Herbert W. Armstrong Audio Sermon Transcripts
The Church of God Faithful Flock brings you transcripts of sermons given by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.
United States of EUROPE IS COMING!
Sermon Date: November 27, 1982
Greetings, everybody. I just came back Monday night from a trip half way around the Earth and halfway back again. In other words, almost the farthest point away from Burbank Airport, where we garage our plane, to almost the farthest landing strip around the Earth from there that we can have. So it amounted to a trip around the world. And I am glad that Mr. Gene Hogberg gave you a run down on that trip last night, so I won't have to take the time today. It was a marvelous trip and very, very successful in every way. However, I have really a very serious and a very important announcement for you this afternoon.
We've been talking about giving thanks, and we've had Thanksgiving Day. And I remember when I was just newly converted or being converted. I don't know whether I'd even been baptized yet. But I was attending different churches. I was looking into the Truth for the first time in my life. (This is about 55 1/2 years ago now.) I was attending a certain Baptist church one Sunday, and they had had a contest going on. They gave an award for the one that could answer the question the best — of what is the most prevalent sin, the most often committed sin, the most widespread sin. I don't know how you would answer that question. I'm not sure I'd answer it even the same way. But, anyway, a young woman won the prize by saying that the most prevalent sin is ingratitude, failing to be thankful for what you have; and certainly it's a sin that just about everybody commits.
Now it happens that I sort of begin my prayers regularly by giving thanks. I'm not sure that's just the way it ought to be, but I don't think it's a wrong way. But Jesus gave us a sample prayer. I want to mention that. And He didn't say give thanks the first thing. He might have, because it certainly is right. But the sample prayer He gave was "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name," exalting the name of God. In a sense that is giving thanks; and giving thanks is hallowing God's name, because you are giving thanks to Him.
But the next thing He said to pray "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." Now, brethren, we should be praying for that: "THY KINGDOM COME." I have news for you. God's Kingdom is a lot nearer than we thought when I left on this trip.
I learned a number of things in Europe. In Europe I talked with heads of government, especially in Athens and in Spain. I had a very fine meeting with the king of Spain, King Juan Carlos, whom I had met eight years before when he was the Crown Prince; and he was very glad to see me again. And in fact, when he heard that I was coming, he personally gave orders that we were not to be questioned. We didn't need to show passports. Our whole party just walked off the plane, came through a VIP lounge into the cars that were waiting. No questions, no formalities, no anything. And the king personally asked me if they had taken care of his order. He was checking up on them, and they certainly did.
Well, I had a very enjoyable forty minutes with him. He's a man that dictator Franco had selected to succeed him. And, shortly after Franco died, he was made king; and is now the head of state in Spain. But both there and in Athens I learned that the very thing that I had been proclaiming for the last almost 50 years — that I put on the air up to 48, 49 years ago — is just about to happen, and very possibly within the coming year.
I want to tell you a little more about it, and that is the coming of the United States of Europe. Now, brethren, you've heard me mention that time and again. And I think that perhaps we don't realize what a pivotal thing that is in world history, and what it means to us especially. Well I can tell you now that the whole world is soon going to be ROCKED WITH ASTONISHMENT AND AMAZEMENT when they find that, possibly within a year now, there is a new super nation (a new super power, possibly greater than the Soviet Union or the United States) that has gone together in Europe: the prophesied resurrection of the so-called Medieval Holy Roman Empire — the United States of Europe.
Now, the very first issue of "The Plain Truth" was published in February 1934. It came out right on the 1st of February, l934. That is practically 49 years ago, just almost 49 years ago. I'd like to read you what I said. Now I wonder if you could see it on the screen? I think we have it; and you can see a copy of the front page of that issue of "The Plain Truth," and I believe they have it ready to show you on the screen. (Pause) Well, I don't know if you can see it very well or not. Anyway, I would like to read to you some of the things that were in that. I haven't read it myself for several years. I have seen it. I've seen copies of it. We have a number of copies around. It's been reprinted a number of times. I was rather astonished when I once again read what I had written there, very close to 50 years ago. In just a couple of months, three months, it'll be 49 years.
Well, the heading is: "Is a World Dictator About to Appear?"
"Will it be Mussolini, Stalin, or Roosevelt? (Now, Mussolini and FDR were both in office at that time. It continues:) Everybody senses that something is WRONG with the world...that some mighty event is about to occur (1). What is it? Bible prophecy tells! Here is a solemn warning...and it is the plain truth!
We live today in the most strenuous, anxious, momentous hours (2) of the earth's history.
Today we stand on the very threshold of colossal events that will stagger the mind of mortal man. Just now it is like the lull before a great and devastating storm. Everyone senses it!"
Then there was a subhead: "The Lust for World Power."
"Ever since the Pharaohs ruled in Egypt — on down thru ancient Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome — on to Napoleon, and then the Kaiser (And then to the time that I was writing, when Mussolini was in office.) — there has been a lust for power to rule the world. ...
It is commonly known today that Mussolini's whole aim is to restore the ancient Roman Empire (That is, the resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. Now, this is nearly 49 years ago that I wrote this.) in all of its former splendor, power and glory — and Rome ruled the world!"
Now, as a matter of fact, it was about that time that Mussolini proclaimed he had done that very thing. He had taken, along about that time, an expedition down to Ethiopia; and had conquered Ethiopia with his air forces. I had remarked at the time in many of the sermons I was preaching, and the broadcasts on the air, that this time in prophecy it said he would "pass over" whereas before his predecessor had passed through; and passing over meant in the air.
Anyway, he had conquered Ethiopia. He added that to Italian Somaliland (which he already had), and Eritrea, and Italy; and had made a concordant with the Vatican. So once again there's the union of church and state, although it wasn't a real union; but he proclaimed he had renewed the Roman Empire. Now I am going to read you, if I have time a little later, in the 8th verse of the 17th chapter of Revelation, that very thing. It was "the beast that was, and is not, and yet is" at that time.
Now continuing, I wrote: "Today Prime Minister MacDonald..." (He chuckles.) That's funny. That's before your time, most of you. But he was the Prime Minister of England at that time.
"...Prime Minister MacDonald of Great Britain and President Roosevelt are striving frantically to avert, or postpone, the impending next world war (World War II had not yet come. For the next world war...) — while the nations prepare even more feverishly for WAR!
Three or four short years ago many laughed and scoffed when we (3) said that there would be another world war in five to seven years. They do not laugh and scoff today. Everyone KNOWS the next world war is coming, and SOON."
And it did come in 1939, and this was written... I mean, wait a minute, 19 — . This was written in 1934; and world war came in 1939, just five years after I wrote that. So once again "The Plain Truth," even in its first issue, was way ahead of its time. It was predicting what was going to happen. People scoffed and said, "That's a crackpot. He doesn't know what he is talking about." But World War II did happen. It did come.
Now, however, the reunion of Europe: Mussolini didn't have a real reunion of Europe, and what he had didn't last. It was just that (as you read in the 8th verse of the 17th chapter of Revelation) which was, and was not, and yet it was. And the announcement was on the inside of newspapers at the time. It didn't even make page one. It was not considered a great world event, but it did fulfill a prophecy nonetheless.
But now, why the delay? I have known for years (and you have heard me proclaim again, and again, and again) that the United States of Europe is coming. They are going to unite — ten nations in Europe; and the Vatican will be on top of the heap. Why has it not happened? Forty-nine years have gone by. At last I can tell you that it is. All the pieces are falling into place now, all of a sudden.
Well, in Europe there are many nations. They speak different languages. They are divided by various languages. They are divided by different national aspirations, and national patriotisms, and by different currencies. They have the German mark, the French franc, the English pound, and the lira in Italy, and the peso (or whatever it is) in Spain. They have different kinds of currency, different kinds of money.
Now they have gotten together in an economic system. That's been going on now for a good many years — the EEC, or the European Economic Community. But that is only something that knocks down tariff barriers for the international trade among the nations of Europe. Now what they want is political union. What they want is one military force. What they want is one great world power; and, actually, they are right on the borderline of the Soviet Union.
Now, we are a long ways from Russia; and we are fearing the Soviet Union. The two great powers in the world are the Soviet Union and the United States — the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic and the United States; and we are really fearing Russia. Let me say right here: I know of no prophecy in the Bible that speaks specifically of any war between Russia and the United States; and I have been saying for years and years that is not the way that World War III will come.
However, let me say that the resurrection of this so-called Holy Roman Empire that existed from 554 on to 1814 in Europe WILL TRIGGER World War III — the nuclear World War III that is going to DESTROY OUR MAJOR CITIES. I MEAN DESTROY THEM! One third of our people are going to be killed. Another third are going to die of famine and pestilence, according to Ezekiel's prophecies. And the third remaining are going to be taken as slaves into other nations and moved out of this country.
Now this thing coming is going to IMMEDIATELY TRIGGER all of that. I don't know, maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, brethren. But, I want to tell you, it had better; because now it's really going to happen, and soon. We are getting very, very close to it.
Now, they have even been divided in religion. The Roman Catholic Church was on top of the heap from 1954. Actually the old Roman Empire had succeeded the Greco-Macedonian Empire, which had succeeded the Persian Empire, which had succeeded the ancient Babylonian or the Chaldean Empire that goes back to 604 BC — 604-585 BC, the first world empire. God had given Nebuchadnezzar, who had put that empire together, a message that GOD had given him his seat, and power, and authority. And through the prophet Daniel, God had told Nebuchadnezzar that He ruled everything; and He had given Nebuchadnezzar, the gentile king, a chance and an opportunity to yield to God and to let God really rule him and his empire.
I don't know what might have happened if Nebuchadnezzar had done it. But Nebuchadnezzar did not do it; and, as a result, the empire was taken away from him. He was sent off for seven years, and he became like a wild man. Later his kingdom was restored to him. But his son denied God, and you remember there was the handwriting on the wall. His son, Belshazzar, in that very night the empire was overthrown... Darius the Mede came in and took it over. Then began the "times of the Gentiles." And Jerusalem has been "trodden down of the Gentiles" ever since, except that Judah is back over there for a time now.
Now, in 554... Well, the Roman Empire actually started before the Greco-Macedonian Empire had been swallowed up. It really started in 31 BC. But by before-the-time-of-Christ the Roman Empire was really ruling, you might say, the world. And in the days of the New Testament and the apostle Paul (the book of Acts), the Roman Empire was ruling. That lasted from 31 BC until 476 AD.
Then, it wasn't very much later, from 476 till 554... But in 554 Justinian, who was the emperor in the East at Constantinople... (Constantinople has been changed now to Istanbul. I have been there a couple of times, and it's the large capital in the East.) And it was the capital of the Empire in the East. (4) Now the Roman Empire had two capitals — one at Constantinople in the East, one at Rome in the West. That is pictured by the great image in the 2nd chapter of Daniel, the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had that the prophet Daniel interpreted for him. The two legs of that image were the Roman Empire; and it was the divided Empire, both East and West.
Now, in time sequence, it came clear down to the feet and toes. And it says... Let me just read that to you for a second. It's back here in Daniel, 2nd chapter and verse 44, just the tail end — after Daniel had explained this dream to the gentile king, Nebuchadnezzar. And he saw a great stone, not in human hands but as a miracle from God, come down out of the sky and smite the image on the feet and toes (on the ten toes) and destroy them. Those ten toes are the ten divisions of ten nations that are going to form the United States of Europe now, that is coming together right now; and here's what you read. Verse 44:
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings (Now, half of them were in Eastern Europe and half in West. That's the thing I want you to notice.) ... the God of heaven (shall) set up a kingdom which shall... not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces ad consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
That'll be the Kingdom of God. In other words, it is the time of the second coming of Christ; and, brethren, we are getting just that close to it. Now, for the first time, I can tell you that. I've never been able to tell you that before. I can't say now that this is going to go...the pieces will all fall together, and it will actually come into being within a year; but it very possibly may. And there are reasons to believe that the Vatican is setting next year as the year. They are setting next year as a certain year of reunification in Europe, and the whole Catholic Church is proclaiming that.
Well, I want to go on a little bit further. Now even the religion has been divided. We have had the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church and, of course, the Roman Catholic Church in Rome; and the religion has continued to be divided down to now. Now many of the political leaders, while they want a political union in Europe, they have all these things to overcome — the various languages, different nationalities, different patriotisms, everything of that kind; but then the religion is divided. Now many of the leaders, the political leaders over there, don't want religion to have anything to do with it. They'd rather religion would stay out, but they cannot bring themselves together. And the Pope of Rome knows that, and he made that very plain in his recent trip to Spain.
I didn't discuss that part of it, I purposely didn't, when I was talking with King Juan Carlos; but nevertheless we have a report on everything that the Pope said recorded in the press. Now the Eastern Orthodox Church has refused to go together with the Roman Church because the primary thing is they have rejected the papal supremacy. They have rejected the idea that the Pope has got to sit on top of the heap.
And so now I would like to show you what we learned on this trip. I arrived in Athens. I had come up from South Africa and from Nairobi. And in Nairobi I had started a college with President Kenyata, back a little over six years ago; and we had made a certain small contribution through the Ambassador Foundation. And then those congressmen in the Diet of Japan who consider themselves my Japanese sons, as they call themselves... There were eight originally, and now there are about fifteen who call themselves my Japanese sons; we have a lot of fun about that. But they got busy in the Japanese Diet and appropriated about 29 million United States dollars, or the equivalent in Japanese yen, for that college.
And now it is the Jomo Kenyata College of Agriculture and Technology. And they built quite a college there. With 29 million dollars, they've been able to build quite a college. And they gave me quite a plaque, all carved in copper, as co-founder with President Kenyata of that college. And it is quite a plant; they have many buildings, all new. They are not quite of the caliber of the buildings that we have here on the Ambassador College Campus, but they are new. They are ultra modern. They are very good. They are less costly in construction. But they have a auditorium; they have an administration building; they have a big science hall; they have a big home ec hall for women. They have greenhouses with all kinds of plants and things growing, because it is an agricultural college as well as mechanical. And they even have an athletic track, and they have many things. I was given quite a welcome there and presented with, as I said, quite a plaque.
Now, I came on up to Athens. It was I think about a day before I arrived that the what-is-called, I think they call it, the European Parliament had had a meeting in Athens. Now the European Parliament is not official. But it's a body that has been elected, of leaders in Europe that are working for political union of Europe, trying to turn the Common Market (which is only economic in a matter of trade) into something that is political, monetary, military, everything as a super nation. They had had a meeting in Athens. And Mr. LaRavia had flown over and had arrived I think about two days before I, in Athens. And he attended this meeting, which occurred before I arrived.
Now here's what he wrote me about it, that I could use to give you and for The Plain Truth. This is the information and statements made by the Rotary president. And, by the way, I gave an address to the Rotary Club in Athens; and I found that the president that he speaks of here, who is, let's see... Well, anyhow, there were two very prominent men. Both had been reading The Plain Truth for a long time. And one of them is head of the big shipping concern over there that have freight ships going up and down the Mediterranean. It is quite a big concern. And the other one is head of the Olympiad Airlines, the National Airlines of Greece. And both of them have been reading The Plain Truth for some time.
So now let me read Mr. LaRavia's report. This is information and a statement made by the Rotary president: "Constantine R. Rengus, (Mr. LaRavia, if I mispronounce it, pardon me.) President, Hellenic Mediterranean Shipping Lines concerning the reunification of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church."
Now, by the way, let me interrupt right there and say the last time I was in Jerusalem, the Patriarch of the Eastern Church at Jerusalem came to see me in my hotel suite. And he gave me what he considered the highest prize he could give, which was the cross of Constantine — Constantine the Great — which dates back to 325 AD, 325 years after Christ. And Constantine is the one you know who called the Nicene Council, and who practically dictated a lot of the doctrines of the Catholic Church. Constantine was the ruler of the empire at Constantinople, and Constantinople was named after him.
Well this cross, it is quite a good sized cross, it was hanging on my.... I think it is supposed to hang around your neck and hang down in front, and it would really show. It was of gold and quite decorative solid gold. And I was the 129th person to receive that award since 325 AD. So they consider it a very high honor because very few have ever received it. Anyway, I asked the Patriarch of the Eastern Church... He is the Patriarch at Jerusalem. He considers he's probably the highest man in the church, but I think generally the one at Athens is considered the highest. Nevertheless I asked him, "Do you think that there will be an Ecumenical movement so that the Eastern and the Roman Church will go together and be rejoined?" And the answer was, "We are praying for it."
Now here's what I learned on this trip, which I had never known before; and I think this is a banner headline news story.
The disagreement on the giving of the Holy Spirit (that's been a problem with them) has been resolved. The issue had been this: The Roman Catholic Church dogma concerning the Holy Spirit states that the Holy Spirit is given by both God and Jesus Christ. The Eastern Orthodox Church contended that the Holy Spirit is only given by God the Father.
The Roman Catholic Church was willing to concede on this. Now the Roman Church conceded on that. Well, there was a little trade made. Now second:
The issue as to who will head the united church has already been resolved.
Now, that was news to me. The Eastern Orthodox Church has already agreed to accept a secondary position for the Patriarch (That's of the Eastern Church.) in deference to the Pope, so that the Pope will be on top of the heap, just as the Bible says exactly.
We only want (This is a quote. "We only want...") to have our input and impact. The Pope will be the leader of the combined churches.
Now third:
The only disagreement that remains to be resolved is the infallibility of the Pope. "We can't buy that," they say in the East. "He is only a human being."
Well, let me say that it is my understanding that the Pope does not claim to be anything but a fallible human being. And their contention is that he does not claim to speak infallibly. Only when he speaks officially for the church,and he makes it known that it's like an encyclical, or an official, pronouncement. And he does not make, apparently, such an official announcement without having consulted the heads of the Curia in Rome. And now they are the chief of course — the, the, oh the top men (I have that name in my mind. I don't know why words and names stick on my mind.) — Cardinals, that wear the red beanies on their back you know. Well, that's what they seem to me. Anyway, the chief Cardinal, which is the highest office next to Pope.
It's something like in our Church. We have a number of the highest people here, in office next to Pastor General, are the evangelists. And we have a certain number of evangelists here at Headquarters. Now on the Advisory Council of Elders I have a number of the evangelists who are resident here in Pasadena. There are other evangelists that are resident in other parts of the world (England, and well I guess Canada, and other places) that would qualify perfectly to be on the Advisory Council; but they are just not as convenient, they are not handy.
We don't have a Curia however, but the Roman Catholic Church does. So my understanding is that the Pope does not speak infallibly — that is, to claim infallibility — except when he has checked it with his Curia. And I think that Rome will now make the concession that they will also listen to the top Greek officials before he makes any such pronouncements. But that won't be much of a give and take for him; and I am quite sure that'll be done, and I think it will be done very quickly.
Now something else has happened on this trip that is putting all these things right together. It's all of a sudden going together. And that is that, while I was in South Africa and I was having a meeting that night at the home of Dr. McCarthy; and they announced... (It sort of startled me, because I couldn't get my mind on much of anything else for that evening, because I could realize the very importance of it.) President Brezhnev of the Soviet Union had died, and we just got the news. They had held it up 24 hours; and this was just 24 hours later, when they made the announcement that day. And someone got the news there and told me that night.
Well, Brezhnev is gone; and Andropov, former head of their...well, the same thing as our not Secret Service but FBI; and he's been a real tough guy, as they say. He is now President and has taken over everything that Brezhnev had, and he is starting out in a very tough manner. His speeches are very tough.
Now one of the great things that is urging Europe on, and perhaps the greatest thing that will cause them to hurry and get together on this, is their fear of what's going on in the Kremlin and the Soviet Union. And Andropov is frightening them, and that is going to rush them. They are losing confidence in the United States as having a military umbrella over them to protect them, and they want their own military force to protect themselves. That's the way they feel over there. Now that is a chief incentive to unite them and that is taking place.
Furthermore, while the Pope was in Rome... I don't mean Rome. I mean in Spain. The Pope just recently, just a short time before I was there, had made a tour of Spain; and it was a terrific tour. It's the first time that any Pope has ever visited Spain; and yet Spain is the most Catholic of all the Catholic countries, and was just 100% Catholic under... Oh, there again I had his name. I've mentioned it already. I can't think of it again now. The dictator that just died recently... (Franco.) Anyway this whole United States of Europe, when it goes together, is going to trigger nuclear World War III.
Now let me tell you what else it's going to do. It's going to END OUR WORK! OUR WORK WILL BE THROUGH of getting the gospel to the world. That is, very shortly after it goes into force and effect; because they will move in such a way that it will end it. And then I'll tell you what will happen. As you read here in Amos, the 8th chapter and verse 11 of Amos.
Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, ... but of hearing the word of the LORD.
In other words, the gospel has not been preached for 1900 years. It didn't go to the world until I went on Radio Luxemburg, the first week in January of 1953 — exactly one century of time cycles from the time the apostle Paul wrote to the Churches in Galatia that the gospel had been suppressed and was not being proclaimed any longer. Now I want to read you some of the things about that. Matthew 24. The disciples had asked Jesus:
Matthew 24:3 Tell us, when shall these be? (He'd been talking about the destruction of the temple, which did happen in 70AD.) and (something else) what will be the sign thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Now He went on to tell them that they should not be deceived, that many would come preaching about Him, coming claiming to be His ministers, come in His name, saying that Jesus is the Christ — and yet deceiving the world. How can they teach Christ and deceive people? How can they believe in Christ? How can they accept Christ, and still be deceived and lost? Well, Jesus said: "In vain do they worship me." You can even worship Christ all in vain. How? He said "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" making the Law of God and the Commandments of God "of no effect by your tradition." They will not accept the commandments of God (neither the Protestant nor the Catholic Church).
A very prominent Cardinal of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Gibbons... This goes back about 60 or 70 years ago, but I remember it very well. He said, "You may search the Bible from beginning to end, and you cannot find one word authorizing Sunday worship. Everywhere the Bible enforces the Sabbath, Saturday. The only authority you have for Sunday is the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. And you Protestants are bowing down to us — the Roman Catholic Church — and accepting our authority every Sunday morning." It is. Sunday is the mark of the beast; and the Sabbath is the sign of God. And God made it a Sabbath Covenant for all eternity! (The 31st chapter of Exodus, verses 12 through 18.)
Now then, Jesus said many would come deceiving, preaching in His name; and they did, and they have up till now. They have not preached the gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel He preached. And finally, He got down to their second question about the sign of His coming. And He said:
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and THEN shall the end come.
Brethren, I wanted you to realize that Gospel was not preached for one thousand nine hundred years. Now, nineteen years is a time cycle. The sun, and the moon, and the Earth are set in conjunction to set off spaces of time. One revolution of the Earth measured by the sun is a 24-hour day. One revolution of the moon around the Earth is a lunar month. One revolution of the Earth around the sun is a solar year. So you see: the sun, the moon, and the Earth mark off days, months, and years — time. And they only come into conjunction exactly every nineteen years. So nineteen years is a time cycle.
God does things on time. And precisely a century of time cycles after the gospel was suppressed and not preached to the world, God raised up this Church to preach it through me — through the most powerful radio station in the world, Radio Luxemburg. And for nineteen years, and beginning precisely nineteen years before that...
Matthew 24:22 (Moffatt) And except those days (should) be shortened, there should no flesh be saved alive.
In other words, humanity would be ERASED. There wouldn't be a MAN, WOMAN OR CHILD LEFT ALIVE IF GOD DIDN'T SUPERNATURALLY INTERVENE TO STOP IT BEFORE IT GOES THAT FAR. Now it's going to start, but it just isn't going to go that far. God will stop it before it gets that far.
You know it did happen once that God blotted out ALL the lives except eight on the Earth, by a flood in Noah's day. Jesus said, "as it was in the time of Noah, so will it be" in the days just before His Second Coming. Just before His Second Coming.
Now let's go on a little further. "But (He said) for the elect's sake." Brethren, that is you and the rest of our brethren around the world in the Church of God. "For the elect's sake those days shall be shortened," before it's too late, before all humanity is destroyed. It got down to eight people in Noah's day. I think it will not get down to that small a number this time; but a great many million, millions and hundreds of millions of people, that are now living are going to be killed in the next few year's brethren.
You are right on the threshold of things! I don't know. I think sometimes we sit there and think: "Ah, that was a nice sermon Mr. Armstrong preached. I was entertained by it." Well, I think you had better be STARTLED BY IT because the end of our Work is at hand. And the end of this life is about at hand. Things are going to happen that are going to SHAKE YOU UP, brethren, and shake the whole world in a way it's never been shaken before. Now, dropping down to verse 29, same chapter.
Matthew 24:29-30 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, and the powers of the heavens (which means Satan and his demons) shall be shaken: (30) And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and... all the tribes of the earth shall mourn (That's all of the nations.), and shall see the Son of man (Jesus Christ) coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (in all the supernatural power of the great God, to take over this Earth and to rule).
That's what we celebrated on the Day of Atonement. I wonder if we just think that we celebrate these annual holy days just as sort of a custom. It doesn't mean anything. You know, they are looking forward to the greatest event that is going to just, well, stagger this world beyond words. I don't know how to put it in a way to... Sometimes I think I need to shake everybody up and make us realize the seriousness of these things, and I just feel like I am totally unable. I just don't have the power to do it.
I read in the Bible how people have been just so nonchalant, and they're just not interested. Just like in Thanksgiving Day, they were just interested in football and turkey and things like that, not interested in what they should be. But that means the Second Coming of Christ.
Now to see what this thing in Europe is going to trigger. I say it will trigger World War III. Well, let's go on. Let me prove that now. Let me go on and show you a little bit more. The 13th chapter of Revelation, let's get back to that now. John is telling what he saw in his vision here in the book of Revelation in chapter 13 verse 1.
Revelation 13:1 And I stood on the sand of the sea(shore) and (I) saw a beast...
Now he takes a wild animal, and this wild animal is only a type of a great nation. And he uses the kind of animal whose nature typifies the nature of the nation, or the empire, that it's talking about.
Revelation 13:1-2 ...and (he) saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, (Now they were not on the heads, but on the horns.) and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. (2) And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard (Now, it wasn't a leopard. A leopard is cat like, and the cat is a very quick animal. It moves quickly and gracefully.), and his feet were as the feet of a bear (That is the preponderant part of a bear, its feet.), and his mouth as the mouth of a lion (That's the strongest part, especially of a male lion — the mouth — and even a female lion. They catch their prey. They break its neck, or they snap it; and they kill it with the mouth.): and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Now Revelation 12 and verse 9. The dragon is "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan." (5) And it identifies it right just ahead of this, in chapter 12 and verse 9.
Revelation 13:2 The dragon gave him his power, and seat, and great authority.
Now Satan is sitting on the throne of the Earth. And this is Satan's world, not God's world; and it is Satan. Now God gave Nebuchadnezzar his seat. Nebuchadnezzar did not take it. But Satan has given that seat to those in the times of the Gentiles, ever since Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall and his kingdom was taken that night. Satan has given the power, and seat, and great authority; and they have served... Well, he is the god of the world. He appears as an angel of light. And deceived people don't know they are deceived.
Brethren, I don't say this thing to accuse. I don't say it because I am angryat the people of the so-called beast, or beast power, or the person. And maybe I already know in person, somewhat intimately, the one who will be that beast. If so, I feel sorry for him; and I don't accuse him of anything, because he believes he is right. He's sincere, and we need to realize that. God has not called us to sit in judgment. Christ is the Judge. Let us be thankful God has opened our eyes, our minds, and called us out. "Come out from among them (in this world) and be separate." The world is deceived, but there is a lot of good in this world.
You know the people in this world, they have their professional ethics. They are people of what they call high morals, of high standards, good standards. Oh, yes, they think they are right; and yet they don't have God's Spirit. They don't have the love of God. It isn't their fault. They don't know any better. We're not to sit in judgment of them. We're not to hate them. We're not their enemies. They are not our... Well, I hope they are not our enemies anyhow.
Revelation 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death (That's the last head, the Roman Empire.); and his deadly wound was healed: (That was in 554. As I just told you, the Holy Roman Empire.) and all the world wondered after the beast.
You have to go back to Daniel 7 to learn what is meant by the symbol "beast." In Daniel 7, Daniel saw four beasts. The first was like a lion, the second like a bear, the third was a leopard. It had four heads. And the last one had the sort of a combination of all of those first three (6), but different from all of them; and it had one head, but it had ten horns. So there you have the seven heads and ten horns and so on.
Now it said that they are kings, or kingdoms, or empires. The beasts then are kings or kingdoms, as you read in Daniel 7. Also it says in Daniel 7 (I won't take time to go back and read all of that.), the saints are finally going to take the kingdom and rule the kingdom forever. But the gentile empires — from the Chaldean Empire, on down through the Roman Empire, and to this coming reunion in Europe — it's finally going to be taken over by the saints; and we will rule under Christ forever.
Now, I read to you from Daniel 2:44; and in Daniel 2 you find who those empires are. The one — the lion, the head — was the same as the head of the image; and that was Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldean Empire. The bear then is the Persian Empire. The leopard was the Greco-Macedonian Empire, divided into four divisions for its four heads. And the other, strong as iron, was the Roman Empire. Now it had ten horns; and each of those horns became another head, as you find in the 7th chapter of Daniel.
Now then, I want to go back to the 17th chapter of Revelation. The 17th chapter of Revelation, and notice the first six verses.
Revelation 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials...
Now these are the seven last plagues poured out at the time of Christ's coming. Remember I am reading you what John saw in a vision, and what he saw in a vision is just before the coming of Christ. And so the seven angels having the seven vials that are poured out are plagues poured out on the very time of the coming of Christ.
Revelation 17:1 ...and he talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore (That is, God's doing the judging, or Christ is doing the judging, on a great whore, a fallen woman.) that sitteth upon many waters.
Now she sits "on many waters." And down here in verse... Let me see, verse ten? Verse nine I guess it is. I've got so many marks on here, I can't even read it. "The seven heads are seven mountains." No, it's another place. Oh, here:
Revelation 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and (languages or)tongues.
In other words, many nations speaking many different languages. In other words, Europe. Same thing, all just what I've been telling you about. See "the great whore that sitteth on many waters," that is many nations speaking different languages. "With whom the kings of the earth," those who have committed fornication. They claim to be the Church. The Church is supposed to be the affianced bride of Christ. But she didn't wait to be married to Christ at His Second Coming. She was married to the kings of this world.
Now the Pope's name, he's called the Vicar of Christ. I wonder if you know what Vicar means. Look it up in the dictionary. Vicar of Christ means in place of Christ. It doesn't mean a representative of Christ. It means one who has just shoved Christ aside, and knocked Him out of the way, and taken over. One who said, "Christ, get out of here! I am taking over for You. I am running it now." IN PLACE OF CHRIST. The Roman Catholic Church has claimed that the Kingdom of God IS the Roman Catholic Church, that the Pope IS in the place of Christ, (that) the Second Coming of Christ has occurred, (and) he is ruling the nations of the world. And they ruled for 1260 years the nations of Europe, and they call it the HOLY Roman Empire. That's why the Bible speaks of her in such terms of rottenness, of filthiness. Let me go on and read it to you.
Revelation 17:3-5 I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast (Now the beast is the civil government, the political government. The woman is a church. A "beast..."), full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. (4) And the woman was arrayed in purple (That is the color of royalty.) and scarlet (The color of a harlot, or a whore. "And scarlet...") color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand (A woman is always the symbol of a church. A civil government is spoken of in a masculine gender in symbol in the Bible. "...in her hand") full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. (5) And upon her forehead (the church's forehead) was a name written, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS...
In other words, the Babylonian MYSTERY religion, the ancient PAGAN "BABYLONIAN MYSTERY RELIGION" — now called, falsely, "Christianity" and claiming to be the original Church. And notice that: THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS who came out of her protesting and calling themselves "Protestant," in protest. And God calls them "harlots," brethren. Now, they are deceived. They don't know it. I am not calling them names. I am reading you what God says. It is God who is doing. God has a right to call them names if He wants to. I am not doing it.
Revelation 17:5 ...HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
This thing is FILTHY in God's sight, and yet we've come up among some of that. WE'VE BELIEVED A LOT OF THAT; and Christ has said COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE. Christ has called His Church out from among all of that — to be separate, brethren; and we have to live a different kind of life.
Revelation 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints.
You know that she called them... If they kept the Sabbath instead of Sunday, they were declared "heretic," or "anathema from Christ." Now the accusation "anathema from Christ" made by the church was considered a capital crime by the government. And the government, the political state, put them to death; and they were martyred. And the woman is drunken on the blood of the saints. The woman says, "Oh, I never killed anybody. Oh, no, we didn't put anyone to death. No, we just pronounced them 'anathema from Christ.' It is the government; the government put them to death." But the woman sat on top of the beast.
A woman riding a horse is weaker. The horse is much stronger. It carries her, but she makes it go! You know, "gee" or "haw," turning right or left. And she controls it, and guides it — which way it goes, and what it does. And that's exactly what happened, a woman riding a beast.
Revelation 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Now we come down to verse eight.
Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not...
I have to get the time of this prophecy. At what time was John seeing in his vision? And I think it was right around the year of 1934. And that's about the time Mussolini claimed that he had revived the so-called Holy Roman Empire. As I say, I don't think it even made front-page headlines; but I saw it, and I announced it on the air at the time myself.
Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit (You see, it's to come out, one more head yet.), and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall WONDER (when they behold), whose names (that is that) were not written in the book...
All (except those in the Church) that are going to look on with absolute dumbfounded wonder when they see this United States of Europe rise up.
Now, undoubtedly, Greece will be in. The Pope is going back to Poland in just a few months, and they are declaring this coming year a certain year of rejuvenation of Europe. And I know that they are planning to try to put it over in this coming year. They're really. They know they've got to work fast now. And it's going to go to pieces, fit in pieces (not "to pieces") very, very soon.
Now let me show you a little bit of the final, the end of it. The ten horns, in verse twelve, I want.
Revelation 17:12 ...the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
The beast will be over the ten nations. Each nation will have a king on its throne. It may be five in Western Europe, five in Eastern Europe. Poland may brake away. Czechoslovakia would like to. I am pretty sure that Romania would. I've been there three times. And I've had even the top people from Romania, right near the top of the government, as our guest here in Pasadena. And they say, "We are communist, but we certainly are not Moscow communists." And they would like to cut loose from Moscow. And also so would the former nation of Tito, or Yugoslavia.
Now Yugoslavia seems to be hanging together. It's really several nations put together. And I thought they might split after Tito died, but they seem to be holding; and I think that they might come in. Undoubtedly, Greece will come in. The people I saw in Athens are very anxious to come into this. And, strangely enough, even the United States' politicians want this thing to go through in Europe. They are all for it. But now notice this:
Revelation 17:13-14 These have one mind, and shall give their power and (their) strength unto the beast (That's in the military power of their nations.), (14) and these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings...
That means the Second Coming of Christ! THEY WILL FIGHT AGAINST CHRIST WHEN HE COMES. That gets you down to the very time just before the Second Coming of Christ. (Now, I'm afraid I am going to have to take a little extra time. I've still got a little time, and hopefully I can get this without going over time.)
But now next, I want to show you what connection that has with the Great Tribulation, and with the United States, and with us. Isaiah 47 now. Back in Isaiah 47 and beginning in verse one. Now, let me see. I want the first seven verses
Isaiah 47:1-7 Come down (This is a prophecy. "Come down..."), and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon...
Now remember the ancient Babylon was always a "he," masculine gender, under King Nebuchadnezzar 604 years before Christ, down to 554 BC. That was in the masculine gender. But this is a DAUGHTER of that Babylon. This is a CHURCH. Remember the "her" is always a church.
Isaiah 47:1-6 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: (A church that has been riding on top of governments speaking different languages. This ties right in with what I just read you in the book of Revelation): for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate (in female terms). (2)Take the millstones, and grind meal; uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. (3)Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen; (and) I will take vengeance (That's God speaking. "I will take vengeance..."), and I will not meet thee as a man. (That is, God won't meet as a man.) (4) As for our redeemer, the (Eternal) of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel (meaning Christ). (5) Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, the lady of kingdoms. (A church riding over governments, "the lady of kingdoms." God says:) (6) I was wroth with my people.
His people are Israel, and we are Israel. And you have to know 'who is Israel' and 'who is Judah' to understand this. "I was wroth with My people."
Isaiah 47:6-7 I have polluted mine inheritance (which is Israel), and given them into thine hand (This church riding over the kingdoms. "And given them into thine hand."): thou did show them no mercy (Now notice that — "Thou did show them no mercy."): upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. (Notice: that yoke is going to be on our people by this very UNITED EUROPE.) (7) And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever (This is the daughter of Babylon.): so that thou didst not lay these things to (thy) heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
Now there is a great deal more to the prophecy, and I'm just cutting it short to give you the general meat of it as quickly as possible. It's addressed to the house of Israel. The next chapter starts out, "Hear this, O ye house of Israel" (7) and so on. Now this message, all the way through, is to the house of Israel — which is Britain, and the United States, and the English-speaking people.
Now, next I would like to go to Jeremiah thirty and beginning with verse three. (8)
Jeremiah 30:3 For, lo, the days come, saith the (Eternal), that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah.
For example, the Israelis are really "Judah" and not "Israel." There are more Jews in New York City than there are in Palestine, or in the country called Israel; and there are almost as many out here in Los Angeles. There are a great many Jews in Los Angeles. And, for some reason, the Los Angeles Jews are... They misunderstand us, and they have been against us; and I wish they weren't. I wish they knew how we've cooperated with their own people over in the nation Israel, and what friends we have with them over there.
Jeremiah 30:3-7 For lo, the days come ... when I will bring the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the (Eternal of hosts) ...I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers (That's back in Palestine.), and they shall possess it. (Now that's after the Second Coming of Christ) (4) And these are the words that the (Eternal) spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. (Showing that they are two different peoples altogether, because they were divided.) (5) For thus saith the (Eternal): We have heard a voice of trembling, (and) of fear, and not of peace. (6) Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? (7) Alas! For that day is great, so that there is none like it:
In other words, there can only be one time so great and so terrible that nothing's ever been like it before or ever will again. It's the Great Tribulation!
Jeremiah 30:7 ...so that none is like it: ...even the time of Jacob's trouble.
Now "Jacob" means "Israel" (not Judah in this case), because the dying Jacob crossed his hands on the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, and said "Let my name Jacob be named on them." So we have that name Jacob, not Judah.
Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it...the day of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (He'll get into it, but be saved out of it after he gets into it; but it's going to be terrible.) (8) For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the (Eternal) of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck (Remember I said that Babylon, the daughter of the ancient Babylon, will have a yokeon us. And here it is again. "From off thy neck."), and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: (9) But they shall serve the (Eternal) their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
That is, in the resurrection at the coming of Christ. David is to be resurrected and is to be king over all of the nations that come from the twelve tribes of Israel. That includes the United States, the Israelis, Britain, France, Holland, Sweden, Norway, all of these countries. And David will be resurrected and be king over us.
Now the next scripture that I want to read is Jeremiah 50, and the first four verses.
Jeremiah 50:1-3 The word that the (Eternal) spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. (Now let's see. I want the first four verses.) (2) Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. (3) For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her...
Now this is against Babylon. And this is speaking of the Communist countries finally coming against what-you-would-call Catholic Europe. And Russia is to the north, and they are to the south. "Out of the north there cometh up a nation against her."
Jeremiah 50:3-6 ...which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: (and) they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. (4) In those days, and in that time, saith the (Eternal), the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the (Eternal) their God. (5) They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the (Eternal) in a perpetual covenant... (That's the new covenant, and then it goes on to say:) (6) My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray (the ministers), they have turned them away on the mountains (the various nations, it means here);they have gone from mountain to hill, and they have forgotten their resting place.
Then is says, beginning with verse 8: "Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks."
To Israel, God says a lot of those things; and there is a lot more here. But it shows that He is talking about the time just before the Second Coming of Christ, and going into that time. Our people are going to be taken slaves, the third that are left alive. Now in all of our dwelling places, our cities are going to be destroyed. That is in Ezekiel. Well, let me see. I think I have that all marked out here to read that. Here it is in Ezekiel six and verses six and seven. (9)
Ezekiel 6:6-7 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste... (Again, in verse seven. (9)) (7) And the slain shall fall in the midst of you (And this is to the house of Israel, not to Judah. This is to the United States and Britain, and our people, and our nations. If you don't know that, you can't understand it.), and the slain shall fall in the midst of (before) you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Now that expression, "you shall know that I am the Lord" or the Eternal, is one that occurs several times in Ezekiel's prophecy. Always it refers to the Second Coming of Christ. They did not know He is the Eternal. They will know it, when He comes a second time. And that is mentioned a good many times there. Well, that is repeated here just a few verses later. Let me see. It's over in the twelfth chapter and verse twenty.
Ezekiel 12:20 And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the (Eternal).
That's the Second Coming of Christ. These are things that'll happen just before the coming of Christ; and then He is going to take us, those that are left alive of our people, back.
Now then, you also have to read in the third chapter of Revelation, speaking of the Philadelphia era of the Church. We are going to be taken to a place of safety, or to a place of protection, during this time. I don't know how to make anything else out of it. And that's in two different places in the Bible — that we, and again the twelve chapter of Revelation, we are to fly into a place where it is prepared. Now how God is going to do that, how He is going to bring it, we just have to trust Him in faith to open our minds to understand it when the time comes. And I think it is now going to come very, very soon.
Well, brethren, I have been preaching this now for the last forty-eight or forty-nine years. That's before a great many... I'd say half of you have been born since that time. And now it's all coming to pass, and it is reality. It's going to come very soon. You can laugh it off. You can go off and say, "Well, I think that we've called Mr. Armstrong 'God's Apostle.' I guess he's just a crackpot." if you want to. Or you can heed and be protected.
Now let me tell you what else is going to happen, and this is one thing that has been seen in Rome very lately. Tags — giving the days of the week; and showing that the seventh day of the week is Sunday, and that Monday is the first day of the week, and that Saturday is the sixth day of the week. Do you get the significance of that, brethren? They've been trying to change the calendar in Europe for the past twenty, thirty, forty years. They haven't changed it yet. The new United States of Europe will do it!
There is one commandment that is the test commandment. I want to tell you, the people of the world and of Protestantism and of Catholicism, they will admit that we shouldn't have other gods before the true God, the first commandment. They will admit that we should not make images (I don't know if the Catholic Church will or not; but the Protestants, most of them will.) of God. That we shouldn't take His name in vain. They will admit that we should honor our parents. They will admit that we shouldn't commit adultery. That we shouldn't lie. We shouldn't steal. It's wrong to steal. Murder is wrong. Oh, yes, we have human laws against those things, against stealing and murder especially. And, of course, lying. Sometimes if you lie in court, and it's called perjury, why you can be held in contempt of court and get fined. Of course, it's done all the time anyway. And it's wrong to covet. But they won't admit that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and that it is holy to God, and we are commanded to keep it holy.
There is ONE COMMANDMENT THEY WILLNOT ACCEPT. THAT IS GOD'S TEST COMMANDMENT! And it's going to be a test for us. And the mark of the beast is soon going to be ENFORCED. AND YOU'RE GOING TO FIND THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HAVE A JOB. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BUY ANYTHING. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RECEIVE ANY MONEY unless you turn back to SUNDAY. BRETHREN, I TELL YOU, THAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE VERY NEXT FEW YEARS. And it may happen by next year or the year after. The mark of the beast is going to be enforced, which is Sunday (instead of Sabbath).
The Sabbath is God's sign. I've got to preach some more sermons on it. And I just heard that... I didn't realize that when this Church was beginning to go LIBERAL (just before I began to work with might and main to put it BACK ON THE TRACK here only three or four years ago) that they were also beginning to say "Oh, well, you can buy all your merchandise, you can work if you have to, anything on the Sabbath." They were saying that. Even the ministers in this Church! They're gone. They're out of here now. And you show me any minister who will say that; and I'll see that he gets out of the Church in a hurry, because no such minister belongs in the Church of God. It's time this Church gets cleaned up. It's time we get ALL THE WAY BACK ON THE TRACK. I've been moving every way I could to get us back on the track.
I'm pretty well torn apart physically. I'm past ninety years of age now, and I still have to be the dynamo that keeps it going! I can hardly read. I just see out of one eye, and it's so blind I've bothered you; and I'm sorry. I apologize for having had you sit there while I struggle and try to read the Bible to you. But I do the best I can; and I hope you do the best you can, brethren.
You know, I'm just reminded, last time I saw Mrs. Thatcher of England, the Prime Minister. As we were leaving, she said, "Well, there's one thing. Our two countries, the United States and Britain, must absolutely continue to hang together." And I said, "If they don't hang together, they'll probably hang separately." And that's the way it is with us, brethren. We had better get on the track, and be sure that we are there.
I wish you could have all heard the sermon this morning. I have to preach on things like this. I have to bring these things to you. Other ministers can bring you spiritual food for your every day living, but there are things like this that I have to bring to you. Now we are going to have to get back onto the Sabbath question, and what is the mark of the beast. I've been giving you a little bit about 'who the beast is' now, this afternoon.
All of a sudden... I've been preaching this for years; and now, all of a sudden, these things are all falling into place. It's going to happen. The question is: Are we ready? We're going to be put into a test that you can't dream of. The TEST COMMANDMENT is going to be a test; and YOUR LIFE is going to depend on whether you can trust God, or whether you will give in. And I predict that SOME OF YOU are going to give up the Sabbath, and give in, and go with the world. But the PLAGUES OF GOD WILL BE ON YOU IF YOU DO THAT! But everything that the civil government, and police, and the power of MAN can do to you will be on you IF you don't give in on the Sabbath/Sunday question.
Where are you going to stand? You're going to be put to a test such as you've never had before, brethren, and very soon. And I tell you the time has come when you had better do a little fasting, and praying, and get back close to God. And be sure that you are so close to Him that you can rely on Him, that you can trust Him; because you are going to have to trust Him with your life, and very soon.
Now I hope this shakes you up a little bit because, if I can shake you up now, that's fine. But if I don't, the conditions in the world are going to shake you up and very soon. Let's all get back. And we'd better hang together. So pray for me as I pray for you. We need to pray for one another now as never before.
Thank you, brethren.