The World Tomorrow

The True Church (8)

by Herbert W Armstrong

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Only God Almighty knows what is actually going to happen. So once again, we open the Bible to prophecy. Do you have your Bible open? If you don't, go get it, get it right now. Always have your Bible open when I come on the air.

Alright, now again, leading officials tell us it is now possible to lay waste an entire continent - the entire North American Continent in one night, without warning. And Jesus said also more than 1900 years ago, more than 1900 years before these men learned this knowledge, Jesus said that;

"There shall be great tribulation [and that's just ahead of us now in our time that He was talking about] such as was not since the beginning of the world to this [same] time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]." (Matthew 24:21-22)

In other words, it's possible to annihilate human life from off this planet. Jesus said that 1900 years ago. Now scientists are telling us, world famous scientists, now tell us that we have arrived at that place where that is possible now.

Well my friends, you've heard a lot about the Great Tribulation. You've heard about a Rapture theory of being taken suddenly and secretly off to heaven: that Jesus is coming in a Secret Rapture. And yet my friends, there is more misunderstanding about that very thing than perhaps almost any other thing in your Bible.

Confusion Over Tribulation And Day Of The Lord (PLAY FROM 01:52)

The main thing is is that there has been such great confusion between the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. Most people seem to think that the Great Tribulation is a time of plagues and punishment that God is going to send on this world. You couldn't be more mistaken. Now let's see just what is this Great Tribulation. Let's see what is the Day of the Lord. Let's see what is going to divide between them. Let's see the difference.

And you're going to learn that the Great Tribulation is brought about by men under the sway and the influence of Satan the devil and actually it's the wrath of the devil and not of God at all. And so my friends, we have gotten a lot of these things just about backwards and we're getting a lot of the cart before the horse and we're getting a lot of things turned totally upside down.

And we have in many ways, the exact antithesis, the exact opposite of what you find in your Bible. Do you have your Bible open? Now I want you to notice again what Jesus foretold. The disciples had come to Him privately, and they said,

"...Tell us, when shall these things be [that He had been explaining about the end of the world. When shall these things be]? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3)

Or the end of the age. The end of this world, this age, this time. Now, the very present thing, this gospel of the kingdom, the same gospel He was preaching. The first thing He said, there would be false preachers preaching that He was the Christ but deceiving the world. But at the end time, this gospel of the kingdom, the same gospel that He preached, was to go to all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end would come. (Matthew 24:4-5;14 paraphrased)

"When you therefore ...see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet [and so on] ...Let [him] which be in Judaea flee." (Matthew 24:15-16 paraphrased).

And He comes down to the time when He said, "...they shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you" (Matthew 24:9). We find the same thing described in Luke's account of this same identical speech by the same speaker: Jesus Christ. Where Luke said here:

"For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." (Luke 21:22)

And, speaking of our people, our nations, the United States, Canada, Great Britain, the northwestern European democracies;

"They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Luke 21:24)

Now Jesus said if we would "...watch and pray always we could be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are coming to pass." (Luke 21:36 paraphrased)

Now Matthew's account of the same speech is this, I just read it a moment ago. "Then shall be great tribulation..." (Matthew 24:21), and it is really referred to, and correctly translated, as 'The Great Tribulation' because it is the greatest time of world trouble that has ever occurred. Listen.

"...then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24:21)

That's the time when, if God does not intervene by supernatural power, the divine power of God, to stop it and to shorten these days of annihilation, these days of destruction, these days of mass invasion by the terrific weapons that now are invented, there should no flesh be saved alive. Human life would be wiped off the planet.

"...great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24:21)

That is the Great Tribulation. No other has ever been as great, nor ever will. The greatest time of world trouble in all history. We're coming into it. We're approaching it. We haven't reached it yet. Now turn back to Daniel the twelfth chapter, you'll notice Daniel is speaking of the same identical thing, a time of trouble greater than any that ever happened, or ever will, on earth. Chapter twelve, Daniel's prophecy, chapter twelve, verse one. "...And at that time..." (Daniel 12:1)

And it has been describing things that have been taking place in our day, believe it or not. Why you even find right up above here, let me see, in verse forty, Mussolini's actual entering into Ethiopia, in that war in Ethiopia, and other things that are soon to happen. Now at that time, chapter twelve; "...at that time shall Michael stand up." (Daniel 12:1) Now Michael is an archangel. There are two archangels mentioned in the Bible. They are both mentioned in Daniel's prophecy in the book of Daniel; Michael and Gabriel. And Michael is the archangel, my friends, for our nations.

Michael is an archangel that has been set by God Almighty as a protecting angel, as a great guardian, super angel, archangel who is very much concerned over, and is watching over, the United States and you people up in Canada. And then our brothers in Britain and in northwestern Europe, the Scandinavian people and the people of Holland and Belgium and in those nations over there in northwestern Europe. Now Michael is our archangel. Listen.

"...at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people..." (Daniel 12:1)

The Key To Understanding Prophecy Lost (PLAY FROM 07:37)

And that's speaking of our people. If you don't understand the identity of the United States my friends, if you don't understand where we are mentioned in the Bible prophecies, above all things, you must read our booklet, 'United States in Prophecy. There's no charge at all, we'll be very happy to send you a copy free. My friends, you can't understand Bible prophecy unless you have that key. That is a veritable key to an understanding of the prophecies.

Why the prophecies of the Bible have been grievously misunderstood, and no wonder, because this vital key that is needed to unlock prophetic doors to understanding, had become lost. That key is the definite knowledge of the true identity of the American and the British peoples in biblical prophecy. Where is the United States mentioned? Where are WE in the prophecies? Here you have what you would get in a large book but it's condensed for quick and easy reading.

Now you'll have to do a lot more reading in your Bible. Search your own scriptures. This shows you where to look. Find it in your Bible. Find it in the works of history, if you care to go to the libraries. But right here in this little booklet, condensed in a nutshell, is the most fascinating story that you have ever read.

I don't care whether you're a skeptic, an atheist, a church member, a real spirit-filled Christian, you're going to find here an amazing truth that has been hidden through the centuries. There is no story of fiction that you ever read that is so strange, so absorbing, so packed with suspense as this gripping story of the Bible.

It makes the Bible the most interesting book you ever picked up when you come to understand it. And this will open it to your understanding. Write in for that booklet, 'United States in Prophecy,’ I'll announce it again at the close of the program so that you can understand this is talking about us and our people.

Now let's get it again. This archangel Michael now, at this time spoken of here, which is the very time of the end. It's a time just ahead of us now, the time that we are living in, in the immediate years just ahead.

"...[that] great prince [or archangel, that] standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time:" (Daniel 12:1)

Notice, there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. Now that's exactly the same time. There can't be two times like that. That is exactly what Jesus spoke of back here in Matthew twenty-four.

"Then shall be great tribulation [which is a time of trouble] such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24:21)

Daniel says, "...a time of trouble [or tribulation] such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: [speaking of the same thing isn't he? Alright now look] and at that time [this is coming down into the same generation, the same general time. At that time] thy people shall be delivered..." (Daniel 12:1)

Our Nations Need To Wake Up (PLAY FROM 10:55)

Why do they need deliverance? It's speaking of America. It's speaking of Britain. Why do our people need deliverance? Because we're going to be in bondage. Because we're going to be in a condition of captivity, that's why. And I want to tell you my friends, the prophecies of that are from one end of your Bible to the other. It's time we got our eyes opened to these things because this MEANS US, and it can happen here if we don't wake up and if we don't return to our God and prevent it.

There is only one way to prevent it and that is for AMERICA to turn back to her God, which we have forsaken. Yes, I know, don't tell me that our land is filled with churches and that we pray to God, of course. We have many churches. We have a great deal of the "...form of religion but we deny the power thereof." (II Timothy 3:5 paraphrased)

We pray a great deal, but as the prophecies say, we don't put our heart in our prayers. "We're lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" (II Timothy 3:4), and it's time for us to wake up. We're going to be punished, and punished mighty severely if we don't. Listen.

"...at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And [now this happens later] many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life..." (Daniel 12:1-2)

Why, this is speaking of the resurrection and the Second Coming of Christ. Now then, whatever this is, it's going to happen just before the Second Coming of Christ. And the Second Coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead will happen right after this terrible time of trouble.

Jesus Christ said if these days aren't shortened there should no flesh be saved alive. God is going to intervene. He's gong to send Christ to RULE the nations with a rod of iron and to STOP THIS HELLISH SLAUGHTER that is coming on this earth. Daniel speaks of it. Alright now, it's a time when Michael the archangel stands up and he stands up in defense of our people.

Alright now let's turn back to Revelation twelve. Revelation twelve, Daniel twelve, they tie right in together. I wonder if you ever noticed that? Now here first is revealed a great wonder in heaven, a woman. Now a woman is a symbol of a church. You read that in the fifth chapter of Ephesians. You will also read it in II Corinthians eleven. The Bible interprets the Bible.

No man should interpret the Bible. I don't interpret the Bible. My friends, I'm not giving you Herbert W Armstrong's interpretation, I have none. I have the interpretation of Jesus Christ. I have the Bible's interpretation because it interprets itself. Christ is the Revelator, He's the one that does it. Listen, in Ephesians five and II Corinthians eleven you find the interpretation of this.

Let the Bible interpret the Bible, then you know it's infallibly done. Then you know you're right because it's the work of God, not the work of man. Alright then, this is a church, and this is a pure church you'll notice. This is the church that Jesus built.

"...a woman clothed with the sun, and [with] the moon under her feet [clothed in light, and darkness is under her feet], and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child [travaileth] in birth ...pained to be delivered." (Revelation 12;1-2)

That's, of course, Christ. Actually it starts out, you'll read in the seventh chapter, let me see, thirty-eighth verse I believe it is, of Acts. Acts 7:38, I'm sure it is. The church in the wilderness in the days of Moses, that was God's Church, but it was the Old Testament church. It was a flesh born, carnal church, they didn't have the Holy Spirit, they didn't have salvation.

And they did have rituals and animal sacrifices that's true. It has been replaced, they were only substitutes, replaced by the sacrifice of Christ and by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our minds and hearts now. But it was God's church for that time. It was the congregation, the congregation of Israel. And so finally Christ was born, and in verse five:

"...she brought forth [the] man child, [that] was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: ...her child was caught up [to] his throne." (Revelation 12:5)

Now also in verse three you find "...another wonder in heaven, ...behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns [on] his heads [that dragon, verse nine says], ...the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan [So that great red dragon is the Devil] which deceiveth the WHOLE WORLD" (Revelation 12:3,9)

Satan Deceives The Whole World (PLAY FROM 15:35)

Is that true, has he deceived the whole world, or has he only deceived a few? Where you read there were to be MANY false prophets deceiving the many. We can't believe we could be deceived. Why no, we think it is the people down there on skid row somewhere. We think that the false prophets are some of these vagrants that get arrested every now and then for, well they're either because they are alcoholics and they get arrested for drunkenness, or for vagrancy, and they're tattered and torn and ignorant and dissipated.

Poor souls, their lives should have been made something and perhaps circumstances have buffeted them around, perhaps they just haven't tried. I don't know in the individual case what is wrong with these derelicts, but sometimes they get a certain kind of religion and they get a soap box and they're wild eyed and long haired and they stand up and they shout from a soap box.

Now some people think that's your false prophets. Oh my friends, Jesus didn't say the few, He said the MANY would be deceived. And here it says the whole world is deceived. Satan which deceiveth the whole world. Is your Bible right? Is it true? We've been believing a lot of things that are contrary to the Bible.

Well now here is Satan pictured. Alright, verse seven. It comes down to our time. In verse six, "...the woman [the church] fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." [or twelve hundred and sixty] (Revelation12:3)

Now at that time in prophecy, a day is a year being fulfilled and the Bible itself interprets that, not man. I think that nearly all so-called theologians, or schools of biblical thought, I believe accept that if they go into prophecy at all, it's quite universally understood. But nevertheless if just I found men here and there, and, or whether it would be denominations or self-appointed men, or teachers of the Bible, or what. If I just found men saying that, my friends, I wouldn't accept it.

But I do find it in the fourth chapter of Ezekiel and in Numbers fourteen, I believe it is, and the Bible explains that a day is a year being fulfilled in these prophecies. You have to know where to fit that key. But that was 1260 years, actually. That is the symbolic key, when you get the key as the Bible itself gives it to you and explains it and interprets it.

So, there was a period now through the Middle Ages, or after the church was founded, of 1260 years that has passed by. And now we come down way past that, as a matter of fact, it's getting nearer nineteen hundred than twelve hundred years after Christ. There's a great span of time elapsing here.

There Was A War In Heaven (PLAY FROM 18:36)

Now verse seven. "And there was war in heaven: [now, now remember your Great Tribulation. Now remember that it's when Michael stands up that there is this Great Tribulation, this time of trouble such as there never was in the world. And here it is, there was war in heaven] Michael and his angels [see Michael is an archangel over, how many I don't know, but many, many angels] fought against the dragon; [that's the Devil] and the dragon fought and his angels" (Revelation 12:7). His angels are called demons.

Now there's a war in heaven. The Devil is pictured as the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). And the atmosphere - the air - is called heaven in your Bible. There are three heavens mentioned in the Bible, but that is the one most often mentioned. Now the Devil and his angels, or his demons, fought against Michael;

"And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven." (Revelation 12:8)

Now apparently, Satan has been the prince of the power of the air, he's been at least able to go into that heaven. And you even find back in the book of Job, where it is pictured 'the sons' and in that case, the sons of God representing angels. They are sons of God by creation, not by birth but by creation. There are two kinds of sons of God. Those that are created by God are called sons of God.

Adam was called a son of God and he was never a begotten, or a born son of God, but he was created by God. And you'll find in the genealogy of Christ it speaks of Adam as being a son of God (Luke 3:38). And the angels then were sons of God by creation in the same way. And when they came to present themselves before the Eternal, here came Satan also among them. He's pictured in the book of Job as being able to come up to the presence of God in heaven. But now he's cast down from heaven.

"...the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent [which is], called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation12:9)

So, when he stood up - Michael stood up against somebody. Now after Michael stands up, there is a time of trouble such as never happened in the history of this world. Here's your Great Tribulation. Why is it? Well there was a war in heaven and the Devil is going to LOSE that war. We're coming right to the very time of it now, my friends, and this thing is something we won't see on earth. We may feel, we may sense the effect of it.

Christ Brings His Kingdom With Him (PLAY FROM 21:13)

But remember these spirit beings are invisible and our eyes do not see them.

"And I heard [John revealing what he hears, what he sees in vision, this symbolic vision. I heard] a loud voice saying in heaven, NOW IS COME salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God..." (Revelation 12:10)

Most people think salvation comes when you say, "I accept Christ, I profess Christ." My friends, your salvation comes when Jesus comes. He brings His reward WITH HIM when He comes. Oh help us, God Almighty help us to open our eyes and to have understanding and COMPREHENSION of His truth as He reveals it in His word.

There's the time when salvation comes, and strength, the strength that comes when this mortal puts on immortality. This corruptible that is so weak, puts on incorruption that is so strong. (I Corinthians 15:53 paraphrased). When this HUMAN becomes divine. When WE are then BORN as sons of God as JESUS was a born Son of God, and when we shall glorified together with Him and inherit His great inheritance with Him. We are co-heirs with Christ now, and we shall come into our inheritance.

Now this is the time, the Second Coming of Christ, when He will bring His reward (His salvation) with Him "...and strength, and the kingdom of our God..." (Revelation 12:10) And so many people think the kingdom of God's been here all this time.

My friends, the kingdom of God is here only in the sense of the Holy Spirit and can be within us in the sense of the Holy Spirit. But as an actual kingdom, the very family of God, it isn't here yet. It's going to rule the world when it comes.

"...and the POWER of [our] Christ: for the accuser of our brethren [and that's Satan, Satan is the one who accuses the brethren, the people of God] ...which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him [by what?] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Revelation 12:10-11)

The Wrath Of The Devil (PLAY FROM 23:22)

In other words, they are the ones that are martyred, they are persecuted, they are put to death by the devil for their belief. And they overcome him "...by the word of their testimony" (Revelation 12:11), which is the word of God.

"Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having GREAT WRATH" (Revelation 12:12)

Here, my friends, is the WRATH of the devil. W-R-A-T-H, WRATH! I want you to get it, the devil is so angry, he is so filled with hate, he is so full of wrath and anger, he's going out to destroy the true Church of God every way he can. Now here he comes down having great wrath and he's cast down to the earth. And why? "...because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (Revelation 12:12)

He knows that when Christ comes he's going to be put in the symbolic bottomless pit where he cannot tempt, or sway this world any longer.

"And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth [what does he do in his anger, what does he do in his wrath?], he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child." (Revelation 12:13)

That now is the Church of God filled with the Holy Spirit this side of the cross. That is the New Testament church. So he's going to persecute the church and he's also going to persecute God's people ISRAEL. You're going to be dumbfounded when you find that means the devil hates the United States of America, and the devil hates the British Commonwealth of Nations. The devil hates the Canadian people and the people of northwestern Europe. And he's coming down with WRATH against our people as nations, and also with WRATH against every Christian.

Where is the real home and the heart of Christianity if it isn't in our lands, my friends? Listen:

"When the [devil] saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman" (Revelation 12:13)

That's the church, the true Church of God, the church of which Jesus Christ is the living Head. What church is it? Verse seventeen. "The dragon was wroth [that is angry, full of wrath toward] the woman [this church] and went to make war with the remnant of her seed..." [and remnant is always the word that means the last generation] (Revelation 12:17)

This generation shall not pass until these things happen (Matthew 24:34). This is the generation, my friends, that is going to live into the World Tomorrow and live through these things. And the devil is going to make war with this generation of the church, "WHICH KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HAVE THE TESTIMONY of Jesus Christ." (Revelation 12:17)

That's the Bible. They have the testimony of Jesus Christ, the words of the Bible. HE is the Word, JESUS is the Logos, the Word. He was made flesh, but now it's in writing and you have it in book form, the Word of God. I don't mean that you just have Christ in writing, but it's His word. I think you know what I mean. Now;

"...to the woman were given [the] two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, [unto] her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time..." (Revelation 12:14)

My friends, after the ending of this period and when you get down to this end time, a day is a day, and a year is a year, and the day is not a year being fulfilled any longer. And this is a three and a half year period now, of which the 1260 year period that happened long ago was a type. And there is going to be a place of safety for those that are accounted worthy to escape, those that are praying out to God and who have the testimony of Jesus, and so on.

But my friends, I read to you in a recent broadcast, how many at that time are going to be lukewarm, and they are the ones who are going to be martyred. "They will love not their lives unto death" (Revelation 12:11 paraphrased). And there's a great martyrdom.

Now in the sixth chapter of Revelation, you'll find that this fifth seal is the Great Tribulation and it's pictured as a martyrdom of saints. And those that were martyred in that former time when part of the church fled and was protected and part of them were martyred, those people are told to rest in their graves yet "...a little season, until their fellow servants and their brethren that should be killed as they were, [shall] be fulfilled." (Revelation 6:11)

The Heavenly Signs (PLAY FROM 27:45)

And then the next seal, the sixth, is the sun being black as sackcloth of hair, the moon becoming as blood and the stars falling. And in Matthew 24:29:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven..." (Matthew 24:29).

And in Joel 2:31 that will happen "BEFORE ..the terrible day of the LORD come." (Joel 2:31). And the day of the Lord, the day of the Eternal, is the time of GOD'S wrath, the time of the plagues that GOD will send. And so my friends, the Great Tribulation is the wrath of the Devil. Then will come the signs in heaven, and then AFTER that will come the Day of the Lord, the time when God is going to punish the nations of the world in the only language that they will listen to, because you wouldn't listen, most of you, to preaching. This world has not listened.

That's all I have time for. Now once again, in closing, let me remind you to write in for that booklet 'The United States in Prophecy,’ – 'The United States in Prophecy,’. Study it in your own Bible and see with your own eyes in your own Bible in prophecy, as well as in promises of God, WHO we are and WHERE we're mentioned in the Bible prophecies. One third of your Bible is prophecy, you can't understand it unless you have this key.

If you haven't already gotten that booklet, write in for it, there's no charge. Until tomorrow then, goodbye friends.