other words, the decision you make concerning the trials and hardships you go through, is it because God's first? Is that the basis of the primary direction and choice you make? Because, you see, too often it's not.

And a lot of the counselling I've given in a short length of time, or things I've had to say in email to different ones, that wasn't number one. That wasn't number one. And they don't... Sometimes people get to a point where they can't grasp that. We can become so weak we can't grasp the most basic of things in life, of how we're thinking. And yet, brethren, if you cry out to God and ask Him for help, if you want to grow, if you want to keep Him as number one and He be number one in your life, just ask Him. You know what? He'll bless you in it. He'll help you in it. If that's your desire inside, all you have to do is ask for it and God gives that. He is Almighty God! He has the power! And that's the power you want because it's in your mind. It'll come into your mind. It'll give you the stability, the soundness, the wisdom to make choices and decisions to where He can bless you in your life. That's how God works. And all we have to do is cry out to Him. He wants that. He wants to know: Are you going to place Him first? Or something else? Someone else? You can't. You can't place anyone else or anything above God. And yet we tend to as human beings, even in God's Church if we're not careful.

So God says, "Now, therefore, says the Eternal of hosts; Consider your ways!" And he went on to say, "Now, this is true today. Notice this, verse 6—You have sown much, and you bring in little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe, but there is none warm." Do we understand what's being said here? There is a physical aspect of this, but the spiritual is far greater. "...and he that earns wages earns wages to put into a bag with holes." Just can't get ahead. Things aren't working out. Battle after battle and there's no relief. Sometimes people feel like there are no answers. Oh, there are always answers. There are always answers. They may not be easy, but if God's first you're going to be able to be focused and you're going to be at peace because you know that to be true in your life. You must be right with God.

He went on to say, "Do you recognize that as being true today? Inflation is going up and the value of the dollar is going down. Now, there was supposed to be a postal strike today. It's been postponed a day or two. And we have taken precautions that if that goes into effect our Gulf Stream II airplane will go around and pick up the tithe money of the people at various places. Local churches will have someone take it by automobile to each of these places. We'll have our own postal service if they're going to strike. And God has provided us with a way to do it. And 'where there is a will, there is a way,' brethren. The only thing is, I think we lack a lot of that will." Now, that was a unique period of time, unique time of things that were going on and the struggles of the Church at that particular time and the government of California having its eyes on taking control of the Church because of... because of lying, despicable individuals who betrayed God and betrayed the one who taught them, that sat at his feet, at Mr. Armstrong's feet. Evangelists! Evangelists! Because of evangelists and because of higher up ministers in God's Church, that's why it happened. That's the only way it happened. Mainly because of them. What betrayal! There were betrayals going on before the Apostasy, that were right in kin with the Apostasy and just as evil... just as evil, of what took place in God's Church. Incredible!

And so here is a particular point in time where the money flow was going to continue, not into Pasadena. You know, there was a time when a judge was supposed to take care of it and decide all the financial things of the Church, put there by the State of California, and the monies stopped and they went to "Herbert W. Armstrong, a Corporation Sole." And the entire Church did it. And so when there's a need to keep things going... And the point being, when he didn't have money to work with – he couldn't pay his own salary – he lost interest, the judge.

Amazing what took place. A spigot was closed off over there and it went someplace else, into Arizona, as a matter of fact, Tucson area. So that's where Mr. Armstrong was living and that's where everything was set up and California had no say over what happened in Arizona to the Church of God, to God's Church. Awesome history of things that have happened and taken place in times.

Anyway, they literally had it set up where if there was a strike the money would still come in; it wouldn't be cut off as far as the needs of the Church and the telecast. I mean, there were... there was tonnes of money going out the Church was so big. The Plain Truth magazine, the telecasts, the TV stations, they needed to be paid at a certain time, all the things that were going out, radio stations and stuff all over the world. And it continued on. Incredible!

Anyway, going on with what it says here in Haggai, verse 7... "Thus says the Eternal of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up unto the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says the Eternal." Now, when you understand what this is saying on a spiritual plane it sends chills up and down my spine. Beautiful! Awesome! God loves His people, those who yield to Him, those who are seeking to love Him, those who want His ways, those who seek to obey Him, those who seek to change. He desires to be glorified in the Body of Christ, in the Church of God by faithfulness of the people with whom He's working. And so He is and we continue to grow. And God's Church has continued on, will continue on, and those who meander around the courtyard after a while aren't a part, aren't able to participate. But those who want to be a part of the Temple, God blesses. Those who want to do the work, who desire to be a part of that and participate in whatever it takes to change and grow, to do His work, which is in the Church and in our own lives, He blesses. He'll give favor. He'll give you the help you need. A lot of times the help isn't there because we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing. We're not thinking as we should be thinking. We don't have the kind of love toward others that we should have. And God can't bless in those conditions unless we put Him first. It's against His law to do so.

And so he says here about what was just stated, "Now he's talking here literally about the second temple that was built at that time, as I say, about 475 years before Christ." But all this was for another time, of something that would happen on a greater plane in a greater way later on.

"Verse 9—You looked for much, and, look, I came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why, says the Eternal of hosts. Because of my house that is waste, and you run every man unto his own house." He's showing an attitude of mind here that we can learn from, that we need to be careful of, that happened here in a very physical plane that we're not to do on a spiritual plane – that we turn inward or that we turn back or we turn away from the focus that we were given on the day we were baptised. The focus is change, yielding to change. "Repent, therefore," as Peter said, "and be converted." That's the same message. Once we are impregnated with God's spirit then that is the continual process we live in. We repent – that means "to think differently" in the Greek language, literally. We're to learn to think differently than what we do, not selfishly, not being selfishly motivated. Because that's where it all starts, that change that has to take place in the thinking. "And be converted." Be changed. Become something different. We can't remain the same. And so as we yield to that process in our life, after we're impregnated with God's spirit, well, that's just the process isn't it till the day we die or the day we're changed, whatever?

And so if we turn away from that and turn into our own job, our own house, our own family, our own whatever it is, and that becomes a priority of our thinking and our motivation... Because, see, that's the problem. Which one? What takes priority in our life? Is it the physical thing around us in our life? And family is big in our life! Family situations. More people are pulled away by that than any other thing! Whatever that is, even if it's a cheating family going off in a direction wanting to start a different family, you know. That happens from time to time in God's Church because people are cheating and so they go off in a different direction with someone else to start a different family. God isn't going to allow that one. That stops quickly. And He doesn't allow the others either. It just takes different time to come to the surface and God gives great mercy and has great patience and long suffering.

But there comes a time, and this is the time, after the measuring of the temple, after what we've gone through, 3½ years, and now the continuation of something, a cleaning up and a cleansing and a desire and a need to recognize what God is now doing in the Church is to stir up His spirit in us more than ever before...and then our yieldness to that and our desire for that. How much do you want that? I want it. I'm embracing it. I love it. It's exciting, inspiring. What's ahead of us is dumbfounding. It's so incredibly awesome, what's ahead for us.

That reminds me, just interjecting that here, right here. I thought I'd share it with the Church today just mentioning something about what's coming. There is a reason why the book is written the way it is. There is a very powerful message there. And it's going to go out. Now, whether it's fully received now or the impact of it is pushed forward by God now or some other time later I don't know, but I know right now is my focus because that's what God's given to me and to you in the Church. Pentecost 2019 – that is our focus, very powerfully so. And so I think of things that happened to us and things we go through. And we're going to see things, brethren, we can't begin to imagine. You can't begin to grasp. And we have to be ready. We have to be ready. The whole name of the Church – PKG – and we have to be ready. It's preparing. It's what we do to prepare. And we've done a lot of preparing, but we need to focus and have a very strong focus right now in a period of time that we have, because we have perhaps a year from the Feast of Tabernacles to the next Feast of Tabernacles. Perhaps a year to put forward the book and the message that's there. We may have two years. What an awesome blessing if we do, brethren. What an awesome blessing. Because you don't know the hideousness of what's coming. And so if that's backed up to a point in time where it's less than a year that everything has to happen in a major way on this earth, that's an awesome blessing if that kind of sufferings going to be squashed into, squeezed into a shorter period of time.

So just backing up, but it has purpose. So just thought I'd share that we've been approved to go international. But not all international will approve me. Okay? And I knew from the beginning, and I know now, and I believe you do too, that I'll be wherever I'm supposed to be. Okay? Be wherever I'm supposed to be. This is God's Church and it's God's work, so we don't worry. We're not concerned. We do what we can. We plan ahead. And whatever happens we rejoice in it and we move forward and make the most of whatever we have at any point in time. The point being is that, just share with you, that this particular approval had to come from a judge – same one that sent me away. And he approved my international travel. So that's a great blessing. And, anyway, we are going to Europe for sure for the Feast of Tabernacles. We'll not be going to Great Britain probably ever, Canada, probably never. Okay? That's in God's hands. I don't believe I'll go into those countries unless invited. That's up to them. And I'm just going to say real clearly, because I know it with the depth of my being, that much of what happens to them will depend on whether they do or don't. Australia is included in there as well. So far there's been a rejection, but I'll know in a couple of weeks whether or not that will get approved down there.

Ephraim and Manasseh, God will deal with very powerful so. Whether Ephraim has opportunity to change at some point in time in how they respond, time will tell. That's going to be in each separate groups individual power to do so. Because at some point in time God's going to make some things very powerfully known on this earth, brethren, and to people's. Okay? We live in a unique time. A lot of the world knew about what was happening concerning The Plain Truth magazine, concerning Mr. Armstrong. He knew a lot of world leaders. Awesome! Now, when you go back and read some of those things you ought to be dumbfounded by that. Knew more world leaders than a lot of world leaders did. Visited with different world leaders. Incredible what took place with Japan, the Diet, the members of the Diet there. And I think, was it 6 or 8 Prime Ministers in a row – I can't remember the number now – that were very close to him. And those members – I think it was 8. Was it 8? I think it was 8 members of the Japanese Diet that referred to them, or to him, in talking to him, as they said that they were his Japanese sons. That's pretty close affection and feeling of closeness to make such comments. Unique. And I think of the things that are going to come to pass in the future. And we can't fully understand those things except for grasping some of the things that have happened in the past. If God has a purpose in something He's going to accomplish it. He's going to do it. That which seems impossible becomes possible.

So anyway, I thought I'd just mention some of that to you, to share with you that in a couple of weeks for those of you that have made plans for Australia – some have already set those; that's great – but we may not be there and I'm sorry for that. But we are definitely going to have the entire Feast in Europe if that's the case. And I wish it was in Australia, in one respect, because then the sermons that are given there – I'll just say – the live sermons are always different than the pre-recorded. I can give pre-recorded sermons, and they will be pre-recorded for different areas and so forth, but the live sermons are always different. Okay?

So anyway, we'll still be able to do that as far as Europe is concerned, the Continent, and then the sermons you hear here in Cincinnati or the rest of people who are scattered throughout the United States here will be able to hear those lives sermons. They'll be put online. But anyway, that's all I can share with you now because that's all I know. And if I'm to go on over there, if we're to go on over there, we'll be there. If not, we'll be over in Europe. And I don't think that's by coincidence either. I mean, if you understand what God's doing and why God does it.

I'll tell you what, I'm excited for Europe. I really am. I'm excited for the potential for some things that are going to happen in the end – different from Ephraim and Manasseh. There is so much haughtiness and so much pride in Ephraim and Manasseh that the ability to repent, it's going to take so much to bring down that haughtiness against God. It really is. To be told, "You can't govern yourself. There's a different government coming. Everything is going to be changed whether you like it or not." It's not going to be well received. Because the pride is so great and the haughtiness is so great. But God's going to work a work, the potential for some other countries to repent, and even a lot of the scattered nations of Israel, candidly, on the continent of Europe, a lot of them are going to have an opportunity that is awesome, truly awesome, to change and to receive and to be able to have the ability to receive it.

Anyway, time will show, time will tell, and it's going to be a truly incredible what you're going to experience in your life. But right now God wants the focus of your life, for you to be on yourself, to think about where you are and what you're doing and how you're thinking. And all of us, every one of us can do better. Every one of us can be stirred up more in spirit. Every one of us can make more changes to our life on a spiritual plane. What can you do? We should ask individually, "What can I do? What is it I need to do? To cry out to God more, more earnestly, more zealously? What can I do to make more changes in my life, to dedicate my life more fully to God and to the calling He's blessed me to have?" There is not a person listening today that really grasps what they have been given. You cannot grasp the magnitude of what you have been given! You can't! You can't with your human mind, even with God's spirit. But as time goes on God blesses us to grasp more of it and see more of it and become more in awe of it. Incredible!

To know that we're called – that's not a small thing – by the Great God of the universe? How many people have ever received such a thing throughout 6,000 years? And so we don't really grasp what we have. If we did, we'd be doing far more! If we were truly moved by that, by the knowledge, by what's there just in reality, we would do much more. But we're carnal. We're human. We're weak. And so God blesses us with His spirit to grasp a certain part of that. But the amount of it we grasp is still small because it's spiritual in nature. And so He desires that we look into our lives. And that's where we are right now. Look into your life. How can you do better? And some who are really letting down out there? It's a warning! Get your life in order! Because I know God is not going to allow meandering around the courtyard any longer. And there are too many people still meandering around in the courtyard, who are not coming into the Temple, and it's not going to be tolerated or allowed. And I have no qualms about that whatsoever, brethren, because I know where we are and I know what God desires of us – not to play games with God.

So anyway, he went on to verse 10. I'll read that paragraph before that. Mr. Armstrong said, "Now you're going to see pretty soon that the ‘house’ it is speaking of is the Church of God and the WORK, and the Work of the Church of getting the gospel out." Now, he had a commission to do, which was very specific. It was about a gospel going into all the world. Okay? It was about something that had not taken place in that... not even close. The Plain Truth, the telecasts, the radio messages that were being broadcast all over the world – nothing, no one in the world has ever done anything like that. No religious broadcasting company. No religious organization as big as they are with many... You talk about a group of people, of a little over 100,000 supporting a great work... and you look at some of the religions out here who have millions, millions and millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions in some cases of people and what they're able to do and what.... Minor in comparison to what God did through Mr. Armstrong through television, through radio, and through The Plain Truth magazine alone. There is nothing comes close to even comparing with it. Nothing! And look what God did. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit," God says. Powerfully so, because He converted people who supported a work. Even had people who were called co-workers. You know what? I am dumbfounded by that. And we have some co-workers, of people that can only go so far in understanding. They see and they believe it, but they're able to come to a certain point because they haven't been given fully everything yet because they haven't been fully drawn and called yet to be a part of it. Because that's in God's timing and God's purpose of what's being worked out in their lives as well, for whatever purpose and reason God has.

And so primarily we have opportunity to be a part of that which is great. Because it's what God's doing. And so it was at that particular time – co-workers and those who came in to be a part of God's Church – it was to support, as he says here: "Now we're going to see pretty soon that the ‘house’ in which it is speaking of is the Church of God and the Work of the Church of getting this gospel out." Today it's not the gospel that's going out, but it is a message. It's going to be a different message. And God's going to do it, powerfully so. I'll just... We have internet, an internet in a way that's used today, things that are used today, Kindle, different things that people can read a book, read things in and a means today that weren't available not too long ago. We have technology and ability to reach out in a way that's absolutely astounding. And that isn't there by man. That isn't there by the wisdom and power and great knowledge of man. It's there because of God. Okay? It exists because of God. Take that one and munch on that one for a while. Okay?  People think mankind is so great, mankind would be able to do all these things and have different things accomplished at different times. And no, it's for another purpose. And it has much to do with our size. Because, you see, 100,000 was too much. 100,000 in the world was too much for what God was going to do. And the very fact of what took place reveals that – became rich and increased with goods and began to look upon themselves as what they had accomplished. Big mistake. That's why we are so small. That's why we've been so small. That's why it's a remnant, a left over little bit – just a little portion of what existed. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit." It's because of what God's going to do. And He's going to use very few that no one would ever be able to say, "Look at what I did." "Look at what we did." No, we are blessed to be a part of something so incredible but it's something that God is going to do and what He is doing.

"Verse 10—Therefore, the heaven over you is stayed from dew," in other words, it's withheld, "and the earth is stayed from her fruit." Where is the fruit? That happens. If, on a spiritual plane an individual becomes more consumed with, begins to think in a manner that pulls them away from God and from the Church and from the purpose of their calling and why we're gathered together and why we're here and what becomes more consuming in our life, are families and skirmishes and ALL THE DRAMA... Oh, there is so much drama out there. I'm sick of drama. You can have your drama. You talk about, what was that? "As the World Churns?" You know? How long as that been on TV? Is it still on? Don't tell me if you know! I'm just kidding! You shouldn't know that kind of knowledge. That could be dangerous to know, if "The World Churns" is still on. Don't tell me if you know or not. Anyway, I'm sorry. No, I'm not. "As the World Churns/As the World Turns." What do they call those? Soap...? Soap operas? Soap Operas. Whatever changes, drama, drama, drama, drama, drama, goes on and on and on. People wrap their lives up in other people's lives and their drama and you think, "Give me a break! What is wrong with you?" Living in that life and "Tune in to what Sally does next week when George hits..." Anyway. You think... And then you can drop it and come back ten years later and oh, come right back on track, right where you left off. That's what's on about soap operas. Anyway.

If your life is one of drama and there's a lot of drama around you in family or business? Don't get wrapped up in the drama. Don't let it take root in your life! Vomit it out! It's puke! Okay? That's what it is. That's how to describe it in life. And it's a bunch of vomit and it shouldn't be in the Body. Okay? Get rid of it! Let it get... You know what? I was driving down the road the other day, stopped at Starbucks, got a big shot of hazelnut in my coffee. I don't know if something was wrong with the hazelnut or the coffee was bad or there was a mouse ground up in the coffee or what, but I got just a little ways down the road and I was on an interstate there in Cincinnati area and I started... Something was... It was just like something had to come out. I'm sorry to tell you this story, in part, but I pulled over to the side of the freeway, and thankfully there is a big extension on this side of the freeway when it happened. And thankful we had a round little trash bag in the back. And I got rid of it. And as soon as I did, the whole point of this, not to make you sick with that – but was as soon as I did I felt great. After I got it out of my body I felt great. When you get rid of vomit, when your stomach is upset, when your body is trying to get rid of something and expel it and let it go... That's how I compare drama. I hear too many things of drama out here in the Church of God! You think that doesn't consume our lives? Drama. Drama. Drama. Drama. Drama. And your whole life is consumed with that? Then where's God in the picture? How can you even focus on God after a while if you're not careful? Okay?

Be focused! You know what? Every one of you have choices to make. And you can choose to be a part of it... Now, don't misunderstand me, the drama will still go on with or without you. But you don't have to be a part of it. Make sure that you're not a part of it. Because too often in God's Church people are becoming a part of it. So keep yourself distanced from it because it will take control of your life and it will so distract you from the Church, it'll distract you from the purpose of God's calling, it'll distract your thinking. So whether it be on your job, whether it be in your family, or wherever it is, there is no hope in drama. There is no hope in it. You can't change it. You can't alter it. There is nothing you can do about it. And you most certainly don't want to participate in it then. Keep God in the picture. "This is the way, walk you in it." And that's the choice you have to make and put all the rest behind. And realize in time individuals are going to have their opportunity and their time, and it may be in the Millennium. And you know what? It might not be. It might be in the Great White Throne. Live with that! Understand that's God's... God's in charge. We can get to the point, if we're not careful, we can feel that we're doing something wrong or that God's going to do something wrong, or whatever, certain ones aren't brought through all this and so forth. And you know what? God's called you to bring you through something, to give you an opportunity to live into the Millennium or to rule in the Millennium (and that's another matter). But if you've been called to live and go on into the Millennium, embrace it. Embrace it! Hold on to it. It's an awesome blessing! That's not a promise given to everyone. It's not offered to everyone. So it really depends on your thinking and what you're going to do.

Now, if others are offered that because of a relationship you have for them and because you pray for them, then that's an added blessing. But there are no guarantees. Are you willing to accept that? Are you willing to accept that you may be the only one in your family that comes through all this? Are you willing to accept that? That you're the ONLY ONE in your family that comes through this – and was God wrong then by allowing something to happen on the earth? Is God to blame for what mankind does to mankind? That's what this is all about, that this is what mankind has done to himself and you've just been blessed to be plucked out of the fire. That's what God's offering you, to give you a bit of a paved road into a new age, to give you the help you need and the protection you need. It's not owed to others. It's not owed to you. It's not owed to me. So if you've been given that receive it as a great blessing and take it and run with it, embrace it. But we get in these things sometimes where we try to save others or... You can only work to save yourself by your choices that you make. And in time, and perhaps because of your prayers and because of your example certain ones will be pricked in the heart and perhaps God will give them the offering, an offering to live into a new age too at some point. Nothing is owed to any of us, brethren. Do we grasp the awesomeness of the blessings we have? We can't take those things for granted.

And so it goes on to say in, "Verse 11—And I called for a drought upon the land..." This is what God said. "I call for a drought upon the land." You don't want drought to hit your life. You know what that means? I've lived through a drought. One of the most powerful spiritual droughts that ever hit God's Church – before the Apostasy hit and then after it hit, after that. Incredible, the devastation from drought when God's spirit isn't there to water it, to feed, to nurture.

"And I call for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, upon the labours of their hands." And sometimes people wonder why they're not blessed. Because you rob from God. Are you willing to sacrifice? Are you willing to do some of the most basic and menial things of obedience to God Almighty in sacrifice, to place Him first, a willingness to alter your life, of whatever it might be for a certain period of time, to live in something differently, to do something differently for a time, whatever it might be, in order to get... Because He didn't call us when our financial house was great, you know. And especially in the western world, we all tend to live at the end. When that check comes it's gone. We don't have any more for later. And so, and we live in deep debt because of credit cards and the ability to have them and the traps that are there. And so we are called at a time when we're part of the trap. We're part of the spiritual Egypt. We're part of spiritual Assyria. Part of spiritual Babylon. We're a part of the whole system out here that encapsulates human life. And then we start making changes. And some of the most basic begin with some of the physical things we have to do to obey God.

And a lot of that has to do with the simple thing of tithing. It's as simple... That's one of the most simple, basic things that human beings have to address when they're called. Because we are maxed out, and especially in this age. And so people have to adjust. What am I going to do? You have to make some kind of change to obey God. That's as simple as it gets. Move into a shoebox? I don't know. If it's required, so be it. I could do it. Okay? With God's blessings and God's help I can do it. I am going to obey. And you know what? I know that I will be blessed. In time, as I go through the trials I go through, I will be blessed. Brethren, it's just a reality of what you live. I've lived it. Everybody who comes into God's Church learns to live that, as a whole... as a whole. Not always. Some have it much easier. But as a whole when people are called out of the world they have a big job on their hands, and sometimes it's to change the entire focus of your life and where you're going and what you're doing, what we do.

Anyway, continuing on. Oh my, I lost the spot here. I didn't mark it. Okay, brought the drought upon and the labor of the hands. The point being, brethren, is that there are times God cannot and will not bless us in life. And then we really need to focus on: What is it I'm doing?

"Then Zerubbabel…and Joshua…the high priest, with all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Eternal their God." And he adds in here after saying this, "Then Joshua.... the high priest, with all the remnant of the people," he said, "This was just a remnant of Judah that remained now that had gone back over there to build the second temple." And I think of what God's doing now. It's a little, just a small portion, a remnant, just a left over amount of what God's doing now in a continuation of building the Temple. Still a part of the Temple. Now, some of the Temple structure... You know... it's not just about the 144,000 are coming. That part of the Temple is already set. I hope we understand that by now. It's already done, as a whole. It's already decided. The pieces are in place. It's just a matter that certain pieces are still having some whittling done on them, okay, in life. But there is that which is going on into the future, part of the Temple. The Temple – we're all to become a part of God's Temple. Everyone! The Family of God. It all means the same sort of thing. It's the same thing. It's just different expressions that describe something, but still part of a Temple and it continues on. And so the building continues on. And what an awesome blessing to be a part of a remnant, to grasp what you've been called and brought into to, be a part of those who are going on that were a part of before the Apostasy occurred that are able to continue on, and then all the others that have been added to it and all the others that are yet to come? Dumbfounding!

So it says, "they obeyed the voice of the Eternal their God." That's what God looks for, obedience. Because we want to please our God because we love Him, because we are thankful for what He's giving to us, for what He places before us and we desire to put Him first. "...and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Eternal their God had SENT HIM, and the people did FEAR before the Eternal." And he added here, Mr. Armstrong did, "And I hope that is true for us today, that we really will. They did fear before the Eternal." That's what God desires. That's what He's talking about here, that this matter of fearing before the Eternal, to go against God, to turn against God, to turn away from God, to not obey God. If that fear isn't there, we won't repent.

"Then spoke Haggai, the ETERNAL's MESSENGER, in the Eternal's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, says the Eternal." Now, we know that. God's with us. God's in our presence always, always, always. Not just in our presence, He's actually in us! Now, for them He was in their presence but not dwelling in them like He is us. How incredible is that, that God actually dwells in us on a spiritual plane and we're blessed to dwell in Him? And you don't want that spirit cut off, that flow of God's spirit cut off. And so it's an awesome thing to be able to have that part of God that lives in us, that dwells in us, that can help us to change, that can help us to love if we yield to it! If we'll work to catch ourselves when we've said something wrong, when we've done something wrong, and pray for forgiveness and ask for help to speak differently, or to do differently, or to act differently, whatever it might be, and we ask God for help. God's pleased with that. That's what He wants. He wants to help us. And He'll give us extra help then, help in overcoming, helping to spotting it quicker, help to change. And after you spot something quicker the quicker it is you can change it and get on to it. And some things you're going to battle with all your life because of our human nature. But to always be on top of it, to be quick to repent? Ah, that's an awesome blessing.

So again, "Then Haggai the ETERNAL's MESSENGER in the Eternal's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, says the Eternal." So he says, "Look, brethren, IF we are only with him, let me tell you, the living Christ is with us." "If you are only with him, then the living Christ is with us." And that's the point. To understand the life of Christ, what he's doing. He's working. He's working within the Temple, powerfully so. And it's a matter of how we yield to that process. All the government that comes into the Church, all the things that lead and guide and direct the Church come from Jesus Christ. It's God's will. It's part of what Christ does, fulfills His will. But it's a work that Christ is doing, very powerfully so.

So he went on to say, "We've noticed attacks in the public press. Not only our two newspapers here in Los Angeles and Pasadena, but in Time magazine and other magazines all over the world." See, a lot of you didn't live during that period of time. So well-known that it was in newspapers all over the world, things that were happening to the Church and to Mr. Armstrong, see? In magazines as well. "There's been a lot about us in the daily newspapers in London, England. And people read about us all over. But let me tell you, whenever something like that happens, I don't worry about it. But I go to the throne of grace. I go to my knees, and go to Jesus Christ—the Living Head of this Church. And he has delivered us every time, and he will!" And he will in our lives too. Every time we do that. What is that? What problem? What trial is so great? It's like we heard in a recent sermon then: "What trial, what is it that is going to separate us from the love of God and the power of God to live in our lives?" That's our choice. He went on to say, "But we've got to BELIEVE that HE IS LIVING—THAT HE IS HERE!"

And that's the way we need to think toward God, toward Christ, and to realize the opportunity we have and what has been placed before us. Not to worry, this is God's work. It's God's work. And if you realize you're a part of God's work and what God is doing in your life and what you're a part of, He's there to help, He's there to intervene. But we've got to cry out and seek it and seek to get away from the distractions, the concerns of physical human life, of the roof over our head when God's concerned about the building of His Church first. The other will come. The other you'll be given. It's not owed to you right now. It's not owed to me. Which one's more important? Which one's the most important to focus upon? See? What are we willing to go through? What are we willing to do to keep going forward and to put God first?

He said, "I'm going to have to write something and get it into The Good News," the magazine of the church at that time, basically for the Church, "and try to get it to the whole Church as soon as I can. There are too many people that are [wandering] wondering..." Not wandering. I'm sorry. I think about we've got too many people wandering right now, okay? Quit wandering around. Get focused. Get on track. Get your lives right. Put God first. Put Christ first. Obey God. Okay? Seek God's help. Seek Christ's help in your life. Make the changes that are necessary and don't live life as sometimes has been done in the past where we look more to a day or a date and think that'll solve all of our problems. No date's going to ever solve your problems, okay? If we're not careful, we'll just create more for ourselves. "There are too many people that are wondering, 'Well now, who's going to take over if Mr. Armstrong dies?'" You know, 1978. He knew that. That people are already wondering because he had that heart attack and he already knew some of the murmurings and things that would come back to him as to what was going on and what was happening between ministers and what was happening at that time and what California was doing and ministers that were betraying him, that he'd taught, that he'd educated, that turned against him. Lying. Lying spirits. Horrible what took place, really. It's totally disgusting.

He went on to say, "'Well now, who's going to take over if Mr. Armstrong dies?' I'm supposed to die right away, because, of course, a lot of people do die before they are as old as I am now," as he said. He was about what? 83'ish, in through here? A little older than that in '78. Waiting for a number here. 85. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah... okay. Three years, back in '86... Yes, somewhere in there. 85. Had a heart attack, came back stronger than ever. You'd see him go up on the stage, get up to the podium. You'd think...  you'd watch him walk across, hands as they get old sometimes and the skin's drawn, all the wrinkles and everything there, and feeble... looks... You know, when you get that old sometimes the body, it just doesn't look like it did when it was forty. Mine sure doesn't. Anyway, walking up there. And then when he got up there the power. And he would hit that podium, smash it like that. I mean, he would smash it with his fist. And you'd think, "That's going to break every bone in his hand." And he would cry out because he felt it so deeply. He'd seen so much over the time, over all the decades of his work, what he'd done and saw the things that were happening in the Church and the effort and life he'd put into it. So he was very much on fire – always was – for God's way of life. Which is what we have to be, follow those kinds of examples. To be very much on fire for God's way of life, to be stirred up for God, for God's truth. Not in a Protestant manner, but in a true manner – in spirit and in truth because of agreement with what God gives to us and the truth that is there.

Anyway, he went on to say... So basically talking about dying and he said, “‘Well now, who's going to take over if Mr. Armstrong dies?’ I'm supposed to die right away, because, of course, a lot of people do die before they are as old as I am now. But whether or not I die is going to depend upon whether the living Christ lets me, or whether he keeps me alive. And maybe we'll see something about that before we get through right here. But someone says, ‘Well, have I appointed someone to follow and to take my place?’ THE ANSWER IS, NO!" So back in 1978, you see, "Somebody been appointed yet to take your place?" Because people were already struggling for positions of who's going to take over when he dies. "Who's side are you going to be on? Which evangelist are you going to support?" "THE ANSWER IS, NO! That is NOT MY PLACE to do! I HAVE NO AUTHORITY TO DO ANY SUCH THING!"

He went on to say, "You know, it's a great deal like the woman who was the mother of the two of Christ's apostles. And she came to Jesus. She said, ‘Lord, when you come into your kingdom, I want to make a request. Please let one of my sons be on your right hand and the other on your left hand...’" You know what, we can look at something like that and we can say, "How could someone," now, obviously not with God's spirit. She didn't have God's spirit. But, "How could someone have the audacity to say, to believe, that here's your kingdom and when he comes into his kingdom..." Because that time there, you have to understand, they didn't grasp what it meant to come into the kingdom. They only understood a physical thing about a physical rulership of something that was going to conquer the Roman Empire, basically take over, that God would give power to a Messiah, the Christ. And so as they looked to him as a Messiah and they said, "When you come into your kingdom, your government that God gives to you as the Messiah and you fulfill that," this is what, basically, is being said, "please place at your right side and the left side the two sons,” basically, it's talking about here, "at your left hand, and when you come into your kingdom." He said, "Madam, you don't know what you're talking about. That is not mine to decide. I have nothing to say about it. My Father only—God the Father—will decide who will be on my right hand and on my left. I can't do it! That's out of my hands." So he's showing here what, basically, Christ said in response.

And as I sit here I couldn't help but think about this as I was reading this. I think about this is very carnal, normal human nature, of something that someone might say in the world, filled with selfishness of human nature. But it's not real far away sometimes from our own selfishness if we're not careful, our own ways of thinking and our own desires for power, for recognition.

And I want to just say it real clearly. That's happened a lot within the ministry. And God has used that tool very powerfully so to bring out a lot of things in human life within the Church that we could otherwise not see. It's been a speeded up process to help teach things within the Church that we can learn from that took decades for me and some others to learn, to see, what had happened within the Church, within the ministry of the Church over a long, long period of time. And so sometimes even in talking to certain ministers, or whatever, now I tend to be a lot more to the point, a lot clearer about some of the things of correction and things that have to come out, of things that individuals need to learn in their own life of how to work with God's people and so forth. And I’m going to continue to do that even more so because we don't have a lot of time. And you have the benefit, whether in the Church or in the ministry, as I'm sharing this with you now, of things you can learn from in your life, of things to benefit people that you don't have to go through all those things that took decades for some. And the reality is the vast majority never learned. And so if you can have the benefit of learning valuable lessons of life, of how to work with people, of how to deal with people, of how to think, that it's not about you, that it's not about your position, it's not about what you have, it's not about what is yours, it's not about what belongs to you. You see, those are always the wrong ways of thinking. But those things happen in the ministry over and over and over again in the past. It's about God and what belongs to God Almighty and how we see ourselves then as a part of that process.

We all belong to God. We're God's. And that's why it's so important how we treat each other. That's why I've made the comment that if we don't grasp, of something we really need to grasp, of how we treat others, one another, if we mistreat someone else we're doing it toward God. And that's a spiritual thing that is very difficult to grasp and comprehend because it takes God's spirit to see that. And that's a hideous thing to take place. And so if two people in a marriage, as an example, one is attacking the other, both in God's Church, or hollering at, or displeased with in a very powerful way and a confrontation takes place, and they don't know what they're doing! Because they're doing it toward God.

Now, if you don't understand that you need to cry out to God for help to understand it. Just as the example that came up here of, what was it, last week? Whenever it came up. We were discussing this thing of what happened in the Church at one point. Yes, we were sitting down with a group in the Church talking about some things that had happened in times past and referring back to a particular minister that my wife and I were riding with in a particular state between services. And anyway, I was having this discussion with him about how awesome it was that God gave this example to Mr. Armstrong about love – that the greatest of human love that he could picture, that he could use as an example, was the love of a mother toward her own child. And sadly, and sickly today that's not very good, because the world is so perverted that isn't even normal and natural like it should be anymore. You know, it's just the world makes you sick. But anyway, that was the best example he could come up with of saying that that's nothing compared to God's love. Because she's still selfish. She loves her own child. She judges things accordingly in her life. God isn't that way. God isn't that way. He isn't selfish, not selfishly motivated. She's not able to love all other children with the same kind of mind. Incapable of it. That's human love, see? And the minister didn't get it. He said he never understood that. Long time pastor, well respected in God's Church and he never got it. Why?

And that's why I gave you the example I just did a moment ago. Do we get it? Do we see it? Do we really understand that if we mistreat someone else, if we talk wrong to someone who belongs to God, that we're actually doing it... do we "see" it, do we believe it that we're actually doing it toward God? See, spiritually, that's what's happening. And if we really see that in that light, kind of makes you sick when you see yourself that way, doesn't it? When we see certain things we've done and think, "Man, there it is again! That stinking, rotten, evil human nature!"

Anyway, should I stop there at that point? I've got to stop somewhere. Well, we will stop there.

And brethren, it's just a crying out. It's a pleading, that we yield ourselves to God, to seek to put God first, to realize what's taking place now at this time, of a series we're going through is not by coincidence, that there are things we need to see in our life. Because at some point in time this world is going to start changing fast, rapidly. And whether we're able to continue on and be a part of it is very much dependent upon how we respond to God now and whether or not we really come to a point where if we're drifting, or have any form of drifting in our life, any form of drama in our life, that we flee from it as fast as we can and that we put God first.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1