Page 4108 - 1970S

Herbert W. Armstrong, began a cru–
sade not only to warn of a rapidly
approaching holocaust, but to speak
out about a coming new age of uni–
versal peace to be established by
Jesus at His return. Then carne the
Second World War which resulted
in the unparalleled extinction of un–
told millions of human beings. It
ushered in lhe age of potential
human annihilation when an Amer–
ican B-29 released its top-secret
payload over the Japanese city of
Hiroshima in August 1945. Mankind
had taken a giant leap forward
toward fulfilling what Jesus said in
Matthew 24:22: "And except those
days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved .... "
"But," Jesus continued, " for the
elect's sake those days shall be short–
ened." This is the positive part of the
message: Mankind will not be
allowed to destroy itself. Christ will
returnjust in time and inaugurateH is
Kingdom ofpeace and prosperity.
Feed My Flock
Jesus Christ knew that as the
ministry of His Church pro–
claiined this · exciting and dy–
namic message, many would
be convicted by it. His final
instructions to the apostles in–
cluded the provision that lhose who
did believe should be baptized and
taught "to observe all things what–
soever 1 have commanded you ... "
(Matt. 28:20). So, not only is each
minister charged with the responsi–
bility of carrying the gospel of the
Kingdom to the world, but also with
educating those God is calling in
how to live according to His holy,
righteous ways. To effectively ac–
complish this, God instituted a hier–
archy of responsibilities that would
enable people of diverse talents to
serve Him and help others. "Sorne ·
of us have been given special ability
as apostles" (Eph. 4:11, The Living
Bible), an administrative as well as
evangelistic office. The Worldwide
The PLAIN TRUTH August 1978
Church of God recognizes that
Herbert W. Armstrong has for many
years fulfilled that function in lhe
Church. "To others he has given the
gift of being able lo preach well ;
sorne have special ability in winning
people to Christ ... still others have
a gift for caring for God's people as
a shepherd does his sheep, leading
and teaching lhem in the ways of
God."
Rather than " lording it over
people," the purpose of the ministry
is to serve those who comprise the
Church or Body of Christ. It is a
position of service, nol of prestige.
The words of lhe New Testamenl
serve as a constant reminder of this
point: "Fellow e/ders [one of the
first-century titles for a minister],
this is my plea to you: Feed the
fiock of God; care for it willingly,
not grudgingly; not for what you
will get out of it, but because you
are eager to serve the Lord. Don't
be tyrants, but lead ihem by your
good example ..." (1 Peter 5:1-3,
The Living Bible). The New Testa–
ment is filled with admonitions to
the ministry to carefully guide,
teach and care for the Church.
Bul for what purpose? Why is
there so much emphasis on teaching
and training the congregation? Is it
just so they can successfully "retire"
to heaven or make life here and now
a little more bearable for them–
selves? The apos tle Paul explained
to the Christians living in and
around the Ionian city of Ephesus:
"Why is .it that he gives us [minis–
ters] these special abilities to do cer–
tain things best? It is lhat God's
people will be equipped todo better
work for him ... "(Eph. 4: 12).
Man's Ultlmate Destlny
But why? It is a foundational
precept of the Worldwide
Church of God that man
has been created for a great
purpose; a purpose few have ever
dreamed possible. The first chapters
of Genesis clearly show man was
created to rule: "Let us make man
in our image, after our likeness: and
let them have dominion [rule] over
lhe fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air , and over the cattle
... and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth" (Gen. 1:26,
28). But tiny planet Earth is just a
training ground , a preparatory
school for something far, far bigger;
something more awesome than the
human mind can fully comprehend.
It is the Crealor's express in–
tention to share rulership nol only
of this earlh with mankind, but
eventually the entirety of the uní–
verse. Salvalion isn't just immortal–
ity, wh ich in itself is priceless, but it
is also the exhilarating, joyous op–
portunity to share in the creative
powers of God, possibly carrying
His programs lO distant solar sys–
tems and galaxies. That's something
mortal humanity is incapable of ac–
complishing physically or spiritu–
ally. (For more information on
man's destiny write for the free
booklet Why Were You Born?)
However, before anyone is given
the gift of eterna! life (Rom. 6:23),
not to mention the gift of the awe–
some powers of God, God must
know these gifts will never be
abused or misused. Thus the need to
test mankind by g iving him
(through his limited inlellectual and
creative abilities) the opportunity to
learn the kinds of lessons that will
serve him for eternity. God de–
signed this great master plan to
move through successive stages,
each building upon the foundation
of the previous one. Down through
hist9ry He has taught and prepared
various groups of. individuals-the
patriarchs, kings , prophets, the
apostolic Church - to take their
place in that plan. Through this
plan al/ men everywhere and from
al/ times will someday be given the
opportunity to qualify as a son of
God.
Since each Christian will
37