Herbert W. Armstrong Audio Sermon Transcripts
The Church of God Faithful Flock brings you transcripts of sermons given by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.
God's Master Plan
Last Great Day
Sermon Date: October 2, 1980
Well, greetings everybody, all over the United States and Canada, and in England. And I don't know, but I feel sure that some of our brethren from Europe and over on the Continent have come over to England and will be there with us today. I understand that you've all been able to hear the special music and the beginning and even to sing along with us this time; and I think that's a wonderful thing. It means that there are upwards of a hundred thousand of us all together; even though we're separated in area and in distance, thousands of miles apart. And yet, we're all together. And yet, we're all together. You were able to sing together; able to hear the special music together; and now we come to the Last Great Day.
The Feast of Tabernacles, of course, ended last night. This is the final, great day added on after the seven-day feast and concluding the whole eight-day festival. And the greatest annual conclave, convention, or festival of any kind, held by any kind of people anywhere on the face of the earth as an annual festival. There is nothing like this on earth.
And this, again, is like another first, as it was just a week ago, today. When, as I said, it's the first time that I've been able to speak to several feast sites all together and to be with you just as if I were there in person. In fact, many of you are seeing me now on large, not television screens, but large motion picture screens, or cinema screens, as we call it over in England. And, so that you see me larger-than-life size and much larger than as if I were right there with you in person. So we can feel this sort of a sense of togetherness.
Now this has been a wonderful festival. I've had telegrams from all over and saying it's been the most wonderful festival everywhere and there is togetherness; there is a unity.
We have been brought together by this lawsuit, for one thing, that Mr. Radar was just talking to you about. And, again, for the last two years, God's Church has been in the process of getting back onto God's track once again. Unfortunately, some wanted leadership in the Church of God; that are not with us any longer. They wanted to jump the track; they wanted to be liberal; they wanted to go as far as they could in Satan's direction and away from the Eternal God. But we've been getting back on the track of God Himself: God Almighty.
Now, for seven days, here, we've been looking forward into the Millennium; a thousand years ahead in the World Tomorrow; a thousand years when there won't be any Satan around. People don't realize, today, how many people believe there is a Satan, not very many. Of course, they talk about the devil, but that's just like a fictitious something, they don't believe it's really true; they don't believe anything like that exists. But let me tell you there's no other way you can explain the conditions in this world today, except that there is a devil, that there is a mighty, invisible, spiritual power for evil!
Now it is not as if there is a contest, that there is a good God and an evil devil and the one is fighting against the other. If that were true, I would have to tell you that Satan is certainly winning the battle. That is not true, at all! God Almighty is the Creator and He controls everything.
Now, as I was saying, this service concludes God's entire festive year! This is the final service. Now, here at Tucson, we've been having the best sermons that I have heard in any feast, as a whole. I have heard some very fine sermons in past years at different festival sites in different places. But I mean just as a whole, it was much better this year, all of the sermons and the sermonettes were right down the line of why we're here. We're here because God Almighty called us here.
These seven annual festive occasions, God has given us to picture the Master Plan of the great program that God Himself is working out. I want to remind you, once again, as I said a week ago, how Winston Churchill, of England, speaking before the United States Congress during World War II, mentioned that there is a purpose being worked out here below; a purpose being worked out here below. That certainly implies a higher power above doing the working out. Mr. Churchill knew that and he believed it. I don't think he knew the details, I don't think he knew much about it, but, nevertheless, he did know there is a purpose. And many other great men do know it, though they may not know the biblical details in the way that some of us do.
But today we're going to look forward onto an event after the coming thousand years of peace without any Satan. But you cannot account for the conditions in the world today just on a human equation alone. If there is not an invisible, spiritual power influencing people in the wrong direction we could not be as we are. But Satan exists because Eternal God allows it.
There is no competition; there is no contest between God and Satan whatsoever. God Almighty is supreme! The very fact of a creation absolutely proves the necessity of a pre-existing Creator. There had to be a Creator to bring about this creation. There had to be design; there had to be purpose. And there is purpose; and there is a purpose being worked out here below. And Satan has been allowed to be here: and for a purpose. And very few people understand it; and very few understand why that purpose.
But there is a purpose, and for that purpose God has a Master Plan. I explained a week ago of how, when we built the college campus in Pasadena, and, once again, for the third time we've won the award of having the most beautiful, the best landscaped, and the best maintained college campus in the United States of America. And I can say to you in England, that until we sold the property over there, we had the best landscaped, the most beautiful, and the best maintained college grounds and campus anywhere in England. And in Texas, we have had the finest anywhere in Texas. And, of course, Texans think that they're a whole nation all to themselves anyway, you know?
But, God's spiritual harvest, which is His purpose, ultimately, is pictured by these annual Holy Days: these annual festivals. These annual festivals are picturing the spiritual harvest by the physical, material harvests over in Palestine as it was back in the days of Moses, and as it was in the days of Christ. However, the world is blinded to both the purpose and also to the plan that God has for working out that purpose.
Now, behind all existence has to be the Creator over everything. He is the Ruler over His entire creation: He is the Ruler of world government. He did place a super archangel on the throne on this earth. I'm going to talk about that a little more in just a moment. But I want to say first, that all government is based on law, all government is based on a basic, foundational law or a constitution of some kind. The government of God is no exception. And all the governments of men are based in the same way, on a foundational law or a foundational constitution, and that law is always a way of life.
Now, some of the governments in this world are based on the production of material goods and some are communist and some are fascist and some are democracy, as we call it. And there is the capitalist system and the communist system and so on. But in God's pattern and in the government of God, there is also the basic law.
But now there's something else I want to discuss this afternoon, or this evening as it is with all of you people over there in Britain listening in. And these are some of the things that the world today just does not quite understand. In any government now, you have not only law, which is the basic foundation, or the constitution, but you have an administration and you have to have a judicial system.
Now you've been hearing from Mr Radar of some of the things that are wrong in the judicial system right here in the United States. And I want to tell you there's something wrong with the judicial systems in any country and any government anywhere in the universe, or at least in the world, I mean, because its run by men and men are so imperfect.
Now in the government of God, it is no different. There are still the three major constituencies to form the government. The law that is the foundation is the spiritual law. It is based on the word, love, which is an out flowing concern for the good of others. It is an out flowing submission to God and worship to God: in obedience and in worship and in reverence to God. Love toward God, first of all, then love to your fellow man equal to your love for yourself.
Now people don't understand that today. So let me explain something right here. I find that today young people will do what they call, 'necking,' today in the so — called, 'new morality' — which is really gross immorality. But the people of the world don't know it because the whole world has gone along and they don't realize how they've been motivated and led by the invisible Satan.
And today, well, for example, at our summer camp we found a couple of youngsters up there at our summer camp between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. And, I don't know which age it was, but one or two couples were found kissing. And someone walked up to them, one of the ministers, and he said, "Well, what are you doing?" And they said, "Well, we're just kissing. What's wrong with that?" And he said, "We don't have that on this camp." Well they'd never heard of that before. They said, "Well, if that's the rule, then we won't do it anymore." And that's the kind of kids we had up there and I'm very glad of that. But, today, people can't see anything wrong with whatever has won general, common acceptance by society; if society accepts it that makes it right.
You know, did you ever think that when God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, God said that "man has become as one of us, to know good and evil" (Genesis 3:22), that the word, 'know', really means to create himself the knowledge of what he thinks is right and wrong, or good and evil? You see, that's what Adam and Eve took. They took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; they took to themselves the knowledge of what is good and evil. And that's what man has been doing ever since.
Man does not look to the law of God as to what is good and what is evil. God is the One who decides. God does not let you decide what is sin; God tells you what is sin. But He leaves it to you to decide whether to sin and bring on yourself the penalty, because, like all laws, a law cannot be a law unless there is a penalty for its transgression.
Now in God's case, in the government of God, God the Father is the Great Lawgiver: there's only One Lawgiver. There is no Congress; there is no Senate; there is no House of Representatives; there is no Diet; there is no Knesset; there is no Parliament. God, Himself, gives the law.
I don't use the word, "love," very much when I am talking in foreign countries to other people, as I do quite often, because, today, they call illicit sex, "love." That is not love; that is lust: L-U-S-T, but they call it, "love." So they misconstrue that. I reduce it to simple words that a five-year old can understand.
God's law is the way of give, because it's going out from self; the giving of love equal to your own self-concern.
Now the opposite way, then, the transgression of that way, is the way the world is on: the way of get. And I put everything, there are only the two ways of life, two philosophies of life and you're living one way or the other: every one of you. Either you're living in the way of give or you're living in the way of get.
Get is the transgression of the law of God; the transgression of that great law of love, which is a spiritual law. And all of our problems are spiritual because of the transgression of that spiritual law. People don't realize that. They wonder, "Why can't the world solve all of its problems?"
I talk to heads of governments. And I've probably talked to as many as any other living man on the face of the earth. I mean kings and presidents, and there've only been two over large nations; two emperors; and I have known them both personally and talked to them privately, and prime ministers over so many nations that are really heads of state and run the government. I've known them all over and I talk to them in the terms that are simple. And they understand. ALL THE TROUBLES IN THE WORLD; ALL OF THE EVILS IN THIS WORLD; HAVE COME FROM LIVING THE WAY OF GET!
Now just look into your own life. What motivates you? Are you thinking of what you can get? Are you thinking of getting, well, vanity, or prestige for yourself? That's one way of getting. Or getting of physical, material goods? Or the getting of money? The love of money, or the getting of it, "is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10), not just money. Money is not the root of evil, the love of it is, or the lust for it. But I put everything in the terms of 'give' or 'get.'
Now in the government of God, I would like to have you remember this: that God is the Lawgiver. There is nobody of men or people of any kind that make the laws. God the Father makes the laws and His law is the one word, 'love,' which is the way of give. Now it's divided into love toward God and love toward neighbor. That's the two great laws. Then that in turn is divided into the Ten Commandments. The first four of the Ten Commandments tell you how to love God. Did you ever think of that?
If there isn't any God it wouldn't make any difference whether you keep the Sabbath or Sunday — no difference at all — because the Sabbath is one of the commandments of expressing your love toward God. And if it doesn't mean that it is holy and sacred to God and He told you to keep it that way there's no reason why you should do it. Why do you keep the Sabbath; why do I? Because God Almighty says it's holy and sacred and told us to take our foot off of it and quit trampling on it: it's holy and sacred to HIM!
Now to the average person today it doesn't make any difference because they don't realize anything about God and the law of God. Do people generally wake up in the morning thinking about God; do they think about God all day long; do they think about God when they go to bed at night? Oh, no, their minds, their thoughts are on the material things of this world, and on other people, and on the things of other people. And their whole motivation is on getting and the principle of get and the fact that the world is in the way of get has caused EVERY TROUBLE, EVERY EVIL that is in the world today.
Now why doesn't the world understand the cause of its troubles? Because it's a matter it's a spiritual problem; because it's the breaking of a spiritual law and they don't understand or conceive of spiritual knowledge, so they can't understand.
Alright, that's only the first part of government. Now the second part is the administrative system. In the United States, we have a Presidency who is the head of our administrative system. And they call the four years through which each president is elected, his "administration." Now we've had almost four years of the administration of President Carter. He wants to go back in for another four years. There are two other men that are now running for it and both are supposed to have enough chance, to have some chance of getting it. And, of course, they want it. So, that is the administrative branch of government; to administer the laws, to administer the way of life, because the law, itself, is a way of life. The laws of our nation, the laws of our state, simply regulate, by law, how we should live toward our neighbors and toward one another or toward the government. And the purpose of administration or the governor and all under him and the mayors of cities, or the President of the United States, is to administer the laws.
Now in the government of God, Jesus Christ is the Great Administrator. There is the government of God in His Church and the only place in the world where the government of God is in effect is in this Church. But who's the Head of that government; who's the real Administrator? Jesus Christ! If you think things are wrong in the Church, do you think that the Head of the government has a responsibility? That would be Christ, not some man. But you want to look to a man and blame a man if you see anything wrong! Of course that's the way they do. They see that there're things wrong in the United States, so candidates for the office want to blame it on the present administrator, on the present President running for re-election, and they blame him. They don't blame the way all the people are living; they don't realize those things.
Now the third branch of government, then, is the judiciary. In the United States, of course, that is headed up by the Supreme Court of the United States. Then we have a Supreme Court in various states and we have other local courts; we have county courts and even some municipal courts to administer the judicial system.
In the government of God, Who is the Great Judge? Who is the Supreme Court? It is Jesus Christ because God has committed ALL GOVERNMENT over to Christ. God does not judge, Christ does. God makes the law; Christ is the One who judges.
Now just bear that in mind because we're going to talk about the judgment face of God's government this afternoon. I think that has not been covered very much in past sermons and even in the preaching and in the writings of this Church. We want to know something about the judicial system of God's Great Master Plan.
Now, as I said a week ago, angels inhabited this earth before man; when God first created the earth, angels inhabited the earth. God put a super archangel called, Lucifer. Only three of such archangels, so far as we know — so far as God has revealed — have ever been created: and one of them was Lucifer. He is next to God in great POWER. He has great power; he was trained at the very headquarters of the world of the universe government: God's throne. His wings had covered over, with one of the other archangels, the very throne of God. He was thoroughly schooled at headquarters and he was sent here to administer the government on this earth.
Now he was to administer the laws and the constitution of God the Father, but he didn't do that: he rebelled. He said,"I want a different kind of government; I want a different way of life." God's way is give. He says, "I want the way of get; I want the way of vanity instead of humility; I want the way of lust and greed; I want the way of coveting, and I covet what God has and I want to take away the rulership of the whole universe away from God." He says, "I believe in envy and jealousy; I believe in hostile competition against others; I believe in trying to take everything I can away from others and getting it for myself." And he rebelled against the government of God.
Now he was disqualified to continue, but he was sitting on the throne in the government of God and that necessitates that he remain there until a successor has qualified and been placed on that throne in his stead. And so, that Satan, his name was changed to Satan. He is the one who 'fell,' not Adam. Adam had never been on a higher plane in the first place. Adam had to choose whether he would get up onto the God-plane or go down onto the Satan-plane: the Satanic plane. So this thing about the fall of man is wrong, it was the fall of Satan. A lot of them get a lot of things kind of twisted a little bit.
So there was a rebellion. And, as a result of that, the earth became waste and empty and in a state of decay. And then we read in Psalm 104, and I'd like to read that again because you don't hear this very often, and I want to repeat it once again for you. Psalm 104:30.
"Thou [meaning God] sendest forth thy spirit [now it takes the Holy Spirit and He sends forth the Holy Spirit, which is His power], they are created [now the Holy Spirit does the work of creation]: and thou renewest the face of the earth." (Psalm 104:30)
Many people don't realize that in six days God was renewing the face of the earth. IT WAS NOT AN ORIGINAL CREATION! What you read of in Genesis 1, the first chapter in the whole Bible, the first chapter of the book of Genesis, was a RE-CREATION! I went into that, somewhat, a week ago when I was speaking to all of you, and I hope, I think that most of you got it. We had a few mechanical difficulties that I understand all the bugs have been worked out this time, and I hope that you're all getting it very well. Anyway, in six days God renewed the face of the earth and created man.
Now God's purpose is a purpose He's working out through man. And the purpose is dual: one is, of course, to restore His government, but second, it is to restore it through man and that necessitates and requires the fact of God REPRODUCING HIMSELF! MAN HAS TO BECOME GOD AND BECOME A VERY GOD-BEING! MAN MUST first reject Satan and Satan's way. Man must turn to God and GOD'S WAY, which is His law, that basic law of God's government, and man must then develop the character of God, which is holy, righteous, perfect character.
Now, God cannot create that by instantaneous fiat. That's just impossible even for God. But God can do it by taking a little more time and that's what He's doing with a lot of us. It is the building of character. So God put man on this earth in order that through man, made of the dust of the ground, made in the image and the form and shape of God, made with a human spirit within him to have a contact with a great spirit God, that God can instill within us, with our consent if we so desire, the Holy Spirit of God. And through the Holy Spirit of God coming in with our spirit, we can change from the way of Satan to the way of God, from the way of get into the way of give. And so that we can come in under the government of God and, in the Church, we are to reign and rule with God, if we overcome. And that means if we overcome Satan, overcome our own selves, and overcome this world. We have those three things to overcome.
Now the man that God created on the sixth day of what we call creation week — which is really a renewing of the face of the earth — on that sixth day God created man in His own image. But that man was the progenitor of the ENTIRE WORLD: ALL THE WORLD. ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD have come from Adam by a process of reproduction. Now Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years and he had sons and daughters. Some people say, "Well, how did Cain have a wife? It mentions in the Bible that Cain had a wife; where would Cain get a wife?" The answer is, he married his sister; he had to; there was no other way in those days.
Now, for a man to marry his own sister today would not be a very healthy thing for reproduction, and having children, and things of that sort. And it isn't being done today. But it had to be done and, of course, God arranged for all of that at that time. But that Adam had to make a decision about the government of God for all humanity because all humanity are merely his children. We have all come out of him.
Now he chose the way of get. He decided he would make the same decision that Satan had, who was the former Lucifer. So God drove him and his wife out of the Garden of Eden and He barred re-entrance lest other people go back and get of the tree of life that was in that garden: which meant the receiving of God's Holy Spirit. And it meant that Adam had cut himself off from God. And God merely approved that. Adam made the decision, not God. But God made it binding on all of Adam's children; until the government of God is restored on this earth. ADAM REJECTED THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD! AND SO ADAM'S CHILDREN HAVE BEEN CUT OFF FROM GOD AND THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD until the government is restored.
Now God made one exception: that out of all humanity, God would select one here and one there and He would call specially to Him. Now we read in the Bible that "many are called, but [only a] few are chosen." (Matthew 22:14)
Everyone God calls does not respond to the call; and God doesn't finally choose everyone. But God simply made binding on mankind the decision that our progenitor, Adam, had made for us all. And mankind has been cut off from God.
Now Jesus confirmed that in John 6:44. I think I read that to you a week ago and I'd like to read it once again. Notice this, what Jesus said. Man is cut off from God. People think today that anyone can come to God: that is not true. Now did Jesus tell a lie; or did He tell the truth? Listen, Jesus said this. Do you believe Him; or do you believe on Him and then think He's a liar? Jesus said:
"NO MAN CAN come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." (John 6:44)
Unless God draws you, you cannot come to Christ. And you can't come back to God except through Christ: there is no other way.
Now there are two places in the New Testament where God speaks of predestination. Predestination has nothing to do with the decision you're going to make. It has only to do with when and whom God will call. Some people are predestined to be called and others are not.
Those who are called now, is God unfair? Oh, never! Those who are called now have Satan to overcome. We have Satan to fight. Those who will be called later will have no devil to overcome. They will have a much easier time than we will. On the other hand, we are going to be rewarded according to our works and we're going to reign with Christ; we're going to rule in the government of God; we're going to have a much greater reward than those who get it easier later; like in the Millennium that we've just been hearing about in the festival sermons for the past seven days. They won't have a devil to fight. The devil is still here until the Second Coming of Christ. And when Christ comes, He's already qualified to overcome Satan and He's going to sit on that throne. But He has not yet sat on it and Satan is still on that throne and he's still ruling over the whole world
Now Jesus Christ, the second Adam, was the beginning of the spiritual phase of God's Master Plan through man. As Adam was the beginning of the physical phase; Christ was the beginning of the spiritual phase; the first and the second Adam as it's called in the Bible. (I Corinthians 15:45)
Now God called the prophets of the Old Testament. He gave Israel a chance, but He never offered them His Holy Spirit, but He did give them His law. He gave them His spiritual law and He gave them also, a physical, sacrificial law which was temporary. He gave them also, a physical law of rituals; a ceremonial law; which was temporary, until Christ and the Holy Spirit should come. But He also gave them statutes and judgments, and those are principles that still apply, although no government is enforcing them anywhere in the world.
Now Jesus Christ had to come and qualify by overcoming Satan. He had to qualify to rule in the place of Satan on that throne. IF WE OVERCOME SATAN and overcome ourselves and the world, WE WILL SIT WITH CHRIST ON HIS THRONE; WE WILL RULE UNDER HIM BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD, when it rules this whole world and many nations, is going to be a great government.
And just as the government of Washington, D.C. over the nation of the United States, or the government in London over Britain, have many other people beside the Prime Minister in England and, of course, the King doesn't really rule -or the Queen over there — but there are many beside the President in the United States. There may be, I don't know, there may be more United States government employees working for the government — the national government in Washington — in this state of Arizona, from where I'm speaking to you, than there are under the local governments in this state government of Arizona. I haven't checked on it to know that, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there are more working for the national government. The government is spread out so big in this country. Now, we have to qualify, because there're going to be many that will be kings under Christ in His government. And we've been hearing about that, now, for the last seven days.
Now the Holy Days were given for the Church, not for the world. The world thinks this is kind of crazy. Sure, because they don't understand it; they don't know anything about it. And something that is a mystery to you, something you can't see, because it's invisible, you just kind of laugh it off and spurn and say, "Well, it doesn't exist."
You know, we have a dog, a large dog. He's not allowed in the house at home. But he'll sneak in once in a while. And when he comes in he lies down flat on the floor and he thinks he's invisible and we can't see him and tell him he's got to go out. He thinks he's invisible when he lies down flat on the floor.
Well, I don't know, I guess Satan, is invisible and they think all of the things of God are invisible and so they're a mystery to them and they don't understand. And they don't understand spiritual things. No one can understand spiritual things unless God has called them, and just a few have been called. There were the prophets of the Old Testament. And there is the Church: the first body. That's why we are the firstfruits. So, the Holy Days are for the Church.
Now the Passover shows the first thing in God's plan of redemption, the spiritual phase through man, through the spiritual Christ. The first one in the holy year is the Passover in the spring. And that commemorates the death of Christ to pay for the penalty in our stead for our sins so that we can then receive the Spirit of God and come into the very government of God.
The second is the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days that pictures complete putting of sin out of our lives, and the putting of God's righteousness in.
Then the third is the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of Firstfruits as it was called in the Old Testament. In the New Testament it is called Pentecost which is a Greek word which means, "count fifty," because it came fifty days from the Sabbath within the days of Unleavened Bread. And that pictured the coming of the Holy Spirit to harvest the firstfruits of God's spiritual body or spiritual group, that He calls a group.
He did not give His Holy Spirit to any of the individuals in ancient Israel. He gave them His law; He gave them His government, they wouldn't obey it, they never did. But they did not have the Spirit of God and so they never had spiritual understanding. They had a spiritual law, but they didn't know how to keep the spiritual law, because they didn't have spiritual minds to understand. Now the day of Pentecost was the day on which the Holy Spirit came. And we are the Church to be the firstfruits and its for the Church.
Then in the fall, the first Holy Day was the Feast of Trumpets. And that was picturing, then, the Second Coming of Christ at the end of this Church age. And Christ is coming to sit on that throne. He is qualified. At the end of this age, the Church will have qualified, through many, many generations, those who have and some have not. And some have come into the Church and only lasted a time and then they go out. The parable of Jesus and the parable of the sower and the seed explains that, of how some of them don't stay in.
Then, after the Feast of Trumpets, picturing the Second Coming of Christ, which was just fifteen days ago in this year, came the day which was just five days before this festival began: the Day of Atonement. That pictures the putting away of Satan and making the world at one with Christ; with Satan gone.
And then we have, finally, the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days. That pictures the thousand year reign with Christ, the Millennium, when the Kingdom of God will be ruling. And when we, of the Church, with the original apostles and the other apostles and with the prophets of the Old Testament, will all be resurrected and will be ruling with Christ for one thousand years.
Now we've had sermons on that for the last seven days. And then we will be ruling with the government of God. I'd like to read you a little bit of that. Let's begin with the twentieth chapter of Revelation and beginning with verse... I'd like to begin now with verse one, Revelation 20, and I would like to read first, the first six verses:
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years [and so, the devil will be bound where he cannot get at us for a thousand years. He will not trouble the world; he will not put his philosophy of get, his attitude of get, in the minds of little children as they're growing up, and of adults after they grow up], And cast him [the devil] into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled:" (Revelation 20:1-3)
Now he's not going to deceive them for a thousand years. But it's only until a thousand years are fulfilled. Notice that now. But during that thousand years, Satan will be chained.
Now then, I want to read you something else about that time, back in Micah the fourth chapter. Micah, the fourth chapter and beginning with the first three verses. This is what we've been seeing for the last seven days here.
"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the [Eternal] [now in this case, 'mountain' is a symbol for, 'nation,' in other words, the Kingdom of the God or the nation. The Kingdom of God that will rule over all the other nations of the world], shall be established in the top of the mountains [that is of the larger nations, of the great nations of the world, it will rule over them], and it shall be exalted above the hills [that's the smaller nations]; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the [Eternal][or to the nation, the Kingdom of God, or, if you prefer, the mountain over in Palestine where Christ will be ruling], and to the house of the God of Jacob and he [Christ] will teach us of his ways [you see, the law is a way of life. He'll teach us His law; He'll teach us ways], and we will walk in his PATHS for the LAW shall go forth of Zion [God's law will go out, which is the way of life, teaching that way of life. And it's a spiritual law. That'll go out all through that thousand years], for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem." (Micah 4: 1-2)
Now we also read in the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, how "the earth will be as full of the knowledge of God [in that day] as the ocean beds are full of water (Isaiah 11:9 paraphrased).
That means it'll be pretty full of the knowledge of God. How full is the world of the knowledge of God, today? It's absolutely empty; it's an empty desert, so far as the knowledge of God is concerned; it's not filled with any water.
"And he [meaning Christ] shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they LEARN war anymore." (Micah 4:3)
War is something you have to learn. Now, back in World War I, I was called to be an officer in the Army; in World War I. I passed all the physical exams and I was given a notice to appear at Fort Sheridan for training camp near Chicago. I was living in Chicago at the time. I had an office on West Madison Street in Chicago; in Chicago's Loop. And then about two days before time, I received a notice that so many applications had come in and that they couldn't take but a small fraction of those that had been qualified and I would be called later for another camp. And later another call came and the same way; I never did get in. So finally I said, "Well, let them come and get me then in the draft." But they never did. So I tried to get in. I tried to get in the officer's reserve corps. I wasn't converted then and I wanted to get in. But I never did. I don't think God wanted me in and He kept me out; in spite of the fact that I tried to get in.
Well, God's law is the way of give, as I said, instead of the way of get. And the whole world will then be on the way of give and not get.
Now I want you to notice something in Matthew 25 that'll happen during the Millennium. And I think it's rather necessary that we see that right at this point. Matthew 25 and we'll begin here with verse thirty-one, which begins with the Millennium.
"When the Son of man shall come [that's the Second Coming of Christ and the beginning of the Millennium that we've just been going through — when the Son of man shall come] in his glory [all the power and glory of God], and all the holy angels with Him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory [He'll sit on the throne where Satan now sits. Satan won't be there any longer. I just read you that]: And before him shall be gathered ALL NATIONS: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand [that's the sheep, in other words, the ones who accept the Kingdom of God; who accept the way of God. The earth then will be full of the knowledge of the Eternal. The law will go forth of Zion, and they will not be having any wars: learning any wars. I just read to you. And notice, He will say, the King will say, unto them on His right hand,] Come ye blessed of My Father, INHERIT THE KINGDOM"... (Matthew 25:31-34)
Now that says there, 'INHERIT.' They will not be heirs, as we are today. We have not inherited the Kingdom of God. We're only heirs to inherit it; after Christ comes. But during the Millennium, those that are converted in the first hundred years, the second, the third hundred years of that Millennium will be changed into God Beings: they will inherit the Kingdom of God.
In other words, they will become God Beings; just as we will at the resurrection of Christ. And that'll go on for one thousand years and there won't be any Satan on earth for that one thousand years, because Satan will be there and chained up for a thousand years. And I read to you here in the third verse of Revelation 20. Now Revelation 20 again, "Satan will be loosed for a little season after that" (Revelation 20:3 paraphrased); after that, Satan will be loosed a little season.
Now, this matter of salvation, EVERBODY will be called who is still living at the time during the Millennium. Today, only a few are called. Jesus said, "NO MAN CAN COME TO ME, except the Father, which, sent Me [call him], or draw him" (John 6:44 paraphrased). And today only a few can come to salvation. The rest of them are not being judged.
Now let's go back again. I said that Adam made a decision. He rejected the government of God. So the government of God did not judge Adam's children. God made it binding until the Kingdom of God is set upon the earth. And in the meantime, no one could come to Christ; no one can get to God. But that is God's responsibility, not the responsibility of people. It isn't their fault they're not called. And so God says that His judicial system has not worked on them; THEY HAVE NOT BEEN JUDGED; THEY HAVE NOT BEEN CALLED! Judgment has not come.
Now then, Peter says in back in, I believe it's I Peter that judgment is now on us in the Church of God (1Peter 4:17). WE ARE BEING JUDGED IN THE CHURCH. THE REST OF THE WORLD IS NOT NOW BEING JUDGED. God's judicial system is on us. Once we've been called, if we've sprinted and turned away, we've had it: we've had it brethren! Be careful about thinking you might want to go out of God's Church because a lake of fire is going to await the one who is judged now. But the rest of the world, they're not being judged now. They don't know right from wrong. You know, Jesus said, "If I had not come...they would not have had sin. And, If you did not know, you would not have been guilty of sin, but you say, We know, therefore, He said your sin remains." (John 15:22 paraphrased)
Really, "sin is the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4), but it is the knowing transgression; it is the deliberate knowing.
"To him that knoweth to do good... to him it is sin."(James 4:17)
To him that doesn't know, God is not judging; he is not condemned. The rest of the world that were not called, they're not condemned; they're not lost. They are just not yet judged. And the judicial system of God, which is a perfect judicial system, is not judging them.
Brethren, I want you to understand that. Get this: it's a matter of the government of God all the way through. God is the Lawgiver. Christ is the Administrator and Christ is the Judge. Now remember that.
Now in the last century of that Millennium, there will be a lot of people born that are not yet converted. They will have been hearing the truth, but they have not made their decision yet. But they will have known the truth, AND THEY ARE BEING JUDGED!
Now when we come down to the end of the Millennium there are going to be millions of people that have not made their own decision yet, but they will have heard the truth. "The earth will have been full of the knowledge of the [Eternal]" (Isaiah 11:9 paraphrased). They will know the law because it will have gone forth from Zion all through that Millennium.
Now through the festival, you've been hearing a lot of details about the Kingdom of God and about the Millennium and the thousand year reign with Christ. I'm giving you just an overview today. If you notice, I usually stay with the trunk of the tree. I leave the branches and the little twigs to the other ministers, usually.
So today I'm giving you an overview of the whole thing; from the beginning of the earth and the angels upon it; the creation of man, up until the very end. I'm just giving you an overview; the general trunk of the tree, and I want you to get it. Then you can put in the other sermons that you get and fill it right in with the middle.
But we come down to the end of the Millennium, as I say, there will be millions that have not received the Holy Spirit of God, have not been converted, have not received, have not been told to "come and inherit the Kingdom of God." But they will have been judged; they will have known the truth; judgment has been on them, and they haven't made the right decision. And then what will happen? All of a sudden — BANG — something will happen!
Let's go right back to the book of Revelation. Satan was only chained for a thousand years, and then he's to be loosed. Now notice the 'bang.'
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." (Revelation 20:4-5)
Now I brought you up to the end of the Millennium. There were millions of people that had not made their decision. They were being judged, but they had not been judged righteous; they had not yet received the Holy Spirit of God. And then what do we come to: we come to verse eleven, no verse five:
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished [Now;] Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power." (Revelation 20:5-6)
The penalty for sin is not only death, it's the second death. "It's appointed to [all] men once to die." (Hebrews 9:27)
"As in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive." (I Corinthians 15:22)
There's a resurrection coming for EVERYBODY who ever lived: everybody. You read that back in the fifteenth chapter of first Corinthians.
But those that have received the Spirit of God will be priests of God and Christ and they will reign a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)
Now here's your 'big bang.' "When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." (Revelation 20:7)
Here are people that have not had the spirit of Satan injected into their attitude of mind. They have only had the attitude of Christ expounded to them. They have only known the way of God that has been going on for a thousand years. And here are, actually, millions, and even maybe a billion people who have not made up their minds. And they're not converted. BUT THEY ARE BEING JUDGED. AND THEY HAVE KNOWN THE TRUTH. AND THEY HAVE BEEN CALLED. Now what? Satan is loosed.
"And [he will] go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth [that's at the end of the Millennium, and Satan will go out to deceive those that have not been made immortal yet], Gog and Magog, to gather them [and I'll refer you back to the 38th and 39th chapter of Ezekiel] ...gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and they compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." (Revelation 20:8-9)
Those that will follow the way of Satan will come and try to kill all of those that are with God and that have not yet been made immortal. AS SOON AS SATAN IS LOOSED, MANY OF THEM TURN AGAINST GOD; MANY TURN AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD AND THEY WANT TO GO INTO THE WAY OF GET AGAIN; instead of the way of love, or give. What a commentary on a human mind, and how it can be swayed and led and deceived.
So Satan comes to deceive the whole world once again. Let's see — I think that word — yes — He will go out to deceive the nations, to deceive them, fool them, make them think that black is white, that up is down. And that righteousness is sin, but that sin is — his sin — is righteousness, and he will deceive them.
"And the devil that deceived them [then] will be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [the word there is, ... but it should be 'were cast.' It is not an inspired word.] and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:10)
Satan is immortal; he will live forever. And that'll be the end of Satan forever, as far as the earth is concerned. But he'll go on living out in the absolute blackness of utter blackness. You know you get away from the earth where the sun's rays don't reflect on the earth and it's absolutely black, even though the sun is still there, and even if you get clear away from our solar system.
Now what is going to happen? The world has been cut off from God. It was cut off from God from Adam to Noah. The world was full of everything wrong in the time of Noah, with corruption and violence and of immorality. They had a modern sex swing at that time, just like we have today. They had a so-called, 'new morality' back at that time. And immorality was the way until there was only one man that was not guilty, by heredity, of racial inter-marriage, and that was Noah. He was the only man. And he and his family — eight souls — were saved from the flood.
Now people will think God was pretty cruel because He drowned everybody in the days of Noah, except Noah's people. No, that was God's mercy. God simply put an end to their bringing unhappiness and sorrow and suffering and violence and every evil on themselves by drowning them; only to resurrect them in the time I'm going to show you now.
Now from the time of Noah on, the world has been blinded. I've traveled over through China; I've traveled in Japan; I've traveled in India; I've traveled throughout Black Africa, and let me tell you, I find that in most of the world they don't know anything about God. And they don't even know in this country, they just think they do. But of ALL OF THE RELIGIONS IN THE WORLD, including the religion that dominates in the United States, ONLY ONE KNOWS WHO AND WHAT GOD IS! WHAT IS GOD? IS GOD ONE PERSON? Is God three persons — a trinity? WHAT IS GOD? Well, they're all wrong.
I have a new book coming out; and I won't tell you the answer. You can wait 'til you get the book. What is God; who and what is God? WHAT AND WHY IS MAN? HOW DID MAN COME TO BE ON EARTH? NO RELIGION KNOWS! SCIENCE DOESN'T KNOW! EDUCATION CAN'T TEACH YOU! EVEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION, THEY CAN'T TELL YOU WHY THEY ARE ON EARTH! They don't know why we're here; they don't know why we were born.
They say, "Just let me alone, I'm enjoying life. I want to look at television." And, of course, television, as I've said before, is a business. It's a business. And it's a business of entertaining people. And even television news is entertainment.
I don't know how many of you saw it, but they put Walter Cronkite on with a little skit about television news. Oh, this was about three or four weeks ago, I don't remember exactly when, but I happened to see it. And, of course, Walter Cronkite is the superstar of all television news people; I think everybody has to admit that. And he was explaining how, if someone does something that is ordinary, that's not news. Someone does good, but it's ordinary and there's nothing sensational about it; that's not news.
It's not news unless it's extraordinary, and nearly always the things that are extraordinary are bad. And so, nearly all news, they don't report it as news unless it's bad. Now he criticized local stations, like our local station right here in Tucson and local stations all over the United States. He said that they overly do things like local murders and things like that. He says that murders are so common now he says, "That's not really news." But, he says, "They only play it up because it's sensational."
Now there was one television station that reported us a week ago tonight. They were hearing, they heard what was going on here. I gave you a "rambling" sermon. In other words, instead of one text and just speaking for five or ten minutes, or fifteen minutes, at the most, on that one text, anything more would be rambling. I leave it to you. You heard me a week ago and I had a beginning and I had middle and I had an ending in that sermon, and it made sense. But it didn't make sense to the reporter because they didn't understand it.
He doesn't have the Spirit of God and he can't understand spiritual things, it was clear over his head. So they said that I just had a "rambling" sermon. Well, every sermon one of our ministers preaches is a "rambling" sermon, then. Because the world isn't used to that kind of sermon; they don't understand it. Thank God that many of you do, and many other convention centers just like this that are tuned in now and listening now ALL OVER the United States and Canada and England — nearly one hundred thousand of you altogether, and that's an awful lot of people.
Now remember this, that from the time of Noah all until Christ, most of the people knew nothing about God. As I say, they don't know anything about God in China. Missionaries have been there, but they don't know about God, themselves. They don't know who and what God is. Do they know that God is a Family; do they know about the government of God; do they know that Christ was born to be a King and that Christ came preaching the Kingdom and the government of God, and that that was the gospel? Oh no; the evangelicals don't know that; the evangelists don't know that; the people in the churches today don't know that. They don't know what the gospel is and they don't preach the gospel. They preach a message about the person of Christ. That is not the gospel.
The gospel is the message Christ, Himself, proclaimed. That's the gospel I proclaim around the world. That's the gospel that the Attorney General of California thinks was siphoning off millions of dollars for my own pocket, which never happened, of course. I think that none of you would even begin to be suspicious about that, it's so ridiculous.
Now, all of this time, the world had been cut off up until the Second Coming of Christ.
As Christ said, "NO MAN CAN COME TO ME, EXCEPT the Father draws him" (John 6:44).
And God is only choosing one here and there and we're called to the government of God and to qualify to rule with Christ. The world doesn't know that; they just don't know it.
So now, at last, we go through the Millennium, and everybody will have been called who is still alive.
But what about the people back before the Flood? What about the people from the time of the Flood up until now? As I say, what about the millions — I haven't seen all the millions. My eye won't stretch that far to see that many. But there are a billion people — there are a thousand million — a billion people, in China, and most of them don't know anything about God; they don't know the way of God; they don't know the difference between the way of God and the way of Satan. They don't know, really, about Satan. They don't know what it's all about; they don't know what life is all about. As I say, they have not been judged.
Now as I said awhile ago, that is the responsibility of God. They have not been judged; they have not been condemned. They are not lost; NEITHER ARE THEY SAVED; NEITHER COULD THEY HAVE BEEN SAVED! God hasn't called them. AND THEY DIED: UNSAVED!
Now what is going to happen to them? Now we come to something after the end of the Millennium. And I've taken all this time for an introduction to bring you up to it so that you get the whole story flow from beginning to end.
Now we're right back to the twentieth chapter of Revelation and beginning with verse eleven:
"And I saw a great white throne [now a throne is a place of ruling; a throne is a government seat. That throne is where Christ is sitting and He has all judgment given to Him], I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it [which will be Christ], from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great [that goes clear back to the sons of Adam. And including Adam, himself. Only he may not come up until a resurrection just after this], And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: AND THE DEAD WERE JUDGED..." (Revelation 20:11-12)
Now they're back to life, again; they're not dead any longer. Now they're alive in a resurrection and now judgment comes on them. Now comes the judicial system of God finally working. Now they're going to be called to an account for what they did.
Now, up until now, the people of the world have not been called. As I say, they've not been judged; they're not condemned; they're not sentenced, neither have they been saved. But what they have done, they're going to be called to account for, and they're going to face Christ in the judgment, and this is that judgment. You've heard about 'judgment day.' That's what I'm showing you now; it comes after the thousand years, that's more than a thousand years from now. Now comes God's judicial system. And there is a judgment, and the Judge is Christ and He's sitting on that throne instead of Satan.
Now I want you to notice: 'the books are opened,' and it was 'the book of life,' so some of them are going to get eternal life, and I hope it's most of them. God doesn't tell us. They will decide that for themselves.
But they are like people who have been breaking the law, but they haven't come up to court, yet. They've been breaking the law, but they have not come up in court to a trial; they have not come before the Judge, yet; they haven't been tried. They've already performed good or bad, but they're not judged as to whether they're guilty or innocent, yet, and that judgment will come in a resurrection of those people that are now dead, and have been dead; BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF PEOPLE. They were not saved; they were not lost; they were not condemned. BUT THEY HAVE PERFORMED. AND NOW THEY'RE GOING TO BE BROUGHT TO ACCOUNT FOR WHAT THEY DID!
People who have been doing wrong can't say, "Well, I'm not judged, so I can do anything I please." Oh no, you can't; you're going to come up in a judgment some day, and you're going to give account for every evil thing you've done.
Now God knows that Satan is the big culprit. He led them into it. And Satan will get the big blame so far as that is concerned. But Christ's judgment will be just judgment, and they will be judged for what they have done. But if they want to repent of it, if they want to say, "I know now I was wrong. I'm ashamed of myself; I abhor myself for what I did and for the way I lived."
Then Christ, sitting on that throne in that judgment, will say, "Well, here's the thing: you have brought on yourself the penalty of eternal death. But you have a chance to repent. You have a chance to turn away from it and accept God's way of life and God's Kingdom. And if you do...I was a human being once. I lived thirty-three and a half years, and I was God in the human flesh. I was your Maker and your Creator. But I died for you and I paid your penalty in your stead. You're guilty! But if you want to accept it, I will let you accept the price, the penalty that I paid for you, and you can now have salvation."
That's what the King on that throne will say in that Great White Throne Judgment.
"I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God [now there's the resurrection; now they're back to life]; and the books were opened: ... and the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books." (Revelation 20:12)
If they sinned — and everybody has — they're going to be told they're guilty. And the death penalty: "Now, before I pronounce the death penalty on you, let me tell you, I died and paid that penalty for you, if you want to accept it. But if you accept it, it means that you repent of the way you live and that FROM NOW ON, FOR ALL ETERNITY, you will live the way of give; and the way of love instead of the way of get."
What a wonderful judgment that'll be; what a wonderful judgment that will be!
Let's read on: "...the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea [now here comes another resurrection. This is after that], The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and [the grave — the word, 'hell,' here, comes from the Greek word which means 'grave,' 'hades'] And delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell..." [or the grave, those in that last resurrection are those who lived and were called and were judged and who were incorrigibly wicked] (Revelation 20:12-14)
That'll be the last, final resurrection, those who already are lost because they had been called, and they made the wrong decision, those who were in God's Church and who knew and still went out and made the wrong decision. "And they were cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:14)
And that'll be the whole earth becoming a molten mass. And other scriptures in the Bible I could turn to in the Old Testament, they will become ashes under the soles of our feet (Malachi 4:3).
That'll be the end of them; there's no everlasting, burning hell.
People can't burn forever and ever and ever. What is burning? Do you know that much about chemistry that you know what burning is? It is the combustion of the thing being burned with the uniting with oxygen. Now a human body could burn and burn, but it'll burn up; it won't keep burning forever. And if you can show me any kind of fuel that'll burn forever and ever and never burn out, I'll give you a million dollars for it, because I'll make a few billion dollars out of it. That'll be a wonderful thing if I could get something that'll burn and never burn up.
And if we are immortal souls and spirit — and they think that we are — spirit can't burn; what do you think of that? That's the 'hell' that most people believe in, and it's as false as hell, literally; I mean what I say.
So that'll be the final end of those who have had EVERY CHANCE, whose eyes have been opened, who have deliberately, knowingly said, "I don't want the government of God; I don't want the way of give. I want the way of get. I believe in Satan and the devil and I believe in his way." Well, if that's what they believe, they're going to burn up. Satan won't burn up. He's going to be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10). They won't be; they will burn up; they will be as though they had never been. (Obadiah 16)
That's another scripture in the Bible. I won't turn to it; you ought to know where it is.
Now I've heard one very world-famous evangelist say, "The Bible says, 'When we all get to heaven.'" I'll give him a check for a thousand dollars of my own money if he'll show me where the Bible says, "When we all get to heaven," because it just does not say that. I don't know why they want to misquote the Bible. He doesn't turn to it and read it out of the Bible because he can't; it isn't there. Well, that shows you.
Now, then, let's go back to the 37th chapter of Ezekiel. And here it shows Israel; and this is Israel of the Old Testament.
"The hand of the LORD was upon me [beginning with verse one in Ezekiel thirty seven], the hand of the [Eternal] was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the [Eternal], and set me down in the midst of the valley ... full of bones, And caused me to pass by them [now they're skeletons; here's a valley full of skeletons] ...caused me to pass round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry [in other words, they'd been dead and become skeletons a long, long time ago]. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live [can they come back to life? They're skeletons; are they ever going to come back to life? And here, Ezekiel, the prophet, answers]? O Lord , thou knowest [I don't know, Lord, what about it; will they come back to life?] And he said unto me, Prophesy unto these bones, and say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the LORD." (Ezekiel 37:1-4 paraphrased)
You know, there's a Negro spiritual written on that. They don't understand it. And I heard a famous evangelist many, many years ago; Aimee Semple McPherson — I don't know how many of you remember that name, or not — but I heard her preach an illustrative sermon in her temple, one time, about that. And she said that all these dry bones were all the other churches, but her church was not dry and dead, that they were alive. So that was her idea, but I'll show you what God's idea is.
"Thus saith the Lord [Eternal] unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you [on these dry bones, these skeletons], and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you over with skin, and will put breath in you [that's the breath you breathe in and out of your nostrils, just normal, physical life, now], and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the [Eternal]." (Ezekiel 37:5-6)
Now this is the people who, when they did live, they really never knew that God was the Eternal, or the One who would become Christ. 'Yahweh' was the Hebrew word for it, or the Eternal, or the LORD, as it is in the King James translation.
"So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a [great] noise, and behold a shaking [like an earthquake], and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them [so, now they're dead, but they're all back into full, physical bodies once again. Now what's going to happen to them? So,] Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind [that's the air, the wind] prophesy, son of man, and say unto [them], Thus saith the Lord [Eternal] Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." (Ezekiel 37:7-9)
In other words, just let breath go into them. That means they'll come back to mortal life, just like they were, still only mortal; still only human; no divine life, no Spirit of God, whatever, yet. But the spirit of man will come back in them.
"So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and they stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army [that's all Israel. And, probably ancient Israel, but, maybe, that means all Israel, today, and you know who they are, and they're not all Jewish by any matter or means]. And then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel [now, I say, the famous lady evangelist said that they are all the other churches. Well, that isn't what God says. God said they are the house of Israel: the nation, Israel]. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts [they thought they were lost. They weren't lost; they had just not been judged, yet. They just had not been judged, yet]. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord [Eternal]; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves [it'll be a resurrection], and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the [Eternal]..." (Ezekiel 37:10-14)
They didn't really know it. So they weren't judged. They didn't really know the Eternal. Jesus said, "If they didn't know they did not have sin, but you say you know, therefore, you're guilty."
They didn't know; they were not judged. Now they come and they stand before this judgment seat and Christ is on that throne, after the Millennium is over. And so now they know that He is God when:
"He has opened their graves and brought them forth...And shall put my spirit in you [now their breath was already in. Now the Holy Spirit of God is going to come into them once they come to know God because they will repent], put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I, the [Eternal], have spoken it, and performed it, saith the [Eternal]." (Ezekiel 37:14 paraphrased)
That is the same judgment. And that shows ancient Israel coming up in that judgment. Now, beside there will be other people, and people from other nations that will be in that judgment.
I would like to have you notice, now, let me see, notice in Matthew 12:41-42. These are the words that Jesus spoke when He was on earth 1900 years ago. Then He says:
"The men of ancient Nineveh shall rise up in judgment [that's this judgment, when they come up in a resurrection. It's a resurrection to judgment in God's judicial system] with this generation and shall condemn it [that's the generation who lived at the time of Christ]: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah was here." (Matthew 12:41 paraphrased).
But they didn't believe Christ. Christ was there with them at that time, but they didn't believe what He said. Now many of them believed on Him, but they still didn't believe Him — that's different. Many believe on Him, today, but they don't believe what He said; and they don't preach what He said. And what He said is the gospel. So they don't preach the gospel because they don't know what the gospel is. They preach their own message about Christ. Christ was the messenger; and the gospel is the message that He preached. But not many know that, today.
Now He said: "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment" (Matthew 12:42). She'll be resurrected. She was a pagan; she was never converted; she didn't know right from wrong; she didn't know the way of God. But she'll be resurrected in that Great White Throne judgment.
Now let's turn over here to Luke, in Luke's gospel, the eleventh chapter and verses thirty-one and thirty-two. I'm still rambling, by-the-way, brethren, but if you notice, I'm going right down the line. I'm not deviating very much from my subject, this afternoon, or this evening. Luke 11:31-32:
"The queen of the south [that speaks of her, again]... rise up in the judgment with this generation, and condemn it [and then, verse 32]. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment" (Luke 11:31-32 paraphrased). And there it is, again.
And then Luke 10:12and 14, just back a page in your Bible, verse twelve in Luke 10:
"But I say unto you, that it'll be more tolerable in that day [the day of this judgment] for Sodom, than for... "(Luke 10:12)
Now wait a minute. You have to read what went before to really get all of that. Oh, that's the city where the people were to go that Christ was sending out that would not receive them. He says that it'll be more tolerable, in the judgment, now, in that day, the Day of Judgment, for Sodom, than for that city that wouldn't receive those that Christ was sending out. And verse 14:
"But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment, at that day." (Luke 10:14 paraphrased)
So the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, the people of Tyre and Sidon, the queen of the south, the people of Nineveh; THEY'RE ALL GOING TO RISE UP in that judgment, as well as ancient Israel. AND ALL, FINALLY, EVERYONE WHO EVER LIVED WILL HAVE BEEN CALLED AND WILL HAVE BEEN JUDGED AND WILL HAVE HAD JUDGMENT ON THEM!
Now judgment is not on the world now! It's on us in the church! You and I are now being judged! There isn't going to be another chance for us but this life right now. We, in God's Church, have been called. And we have Satan to overcome. But just think, we're going to rule with Christ; we're going to have a higher position; we're going to be rewarded; not saved, but "rewarded according to our works." We have a greater trouble in getting salvation than those who will get it during the Millennium, or in this Great White Throne judgment, but we will be ruling over them. We are going to even be judging angels.
Now, we're going to be there judging with Christ, because we will be God, then; we will be God beings ourselves. We will be immortal; we will have the very character of God. But we've got to develop that character right here and now in this life. Do you realize that, brethren; do you realize what a stern judgment is on you right now? But it's not on the outside world. They just don't know. And God is not judging them.
You know, the great minds, the people with better minds than we have, more highly educated, perhaps, than some of us — although we have some PhD's here in this audience, and in other audiences of this group scattered over the world — but some have even had more education than we have. Of course, it's a faulty education they've had, incidentally. But they do not have the Spirit of God and they are, of all people, most ignorant, because they do not have spiritual knowledge. They only have physical and material knowledge.
So finally all will have been called; only a few have been called up until now. And we're called to be trained to teach them and judge them and help them to come into salvation and to eternal life. Isn't that a wonderful plan that God has! We're going to qualify to rule in helping them overcome Satan, and having them develop the character of God.
And then, after all of that, what are we going to do? After all of that, we're going to take the whole universe and do things on the universe and, maybe, create other worlds just like this world has been, only we will create more God beings.
You will find back in the ninth chapter of Isaiah it talks about Christ coming as a Ruler "...and of His government there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:7).
Now think of that. It will not end on this world, on this earth. The government will go on.
Now is it the thirty-fourth or the thirty-seventh chapter of the Psalms that the wicked will not inhabit the earth; the righteous shall inhabit the earth and shall live on there forever? 'Forever,' in Hebrew, means, 'as long as the components exist; that are considered.' Now that does not mean, 'past' the time I've given you. But after the time that I've given you, past the Great White Throne judgment, we will not necessarily live forever on this earth from that time on. But we're going to go..."the whole universe is waiting, for a rejuvenation of the sons of God" — once we're born sons of God. (Romans 8:19)
We have our 'born again' people getting into politics, now. What do you think of that? They don't even know what 'born again' means. They have not been born again, and they don't even know the meaning of it. Well it's too bad that they haven't been called. And their time is coming. They're not lost; they're not condemned. Be careful, let's not condemn them, because God doesn't; God doesn't.
Well, brethren, that gives you a final summing up, kind of an overview of the whole purpose and the whole Master Plan of God, from the time of the angels inhabiting the earth up until the end. And it's all pictured by these annual festivals. And today is the last; it pictures the final judgment. What a wonderful thing it is; what a wonderful plan!
Just notice the first six thousand years. There was a material development under Satan, and Satan has been on that throne. It's been a time when the Church has been called out from the world in the last two thousand of those six thousand years. It's a time of a certain progress, and much of it is progress in reverse; in materialism. And we have progressed in the production of certain implements and machines and mechanical things made of matter.
But they have retrogressed, spiritually. And even in the earth, we've polluted the earth and everything that man has touched on the earth. We've polluted the ground from which our food must come. We have polluted our waters and our streams and our drinking. And now it's one of the great things on news and on television news — the pollution of the ground and the water supply and things of that kind. We've polluted the air with smoke and smog...
Now, then spiritually, there's been nothing but retrogression. So actually, there's been material and spiritual retrogression for six thousand years on this earth. Then, there'll be one thousand years of the world spiritual real progress under Christ and under us who are now being trained to reign and to rule with Him. And judgment, remember, is on you and me now. Today. How are you standing in the judgment? You're standing in front of the judgment bar right now — judgment's on us, now.
Then, there'll be this final judgment for those that have lived and died unjudged, they'll come back in a resurrection. And finally, brethren, what a wonderful; what a wonderful program — is God's great purpose. What a wonderful Master Plan for bringing it out. It "passes all understanding."
And so I want to say, in conclusion, with the Apostle Paul, as he said here, let's see, it's in Romans eleven beginning with verse thirty-three:
"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments [and I've just been telling you about His judgments. His judicial system is perfect and His judgments are perfect, not like the judgments in this world] and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom BE GLORY FOREVER. AMEN." (Romans 11:33-36)
That is the way the Apostle Paul concluded the one chapter in one of his letters. And I think that is the way we should conclude.
I just want to say, in conclusion, that let me see, in two or three weeks from this Sabbath, the Sabbath of the twenty-fourth or the twenty-fifth of October that Mrs Armstrong and I will be — and I think Mr Radar will be there, too — we will be in London and we will come out to a meeting with the church group in and near London. I don't know just where that will be held. Mr Frank Brown will let me know where to come and he will get you ready. So, in just approximately three weeks from now, I hope to see all you people over in England, again! And let me tell you that Mr Silcox is right here and Mr and Mrs Silcox and their daughter were out to our home last evening here in Tucson, Arizona and we spent a very lovely hour or more with them. And it was certainly nice to hear how things are going there in England.
And I understand that, while we've sold the college property to the electric light company, that they've extended to me an invitation to come and look over our old college campus, again. And I surely hope I'll be able to do that. So, I'll be with you people over in England in just about three more weeks; I'm looking forward to it.
And then, of course, we're going on down to have a talk with President Sadat, in Cairo. And then over to Jerusalem to have a talk with Prime Minister Begin of Israel, again. I know them both, already and we're going to have another meeting with them. And I hope that the meeting can be arranged to go to Warsaw and speak to the present rulers in Poland. Now we have an invitation to go to the leaders of Warsaw, but the leadership has changed since the recent, big strike over there. And so we have to see if we're still invited. And I only go where I'm invited. Remember, I don't push my way in anywhere. But, it's October 25th, I see I had it jotted down here, we expect to be in London: it's the Sabbath, October 25th. So I'll be there with all of you people at that time.
And, until then, all the rest of you thank God and praise God for the wonderful festival we've had; wonderful sermons; the finest I've ever seen. And our ministers here stayed right on the beam of preaching 'meat in due season.' The very thing and going into all of the details of this and that and how we should live to prepare for the Millennium; of what'll take place during the Millennium; what'll take place in government; what'll take place spiritually; what will take place even in the land, in the farming structure and things of that kind. And we've had a wonderful education; we have had wonderful spiritual lessons and sermons on Christian living and how to live to prepare ourselves. It's been a wonderful festival. There is unity such as we have never had. We're getting back on God's track and we're closer to God than ever before.
Well, it's a wonderful time, so I say to you, "Goodbye," until I see all of you again next year...some of those of you in England, very soon. And I hope that I can meet various groups of you, like in Chicago and Cincinnati and in other places where I expect to have meetings very soon; in the coming months, anyway. So I'll just say, until then, "Goodbye everybody."