Herbert W Armstrong

   Many people can't understand that to have the answer, you have to answer the question. Winston Churchill talked about in World War II. He was one of the great men of the world. And very few seem to understand what he said to the United States Congress that there is a purpose being worked out here below. Very few understand there is any purpose for human life. Why we were put here, where we're going? What is the incredible human potential? Very few understand that very few know what the purpose is that there even is any purpose to human life.

   When God does supernaturally intervene to stop wars, he is going to take over and rule over all nations and bring us world peace, and there will be no more wars. But when He does, I want you to notice what will happen in Revelation 11 and verses 15 to 18 (Revelation 11:15-18). And verse 15, it says that the kingdoms of this world are become or shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And there'll be no end of it, and there'll be no end of the peace that is going to come to this earth at that time.

   But you will notice in verse 18, and the nations were angry when he comes, and I'd like to have you notice something else. Now, in the 17th chapter of Revelation and verse 14 (Revelation 17:14), the nations here that it is speaking of says, "thee shall make war with the lamb that is Christ in his second coming, shall make war with the lamb and the lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful."

   When he comes as the King of kings to bring us world peace and to stop all wars, the nations are going to be angry, and they're going to try to fight and make war against him to prevent world peace. And the nations are going to have to be compelled to have peace and to be happy and to enjoy life which they don't enjoy now because there's nothing but discontent and unhappiness on the face of the earth now.

   But what is that purpose being worked out here below? And why does it allow wars now? Why hasn't God stopped wars long before now? Why has he been allowing it these 6000 years? Well, God's purpose is to reproduce himself. Very few seem to understand that I don't think even Winston Churchill fully understood that he knew there was a purpose. But what is that purpose? Very few know.

   To a prominent lawyer among the Jews when Jesus Christ was on earth. I want to show you what he said. It's in the third chapter of John and this man Nicodemus who was the ruler of the Jews came to him about the kingdom of God that Jesus was proclaiming, that was the gospel he was proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and Nicodemus that talked to him about it (John 3:5). Jesus answered verily, verily I say unto thee except a man be born again. He cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.

   Now you notice here the Kingdom of God is something one can enter into, but he cannot enter into it unless he is born again. Now, what did he mean? You hear a lot of people talk about being born again, Christians. Do they even know what they're talking about? I'd like to send you a booklet. Just what do you mean... Born Again? It will stagger you to find out that they don't know what it means to be born again, that they are not born again.

   Notice what Jesus said to Nicodemus in verse five (John 3:5), Jesus answered and said verily, verily, I say unto thee except a man be born of water and of the spirit. He cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Now, it's something you can enter into, but you can't enter into it until born of the spirit. Notice. Now, the next verse, verse six (John 3:6), Jesus said that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Now you and I were born of the flesh. We are flesh. That's what we are now that which is born of the spirit is spirit. You are not spirit. I am not spirit. We won't be flesh and blood any longer. We will be spirit when we are born again.

   Now, I'd like to go a little further on that. The gospel, the Jesus preach. You read of in Mark, the first chapter. I've gone into that time and time again. The first verse (Mark 1:1), it talks of the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then it speaks in John, the Baptist preparing the way before him and Jesus' baptism and his overcoming Satan. And then he comes to preach the gospel.

   In verse 14 of Mark one (Mark 1:14), Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel. What gospel? Verse 14 came preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Now, the kingdom is a government to rule the whole world. Jesus came preaching, and the word Gospel means good news, good news of peace. When there won't be any more wars, he is coming to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God and saying, that if he did come for that purpose, and saying the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand repent ye and believe the gospel.

   The reason the time was at hand is he had just overcome Satan the devil who was the real invisible ruler of the world and was sitting on the throne of the world. Very few people understand that. But Jesus had now qualified to rule the world. But instead of ruling it while he was here on earth, after his crucifixion, his resurrection from the dead, he ascended to heaven to the right hand of God where he has been as 1950 years as the high priest of his people, the church, that's where he has been at the right hand of God.

   And there is a reason for that and there is a reason why he has not come sooner. So, I want you to notice now, in I Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 50 (I Corinthians 15:50-52). Now this I say brethren that flesh and blood, that's what we are now. And Jesus said that that which is born of the flesh, that is flesh and blood is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

   Here in the 15th chapter, I Corinthians, the apostle Paul says now this I say brethren that flesh and blood, that's why we're human as we are now, cannot inherit the kingdom of God we're not inheritors now, we're only heirs. The Bible says many, many places that we're heirs. Not yet possessors or inheritors cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. That is be dead. That's Bible language for be dead and it is asleep because we don't have life now. We have only a temporary existence and it's like asleep and waking up in a resurrection. But we shall all be changed. Now, when, when are you changed? When you accept Christ in this life, are you born again now? We shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last Trump.

   For the Trump shall sound, the dead shall be raised, incorruptible. A resurrection of the dead in Christ. All who are in Christ will be resurrected at that time and we shall be changed. This mortal will put on immortality as it says in the same chapter.

   Now, along with that, I would like to have you notice also in Philippians, Philippians, the third chapter. And in verse 21 (Philippians 3:21), Christ who shall change our vile body of flesh and blood as we are now that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.

   Now, what is his glorious body like you find it described in the first chapter of the book of Revelation. Christ as he is now in his glorious body at the right hand of God in heaven interceding for us as our high priest. Well, his eyes are like flames of fire and his countenance, his face shines like the very sun in full strength.

   It would put your eyes out to look at it without a pretty strongly smoked glass before your eyes. And that's what we shall be like, for we shall be like him as we'll see him as he is. You read in first John, the third chapter, very few seem to understand that's when we shall be born again.

   God's purpose required a 7000 year master plan, a master plan that takes 7000 years in working it out. It began with the beginning of this world's present civilization, the civilization that we have that we call the world. And it all began with the creation of the first human being, Adam and his wife Eve. Who were created back in the beginning, at least near the Garden of Eden because God put them in the Garden of Eden immediately after they were created.

   Now you read in Genesis one verse one (Genesis 1:1), "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." The word for God here, originally as Moses wrote in the Hebrew language was 'Elohim,' which means a uni, it's a uni-plural word or noun, and it means more than one person forming one God. It's a word like family, more than one person in the family, but it's only one family or one group, a group of people. It's one group, but it might be five people. It might be 50 people might be several 100 to 1000 people. And, or it's like the church, one church, but many members as you read in I Corinthians, 12 many members, but only the one church.

   Now, Elohim in creating, coming to verse 26 in Genesis one (Genesis 26:1) and God or Elohim said, let us not me is more than one person. This included God, the father and Christ, who was the Yahweh or the Word of God. And God said, "Let us make man in our image after our likeness," not me, let us, God is more than one person. God is already a family. You read of God as he originally was in John's Gospel in the New Testament. The first chapter beginning with verse one (John 1:1), "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was a personage, the spokesman, and the Word was with God and God was another personage, but the Word was the spokesman in this family and the Word was God."

   Now, how could that be two different people? And yet the Word is also God. Well, you can talk here's a man. His name is John and John is with Smith. They are two different persons, but John also is Smith. Now, John could be Smith's father or John could be Smith's son. Smith is the family name. They're two persons and they're both in the one family. And so, God and the Word are one God, not two Gods, only one God, but God is a family and God is reproducing himself adding to his family.

   And the real truth is staggering as it may sound, you can be born into that family. And as you're born into the human family, you become as human as your father and mother are human. And when you're born into the God family, you will be as much God as God and Christ are God. You know, it took me years to believe that I had seen it in the Bible, I had seen passage after passage that stated it plainly clearly. But it seemed to me it would be blasphemy to believe something like that. And after I just saw it and saw it and saw why and saw it in so many different ways and so many different places, God opened my eyes to really comprehend it all the way through. And it's such a wonderful truth that seems hidden from most people.

   Well, let's go on now, when God created man in his own image, God had formed, you read in the verse just ahead how God had formed the animals each after his own kind cattle after the cattle kind and well, dogs after the dog kind, elephants, after the elephant kind. But God said, "Let us make man in our image after our likeness." In other words, let us make man after the God kind, man is made after the God kind, but he is not God now, he's only human and man does not have life. He only has a temporary existence.

   So, you read in the seventh verse of the second chapter in Genesis (Genesis 2:7), And the Eternal God formed man of the dust of the ground. That's what we are. We are flesh. We're not yet spirit, we're formed of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man formed of the dust of the ground became a living soul, a living soul. The Hebrew word that Moses wrote is 'nephesh.' And he uses that three times in the first chapter of animals, they also were living 'nephesh' or living souls only in translating into English. The translators have called it living creatures. And when it comes to man, same thing. Exactly. But they didn't write the same word. They wrote it soul, animals and souls the same way and man made of the dust of the ground became a living soul.

   The dust of the ground became a soul, a soul came out of the ground and therefore is not spirit. Now, we only have temporary life, a temporary existence. We don't have life. But in John, one verses 1 to 5 (John 1:1-5), you find that in the Word and in God was life, L I F E, that is life inherent, self-containing life in them. They had life that we don't have. We have a temporary existence that comes from the breath of air. You have someone stop your breath of air, be holding your nose and stop in your mouth and you can't breathe and in five minutes you'll be dead. You won't live five minutes without the breath of life. And your life comes from the circulation of blood and the beating of your heart. "The blood thereof is the life thereof" is another scripture in the Bible that says that our life comes from the blood.

   Now, then God took the man and the woman that he had created, put them in the Garden of Eden. He intended for them to have immortal life, but he hadn't given it to them yet. And before then, the midst of the Garden of Eden were two trees. One was the tree of life. If they took that, they would receive eternal life. How would they receive eternal life? Well, God offers it to us now in the church through Christ and how does he give us eternal life through His Holy Spirit? And if we have the Holy Spirit of God, he that raised up Christ from the dead will also make immortal our mortal bodies by his spirit that dwells in us.

   If we have the Holy Spirit, it's the impregnation of God life of immortal life. Now that was offered to Adam, but there was also another tree that was called, it really was a tree of death because it was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But God forbid that that was a forbidden fruit. And God said, if you take of that fruit, you shall surely die. So, it was the tree of death. One is the tree of life. The other was the tree of death.

   And the tree of death was a tree of a certain kind of knowledge. The tree of life was also the tree of a certain kind of knowledge. The tree of death then was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that man took to himself. The knowledge of good and evil of right from wrong, that is spiritual knowledge. And man did not have the capacity of acquiring spiritual knowledge. God had not created in that way. His creation was not complete.

   God put within man, a spirit. There are many scriptures in the Bible that explain the spirit in man. And the spirit in man doesn't give him his life or his existence. The spirit in him gives him his attitude, his personality and imparts to a physical brain, the power of intellect, that's all. But it doesn't give him life, it doesn't give him immortal life. It has nothing to do with his temporary existence. His temporary existence comes from the breath of air and the circulation of blood.

   But man was made incomplete and he needed another spirit. He needed the Holy Spirit of God and the tree of life meant he would have received the Holy Spirit of God. That doesn't mean that he would have been made immortal instantaneously. The Christian can receive the Holy Spirit of God now, but he then is only an heir. He is not an inheritor, he is not yet born of God, oh if we can only understand these things.

   So, man decided he was sufficient unto himself and he took of the knowledge of good and evil and has tried ever since to decide good and evil spiritual knowledge and he was not created with the capacity of acquiring spiritual knowledge. He could deal with things but not with people or with God. And that's why we find awesome progress materially and the things we make out of matter why we find appalling evils and troubles when we try to deal with one another and ignore God. We have no relationship with God. The world in general has none and it can't get along with nation, can't get along with nation. Husband and wife don't seem to get along with one another. Parents and Children often fight and any police chief will tell you there are more murders right in the home than any other place, right in within a family. Neighbor can't get along with neighbor, capital with labor. Nation can't get along with nation. So, we have wars and that's what we have.

   Well, when man did that, the penalty was death, God said you will surely die if you take the forbidden fruit, he took it and he did die. And as a result, you read in Hebrews 9:27, Hebrews 9:27. It is appointed to man once to die. And after this, the judgment, the judgment comes by a resurrection from the dead. And then you read in I Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 22 and verse 23 (I Corinthians 15:22-23), as in Adam all die. So, in Christ, the second Adam shall all be made alive.

   Now, then also in Revelation 13 and verse eight (Revelation 13:8), you will read and I won't take the time just now to read that or you will read that Christ as the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world. That is from the time that Adam sinned and rejected the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God and immortal life that it was then agreed that Christ was to come born of the virgin Mary of a human woman. Yet God in the human flesh and He was to come as the Lamb of God slain for our sins that by his shed blood, our sins could be the penalty of them, could be paid instead. And by His resurrection, we may have immortal and eternal life.

   Well, I wish I had time to go on, but I see my time is nearly up right now. God shut off the tree of life as you read in Genesis three. In the last two verses (Genesis 3:23-24), he shut up the tree of life until Christ should come. But now it is open to those that are called by God in the church. But immortal life was shut up.

   But Christ is coming again and he came to call the church out of this world, a civilization that was built from Adam and his Children. And you know, Adam's very first son became a murderer and killed his brother Abel and then lied to God about it, committed two major sins right there and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

   God told ancient Israel they did not need to fight. He would fight their battles for them and no nation has ever needed to fight. And if Adam had taken the tree of life, there would have been no wars and any nation that would have obeyed God would never have had to fight but nations that elected to fight, now, God does not forcibly prevent you from sinning. He allows you to make up your own mind because otherwise you couldn't build character and for God to reproduce himself, He has to build his own character within you with your own knowledge and consent.

   You have to work at it yourself and you receive it from God because it is God's character and God's life put within you through the Holy Spirit. I want you to understand this. I'd like to have you again, read our booklet. You I haven't ever written for it. Our booklet on Born Again. Just what do you mean... Born Again? Very few people understand that, that became very prominent in the last presidential election in the United States and the election of 1980.

   And this will explain it, something that you have never probably heard or seen or read, explained before. Just what do you mean... Born Again? And then another book that explains a whole lot of what I just started on but didn't have time to finish. Never Before Understood Why Humanity Cannot Solve Its Evils.

   Why do we have wars? Why do we have so much trouble in the world? Why is there so much crime? Why all of these things in the world? Why do we have this thing we call human nature? Did God create us with a nature to do wrong? No, he did not. Well, where did human nature come from? Those things are mysteries and let me tell you most people don't understand them.

   Here are two booklets that will at least give you a start to understanding an understanding that you have never had before. My friends, there is a lot to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ besides just saying praise the Lord and just saying, oh, well, I know Christ and I have accepted Christ and that's all there is to it. It's a matter of a changed life and we have trouble in the world and we have evils in the world because we don't live right.

   And because of the way we're living, and Christ came to teach us the right way of living and to pay the penalty of our wrong ways of living, which is sin and to bring us into a right way and into a final resurrection into the very kingdom and family of God. Now, I'd like to also send you our magazine that I've mentioned so much lately. The Plain Truth, a magazine of understanding.

   There's no magazine like it on Earth and there are over four and one-half million subscribers and going up all the time. There's no subscription price. There's no charge for the booklets, we give, we don't ask, there's no follow up and request for money. We'd like to send it to you and there's no subscription price. The Plain Truth magazine, a magazine that describes world events in the light of Bible prophecy and tells you where it's leading and what's going to happen. And you can't understand the world news without this magazine.

   I'd like to have you write for it. Now, all you do is just send your name and address to me. Herbert W Armstrong, Pasadena, California. That's all the address you need. So, until next time, Herbert W Armstrong, goodbye friends.