Herbert W Armstrong

   Now, we've been dwelling on this for the last several broadcasts, and we have been covering in the 24th chapter of Matthew in that Olivet prophecy of Jesus Christ. The fact that he said that, of course, from his time on, there would be many false ministers coming in his name, professing to be the ministers of Jesus Christ. Of course, if they come in his name, they would profess to be his ministers, they would proclaim that he was the Christ, and yet would deceive the world, my friends. That's happened. It's been going on for 18 1/2 centuries. And then he said that finally, at this time of the end, just before the end of the world, and the sign of his coming, this gospel of the Kingdom, which is the very gospel that Jesus himself proclaimed, the gospel that God sent by him as a messenger would be proclaimed to all the world as a witness unto all nations. And then he said, would the end come? That's where we are now. That gospel is now, for the first time in 18 and one-half centuries, going out around the world. Your ears are hearing at this moment, this is a fulfillment of prophecy. But he also said that coming down to the time of the end after there had been wars and rumors of wars, he said that wasn't the end. But finally, at the end time, there would be world war, nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. We're already into that, my friends, the II World War is over. We're in the intermission or the recess between World War II and World War III.

   Now next, he said that there would be famines and terrible pestilences or epidemics of disease that the medical authorities would not be able to cope with at all. And then was to come the Great Tribulation. Now, all of these things, the World War at least the early stages of it, and the famine and the pestilence he said was only the beginning of a time of travail or Great Tribulation. And that's where we are. The main Great Tribulation has not even struck as yet. It is coming next.

   Now, here's the order at the present time: the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, not a gospel of men about the person of Christ, but the gospel of Christ, the very gospel that he proclaimed and taught. Going to the world next is to come the real famine and the pestilences, which will be so much greater than anything that has ever struck this world that it will simply astound and dumbfound this world. We've had foretastes of it and we have had disease epidemics, especially you remember the flu epidemic, right at the end of World War I, or at least those of you old enough to remember, will recall it. Those, my friends, are all merely little drops of rain before the great storm. That's all. They are merely sort of forerunners, but there is going to come a famine and the pestilence. And I read to you just the other day from Ezekiel's prophecy of exactly how great it's going to be, what's going to happen. Speaking of our people and our land in the fifth chapter of Ezekiel, and Ezekiel was a prophet to the house of Israel, not to the Jewish people of Judah. He said here a third part of thee, speaking of us, shall die with a pestilence, and with a famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee? It is going to take one-third of our people. These are horrifying things that are coming and then a third part shall fall by the sword. That is when the Great Tribulation strikes. And as I mentioned, I think in the preceding program, there are two phases, a dual phase to the Tribulation. One is individual, on Christian, and the other is national, on our peoples, the peoples of Britain and America and of the democracies of Northwestern Europe, we are to fall by the edge of the sword as Ezekiel mentions it here, a third part of thee shall fall by the sword round about thee, and I will scatter the third part that remains unto all the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.

   Now, it is mentioned in a number of other prophecies that all or maybe not all but our cities shall be destroyed. You know, my friends, we don't take this seriously, we think, oh, that isn't going to happen here. I know what most of you think. You don't take this thing seriously at all, but it is going to strike. And where are you going to be, my friends, when it does? You have heard the warning and if you don't take warning, your blood is on your own hands, it isn't on mine, God has set me as a watchman to declare this thing and to warn you. And he has told me he will require your blood at my hand. If I don't warn you, I'm giving you the warning and I know very well that most of you won't heed because our people have never heeded the warning.

   We find that the gentile people of Nineveh did heed a warning when God sent Jonah to them. But you can't find another place that I remember of. I'd be very happy if you could show me another place in all your Bible where the people of Israel or the people that are our forefathers ever would listen to a warning from one of God's prophets and repent and turn to God and where the threatened destruction did not come. There have been cases of course, where individual kings of ancient Judah did repent and turn to God and some little thing of that sort and were ancient Israel back in the days of the judges when they were taken captive and invaded and controlled by another nation where they finally would cry out to God for deliverance. They never really repented and God would deliver them. And as soon as they were safe and free, they thought they didn't need God anymore. Just as most people are today, human nature has not changed and then they began to turn to their own devices, their own ways and the ways of the pagans around them. And then again, a little later, they were invaded and destroyed or not destroyed, perhaps, but at least invaded and put under the rule of some foreign potentate again until God raised up another hero or a judge to deliver them again when they cried out to him and made a profession of repentance, at least.

   Well, now, here we have the order, the gospel is now going to the world, the famine and the pestilence is to come next. And the flight of those that are accounted worthy to escape. We find a number of places where many are to be accounted worthy to escape all of these things that shall come to pass and to stand before Christ at his second coming. You find it, for instance, over here in the 12th chapter of Revelation where the true Church of God is pictured and it pictures them here, some of them as being killed in the trouble to come. It says they love not their lives unto death in verse 11 of the 12th chapter of Revelation (Revelation 12:11). And then again, there was war in heaven. We've gone into that in the past few broadcasts, Michael stood up the great archangel of our people and our nations. And we find here in verse seven of the 12th chapter of Revelation (Revelation 12:7), that he stood up against the dragon who is defined or interpreted in verse nine as being Satan, the devil and Satan loses out in that battle and is to be cast back down to the earth. And in verse 13 (Revelation 12:13), when the dragon who was the devil saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the woman which had brought forth the man child. That's the church. Now he persecutes the church part of the church however, is to be taken to a place of safety but not all of it. If you put all of the scriptures together, you read just one passage, you might think by reading this alone, that the entire church is to be taken to a place of safety. But when you read other passages of scripture, you see that there are saints that are really believers in the word of God and in the testimony of Jesus who are to be persecuted and many to be martyred. Now, here it says to the woman, we're given the two wings of a great eagle that she might fly. She's to take a flight. I want you to notice that she might fly into the wilderness under her place where she is nourished for a time, times and half a time from the face of the serpent.

   Now, how is this church defined? How is this church described that the devil is so angry with and why is he angry? The very last verse of this chapter describes it, the dragon or the devil was wroth with the woman, and woman here is of course, the symbol of the church, you find that in Ephesians the fifth chapter and you find it in II Corinthians 11 and other places in scripture where scripture itself interprets the symbol of woman where it's used symbolically as it is here in Revelation, to mean or to represent the church and the dragon was wroth with a woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed. The remnant is the last generation before the end of this world. In other words, the church of this present time in the 20th century or the middle or the latter half of the 20th century A. D. and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which notice which church, the devil is angry with that he's making war against which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. That's the word of God, the Bible, because Jesus is the Word and the Bible is the written word. And Jesus was the Word in living human flesh when he was here on this earth 1900 years ago.

   And so here we have the church that the devil is angry with, have the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Now you turn over a little further in your Bible. In the Book of Revelation. In the 17th chapter, you find another woman pictured here is a church too, but this is not the same church. Here, one of the seven angels that had the seven vials of the seven last plagues came and talked with John who sees these things in vision and records what he sees. He sees the events that come on the earth, the prophesized events in vision. And this angel of the seven last plagues said to John in this vision come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great whore that set upon many waters. Now that's not a pure church. That's not the church of God. There is the tool of the devil that is the church that Satan can use with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. What made her a great whore? It's a spiritual matter. A church is regarded as a spiritual instrumentality, a spiritual collective body of people. And this is spiritually speaking, her fornication. Here has been of a spiritual nature.

   Now, the church is at least professes to be and it's supposed to be in God's purpose and plan the affianced bride of Jesus Christ. There is to be a wedding, a marriage at the second coming of Christ and he is to marry the church. Now he is the head of the church. It doesn't mean he's the head and the church is the rest of the body either. But he is the head the same way that a husband is the head of a wife. And so here we find that the thing that made her a fallen woman was having this fornicating relationship with the kings of this earth. When Christ comes again, he's coming as the King of kings and the Lord of lords and the church is to be married to him and he will be her husband and her husband will rule her.

   You know, that's rather old-fashioned today, isn't it? Well, it's going to get very new-fashioned again at the time of the second coming of Christ because the church and the whole kingdom of God and the church will be changed into immortality at the time of the marriage. How would Christ, who is a divine being? Who is God and very God himself? How could he marry something that is not divine? How can a human marry some lower animal or some root? Is that possible? I never heard of it. And how would Christ, do you think that Christ would marry something that is on a much lower plane when he's up on the divine plane? Very God. Is he going to marry mortal animal beings? Because we're in the animal kingdom now? No, we will be changed from human to divine, from mortal to immortal and there will be a marriage and he is coming to rule the world. But here's a church that didn't wait for him that had a relationship with another lover. And instead of letting the lover that she had this fornicating relationship with the kings of this earth rule her, she ruled those kings and the wife ruled the roost.

   And that, my friends, is the very thing that has been taught in today's society. That is the thing that is taking place in so many homes today, women want to be independent of their husbands. They want to earn their own living, they want their husbands to do their share of the housework today, the woman doesn't want to do the housework. She doesn't want to be the mother and as a wife, no, she wants to be independent of her husband so that any time she gets tired of him and he doesn't jump around at the crack of her whip and do as exactly as she wants that she can get rid of him and she's self-supporting anyway. And she's not dependent on him any longer.

   You know, young men and women today in considering marriage. I wonder if you have noticed it. I know that when I was considering marriage and I know I would never have thought of ever considering marriage with any girl. I was going to, until I was on my own feet financially and able to support a wife. I would never have dreamed of such a thing. Neither would any of the other fellas that I went with in my day. And today young fellow never give a thought as to whether they can support a wife or not if they think they have this flush of love. And it's a sort of a mushy something they just like the feeling and the exhilaration of it and they want to get married right away and it never would occur to their minds as to whether they can support her, but her support herself. All the girls and the women are working today anyway. What kind of a world are we getting into? My friends? Why don't we wake up?

   You know, today, we don't consider what God said. We just consider whatever is late, that is the latest style, the latest fad and whatever is new we assume is better. Just so it's different from what we had before. Now, God Almighty sent laws in motion and he made laws that work and some of these laws are invisible. You can't see them, you can't see the law of gravity. You don't know what would pull some object down to the ground if you don't hold of that. But there's something that is pulling it to the ground and you can't see that something. There is a law that works and God has made a law that the husband should rule his wife and when a husband isn't man enough to do it and isn't strong enough to do it. And when a wife begins to assert herself and she has a weakling of a husband who is more of a mouse than he is a man, you have something that's contrary to the very nature that God himself instituted and it does not work out. And that's another reason we're having more divorces today. The divorce rate is going up and down. They just, marriages don't work out like they used to, and people can't see why they've changed their fad, their style. Well, so it is.

   Well, here was the church that wanted a new style. She wasn't going to wait for Christ. She was going to marry the kings of this world and she was going to rule and dominate them. And that's called fornication in God's language. And she's called a great whore. That's very ugly language. I wouldn't use such a word on the air except that I'm quoting it out of the very Holy, Sacred word of God. It's in your Bible. And she is pictured as the instrumentality of Satan, the devil.

   Now, she is also pictured back here in the 13th chapter of Revelation where the same so-called beast here, this civil government is mentioned. And here in regard to this government back here, you find that it was the devil that gave this beast his seat and his power and his great authority in verse two of Revelation 13 (Revelation 13:2), and the dragon who was the devil gave this civil power, his power and his seat and great authority because the devil is the real ruler of the world. But here is apparently a church that is doing the ruling and giving this beast his power. So, you can see who's God this church is, and it's made very plain.

   Now, there my friends is the persecuting instrument and there is the instrumentality of the devil that he can use. And that shows that there is a government going to rise up over in Europe by a union of 10 nations in Europe as you find it in the 17th chapter of Revelation. And they are going to attack the American people and the British people. And God says, if we don't cry out to him and heed this warning, we are going to be overcome.

   Now, I tell you, the devil is going to insist that everybody will come to his religion and give up the word of God. The devil does not like the commandments of God. What is the great controversy between the devil and God? What is it that made the devil out of him? He refused to obey the government of God. He said, "I'm going to ascend," and he was an aggressor. He said, "I'll organize my army of angels. I will ascend up to heaven, I will exalt my throne above the angels, the stars of God." And so, he started to fight God because he would not remain inferior and subordinate to God. He would not obey God and carry out God's government as God had set him to do. And that's exactly what he's been influencing people and nations to do here on this earth ever since.

   So now, here we are some of the people of the true church are going to be accounted worthy to escape. They're going to fly to a place of safety. But the ones the devil is angry with are those that keep the commandments of God and they then my friends are the true church.

   Now, we find that this other power has deceived all nations. You read of that over here in the 17th and the 18th chapters of Revelation that, that power, this a whore church, this fallen church that has gone into the politics of this world has deceived all the world has deceived all nations. But now this gospel of the Kingdom of God, the government of God is to go out to all nations, not to change them, not to convert them because they won't heed it. They won't listen but merely as a witness because they're all going to come into the judgment seat of Christ later on when he comes to rule.

   But some of the church is to be terribly persecuted and martyred. Now, we find the same time order in the sixth chapter of Revelation under the seals. We've gone into it before in previous broadcasts. Let's skim over it very rapidly.

   In the sixth chapter of Revelation here, the first horse that we see here that John sees in his vision where he sees first the four horses in his vision. The first was the white horse which is the false preachers. And yet nearly everybody believes it's Christ or the true preachers. And the second was the horse that was red. And that's the war. And a third is the black horse which is famine. And next comes the pale horse that Jesus had interpreted as the pestilence of the disease epidemic.

   And then after that, now the very next thing to happen is then the Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation is dual. As I said, it is nationally an invasion of our people by this very force. This factor, this great power that is now rising up in Europe, the groundwork is being laid, the plans are being perfected undercover right now, this very instant in Europe. And also then it is a phase of persecution against all that are true believers in Christ and in the Bible and who keep the commandments of God and believe in being governed by God who have not been praying enough and have not kept close enough to God and have not been watching these events and have not studied their prophecies and don't recognize it when it's coming and are not worthy to escape and to take this flight to a place of safety.

   And I'm going to come later to whether that flight is a rapture, a secret rapture up to heaven or something else. Just hold that in your mind. I'm coming to that. I'll probably have to take that in a later broadcast. I think time is fleeting along here and I probably won't have time in the present broadcast and those that are not accounted worthy are going to be forced to take up the pagan religion that will then dominate the world and give up the religion of Christ and give up any obedience to God and give up the truth of the Bible or be persecuted until they are killed, martyred.

   Now, here it is the fifth seal. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar, the souls of them that were slain. That's in the past tense. The time of the prophecy is now and those that have already been slain for the word of God in the testimony, which they held, these are the martyrs of Jesus and history records that there are between 50-100 million of them that have been slain that have been killed for believing the Bible and wanting to obey God as God's word commands in the Bible.

   Now, they cried according to this vision of John. They cried with a loud voice saying, "How long, O Lord holy in truth, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" Now, vengeance is God's. We know that and the judgment where they say, "Judge and avenge us." The judgments are on this great whore you read here in Revelation 17 where this angel said, "Come hither, I'll show thee the judgment of the great whore." And then over in the 18th chapter, it says, "Come out of her, my people." It should be not particulars of her sins, "Receive not of her plagues." And then again, in the eighth verse of Revelation 18, "Therefore, shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and so on." And then in verse 10, "Standing afar off for fear of her torment, saying, alas for the great city of Babylon," and that city is this power, this false woman here or church that is pictured for in one hour is thy God judgment come. So, God's judgment are these plagues that he's pouring out on her.

   Now, these people want to know how long before your judgment, how long before you're going to judge her and those judgments, the seven last plagues are poured out in the very presence of Christ and all the holy angels at the very time of the second coming of Christ. That's exactly when they will be poured out. So actually what they are asking here and it pictures these dead souls is asking how long are we going to have to wait until the second coming of Christ until you avenge our blood until these seven last plagues. And here's the answer. Verse 11 white robes were given unto every one of them. And it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little season until their fellow servants and also their brethren that should be killed. That's in the future as they were. That's in the past should be fulfilled. In other words, my friends, the second coming of Christ will not occur. The last plagues are not to be poured out until there has been another martyrdom of saints. That is the Great Tribulation.

   Now in Revelation six, under the fifth seal, it shows the personal phase of this Great Tribulation. It shows the faint on those Christians that are not accounted worthy to escape on those Christians that are drowsy that are lukewarm that are left behind. You read to them again in the third chapter of Revelation as the church of Laodicea, the church that is lukewarm. And Jesus says, "I will spew thee out of my mouth." He says, "Repent before it's too late." And that's what he says to people that believe they are the true followers and real Christians today.

   Now, then what is next? What happens immediately after the Great Tribulation? Let's go back again to Matthew 24. And in verse 29 (Matthew 24:29), now that Great Tribulation is so great. There's never been any time of trouble like it. And as I've read to you before, Jesus himself said that except God steps in to intervene and to shorten those days, no flesh should be saved alive. In other words, human life would be blasted out of existence on this earth. But for the elect's sake, there are some of the elect here being persecuted. There are some of the elect here that are now going to be turning to God at that time and for their sake, God is going to step in and intervene and shorten those days.

   Now, verse 29 immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken there, my friends is the very beginning of the intervention of God. God will first begin not by an actual physical intervention on earth, but just by signs that men will see up in the heaven that will throw stark fear and terror into the people. And they will run frantic, crying for the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face. They're going to see sitting on the throne in heaven at that time.

   Now I want you to see one other thing here and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven. Now, if the sign is going to appear, men will see it. Where are they going to see it? It will appear in heaven. They will look up in heaven and see it. Now, what do you find over here in Revelation six? Here you are the same thing. I beheld when he opened the sixth seal. Immediately after the tribulation, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black, a sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood and the stars of heaven fell to the earth. There you are now stars in Bible language means any heavenly body. It can mean a very small meteor or a great star, millions of times larger than this earth. This will naturally be those that are smaller than the earth that will fall. It will be very large Meteors falling on this earth.

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