Herbert W Armstrong

   Where is the original true church today? Now, Jesus Christ had said, when he was on earth, "I will build my church," and he did build it. But he didn't say churches. He didn't say many different denominations, everyone speaking something different. He said one church, and it is one body, and the Bible says they are all speaking the same thing. There is no division.

   Now, Jesus also said, "The gates of the grave will not prevail against it." So that church has existed. There would be a falling away, a falling away from the church, not that the church itself would fall away. It has never fallen away. Well, Jesus built it. What has happened to it? Where is it today?

   There's a prophecy in II Thessalonians, the second chapter, and verse three (II Thessalonians 2:3): "Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day," the second coming of Christ, "shall not come except there be a falling away first," a falling away from the church, not that the church would fall away, but that many people would fall away from the church.

   Now, the great commission that Jesus Christ gave to the church is found in Mark, the 16th chapter, and verse 15 (Mark 16:15). He said, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." But what gospel? What gospel was the church to preach?

   In Mark, the first chapter, you find that gospel. Mark, the first chapter, verse one (Mark 1:1): "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." And then we come to verses 14 and 15 (Mark 1:14-15). Now, after that, John—John the Baptist, he was speaking of—was put into prison. Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel. But what gospel? Preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand." And then he said, "Repent ye and believe the gospel."

   How can people believe the gospel if they haven't heard it? And now I want to show you, my friends, that that gospel has not been preached for 1900 years until this program went on the air. Believe it or not, that is true. The gospel was the Kingdom of God. Now, the Kingdom of God is the family of God, a ruling family that is a kingdom a government. And the prophets of the Bible say that Jesus is the King of that kingdom, that he's coming again to earth, and he's coming as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and he is coming to rule every nation, every government on earth. The Kingdom of God will be that one world ruling kingdom or nation. It is the family of God that will be ruling all the nations of the earth.

   But now the Bible also says there was a falling away, and it began almost immediately after the gospel had first been proclaimed. And after the church had been started by about 53 A.D., we read in the book of Galatians, the first chapter of Galatians, in verses six and seven (Galatians 1:6-7), Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia: "I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you unto the gospel of Christ unto another gospel." Already, the true gospel was being suppressed, "which is not another, but there would be some that would trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ."

   The gospel of Christ—that's not a gospel of men about Christ, the gospel of Christ. And so, the gospel itself was suppressed from that time. Now, a false Jesus was also preached, and a false gospel and a different spirit began to take charge of people. In II Corinthians, 11th chapter, the Apostle Paul said in verses three and four (II Corinthians 11:3-4): "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, that your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ," or from the true gospel. "For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus," a false Jesus, "a Jesus that did away with his Father's commandments, a Jesus that did just the opposite from what the Jesus that you read of in the Bible did do, or if you receive another spirit which you have not received, or another gospel." So, he talked about receiving another gospel.

   Now he continued on a little later. John, in verse 13 (II Corinthians 11:13), the same chapter, about those that are preaching this false gospel: "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ," claiming to be disciples and ministers of Christ. "And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed as an angel of light, pretending to be an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers," Satan's ministers, "be transformed as the ministers of righteousness."

   So that was the prophecy of what was to happen and of the falling away that was to come. Now, I want you to notice something that I have read many times before on this program, in the 24th chapter of Matthew, in verses four and five (Matthew 24:4-5): "And Jesus answered and said unto them," to his own disciples at that time, "Take heed that no man deceive you." He was talking about their time in the first century. "For many shall come in my name, saying that I am Christ." Many would come in Jesus' name posing as his ministers and saying that Jesus is the Christ, "and shall deceive the many." That has happened, and it has continued down to this day. Many are preaching about Christ, saying that he is the Christ, and still deceiving the many.

   Now, how could that be? They have been preaching a different gospel altogether. It happened. The true gospel was suppressed, and the world began to hear a different gospel altogether. They began to hear a gospel of men about Christ, not the gospel of Christ. The gospel of men about Christ. But the gospel of Christ was about the Kingdom of God. That's the gospel he proclaimed. The whole world has been deceived. We read over here in Revelation, in the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation, in verse nine (Revelation 12:9): "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth, and his angels," or demons, "were cast out with him." So, the whole world has been deceived, and they've been deceived by a false gospel of men about Christ.

   Now, what happened then to the true church? False churches rose, many of them, many denominations. You find them all over the world today. The true church was a persecuted church. Jesus called it the "little flock." It was a small church, not a great big church. It was a small and a persecuted church.

   Now, in verse 13, the same chapter, the 12th chapter of Revelation (Revelation 12:13), we read of that church in verse 13: "And when the dragon," I just read to you, the dragon was Satan, the devil, "saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman," or church, "which brought forth the man child," speaking of the true one true church persecuted then by Satan the devil.

   Now, Jesus foretold in the history of the true church and that whole panorama, the history of the church described by Jesus Christ in his own words, in the second and the third chapters of the Book of Revelation. Two whole chapters are devoted to it where he pictured the church coming in seven different stages or eras of time. Seven different eras of time. It's the same church, but they called it a different church by a different name, and he used the seven churches of Asia Minor there as a picture and a type of the seven different eras of the church that were to follow from that time.

   The Book of Revelation records seven messages to seven churches that existed in Asia Minor towards the end of the first century A.D. These churches—Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea—were located along one of the mail routes of the old Roman Empire. Riders would follow the route, carrying messages from town to town. The messages to the seven churches have words of both encouragement and correction, and they clearly show the dominant characteristics of each of the congregations at that time. But these messages were intended for a wider audience than the Christians in these small towns. They are a series of remarkable prophecies by which the future of the true church was predicted in outline form. From the day it began on Pentecost 31 A.D. until the second coming of Christ, the history of the church would fall into seven distinct eras, each with its own strengths and weaknesses and its own special trials and problems.

   Just as a message could pass along the mail route from Ephesus to Laodicea, so would the truth of God be passed from era to era. It was like a relay race in which the baton is passed from runner to runner, each one doing his part until the finish line is reached. It has not been an easy race. God's servants often had to run in the face of ridicule and persecution as they strived to keep alive the truth that had been entrusted to them. Through the centuries, the church pressed onward, enduring the trials of the moment, always looking forward to the day when their faith and courage would be rewarded.

   Now, from the year of about 50 A.D. and the letter that I just read to you from Galatians—the first chapter was written about 53—and from about that time for 100 years until 150 A.D., it seems that practically all the history of the church and the history about the church and what happened to it, of this one true original church, was lost. And I call it the "lost century of history."

   Scholars and church historians recognize that events in the early Christian church between 50 and 150 A.D. can only be seen in vague outline, as if obscured by a thick mist.

   The noted English scholar Samuel G. Green, in a Handbook of Church History, wrote, "The thirty years which followed the close of the New Testament canon and the destruction of Jerusalem are, in truth, the most obscure in the history of the church." In The Course of Christian History, William J. McLaughlin wrote, "But Christianity itself had been in the process of transformation as it progressed, and at the close of the period was in many respects quite different from the apostolic Christianity." In History of the Christian Church, Philip Schaff wrote, "The remaining thirty years of the first century are involved in mysterious darkness, illuminated only by the writings of John. This is a period of church history about which we know least and would like to know most."

   But if we look closely through this mist, we can begin to see what was happening. The world in which Christ founded his church was the world of the Roman Empire, the greatest and most powerful empire that had ever existed. It stretched from Britain to the far reaches of modern-day Turkey, encompassing peoples from many different backgrounds and cultures under one system of government. Rome's ruling hand was firm, but the subject peoples enjoyed considerable freedom within the compass of Roman law. Providing all citizens and conquered peoples paid due homage to the Roman emperor, they were also allowed to practice their religious beliefs and worship the gods of their ancestors.

   After the day of Pentecost, the apostles began to follow Christ's instruction to go to all the world preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Once Christianity spread from Judea to the gentile lands to the north, it began to encounter those who practiced the pagan religions of Babylon, Persia, and Greece. Many who called themselves Christian had not been truly converted. But throughout this period, all who called themselves Christian suffered greatly from the Roman authorities because they refused to worship the emperor.

   The Jews of Palestine finally rose in rebellion against the Roman authorities. The rebellion was suppressed, and Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70. A small number of true Christians in Jerusalem fled over the mountains to the safety of Pella. Sometime during those first two centuries, the baton was passed from the Ephesian era to the people that God had called to the Smyrna era of his church. Powerless, often persecuted and rejected as heretics, the world lost sight of them. Instead, there emerged from the lost century a church that was steadily growing in popularity but growing further away from the gospel that Jesus taught.

   Persecution continued at various times under the Romans until the fourth century, when Constantine recognized the church as an official religion of the Empire. But the church that he recognized was by now very different from the church that Jesus founded. Once Constantine recognized them, this church threw renewed energy into taking its message to the world. Teachers and preachers went to all parts of the Roman Empire with a message about Christ. Thousands, maybe millions, heard this gospel and believed it, but it was not the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

   Emperor Constantine died in A.D. 337, just over 300 years after Christ was crucified. He had given his blessing to a church that claimed to be the one that Christ founded. Now that they were free from fear of oppression, the persecuted became persecutors. Those who dared to disagree with their doctrine were branded as heretics worthy of punishment. In A.D. 365, the Council of Laodicea wrote in one of its most famous canons, "Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day rather honoring the Lord's Day. But if any shall be found to be Judaizing, let them be anathema from Christ."

   The small remnant of Christians of the Smyrna era fled once more to seek the religious freedom they needed to practice their beliefs. And so, the baton passed from the Smyrna Christians to those of the Pergamum era. These had been called to carry the truth through one of history's most difficult periods, the Middle Ages. The power and influence of the great universal church spread far and wide, driving those who clung to the truth of God ever further into the wilderness.

   One thousand years after Jesus had founded his church, the exhausted remnant of the Pergamum era handed over the baton. The Thyatira era got off to a vigorous start, preaching repentance throughout the Alpine valleys of southern France and northern Italy. Many heard and were converted. The religious authorities quickly reacted to this challenge. Leaders of the true church were arrested; some were martyred. After the death of its first leaders, the church went into a temporary decline but emerged once more under the dynamic leadership of Peter Waldo. For several years in the 12th century, they flourished in the Alpine valleys, preaching what truth they had. Booklets and articles were written and copied by hand; this was still before the days of printing.

   As Jesus prophesied of the Thyatira era, they had faith and they worked hard. Their latter works were greater than the first. But once again, persecution followed as the full force of the Inquisition was felt in the peaceful valleys that had once provided a safe haven for the work of God. Many that remained began to adopt the customs and traditions of the world around them.

   Europe now had many scattered groups of people calling themselves Christians. Meanwhile, the world was changing. Printing had been invented, and knowledge began to be increased. The Protestant Reformation plunged Europe into religious conflict as religious wars swept across the European continent. During the Middle Ages, many refugees fled to the relative safety and tolerance of England. Among them were members of the true church. They brought with them their doctrines and beliefs, especially the knowledge of the Sabbath. The strict Sunday-observing Puritans resisted, but in spite of a rising tide of opposition, in the early 17th century, there were several small Sabbath-keeping congregations in England.

   Jesus was raising up the fifth era of his church, Sardis. Protestant England became increasingly intolerant of dissenters, including Sabbath keepers. The true church in England withered and all but died out. But across the ocean, men were beginning to discover a new world. Stephen Mumford, a member of a Sabbath-keeping church in London, left England for Newport, Rhode Island, in 1664. Finding none who kept the Sabbath, Mumford and his wife began to fellowship with the Baptist church in Newport. Several members of the Sunday-keeping congregation became convinced that they too should observe the Sabbath. They became the first Sabbath-keeping congregation in America. Others joined them in their belief as God began to call more to his work in the New World.

   By the mid-1800s, Sabbath-keeping congregations could be found throughout the Midwest. They moved their headquarters to Marion, Iowa, and then to Stanberry, Missouri. A magazine, The Bible Advocate, was published. Their efforts bore some fruit. Small congregations sprang up across the nation. And so it was that sometime in the 19th century, a small congregation of the true Church of God was established in the peaceful Willamette Valley in Oregon. They were farmers without formal education. They lacked trained ministers to teach and guide them, but they had the name Church of God, and they faithfully kept the Sabbath day.

   God's church had come a long way across the turbulent centuries since the day of Pentecost. It was weak and lacked influence. Years of persecution and compromise had taken their toll. Much truth had been lost, but they had stayed the course. In the Willamette Valley, they waited. It was nearly time for the baton to change again into the hands of those God would call to do his end-time work. As mankind neared the end of 6000 years of Satan's misrule of the Earth, God's church had to be ready for a new and critical phase of the work. Jesus had prophesied that before the end could come, the true gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all the world as a witness. As man's knowledge increased, the technology began to be developed by which a voice could indeed cry out and be heard around the world. And so, as God had raised up Elijah and John the Baptist as his special messengers, he now raised up a man to work in the power and spirit of Elijah, preparing the way for Christ's second coming.

   Today, the world is filled—especially the Western world is filled—with many, many churches, different denominations, different sects, all claiming Christianity. But where is the one true church? You have to know what to look for to know what is the true church. And even in history, and it has taken many, many months and many years of research to give you the history that we have just shown you.

   Now, twelve times in the New Testament, the church's name is given: it is the Church of God. It is God's church, not man's church, not named after a man, not named after the type of organization of the church as churches are named today. The Book of Revelation in the 12th chapter shows the history in a brief capsule form. And it shows that during the Middle Ages, the church was little and had to flee from persecution. But it does show that it is still existing today. Where is it today?

   I have a special booklet, a new booklet, the latest one just off the press: Where Is the True Church Today? You need to know the truth about the church because Revelation 12 and verse 9 says (Revelation 12:9), Satan has deceived the whole world, and he has deceived the whole world about the church. Get the scales off your eyes and see the truth. Read it in the Bible and read this booklet that tells you not only where is the true church, but what is it and why is it and things you need to know about the church. Why should there be a church? Why should anyone ever go to church?

   Also, I want to once again offer you your free year subscription to the world's most wonderful magazine, one of the largest circulated magazines in the world today, larger than most of the mass circulation magazines you're so familiar with—any of the news magazines. The Plain Truth, a beautiful, well-illustrated magazine of over six and one-half million circulation in seven different languages. My editorial, "Why There Is No Subscription Price for the Plain Truth." Now, I came back to explain that to many people who have wondered. There's no subscription price. You don't have enough money to pay for a subscription for yourself. You simply don't.

   Then, "The New China." The New China Reaches Out. There's quite a little going on in China today, and you need to know about it. I just recently had a luncheon in the Chinese embassy in Washington. I've had relations with the top people in China. "The First Reich in Germany." It's a history of Europe and of the church in Europe, something along the line of what you have seen on this program.

   Here's another article: "The Now Generation." What is wrong with it? Their a now generation today, and there is something wrong in the world. What is it?

   Then here's another article: "World Government Will It Save Humanity?"

   Then there is an article about the Bible. Millions read it, but few understand it. Why? Why do few understand it?

   Then there is an article on the Second Reich and the history of Europe leading up to what is forming today in Europe. One of the latest things in today's world news and the things that are actually happening on earth today.

   Here's an article: "Against My Better Judgment." You'll be surprised at that when you read it. You've often done things against your better judgment.

   Here's an article on Sweden: "Sweden at the Crossroads." The Plain Truth analyzes world conditions and world news and shows you the real meaning behind world news. But it's also a family magazine, and it deals with your own personal, private problems and with community problems—everything of that sort. Here's an article on Domestic Violence The Sacred Sin. And here is one on "Uncovering 5000 Years of History," an archaeological project in which we are participating and bringing you the truth about it.

   Every issue of The Plain Truth is a marvelous magazine. I will send you a year's subscription, and there is no subscription price. You don't have enough money to pay for it, and we don't ask you for money. We don't beg the public for money. And isn't that strange?