The Purpose Here Below

By Herbert W. Armstrong

9 October 1982

Last Great Day

(PLAY FROM START)

One of the] so-called great men of the world, Winston Churchill, said before the United States’ Congress, "There is a purpose being worked out here below."—certainly implying a purpose that God above is working out. God has a master plan for working out that purpose. That purpose is in two phases you might say. First was the physical stage, beginning with Adam. That is still going on. That is this world. The second is the spiritual stage, beginning with Jesus Christ and the Church. That too is still going on. And that is God’s REAL creation, the spiritual creation: "the world tomorrow"—another civilization, another world that will follow this world.

And we in the Church are merely THE FIRSTFRUITS of that world. Merely the first to be drafted, to be called of God, to be chosen, each one of us from perhaps thousands of others to be selected by God and chosen to come to Him. To repent, to change our whole way of life, to change our minds, to admit how wrong we have been and how wrong this whole world is, and how wrong we have been in it and with it. To turn around and go the other way. To realize what Jesus Christ came and did for us. Not only to accept Him but to BELIEVE HIM! Repent and believe are the twin conditions to receiving God’s Spirit. And we are the first; and that spiritual creation is still going on, and is going to continue going on some time yet.

Now we just completed what we call the Millennium—that is, the observance as a foretaste of that Millennium. We are not into the Millennium yet; but it sort of seemed like it, I think, in some of these festivals. Now in this festival I didn’t visit as many feast sites as I formerly did. For many years I visited every feast site in the United States and Canada. And one year I visited all the feast sites in France, England, United States and Canada. And that meant speaking at two different sites in the same day about three of the days of the feast. But this festival I was able to fly on over to Big Sandy, Texas for about three days; and then up to Lake of the Ozarks for another large group (of, I think, seven or eight thousand up there) and enjoyed the festival with our brethren there, and with the ministers and their wives. And now I am back here on the final day, speaking to all of you once again by satellite. So to you in Big Sandy and you in Lake of the Ozarks (where I spoke to you just a few days ago), I send greetings.

THE TRUNK OF THE TREE (PLAY FROM 3:49)

Now, the Millennium that we have just observed as a foretaste—that is, to have it pictured in our minds again and to know that it is coming—it is neither the beginning nor the end of God’s purpose. God’s purpose began long before and will continue on after that, and today I would like to cover from the beginning to the end. Customarily when I speak to you, it has become my custom now in these latter days, to stay with "the trunk of the tree" of the gospel and of the message that God wants delivered to all of you brethren. You know, it reminds me of the two trees in Genesis. And that’s where God’s whole purpose for humanity started, in the Garden of Eden; and there were the two trees.

Did you ever stop to think about a tree? That all of the life comes from the trunk; and then there are the big main branches, other smaller branches from those, and smaller branches from those smaller branches and then twigs, and finally the leaves, and whatever. But it is all sustained by the trunk of the tree and by the root system below.

So, I sort of stay with the trunk and leave it for our ministers, our various ministers in Churches all over, to take some of the smaller details and magnify it and go into more detail on some of the branches, and even some of the twigs that still are important.

You know the truth of God it is just like the Church is a body; and God says, in 1 Corinthians 12, that even the members we consider the least important are very important in the body. Did you ever stub your little toe? Maybe you think the little toe is of no use to your body. If you ever stubbed it real good and got a good bruise, you realize how important that little toe is. So, every part is important. And even the smaller branches and the twigs of truth—and of God’s revealed truth and of the gospel—are important. But I just try to cover a sort of a synopsis over all, and let the ministers fill in and magnify and enlarge on details; and that’s all-important too.

PRE-HISTORY (PLAY FROM 6:39)

Now before the creation of the earth, and before humanity, there was God. Let’s begin at the beginning. And you find the beginning in the first chapter of John in the New Testament, rather than in Genesis 1 verse 1. In John 1:1, it says that, "In the beginning was the Word." Now the Word was a great personage, a personage that had lived forever and ever, without father, without mother, without descent, without beginning of days or end of life, as you read in Hebrews. That Word was a great personage but He was with another personage called God, and the Word also was God.

They were two personages, and They were Spirit beings, and They had always lived. They were never born. Without father, without mother. Never was a time when They began living. They have always lived. Now your mind can’t comprehend that. You can’t understand it, nor can I. But there had to be life, because life can come only from life; and there is life in this universe, and that life started with God and with the Word.

They had life. So you read in John 1 and verses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, that in Them was life. If there was life in Them, They lived. Now if They lived, HOW did They live? What did They do? Well, They had an occupation; and creation was the occupation. So you read in John 1 and verse 14 that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," and became Jesus Christ our Lord. But He spoke about the glory He had with the Father long before His human birth, and long before even the world was. Long before that!

Then in Ephesians 3:9, you will read how God created all things BY Jesus Christ. He was the Word. He spoke, and it was done (as you read in one of the Psalms); and that’s how God created everything. And there was law there because Jesus obeyed the Father. The Father told Him what to say, what to do, what to create. He spoke. The POWER that did it was the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that emanated from God and from Christ and by which They are everywhere present. Everywhere!

GOD’S LIFESTYLE (PLAY FROM 9:36)

Now HOW did They live, and work, and create? Their way of life was co-operation, and not competition. It was love. They loved one another. When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and became the Son of God, God the Father looked down and said, "This is my BELOVED Son." He loved the Son, in whom He was well pleased. And Jesus said He loved the Father and obeyed the Father. There was love, but there was also obedience. And Their way of life was the way of love, and love is out flowing. Love is flowing out to others.

God’s love flowed out in love to His Son for everything that was good, and for those that He created, and for His creatures. And God’s love and mercy is greater toward us (His creatures) than the heavens are high above the earth.

Love is the very personality of God. And in Jesus that love was so great for us that He gave His life for us and died for us to pay the penalty we’ve all incurred, which is the second death. And He paid that in our stead so we won’t need to pay it IF we will conform to the two conditions of repent and believe, and then go on growing in grace and knowledge, and enduring to the end. So God’s Way was one of cooperation, of love, of obedience to the Superior Power; and that means GOVERNMENT. And the Son was governed by the Father, and so there was government.

CREATION OF ANGELS (PLAY FROM 11:30)

As Creator, They first created something else even before the earth. Even before the sun, the earth, the moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, before the other planets, other galaxies afar off—They created angels; and angels are Spirit beings who have immortal life. They have self-containing life, which humans do not have. Then God created the earth after angels. Now you read in Job the 38th chapter in the first several verses there, you read about that; and how the angels shouted for joy and the cherubs shouted for joy and the ordinary angels sang in great happiness and joy at the creation of the earth, because it was to be their home and their abode. And they were happy because they were following God’s law and they were under the government of God. And so God, on the earth, placed angels here before man.

Now I’m just going to go over this quickly. You should already know many of these scriptures. God set a throne on the earth, and He put His government here—the government to regulate the way they would live so they would live as God and the Word had lived, loving each other. But there always has to be a leader. And God is the leader; and the Son followed Him, and did whatever the Father said. And so they were placed on this earth. And while they were here, there was happiness and there was joy. And it was a wonderful thing. As long as the government of God operated on this earth, there was happiness and joy because that government regulates the way of life THAT PRODUCES PEACE and happiness and joy. But then something happened, and in II Peter 2:4 it says:

II Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned…

Oh, brethren can you imagine, we all think of angels as holy and righteous, but here it says angels SINNED. They sinned, and that was before man had ever been created. Angels sinned.

II Peter 2:4 …but cast them down to [Tartaroo, it should be, and hell is just an English word and should not be there,] and delivered them unto chains of darkness, [That’s the Tartaroo,] to be reserved unto judgment.

And I want to talk to you today about judgment.

THE SUPER-ARCHANGEL LUCIFER (PLAY FROM 14:26)

There is a judgment coming for them, and there is a judgment coming for all humanity now under their sins. And over them was a super archangel called Lucifer. You read of him in the 14th chapter of Isaiah, and you read more of him in 28th chapter of Ezekiel. I won’t take time to read those now. You should be familiar with them. But they did sin. And this leader, the super archangel—the cherub Lucifer, whose wings had been formerly over the very throne of God in heaven—he had been trained in the government of God at the very throne of God, in the government of God. He was set on the earth to govern the angels under him over the whole earth. And as long as he continued to regulate their lives according to the law of God in the government of God, there was happiness and peace, and great joy. But, rebellion entered into him.

In Ezekiel 28, it says, he was perfect in his ways, from the day God CREATED him until iniquity, or lawlessness, was found in him—rebellion. And he began to resist God. He began to want to destroy instead of to create. God is a creator, one who builds up. God is light, truth, Satan became one who tears down. He turned to darkness and turned the whole earth into darkness. And so the whole earth came into a state of decay and ruin; and darkness filled the whole earth. And the whole earth was covered with water, like a flood. And that’s what you find back in Genesis.

In Genesis, you begin "In the beginning God…" And the word for "God" there was written as Moses wrote it in the Hebrew language "Elohim," which means more than one person but one God. Just like a family can be two persons, or ten persons, or twelve; but one family. A Church… I see many hundreds of you right here in Pasadena, and I’m speaking to many thousands of you at the same time; but we’re one Church, brethren—the Church of God. Not the Church of any man or of Satan, but the Church of God; and that means the children of God.

Now, as a result, decay came to the earth, and you read of that in the very second verse of the first chapter of Genesis.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning [Elohim] God [more than one person] created the heavens and the earth.

And the earth BECAME full of decay and ruin, and darkness filled the whole ocean and the whole earth was filled with water at that time.

RENEWING THE EARTH (PLAY FROM 17:38)

And then the Word came and spoke and said, "Let there be light," and the Holy Spirit acted and light came. And then He divided the light from the darkness. And then He let the dry land appear. And then He continued to create, and re-create the earth for us. Now in Psalm 104:30, you will read of how God RENEWED the face of the earth. He sent forth His Spirit and He RENEWED the face of the earth, after the angels had destroyed the surface of it.

Now when God created the earth, He did not finish it. And I like to compare that to a woman baking a cake. And she has baked her cake and still it is not really complete yet. She has not yet put the icing on. And God had built the earth, but He intended for the angels to improve its surface; and, instead of that, they destroyed the surface of the earth.

In Psalm 104:30, you find how God sent forth His Spirit and RENEWED the face after that. That’s what He did in Genesis 1, beginning with verse two, throughout the rest of that first chapter. That’s not the original creation. That is a re-creation. And God said to Adam and Eve after He’d created the first man, "Be fruitful and multiply, and REplenish the earth." The earth had been filled with life before, but it was angel life. He didn’t say "plenish" the earth. He said "replenish"—fill it up again.

Now, in Genesis 1, God had created matter, and now He’d re-created the earth for man. And in verse 26, you read:

Genesis 1:26 [Elohim] said [That’s more than one person, but one God.], Let US [Not "Me." "Let Us…"] make man in our image, after our likeness.

He made cows after the cattle kind; He made dogs after the dog kind; elephants after the elephant kind. Now He said "Let Us make man after the God-kind."

GOD’S PURPOSE (PLAY FROM 20:00)

WHAT IS GOD’S PURPOSE BEING WORKED OUT HERE BELOW? HIS PURPOSE IS NOW TO REPRODUCE HIMSELF! GOD FIRST CREATED ANGELS. THEY WERE GIVEN IMMORTAL LIFE. But they had minds. And a mind must make a decision one-way or the other. A mind is capable of good or evil. A mind is capable of an attitude of right or wrong. And the angels that God had put on this earth had minds, and they had free moral agency. They had the right of deciding for themselves; because God’s purpose was to create character, even in angels.

God’s purpose in humanity is to CREATE CHARACTER and REPRODUCE HIMSELF. God is reproducing Himself. That is the overall purpose of humanity and of God in creating humanity. The world doesn’t understand that. I’m quite sure Winston Churchill didn’t have any understanding of that. He knew somehow there was a purpose being worked out here below, but he didn’t know what it was. He didn’t know what it was.

Now angels went wrong, a third of them. And those who went wrong are going to have to suffer through all eternity. They are in a state of mental frustration. They are most unhappy. God isn’t going to let that happen to humanity. God’s purpose for humanity is to reproduce Himself. He did NOT try to reproduce Himself in angels. He is doing that in mankind.

MAN MADE ONLY MORTAL (PLAY FROM 21:50)

Why, now, did He make man only mortal? He reproduced man after His likeness—that is, in God’s form and shape. But He did not make man out of Spirit, as God is composed of Spirit and as He had made angles out of Spirit. But in Genesis 2:7 you read:

Genesis 2:7 …God formed man of the dust of the ground [just out of matter] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.

The dust of the ground became a soul. There’s no "immortal soul" whatsoever. And your life only comes from the breath of air and the circulation of blood, and refueled by food and water out of the ground. And you come out of the ground and back to the ground you will return, every one of us.

God formed man of the dust of the ground and gave us only temporary existence, not life. And God is Life. HE DID NOT CREATE IMMORTAL SELF CONTAINING INHERENT life in man. Why? He was building character. God is reproducing Himself and God is SUPREME HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS CHARACTER. And that character must be inculcated in us. And it must be inculcated in us while we are yet in a temporary physical existence. And if we don’t create that character, and if we do as the angels did, and if we rebel and go wrong, we will simply become as if we had never been. We will become ashes under the soles of those that survive. We’re not going to burn, and burn, and burn, forever and ever and ever, in an imaginary hell, which Dante Alighieri concocted. There is no such hell as that. But there will be a lake of fire that will devour all of those who lose every chance that a loving God is giving them. And even Jesus came and gave His own life to pay the price that they might have immortal life.

But there’s only one-way we can have immortal life in happiness, and that is through the LAW OF GOD and through the GOVERNMENT OF GOD. The angels were happy as long as the government of God existed but when they rejected the government of God, they became unhappy. And I want to tell you that the most unhappy, the most wretched, personage in all the universe is Satan the devil, and next to that are his demons.

I have had the power that God has given me to cast demons out of a few people. And I heard at Big Sandy of one of whom I had cast out demons and [he] had let demons come back in again. But that person has somehow been delivered and is doing very fine today, and I haven’t seen him for many years. And I was very happy to know that [he’s] been delivered from demons that can come in, if you lose your temper, if you want to blaspheme against God in anger where you lose your head, or something.

Now Satan the devil, or a demon, can’t get into you and possess you if you don’t allow it. I can tell you, you don’t need to worry about it. But it has happened. And there are some that I love that had been possessed of demons, and they’ve been cast out.

BEGINNING OF THE HUMAN FAMILY (PLAY FROM 25:46)

Well now, to get back, I want to carry this story right on through. Adam was created as the first man. Adam was not complete. I say God didn’t complete the creation like a woman that didn’t complete her cake till the icing was put on. God wanted Adam to reproduce and replenish the earth, but Adam couldn’t do it alone. He was only half there, and he was male; but he needed another person, who was female. So, God took one of his ribs and made a female; and they two then became one family. Now they had a son, his name was Cain; and now there were three in the family. They had another son, his name was Abel; now there were four in the family.

But Adam let his wife take him by the nose, started the ERA movement. I think I’ve mentioned that before, a week ago. ERA started with Eve; and ERA stands for Eve Ruled Adam, E-R-A. And women are still trying to do that, because men are not standing up for the position that God intended them to fulfill. Men are becoming weaklings today, and women seem to have to take over and rule—because men aren’t competent to stand up to the responsibilities that God has given them, and to do the ruling that God intended them to do.

Well Adam followed his wife, Eve. I won’t go into that again. But he had to make a choice. He had the chance now to TURN TO GOD’S WAY OF LIFE. And one tree was the knowledge of good and evil. The other tree was the knowledge that would be imparted from God through His Holy Spirit. The one tree is the tree of death, but the other tree is the tree of life. They were both trees of knowledge. One was God’s inspired knowledge through the Holy Spirit—the tree of life. The other tree was man taking the spiritual knowledge of what is good and evil TO HIMSELF, and not believing what God would reveal through His Holy Spirit. Adam made that choice and then God shut off the tree of life, or He shut off the Holy Spirit from man and closed it UNTIL THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

Now, Adam had a chance to take over the government of the earth. Adam disobeyed God but he obeyed Satan, followed Satan; followed Eve who obeyed Satan and was deceived. And so, Adam failed to restore the government of God on the earth. So now man has to repent of that, and has to be changed; and God set up right then a plan by which man, who had sinned, could be REDEEMED. Angels can’t be. They’re already immortal. God made man only with temporary life. He can be redeemed. And if he doesn’t, his life can be stamped out; he won’t have to go on suffering forever. Oh, the mercies and the wonders of God (that are past our finding out). How wonderful they are.

Well, at that time that Adam made that decision, the government of God was not restored on the earth. But the government of Satan was going to go on, and Satan was going to stay right on that throne of the earth. He deceived Eve. He’s deceived all mankind ever since, as you’ll read in Revelation 12 and verse 9.

GOD’S MASTER PLAN (PLAY FROM 29:43)

At that very time (you read in Revelation 13:8) the Lamb of God, who was Christ, was slain in God’s plan. Now, He hadn’t actually come yet; He hadn’t even been born human yet. But it was DECREED in God’s plan and purpose—in the Master Plan—that Christ would come and live a sinless life, and would ransom man whom Satan had now "kidnapped" so to speak. So, it was decreed at that time that a Savior would come and redeem humanity.

Now at the foundation of this world, at that time, God also decreed it is appointed unto men once to die. That’s in Heb.9:27. "It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment." Now God shut the Holy Spirit off from man; but He decreed that, after a first death, they would be resurrected back to life—AFTER Jesus Christ had come and paid the penalty of sin so that they could be redeemed. Oh, what a wonderful thing is God’s plan, and the world doesn’t understand that at all.

Also it was decreed that Jesus was to come; and, when He was to come, He was not only to come as a Lamb to be slain for us. He was coming to qualify where ADAM HAD FAILED TO QUALIFY! TO WREST THE GOVERNMENT FROM SATAN; AND TO SIT ON THAT THRONE; AND RESTORE THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD! THAT’S THE WHOLE PURPOSE—TO RESTORE THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD BACK TO THIS EARTH.

So you read in Isaiah 9:6-7 of how it was said to ancient Israel… And God had set up His government in Israel; but they didn’t have His Holy Spirit, and so they never obeyed that government. The government of God was not established on the earth. But God gave them His laws and made them a nation, ancient Israel. But it was said to them that a Son was to be born unto them as a little baby. And in Isaiah, you will read how He was to come. And His name would be Emmanuel, which meant God with us. And He would save His people from their sins. And in Isaiah 9:6-7 it is stated that the government would be on His shoulders. He was going to restore the government that Satan had taken away.

And then Jesus finally was born, in Bethlehem of Judea. Satan tried to destroy Him when He was a little baby. And again Satan tried to destroy Him just before He began to deliver the message that God sent by Him, and to do the Work of starting the world tomorrow—of starting a new world, of starting a new civilization. And that’s where Satan finally made his last stab at Him. You read of that in Matthew the fourth chapter beginning with verse one—the most titanic struggle that has ever occurred in the whole universe, Satan trying to destroy Jesus Christ.

And Satan said to Jesus in that great temptation, "Bow down to me and worship me, because I rule the whole earth; and, if You worship me, I’ll turn over this whole government to You so You can rule." Well Jesus knew that wasn’t the way to get the rule. He told Satan to get behind Him; that He would obey God, and the laws of God, and the government of God. He was coming to restore GOD’S GOVERNMENT, not a government of rebellion as Satan had done (because the former Lucifer had now become Satan).

Then Jesus had qualified now to start the NEW WORLD—a new GOVERNMENT, if you please; and restore the government of God back to this earth. So Jesus said (as you’ll read in Matthew 16, verse 18), "I will build my church." And the Church was merely to be the embryo that would grow into, and be born into, the Kingdom of God—which is the FAMILY of God that would restore the government of God to this earth.

COMING TO CHRIST (PLAY FROM 34:44)

But Jesus did not go out to just try to save the whole world. He didn’t have, what some people have on this earth, "a soul-saving crusade." He didn’t go out and say, "Won’t you give your heart to Me? Oh, if you’ll just hold up your hands/ If you’ll accept Me, you’ll go into heaven." He didn’t say anything like that at all! It’s too bad that men are blinded in this world, that they don’t understand the very truth and the WONDERFUL TRUTH of God. How wonderful it is! No, instead, Jesus said:

John 6:44 NO MAN CAN come to me, except the Father which sent me draws him.

God is going to hand-pick people to be in a different kind of a world, a world of peace. A world that will live like the Word and God lived before even the angels were created—that will live according to the government of God. Now He had to pick people that had already sinned, because sin gets into every one of us before we are a year old, during the first weeks and months of our lives.

By the time a baby’s about nine months old, he is real selfish. And Satan gets that attitude. He’s the prince of the power of the air, and he’s able just through the air that is surcharged with his attitude of selfishness, of vanity, of lust and greed, and of jealousy and envy, of competition and strife. And this world is filled with that. It is filled with that.

Jesus called His people that He did call, and He drafted them, and He just chose twelve to be His real disciples. Others followed Him. There were 120 that endured. Many, who started to follow Him, left. He said to His disciples once, "Would you also leave Me?" And they said, "But where would we go? You have the words of truth." Some have left Jesus—disciples in His Church, in our time. But where have they gone? Who else has had the truth? Nobody, my brethren! Nobody else has had the truth. And they have gone into outer darkness, not into truth—those who have left.

But God has chosen every one of us. Every one of you has been chosen out of perhaps a thousand or several thousand other people. To come and be a disciple; and to learn; to surrender to God and God’s Way; to build God’s character in your own life so that you can rule over and you can judge. And you can teach others until THE WHOLE WORLD has finally come to live God’s Way, and that’s the way it will be in the world tomorrow.

GOVERNMENT NOW IN THE CHURCH (PLAY FROM 37:45)

Now back in Joel, one of the prophets—the second chapter of Joel and verse 28. It was prophesied that God said the days would come when He would pour out His Spirit on ALL FLESH. He closed up the Spirit of God at the time of Adam’s sin. And it was closed up on all flesh UNTIL the government of God should be restored. It isn’t opened yet. It was opened to the prophets of the Old Testament for the writing of the Bible. Yes, it was opened up to Moses; it was opened up to Elijah; it was opened up to Daniel; it was opened up to David—so that they could write the Bible, and that is all. It was not opened up to the world, or to the nations. It was only opened in Jesus time to those that God called; and Jesus said… I quoted it.

John 6:44, "No man CAN come unto me unless the Father which sent me draws him."

God selects you, and we are predestinated to be called; and we’re called not to… Predestination has nothing to do with the decision that you will make. It has only to do with the time of your calling. But you’re drafted to be called to help rule, and help God to start A NEW CIVILIZATION of happiness, and where the government of God will be restored TO THIS EARTH.

Now God put His government in the Church, which Christ started. And you read, in twelfth chapter of first Corinthians and in Ephesians four, of how God set organization in the Church. God is the Head of Christ; Christ is the Head of the Church; apostles came next on earth under Christ; and then under apostles were evangelists; and next in authority were pastors; and under that were other elders; and then teachers; and deacons to assist in physical things in the work of the Church.

Now the Church was only the firstfruits, and the Feast of Pentecost every early summer tells us that. We’re only the first to be saved. It isn’t a universal salvation yet, not yet. But for the world, remember, it was appointed for them to die and after that the judgment; and so the world has been dying. And ALL who died are to be resurrected into judgment, and that’s what I want to come to. In I Corinthians 15 beginning with verse 22, you read, "As in Adam all die." Because of Adam’s sin, everybody dies the first death. Your sins will impose upon you the penalty of the second death. And that will be eternal, if you ever die that second death. God help us to never need to die that second death! But:

I Corinthians 15:22 As in Adam ALL die, so in Christ SHALL ALL…

THE SAME "ALL"—everyone from Adam! Cain and Abel and Seth; all of those that lived before the Flood; all of those in ancient Israel; all of those in ancient China; and ancient India are all going to come alive in the judgment.

I Corinthians 15:22-24 As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. (23) But every man in his order [God has an order of resurrections.]: Christ the firstfruits [as you read in verse 22 or 23 there, "Christ the firstfruits"], and afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. (24) Then comes the end…

And other resurrections follow that. That is God’s order. And the government is to be restored IN AND THROUGH the Church.

Now God put His government IN THE CHURCH! But that government went out of the Church after a few generations. And in just less than one generation, the Church had turned to another, false, gospel. And the gospel that Christ brought—the gospel of the government, the Kingdom of God—was destroyed. And it was never preached to the world for 1900 years, until God raised me up to proclaim it. And precisely 1900 years, right down to the very week after it was destroyed, God had me preaching it—proclaiming it to all of Europe on the most powerful radio station on earth, after it had been proclaimed coast to coast over the United States for nineteen years. Brethren you’re living in very, very important times.

ELIJAH SHALL COME (PLAY FROM 42:56)

Now, in the Church the government was to be restored. It was taken away; and the government was destroyed for a while. But now I would like to have you notice next (in Matthew 17 and verse 10) Jesus’ disciples, while He was on earth, asked Him:

Matthew 17:10-11 …Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? (11) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things.

Talking about restoring the government, Elijah "shall" come and restore. Brethren, when this question was asked and when Jesus said that, John the Baptist had already come. Now you read in Mark1 and verse 1, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Mark 1:14 After John was put into prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom." {1} [**At 44:04, the tape skips to point marked {2}below.]

And Jesus didn’t begin preaching until John the Baptist had been put in there, and yet (beginning with verse 2) it says that, in one sense, John the Baptist fulfilled the Elijah prophecy. He prepared the way for Christ’s First Coming.

Now John the Baptist had already filled his ministry when Jesus said this. Notice the next verse here:

Matthew 17:12 But I say unto you, That Elijah is come {2} [**At 44:06, the tape has skipped to here.] already, and they knew him not.

They didn’t even recognize it was Elijah. They didn’t. No one recognized that John the Baptist was the Elijah. Now John said he was not. He didn’t tell a lie. He was not; but Jesus explained he was another man, but he came in the power and spirit of Elijah. He did fulfill that prophecy. Now there was another man to come, because the prophecy is in Malachi 3 (beginning with verse 1 and the first 5 verses); and there it shows it’s a messenger to prepare the way before Christ’s SECOND COMING. And John the Baptist was a forerunner, a prototype, of the one to come and prepare the way for the Second Coming of Christ.

John was already in prison before Jesus even began to preach. And after John’s ministry was all over, Jesus said, "Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things." And yet, John the Baptist had already come and was in prison, and maybe his head had already been chopped off! He was talking about someone to come later and restore.

Now brethren, John the Baptist did not restore the government of God. John the Baptist DIDN’T COME TO RESTORE. He came to prepare the way for the First Coming of Christ, and that’s what he did. And he called people to repentance. They already knew about the law, and he told them to repent for breaking that law.

And listen. After Jesus came and proclaimed the gospel of the good news of the KINGDOM OF GOD (and that’s the FAMILY OF GOD, and the fact we can be born into that Family, and restore the whole government to the world), the gospel was suppressed. And that gospel was not preached until the year of 1954, precisely one century of time cycles from the time that you read of in Galatians the first chapter 6th and 7th verses where the gospel was suppressed, and that gospel was no longer preached.

GOSPEL AND GOVERNMENT RESTORED (PLAY FROM 46:22)

THAT GOSPEL HAS BEEN RESTORED, brethren, in your ears; and it is being restored this minute. THAT HAS BEEN DONE. AND THE GOSPEL HAS BEEN RESTORED. AND THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD HAS BEEN RESTORED INTO THE CHURCH.

And when I first came among God’s Church of the Sardis era there was no government. The government IS in the Church today and has been restored. I wonder if you realize the significance of the days that you are living in, brethren. These are very, very serious times and serious days.

Now, if immortal life was closed, when God shut up the Kingdom until, until the government of God should be restored, and that will be at the Second Coming of Christ. Now you read in Revelation11 and verse 15, the seventh angel is to sound. We’ve already celebrated that on the seven-day festival just ended.

Revelation 11:15 …and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world…

That means the United States; that means Britain; that means France, Germany, Russia, China, Japan; that means the governments in the nations of this world.

Revelation 11:15 …are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

And we in the Church, if we overcome and endure unto the end, WE shall sit with Christ and reign with Him on His throne; and we will be given power over the nations. We shall teach them, for the Word of the Lord and the law of God will go forth from Jerusalem. And the whole world in the Millennium is going to be FILLED with the knowledge of God as the ocean beds are filled with water.

Now we come down to that. But now I want you to notice next what happens, the 20th chapter of Revelation. We’ve just been going through a celebration of seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles. But now in the 20th chapter of Revelation beginning with verse four:

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.

That is US. We will sit on thrones and judgment; we will teach the world; we will judge the world; and we will RULE the world. When Christ comes, the government of God will be restored. Now there’s another scripture I wanted to read, right in Acts the third chapter. When Christ comes, He not only will rule all the nations of the earth but notice what Peter said here just a day or two after the day of Pentecost, in a sermon that Peter was preaching at the Temple in Jerusalem. He said:

Acts 3:19-21 REPENT YE therefore, and be converted, that your sins maybe blotted out, [When?] when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (20) And He [or, God]shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: (21) Whom the heavens must receive UNTIL [Christ has gone to heaven as our High Priest. The High Priest of THIS Church! Not the High Priest of the churches of this world, the High Priest of God’s own Church—interceding for us, brethren. And we certainly need Him there. But they have received Him until] the times of RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.

He is coming. What does restitution mean? Restitution means restoring to a former state or condition. Restoring what has been taken AWAY. What was taken away? The government of God! What is Christ going to restore when He comes? THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD!

GOVERNMENT RESTORED (PLAY FROM 50:28)

Brethren, that government has been restored already in the Church, but not in the world. Jesus Christ has been able to restore that government in the Church through me—through a hunk of clay down here that I said, when I was being converted, was not worthy to be thrown on the human junk pile; and, of myself, I’m not. All worthiness is in Christ, and whatever has been done Christ has done. I’ve merely been an instrument. I want you to understand that. But there is no limit to what Christ can do IF we only open up ourselves as an open channel for Him to operate in, and we’re entirely submissive to Him—complete submission.

The heavens have received Him until the times of restitution of all things. He is coming to restore the government of God. That government has already been restored in the Church; and, brethren, we do have a turnover in the Church. It seems that every year a few go out. But every year more are new ones coming in than the few who quit and go out or get put out. Unfortunately, a few have had to be put out; and, in every case, it has been resentment and rebellion against the authority of God—against the government of God in the Church.

What made a devil out of Lucifer? Resentment of God’s authority over him, resentment of God’s government; and that’s the way Satan gets people today. He causes them to resent the government of God. He causes them to resent the government of God.

Now getting back to the 20th chapter once again of Revelation. Now I want you to notice, for a thousand years the saints are going to reign with Christ. And then beginning with verse five:

Revelation 20:5-10 But the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years are finished. This was just the first resurrection. (6) Blessed and holy are they that have part in the first resurrection: on such the second death [That’s the final death.] will have no power, but they shall be PRIESTS of God and of Christ, and shall reign [They’ll be priests and shall reign. They will teach, and they will rule.]. (7) And when the thousand years are completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, (8) and shall go forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth [at the end of the Millennium], Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. (9) And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city [Jerusalem]:and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. [That is spoken of in the past tense; but, in other words, that will happen. It's just as certain as if it already had happened, and that’s why it’s spoken of in the past tense.] (10) And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were cast, and shall [That’s the devil.] shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

THE WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT (PLAY FROM 54:20)

Now then we come to the place, brethren, of what we’re celebrating today—at the end of that Millennium, and after Satan has been released, and God puts him away, once again FOREVER. Now notice the next verse, verse 11.

Revelation 20:11-12 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it [which will be Jesus Christ], from whose face the earth and heaven fled away; and there was no place found for them. (12) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God [a resurrection of those who had died previously]; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life [Some are going to be written in the book of life at that time.]: and the dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books, according to their works.

Now brethren, after Adam sinned, God closed the tree of Life. In other words, He closed the Holy Spirit. He closed salvation. And He let this world go on. The world has had to learn and get a stomach full of the wrong way of life until we don’t want it any more. You know there are some cures of alcoholism, and they put something into you. It makes you so that you get so sick of alcohol you don’t want to ever take any more of it. They say that you lose the urge and the desire. You just, you can’t stomach it anymore.

Well, God wants us to get so sick of sin that we can’t stomach sin; and we don’t sin anymore. So you read, in I John 3, that we’ll not only be like Him when He comes. We’re already the children of God; but we’re not yet born again, and we will be like Him when we are. What we will be doesn’t yet appear. We haven’t been born of the Spirit yet. Just begotten, not born. There’s a great difference. But when we are born again (and in verse nine of I John 3), we will never sin; and we will be unable to sin. It will be impossible for us to sin, because God’s seed will remain in us; and everything else will be gone. We will simply be God.

We have got to get so sick of sin in this life, and have OVERCOME sin, and fought so hard to overcome sin in this life, that we never want to sin again; and we never will. And in the Kingdom, we’ll be made so we can’t sin. We won’t want to. It’s impossible for God to sin. And the only reason it’s impossible… It isn’t that He doesn’t have the power to sin. It’s simply that He has set His mind that He won’t, and there is no other power great enough to make Him do it. Oh, thank God for that. That’s wonderful.

Now, we come to that great Judgment. And look at ancient Israel. We go back now to the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, and beginning with verse one.

Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the [Eternal] was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley full of bones.

You know, I heard a sermon on this once by a so-called great lady, Amy Simple-McPherson; and it was illustrated in her temple in Los Angeles. She said that this valley of dried bones were all the other churches, and they were all dried out; but her church was full of life. Well, I think we’d better take God’s interpretation of His own explanation here.

Ezekiel 37:1-5 …in the midst of the valley full of bones [the valley of dry bones], (2) and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. (3) And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? [Now they are dry. That means they’re very old. They’ve been dead a long time. They’re skeletons. Now can these bones live?] And I answered, O Lord [Eternal], thou knowest. (4) Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. (5) Thus saith the Lord [Eternal] unto these bones; Behold I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

Now, what kind of breath? The breath that comes from the air and mortal life. Angels don’t need breath. They are spirit. God doesn’t have to breathe to live He has self-containing life. These will be brought back to human life—not immortal life, back to human life just like they were. Now remember: "It’s appointed to all men once to die, after this the judgment." Now here comes the judgment. And God says,

Ezekiel 37:6 I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know [Now, finally, they’re going to know something they never seemed to know before. "You shall know…"] that I am the [Eternal].

OPENING THE GRAVES (PLAY FROM 1:00:32)

They didn’t really realize who He was before. KNOWLEDGE is going to come into them. They’re going to come to knowledge that they didn’t have in this world.

Ezekiel 37:7-12 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. (8) And when I beheld, lo, the sinews, and flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. (9) Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind [Now, that’s just air or wind.], prophesy son of man, and say unto the wind, Thus saith the Lord [Eternal]; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live. [Now here comes a resurrection.] (10) So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived [or, existed again], and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army. (11) Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are [All the other churches? Oh, no. Here’s God’s own explanation, God’s own interpretation. "Son of man, these bones are…"] the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost [No hope, frustrated, no hope whatsoever.]: we are cut off from our parts. (12) Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord [Eternal]; Behold, O my people [ancient Israel], I will open your graves…

And that’s our "Israel" today and all of those who are dead—and the American and the British people. And I’m speaking to you all over the United States and Canada; and you are Israel. And that applies to the dead that have not been converted, that haven’t been even called to be converted.

Ezekiel 37:12-14 And cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel, (13) And you shall KNOW [Knowledge will now come into them.] that I am the [Eternal], WHEN I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, (14) and shall put MY SPIRIT INTO YOU…

Then finally—after the KNOWLEDGE comes—God will put His Spirit into them, which [they] did not have. The time will come when God will POUR OUT HIS SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH. Brethren, that time has not come yet.

Those people lived and died. It was appointed to them "once to die, after this the judgment;" and that judgment is the great White Throne judgment. They come into that judgment, all judgment has been given over by God to Christ. God the Father judges no man; Christ will do the judging. They will come on the judgment seat of Christ, and they will give account for what they did in this life. And the Judge is going to say, ‘You are guilty! The sentence is GUILTY, and I pronounce sentence on you. The sentence is the second death.’ But then knowledge is going to come to them that He is God, and that He has come (since they died, for most of them) and died for them.

And He’s going to say, "Now if you want to repent. If you want to really believe, which you didn’t do in your lifetime. If you want now to begin to learn, and if you want to believe Me, and believe what I say, which you didn’t believe in your lifetime. If you want to put an end to your life and action, if you want to have the Spirit of God and the attitude of God, and the way of love and co-operation; and live that way, and even pray for and bless your enemies instead of cursing them, I will put my Spirit into you and you shall live.’

RISE IN JUDGMENT (PLAY FROM 1:05:06)

Brethren, that time is coming. God has not tried to save the world. But He called twelve. He called a few others with them. There were a hundred and twenty which received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Three thousand more were converted that day. The government of God was given to them. The government of God was restored just in the Church, to be the government that will produce all the happiness in the world tomorrow—a new world, a different world than Adam’s world that we’re living in.

Christ came and called us to come out from among them of this world, and be separate in the way we live toward other people and toward God. Not to wear a different kind of a hat or uniform, or something of that sort; but to live differently in our attitude toward God and toward our neighbors. And to study to show ourselves approved unto God, and to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and to overcome and to endure until the end.

Other nations had been cut off, and the Holy Spirit was not given to them in their lifetime. Let’s notice some of those nations now, real quickly. Matthew 12, verses 41 and 42.

Matthew12:41-42 The men of Nineveh [Jesus said]shall rise in judgment with this generation [that was living when Jesus was on earth], and shall condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonah: and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here. [And they didn’t repent in Jonah’s case, but he’s talking about the judgment that will come.] (42) The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon…

Christ had come, and they wouldn’t listen to Him. Now, next I’d like to have you turn to Luke 11 verse 31 and 32.

Luke 11:31-32 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment [That’s this great White Throne judgment.] with the men of this generation, and condemn them… [And then again in verse 32.] The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it…

And so on, same thing again, saying that they didn’t have the truth. They weren’t called to the truth; but they will come up in the judgment. But those who rejected Christ when He was here, they had their chance, and they went down. Now, Luke 10, verses 12 and 14, let’s turn back a page. "But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom and Gomorrah…," and then again verse 14 "But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you."—Jesus said to those who were rejecting Him when He was on earth. And He was preaching directly to them, and they were scorning everything He said, and rejecting it, and simply turning the wrong way.

COMMUTED DEATH PENALTY (PLAY FROM 1:08:56)

In the judgment, Christ will tell those that they have been found guilty; and He will pronounce a death sentence, the second death. But then they will find that, even so, He paid the death sentence for them. And He’ll say, "It’s been paid for you, if you want to accept it." And if they will, then apparently, they are going to be given time to receive the Holy Spirit; and (if they grow in grace and knowledge, and if they endure, if they build character in a mortal body) apparently they’re going to live for one hundred years. Now notice Psalm 103, verses 10 and 12.

Psalm 103:10-12 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. (11) For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. (12) As far as the east is from the west [How far is that? Keeps getting farther all the time.], so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

That’s what He will tell them then, and they will have a chance. And apparently the 65th chapter of Isaiah explains some of that. Now there’s another interpretation, and other translations will give this in a different way; but I’m inclined to believe that the King James has it correct. Isaiah 65, beginning with verse 17.

Isaiah 65:17-20 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth [This is after the Millennium. It’s talking about after the Millennium. "And a new earth…"] and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. (18) But be ye glad…in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. (19) And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. (20) There shall be no more [from that time, no more] thence [or, from that time] an infant of days…

Now that can be translated in two ways. Some of them translate it there’ll be no more infants dying in a few days of age; they’ll go on living. But there is another meaning. It appears to be here in the King James, that there will be no more from that time an infant just a few days old.

Isaiah 65:20 …nor an old man that has not filled his day [but they will all live to be a hundred years old].

Now regardless of the translation of that particular passage, there is going to be time—in this great White Throne judgment—for those who had never been called. They’re going to have to do the very thing, brethren, that we in the Church are having to do now. They’re going to have to receive the Spirit of God, and then overcome. But they won’t have Satan to overcome (just themselves) because there won’t be any Satan around. Christ will be ruling. We will be there teaching. We will be God! We will be helping them. They will have every help. What a wonderful thing it is going to be.

CONCLUDING GOD’S PURPOSE AND PLAN (PLAY FROM 1:12:45)

And now, finally, from Romans 11. I think a good way to close this wonderful eight days that we have had, is this passage here, from Romans the 11th chapter, beginning with verse 33.

Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

The world doesn’t understand these things. The world doesn’t understand the PURPOSE of God. THE PURPOSE IS HE REPRODUCING HIMSELF—His Master Plan. First there were the angels. Then He created man on the earth. He recreated the earth, and renewed the surface of the earth for man; and we were supposed to put the icing on the cake just as angels had been.

Man has ruined everything on this earth his hands have touched. We have polluted the land; we have polluted the waters; and we polluted and befouled the air. We have polluted God’s law; we polluted His way of life. WE HAVE FOLLOWED SATAN. The world has done that. Brethren, I hope WE have come out of that in the Church. I hope we have come out of it. And we are being called now to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed; but rightly dividing the Word of truth, and understanding it.

God has blessed us with the Holy Spirit. It's WITHHELD from the world as a whole, until later. We’re the firstfruits being called. We’re to judge those during the Millennium. And those converted during the Millennium will be made God, and they will be judging all the BILLIONS of people that’ll be in that final resurrection. BILLIONS OF PEOPLE! We’ll be there to help them. Satan won’t be here any more. They will find how Christ died for them, and they’ll find the right way of life; and, IF they want to, they can choose it and live that way.

Romans 11:33-36 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God… (34) For who hath known the mind of the Lord, and who hath been His counselor? (35) Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? (36) For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever [and ever]. Amen.

God has a wonderful purpose, brethren. Let’s go on, because the race is not yet over. Satan is very angry at us right now because he knows he has but a short time, because the truth is going out. God’s government has been restored to this Church. God’s truth—the message, the gospel—has been restored and preached around the earth by this Church. That much has already been done; but there is more yet to be done, and we’re far from through.

God bless you all, brethren, all over—everywhere. God loves you. So do I. Thousands of you are writing in how you love me, and how you are behind me 100%. Let’s stay that way, and let’s continue on overcoming, growing in grace and knowledge, ENDURING to the end. Not resenting God’s government, but being submissive entirely to it in love and in Jesus’ name.

Thank you all.

Editorial note: Our audio file skips from the point marked {1} and picks up at {2}. The wording in between is from another transcript of this sermon, which we have used to keep the flow of the points Mr. Armstrong was making.