Herbert W Armstrong

   And by the way, Mr. Fay forgot a little bit about this last trip. We also went down to inspect the Geneva office, and I told him I would add that postscript. But we had quite a trip that we just returned from the night before last, and we returned earlier. I had not expected to even be here today. I had expected to be at Ore Minnesota today and to have stayed over there all day yesterday. But because of the strike of the men who work in the towers and the commercial airlines, which, of course, direct private planes as well, we thought we better not take any chance and we came straight on home on Thursday. We left Paris about, I guess, about three o'clock in the afternoon, and we arrived here at about, I don't remember, it must have been six or seven that same evening. However, it was about 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning in Paris when we arrived here. We came straight on back, so I will see if I can get up to this next week up to Ore for the last group up there. Now, I've spoken to the two groups so far. We're having three at Ore Minnesota this year, and I've spoken to the first two. I hope to get up this week. Next week, I probably will not be able to go, I'm going to be otherwise occupied. But I hope I can go this week and speak to those up there.

   In the past seven months of this year, starting from early January, I have spoken to and seen about 50,000 of our brethren and our members in most parts of the world. That means over in Europe, from where we just returned. That means in the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand down under in the southern hemisphere, besides speaking to many of our churches in groups in all parts, most of the United States. I expect to go on speaking to many of the others. I think I have only spoken to about one-third of the various groups and locations, and I hope in the remainder of this year to cover the rest of them. But just in case you think I haven't been on the job or that I haven't been busy or had anything to do or that I am just getting old and senile and unable to do anything, I thought I'd give you a little rundown on what we have been doing this afternoon. I think sometimes you'd like to know what is going on in the work and the progress of the work. And if you don't want to know that, you ought to, because your hearts ought to be in it.

   I wish you could have all heard the sermon this morning because it was a whole sermon and just filled with scriptures backing up what I've said to you so many times. We're not called just to say I received Christ and then it's all settled. You know, the average Christianity idea of the average Christian church is of what we call traditional Christianity. It's a good deal like being on a railroad journey across the country or something of the kind, a long journey, or say from here to Chicago along the journey. Well, at the end of the line, there is a switch, and the switch turns you straight down the hell. Now, if somewhere along that journey of life, which is your whole life, you will profess Christ and say, I accept Christ. In other words, you're on the getting side, not giving. Instead of giving yourself to Christ, you want to get Christ. You take Him, you receive Him. That changes the switch at the end of the line, so you go straight up to heaven when you die. And of course, that's all you do. Now, the rest of the time you go on and enjoy this world and Satan's world in all of Satan's ways, anything you want, and you just go to heaven when you die if you had the password, and I accepted Christ. And brethren, that's not the way it is.

   We're called to a great inheritance, an inheritance into the family of God. The Kingdom of God is the family of God, and the family of God is a ruling government. Now, the Kingdom of God is not just a government. The Kingdom of God is the family into which we may be born. Now, I would like to tell Jerry Falwell and some of that group what it really means to be born again. I wish they knew because they have not been born again. Only Jesus Christ has been born again. Jesus Christ was born once as a human being of the virgin Mary about 4 B.C. He was born again as the Son of God. Of course, He was the Son of God as well as the Son of man when He was born the first time, He never committed a sin. Someone will say, and I've heard it said to me when I say Christ was the first one born again, "Would you mean Jesus had to get salvation? He had to be saved?" Oh, no, I didn't say that. I didn't say that. They don't know what being born again really means. Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary into this temporary existence, which is not real life. However, from all eternity, He had life within himself. He gave that life up to be born as a human being for you and me, to bring the message of God to this world. He was the messenger sent from God with a message. That message is the gospel, and that message or the gospel had not been preached from 70 A.D. until about 1954, 1953 A.D., and it was already on the way to being suppressed by 53 A.D. And it was not preached again until 1953 A.D. on radio Luxembourg in Europe, reaching all of Europe after all of the United States had already been reached, the gospel of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the family of God into which we may be born.

   Now, Jesus was born with a temporary human existence after He had had life within himself, inherent. He gave that up. He divested himself of all of that glory to come down here and let people spit in His face, let them mock Him, ridicule Him, persecute Him, beat Him with lashes, which no one in this audience has ever had to suffer. I'm sure, not the kind of lashes He did. That was for your healing and mine. I think Mr. Knapp will be coming to that probably about next Friday night or the night after. By the way, I just want to say a word about Mr. Neff's Bible study last night. I never realized in the years I've known Mr. Neff that he had a real sense of humor. Well, he didn't laugh at any jokes or anything last night. He kept his dignity all the way through, but he had some of us laughing and a kind of dry humor that was really funny. But we got the point, and that's the main thing. He got the point over, and I'm sure he will come to all of that. He's taking his time on this. He's covering this whole subject of healing in a very thorough manner, and that is very, very good.

   Well, Christ was the firstborn of many brethren, and we can be born again. Now, He was born immortal and given all the glory that He had divested himself of and given up in the first place to come down here, preach the gospel, die for you and for me, be resurrected to make a resurrection possible for you and me so that we may have eternal life. And now He is in glory with the Father, and he will come in great power and glory very soon again to rule this whole earth. He was born again. But the point is, and it was brought out so well this morning in the morning service right here, that God has given us the work to do of proclaiming the gospel to the world, and every one of us has a part in it.

   Now, the word apostle means one sent with the gospel. That's what it means. And primarily, that's my job. I see. I would never have thought of calling myself an apostle. The first time I ever heard that word was, let me see, it was in 1951 up at Belknap Springs at the Feast of Tabernacles in Oregon when that was the only Feast of Tabernacles in the world in one place. And we could, it would only accommodate about 60 people, and we had 100 or so up there at that time. We were overcrowded. And Dr. Herman Hoeh is the one who said that Mr. Armstrong is not a prophet. Well, I never thought I was. He said he is an apostle, and I nearly dropped off the chair. I didn't believe it. But I suppose 15 or 20 years later, I began to look back at the fruits and see what had happened and what is the ministry and the duty of an apostle. And I found that, believe it or not, I had been doing it and that nobody else has in this time and age. Well, I didn't do it. Again, as was brought out in the morning service, each one of us is only an instrument. I didn't do it. Jesus Christ did it.

   But you see, when I was converted, I didn't receive Christ. I gave myself to Him. I asked Him to come in and live His life in me. I asked Him if he could use me, take this worthless life. I would give it to him. I didn't know what He could do with it. I didn't see how He could use such a worthless life, but I gave it to Him. I haven't always left it 100% in His hands, but I've intended to. And I've tried to, and He knows that. And He has used it, and hH used it to bring you here. And He used it to bring a lot of people into God's church all around the world. And this is truly the Worldwide Church of God. But I didn't build this church. Jesus Christ did.

   But I want to tell you, a great violinist can take a second-rate, half-beat-up, old violin, can play some very beautiful music on it. I never heard a violin play a tune by itself. Did you? I never heard the violin just get up and play by itself. It can do nothing. But an Isaac Stern can take a violin and play quite a lot on it. Now, it can gets a little out of tune, he'll tune it back. I suppose a string could be broken; you repair it. And some of us, something gets wrong once in a while. You know, we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. If our attitude is right and our heart is right, He will pick us up and say, come on along. I look at the heart. I want to know what is your intent? What is your motive? What is your purpose? What do you intend to do? What do you want to do? I want to serve Him. I want to give my life to Him. I want to let Him use it.

   Now, Jesus Christ said when he was on earth, "Of myself, I can do nothing." Who do you think you are? Do you think you can do something? If even Christ could not? Do you think I could? I could not. Neither can you. But Christ can do an awful lot in me and through me. And all I can do is give this worthless piece of temporary existence in His hands and let Him use it. And He has used it to reach you, directly or indirectly through me, and then through me through others and on to you. And that is the way it has come around all this time. Well, truly, this is the Worldwide Church of God. And when I think of what is happening, had already happened since the first of this year, I couldn't help comparing what has happened to the visits and the travels in the first-century church with what has happened in the church today.

   Now, in the first century, little is recorded about any travels by Peter and the original 12 apostles. Apparently, they were sent very early over into Western Europe and Britain because Jesus had told them not to go to the way of the Jews or the Gentiles, but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And not very many know that the House of Israel were never Jews. They were not Jews. They never were Jews. Only the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi were ever called Jews, and they were split into two nations. And one was Israel, and the other was Judah. And the nation of Judah became known as the Jews, with just a nickname for Judah. And they came from the tribe of Judah. But the other 10 tribes, who became known as the lost 10 tribes, had never been called Jews. They were not of Judah; they were not Jews.

   So little is recorded about them. But we find very shortly in the book of Acts most of the church history is regarding the Apostle Paul and his travels. And most of the books in the New Testament, even about Paul and his travels. Now, Paul had three main tours that he took, and then there was one final one to Rome. And if you take Paul's tours to visit the churches and raise up churches and visit those that had been raised up and to supervise all the work of the churches as an apostle, he covered a territory. If you consider his first three tours, a territory no larger than one of our states, the state of Texas. But in those days, he had to travel by foot most of the way, and part of the way when he could go on the water by sailboat. And he was shipwrecked once in such a travel, and he ran across many troubles on the way. But it was very slow work. Paul's journeys took almost a lifetime to reach that little area going by foot or by sailboat.

   Now, in the first seven months of this year, God has allowed his apostle of this time to cover a big part of the whole earth in the first seven months. I want to go into that a little bit this afternoon with you because you should be interested. Oh, I didn't finish what I started a while ago. As it was said this morning in the morning's sermon, God has called us not just to accept Christ but to develop the character of God and to grow into the character of God so that we may be born again till we become very God ourselves. Now, He has given us something to do for that training, and that is our part in the work. Now, it is not the part of every one of you to go to Kings and Presidents and Prime Ministers all over the world. He sends His Apostles to do that kind of a job. But the Apostles always had many brethren backing them up. And I received signatures from thousands and thousands of you people and our members all around the world saying, "We're behind you 100%." Once in a while, they'll say 101% or 110%, and sometimes 1000%. Whatever that is anyway, it's comforting to know that they are having their part in the work because you all have your part in the work, if it is no more than praying and tithe paying. But you can have a greater interest than that. And it should be your life interest. It should be the one thing your mind is focused on. It should be the one thing. And that is the God's way to provide for your spiritual growth, is your part in the work.

   The average Christian in Christianity, Protestant or Catholic Christianity, just thinks they profess Christ, that's all. Now, they just go ahead and enjoy life and have all the fun they want and do all the things Satan wants them to do, and they go to heaven when they die or purgatory or wherever. No, we have a much bigger responsibility than that. We have to develop character just as we had to grow from the time we were born of the flesh and we had to grow up in a fleshly manner, in a physical manner. So, in the Kingdom of God, we must grow up spiritually in spiritual character, in the very holiness, the character of God himself. And so, God has given us this job to do, and we need to all be interested, and part of it is your interest in the work and the progress of the work. And that's why I want to report to you this afternoon. I want to give you part of a report on my own stewardship.

   Now, as I've been. Well, a couple of months ago, I was down in, was it 2 months ago? Australia and New Zealand. And wherever I've gone, they have given me a report of the state of the work in their area and what they're doing, and asking for more guidelines, what they ought to do, giving me their recommendations of what ought to be done, and I make the decision. And so, they have their part. We all have our part, and part of your part is just being interested in the work and wanting to know what's going on and having your heart in the work. That's part of it.

   Now, today's Apostle and the headquarters here send letters to, can't ever read my own notes, oh yes, to hundreds of ministers, I abbreviate when I write and I can't read my own abbreviation, We send a letter call, the Pastor General's report to hundreds of ministers all over the world every week, giving them instructions, giving them a report on the work and what is happening from headquarters here and the instructions. Every week that goes out and it is received very quickly because we have communication today that they didn't have in the first century in the days of the Apostle Paul. Then through the Good News, twice every month, we get all of the brethren all over the world, all except the foreign languages. And you know, I just took it for granted, I guess, that we were reaching all of our brethren, and we're not because the Worldwide News is not translated into German and Dutch and Spanish and French. And I mentioned while we were in France, "Well, that's too bad," because the French people, some of them told me over there, "Well, we don't get the Worldwide News." And Mr. Apartian was there with me, and I said, "Well, that's too bad." I said, "I wish we could have it translated into French and sent over here." Mr. Apartian says, "Well, give us the budget and we'll do it." Well, I think it's always "give me enough money and we'll get it done." I think we'll have to manage that some way because I want the French people to get this too. There are a good many of them, and as Mr. Fay said, they're scattered. Some of them are in Eastern Canada, and some of them are in Islands of the Sea, and some of them are in France, and some of them are in Africa, and they're all over. But anyway, the Good News reaches everyone who can read English twice a month or every two weeks, beside about 3 million copies of the Plain Truth going out, reaching nearly 10 million people and all of our membership once a month, and the Good News once a month reaching all of our membership and our coworkers beside.

   Now I wonder, do we really reach the world with the gospel? I have heard that question. I've heard some doubt and say, "Well, I don't think we've reached very many people yet. I don't think we've scratched the surface." I inquired here and there, and I found several people had never heard about our work or about this church or about the gospel. Well, I think most of us have no conception of the power of this work and of how many we have really been reaching and how many have been reached in the last two generations because one generation has come and gone on, and another generation has arrived since we started with this work. It's been going on now for more than 40 years.

   I wonder if we really realize. I had a telephone call just yesterday, I think it was from Dr. Frank Stanton. I don't know whether you know who he is or not, but he's chairman, was the chairman of the board for some time of CBS, Columbia Broadcasting System. He is on the board of directors of some of the greatest corporations in the United States. He is a very powerful man. He called me on the telephone yesterday, and he was mentioning to me that he had been in the publication business once, and he had published a publication, a journal called a Book Review, but he said he wasn't able to make it. And at that time, he let it go, and some other people picked it up. One's name was Dow and the other was Jones, the Dow Jones people. Now, they also published the Wall Street Journal. And of course, you know about the Dow Jones averages on the stock market, very powerful company. I said, "Well," I said, "then you're familiar with the Wall Street Journal now that you mention it. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" "No," he says, "of course not." I said, "Did you happen to read my pages in the Wall Street Journal?" He said, "Did I?" He says, "I certainly did." Oh, yes, he read them. I never heard from him. He never telephoned in.

   On, let me see. On Wednesday, last Wednesday, King Leopold came to Paris to meet me and to spend an hour and a half with me. And I find that King Leopold reads the Plain Truth, and he says, "I find some very fine articles in the Plain Truth, and I'm much interested in it." And it has come to me indirectly. King Leopold said that a king can't change his religion. And he said, "If I could change my religion, that's the religion I would take, the one that Mr. Armstrong has." He says, "Everything I read there makes sense." Now, he's never written in. And we found that he said, "Well, I'm not getting it anymore." Well, kings just don't renew subscriptions. So, we saw to that, and now he's got it. At least it's on our records as a life subscription, so he'll always get it. But he is interested. Now we are reaching people like that. And most of you have no idea. They do not write in, they do not let us know they've read it, but they read it. They have heard the message, they have read it in the magazines and the newspapers. And you know, there was an editorial in the daily newspaper in Spokane, Washington, and the editorial said there's one preacher in the United States that has the most distinguished congregation of any minister. There's no minister on Park Avenue, New York, that has as distinguished a congregation. And that's this man, Herbert W. Armstrong. Every week, he has the most distinguished congregation, and he preaches to them with pages in the Wall Street Journal because he reaches through the Wall Street Journal just about everybody in the United States who owns or wants to own a part of the United States, and about everybody who either rules or wants to rule the government of the United States because they all read the Wall Street Journal.

   Now, at the present time, those same pages are running in the Middle Western edition. The Wall Street Journal, they did run in the Eastern edition and the Western edition. Now we will have covered the whole country when that runs out, and perhaps we'll renew them again. It takes a lot of time to write those pages. I don't call them ads. They weren't ads. They weren't supposed to bring a response. Many of them did bring responses. But many of the multimillionaires and the captains of industry and people high in government, they read it, but they don't let us know they read it. And sometimes they don't want anyone to know they read it, but they read it, believe me. And we are reaching hundreds of times more people than most of us realize. We have reached hundreds and hundreds of millions of people around the world.

   Now, we haven't reached the fourth of all the world's population in China. But I was able to speak before many of the leaders of education and government who mold the minds of all of the people and control their thinking and their religion in China. And I was able to give them the good news of the Kingdom of God as a guest of the People's Republic of China. And the only one who would even be a professed minister of Christianity, who has ever been invited to come to China and to talk to them and allowed to preach the message. But it's funny that has come even though we're persecuted, even though we're small, comparatively in the number of members and all of that, we are getting out with more power through the Plain Truth, through the Good News, through the Bible Correspondence Course, through our own publications, through the advertising that we have had in Reader's Digest, in the TV Guide, in the London Daily Times, and the London Telegraph, in the most important newspapers in Germany, and on radio stations like Radio Luxembourg and Radio Europe Number One and other super powerful radio stations, we have reached multiple, multiple millions of people.

   Now we're not supposed to go out and convert everyone. You can't convert any except those whom God has called. We're only supposed to get the gospel out as a witness, and usually it's a witness against them. God isn't trying to convert the world now. He doesn't expect to. He's calling a few of us to be the first to put our hope in Christ, the first fruits. That's why we have the Day of Pentecost, which is the Feast of First Fruits, to show us that we're the first to be called after God has opened up the tree of life and the Holy Spirit. He isn't calling the rest of the world yet. He's calling us to be trained to become very God in the family of God, which will be the ruling family to rule over all the nations of the earth and then to teach them the truth. And then God will open the Holy Spirit and salvation to everybody. And then God will call everybody and draw everybody by the power of His spirit. But we're the ones who are going to have to rule them. We'll be kings and priests and teach them.

   Do you ever wonder what you're going to be doing in the Kingdom of God? Are you preparing for a responsibility in the kingdom? Well, I'm trying to. I don't know. I wonder, I think sometimes that perhaps what God will have me doing in the kingdom is writing. You know, the wife of my youth before she died, she said she was just sure that an angel spoke to her one time. And I believe it really was an angel because angels had spoken to her one time, she was sleeping in a bed years and years ago when our eldest daughter was just a baby. And her name, as many, most of you know, is Beverly. And it was in the middle of the night, and a voice said to her, "Move Beverly." She turned over; she didn't want to be disturbed. Says, "Move Beverly." And she didn't want to turn over. And then it came out, "Move Beverly." And that woke her up, and she turned, and she did. She just half obeyed, not knowing what she was doing. She pulled our little daughter over, who had been the wall. I mean, the bed was right beside the wall, right up against the wall. Beverly was on the inside of the bed, right against the wall. She pulled Beverly over, and a second later, a big heavy painting dropped down off the wall. It would have crushed her head and killed her.

   Now, I know an angel spoke to her that time. I know an angel has taken hold of the wheel in my automobile and steered it twice. God does send angels to deal with us at times. He doesn't do it all of the time. He doesn't do it at our whim and at our, whenever we would like, but he does do it at times. But an angel spoke to my wife and said, "Tell Herbert to write, tell Herbert to write, write, write." And I've been doing a lot more writing since that message came, believe me. And I believe that's one thing God will have me doing in the millennium. I don't know. Whatever He wants me to do, I will do, and He will give me the power to do because of myself, I can do nothing either.

   But today, today's Apostle and headquarters send letters to hundreds of ministers, I said a while ago, all over the world, hundreds of ordained ministers who have been trained by this work on all the continents of the world for churches all over the world. Then there's the Worldwide News every two weeks. There is the Good News every month to our brethren. There is the Plain Truth, going almost 3 million copies, going out to 3 million subscribers and perhaps read by 10 million people. And I think sometimes we really don't realize how many people are really being reached and have been reached by this work. It really is a great work.

   Now, God provided today's end-time church with modern means that they didn't have in the first century. Means of communication, means of transportation, not even dreamed of by those in the first century. When I was in Paris, I was in almost daily communication with the office right here in Pasadena. We were in communication with other offices in other parts of the world. All we have to do is pick up a telephone, and in most cases, London, Paris, we pick up a telephone, and we just dial, and you get the number. We don't go through any operator at all. We just dial. Then we get, just like you dial right here, you have to dial a few more times. It's about seven, eight, ten times, something like that, instead of about five or six. That's the only difference.

   Now, just this year, I want to show you something about now the number of brethren that I have been able to see and speak to in the world. Now, it's just the brethren, let alone public audiences to which I've spoken. And besides those that have been reached by writing and other means, millions of people that way. All right, in January, I spoke to all of our, I would say 90 to 95% or more of all of our brethren in the Philippines. Now, they came from other islands in the Philippines. They came to Manila from different places. In Tokyo, I spoke to Plain Truth readers. Quite a large group of them, but we don't have members there. That was in January.

   February, I spoke to big groups twice during February on the Sabbath. February 14th, Seattle, 2700 of our brethren. Two weeks later, February 28th, over to Big Sandy in Texas, 3000 or 2800, I think it was, something like that, or about 3000 has been reported to me in Big Sandy, Texas. We had an overflow crowd there, and we have quite a large auditorium even there. Now, the next month, March. March 14th, I went to Denver, where I spoke to 1570 of our brethren, 1570. Then on the 28th of May, Chicago, 3800 brethren in Chicago's biggest and most famous theater.

   Now, the next month, April. April 4th, Salem, Oregon, 2300 of our brethren, Salem. April 25th, New York City, 3970 of our brethren. Let's see, that's the largest group so far. 3000, practically 4000, 3970. Now, in May, I went down under the Southern Hemisphere. In the week of May the 9th, I spoke to our brethren in Sydney, and it was also live heard in Perth and other places at the same time. And let me see. Then the following day, on Sunday, I went up to Brisbane and spoke to the brethren up there. And brethren from churches farther north had taken buses and come down for that meeting. Then the following Sabbath, at Melbourne, and that was also heard live in Adelaide and Hobart and other places. Total in Australia, 4860, 4860 of our brethren. Then that was the last Sabbath in Sydney. The very next day, Sunday, in Auckland, New Zealand. How long would it have taken the Apostle Paul to get over there in a sailboat? Probably weeks. We just went over the morning the next day or that same afternoon, I guess it was, after the service that, Sabbath, Saturday night.

   In Auckland, I was too ill to speak. I had a little bit of heart trouble. However, Bob Fay went down and spoke to them, and he spoke for me to 950. And later that evening, I was able to speak to all of the ministers and their wives, and that was perhaps 25 or 30 of them. And that was on the 17th of May. Now, coming into June, I'm giving you every month right along through the year. In June, we went up to Stockton, California. We got our brethren from Central California, 2570 there. And a wonderful opportunity to see so many of our brethren and speak to them that I've had this year.

   Then coming into June, let me see. No, that was June. I didn't get the date down, but it was in early June. I forgot to put the date down. And later in June, the 20th, Cincinnati, Ohio, I went over there and spoke to 5030 of our brethren from all around that area. Then in June 27th, a trip up to Ore Minnesota, where I spoke to 750 and one or two churches. All of them had come for that meeting besides the youth that are up there in the camp. There was a total of 750 on that day, on June the 27th. Then in Canada. Now I'm going to have to go very soon to both of the major cities in the east of Canada. If I can just think of their names, the two large cities over there anyway. Now, let me see. Then, in July 22nd, 500 again at Ore Minnesota. Now that was on the start of the trip over to Europe, just finished just, and just got back the day before yesterday. Now before I go on that trip, let me say that I overlooked that in March the 7th. In addition to that, right here in Pasadena, we had a big meeting if you remember. And brethren came from, I don't know, at least Long Beach. I don't know whether some came up from San Diego or not. I think some came down from Bakersfield. There were 5500 and 30 and they all saw it by television and they were over in the gymnasium in the student center. And I think one of our other buildings in addition, we had 5500 and 30 and that's about three times as many as we have of you here this afternoon. It looks like we're a full house here today. I don't see any empty seats except way over that front of the corner. That's where I should be seated, but I'm seated up here.

   Now later in July the 25th, in London, I spoke to 1908 people. The next day, the 26th of July, in Glasgow, Scotland, 717, beside visiting the SEP camp and all the students up there earlier in the day. Then August the 1st, which was the next Sabbath, I spoke to the German people, what have I got here? Holland, looked like H, E, double LL, it couldn't be that! It's H, O, double LL, can't read my own writing. Holland. 686 were there. And I think Bob told you how they had earphones and those that could only understand Dutch heard it in Dutch and those who were German-speaking heard it in German. Those who could understand English just heard me, but they all saw me just like you do. But like some of you would have earphones on now, you'd see me, but you would only hear through the earphone in your own language. And then the very next day, August the 2nd, in Paris, approximately 500. Big audience there in Paris. And there were 500 or 320 at the camp in the SEP camp up in Scotland that we visited on that Sunday before the afternoon service.

   Now, the international total that I have visited and seen and spoken to this year, 10,709. That's in other countries outside of the United States and the grand total. So, it's almost 40,000, over 40,000 in the United States, the grand total. Well, well, I think that's over 50,000. I thought of it. No, it's over 50,000 total of our members. Now, that's not the world, that's just members this year. So, truly, this is a worldwide, the Worldwide Church of God.

   Now, I write letters instead of just writing letters like the Apostle Paul did, and he wrote a certain number of letters to people. Let me see. I think I have some notes on that here. No, I thought I made a note of that. I'm sure I made it in the office, but I don't have it here. Well, Paul wrote letters to the Church that Rome. As you know, he wrote two letters to the Church of Corinth. And then he wrote letters to the churches of Galatia. I guess that letter was passed from one church to another. And in Galatia, now, I don't know how many churches there were up there. Whether there were three or four or whether there were eight or ten. And after that, there were the churches at let's see after Galatia, Philippi, to the church of Philippi, and then to the church of Colossae. And then to those of Thessalonica. Now, he had to write those letters by hand, and they had to be taken afoot or some way that someone would carry them there. Look how different God has made it for us today and how he has blessed us to get out the gospel and even to reach our own brethren in a much greater way today.

   Then beside that, the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Hebrews just called Hebrews. It was a general letter to those who spoke the Hebrew language and mostly were probably were Jews because Paul primarily, you know, was an Apostle to the Gentiles. But he also wrote that letter to those of the Hebrew language. Then he wrote letters to some of the Evangelists under him. He wrote letters to Timothy, I can't remember names, I can tell you chapter and verse, but I can't remember the name. I don't know why that is. Timothy and Titus and Philemon. He wrote letters to them.

   I have to get out a letter every week to hundreds of ministers. You see, one Apostle today can do many times the work over a whole world that the Apostle Paul could do in a whole lifetime in one area about the size of Texas. And besides, their churches were smaller in those days. The populations were smaller. It just simply were not as large. Well, we're in the end time and there isn't much more time to go. I didn't mean to be looking at my watch as if there's not much more time to go just at that time. But anyway, there isn't. Anyhow, I think I have a little time, and I'm going to take it. And I want to read you part of one of Paul's letters and what it means that he sent. I sent letters out to our churches, only they're published in the Good News, the Worldwide News, and so on. And maybe I get out to speak to them. I don't think I work any harder than the Apostle Paul did. I don't think anyone could, but God has given us facilities that so much more gets done. And we should praise God for all of that. He's made it all possible one way or the other.

   I want to read you a little bit in the beginning of Paul's letter to the Ephesians at Ephesus. He starts out, "Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God." Now, if I am an Apostle of God, I didn't make myself an Apostle. I didn't believe I was an Apostle for many years until many other people had claimed that. And I could look back and see that the fruits did prove it. Otherwise, I would certainly not admit it. "But by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

   Now, when he sent grace and peace from God, he was a minister of God speaking for God as God's representative and as Christ's representative. And he had authority to speak for Them. When I sign a letter or an article in Jesus' name, Herbert W. Armstrong, we usually put the signature at the end. Today, they put it at the beginning, Paul an Apostle to so and so. We don't write letters like that today. We say dear so and so, and then we sign it at the end. Well, that's just a matter of custom and the way it's being done at the time of the year in the world. But nevertheless, when I sign in Jesus' name, that means I have power and authority from Christ to use His name. And that means that I'm doing it for Him. And He really wrote what is about. Now, some members will sign their letters in Jesus' name and your name. You better be careful to know whether you have authority to do that or not. I feel that I do have that authority, and I do, do it.

   Now, he says grace to you. That's from God and from Jesus Christ, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now you notice that Paul does not leave God the Father out of it. I wonder if you ever noticed that in the Protestant churches who claim to be the churches of God and of Christ, they very seldom mention God the Father. They only mention Christ. They do not mention the Father. The Father is left out of it. He's that angry Old God of the Old Testament. And they don't know that the Yahweh or the God of the Old Testament is the one who was born of the Virgin Mary and was named Jesus of Nazareth. They just don't seem to know that much about the Bible. But "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul worships God the Father first of all. When Jesus told us how to pray, it wasn't the Lord's prayer. It was a sample prayer telling us how to pray. He said, "When you pray, say our Father, which art in heaven." Don't just pray to Jesus alone. You can go right over Jesus' head and pray directly to the Father in His name. And I think that's what most of us do. Or you can pray to Jesus too. That's all right. But Jesus himself gave us the example of praying directly to the Father.

   "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Do you realize how God has blessed you, brethren? Do we realize how he has blessed us? I think the greatest blessings are what I've just been telling you today and how he has allowed us to get the gospel out to the world. When I thank God, and we should give thanks in all things and give thanks first, I don't thank Him for any material comforts that I have. First. Sometimes I even forget that. But I add that later. I thank Him first of all for His truth. I thank Him first of all for opening my mind for understanding and comprehension and right with it for the privilege of sharing that truth with millions of other people, even though most of those millions have spurned it. But there are many thousands of you brethren who have received it.

   Now, even of us who have received it again, you need to go back to Jesus' parable of the sower and the seed. We sow the seed over the world. We reach people by radio, by television, and in print and publications that have up to 20 or 30 million copies going on to that many different subscribers. And they do read it, and they do hear the radio and see the television programs. I hope you'll all be looking tomorrow because many other people in this area are going to be doing it. And then, of course, in New York and other areas of Chicago and Kansas City, Denver, and other places over the United States, we will be reaching people.

   And incidentally, Mr. Fay said a number of things about needing more advertising and publications, and we do in Europe, and we're going to do it. Now, we have just recently added, I think it is, the third-largest advertising agency in the world. At least as the third, second, or third largest in the United States, handling many of the big ones. If I mentioned the commercials, you'd recognize them. You see them on television all the time. They come through this agency. They design them, they have them all produced and everything for these great corporations, some of them for foods and for this and for that and the other thing. But they are going to represent us now and get us on more television stations in the United States, more radio stations in the United States daily, and on more stations in Europe and other places, and in advertising in more publications. So that's going to be stepped up very greatly.

   "According as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." Now He has chosen us. You think you decided to be a Christian? Oh no. God decided you should be a Christian. He drew you. He chose you, brethren. Can you think of that? God Almighty chose you, and He called you, or you wouldn't be here today. Shouldn't you be thankful that He sorted you out? And perhaps He called you out of many other hundreds of thousands of people, and you are the only one of those hundreds of thousands that He chose and called? What a wonderful thing it is and what a responsibility.

   But in the parable of the sower and the seed, you sow the seed. Most of it will fall on the stony ground and places where it never takes any root, and nobody pays much attention to it. Some people hear it a little bit, but they don't get interested, they never write in or anything of the kind. Now, some do get interested, and they write in. And we found over the years that every inquiry we receive asking for the Plain Truth or asking for a booklet that has been announced, every such letter or inquiry or telephone call requesting it represents 1000 other people who saw the program or heard the program or who read the ad. Only one out of 1000 will even respond or reply. Every letter we get means 1000 people who heard it.

   Now, of every one of those, about one-tenth send in some money with it, and we call them donors. And about one-tenth of them will become coworkers, and about one-tenth of the coworkers are going to become members. So, you take our membership and look how many times you multiply it to find out how many people we are reaching. Now, that's a tried and proven type of a statistic. It's proven out that way. So, He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love.

   Now that word "holy" has more than one meaning, like a lot of other words. And it may come from more than one Greek word or Hebrew word in the Old Testament, but it does have more than one meaning. I have always thought of holy, and it does, I think, primarily mean godly or godly type of character and godly righteousness. But also, holy can be a place. Now, your tithe is holy to God. It's sacred to God. It's sort of set apart to be sacred. Holy can also mean set apart. Your children are holy, but they're not converted, but they are set apart as different from other children. And I tell our people up at the camp when I talk to our young people that they are holy in that sense, that they can, if they want to, they have a right to approach God, and He will call them if they want to, if they want Him to. Your children are set apart as different from the children of unconverted people. And you should be very careful in the plenty of your children for that reason. To be holy and without blame. So here it does mean godly because it also says without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto it says here the adoption in King James that it means to become His sons under the sonship. It should be born sons, which we shall be chosen by Jesus Christ to himself according to the pleasure of His will.

   Now, every verse here seems to stop with a comma all so far. This is mostly all just one. Let me see. Oh, it's only one sentence so far, all the way down from the beginning. I've already had five verses, and it's all still the same long, long drawn-out sentence according to the good pleasure of His will. Now this has something to do with predestination. We were chosen, we were called by God. God is not calling everybody. Now, right there, let's go back again back here in Genesis. After Adam rejected the tree of life and took to himself the knowledge of good and evil, self-reduced knowledge, the production of knowledge to himself, God closed up the tree of life and put angels to guard it, and He did not open the tree of life or the Holy Spirit to Adam's descendants at all, except the prophets. Now, the prophet Joel prophesied in Joel 2:28 that "It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My spirit on all flesh." But he wasn't doing it at that time, only on the prophets. Now, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter said, "This is what Joel prophesied." But this was only the first fruits. This is only those that were predestinated, and still the rest of the world is cut off from the Holy Spirit and from salvation. Now, supposing that someone decided they wanted salvation. They wanted to come to God, and they wanted to come through Christ. I think if they wanted to and they'd begin to pray and ask God, "Won't you have mercy on me and let me come?" I believe God would then call him. But I don't know of anyone who ever did that. They just don't want to because the natural mind of people are hostile against God and not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be Romans 8:7.

   So, you see, it's only a few that are predestinated. What a privilege it is and what a responsibility on us of just one out of hundreds of thousands, each one of us that has been called. And we're called to a life of training. We're in training to be kings and priests. Now, I saw the, I want to say funeral. I mean, wedding, the royal wedding over in London on television. Of course, you could have seen it here. I don't know what time it would have been here, whether you were up to see it or not. It might have been through the night here. But anyway, we saw the whole thing over there. Now, that is very, very important, and I will have an article coming out in the Plain Truth on that because that is the very throne that Jesus is going to take over. It is a throne of David. It has been overturned twice or three times already. The third time is one of the overturns from Scotland down to London. And so that wedding was the heir to that throne. And if he ever does sit on the throne before Christ comes, then Christ will take it over from him. Otherwise, Christ will take it over from his mother, Queen Elizabeth. And it is a very important throne. I was interested in that wedding for that reason, that this is the young man who is heir to the throne that Christ is going to take. I don't know whether he knows that or not, but I know that the royal family of England and a couple of generations back did believe that they are on the very throne of David. And I don't know whether the present generation of the royal family believe it or not.

   Now, it continues on the same sentence in verse 6, "To the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved." In the beloved, in whom, that is, in Christ, in whom we have redemption through His blood. Now that is to be redeemed from Satan. Satan has really gotten... he's responsible for the sins of the world, and it's your sins that have cut you off from God. God did not cut people off from Him, but your sins have, and all have sinned, so all have been cut off because they cut themselves off. But God cut the Holy Spirit off from people. Now, we've only had that straight in our minds in the last two or three months. God continues to reveal more truth to us.

   Now, continuing on, "Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence." I tuned in, and I was looking this morning for a while at a program of some Pentecostal people. They were singing, "Glory, glory, hallelujah," and a man was pretending that he could tell a person everything they had done and what they had even been thinking and read their minds and what they were thinking. It's a lot of hogwash and cutting up antics and mesmerism and one thing and another. But you'll notice the Bible always stays with wisdom and judgment and sound common sense and things that are rational and reasonable.

   "Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us" now unto us, but not to the world. You realize the world doesn't know these things. "He's made known unto us the mystery of his will." Now it is a mystery. You find that mystery so often in referring to the gospel because it is a mystery to people that have only half a mind. They only have the one spirit in their mind that gives them physical materialistic knowledge. They can't have any knowledge of spiritual things. They don't really believe in God. They just say they do. They have no idea about who or what God is. They can't have; they have minds that are hostile against God. That's the way they grow up because Satan gets to them in the first month of their lives.

   "Having made known unto us" but not unto the outside world "the mystery of His will" which the world doesn't understand "according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself." So, it's His pleasure that He's given you that wonderful knowledge. Do you thank Him for it, brethren?

   "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth, even in Him," even in Christ. Now, He doesn't say people in heaven. He says all things, even in Him or Christ, in whom also we, but only we, not the rest of the world, we have obtained an inheritance. The world has not, but He chose us that we should have that inheritance. You didn't decide you would like to have that inheritance. You could not have done that. God picked you out. He chose you, decided to give you that inheritance. Do you appreciate it? Well, take heed that you don't ever lose it. That inheritance, "Being predestinated" there's predestination again, and you find it again near the end of the eighth chapter of Romans. "According to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." Everything goes according to the counsel of God's will. Satan cannot ever countermand that. Remember that. Satan can only do what God allows.

   "That we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ." We are the first fruits. That's what the Day of Pentecost teaches us. We are the first ones to be chosen. God has not chosen the world. We're being trained now to help save the world later, and all in the world, suppose when they die before the millennium, then they'll be raised in the great white throne judgment and then they will have a chance. Of course, they'll be judged. They'll give an account for all their sins, too. But now continuing, "In whom he also trusted after that, he heard the word of truth" after he called you and he chose you, and you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation "in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise," that is, stamped with its seal, stamped with the Holy Spirit of promise, "which is the earnest of our inheritance." Now earnest is a down payment, not a real down payment. You buy a piece of property, and you give an earnest payment. Now that's a part of the down payment, but it's enough to bind the deal temporarily for a few days until you make the down payment. But we have that first payment of immortal life, the earnest payment of immortal life of our inheritance "until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."

   "Wherefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints." Now they had love for the other saints. Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another, if ye love one another." We must love one another. But we're not to love the world. We're to love even our enemies, however, "heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus ever since he did, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks, that is Paul, cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers." Well, you know, I do the same thing today. I have to pray daily for you people, for all of our brethren all over the world. I can't mention everybody by name. I don't try to do that. But now and then, there are reasons why I mention this particular one. That particular one has certain problems and trials come to my attention. I do mention any such of you at that time.

   Then I pray daily for all of our ministers. I even pray for those I know are my enemies. You know how I pray for them. I pray that God will deal with them in the way He knows is best for them. Now, God punishes everyone he loves, but God's punishment is corrective to correct them. God doesn't want to make them suffer. Sometimes I know my prayers are going to result in some people being punished, and they're going to suffer until they learn the truth and wake up for their own good. But that will be God's doing, not mine. I pray for them, not against them. I do not pray against my enemies. Jesus said, "Pray for your enemies," and I do that. And I won't say that I do that just every day, but I would guess at least twice or three times a week. But I pray for certain ones, even certain ones in my own family, and that God will wake them up and that if he has to punish them to do it, that he will do whatever in his judgment is good for them. But I always pray for what is good for them, not what is bad for them. And brethren, I hope I'm setting you an example in that and in what God would have you do.

   "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ," now again, he's mentioning the Father. He never leaves the Father out of it. "The Father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." Now here again, the spirit and revelation in the knowledge of Him. It's sound knowledge and not this kind of wildfire that some people have, which is not of God. And you don't find it in the Bible or the true people of God at all.

   "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened." I've talked to Pentecostal people. They don't want the eyes of their understanding to be enlightened. They just want to say, "Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory, hallelujah, praise you, Jesus," and they shout things like that, and they say, "Well, we have a good time at church, and we like our kind of church because we have a good time at church." Well, then it's a show they enjoy, they enjoy that kind of a show instead of some other kind of show. That's the only difference. But that is not what God wants us to do.

   "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling." Do you know that he's called you? He's called you. He chose you. "What is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints?" The riches of that glory, of that inheritance that is to be yours. Do you realize how great it is? In the space of all time, that would be more than across this room. And a little tiny bit like that would be your life. And most people treat this life cheaply. They just want to live any way for pleasure and forget all the rest of the time of eternity that is on ahead beyond this life. And there's so much more coming in the future.

   "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his mighty power." This one sentence keeps going right on and on and on, verse after verse. "Which, it's the way they translated it, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead." Which makes, of course, eternal life possible for us through his resurrection. "When he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places." Again, it's what God the Father did. "Far above all principality and power and dominion." Principality means a government, whether it's a human government or what kind of government. Above any kind of government, the government of God. And that is the government administered by the family of God. "Above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the world but also in that which is to come." Any name that is to come, Christ has a name above them all.

   "And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church." Christ is the head of the church, "which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all." We are the body of Christ. Now, there's only one body. Christ is not many bodies. Some people think you take part of that body and cut it off. Well, even if it's your little finger, if it's cut off, it's no longer part of the body. So, some cut off and some former ministers have gone out and tried to form other churches of their own. Well, a little finger of mine can't go and form another body, can it? It's no longer part of the body. We are the body of Christ. Other churches are not. They can be part of the body of Christ, and they could if they would obey Christ, if they would follow Christ. But this is Christ in print in the Bible. How do we know we're the true church? Because we're the only church on earth that follows what is here, that believes what is here, that practices what is here, that relies on it, that obeys it, that preaches it, and is doing what it says the church would be doing to the world. And we are the Worldwide Church of God, and I just have to praise God and thank Him that we are worldwide and that he enables us, that He's given me that wonderful airplane. And I can travel to all parts of the world so rapidly. I leave Paris three o'clock in the afternoon and get here just about sunset reach here, same day. Of course, we're gaining nine hours on the sun, or nine hours. I guess it is nine hours. But it's a marvelous thing and how different it is than it was in the days when the church first started.

   Well, brethren, I hope you understand and realize how God has blessed us. What is our responsibility? God is blessing us as we get back on the track. He is blessing us now as never before in every way and giving us every blessing, as Paul wrote here, in the heavenly sphere. Let's continue to thank Him. Continue to praise Him. Continue to pray for one another, love one another. Continue to pray for me, even as I pray for you. I do ask you to do that, and I need it. I know you need it, and we all do. So, until I'm with you again, I'll say goodbye. Did I go over time? Yes, I did. I'm sorry. But we began a little late.