The Missing Key to Prophecy
84-02
Telecast Date: January 6, 1984
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   Nuclear world war definitely is imminent according to Biblical prophecy. But what is prophesied to happen to the United States, and Canada, and the English-speaking people? You need to know, because that is going to affect you and everybody you know and love, and your own family and relatives. Not only is the United States and Britain mentioned again and again and again in the Biblical prophecies, and much of the prophecies are concerned about us, and incidentally one-third of the entire Bible is devoted to prophecy, and so much of that concerns the United States and the English-speaking people.

The World Tomorrow, the Worldwide Church of God presents Herbert W Armstrong... Internationally recognized Ambassador for world peace... Visiting prominent leaders around the globe... discussing the cause of world problems... and proclaiming the good news of the world tomorrow... ladies and gentlemen Herbert W Armstrong.
   But why do, does no one seem to understand prophecy? Why is it that the churches do not understand Bible prophecies? Why do the theologians not understand Bible prophecies? Let the Bible tell you — in the 111th Psalm, and verse 10 (Psalm 111:10), it says: "The fear of the Eternal is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments."
   But the churches say the commandments were done away. They say that Jesus nailed them to the cross. They say that we're not under the law, but under grace, and the law of God is a spiritual law that tells you how to live. They say, "Just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." But now, people were saying that in the days of Jesus Christ. They believed on him.
   Let me show you what Jesus said about those who believe on him, but do not keep his commandments, and do not believe what he said. It's in John 8, and beginning with verse 30 (John 8:30): "As Jesus spake these words, many believed on him," just as many do, millions, believe on him today. "Then said Jesus unto those Jews who believed on him, If you continue in my word," that is, his commandments and what he said, "then you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
   But they were in the spirit of contention. They didn't believe what he said, and so they began to argue, and they said they were Abraham's children. Now Jesus said, dropping down to verse 37 (John 8:37): "I know that you are Abraham's children, but you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you." Now he continued in verse 40 (John 8:40): "But now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth which I have heard from God."
   And then again, in verse 45 (John 8:45): "And because I tell you the truth, you believe me not." They didn't believe him; they believed on him. And so many believe on Jesus Christ today, that they don't believe what he said. He said, "I have kept my Father's commandments," he said he'd set us an example that we should do as he did and keep the commandments also. The Bible everywhere says we must keep the commandments of God, and yet the churches today, the theologians, are trying to tell you, "You don't need to keep the commandments of God, just believe on Christ." Well, I've read you what Jesus said to those who had that kind of belief and that kind of doctrine.
   Now over in I John, in the New Testament, I John the 2nd chapter and verses 3 and 4 (I John 2:3-4). "Hereby do we know that we know him," the Lord, "if we keep his commandments." I've asked many people: "Do you know the Lord?" Ministers, and they say, "Oh yes, praise the Lord, I know him." I say, "Do you keep his commandments?" "Oh no, no, I don't keep his commandments." Well, I'll read you what it says here: "Hereby do we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that says, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him."
   My friends, that's pretty strong. And that's in your Bible, near the end of the New Testament. "He that says, I know him," I believe on him, but I don't keep his commandments, "is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Now actually also in the 12th chapter of Revelation and verse 9 (Revelation 12:9), it says all the world has been deceived, and I know that most of you listening, you've been deceived and you don't know you've been deceived, because a deceived person doesn't know he's deceived, otherwise he wouldn't be deceived, would he?

How Often Have You Been Deceived?

   How often have you been deceived? I had been deceived, until God called me and opened my eyes. And I did, I've used this expression, I suppose hundreds or thousands of times — blow the dust off your Bible. Well, I did blow the dust off my Bible. I began to read it, about 56 years ago. And I began to find I didn't understand it. I began to believe, to find out, that what I'd been taught in Sunday school growing up as a boy was just the opposite of what the Bible says, believe it or not. That was hard for me to believe.
   The law of God, you'll read in the 7th chapter of Romans, and verse 14 (Romans 7:14), is a spiritual law. The other law, the laws of Moses, were physical laws, not spiritual at all, entirely a different type of laws. Now in Galatians 2:16, in Galatians 3, verses 2 and 5 (Galatians 3:2, 5), it speaks of the works of the law. The works of the law were the law of Moses, the physical law. Now, the word "works" in English is translated from the Greek word E-R-G-O-N, I presume it's pronounced ergon, or ergon.
   Anyway, it means physical labor, physical activity and work, not spiritual principle, not spiritual attitude. It doesn't mean things like love and cooperation. Those are spiritual principles. The law of Moses had nothing to do with those things. Now ancient Israel was given certain laws. They did not have the Holy Spirit of God, believe it or not. Most people don't seem to know that. But God had withheld the Holy Spirit until after Christ came.
   And they were a nation, and they had a nation, a government as a nation, as all nations do. Now they had a system of law, of statutes and judgments. You'll find that back in the Old Testament, back in Leviticus and in Deuteronomy and in other books of Moses, but the statutes and judgments were the civil laws of the nation Israel. They were based on the Ten Commandments. They're not enforced and in effect today because we're in another nation and we are subject to the laws of the nation in which we live today, as we're commanded in the New Testament.
   Also, Israel was known as a congregation, or church. Now congregation and church mean the same thing, so instead of calling it the church of Israel, they were called the congregation of Israel. And as a church, they also had certain ritualistic laws. There were various ceremonies, meat and drink offerings, various washings, and things of that kind — all physical labor. And there were things they had to do morning, noon, and night. Now they had also animal sacrifices. The animal sacrifices were simply a substitute for the blood of Jesus Christ who was to come later. They couldn't have the Holy Spirit, and so they were given the rituals, things to do morning, noon, and night to work out in them the habit of obedience.
   Today, under Christ, we have the Holy Spirit to give the love of God to fulfill his law, the Holy Spirit to give us God's righteousness. They didn't have that, and so people confuse the law of Moses, the works of the law, and that's what it's talking about in Galatians. And people simply confuse that, and they don't seem to know the difference.
   Now Romans 7:14. God's law was a spiritual law. It has only to do with our relationship with God and our relationship toward our neighbors, our attitude toward them, how we feel toward them — whether it's cooperation or whether it's hostility and envy and jealousy and competition and strife. And that's what we do have in the world, of course.

Ten Commandments Given By God

   Back in Deuteronomy 10 and verse 5 (Deuteronomy 10:5), I would like to read that to you. It's what Moses is writing. He said: "And I turned myself," he had just received the Ten Commandments and the table of stone, which God had written on his, with his own finger. "I turned myself, and came down," he came down from the mount where he'd received the Ten Commandments, "and put the tables," the tables of the Ten Commandments, "in the ark," inside of the ark, "which I had made, and there they be, as the Lord commanded."
   Now also, I'd like to read you from Deuteronomy. (Deuteronomy 31:24) "And it came to pass when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book..." Now this is the law of Moses. This had to do with the sacrifices, the meat and drink offerings, and the works of the law. He had made an end of writing that in a book. Now the Ten Commandments were written by the divine God on tables of stone that are enduring. This law is written by the human Moses in a book that was perishable.
   "And he wrote it in a book until they were finished, then Moses commanded the Levites," who were the ministers of that day, "which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law." That was the law of Moses, the ergon of the law. "And put it in the side of the ark." That's the outside of the ark, but in its side. "But outside of the ark of the covenant of the Lord God, that it may be there for a witness against you."
   So you see, the Ten Commandments are a law of God. They were put in the ark, under the very mercy seat, which represented on Earth, the throne of God in heaven. But the law of Moses, the rituals, the physical law, which were done away in Christ and by the coming of the Holy Spirit, they were put outside of the ark. No wonder that those who reject the commandments of God cannot understand Biblical prophecy! They simply reject the commandments of God.

United States and Britain In Prophecy

   Now what of the United States, of Britain, the English-speaking people? What is going to happen to us? What does prophecy say is going to happen to us? I'd like to read you something from Jeremiah, in the 30th chapter of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 30:1-2), a very vital prophecy. And this affects the United States and Britain. Well, "the word that came to Jeremiah from the Eternal, saying, Thus speaketh the Eternal God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken to thee in a book". Now it's part of this prophecy, it was part of the book Moses wrote.
   "And lo, the days come, says the Eternal, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah," that is, deliver them from captivity, "says the Eternal, and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it." The twelve tribes of Israel were divided into two nations. The northern tribes set up their capital in Samaria. The southern tribes — Judah, Benjamin, and Levi — retained the capital at Jerusalem. The first place the word "Jews" is mentioned in the Bible, the Jews were at war against Israel. They're two separate nations altogether.
   Israel had been taken captive over to Assyria, and they moved from there into Britain, and many of them from Britain moved into the United States, and we are Israel, believe it or not! And you need to get our book The United States and Britain in Prophecy. And notice what are our roots, and where we came from, and who we really are! And then you can understand what the Bible says about us.
   Now verse 4 (Jeremiah 30:4): "And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah." Notice, two different nations are mentioned here: "concerning Israel and concerning Judah." "For thus says the Eternal, We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace, 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? Alas, for that day is great, so that there is none like it."
   Now, I read to you in the 21st verse of the 24th chapter of Matthew in the New Testament (Matthew 24:21). A time of trouble is coming, the Great Tribulation, such has never existed in the world until this time. Now here is the same thing mentioned. "Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it, greater than any trouble that ever came on the Earth. It is even the time of Jacob's trouble." And we are Jacob. That means the United States and Britain, when you understand where we're mentioned in the Biblical prophecies. It's too bad that most people can't understand the Bible.
   "But he shall be saved out of it." We'll get into it, all right, but, and many, perhaps most, yes, there are prophecies that show that two-thirds of our people are going to be killed. Two-thirds are not going to survive. Now verse 8 (Jeremiah 30:8): "For it shall come to pass in that day..." Always "that day" is speaking of the time just prior to the second coming of Christ and the end of this world.

Sin - Transgression of the Law

   "In that day, says the Eternal of Hosts, that I will break his yoke," that's the one who will have conquered us, and the United States is going down. It has won its last war, and it's going down to defeat. I don't like to say that, but I called by God to give out the warning: "Cry aloud and spare not, show them, my people," God says, "their sins." (Isaiah 58:1) And that's what I'm trying to do. And sin is the transgression of the law (I John 3:4).
   And the minister is telling him the law is done away, so you can transgress it, so you can go on sinning. "Just believe on the Lord and you'll be saved." That is not true, and that is not what your Bible says. That is not what God says. That is not what Jesus Christ said.
   "For it shall come to pass in that day, says the Eternal of Hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers," or Gentiles, other nations, "shall no more serve themselves of him." We're going to be saved out of it. We're finally going to be delivered back into Palestine, into the Promised Land, and our people will finally be the very ones that will rule the whole world, under Christ when Jesus Christ comes again to rule all nations and to bring peace to this world.
   There's going to be a time of trouble from now on such has never happened since there was a nation on this Earth. People are beginning to think about nuclear war and what it can do. One bomb such as destroyed Hiroshima, and another one destroyed Nagasaki in Japan, in World War II, is only the thousandth part of a hydrogen bomb, is only the trigger that sets off the hydrogen bomb, and the destruction is going to be so much greater than people understand, so much greater than that film that was shown some little time ago, The Day After, so much greater than that.

The Great Tribulation

   The Great Tribulation, then, is mentioned in Matthew 24, verses 21 and 22 (Matthew 24:21-22). "For then," speaking the same thing that Jeremiah spoke of regarding our people, "then shall be great tribulation," or trouble, "such as was not since the beginning of the world to this same time, no, nor ever shall be." Now, how great will it be? The next verse tells you: "Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved alive." Not a human being would be left alive on Earth, if God didn't step in and cut it short, before that happens!
   But millions, perhaps even billions, of lives are going to be snuffed out in the nuclear holocaust that is coming. It is coming, but God will spare his own people from it, and I've been proclaiming that. You know, I'm not going to hide the facts and the truth from you. I've been called to cry aloud and tell you what is coming, and to give the warning, and God is going to hold me guilty if I don't tell you.
   "Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved alive, but for the elect's sake," those that God has called to himself, and those that are keeping his commandments, those that are obeying him, those that do know him, they are going to be protected, and for their sakes, he's going to cut it short.
   My friends, this is pretty serious business. It's a terrible time that we're living in. We're going to have world peace. We don't have it now, because we're not keeping God's commandments, and when we keep God's commandments, that is the way that'll bring peace. Breaking God's commandments is the way that has brought on all of the troubles that we have in the world today. It's just that simple.
   Now let me show you again this booklet that I did show you, and we've sent out millions of copies of it. And you don't have enough money to buy it, and we're not going to request money. We don't beg for money on the air, or we don't beg the public for money at any time, in any way. The United States and Britain in Prophecy. If you haven't already gotten it, I advise you to write in and receive your free copy. It's a nice, good-size book, and it's in full color. It's a beautiful book. And it contains facts and truth that you need, and you need it sorely.
   Now also, I've shown you time and again how the gospel was restrained. It was sabotaged, and another gospel was preached, a false gospel about Christ, preaching of course that Jesus is the Christ, preaching Christ, preaching Christ to the world, but only believing on Christ, not believing him and not keeping his commandments. Jesus said, "I will build my church." He didn't say "churches," he didn't say "all kinds of different denominations, different sects." He didn't say that. "I will build my church."
   There is one church, and always has been, and he said the gates of hell will not prevail against it. It's still here on Earth somewhere, the same church he started, and it's not a great church. It's a small church that's been persecuted. Where is that church today? I have a new booklet out: Where is the True Church? This is the second time I've ever offered that on the air. Where is the True Church? You need to know. There is a true church, and it's still in existence. And it's proclaiming this truth to the entire world.
   Now also, I'd like to add a year's subscription for, a year's subscription to the finest magazine in the world: The Plain Truth. Here is the January 1984 number, front cover, 1984: Where in All the World Are We Headed? is on the front page, and it's an opening article. Many articles: Coming — Europe Between East and West. In other words, a movement is afoot to put Europe in between Russia and the United States, or the Soviet Union and the United States, and to divide Russia and the United States with Europe in the middle, and as separate, in other words, a United States of Europe. Ten nations, Bible prophecy says, are going to unite in Europe, and they will be probably more powerful than either the Soviet Union or the United States. When all the nations of Europe get together, there will be ten of them.
   Here is another article: "Thou Shalt Not" — Are the Ten Commandments Just Negative? That's what the world denies, is God's commandments. They say they're negative. You need to read an article, and it'll open your eyes. It's surprising, and you'll find that they're very positive. Here's another one: Mid-East War in 1984? From now on, world troubles are going to center in the Middle East, around Palestine, and there's so much recently, there has been of course in Lebanon and in that area. It's all in that same area.
   Here's another article: Why the Passion for Pleasure? And that is the passion today, just pleasure-mad. Well, they're not going to continue in all this pleasure, because the terrible time is coming, and it's our own doing, and mis-doing, that is bringing it on. Here's another one on Love, Marriage, and Sex. I can tell you, that's what all young people, in their, especially in their late teens and early twenties, are interested in, above all other subjects.
   Here's another one: Children of Divorce. What a tragedy, the children of divorce. There is something that you need to know. You see, this gives you an idea of what The Plain Truth is like. Why the Dutch Beat Back the Sea. If they hadn't beat back the sea, there wouldn't be any Holland today. Here's another one: The Hapsburg Empire in Europe, and it's running into the United States of Europe, I have to know, happen to know, Otto von Hapsburg personally, and he has visited me in my home, and I have visited him in his office. And he's working furiously to bring about a united Europe, and it is going to come.
   Now, there's no charge, there's no subscription price. There's no charge. We don't ask for money. You just send your request to me, Herbert W. Armstrong, Pasadena, California. That's Herbert W. Armstrong, Pasadena, California, and the zip code is 91123. Or, better yet, just go to a telephone right now and a free call. Jot this number down, because so many calls are coming, and even though we have scores, and I think it's considerably over a hundred operators waiting to take these calls, sometimes some people don't get through, and then they give up. Please keep trying. You dial 800-423-4444. That's area code 800, a free call, 423-4444. So until next time, Herbert W. Armstrong, goodbye friends.

Please Note: The FREE literature offered on this program are no longer available through the Address and Phone Number given, please visit www.hwalibrary.com for all FREE literature offered on this program.

Telecast Date: January 6, 1984
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