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HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG
P.O. BOX 431, TUCSON, ARIZONA 85702
May 20, 1982
Dear Brethren and Co-workers with Christ:
TIME IS RUNNING OUT! The nuclear World War III and the final
ARMAGEDDON battle now draw daily closer and closer. As I write, in flight en
route to England and Germany, war between Britain and Argentina over the
Falkland Islands seems imminent within hours.
This latest of eruptions between nations, and the struggle going on in
Poland against Soviet domination, are extremely significant and very probably
may trigger the frightful, unthinkable World War III. Let me give you a brief
synoptic review of biblical prophecies leading to this soon-to-come END of
civilization as we know it--and the imminent Second Coming of Christ.
The chief prophetic book of the New Testament is the book of Revelation.
Only Jesus Christ can open that book to understanding, and He does so primarily
in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. The prophet Daniel also explains much of
it.
The disciples asked Jesus when the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem
would occur, and also what would be the warning signs just prior to His coming
as
KING of kings and LORD of lords to usher in the peaceful and happy WORLD
TOMORROW. Those disciples, in A.D. 31, thought Jesus' return would occur
almost immediately in their lifetime. The destruction of the temple did occur in
their time--in A.D. 70.
Jesus answered their first question first. He warned them to let no one
deceive them--that many would come in His name, claiming to be His ministers,
proclaiming that Jesus was the Christ--yet deceiving the many. There would be
wars, famines and pestilences, but the end of this world would not yet have
come.
He knew it would be more than another 1,900 years--but they didn't.
Actually, as Jesus said, false preachers did come, proclaiming Jesus to
be
the Christ--preaching Christ to the world. By A.D. 53, when the apostle Paul
wrote the book of Galatians, a different gospel already was being proclaimed,
and
Jesus' Gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD suppressed. Paul also wrote of these
false apostles in II Corinthians 11:13-15. This continued for 1,900 years.
Jesus did not answer the second question of His disciples until verse 14
of
Matthew 24--after years of wars, famines and pestilences. Then, 1,900 years
later,
He said, "This gospel OF THE KINGDOM [the Gospel Jesus preached] shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and THEN shall the end
[of this world] come."
But then, what NEXT? In verses 21-22, a frightful time of world trouble
such
as never before, during which, unless God Almighty supernaturally cuts it short,