Table of Contents
End Time Proof
Now IN the End-Time
The Ten Virgins
The Spiritual Temple
The Man of Sin
Final Eras of the Church
Desolation of the Temple
The End-Time Elijah- Fulfilled
Unveiling the Book of Revelation
Clarifying the Seals of Revelation
First Five Seals Opened
The Sixth Seal of Revelation
The Opening of the 7th Seal
A Time for Two Witnesses
The Revelation of God's Plan for Mankind
Introduction (Plan of God)
The 7th Day Sabbath
Passover
Unleavened Bread
Pentecost
Trumpets
Atonement
Feast of Tabernacles
Last Great Day
A Time for Two Witnesses
This article is the conclusion to all that has been written in this booklet. You have now come to a point where you can read about the most important information that God has compiled for mankind toward the close of 6,000 years of man on this earth. Your response to what you read will have a direct bearing on the possibility you may have in living through this end-time and into a new world. The time just ahead of us is what the gospel message has been- from God to man- since man was first created.
We are living in the period of time just before the great tribulation, yet it is so very unfortunate to realize that most people, reading this article and learning these things for the first time, will not place much credibility on what has been written. But such attitudes will change dramatically once people are living in that time. Then people will begin to have the capacity to acknowledge that the things written in this booklet are true. It is indeed sad that it will take such drastic means to humble the minds of people in order that they can begin to receive the awesome words of God.
The gospel given through Jesus Christ was about this time that is almost upon us. The gospel, "good news," to mankind is about the Kingdom of God that is coming as soon as the great tribulation is over. It is the time spoken of by all the prophets, a time when Jesus Christ will rule as King of kings on the earth.
God gave witness of this truth of His Kingdom through His end-time apostle who was also the end-time Elijah spoken of in scripture. The world rejected the "good news" that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong was sent to proclaim. His time is past. We are now at the time when two end-time witnesses will be used by God to give the final warning and proclamation to this world about why this world has been brought to such a time of suffering and tribulation- the worst the world has ever known! It is a time for the world to be brought to humility and repentance before God.
What a shame that so many in the scattered Church have been caught off guard and have failed to hold fast to those truths revealed to them through God's end-time Elijah. But because of pride, most will not receive what God is telling them, even now! Just as the gospel has gone into all the world at the end of this age, as a witness, a witness has also gone into the scattered Church, but brethren have not believed God's own witness.
When God gives a witness of man, it is indeed sobering. As this booklet has testified, God raised up Mr. Armstrong, as the prophetic "Elijah to come," to restore foundational truth to His Church that had been lost by the end of Sardis. He also used this same man to preach the gospel throughout this world "as a witness." The gospel- good news of God's soon-coming Kingdom- was sent out to this world through the mass printing of a magazine called "The Plain Truth." (It needs to be mentioned here that this same magazine, as well as other material published by the Worldwide Church of God, became fully corrupted through the 1990s after the leadership of the Church turned from the truth of God to the false teachings of traditional Christianity.) The true gospel message also went out through extensive worldwide coverage on radio and television. Mr. Armstrong also went personally to world leaders with this same message.
It would be good for everyone to stop and consider the extent, both small and great, of this message that went out to the world "as a witness," that witness being that mankind would reject the message! It is also good that we consider the leaders who received this witness. Although Mr. Armstrong received awards and honors from some of these leaders and nations, with many leaders being drawn to him with a remarkable fondness, they nevertheless rejected the message he brought them of the gospel about the Kingdom of God that was soon to come.
Early on Mr. Armstrong received a very unique award from King Leopold III. It was the fourth watch made from a cannonball taken off a battlefield in World War I by King Albert I of Belgium. He had the cannonball cast into the four watch cases, with the desire that they would be presented to the four individuals that he felt had made the most significant contribution to world peace. The king never found anyone he felt worthy to receive the fourth watch, and so, he passed it on to his son, King Leopold III, who was moved to give it to Mr. Armstrong in 1970. Yet today, many do not know the name of Herbert W. Armstrong, even though many world leaders were drawn to him. God is the one who gives favor to whom He will, and he gave favor to Mr. Armstrong in the eyes of world leaders, yet they still did not receive the message he carried about the Kingdom of God that was soon to come.
Mr. Armstrong became known to many as an "ambassador without portfolio for world peace." He carried the gospel message to Prince Makasa and a number of the members of the Japanese Diet. Emperor Hirohito conferred on Mr. Armstrong the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Second Class- one of the highest decorations that can be presented to a non-Japanese. During a period that covered two decades, seven successive Japanese Prime Ministers counted Mr. Armstrong as a personal friend and counselor. There were members of the Japanese Diet that referred to their relationship with Mr. Armstrong as being his Japanese sons. Yet none of these leaders received the message of the coming Kingdom of God.
Mr. Armstrong was endeared in friendship with King Hussein of Jordan, King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit of Thailand, and Prime Ministers of Israel including Golda Meir and Menachem Begin. Others who counted him as a personal friend were Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Jomo Kenyatta who was Founder and first President of Kenya, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem, and longtime friend Nagendra Singh who was a Justice at the World Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
Mr. Armstrong also had personal meetings with leaders like Margaret Thatcher who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Juan Carlos, the King of Spain, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi. Yet, of all these world leaders, none received the message he carried of the soon-coming Kingdom of God.
President Ferdinand Marcos decorated Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong with the Presidential Merit Medal "for his moral presence and compelling influence in moving people toward the creation of a just and peaceful world order." He received the decoration of "Commander of Our Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand." Yet, neither these leaders not their people received the message of the soon-coming Kingdom of God.
Other leaders with whom Mr. Armstrong met included President Allende of Chili, President Suharto of Indonesia, South Vietnam's President Nguyen van Thieu, and Mr. Armstrong was invited to Romania by President Nicolae Ceausescu. Mr. Armstrong also met with Deng Ziaoping of the People's Republic of China and was the first Christian leader to officially visit leaders inside China. In this unprecedented visit he addressed officials from 76 nations in the People's Great Hall in Beijing concerning the way to real peace and why humanity fails to achieve it.
Mr. Armstrong received many more honors and met with and visited numerous other world leaders. But the gospel message that God sent throughout all the world through Mr. Armstrong stands as a witness in the end-time- toward the close of 6,000 years of man on this earth- that man is still the same since creation- he rejects the message of God of His coming Kingdom to this earth.
Yet, at the end of this age, a gospel message went out to world leaders, was preached for years over radio and television, and was published in numerous publications- primarily through "The Plain Truth" magazine, yet this witness that went into all the world was rejected by the world. That is the witness! Man is still the same as he has been from the beginning. Only a few received that message- specifically those that God personally called into a relationship with Him.
But in the scheme of things, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong did not meet with all world leaders during the time of Philadelphia. Neither did "The Plain Truth" nor the World Tomorrow broadcast reach the whole populations of this earth during Philadelphia. In reality, only a few million Plain Truth magazines went out monthly, and those were mostly in the United States and English speaking nations. But all of this worked to be a sufficient witness of mankind in the end of this age- man still rejected the gospel message from God.
A Witness to Laodicea
There is a parallel and a type to the witness that went into the world as a witness during the Church era of Philadelphia. It is a witness that has been given in the scattered Church of God during the last Church era of Laodicea. God has been giving a message to the Church that is a witness of the end-time era. Most will not hear! Only a few that God specifically awakens and calls to be a remnant of this last era are able to truly hear. Not every minister, not every person in the scattered body must hear that message to Laodicea. The entire world did not have to personally hear the gospel message and warning, and neither does everyone in the scattered Church have to personally hear the warning message given to Laodicea in order for it to be a witness of the primary spirit of Laodicea.
Pride has permeated the ministry in the scattered Church. God's end-time witness concerning them is true. Most will reject God's witness contained in this booklet. Most will be given this booklet, yet most will feel compelled to defend their stand against this truth!
It is because the overwhelming majority of the scattered Church is filled with a haughty estimation of itself that it has not repented and believed God. It is a spirit that looks down on many within the Church. It is a spirit that sees itself as an image that claims to be of a different spirit that Laodicea- an image that reflects a kind of goodness seen in "being Philadelphian." Such brethren fail to see the purpose of the era- the time of Philadelphia and the work that was to be accomplished at that time. Instead, brethren have created an image of being Philadelphian that is better than reality, an image of self that could not be guilty of those things God says to Laodicea- which has been spued out of God's mouth and away from His presence. That means it happened to everyone who was ever a part of the Worldwide Church of God. How ironic that it is only through the admission of who they are that they can truly come to repentance and again be zealous toward God. All in the scattered Church must choose whether or not they believe God's own witness against them concerning the description He gives Laodicea because only when they believe God are they able to truly see themselves and repent!
Again, how blind and ironic it is that the name by which unrepentant Laodiceans want to see themselves (Philadelphia) is a name that only describes a love that humans are capable of without God's spirit. They seek to hold onto a description that defines a human fraternal love and not the true love that comes from God- agape.
Some that will yet be awakened are being called by God to repent and believe Him- to believe His witness against them. It needs to be stated against that God promises there will be a remnant called by Him out of the sleeping, pride-filled, lukewarm spirit that has engulfed the scattered Church. That is the Word of God contained in the book of Joel that should give encouragement to all who will receive and believe what God says to Laodicea! "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call" (Joel 2:32).
The spiritual condition of the Church, at the very time when end-time prophecies are being fulfilled and Jesus Christ is nearing His return as King of kings, is a condition of slumbering and sleeping just as the parable of the ten virgins declares. All ten virgins failed to be spiritually on guard and alert to the return of Jesus Christ. No person can awaken someone out of a spiritual sleep. Since this is a spiritual condition, it requires that God do the awakening.
The witness at the end of the age is that there was a large portion (the last third) of the Church that was shaken and given opportunity to be awakened as the result of being scattered, when God spued the Church out of His mouth because all were slumbering and sleeping and had become spiritually lukewarm. All have not accepted God's correction of faithfully recognized their Laodicean condition, much less repented of that condition of which all have been guilty.
The Church did not fully repent when the last third was initially awakened and chastened by God. That was a strong witness! The condition of the Church has been so bad that it has been going back to sleep ever since God severely chastened it. But He has been working to again awaken people out of that condition in order to call them to be a final remnant. This calling is not a second-calling to receive His Spirit, which is given once after baptism and the laying on of hands, but a calling that involves further chastening in order to bring about a remnant, humbled and brought low, to repent and once again become zealous toward God- if they will exercise ears to hear. Some are given this choice, but not all- for it is by the grace of God that we can now come to the kind of repentance necessary to be included as a remnant! None of us deserve this grace and mercy, yet God has a purpose to call a remnant (Joel 2:32) out of the last th ird of the Church that was scattered. These are called to be a faithful witness of Laodicea and the end of this age.
There will also remain a great witness of those scattered who live on into the millennial period and some that will even be in the hundred years to follow- a witness that even with the impregnation of God's spirit, man can refuse God- man can fall asleep spiritually and become spiritually lukewarm- a condition that God cannot work with in order to bring one to spiritual maturity. If the unpardonable sin has not been committed, then repentance will be offered during this time to serve as a witness of Laodicea.
One of the greatest lessons that man can learn is contained in the witness and warning of Laodicea! Lucifer, one of the archangels at the pinnacle of God's creation in the angelic realm, was made of spirit, yet became filled with pride and chose to turn away from God. The great lesson from Laodicea is akin to this, in that mankind, who is able to receive the impregnation of God's spirit, can become filled with pride and turn away from God.
Receiving the impregnation of God's spirit does not mean one will remain faithful to God. Unrepentant Laodiceans have made the same error as Lucifer and the unfaithful angels that followed him. All became lifted up with an attitude of self-centeredness that reflected their belief that, from within themselves, they possessed great spiritual wealth (rich and increased with goods), rather than understand the beauty of sharing in that wealth that truly comes only from God.
Yes, many will be caught off guard. This is the final testimony to any who will hear it! Have you been given the ability to see and hear something that you are still resisting and fighting against? Repentance is still being opened to some, but not many more, because even the remnant that God will bring through all this is limited. It is God's purpose to give witness of those who will hear and those who cannot or will not. If you are in the scattered Church, in which category do you fall?
This world and the modern-day scattered nations of Biblical Israel did not receive the message given to them by God at the end of this age. That witness was against them. Yet there was another witness at the time of Philadelphia. God called a few out of this world so that they could spiritually see and decide if they would respond to the gospel. Of this "few," thousands responded, but many more thousands refused it even when they were given the ability to hear it!
In like manner, spiritual Israel, during the time of Laodicea, is going to be a great witness in God's plan. Some have been called out of that lukewarm condition as a part of God's design and purpose. Few in Laodicea have been given the opportunity of being spiritually awakened and called to see. Two-thirds of the Church became a part of a desolation very early on and the remaining third was shaken, offered the opportunity to be awakened and given warning by being scattered- spued out of God's mouth. Of all that remains, only a few will respond to God and have opportunity for another kind of calling to be a remnant of that final third that was scattered. If you have been called to that, are you repenting and becoming zealous to God?
Just as many were given the ability to see the truth through a calling to the Church in these end-times, with only a few responding, there are many who were given the opportunity to be called out of a lukewarm spirit, out of a pride-filled spirit, out of spiritual slumber and sleep, yet have not responded to that calling. Indeed many are called, but few are chosen!
What a remarkable thing! An Ezekiel warning went out to this world at the end of this age. There is a witness of this world and especially the modern-day nations of Israel that would not hear God and there is a witness of a few who were called to a special ability to hear and choose that calling. An Ezekiel warning has also gone out to God's Church, to the degree that God determined would be sufficient to fulfill His righteous judgment upon the Church, just as a warning went into all the world to the degree that God determined would fulfill his righteous judgment on this end-time world.
Some will be able to receive the benefit of both Ezekiel warnings as this end-time concludes during the great tribulation. Yes, even some in the world will benefit along with some in the Church. But most will not!
If only it could sober each of us to the core of our being- the Kingdom of God is upon us! We are so very close to the opening of the final seventh seal. When you read this, that seal may have already been opened with God's two end-time witnesses already doing their work- just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. But as of this writing, we are rapidly approaching the blowing of the first four trumpets that bring great physical tribulation on this earth. Remember- it will last but a short time, although it will be the worst of times upon mankind in all of his 6,000-year history on this earth- it will be followed by a new world. That gospel message means more now than ever before. The Kingdom of God follows this great tribulation. It is our hope and only true hope of all mankind!
As we stated in the previous article, when great physical tribulation comes on this earth, God's two witnesses will be telling humanity that judgment has come upon this world due to man's rejection of God and His ways over the past 6,000 years of human history. These two witnesses will remind the world that they rejected the gospel message sent through God's own end-time Elijah. Their message will also show that mankind must humble himself before God, repent, and seek His Kingdom that is coming to rule all nations. This will be the time to listen to their words, heed what they say and seek repentance before your God.
So, whoever is reading, it would be wise to search out all that you can find concerning those things taught by God's end-time apostle, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. The world rejected the gospel that was sent through this end-time Elijah. Will you now repent and accept it?
----> Next
Copyright © the CHURCH OF GOD-PKG. 2005. All rights reserved.