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But when THOUSANDS do respond -- when thousands of hearts
have been moved to repentance and belief -- when THOUSANDS have
been added to God's Church, as THOUSANDS HAVE during this year --
that is joyful EXCESS blessings -- like additional reward God
gives us!
This has had to become a very large ORGANIZED operation.
NOTHING like it has ever been done before. We proclaim the SAME
GOSPEL the original Apostles did -- the same the Apostle Paul and
his assistants proclaimed to the Gentile nations. BUT THE
ORGANIZED METHODS OF DOING IT have had to be geared to the vastly
changed world of our time. God has opened the doors of MASS
EVANGELISM -- radio, television, the printing press. Where the
original Apostles could reach hundreds, we are reaching MILLIONS!
We have had no GUIDELINES. We cannot organize or operate
like activities, organizations, institutions, or businesses in
this world. God has given us the guidelines ONLY by adapting the
PRINCIPLES God has revealed IN HIS WORD!
Brethren, if I, for example, had been one of the GREAT or
the MIGHTY of the world, God would never have chosen me. If Garner
Ted Armstrong had been one of the GREAT or MIGHTY of the world, God
would never have chosen him.
Yet the building of God's Church, and His Work has become
a "success story" probably unparalleled IN THE ORGANIZATIONS OF
THE WORLD. That is the "FRUITS" by which GOD judges. W H Y?
Because THE POWER OF GOD was in it! Because God chose men WEAK
in this world -- perhaps weak in human ability in many respects
-- but those who humbled themselves, and in FAITH relied on the
GREAT GOD and the POWER of His HOLY SPIRIT!
The GREAT COMMISSION to which God called you and me IS
BEING ACCOMPLISHED -- and now, in far GREATER POWER than ever
before. Being human -- NOT having been trained in complicated
organizational procedures which RAPID GROWTH have brought on us,
God has allowed us to make some mistakes -- BUT NEVER A MAJOR
NOR FATAL ONE -- and they have been TINY compared to the BIG
and IMPORTANT MATTER-that God's GREAT COMMISSION IS BEING
FULFILLED -- His Work is GROWING, NOW greater than ever before!
Therefore, "LET us BE GLAD AND REJOICE, and give honor to HIM, for
the marriage of The Lamb is "soon COMING -- and his Wife -- the
CHURCH -- is surely making herself ready. (Compare Revelation
19:7.)
Before closing, let me give you a report on the Auditorium
-- to us, GOD'S HOUSE at His present Headquarters of His Church
and His Work. It is fast becoming a SUPERB structure -- and it is
now 11 weeks ahead of schedule in construction. A week ago, four
or five of our top executives here at Headquarters went with me
on a visit through the building, as it is being erected. They
were amazed and moved at what they saw. Two days ago a few of
us visited the foundry where the giant 72-foot-high columns are
being made. They are the most beautiful I ever saw. In gleaming
WHITE, with numerous flakes of a stone like white marble glistening