Tonight, September 30, will mark the historic event of the United States no longer having internet stewardship.That is right. Tonight at midnight, the United States will no longer have stewardship of the internet. Some in this nation are trying to stop that from happening. But it looks like it very well could happen!
Some are expressing that the United Nations will rush in to gain the stewardship. Some are expressing that Brussels will do it. Perhaps a "United States of Europe" will grab for this power? And why wouldn't they?
In any case, this Work is coming to a close brethren. The United States is handing internet stewardship over to a private corporation, not governed by the first amendment. The first amendment being what protects the true Church of God in this country.
When the United States of Europe is formed,(and we see that happening right before our eyes) the first action of this new world government, this revival of the Holy Roman Empire, will be to stop the Work of God!!!! And when that happens, the count-down commences! PRAY THAT GOD'S WILL BE DONE!!! WATCH AND PRAY THAT YOU ARE ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE WHAT IS COMING(The Great Tribulation), AND THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO STAND BEFORE JESUS CHRIST WHEN HE RETURNS!
Events are gaining speed!
Our Father in heaven has been trying to SHAKE HIS CHURCH AWAKE, so we may be READY! And He has been guiding His Church to get back on the track! For 30+ years He has been testing His people. Who loves His Truth, and who doesn't. Those who love His Truth, are holding fast to it, and they have been cast out and have left the fellowship of these false COG groups because they loved God and His Truth and wasn't throwing it away to swallow Satan's watered down, vomit like doctrines and ways!
It is time, like never before, TO PRAY, and to draw close to God!
Because, brethren, we MAY only have a short time left to!!!!
Friday, September 30, 2016
What Does it Mean to Be "Back On Track"?
Robert Fahey
(12-14-1981)
What Does it Mean to Be "Back On Track"?
http://sermons.wwcg-archives.com/Dennis%20Luker/Back%20On%20Track%20Sermonette%20-12-14-81.mp3
(12-14-1981)
What Does it Mean to Be "Back On Track"?
http://sermons.wwcg-archives.com/Dennis%20Luker/Back%20On%20Track%20Sermonette%20-12-14-81.mp3
Thursday, September 29, 2016
THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
by Herbert W. Armstrong
page 1 Worldwide News June 30, 1980
http://wwnews.wwcg-archives.com/1980-1986/WWN%201980%20%28Prelim%20No%2013%29%200630.pdf
page 1 Worldwide News June 30, 1980
http://wwnews.wwcg-archives.com/1980-1986/WWN%201980%20%28Prelim%20No%2013%29%200630.pdf
Millions of dollars are being donated to and spent by four aspirants for the presidency of the United States.
What a spectacle it is! Most who contribute to campaign expenses do so for selfish advantage, hoping to get something out of it. This world has been brainwashed by a subtile and clever devil in the "GET" principle of life.
Once again the situation is like someone said of a previous election, "Well, thank God, only one of them can finally win." Actually, not one is qualified for the position.
But the winner will have his hand on the greatest throttle of POWER possessed by any man on earth. And that is what each candidate COVETS! It makes me think of a 15-year-old boy who can hardly wait another year to get his hand on the POWER that goes with a steering wheel. Unfortunately we have had some ex-ministers who played politics within God's Church, coveting MORE POWER! Usually those who covet power are not competent to wield it.
There are no more really "strong" leaders in the world in the government of any nation - men such as Joseph Stalin, the man of steel, or Winston Churchill. But one is now looming on the horizon - Pope John Paul II. We may hear a lot more of him, later.
Recent Gallup polls indicate Gov. Ronald Reagan is now in the lead of the three candidates expected to be in the race after the political conventions. President Jimmy Carter rated second, with Congressman John Anderson a poor third. But even Reagan showed well under 50 percent of the poll.
That would indicate the final election may be thrown into the House of Representatives. But Ted Kennedy is still running. He is counting on the President falling downhill rapidly before the Democratic convention - which he already has started to do. I predicted this three or four months ago, when Mr. Carter escalated in the opinion polls because of the hostage situation in Iran. But now that very hostage situation is dropping him back down rapidly. Don't be surprised if Ted Kennedy is the next President after all. He isn't fit for the office - but then, WHO IS? Kennedy still shows much boyishness and immaturity, but the sudden weight of the office might sober and mature him. President Carter has not measured up to the stature of the office, and is so recognized in Europe. Ronald Reagan has a much sounder philosophy of what the national government ought to be than any of the candidates, but just is not big enough a man for the job.
Whatever happens, the country LOSES! If there exists a man in the United States of presidential caliber, he is big enough to refuse to run for the job.
In any event, the heads of the governments of Europe - all likewise men of inadequate caliber for the job - have lost all confidence in relying on the United States to protect them from Communist encroachments. The Russians have now made their move toward their projected WORLD DOMINATION, by sending, now, more than 100,000 troops into Afghanistan. They will not retreat. They are in no great hurry - (a bear lumbers along slowly most of the time) - but in due time they at least now PLAN to keep moving on. One more small leap across Pakistan and they can control the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf - CONTROLLING THE WORLD'S OIL. Europe now fears them. The Europeans want political and military UNION. No leader in Europe is strong enough to unite them.
BUT, Pope John Paul II is rapidly gaining stature and public acclaim. He now looms as the world's ONLY STRONG MAN! He can bring about the prophesied resurrection of the "Holy Roman Empire." Then the world will quickly be plunged into the final conflagration of world wars. That will seal the doom of the United States - and the British!
But ALL THIS IS THE FINAL GASP OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THIS WORLD, UNDER THE SWAY OF SATAN AND HIS WAY OF "GET."
Just consider how idiotic - how foolish - it all is!
The GOVERNMENT OF GOD will then soon take over. Jesus Christ, in SUPREME POWER AND GLORY, will HEAD the government of the world tomorrow over all nations.
There will be no political elections. No $100-per-plate banquets to raise campaign funds for willful aspirants who covet POWER. No little, unqualified men running for office. No fear of other nations nor of nuclear war.
Those Jesus Christ will APPOINT to the chief offices ALREADY have undergone their training in their mortal life on earth. I expect father Abraham to be resurrected to the next highest office under Christ. King David will come alive and rule all the nations developed out of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel. Each of the original apostles will be appointed head of one of those 12 nations.
Christ will be Supreme Judge as well as Supreme Executive. The "Congress," "Parliament" Or LAW-MAKING BODY will be GOD THE FATHER IN HEAVEN. Those of us who are given office of rule will rule by God's LAW! All will be JUST. We shall not rule or judge as the world does now - but we shall have power to read men's minds and hearts (Isaiah 11).
NO ELECTIONS! NO LITTLE MEN unqualified for office spending millions of dollars crying out, "Vote for me - I want to be President."
Well, we now do not have long to wait. This present election travesty may well be the very LAST political election for the presidency of the United States, with little incompetent men vying for the coveted prize. There will be no more coveting, nor lying, nor murders, nor broken homes and families. There shall be PEACE, HAPPINESS, JOY, all living the way of "GIVE," which is outflowing LOVE
NO POLITICAL ELECTIONS IN THE WORLD TOMORROW!
NO POLITICAL ELECTIONS IN THE WORLD TOMORROW!
by Herbert W. Armstrong
page 3 Plain Truth October/November 1980
http://wwcg-archives.com/plaintruth/1980-1986/Plain%20Truth%201980%20%28Prelim%20No%2009%29%20Oct-Nov.pdf#page=5
http://wwcg-archives.com/plaintruth/1980-1986/Plain%20Truth%201980%20%28Prelim%20No%2009%29%20Oct-Nov.pdf#page=5
THIS WAS WRITTEN August 14—last day of the Democratic National Convention. I had to think—after viewing on television both this and the Republican National Convention a month before—HOW DIFFERENT it will be in the World Tomorrow!
All three national networks had their stars and superstar newscasters covering these major conventions.
The convention halls were decorated in bright colors with red, white and blue predominating. The delegates wore loud-colored casual or sports attire, many with outlandish oversized hats. There were horns, sound-making instruments, beside the brass bands. There were whoop-and-holler demonstrations. There were thousands with balloons, like little children at play. There were many large signs and placards.
Each convention was quite a show!
And of course the usual politics were being played secretly in the smoke-filled hotel suites away from the convention halls—the jockeying for selfish advantage, political gain and coveting of power.
I am reminded of the answer given by Franz Josef Strauss, often called "the strong man of Europe." He had spent the day visiting the Ambassador college campus and was an evening dinner guest in my home.
It was a day or two after Richard M. Nixon had taken the oath of office after his first inauguration, January, 1969.
"What," asked a guest of Dr. Strauss, "do you think was going on in Mr. Nixon's mind as he was taking the oath of office?"
"How to be reelected four years from now, of course," answered Herr Strauss without a second's hesitation.
On the Wednesday night before I wrote this, there had been considerable delay and nervous concern over what decision Edward Kennedy would make. He had lost the primary elections as a whole, had lost the open-floor fight to have delegates pledged to President Carter released and to throw the convention open. He had won the battle against the President on strategic platform planks. And now after a preweek political move to "dump Carter," the President had gone over the top on the first ballot. The President had not accepted without any personal reservation Mr. Kennedy's much-insisted-on plank for spending $12 billion immediately to ease unemployment. Mr. Carter got word to the convention he was for the same goal, but had personal reservations as to the Senator's method.
Would Senator Kennedy hold out, split the party, or would he acquiesce for the sake of harmony and support Mr. Carter for reelection?
Just what, in these circumstances, was Mr. Kennedy thinking? Would German politician Dr. Strauss have said, "How Mr. Kennedy could be elected four years from now, of course"? Was the politician thinking of what is best for the PEOPLE or what is best for his own fight to grab the throttle of greatest government power on earth? I won't answer that—I can't read his mind.
There was one bit of humor on the CBS coverage of the Wednesday night convention show. The dry-speaking Andy Rooney was asked by Walter Cronkite if he had any comment on whether the President should stick with Vice President Walter F. Mondale for reelection. The VP nomination was to come before the convention on Thursday.
Andy Rooney did.
"I think," he said soberly, "the President should select a vice president with more color. Why not ex-President Ford? He almost made the vice-presidential bid at the Republican convention. A Republican on the ticket as Mr. Carter's VP would at least add color."
"Or," he continued, "if Mr. Carter does not like that suggestion, how about putting brother Billy on the ticket—keep it in the family? That way Billy could make foreign connections officially. Or, I have still another suggestion—since the First Lady, Rosalynn Carter, is the President's chief confidante anyway, why not a husband-and-wife team? She's a good campaigner."
Many millions of dollars of taxpayers' money have been spent on political campaigns and these conventions to nominate candidates for the people to vote on. The conventions were big noisy shows. There was laughter, "having a time," shouting, confusion, anger, jubilation, pathos, emotion and even tears. In all this campaigning to "GET" the office of POWER, one vocal observer said, "Thank God, only ONE candidate can win."
That is the way GOVERNMENT is carried on in this world.
Six thousand years ago, the former superarchangel Lucifer, having rebelled against the government of God on earth, and now called Satan, was slinking around as a serpent. God had just created the first HUMAN—in God's own image—with a potential of inheriting the THRONE OF THE EARTH.
From this man, Adam, God made a woman, Eve, to be his wife. Eve was all for a "Women's Rights Amendment." She took the lead. The man, created to be the head of the wife, succumbed to her leadership. She led him into Satan's way. Adam joined her in rebelling against the GOVERNMENT OF GOD—rejecting God as Revealer of basic knowledge and as Giver of eternal LIFE!
When the first man and woman REJECTED GOD and HIS GOVERNMENT, CUT THEMSELVES OFF from God and the gift of His Holy Spirit, God made their decision binding on all their progeny for 6,000 years—until Christ, the "second Adam," should have come, qualified by overcoming Satan and Satan's way and actually RESTORE the GOVERNMENT OF GOD. This shall happen now, very shortly. For we are right at the END of that 6,000 years of the DAY OF MAN under SATAN, and the DAY OF THE LORD is almost upon us!
So ALL HUMANITY—except the minutest FEW God has specially called to His service in preparation for that future world government, has been CUT OFF from God and HIS GOVERNMENT. Man has been left to form HIS OWN ideas of how he should be ruled.
Down through history, some peoples have submitted to the tyranny of DICTATORSHIPS and autocratic MONARCHIES. Some have swung to the center and called it democracy. Others to the extreme left, calling it COMMUNISM. Even there it is actually the autocratic dictatorial RULE of a central politburo, in which one man—a Stalin, a Khrushchev or a Brezhnev—dominates as real RULER.
Even in the Democratic national convention, some individual delegates interviewed were fightingly for turning "still farther LEFT."
But through TV, the public has seen a sample of MAN-made government in our day.
The living Jesus Christ is soon now going to return, as KING of kings, to RULE ALL NATIONS with the GOVERNMENT OF GOD!
There will be no election campaigns. No multimillion dollar fund-raising campaigns—no political conventions. No politics, pulling the wool over the eyes of the people in the struggle for POWER!
No wars. No crime. No more broken families. No hospitals, for people will be divinely healed.
What will be the BIG DIFFERENCE, THEN?
The present world, though the world of humans doesn't realize it, is actually swayed and RULED by the invisible Satan—the former Lucifer who originally sat on the THRONE of the whole earth.
Backtrack a second, to the original Adam and Eve. In the Garden of Eden were the two symbolic trees—one the "tree of LIFE" symbolizing the Holy Spirit of God and gift of eternal life. The other, the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil" and this knowledge they—for all humanity—took to themselves.
Just one super-significant thing was wrong with that. They did not realize—and mankind does not know today—that man was made with a "human" spirit inside him. This spirit, not present in animals or any other physical life form, imparts the power of intellect to the human brain. But man's KNOWLEDGE is confined to the physical and material.
Man's PROBLEMS, troubles, evils, are all SPIRITUAL in nature. Man was made to NEED a SECOND SPIRIT—the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD. This was freely offered that first Adam. But he rejected it— rejected GOD'S GOVERNMENT and GOD'S revealed spiritual knowledge. All humans have been born with only this one spirit, limiting human knowledge to the physical and material. Man, without the Holy Spirit of God, is NOT MENTALLY COMPLETE—actually "NOT ALL THERE." Human consciousness is limited to the physical and material, yet all his problems are SPIRITUAL and beyond his comprehension!
NOT ONLY THIS!
Satan the devil is REAL—he exists—he is SUPER POWERFUL—and he is "the PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR" (Ephesians 2:2). He BROADCASTS! He surcharges the air with HIS ATTITUDE of selfishness, vanity, lust for power and greed, envy and jealousy, competition and strife, rebellion against GOD!
It is not only that mankind—our human LEADERS—are only "HALF THERE" mentally—Satan has begun injecting from infancy into every human his SELF-CENTERED ATTITUDE! All we humans grow up saturated with it. It has become HUMAN NATURE!
So it is not only a matter of what ISN'T IN OUR HUMAN MINDS (spiritual comprehension!), it is a matter of WHAT IS IN HUMAN MINDS—what from infancy Satan has been injecting there—the SELF-CENTERED ATTITUDE—that of competition, getting the best of others, "GETTING" instead of "GIVING"—TAKING FROM OTHERS!
This writing was finished on Friday morning after the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention. Senator Kennedy did conciliate just far enough to go to the convention hall platform after President Carter's acceptance speech. But he was not smiling. He was sullen, plainly resentful. He coldly shook hands with the President—but no lifting of arms together in joyful smiles. I felt sorry for him. He had not gotten all he coveted—like a spoiled baby, who failed to take away a toy from another baby. Just as in all of us, Satan had injected that spirit of animosity in competition. Mr. Kennedy is only human. God's Spirit of LOVE was not in evidence. Neither is it in evidence in ANY of this world's leaders.
HOW DIFFERENT in the WORLD TOMORROW.
Satan will be GONE! Jesus CHRIST will be RULING! Ruling with, but under Him, will be truly converted saints then made IMMORTAL—filled with GOD'S Spirit of "LOVE"—immortal GOD BEINGS with no SELF-interest of coveting, but outflowing LOVE for the good, happiness, welfare and eternal salvation of all others!
Jesus taught us to pray, "THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!"
We'd better be PRAYING!
Who REALLY Selects Your Government Head?
Who REALLY Selects Your Government Head?
By Herbert W Armstrong
By Herbert W Armstrong
Page 4 - The Plain Truth Magazine - Nov 1968
http://wwcg-archives.com/plaintruth/1960-1969/Plain%20Truth%201968%20%28Prelim%20No%2011%29%20Nov.pdf#page=4
http://wwcg-archives.com/plaintruth/1960-1969/Plain%20Truth%201968%20%28Prelim%20No%2011%29%20Nov.pdf#page=4
This is a year of Presidential elections in France and the United States. But do the PEOPLE really select their Leaders? Do the politicians? Even those in politics are unaware of the real TRUTH.
THE FRENCH people, this year, rose in rebellion against the government of their President, Charles de Gaulle. It started as a student revolt, fired into white-hot emotional heat by a young man nicknamed "Danny the Red." He manipulated the uprising into a national general strike. This young leader of the "New Leftist" movement almost succeeded in overthrowing the government.
That was the aim, as it is with all these "New Leftist" promoted student revolts. The "New Leftist" movement is merely Communism behind a new facade.
But the French President rode it out, called a series of general elections. The result? Overwhelming De Gaulle victories!
Charles de Gaulle then claimed: "I have a mandate from the people!" But did he, really? Did the elections express the real desires of the French people? They did not!
Do you know why?
That was the aim, as it is with all these "New Leftist" promoted student revolts. The "New Leftist" movement is merely Communism behind a new facade.
But the French President rode it out, called a series of general elections. The result? Overwhelming De Gaulle victories!
Charles de Gaulle then claimed: "I have a mandate from the people!" But did he, really? Did the elections express the real desires of the French people? They did not!
Do you know why?
What the People Didn't Know
The "experts" will tell you that the situation is this: As people usually are, after a number of years under one administration, the French people were "fed up" with their present government. A very reliable advance news report of many years ago characterized the French people "unstable as water." Until De Gaulle, they had a new government in power every little while — sometimes after a few months — sometimes after two or three years.
The national revolt did express the popular feelings. The elections did not. Reason? Simply that they feel they are tired of the present administration. They have been habitually accustomed to a new government in power after short intervals.
So the people of France are restless, dissatisfied. They don't like things as they are. What do they want? They have no idea! They know only what they don't want.
Communism, like a vulture, feeds on decay. It seizes upon unrest and discontent. "Danny the Red" was trained in revolutionary tactics. He is adept at rousing emotions to greater and greater dissent, anger and resentment. But he was not astute enough to present a positive alternative he could sell to the people.
Communism is "old stuff" in France. The French do not have the anti-Communist feeling so prevalent in America. The Communist Party is a recognized political party in France. But it is a minority party, and it offers nothing new and glittering to capture the enthusiasm of the French people. Probably that is why these student revolutionaries call themselves "the NEW Marxist Left."
This young "Danny the Red" is a trained rabble-rouser who can stir up emotional discontent. But he is by no means a great leader. He is not a magnetic personality with a positive SOLUTION to swing the multitudes behind him. He can preach discontent, revolt and destruction. But he has no talent to lead the masses out of their troubles.
So there was no one in France to offer the people a "BETTER IDEA." No one to convince them he had what they did want. They revolted. But De Gaulle was astute enough to let their emotions cool before the elections. And when it came to voting, the French had nowhere else to go.
The national revolt did express the popular feelings. The elections did not. Reason? Simply that they feel they are tired of the present administration. They have been habitually accustomed to a new government in power after short intervals.
So the people of France are restless, dissatisfied. They don't like things as they are. What do they want? They have no idea! They know only what they don't want.
Communism, like a vulture, feeds on decay. It seizes upon unrest and discontent. "Danny the Red" was trained in revolutionary tactics. He is adept at rousing emotions to greater and greater dissent, anger and resentment. But he was not astute enough to present a positive alternative he could sell to the people.
Communism is "old stuff" in France. The French do not have the anti-Communist feeling so prevalent in America. The Communist Party is a recognized political party in France. But it is a minority party, and it offers nothing new and glittering to capture the enthusiasm of the French people. Probably that is why these student revolutionaries call themselves "the NEW Marxist Left."
This young "Danny the Red" is a trained rabble-rouser who can stir up emotional discontent. But he is by no means a great leader. He is not a magnetic personality with a positive SOLUTION to swing the multitudes behind him. He can preach discontent, revolt and destruction. But he has no talent to lead the masses out of their troubles.
So there was no one in France to offer the people a "BETTER IDEA." No one to convince them he had what they did want. They revolted. But De Gaulle was astute enough to let their emotions cool before the elections. And when it came to voting, the French had nowhere else to go.
And in the U.S.A.
This is also Presidential election year in the United States, Richard Milhous Nixon being our new President Elect.
There were several candidates. There are the two major political parties, and a Southern "States Rights" candidate of the American Independent Party.
There are the various public opinion polls. They purport to reflect the will of the people.
The candidates put on lavish fundraising campaigns. One candidate is said to have raised more than one million dollars by forming a presidential club — a sort of political-social club, with 1,000 members contributing $1,000 each. There are always the $100-perplate banquets. There are other fundraising schemes.
Some states hold presidential primaries. The leading candidates go to these states, appear in auditoriums, make "whistle-stop" speeches on trains, appear in various public places. One prominent candidate, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated at his victory celebration in California.
There were several candidates. There are the two major political parties, and a Southern "States Rights" candidate of the American Independent Party.
There are the various public opinion polls. They purport to reflect the will of the people.
The candidates put on lavish fundraising campaigns. One candidate is said to have raised more than one million dollars by forming a presidential club — a sort of political-social club, with 1,000 members contributing $1,000 each. There are always the $100-perplate banquets. There are other fundraising schemes.
Some states hold presidential primaries. The leading candidates go to these states, appear in auditoriums, make "whistle-stop" speeches on trains, appear in various public places. One prominent candidate, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated at his victory celebration in California.
The People's Choice?
Then the major parties hold their elaborate party conventions. There the delegates choose their party candidate by vote. In the actual election the people vote for "electors" pledged to candidates.
But does the result express the WILL OF THE PEOPLE?
It is supposed to. Many people, perhaps most, look on failure to express one's will by voting as disloyalty to his country. But does the result REALLY express the will of the people?
The plain truth may prove rather shocking. But this magazine is dedicated to THE PLAIN TRUTH, shocking or not! Very few UNDERSTAND the world conditions today.
NEVER have any other humans lived in a world like you live in today. NEVER before was one's very life in danger, just walking along a city street.
But does the result express the WILL OF THE PEOPLE?
It is supposed to. Many people, perhaps most, look on failure to express one's will by voting as disloyalty to his country. But does the result REALLY express the will of the people?
The plain truth may prove rather shocking. But this magazine is dedicated to THE PLAIN TRUTH, shocking or not! Very few UNDERSTAND the world conditions today.
NEVER have any other humans lived in a world like you live in today. NEVER before was one's very life in danger, just walking along a city street.
Unprecedented Times
As voters went to the voting polls, consider the conditions in the world their candidates promised to correct. NEVER in history did so MANY problems present themselves for solution.
There is war in Vietnam. There is the red-hot racial problem, flaring into rioting, looting, violence and murder. There are the student revolts also exploding into violence, often closing schools. There is the question of law and order, with trained revolutionaries inciting the people toward anarchy with cries of "police brutality." There is the crime wave, increasing several times faster than the population. There is the breakdown of home and family life — the foundational bulwark of any peaceful, happy and prosperous society. Divorce and broken homes skyrocketing. There is the moral breakdown, with promiscuous fornication, adultery and perversion gaining public acceptance. Morals have slid the toboggan down into the cesspool.
As I write, I saw, with a group of stunned and shocked people, on BBC color television, a "documentary" of a nudist colony, actually showing completely nude men and women, with sex organs fully exposed — in full view of men, women and children in their homes! Even the lowest and cheapest burlesque shows have always stopped short of complete and full exposure. But now, "respectable" television shows people, unashamed, in full nude exposure!
There is war in Vietnam. There is the red-hot racial problem, flaring into rioting, looting, violence and murder. There are the student revolts also exploding into violence, often closing schools. There is the question of law and order, with trained revolutionaries inciting the people toward anarchy with cries of "police brutality." There is the crime wave, increasing several times faster than the population. There is the breakdown of home and family life — the foundational bulwark of any peaceful, happy and prosperous society. Divorce and broken homes skyrocketing. There is the moral breakdown, with promiscuous fornication, adultery and perversion gaining public acceptance. Morals have slid the toboggan down into the cesspool.
As I write, I saw, with a group of stunned and shocked people, on BBC color television, a "documentary" of a nudist colony, actually showing completely nude men and women, with sex organs fully exposed — in full view of men, women and children in their homes! Even the lowest and cheapest burlesque shows have always stopped short of complete and full exposure. But now, "respectable" television shows people, unashamed, in full nude exposure!
But Can Any Candidate Solve the Problems?
What do the voters face, as they vote for the leaders supposed to solve all these problems?
They face a world with nations possessing hydrogen bombs capable of blasting all human life off this planet. And governments spending thousands of millions trying to get to the moon! Then there is the frightening development of germ and chemical warfare. These can blind, paralyze, and kill whole vast populations!
Then, before I tell you what kind of GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP actually WILL solve all these problems, look at one more existing horrible condition. More than HALF of this world's people are living in ignorance, poverty, degeneracy, filth and squalor.
Candidates for the highest positions in government come before the people as PUBLIC BENEFACTORS. They are supposed to have the SOLUTIONS to these cancerous ills that are threatening the DEATH of all humanity.
But does government have the SOLUTIONS?
Yes, GOVERNMENT does — but not the governments of these human leaders.
They face a world with nations possessing hydrogen bombs capable of blasting all human life off this planet. And governments spending thousands of millions trying to get to the moon! Then there is the frightening development of germ and chemical warfare. These can blind, paralyze, and kill whole vast populations!
Then, before I tell you what kind of GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP actually WILL solve all these problems, look at one more existing horrible condition. More than HALF of this world's people are living in ignorance, poverty, degeneracy, filth and squalor.
Candidates for the highest positions in government come before the people as PUBLIC BENEFACTORS. They are supposed to have the SOLUTIONS to these cancerous ills that are threatening the DEATH of all humanity.
But does government have the SOLUTIONS?
Yes, GOVERNMENT does — but not the governments of these human leaders.
Face the Facts
Every form of human government has had its fling. It has had its try. And all have been tried in the balance of human experience and FOUND WANTING!
Isn't it about time we stop kidding ourselves, face the FACTS, and realize the ONLY POSSIBLE SOLUTION?
All the others have been TRIED! All have failed!
Modern Science stepped forward. Science and technology presented themselves as humanity's messiah that would solve all our troubles. They coupled with higher education and scholarly research said: "What we need is MORE KNOWLEDGE! Give us enough KNOWLEDGE, and all problems will be solved." In the past ten years scientific and technological knowledge have DOUBLED! And in the same decade the world's TROUBLES also have DOUBLED! The more KNOWLEDGE the scholars come up with, the worse off we become! Face it — THAT'S THE STARK TRUTH!
Communism swooped down upon a troubled earth like a giant vulture 51 years ago, saying "We are the Saviors of humanity! AWAY with religion, the opium of the people. Godless atheistic Communism is your BENEFACTOR!" But the divided city of Berlin stands as a SHOWCASE for all to see the RESULT! Though the U.S.S.R. has leaped into the space race, Communism has done it at the expense of chaining people in the clutch of stagnation, poverty, and a BACKWARD decaying society!
Science and intellectualism gave us the "scholarly" approach. They, too, said "God is dead!" They injected into our educational bloodstream the theory of evolution, by which they purported to explain a creation which had no Creator. Belief in a God, they said, was all right back in the dark ages of ignorance and superstition. But humanity is ADVANCING — we are evolving into something better and better. We now may safely throw off the swaddling clothes of superstition, and belief in God and the Bible. So this concept dominated the entire educational system.
Isn't it about time we stop kidding ourselves, face the FACTS, and realize the ONLY POSSIBLE SOLUTION?
All the others have been TRIED! All have failed!
Modern Science stepped forward. Science and technology presented themselves as humanity's messiah that would solve all our troubles. They coupled with higher education and scholarly research said: "What we need is MORE KNOWLEDGE! Give us enough KNOWLEDGE, and all problems will be solved." In the past ten years scientific and technological knowledge have DOUBLED! And in the same decade the world's TROUBLES also have DOUBLED! The more KNOWLEDGE the scholars come up with, the worse off we become! Face it — THAT'S THE STARK TRUTH!
Communism swooped down upon a troubled earth like a giant vulture 51 years ago, saying "We are the Saviors of humanity! AWAY with religion, the opium of the people. Godless atheistic Communism is your BENEFACTOR!" But the divided city of Berlin stands as a SHOWCASE for all to see the RESULT! Though the U.S.S.R. has leaped into the space race, Communism has done it at the expense of chaining people in the clutch of stagnation, poverty, and a BACKWARD decaying society!
Science and intellectualism gave us the "scholarly" approach. They, too, said "God is dead!" They injected into our educational bloodstream the theory of evolution, by which they purported to explain a creation which had no Creator. Belief in a God, they said, was all right back in the dark ages of ignorance and superstition. But humanity is ADVANCING — we are evolving into something better and better. We now may safely throw off the swaddling clothes of superstition, and belief in God and the Bible. So this concept dominated the entire educational system.
Evolution Taken for Granted
One mother, aghast, said to me recently, "Why I never knew before that they were teaching my children in the elementary grades ideas founded on the evolutionary approach. I thought evolution was taught only in the universities. Now I discover that my children's teachers look at everything from this evolutionary approach. My ten-year-old son asked me the other day. 'Mommy, what's a god?' " I wondered why this mother had never bothered to tell her children anything about God — if she believed God exists.
So children have grown to maturity in a world whose education has thrown all concepts of God — and all respect for the Bible — to the four winds. Young men studying for the ministry have grown up with this concept injected into their minds. So even the seminaries, turning out the world's clergy have gone "Modernist." They are now intellectual. The Bible is merely the writings of an ancient and ignorant Jewish race searching for a religious crutch, formulating a superstitious concept of a god. Jesus was only another human teacher like Moses, Mohammed, or Buddha.
It has become UNFASHIONABLE intellectually to believe in a God.
But has this world been BRAINWASHED?
So children have grown to maturity in a world whose education has thrown all concepts of God — and all respect for the Bible — to the four winds. Young men studying for the ministry have grown up with this concept injected into their minds. So even the seminaries, turning out the world's clergy have gone "Modernist." They are now intellectual. The Bible is merely the writings of an ancient and ignorant Jewish race searching for a religious crutch, formulating a superstitious concept of a god. Jesus was only another human teacher like Moses, Mohammed, or Buddha.
It has become UNFASHIONABLE intellectually to believe in a God.
But has this world been BRAINWASHED?
How About YOU?
WHY, gentle reader, do you believe the things YOU believe?
I can tell you. Primarily, one of three ways. First, about 99% of what most people believe has found lodgment in their minds because they have carelessly TAKEN IT FOR GRANTED.
They, like sheep, have gone along with what others believe. They have TAKEN FOR GRANTED what they have read, or heard from others, without question. They simply ASSUME it without proof.
Secondly, people believe only what they WANT to believe. And they REFUSE, like a stubborn mule, to believe whatever they don't WANT to believe — or whatever their prejudices resent. They want to BELONG. So they accept whatever is popular.
Third, a very FEW believe at least some of the things in their convictions because they have questioned, sought ALL the evidence, and have PROVED what they believe to be true. But NOT MANY have travelled this trail.
But these facts remain: You can PROVE, if you truly are intellectual and have a balanced and unprejudiced mind that evolution is FALSE, and that GOD does exist. And I mean a great supernatural PERSONAGE, a great Spirit BEING, of supreme mind, intelligence, knowledge and power, who CREATED EVERYTHING that is.
And this Supreme CREATOR MAINTAINS His Creation. That is to say, He RULES — He GOVERNS His creation.
God CREATED matter. I can PROVE by the facts of radioactivity that matter has not always existed. There was a time when radioactive elements of matter DID NOT EXIST. They came into existence. Science does not yet understand all there is to know about matter. We know there is organic, or living matter — and there is inorganic matter. But in matter there is energy. All matter is not lifeless, static. Man has learned how to utilize electricity, but he does not know what it is!
I can tell you. Primarily, one of three ways. First, about 99% of what most people believe has found lodgment in their minds because they have carelessly TAKEN IT FOR GRANTED.
They, like sheep, have gone along with what others believe. They have TAKEN FOR GRANTED what they have read, or heard from others, without question. They simply ASSUME it without proof.
Secondly, people believe only what they WANT to believe. And they REFUSE, like a stubborn mule, to believe whatever they don't WANT to believe — or whatever their prejudices resent. They want to BELONG. So they accept whatever is popular.
Third, a very FEW believe at least some of the things in their convictions because they have questioned, sought ALL the evidence, and have PROVED what they believe to be true. But NOT MANY have travelled this trail.
But these facts remain: You can PROVE, if you truly are intellectual and have a balanced and unprejudiced mind that evolution is FALSE, and that GOD does exist. And I mean a great supernatural PERSONAGE, a great Spirit BEING, of supreme mind, intelligence, knowledge and power, who CREATED EVERYTHING that is.
And this Supreme CREATOR MAINTAINS His Creation. That is to say, He RULES — He GOVERNS His creation.
God CREATED matter. I can PROVE by the facts of radioactivity that matter has not always existed. There was a time when radioactive elements of matter DID NOT EXIST. They came into existence. Science does not yet understand all there is to know about matter. We know there is organic, or living matter — and there is inorganic matter. But in matter there is energy. All matter is not lifeless, static. Man has learned how to utilize electricity, but he does not know what it is!
A Truth Few Know
Something else man does not know: Acting on LIVING matter — that is, the matter that composes human beings — are certain inexorable SPIRITUAL LAWS. Man has learned about SOME of the laws in nature — gravity, inertia, for example. These laws WORK! The evolutionist has to start with matter already in existence — with laws already in force and acting on matter.
To MAINTAIN what He has created, God rules with LAWS. He set in motion the laws scientists find already existing — gravity, inertia, laws of nuclear energy. To MAINTAIN His creation God GOVERNS with a GOVERNMENT based On LAWS.
Affecting human beings, and human relationships, are certain inexorable SPIRITUAL laws science knows nothing about. Yet these laws REGULATE man's relationships with fellowman. Not understanding them, man does not know how to get along with his neighbor.
These laws also regulate man's relationship with His MAKER. Our Maker is the CREATOR. He PRODUCED all that is. Therefore everything we might WANT comes from Him. Man has cut himself off from contact with His MAKER. Therefore man has cut himself off from SOLUTIONS to all his troubles!
God Almighty is WORKING OUT A PURPOSE HERE BELOW!
This PURPOSE requires TIME. Our Maker has revealed that He marked out a duration of seven thousand years to accomplish this supreme PURPOSE. The first six thousand He has, primarily, "kept hands off," having made man a free moral agent. Man has been allowed full latitude to CHOOSE which way he will go. Man has tried to set up governments to regulate humanity in a manner diametrically CONTRARY to the LAWS of God's Government. Man has flouted, ignored, rebelled against, and flagrantly DISOBEYED the LAWS of his MAKER! And every wail of human woe resulted from violation of these LAWS.
God REVEALED them. They have been accessible. But man has gone his own way contrary to them.
These Laws of God are THE WAY to peace, happiness, prosperity, wellbeing. They are the CAUSE of these wanted good things. Man has gone THE WAY that has CAUSED all his troubles.
The six thousand years are about up. We may have another three, five, or ten years to go. God Almighty has ALLOWED man — that he LEARN THE LESSON — to PROVE by human experience, that he is incapable of ruling what GOD created. Man has written the lesson — not yet learned it.
Only GOD can RULE — sustain, preserve, and MAINTAIN His creation. And MAN is the focal point of all His creation! For God created MAN, NOT after any animal kind, but after God's own kind. Man is formed and shaped like GOD. Man has a MIND like God, only it is fallible. Man was made to be begotten, and then born of God. Man has a potential so tremendous his mind cannot quite conceive it. Man has stumbled along, WRITING lessons, never yet learning them.
To MAINTAIN what He has created, God rules with LAWS. He set in motion the laws scientists find already existing — gravity, inertia, laws of nuclear energy. To MAINTAIN His creation God GOVERNS with a GOVERNMENT based On LAWS.
Affecting human beings, and human relationships, are certain inexorable SPIRITUAL laws science knows nothing about. Yet these laws REGULATE man's relationships with fellowman. Not understanding them, man does not know how to get along with his neighbor.
These laws also regulate man's relationship with His MAKER. Our Maker is the CREATOR. He PRODUCED all that is. Therefore everything we might WANT comes from Him. Man has cut himself off from contact with His MAKER. Therefore man has cut himself off from SOLUTIONS to all his troubles!
God Almighty is WORKING OUT A PURPOSE HERE BELOW!
This PURPOSE requires TIME. Our Maker has revealed that He marked out a duration of seven thousand years to accomplish this supreme PURPOSE. The first six thousand He has, primarily, "kept hands off," having made man a free moral agent. Man has been allowed full latitude to CHOOSE which way he will go. Man has tried to set up governments to regulate humanity in a manner diametrically CONTRARY to the LAWS of God's Government. Man has flouted, ignored, rebelled against, and flagrantly DISOBEYED the LAWS of his MAKER! And every wail of human woe resulted from violation of these LAWS.
God REVEALED them. They have been accessible. But man has gone his own way contrary to them.
These Laws of God are THE WAY to peace, happiness, prosperity, wellbeing. They are the CAUSE of these wanted good things. Man has gone THE WAY that has CAUSED all his troubles.
The six thousand years are about up. We may have another three, five, or ten years to go. God Almighty has ALLOWED man — that he LEARN THE LESSON — to PROVE by human experience, that he is incapable of ruling what GOD created. Man has written the lesson — not yet learned it.
Only GOD can RULE — sustain, preserve, and MAINTAIN His creation. And MAN is the focal point of all His creation! For God created MAN, NOT after any animal kind, but after God's own kind. Man is formed and shaped like GOD. Man has a MIND like God, only it is fallible. Man was made to be begotten, and then born of God. Man has a potential so tremendous his mind cannot quite conceive it. Man has stumbled along, WRITING lessons, never yet learning them.
Man's Only Hope
Over 1900 years ago, Jesus Christ came in human flesh — a MAN. He brought a MESSAGE from God our Creator. His Message was GOOD NEWS. It was ADVANCE NEWS. He taught about a GOVERNMENT. He called it "The Kingdom of God." A Kingdom is a GOVERNMENT!
The Scriptures affirm He was born to be a KING. But He said His Kingdom was NOT Of THIS WORLD. Also His inspired instructions to man say that humans — flesh and blood — CAN NOT SEE, ENTER, OR INHERIT the Kingdom of God.
But Jesus was BORN to be a KING. He said He had first to go to the Throne of the Government of the UNIVERSE (in heaven), to be officially crowned, then, in God's due time (after the 6,000 years), He is to return in all the Supreme Power and Glory of the Almighty GOD. He is coming to set up GOD'S GOVERNMENT over ALL NATIONS.
That IS MAN'S ONLY HOPE!
It's time we quit kidding ourselves. Our troubles WILL be solved and ended. But only when, by Almighty divine POWER, man is FORCED against his will to OBEY THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD — living the way that will CAUSE peace, happiness, abundant WELL-BEING — true JOY!
Everything is a matter of CAUSE and EFFECT. Look at today's EFFECT, and open your eyes to the CAUSE!
The Scriptures affirm He was born to be a KING. But He said His Kingdom was NOT Of THIS WORLD. Also His inspired instructions to man say that humans — flesh and blood — CAN NOT SEE, ENTER, OR INHERIT the Kingdom of God.
But Jesus was BORN to be a KING. He said He had first to go to the Throne of the Government of the UNIVERSE (in heaven), to be officially crowned, then, in God's due time (after the 6,000 years), He is to return in all the Supreme Power and Glory of the Almighty GOD. He is coming to set up GOD'S GOVERNMENT over ALL NATIONS.
That IS MAN'S ONLY HOPE!
It's time we quit kidding ourselves. Our troubles WILL be solved and ended. But only when, by Almighty divine POWER, man is FORCED against his will to OBEY THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD — living the way that will CAUSE peace, happiness, abundant WELL-BEING — true JOY!
Everything is a matter of CAUSE and EFFECT. Look at today's EFFECT, and open your eyes to the CAUSE!
How Would Jesus Vote for President?
How Would Jesus Vote for President?
Jesus Christ's message was concerned with the government of nations. Christians are those who follow Christ. Here's what He would do.
By Herbert W. Armstrong
The Good News, October/November 1984
http://
The presidential campaign is on full blast in the United States. The issue of survival of the nation will fall squarely on the shoulders of the next president.
Other important elections have recently occurred, or will occur shortly, in other nations around the world.
World war threatens to explode in the Middle East and other "hot spots." Frightful nuclear war! War that means the annihilation of civilization. The world this minute is in grave danger. The issue is a matter of government!
Few realize it because they do not hear it today, but the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST — the Gospel Jesus brought from God and preached — was a message about government!
Christ was interested in GOVERNMENT
Yes, Jesus was interested in government. His message was about a government to RULE THE WORLD and bring us WORLD PEACE!
In this momentous presidential year, what would Jesus Christ do, for instance, about the upcoming U.S. election if He were a native-born American?
Would He vote for Walter Mondale? Would He use His influence to keep the Reagan administration at the helm in this crisis?
Many of you have undoubtedly read the book In His Steps by Dr. Charles M. Sheldon. It has been one of the all-time best-sellers. It is the story of an entire congregation that set out to do, in all circumstances daily, just as Jesus would do — to "follow His steps," as we are admonished by Peter.
My only criticism of the book is that its characters, like most people who think they follow Jesus, acted as they supposed Jesus would act instead of studying the Bible to find out how He did act.
The apostle Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20, Authorized Version). He admonished, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).
A person is not really a Christian unless he follows Christ — acts as Christ would act — unless Christ is living His life in him.
What would Jesus do in this crucial election?
To understand what Jesus would do we must take a quick overview of the governments of this world from its foundation until now. This is necessary for a true perspective. We are prone to view politics, government and world events from the standpoint of this present world.
How it all started
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). In rulership over this earth God sent a cherub who sealed up the sum total of perfection, wisdom and beauty. His throne was in Eden. He was ruler over a peaceful world populated by beings superior to humans — spirit beings called angels (Ezekiel 28:12-15).
But as this brilliant shining "star of the dawn" — Lucifer — contemplated his glory, pride lifted him up, ambition seized him and suddenly he became dissatisfied with a rulership limited to one single planet.
He became jealous of God, set his heart to rival the eternal Creator himself and left this planet in a war of conquest, in which a third of the angels followed him, attempting to conquer and rule the universe (Isaiah 14:12-15, Revelation 12:4).
But he was cast back down to earth in defeat, disqualified even as earth ruler, though not to be dethroned until a successor was both qualified and inaugurated into office.
Just as the sins of the antediluvian world brought physical destruction to the earth by the Flood — just as the fornication of Sodom and Gomorrah brought physical destruction and chaos to those cities by fire — just as the sins of the present evil world have doomed it to physical destruction once again by fire — so the sins of the angels caused the face of the earth to suffer great violence, and it became chaotic, in confusion, waste and empty (Genesis 1:2).
[Photo Caption — From flag-waving partisans to angry protesters, the U.S. election campaign is in full swing. Worldwide, leaders face the all-important issue of human survival!]
First chance at world rule
Then in six days God Almighty brought order out of chaos, created the present vegetable and animal life and created upon earth a new race, the race of human mortals.
Adam was given rule over the lower species — animals. Lucifer, a cherub, had been given rule over angels. But, while humans were made a little lower in status than angels, they were made in the image of God with possibilities, through conversion, of being born of God and changed into immortal spirit beings, higher in order than angels.
In the Garden of Eden was the tree of life, symbolic of the Holy Spirit of God Himself, by which Adam could have been raised to this higher immortal and divine level.
First, Adam was given opportunity to qualify as WORLD RULER. He could have become successor to the former Lucifer, now renamed Satan (meaning "adversary, rival, aggressor"). Adam was put to the test to determine whether he would obey God and prove able to RULE with God's laws.
In the fateful test with Satan, Adam disobeyed God, accepted the rule of Satan over him — yielded to human pride, lust and greed.
Thus he placed himself and his children under the rule of Satan. He failed to overthrow Satan. He failed to prove he could obey God and carry out God's government over those God should have placed under him.
Had Adam obeyed God and proved able to defeat Satan in this test, he could have partaken of the tree of LIFE — he would have been begotten of GOD, later BORN of God, changed from mortal human to immortal and divine God, of the very Family — the KINGDOM — OF GOD! All earth's mortals, as his children, would have been under his rule. He would have become world ruler forever! But Adam placed himself and his children UNDER THE RULE OF SATAN.
Adam was driven from the Garden of Eden lest he take of the tree of life and gain immortality (Genesis 3:22). Thus he never received immortality, which is the gift of God by and through His Holy Spirit.
Satan thus retained his rulership, through invisible sway of influence, temptation and deception, over the world.
[Photo Caption — This troubled world definitely is not of God's making! Should Christians try to improve conditions through political processes? What would Jesus do?]
How our present system started
Just how Satan manipulated human mortals in the ways of government on earth during the first 1,600 or 1,700 years, there is no historic record. We know merely that with very few exceptions, humans under Satan's invisible sway followed the course of human passions, the wickedness of man was great on the earth and God destroyed all but eight souls by the Flood.
Noah and his descendants should have learned their lesson, but they didn't.
Satan found in one of the great-grandsons of Noah, Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, a very able and powerful man who could be used politically. Through Satan's influence, instilling great ambition through greed and pride, this Nimrod organized the people into a system of human government by which man ruled over man contrary to the principles established by God.
Such government never could be good or bring blessings to humanity, but the Eternal purposed to permit man to learn that lesson by hard experiences. We are learning it still, and haven't learned it yet.
Now notice how the present world's society became organized. Nimrod organized the present world's first government — the city of BABYLON. Later he organized Nineveh and other cities. He instituted the system of regimentation, whereby one or a few at the top, by directing their efforts, profit from the sweat and labor of others.
Thus the BABYLONISH system of government was started. Soon there were many cities, each ruled by a king.
Then an ambitious king, swayed by Satan's philosophy, seeking more worlds to conquer, organized a portion of his manpower into a fighting force and by aggression ruled over adjoining cities. Thus nations were born, and then empires.
This BABYLONISH principle of government, intertwined with economic manipulation, has ruled the world ever since. It has ruled under various forms — whether called oligarchy, monarchy, dictatorship, autocracy, democracy, communism or Naziism — but it's the same old BABYLONISH PRINCIPLE under slightly different modes of administration.
And this is the origin of what we call CIVILIZATION. Its forms of administration have undergone change, but its basic principle has remained the same — competition and strife based upon greed and vanity.
Regardless of the form in which it appears, it is a system based upon exploitation of the people, aggression, regimentation, delusion and deception. And the entire system is founded on the idea of huddling people together in crowded cities.
Since it is the system of strife and competition, each of the four phases of this civilization — political, economic, religious and social — has striven constantly to dominate and rule.
In ancient Rome the politicians ruled over the church, business and society. Then after A.D. 554, the church ruled over the state, business and society. In America, where we are supposed to rule ourselves, it has been a constant struggle for dominance between big business and the politicians.
In Russia today a small group of atheistic Marxists have set up a dictatorship of the proletariate inducing the laboring class to support this dictatorship for the benefit of this one class.
But regardless of the particular form of administration, this CIVILIZATION that holds the entire world in its organized grip today is the same old BABYLONISH SYSTEM started at the original BABYLON by Nimrod!
Babylon means "CONFUSION." Competition and strife have produced confusion in the world. And God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33).
Should Christians strive to make this a BETTER WORLD?
Now we come to the reason for needing a true perspective.
Most churchmen today, viewing everything from the perspective of THIS WORLD TODAY, blindly assume this is God's world. They see certain forces of evil in it, and these they feel they must oppose. They see the Christian duty to be that of working to make this a better world.
That concept is a wrong viewpoint altogether.
This is not a world of God's making. This is SATAN'S world! Satan is the invisible god of this world. He is the author of its organization, its basic philosophies, its systems of government, business, society — yes, and RELIGIONS!
This thing we boast of as CIVILIZATION is, in actual fact, Satan's handiwork, not God's! Strange as it may seem, that is true! All nations — not just the heathen powers, but all nations, including ours — are DECEIVED, swayed, led, by Satan (Revelation 12:9, 18:3, 20:2-3). The Bible speaks of this world as "this present EVIL WORLD" (Galatians 1:4, AV).
Why Jesus Christ came!
Into such a world, in His own due time, God sent forth His own Son, born of the human virgin Mary.
WHY did Jesus come? To get into politics, to strive against the forces of evil in this world, to make this a better world for humanity to live in?
WHAT was His message? Certainly NOT a Gospel merely about Himself — a Gospel of merely accepting Him and then, as part of this world, helping to make it better!
When Jesus reached the approximate age of 30 He was baptized and anointed with the Holy Spirit as the Christ. But before He preached a word — before He could even enter upon His ministry — He, like the first Adam, had to meet Satan in the greatest contest in all eternity!
It was a contest for the rulership of all the earth. Jesus Christ met and conquered Satan by the Word of God. Satan, like his ministers today, quoted Scripture, but he twisted and perverted its meaning. Jesus quoted Scripture, accepted it to mean what it says, overcame Satan by obeying it!
Jesus withstood Satan's temptations, rejected his deceptions, refused to obey him, conquered him by obeying GOD! Then He commanded Satan, "Away with you!" — and the devil obeyed and slunk away!
Then and there Jesus Christ qualified to succeed Satan as RULER OVER ALL THE EARTH! But the time had not yet come for Him to be inaugurated into office. First, He had to return to the throne of God and receive God's official authorization.
God had allotted ONE MILLENNIAL WEEK — that is, a period of seven thousand-year "days" — for the accomplishment of His divine PURPOSE in humanity on this earth. That divine purpose is the creation of righteous, spiritual sons of God.
God allotted the first six of these thousand-year periods for Satan's labor of deceiving the human race — 6,000 years in which man is permitted, if he chooses, to suffer from the "labor" of sin. When the first Adam failed to depose Satan, God extended the duration of Satan's dominion over the earth for 6,000 years. This was necessary for the accomplishment of God's great purpose.
Then, as "in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:17), even so in the seventh millennium, humanity is to "rest" from sin and those converted are to enter into God's spiritual rest. In this coming Millennium, Satan shall not do any work — that is, his work of deceiving the world!
Then Jesus will return to earth, this time in all His power and glory as KING of kings and LORD of lords.
But, in God's great plan, He has purposed that Jesus shall rule by and through many saints then made immortal. They shall form the world-ruling kingdom — the KINGDOM OF GOD — that shall rule over all the mortal nations on earth. Time had to be allowed for their conversion.
Jesus preached GOVERNMENT
So, after meeting and conquering Satan, Jesus devoted three and a half years to teaching His Gospel to His disciples.
His Gospel — the only true Gospel of Jesus Christ — is not what most people think today. Few have heard it, today!
It was, and is, a Gospel of good government! The word gospel means "good news." And what Jesus preached — the message He brought to mankind from God — was the good news of the coming GOVERNMENT OF GOD — the coming world-ruling government that shall overthrow, blast out of existence and rule in place of every present government on earth!
Yes, Jesus Christ said to Pilate that He was born to be a King! He, Himself, is coming again as WORLD KING!
And His Gospel was merely, as one might say, His political platform for His Kingdom. He revealed the way to enter it as one of its immortal citizens — the way of salvation. He revealed its laws.
What Jesus taught was that this present world, with its governments, its religions, its economies, its society, is an evil world — it is Satan's world — it is a world in competition against, and AT WAR AGAINST, HIS COMING KINGDOM — THE WORLD TOMORROW!
Did Jesus come to make this a BETTER WORLD?
No, Jesus did not enter into THIS WORLD'S politics! He called His disciples out of this present evil world — out of all its customs and philosophies and ways — to a life of SEPARATION from the world.
Jesus said to His disciples, "Follow Me!" And one cannot follow Him and also follow this present world! He did not mean for Christians to go out of the world, physically. He knew they must live in it, but He taught that they should not be of it.
In his final prayer for His disciples, Jesus said to His Father: "I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:15-16).
Thus Jesus' disciples live in this present evil world as though they were foreigners, here merely as the guests of the nation where they reside, as AMBASSADORS for Christ and His coming Kingdom, here as representatives of HIS coming Kingdom, not of any of this world's governments.
As the Word of God reveals in II Corinthians 5:17-20: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away... therefore we are ambassadors for Christ."
The United States sends an ambassador to the Kremlin. He resides for the time in Moscow. The Christian in the world today is in the same relative position as the American ambassador in the Soviet Union.
He is not a communist. He does not regard the Soviet as his government, and he knows well it is a government mortally opposed to his government. He does not serve the Soviet government, nor enter into its politics, nor devote his time in Moscow to trying to eradicate the evils he sees in their system, or to making their state a better state, or voting, or entering their army or fighting for their cause.
Yet, he subjects himself to all their rules and regulations that in any way concern him or his life while there. If they drive automobiles on the left side of the street, he conforms to their regulations. He does not oppose them; he is SUBJECT to them while there, endeavoring to cause them to like him so as to better represent the interests of his government, the United States.
Jesus taught His disciples to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Specifically He was referring to payment of taxes. If the government levies taxes, pay them.
The Bible teaching for the Christian is to be SUBJECT to the powers that be in this world, but, on the other hand, Christians shall obey God rather than man.
The true Christian will so conduct himself as to be highly regarded by the powers of government where he lives. He will be regarded by them as a good citizen.
He will appreciate the privileges, advantages and opportunities extended. He will regard himself as the paying guest of the country where he resides, and he will act with due courtesy, submission to its rules and regulations, insofar as they do not conflict with the commands of God, and submission to their penalty where they do.
But the true Christian is one who follows Christ, and Christ did not vote!
Jesus did not try to reform Caesar. He did not try to make this a better world. Rather, He preached the doctrine of a radically different world to come — and He called His followers out of all participation in this present evil world, and to allegiance to HIS KINGDOM that is to come.
Citizenship in heaven
But His world is the world tomorrow! His Kingdom, He told Pilate, is not of this world — that is, of this AGE, this present time. This is Satan's world and Jesus Christ did not come to reform Satan or improve Satan's handiwork, but to save His followers from Satan and his system.
Since God's Kingdom is not literally set up as yet, the true Christian's citizenship is now reserved in heaven (I Peter 1:4, Ephesians 2:19).
Christians are called to be separate from the world and all its affiliations, whether social, political, economic or religious (II Corinthians 6:17). They are not to live by the philosophies, customs and ways of this world, but by EVERY WORD OF GOD (Luke 4:4). Jesus taught us not to live by traditions of the present civilization, but by God's laws, and He taught here that those who disobey this teaching WORSHIP HIM IN VAIN.
Yes, thousands call themselves Christians, think they are converted, believe in Christ, worship Him, but worship Him in vain, following the course of this world and its customs and ways, instead of the commandments of God (Mark 7:7-9)!
Jesus said for the Christian to seek first the KINGDOM OF GOD (Matthew 6:33), and He also said we cannot give allegiance to and serve two kingdoms (verse 24).
How and when Christians are to help run government
In the prophecy of Daniel 7, and especially in verses 17-18, 21-22 and 27, we find revealed how and when Christians are to take part in the running of the government. In this prophecy Daniel is shown the empires of this world from his day until the Kingdom of God. First was the Chaldean Empire, to be followed by the Persian, the Grecian and the Roman.
There is now to be one more resurrection of the Roman Empire — a United States of Europe now presently forming.
But finally, at Christ's Second Coming, "the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever."
These present governments are to run their course "UNTIL the... time came for the saints to possess the kingdom." That time has not yet come. Until then Christians are to obey God and be subject to the powers that be.
When Jesus comes again, it is proclaimed, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and HE shall reign forever and ever" (Revelation 11:15). Then it is, as Jesus has said, "He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations — he shall rule them" (Revelation 2:26-27). The smashing of the present governments of the world is pictured in Daniel 2:34-35, 44.
Then Satan shall be shorn of power to rule the world (Revelation 20:1-4). His qualified successor, Jesus Christ, shall then be inaugurated into office. Then begins the Sabbath Millennium of Jesus Christ's reign — when He shall set His hand again to save Israel and the world.
Jesus would not take part
What, then, would Jesus do in this time of presidential election? He would WARN true Christians, "COME OUT of her [this world's governments, this Babylonish system], my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4)!
The plagues of God are soon to fall upon this world and all who choose to remain part of it. JESUS CALLS YOU OUT!
What would Jesus do? HE WOULD BE TOO BUSY PROCLAIMING THE GOOD NEWS OF HIS OWN COMING WORLD-RULING KINGDOM, and the way of salvation, to take any part whatsoever in the politics of this present evil world, or in any man-made form of government that is DOOMED very soon to be destroyed and replaced by the theocratic government of THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
Our mission is, as ambassadors of Christ — as advance emissaries of HIS KINGDOM — to WARN the world of its plight and present danger, to proclaim to all nations the good news of THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
God's People Don't Vote
God's People Don't Vote!
By Herbert W Armstrong
Given 10-21-1976
http://
Here's Good News!
Personal — Here's Good News!
by Herbert W. Armstrong
page 1 Good News October/November 1984
http://
You live in a world of frustration and despair, whose greatest problem is the very question of SURVIVAL! In this troubled world, The Good News of the World Tomorrow comes to bring hope, assurance and TRUTH.
Our commission is to proclaim to the world the GOOD NEWS of the coming WORLD of PEACE. World leaders, however, will not produce it.
The search for peace seems to be the No. 1 occupation of governments today. Yet none knows where to find it. None knows THE WAY to peace!
It is like the story you may have heard about the elderly lady who searched every nook and cranny of her home to find where she had mislaid her glasses. They were nowhere to be found— until she went to wash her face. Then she discovered they had simply been pushed up above her forehead. They were right there all the time—she had simply not known where to look.
But if we were to tell the world about the ONLY PLACE where the way to peace can be found, the world would not listen, for that is a source the world has completely rejected. The world refuses to look there for THE WAY, or to listen if it is read. The source simply does not speak their language.
Consequently, we get this GOOD NEWS to the world in the world's language. The Plain Truth magazine makes that amazing and positive truth PLAIN—in a language this world understands and will accept.
But The Good News of the World Tomorrow is for those who accept the one source where this truth may be found—for those who wish to go deeper into this precious gold mine of truth, IN ITS OWN LANGUAGE!
We have been given, one might say, a dual commission: 1) Our first and principal commission is to proclaim to the whole world, AS A WITNESS, the good news of coming world peace. In Bible language, it is called "Jesus Christ's Gospel" (the word gospel means "good news")—and that Gospel is the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is the coming WORLD GOVERNMENT that will bring peace. World leaders—both statesmen and scientists —are saying the world's only hope is WORLD GOVERNMENT. So we proclaim it in their language—not Bible language. We are commissioned to proclaim it ONLY as a witness. Following Jesus Christ's example—and Peter's and Paul's—we make no effort to cram Christ's religion down their throats.
Jesus said none can come to Him (spiritually— religiously) except the Spirit of God draws him. We are humans. We cannot draw them. That is not our job—it is God's. Jesus never pleaded, "WON'T you accept me?" He never urged or begged any to "be saved." Nor did Peter or Paul.
That is a modern Protestant RELIGIOUS invention and practice.
Our commission TO THE WORLD is to preach the GOOD NEWS as a witness. This we do IN THEIR LANGUAGE. This we do as an interesting, dynamic, EDUCATIONAL broadcast—NOT as a religious program.
For this, The Plain Truth is our vehicle-in-print, besides free booklets.
But our second commission is to "FEED JESUS CHRIST'S SHEEP," to put it in biblical language. Those whom God, through His Spirit, has drawn to Jesus Christ—HAS converted—need deeper spiritual food. And The Good News is our magazine to help in fulfilling that vital phase of our commission.
World leaders search for the way to PEACE. Yet they see nothing ahead but ever worsening troubles with no solutions. The reason they see no solutions is that they often willingly hide their eyes from the CAUSES.
For every wrong result there has to be a CAUSE. To CAUSE the desired results of peace, happiness, prosperity and abundant well-being, our Creator set in motion invisible and inexorable laws. There is no other way to obtain these desired ends.
Yet a rebellious mankind refuses to obey THAT WAY. It seeks those results by going the opposite way. And that is THE WAY that produces every unwanted trouble!
There is one root CAUSE for all the troubles this world is suffering—transgression of our Maker's right WAY OF LIFE —that WAY expressed in principle by the Ten Commandments.
This world, in general, has lost contact with, and therefore knowledge of, its Maker—the SOURCE of everything good that man desires.
The living God our Creator RULES over His entire vast, limitless creation. But to fulfill His purpose, He has marked out a duration of 6,000 years to allow man to make his own free choice. Humans have been made free moral agents—creatures of CHOICE.
Then there is to follow that 6,000 years the direct supernatural intervention of the great Ruler of the universe. He will enforce the rule of His government for 1,000 years. Even the nature that has drawn humanity like a magnet toward false values and into the wrong ways will be changed! THE WORLD TOMORROW will, therefore, be a world of PEACE, PROSPERITY, HAPPINESS, ABUNDANT WELL-BEING!
Our commission is to proclaim to the world this GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom of God and of His gift of eternal life, and to prepare the way for the coming of the glorified Messiah. Very soon, now, He will come to this earth in supernatural POWER and GLORY! He is coming to RULE all nations—to set up WORLD GOVERNMENT! World statesmen and scientists say WORLD GOVERNMENT is the only hope of world peace. But men could never achieve it. Jesus Christ is coming to rule with TOTAL supernatural power and force! He is coming, strange as it may sound, to force peace, happiness and abundant well-being on a human race that will not accept, voluntarily, the WAY that will cause it!
Our commission is to get the GOOD NEWS to the world. But we cannot gain the attention of the world by using religious or Bible-sounding language.
We have to be realistic. The world in general, by nature, is hostile to God's message—when spoken in religious-sounding language. God explained that through the apostle Paul, who wrote, "The carnal mind is enmity [hostile] against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be" (Romans 8:7).
If we go to the world with BIBLE LANGUAGE, the world will not listen! On the other hand, we know that the very foundation of ALL knowledge—the very basis of all right EDUCATION —is God's revealed Word—the Holy Bible! But the world does not know that. Nor will the world, IF it knows the knowledge is coming from the Bible, accept it.
Actually—think of it—the Bible is the BASIS of right EDUCATION. But the world will not look into the Bible for it. Nor, if you speak in BIBLE LANGUAGE, will it hear or accept it! To reach the consciousness of the world, therefore, we have to SAY IT IN THE WORLD'S LANGUAGE!
Now what IS salvation? It is THE PURPOSE for which we were put here on this earth. So, to the world, we don't use the word salvation. We talk about the fact that one of the very BASICS of knowledge is an awareness of the meaning and the PURPOSE of life—to make life MEANINGFUL. The world will listen to that kind of language.
To gain the attention of the world—to get God's truth —Jesus Christ's Gospel—into the consciousness of the millions in the world—WE HAVE TO SPEAK THE WORLD'S LANGUAGE! Not the spiritual-sounding language of the Bible.
So in The Plain Truth and other literature we do this, even as the apostle Paul did. He set us an example. We speak to unconverted, nonreligious people in nonreligious language.
Paul said, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." He explained: "To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews." He spoke their language! "To those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law . . . to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. . . . Now this I do for the gospel's sake" (I Corinthians 9:20-23).
Did you ever stop to think WHY we named the parent magazine The Plain Truth? Jesus said, "THY WORD is truth." God's Word —the BIBLE—is TRUTH. The Plain Truth magazine makes Bible truth PLAIN!
But HOW can you do that to a world prejudiced against the Bible —a world whose carnal minds are HOSTILE against GOD— whose minds are prejudiced against reading what they recognize as coming from the Bible?
Do you realize that modern education as a whole— especially high school and university-level education—has literally rejected the Bible?
They have adopted the theory of EVOLUTION. That theory becomes their CONCEPT—their APPROACH to all knowledge.
For example, take the textbooks on history. You find NOTHING in them about the historic creation of Adam and Eve, or the presence of Satan in the garden of Eden. You find NOTHING about any man named Noah and a universal, earth-filling deluge. You find NOTHING in accepted history textbooks about Israelites in Egypt, or Pharaoh's armies being drowned in the Red Sea.
The approach too often is that if an event is recorded in the Bible it never happened, for modern scholarship discredits the Bible as a source of historic TRUTH.
God knew they would. Through Paul, God says: "When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations [reasonings], and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise [intellectual, scholarly, highly educated], THEY BECAME fools . . . and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient [proper]" (Romans 1:21-22, 28, Authorized Version).
Notice, they did not retain GOD in their knowledge! In the knowledge they disseminate, GOD IS NOT IN IT, nor God's revelation of truth—the BIBLE.
They are hostile against it.
So, how do we get Jesus Christ's Gospel message past that barrier of prejudice, and INTO THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS?
If we ran an article in The Plain Truth headlined "REPENT, and TURN FROM YOUR SINS, FOR JESUS CHRIST IS COMING SOON," how many of this world's educated do you suppose would read it? Do you see what I mean? We DO say it in The Plain Truth —but not in those words! We speak to the world in the world's own language!
When our headline says "WHY MARRIAGES BREAK UP," with such dropheads as "This article brings you the true perspective of the modern Western marriage crisis—the incredible statistics about divorce and marital unhappiness—and gives you the practical LAWS that make marriage work," then hundreds of thousands —even millions—do read it. We catch their attention —we prick their interest—we create suspense in their minds to want to know the answer.
In the article, like any article in Time or Newsweek or the Economist magazines, we give them the facts—the statistics—state the problem. But WHERE do you suppose we get the ANSWERS? WHERE do we find the LAWS that work?
Why, in God's Bible, of course. But we don't necessarily need to quote the Bible. That's not their language! So we make the truth PLAIN in THEIR language, because it would not be plain to them in a religious language they do not understand!
We put it in the language of EDUCATION, not the language of RELIGION. And MORE THAN SEVEN MILLION ARE NOW READING The Plain Truth!
Now, naturally, speaking to this whole WORLD, in a manner that can make the truth PLAIN to them, in their language, we cannot say, "Now take up your Bibles and turn to thus and such chapters and verses, and we will expound them and make them PLAIN." 1) That would not make it PLAIN to them, because they don't speak that language, and 2) due to prejudice, they would refuse to read it, anyway. We would fail to get the truth through to their consciousness.
YOU MUST REALIZE THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF MINDS: 1) the carnal, or natural, physical mind with which all humans have been born, and 2) the spiritual mind that has been opened by God's Holy Spirit, and now has SPIRITUAL COMPREHENSION.
The natural carnal mind may have GREAT comprehension of material knowledge. The brain of a cow or a chicken is something pretty stupid by comparison. But, spiritually speaking, on the other hand, the GREAT MINDS of GREAT men or women, still carnal, are just as spiritually stupid and unable to understand as the cow or chicken brain is MATERIALLY unable to comprehend.
Our No. 1 COMMISSION is to REACH THE WORLD—as a witness! The Plain Truth is our magazine for them.
Our second commission is to feed spiritually Jesus Christ's "sheep." The Good News is for those who are God's people —who want, and are ABLE, to go into the deeper spiritual truths—those to whom we can say, "Open your Bibles, and we will expound and MAKE THE TRUTH PLAIN!"
Our No. 1 commission is to proclaim Jesus Christ's GOOD NEWS as a witness—not to try to force conversion on any. Only God can convert.
None can come to Jesus Christ as Savior, anyway, until and unless God the Father draws them. God GRANTS repentance (John 6:44, Acts 5:31, 11:18).
Once we gain the INTEREST of readers and give them the KNOWLEDGE, it may lead to their salvation, if God GRANTS repentance and DRAWS them by His Holy Spirit. But first we must reach past their prejudices and plant the right KNOWLEDGE in their consciousness. That requires an EDUCATIONAL, not a religious, program. And, let me repeat, our major commission is to get the good news to them AS A WITNESS. Of course there is the second phase of our commission—to FEED JESUS CHRIST'S SHEEP.
The Plain Truth is our instrument for the former— The Good News for the latter.
THIS, then, is the magazine to FEED CHRIST'S SHEEP—to FEED those spiritually hungry for the deeper SPIRITUAL FOOD.
We hope you UNDERSTAND!
We make The Good News available—subscription already paid—to any and all who hunger and thirst for GOD'S TRUTH, and who can receive and digest the stronger spiritual food.
Please visit the website at - http://wwcg-archives.com/
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