Herbert W Armstrong

   A few weeks ago, Mr. Armstrong called seven of us over to Tucson. We didn't know what the purpose was. Raymond McNair, Joseph Tkoch, and Kevin Dean. Then four of us that he had in mind for jobs: Burt McNair and Leroy Neff, Dennis Luker, and I.

   And after we got over there, Mr. Armstrong began to analyze in a very clear, thorough, detailed way. He said, "You know, you guys say that I'm the pastor general. And yet," he says, "it seems we've always had somebody else who's the head of the ministry. Looks like the pastor general will be head of the ministry." I said, "We have what we call a pastor's report," but he said, "You've told me I'm the pastor general and I'm not reporting, so it didn't really — the pastor's report." He said, "We ought to name things what they are. So from now on it'll be the pastor general's report, and the pastor general will be reporting."

   He said, "As I looked around, I see that we have this ministerial structure, and here we have ministers looking to a senior pastor, looking to an area coordinator, looking to a regional assistant, looking to PAD, looking to the head of the ministry, and then finally, if ever anything ever gets back up that far, there's the pastor general." He said, "I'm gonna change all that." He didn't ask us. He didn't let us vote on it. He just said, "I'm gonna change all that."

   He said, "I've decided to divide the U.S. up into four areas, and you men are going to be working in these four areas." He said, "You're not in a position of making decisions. That in fact, I don't even know what kind of a title I'll give you because it seems that titles go to people's heads."

   Kind of reminds me of a student we had in Big Sandy — might be sitting here today. Gave a sermonette at one time talking about the beautiful music he'd heard in church. One faculty lady we had that played the violin. He said, "You ever notice how complicated that instrument is to play? You have this bow and those strings and everything has to be just right, so that must be the most difficult instrument in the world to play. And then maybe you see someone with a huge harp with all these strings — you can't even get your arm around it, much less pluck all those. Surely that harp must be the most difficult instrument in the world there is to play. Then you think about someone sits down at the piano with all those keys, black and white, ripples across there by memory for an hour. That must be the most difficult instrument to play. That — you know what the most difficult instrument in the world there is to play? Second fiddle. Second fiddle."

   I've been in the church 28 years, and we've never found anybody that can play second fiddle yet. Twenty-eight years we haven't found anybody who plays second fiddle. We don't have to worry about that anymore because Mr. Armstrong canceled second fiddle.

   People talk about somebody taking over the church. I'd like to know how on earth anybody can do that. I thought we believed that you're the church. How does anybody take you over? How does somebody take over the church. State of California tried to do that, found out they couldn't do it, in spite of some of their ideas.

   And we've got a button we wear around out in California when we go down to the court. "Religious freedom," black letters. Then slashed across it in red letters it says "Canceled." Religious freedom canceled. And underneath it in smaller red letters it says "California Attorney General." Somehow he thought he could cancel religious freedoms. He found out he can't do it. He's got a lot more to find out he can't do, but...

   Anyway, Mr. Herbert Armstrong said, "I want you four men to be responsible for four areas of the U.S., but," he said, "you're not into the decision-making job. That I want things to flow up from the churches and up from the ministers to me. I want things to flow down from me to the churches to the ministers." He said, "If I find out you four are cutting anything off from me on the way up or on the way back down, your heads will roll."

   Now he said that three times in one meeting. And somehow I got the idea he thought he was running the church. I can tell you plainly, anybody that says Mr. Herbert Armstrong isn't running the church doesn't know what they're talking about. They're either lying or else they're deceived, one of the two. Because when he told us that three times in one day, we didn't have any question — he's running the church.

   We got talking about ordinations. Even local elder ordination. He said, "Well, you know, I might not know the guy from Smith, but," he said, "at least I know elders are being ordained here and there, and I can rejoice with everybody else. Said now if I do know who they are, then that's just that much more rejoicing."

   I can tell you for sure we don't decide to move anybody, hire anybody, fire anybody, ordain anybody until the boss says okay. And we know who the boss is.

   Couple of things Mr. Armstrong mentioned that I think I ought to pass along to you. I mentioned to him on one visit that some people had taken the statements that he'd made in Worldwide News, that he was saying nobody had had new truth shown to them except Mr. Armstrong. And he said, "Oh, how did they — how did they believe that?" He said, "Don't they remember I'm the one that told them that Raymond McNair is the one that came with the key on the day of Pentecost? Don't they remember that Dr. Hoeh’s the one that first ran into the scriptures about the New Testament form of church government? Why, those people that have been around very long, they're gonna know that other ministers came to understand the truth of I Corinthians 7."

   "Why he said what I meant was, "when God reveals new truth, then those men should bring it to me and we'll look at it together, and God will inspire me to see that it really is new truth. And then we can accept it and put it out through the church."

   Another thing people had misunderstood, because he's been talking about the church being the temple, some people thought maybe that he didn't believe that the prophecies about a temple being rebuilt — at least an altar with a daily sacrifice on it. You know, back in Ezra and Nehemiah's day, they didn't have the temple built, but they went ahead and consecrated an altar and had daily sacrifices. And that's as far as it might have to go in the future. But he said, "I didn't mean for people to think because we're putting the emphasis on the spiritual temple that I no longer believed in the physical temple." I said, "Certainly we do."

   On one occasion when we visited, he showed us leather-bound copies of The Incredible Human Potential. The printer/publisher had made several dozen copies of leather-bound available. And he's giving those to Sadat, Begin. I don't know if he gave the Pope one while he was here, but... He's giving those to leaders in China, Japan. People all around the world are going to get a leather-bound copy of The Incredible Human Potential.

   What are they gonna do with that? We expect that to convert them? You know, some people in their ignorance say, "Well, what good does it do to make all those trips around the world? What's the result of it? What's the fruit of it? How many people have been converted?" I didn't know that's what it was all about. And where they've been for 28 years?

   I remember being told for 28 years that the gospel of the kingdom is to go around the world as a witness to all people. I've read back in Daniel, where Daniel told about the great God, about the plan of God, the time schedule of God, that God had turned human government over to men, that there would be a succession of four world human governments. And then Christ is going to return and intervene and set up the kingdom that would be ruled over by saints forever.

   Now, how many kings did Daniel get converted with his message? Let's see — talked to Nebuchadnezzar and Abed-Nego and Belshazzar and Darius and Cyrus, and what was his batting average? Zero — none out of five. Wasn’t his job?

   God said of the apostle Paul that he would bear Christ's name before kings. And sure enough, you get into the last chapters of Acts and what do you run into? Paul before kings. Herod and Felix and Festus and all those Gunsmoke names. How many kings did he get converted? You know how — what was Paul's batting average among all those guys? Same. Zero.

   What about Jeremiah? Jeremiah talked to several kings: Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. He talked to kings of the Gentiles. How many did he get converted? Zero. I've never read where that's the job.

   Well, now God's opened the door for Mr. Armstrong to go to China. We were there on a Sunday. Mr. Rader called back on the Friday before and said, "Mr. Armstrong, the leaders of China want you to tour all their major cities. They want you to see what all they've done in their country." They probably thought they'd get their pictures on the front of the Plain Truth, like some past world leaders have.

   Seemed odd to me, you know, the Chinese are going to put the whole bill except for the Chinese laundry. They weren't gonna pay that part. Anyway, here Mr. Armstrong mentioned to Mr. Rader, "Well, look," then he said, "I am not a tourist. That I have no interest in going where I haven't gone and seeing what I haven't seen. I don't have any interest in touring all the major cities of China. But I just want to go where the world leaders are." "Well, then we'll go to Peking."

   And then what's next — Russia? What's left of the major cities of the world?

   We got talking one time with Mr. Armstrong about world conditions. He got talking about the United States of Europe. He said, "You know, wouldn't it be something... now that we have a Polish pope. He's been back to his home country, was received very highly. Now all of a sudden the Chinese are making trade agreements with America. The Chinese are showing friendships toward the West."

   And the Time Magazine had a cover on it, "Communists at War," because China invaded Vietnam, Vietnam had invaded Cambodia, the Russians said, "You better back out of there, we'll be teaching you a lesson."

   "But you know," I thought that Armstrong had always said all those Asiatics east of the Euphrates would all end up together as one 200 million army. Now here we have communists at war. Well, that's just buying time probably. It might be opening a door for Mr. Armstrong to be able to see the world leaders of China and Russia. You know God controls the times and the seasons.

   But anyway, he got to observing, "Wouldn't it be something if the Russians get so occupied facing eastward out of worry about Japan — really the world's dominant economic power today — and they're concerned about China, they're concerned about Southeast Asia. And while they're doing that, a Polish pope might have the influence to get some of those Eastern European countries out from under the Russian boot. And you might have five countries there make up an eastern leg and five countries in Europe make up a western leg. It'll be that last resurrection of that Holy Roman Empire."

   He got talking about Laodiceanism. "But you know what is my concern? People talk about those who are leaving the church and whether they're Laodicean. But wouldn't that be just what would produce Laodiceanism among us? Here all of us who don't go out of the church sit comfortably thinking we've got it made because anyone that leaves is Laodicean, and of course that leaves us being strong and pillars."

   And Mr. Armstrong said very vigorously, "My concern is about Laodiceanism within the Worldwide Church of God, not whether some splinter rebel bunch ends up being Laodicean church."

   He said, "I don't have but one thing to live for, and that's to finish the job God raised me back up to do." He said, "First of all, that's to make the church ready for Christ's return." And he's proven that because he put the trip to China secondly to finishing the work he wanted to get done before the Feast, being sure nothing prevented him from the Feast. And then he'll take second thing second.

   You know, here's the man who we got that Incredible Human Potential last year. And you just heard about a book that we've been given this year. I've only gotten through about four chapters of it, and I want to finish it before the Feast is over.

   Here's a man who's also written another book on A Voice Crying Out in Its Religious Confusion. Now he wasn't too satisfied with the the last two or three chapters of that book, so he's been going back over and redoing those last few chapters. Now he felt like that book would be more valuable than the Human Potential book because he said it covers far more doctrines, talks about what God is, what man is, the idea of a soul and a trinity in a heaven and hell doctrine. And he felt because of it being more basic in covering doctrines that it will actually be a more effective book on the market than The Incredible Human Potential. But I don't think it'll mean as much to church members.

   So here he is rewriting the end of that book, having written two other books. He was writing five books all at the same time. One of them you've been reading in the Plain Truth serially on The United States and Britain in Prophecy. He's rewriting five booklets all at the same time.

   I went back over the last nine months' Plain Truth and Good News. You ought to do that — count up the print column. He's been writing one-third of the Plain Truth, one-third of the Good News, one-third of the Worldwide News, five books all at the same time, five booklets all at the same time. If that's senility, I'll take a double dose of it.

   I gave a sermon in Big Sandy not too long ago. I asked a question that I thought was kind of a dumb question to ask. I thought everybody would have the same answer to the question. The question was: Is the church essential for salvation? Is the church essential for salvation?

   You know, everybody wants to know if Sabbath teaching is essential, if holy days are essential, if tithing is essential. They want to know, is this doctrine a doctrine of salvation — your salvation would depend on it? I don't know that the Bible ever designates any such doctrine.

   Well, I thought the answer was obvious. To me it was obvious. I'd ask myself a lot of times: Where would I be today without the church? You ever ask yourself that? Where would you be today without the church? Divorced from your wife? In prison on dope? An alcoholic? Where would you be today without the church?

   Every year at Mother's Day and Thanksgiving time, I like to go down to the card store and browse through cards to look for cards to send to my mom and my wife's mom and some of our other relatives. And every year there are always certain cards that I couldn't send to a human being because they're so idolizing the person. So I usually get one of those and send it to Pasadena, to my mother, the church. The church is my mother.

   I hope you know and know that you know that the church is your mother.

   One of the faculty members there at Big Sandy, when I asked that question, it didn't come up with the right answer. I wouldn't need to tell you he isn't in the church today, would I? If the church isn't essential for salvation, you're not bound to stay in it.

   Well, let's take a look at a few scriptures and see if the church is essential for salvation. I Timothy chapter 3. I Timothy 3:15. Paul says, "If I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

   Now the word "ground" in the margin is more accurately translated "undergirding", "stay." The church is the undergirding of the truth. The house of God is the stay of the truth. The church of the living God is the pillar of the truth.

   You look back and remember when you were converted. You remember how that happened? You were out on an island and the Bible came floating by in a basket, and you picked it out of that basket and you began to read. You found out the seventh-day Sabbath. You found out you're commanded to assemble. You found out you're commanded to repent and be baptized. You're commanded to have laying on of hands. If you're sick, call for the elders of the church. Of course, how do you do all that if you're out there on an island by yourself?

   Maybe you do like one lady in Oregon I visited, and she wanted to be baptized, and I counseled with her and said, "Well, you're not ready to be baptized." So a few weeks later I came back. She said, "Ha ha, I'm baptized." I said, "Oh, you are? How did that happen?" I said, "I baptized myself in my bathtub." Well, it didn't take, and she wasn't baptized — she was just dunked.

   Some people would have you believe the apostle Paul was an example of an independent Christian. Just God, him, and his Bible. That Paul was converted by Christ and taken to Arabia and trained. Let's look at Acts 9 and just see if the church is essential for salvation (Acts 9:1).

   "Saul, yet breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, desired letters to Damascus to the synagogues, and if he found any of this way, whether men or women, he'd bring them bound to Jerusalem. So he journeyed, he came near Damascus. Suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven."

   Well, that's great. There's Paul and God. God meets Paul for the first time. Paul meets God personally and directly. Unlike a lot of so-called religious founders.

   Saul met God in the right position. You're facing the dirt, horizontal. You ever notice how many world church founders — one guy says he sat down with God Almighty on his right hand and Jesus Christ on his left hand. They said, "Say, Joe, we got something we'd like for you to do." Totally untrue, unbiblical, absolutely contrary to scripture. Every man I read about in the Bible, even if they met an angel — horizontal, face on the ground.

   Daniel, great man like Daniel. Oh, I remember one time Moses — God allowed him to see his hinder part, had him go in the cave, put his hand over the cave door and passed, and he just saw the hinder parts of the glory of God.

   Well, Saul met God for the first time right here. What God do? Say, "Well, okay, Saul, here we go. You and I, get your Bible and let's go to Arabia. It's gonna be just you and me and the Bible"?

   We got a lot of independent Christians nowadays, no more converted than jackrabbits. They're not gonna stay in the church. You know, God says many are called but few are chosen. You know, he doesn't say that — but he didn't say that once and he doesn't say it twice. He says that at least three times.

   How long have you been in the church? You've seen people come and go. You've seen people called but not chosen. I wonder why.

   I know a few months ago, the first area coordinators conference I ever attended, we were waiting in the basement of Ambassador Hall waiting for Mr. Herbert Armstrong to show up. We're gonna have a meeting. Some of the guys thought it was going to be a round table, open forum type discussion meeting.

   Well, Mr. Armstrong sent word that he'd gotten caught up in his writing and didn't get to bed till 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning, so we'd have a meeting that afternoon. So we all went out and had lunch and came back and got there for the meeting.

   Some guys were disappointed. Mr. Herbert Armstrong got in there and preached at us an hour and a half. We needed it, except some of them didn't take it.

   You know what he preached about? People, whether they've been conquered by God or not. "Oh, we believe God, we believe in God. We understand truths. We'll commit ourselves to live by truth because, you know, you always do what you know is right." But he said, "How many people have really been conquered by God? Really have that yielded, humble, submissive, conquered attitude that Samuel had, that David had, that Saul had — the apostle Paul Saul, not the Old Testament Saul."

   Notice what happened here. God makes himself known to Saul. "Suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. Saul fell to the earth. A voice said, 'Saul, why do you persecute?' 'Who are you, Lord?' He said, 'I'm Jesus whom you persecuted.'"

   "Come on, let's go to Arabia. Bring your Bible, and it will be you and me and the Bible." No, no, no. That isn't true. Look at the last part of verse 6: "Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told you what you must do."

   Now you tell me who's gonna tell Saul what he must do. He's got in his hands authority to bind Christians and take them back to Jerusalem.

   Well, the men couldn't make out what was said although they heard the voice. Saul got up from the ground with his eyes closed, opened his eyes — he was blind. So they had to lead him by the hand and bring him into Damascus. Three days without sight — that's serious — so he is fasting.

   Now look what God says. "There was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him the Lord said in the vision, 'Ananias.' 'Yes, sir.' 'Arise, go into the street called Straight, inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he prays. And he has seen in the vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight.'"

   Now that's a lot of trouble. Why didn't God just heal Saul and baptize Saul and... I mean, after all, he had plenty of time before they got to Arabia to do that.

   But, you notice what God did even with the great apostle Paul? Brought him to the church. Had a previous disciple in the Church of God lay hands on him, baptized him. Look up in the dictionary sometime "Ananias" and read about him. He must have been an elder in the church because he laid hands on for healing and he baptized him. He was a certain disciple, not just anybody. Surely you don't think God would just take a man like Saul without having somebody specific in mind to take him to, and he did — Ananias. And God even caused Saul to know the man by name in his vision and that he was going to put his hands on him.

   Well, Ananias, like so many of us want to do, tell God what he didn't know. You know more about somebody than God does, I guess. God needs your help, take things into your own hands. That's ridiculous, but look what Ananias did.

   Ananias said, "God, let me tell you something about this guy. He's a real persecutor of Christians. Why, even now — you don't know it, but let me tell you what you don't know, God — he's got a document in his hand and he's gonna lay hands on all of us Christians, and this is a trick, God. He's a fifth columnist. He's gonna take us all up to Jerusalem."

   Well, as it always turns out, you're one jump behind God. God had already dealt with this Saul's heart. God already knew what Ananias didn't know. But Ananias thought he knew what God didn't know.

   So Ananias said, "Well, Lord, now I've got a good source. I mean, I've heard by many of these men how much evil he's done to your saints at Jerusalem, and here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on your name."

   And you notice the Lord just politely ignored him. He just said, "Ananias, go on and do what I told you to do. Go your way. He's a chosen vessel to me. He's gonna bear my name before the Gentiles. He's going to bear my name before the kings," which the last chapters of Acts cover, "and the children of Israel."

   Now that leads a lot of people to believe he went to England after he sailed by Spain and was there at Rome and sailed by Spain. Because certainly in the order of the Greek here, it says plainly Saul was the chosen vessel to bear Christ's name, first of all before the Gentiles — he was the apostle of the Gentiles. The last chapters of Acts talk about him bearing Christ's name before kings. And he could have gone on free preaching, but he appealed to Caesar because God said he had to go to Rome before the Caesar. And then after that, he was to bear Christ's name before the children of Israel.

   You know, by the time the patron saint of England got there with the universal church, there was already a giant Christian church there. Some people believe Judas or Joseph of Arimathea is the one that founded it. Some people believe Paul went there. I believe — I believe both of them.

   "Well, I'm gonna show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake."

   Well, Ananias went his way, entered into the house, and notice the attitude of this Ananias. As soon as he knew God knew more than he did about this man, Ananias put his hands on him and said, "Brother." One minute he's terrified and skeptical and thinks he's the fifth columnist, and now he says, "Brother Saul. The Lord Jesus that appeared to you in the way as you came has sent me that you might receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

   Immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales. He received sight forthwith and rose and was baptized.

   What do you know about that? The great apostle Paul had a previous member of the Church of God lay hands on him for healing, baptize him.

   You know, how can you keep the Sabbath without the church? You don't see people around without mothers. Well, the church is the mother of all of us.

   Now let's notice a couple of other scriptures. You might note back in Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. You might begin verse 7 (Ephesians 3:7). Paul says, "Whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effectual working of his power. To me, who less than the least of all saints..."

   That's a great attitude for a minister to have, isn't it? You know, another thing Mr. Armstrong told us — fact that some people didn't like. He had the gall to go back and preach to preachers, go back in the scripture that said, "When you were little in your own eyes, didn't I make you this and do that for you and allowed you to be here? And when you were little in your own eyes..."

   But you know, now we have people that think somehow they're gonna be in a higher position in God's kingdom if they can be an elder, if they can be a deacon, if they can be a preacher, they can be a pastor.

   Mr. Armstrong kind of — you know, he said, "Well, one of the first things we did after he gave us the job over the four parts of the U.S. was to mail over a suggestion about senior pastors and what we felt like their jobs should be and ones we felt like should be senior pastors and ones that we felt like should be added to the list and a few that shouldn't be on the list."

   When he got our message flipped over, he read it and threw it on the floor and said, "What's the matter with those guys anyway? I just got through telling them I'm getting rid of structure, and the first thing they wanna do is designate senior pastors and have certain areas that are certain senior pastors' areas." He said, "If a man's a senior pastor, he's a senior pastor. He doesn't need to be designated as such. I mean, if he's senior as a pastor, all the others are gonna know that. Why do you need to designate him, that, designate an area?"

   I talked to one minister who used to be a minister, then was out of the church. I talked with him, and I said — I've known him for many years when he first came into the church — I said, "Why don't you look back and remember how excited we were when we found out the truth? Remember what a joy that was and how you couldn't wait to read that literature and how excited you were as you took those booklets and ran through the scripture and found out what this book really said? And boy, what a rare privilege to be in the Church of God. Out of all the churches and all the people God could have called, what a great honor and a joy and a blessing that we get to be the one — unmerited, undeserved. Out of the billions of people on Earth, why us? Why do we get to be in God's church?"

   But after you're in the church a while, then you think you got to be an elder, you gotta be a deacon. And success is promotion, and you got to be a preaching elder, and then you got to be a pastor, and you got to be an evangelist, then you got to be this and that and the other.

   I've never read anywhere that God's going to reward us according to our rank. You ever read that? You show me a scripture that says that. I've never found one.

   "When you were little in your own eyes," then God grants you repentance, enlightens your mind and allows you to understand the truth.

   You know, when Mother's Day rolls around, I owe all that I know to the Church of God. Before I turned on that old XEG Mexican station that time, heard that broadcast about the mark of the beast — I'd grown up all my life as a Baptist. I didn't even know anything in the Bible about a beast, much less that the beast had a mark. But if I heard that program, it stood my hair on end. I tried to pass it off and say, "Well, you can hear anything out of California." But I couldn't get out of my head what was said. And I wrote out and said, "Send me everything you have."

   I waited and waited and waited and waited. Every day I'd go to the mailbox eagerly and anxiously, and nothing. I finally got that manila folder and ripped it open. The smallest booklet in there: "How Often Should You Take the Lord's Supper?" I didn't need to read that. I already knew all the answers to that. I was a Baptist. We had it four times a year in the morning with crackers and grape juice, and anybody knows that's biblical.

   And I started reading this little booklet, and I never approached it practically. In the first place, how do you ever eat anybody else's supper? You know, when you get in a hurry sometimes, just ask your wife to eat your supper for you and then save that time. You can't eat somebody else's supper. And to my shock, it said, "When you come together in one place, you cannot eat the Lord's supper."

   I thought, "Oh yeah, I've been doing it 20-some years, four times a year, quarterly." I never thought of eating supper in the morning. And if you ever invited anybody over for supper and gave them a little old chunk of cracker and a little thimble full of juice, you know they'd be offended at you. But a memorial is supposed to be once a year.

   Well, I didn't have anything right on the whole thing. Well, all I know I owe to the church. I mean, I ate squirrel and eels and gars and catfish and... Squirrel's the rat family. I might as well have been eating rats, might as well eat dogs or cats. I was blind and ignorant about the truth of God.

   I've had four daughters — 24 and 22 and 20, three daughters and a son, 17. I never paid anything for them on doctors. It wasn't luck. That was because of God's way of life.

   Well, everything I know, I owe to the church, and I know it. I know the church is essential for salvation. It sure is.

   Let's get back here to Ephesians 3 and notice (Ephesians 3:8). "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches."

   That's right. You didn't figure them out. You didn't come to understand them on your own. They are unsearchable riches.

   "Make all men see what's the fellowship of the mystery. The mystery which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, to the intent that now to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God."

   You notice how the unsearchable riches, you notice how the mystery from the beginning of the world hid, is now made known by the church. Seem to me I remember Jesus Christ said — when he talked to the church, he might turn back there and notice this in Matthew 28.

   People find Christ everywhere except where he is. Matthew 28:16: "The eleven disciples went away into Galilee and the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Jesus came and spake to them, saying, 'All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Therefore you go, you teach all nations' — teach among all nations, teach, and some disciples will be coming out from among the nations — 'you baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and then you teach them to observe all the things, whatever I've commanded you to observe. And lo, I'm with you, church, all the days, every day, to the end of the age.'"

   You can't kid me. You can find Christ without the church and apart from the church, and just Christ, you, and your Bible, and you can be born again, you can be in God's kingdom and all, totally separate, apart from the church. That is not true.

   Let's look at a few other scriptures. Back in I Corinthians chapter one. I Corinthians chapter one, verse 21 says (I Corinthians1:21), "For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."

   You know what that says? That doesn't say to bring the salvation to those who don't believe. That says it pleased God to save them that believe. Once you're already a believer, once you are converted, you have God's spirit and you believe God, then God has chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. Then how can you go on to salvation apart from preaching, out on your own?

   I've been at college when students said, "I'm gonna go over in Arizona into the desert and, you know, get close to God." How do you do that when you leave God's headquarters? Go over into an arid zone to get close to God? I've never known of anybody that did it yet. I've known of several who tried it. You can't do that.

   I've heard of people say, "Well, you know, I've got some things I've got to clear up in my thinking. I've got to get away, and I'm gonna just drop out of the church temporarily until I can get it all together and get my head screwed on straight." And never known anybody to do it. Never. I never have known of anybody to do it.

   Apart from the church, the church is your mother. What little kids do when they get in trouble and they need help? Would you be afraid to have your little kids, when they're in trouble and need help, say, "Well, Dad, I'm gonna just get off to myself, get away on my own, and I'll get everything all together and get everything sifted out"? Is that what you want your kids to do? Or you want your kids to come to you and say, "Say, Dad, I got a problem. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to solve it"? The church is your mother. Church is the mother of all us.

   Yeah, God chose — if you wanna call preaching foolishness, you don't have any problem with God there. Kind of foolish. I get up here and I've got a book that you've got there, and I tell you what it says, and you're reading the same place I am, and you may have a better translation, may know it better than I do. It's foolishness alright for me to be up here and you'd be down there and be preaching. That God chose by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.

   Now you might notice back in Titus the first chapter. Titus chapter one (Titus 1:1). "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect."

   That's kind of an interesting statement. You notice that? You know, Paul says he is an apostle according to the faith of God's elect. That's kind of odd. He's an apostle, period. But as far as individuals are concerned, he's an apostle according to the faith of God's elect. Some were more doubting that he really was an apostle. Some were more questioning how much of an apostle he really was. But some felt like he was an apostle above some of the original twelve. So Paul was an apostle according to the faith of God's elect.

   You know, I've been in the church for many years, and we used to try to get Mr. Armstrong to recognize he was an apostle. And you get your neck chopped off, you get fired, you get in more trouble trying to convince Mr. Armstrong that he was an apostle or that he was gonna be one of the two witnesses or that he was gonna be the Elijah to come. And I mean, you get — I've heard Dr. Hoeh get fired three times in one day over an article that he wrote that saying some of those things. And now we finally convinced him that he really is an apostle, so what happens? Everybody says, "Dig that guy. He goes around trying to say he's an apostle. Can you believe that?" And here it took us years to convince him that he really was, and we didn't convince him even then. God finally just allowed him to realize that he was.

   Well, some guys back in '73 and '74 wanted to say, "No, he's not an apostle. Can't be." They wrote a great article on qualifications to be an apostle. You know what some of them were? You have to have seen Christ to be an apostle. And where would they get that idea?

   Well, they got that out of I Corinthians 9, but you know what it says over there? Paul says, "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Christ?" Now those two separate questions that aren't even related, or does one of those questions answer the previous one?

   All you have to do is read the rest of that chapter. Right in the chapter, he says why he said, "Aren't you Corinthians converted with God's spirit in God's church? You're my seal of my apostleship." That's what he said. The seal of his apostleship was.

   You ask the same question. He said, "Am I not an apostle? Don't we have power to lead about a sister's wife?" You gotta be married to be an apostle? In the same chapters, same questions. "Am I not free?" You mean you can't be a doulos, a bond slave, and be an apostle?

   Well, I can show you where Barnabas twice is called an apostle, and I'd like for you to show me where he saw Christ. You know, all you gotta do is show me where Barnabas saw Christ. I can show you that Apollos was an apostle. You want to show me where Apollos saw Christ?

   Well, can you imagine Mr. Herbert Armstrong being raised up at the end time, raising up a church that has 100,000 people going to feast days, has 50,000 baptized members, has the largest broadcast on the face of the earth in past when that was the main way of getting the original contact with people, has the greatest magazine published in religion? Can you imagine a man doing what Mr. Armstrong's done in the 50 years he's been in the work? What do you want him to be — a local elder? You want him to be a preaching elder maybe, huh? What rank do you think somebody with a job he's done ought to be — maybe a pastor? Well, let's let him be an evangelist then. An apostle? I mean, you think really he ought to be an apostle?

   Titus the first chapter. Paul was an apostle according to the faith of God's elect. So I know as I preach here today that some of you know and you know that you know that he is, and some of you aren't too sure, some of you don't think he is, some of you question whether he is.

   I remember one of the great lessons I learned coming into the church. Boy when I found out all this truth and what the Bible really said, that God did have a true church, and I came to church and I expected everybody to be perfect. You remember what a shock you had when you found out everybody wasn't perfect? What a shock that was. Then you found out the preachers weren't perfect. You found out the deacons weren't perfect and the elders weren't perfect. You found out everybody is battling human nature, battling their own flesh, battling the same common lust and troubles. Well, that was a real — that really punctured the balloon, didn't it?

   Well, Paul is an apostle according to the faith of God's elect, "and the acknowledging of the truth that's after godliness, in hope of eternal life that God can't lie, promised before the world begins. Eternal life God has in these times manifested his word through preaching."

   That's right. That's what it says. In due time, God has manifested his word through preaching.

   I'm always amazed. I talk to people and they'll say, "Well, you know, I knew a lot of truths before I ever heard Armstrong." What I like to do is take my notebook and say, "Okay, would you mind just letting me know all that you knew before you heard Armstrong? Okay." You both proofs, you know, all four of them. You didn't know much truth before you heard the broadcast. You got the literature, got the Correspondence Course, got the Good News magazine. You've forgotten where you learn what you know.

   You might turn back to Revelation chapter 3. Notice what God says back here in Revelation chapter 3 to the angel of one of God's true churches. He says, "Be watchful," verse 2. Verse 3, he says (Revelation 3:2-3), "Remember therefore how you have received and heard, and hold fast and repent."

   Now that's kind of an odd statement. That always struck me. It says, "Remember therefore" — then say what you've received and heard. It says, "Remember therefore how you've received and heard."

   I remember how I received and heard. I don't kid myself that I have figured it all out on my own and I knew all that truth myself. And yet when we were little in our own eyes, we appreciated the truth, we celebrated in it, we joyed in it, we had a gracious attitude about it.

   Not too long ago down in Big Sandy, I visited a guy, spent hours trying to talk him out of making a mistake. He said, "The voice that led me into this church is now leading me somewhere else." And I just had to shake my head and say, "Now wait, did I really hear you right? Did you really say what I thought I heard you say? You're following voices? The voice!"

   Well, you know, I remember back when I got those old booklets. They didn't have anybody's name in it. I thought the Bible taught me how often to take the Lord's supper. I didn't see anybody's name in it. We didn't have names in it back then. Mr. Armstrong wouldn't let people take his picture for years and years and years. He wouldn't let anybody have published pictures of him and his wife. He didn't want anybody looking to a man. He said, "Don't believe me. Blow the dust off your Bible. Believe what you read in there." I thought he meant that. That's what I did. And I know I know what I know because it's in there.

   I didn't hear but one broadcast before I went to Ambassador College. But I know that I know what I read out of this book.

   Well, a little later some of us came along. I remember one time I couldn't believe this — this one man got red-faced and red-necked, and he was angry because he saw some things he'd researched put out in the publication and he didn't get credit. Should have put his name in there, put his picture in there. I thought the truth's all that’s important. Doesn’t make a difference who opens the door to you. Doesn't make any difference how you first learn. Don't you know where you got the truth? You know.

   Let me read just a few mail comments people wrote in and notice why they know what they know.

   A lady from Millbury, Massachusetts: "My life has changed a great deal since I've been reading your booklet." That's what got your nose in the Bible and shows you what the Bible teaches. "I never knew that the life of Christians could be so complicated in understanding the Bible."

   Here's a couple from Lafayette, Louisiana: "Thank you so much for your publication. They've really brought my husband and me closer to understanding God and his works. May God bless you all sevenfold."

   A man from North Carolina: "Thank you for all the literature I've received from the church. Through the booklets and articles, for the first time in my life I can go to the Bible and tell the difference between right and wrong."

   I always remember one letter a guy wrote in and said, "I'm 88 years old. Would you please tell me — send me your free booklet of 'Why Was I Born?'" That's great to be finding out, isn't it?

   And here's the guy that says, "I've learned more from both you and my Bible." Can you believe that? That guy thought what you're supposed to do is follow it because it's pointed out to you in the Bible. That make a difference who did it?

   Mr. Herbert Armstrong had a lady call from Florida. "Is this Herbert Armstrong?" "Yes ma'am, it certainly is." "I want you to know I really enjoy your program, but I also wanted to mention to you that you're ignorant about one-third of the Bible." He said, "Well, what — what is that?" She said, "Well, you know, one-third of the Bible's prophecy. The key of prophecy — if you don't even know who Israel is, you're ignorant about that one-third of the Bible." He said, "Well, you know, you might be right. Maybe I am. But I sure don't want to stay blind and ignorant, but if you've got something I don't know, send it. I'll admit it if I'm wrong."

   You know, he's been doing that ever since. He's not easy to convince when he's wrong. I've seen guys get fired over the same day because they went to him and they were gonna tell him straight out about Pentecost or divorce and remarriage and... But by the time the study was over, he realized what they said is right. I'm glad he isn't quick to change.

   Well, here's a lady from New York: "I've gained more knowledge from your books and talks than I can learn in church."

   Here's a lady from Michigan says, "I've been studying the Bible now for two years and ask questions. No one knew the answers or said I should know the answers. But with the help of your book borrowed from a friend, in just ten weeks I've learned more than I've ever hoped, and I am able to answer my question."

   Here's a young guy from Las Cruces, New Mexico: "I can't express how grateful, peaceful, relieved, and full I feel, and all because of what reading I've done lately. The book that you sent to me have helped me realize more deeply that God does love me and care for me. Your work is wonderful."

   You know, it's hard to believe we've added 14,000 co-workers just in the past year. We don't have 44,000 all together, and 14,000 of those have been added in the last year. All together we've got 60,000 donors, people that don't send in regularly enough to be a co-worker. Fifty of those thousand were added the last year.

   You know, you can change PAD and CAD and LAD and whatever you want to — answer and call it. You can have men come and go. That magazine just keeps coming out every month, every month, better and better. New booklets, now books, got the Good News back, hopefully maybe a larger Correspondence Course back.

   You know, here's the church that's been doing God's work 50 years. And here goes a little peanut shell off, and some people say, "I just don't know who to believe." There, you don't have to worry about who to believe. What to believe — that's what counts. I didn't — who — what to believe. Belief is what, not who. The Church of God has been doing the work of God over 50 years. Some other little peanut shells start floating off, doing nothing, and people wonder, "I wonder if I ought to get off that peanut shell." Nobody knows where it's going. You know, I think we do, but...

   Here's a lady from Pleasanton, Texas: "I've been receiving your literature for more than four years. It's always the same."

   Here's a lady from Santa Barbara, California: "You simply must be made aware of my gratitude, enthusiasm, and deep satisfaction in receiving and studying the marvelous pamphlets and booklets."

   You know how many? A hundred reprints, scores of booklets, five books.

   A couple from Lima, Ohio: "Your books have changed our lives much for the better."

   A young guy from Brooklyn: "Never have I read such clear-cut literature in my life." I'm glad it's the Plain Truth, not the unique truth, not some writer's vanity.

   You know, one of our smart faculty members — ex-faculty members — said, "Journalistically speaking, that Herbert Armstrong isn't really that good a writer." Boy oh boy, if I'd have been in that class, I'd have gotten thrown out. I'd argued with him — I’d of said, "Sir, would you mind getting a wheelbarrow and hauling in all those scores of things you've written, all those magazines and books and booklets, so we can pay respect to a great journalist?"

   Well, you know, anybody that says Mr. Armstrong journalistically speaking isn't a very good writer...

   You know, the other day I got to go to Ambassador Auditorium and watch graduation. Boy, that was great fun. Here was Raymond McNair up there giving a graduation exercise. Sounded more like a sermon — scriptures galore in there. He was telling all about how you can't have the missing dimension in education if you don't have God's wisdom, you don't have God's understanding. If you don't know God, you don't know what you're here for — how can you have education?

   And I rejoiced to see the faculty coming in: Leon Walker and Dick Ames, Rod Meredith and Raymond McNair, Dr. Hoeh and Mark Kaplan. I rejoiced more to see the faculty that didn't come in — ones that don't believe the book of Jonah was real. Thank God the college is really in gear, totally different again. We've got the best students from all over everywhere wanting to come here again. I can't blame some in the past for finally getting discouraged about going there.

   Well, a lady from Portland says, "Thank you kindly for the books you sent me. They're making my life a whole lot happier, building my faith stronger." You sent those booklets, you know — it's your money that sends out the magazine, all the literature.

   One last one: "I really enjoy reading your magazines, books, and reprints." One young guy from Indiana says, "Your literature has blessed me with deep peace and joy. My life has been changed through the power of your fruit."

   Yeah, the church is the mother that feeds us, that nourishes us, that gives us the truth.

   Notice back in I Chronicles chapter 29. Seems to be a reality that the fact that God chooses one that he uses bugs people. You know, it bugs Miriam and Aaron. It bugged people in our day that God chooses one, that God always has worked down from an individual that he chooses, like he did Abraham, like he did Isaac, like he did Jacob.

   Here in I Chronicles 29, "Furthermore David the king," verse 1 (I Chronicles 29:1), "said to all the congregation, 'Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and tender, and the work is great.'"

   You know how many times that's the case? Notice back in Exodus 24. Exodus 24. God said to Moses (Exodus 24:1), "Come up unto the Eternal, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you worship afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Eternal."

   Why does God play favorites that way? It's always somebody alone, somebody specifically, individually. Moses alone. Moses was a special man in God's sight.

   Notice back in II Chronicles chapter 8. II Chronicles 8:12: "Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Eternal on the altar he built before the porch, even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses on the Sabbaths, new moons, solemn feasts three times in the year — the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Tabernacles. And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required. The porters also by their courses at every gate, for so David, the man of God..."

   The man of God. You know, and of Christ back in the New Testament in one case, the angels on one occasion said, "Behold the man." And we talk about Stan the Man, as if he's it when it comes to baseball. But you know, God has always had an individual that he has used that stood out like this.

   You might notice back in Psalm 105. Psalm 105. It says back, "God remembered his holy promise and Abraham his servant." Abraham his servant.

   In Isaiah 41 — Isaiah 41 — God says, "But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I've chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend." Abraham my friend. David the man of God. Solomon only God chose.

   But notice back in Numbers 12 that seems to rub some people the wrong way. They say, "Well, if one man told me..." About a year ago, he said, "You know, we need to dehumanize the work." My head — that was the head-scratcher for me. I did that way — dehumanize the work now. What — what do you mean by that? "Well, you know, this is the Church of God. This is the work of the Church of God. We should get people's minds to realize that it's not just the work of one man."

   Well, now wait a minute now. I wonder what you mean by that. Does that mean that God doesn't have one man in charge of it and one man to see it through? He's had one man doing it for 50 years. All of a sudden we're gonna dehumanize. What does that mean — we're gonna cut him out or chop him off or hope he dies? Or what does that mean, you know, dehumanize? I was kind of deaf, dumb, and blind. I didn't see through what he was saying. I know now what he said because he isn't in the church anymore.

   Notice Numbers 12 (Numbers 12:1). "Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses." They have a reason? Oh yeah, because of the Ethiopian woman whom he married. Do you really do that? Yeah. Was that really wrong? Yeah. You mean Moses made a mistake and did something he shouldn't have done? Sure. Well then, what should we do about it? Well, we all just let God do about it. I mean, isn't God the one that put Moses where he did, and that his job to handle him?

   Look what happened. "Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses." They had a good reason. They had — they had an excuse. They had a ground. "Because" — and you notice the way God words this — "they spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, colon, for he had married an Ethiopian woman." It's almost as if, yeah, that's right, he really did — he was wrong.

   "And they said, 'Has the Eternal indeed spoken only by Moses?'" I've heard a lot of people say that. "God revealed truth only through Herbert Armstrong? No. God do the work only through Herbert Armstrong?" No, but he's up there in charge of it. He's responsible for it. He's one God picked alone to head up the work.

   "Has the Eternal indeed spoken only by Moses? Hadn't he spoken also by us?" Well, I've heard ministers say that for ten years, "Had he also spoken by us." But you know what happens? He isn't speaking through them anymore.

   It shouldn't be any vanity that God can speak by you. He spoke by Balaam's ass, you know, and God has spoken by a lot of people. But these people, you know, got ambitious. They got — they took things into their own hands. They said, "Look at this. Look what Moses did," and they're right — he really did. But the mistake to make is to try to do God's job for him, try to tell God what he doesn't know about Moses.

   "Has the Eternal indeed spoken only by Moses? Hadn't he spoken also by us?" And you notice what it says: "The Eternal heard it." You ever talk like that? Do you think God doesn't hear anything like that?

   "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men upon the face of the earth." So God spake suddenly. God wasn't gonna allow something like that to get out of hand. God spake suddenly to Moses and Aaron and Miriam: "You three come out of the tabernacle of the congregation."

   It's kind of interesting — the Hebrew word there "come out" literally means yanked up, jerked up. Boy, I'll tell you, that's something God doesn't take lightly, especially when God's servant is meek as Moses was. God yanked up and jerked up those three, and they three were jerked up and yanked up. And God came down and talked with them.

   Now you know the rest of the story there. Come back to I Samuel 16. I Samuel 16. Here's another example of someone who was wrong, and they were in a lot worse error than Moses was back there.

   I Samuel 16:14: "The spirit of the Eternal departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Eternal troubled him." So all of a sudden God's power and influence is leaving Saul, and that allows the demon spirit to begin to take advantage of that, and he begins to trouble — not to possess but to trouble Saul.

   Well, Saul's servants — you know, back in that day they knew about unclean spirits — so they just said, "Say, uh, there's an evil spirit from God that's troubling you. So let's just get a good musician that can cheer up your spirit, and if you can keep from being morose and dejected and moody, then the evil spirit of melancholy will have to leave." You know, a melancholy spirit can't stand to be around where there's happiness. So if you change the person's attitude, the melancholy spirit leaves. Well, they knew that even back then, his servants.

   Well, they realized David was the one that they could get. So verse 21: "David came to Saul. He loved him greatly." Verse 23: "When the evil spirit" — that God allowed to come, and that's why it says "from God"; God didn't shelter him from it and protect him anymore, so since God allowed it, it said it's from God — "Well, David took a harp, played with his hand. Saul's spirit was revived, he was refreshed, melancholy spirit couldn't stand it, didn't get out of there."

   Imagine that. David, a man who is already one that God was setting aside for a job. He's the man he's going to replace — troubled by a melancholy spirit. And he knows it through his music that that spirit leaves. Now boy, that's a good reason to take things into your own hands and get rid of the man.

   Notice I Samuel 24. "Saul takes three thousand chosen men," verse 2 (I Samuel 24:2), "goes to seek David on the rocks. He comes to the sheepcotes. Saul goes into the cave to go to the john, and look what happened. David and his men happen to be in the same cave."

   Of all the caves around there, why in the world would Saul and his men choose to come into the very cave where David was? His men said, "Hey, that's dead obvious. This is from God. God delivered your enemy into your hand. You're — you're already set apart to be the next king. You know the guy's crazy. He's got that melancholy spirit. He's gone mad. He's out hunting you like a..." a what? You'll see a little later what David says.

   Well, the men of David: "Behold the day of which the Eternal said to you, 'Behold, I'll deliver your enemy into your hands, but you may do to him as it seems good to you.'" Then David rose and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe — or his robe — secretly. So unbeknownst to Saul, David whacked off the corner of the garment as he was squatted there.

   Well, it came to pass afterwards, David's heart smote him because he cut off Saul's skirt. Why — why make a big deal out of a little thing? All he did was whack off a little garment off while he was a millionaire — he had plenty more garments. Why would that get to David so badly?

   He said to his men, "The Eternal forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Eternal's anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Eternal."

   Well, I'll guarantee you that's one of the great lessons you need to learn. God doesn't take it lightly when you speak against one of his servants, the servant he's chosen alone for that day to do that work. God yanked Miriam and Aaron and Moses out hastily. And now David shows the great heart of God. This is a man after God's own heart. Here's a man with loyalty and respect. He's a man of real dignity and quality, a man after God's own heart — smitten just because he cut a little piece off of the anointed of the Eternal. "My master."

   So David stayed his servants with these words and suffered them not to rise against Saul. Saul rose up out of the cave, went on his way. David chased after him, went out of the cave. "My lord!" Saul looked behind him. David stooped with his face to the earth.

   David said, "Wherefore hear you men's words, 'Behold, David seeks your hurt'? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Eternal had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Some bade me kill you, but mine eyes spared you, and I said, 'I will not put forth my hand against my lord.'" Even though he knew he had a melancholy spirit influencing, even though he knew he was mad trying to hunt him down and kill him, "because he is the Eternal's anointed."

   That's all you need to know. Is someone God's servant? Is someone the one alone God has chosen in a day to do the work? This isn't the Church of God — where is it? If this isn't the work of God — where is it? If the gospel of the kingdom is going to be preached around the world as a witness before the end comes, how much time is left?

   One of the ex-ministers said of his new church, said, "Why, this church reminds me of the Worldwide Church back in 1957." When you tell me what they're going to get done in a little time left? It takes over a year to get out four booklets, none of which deal with basic truth at all. You're not gonna do any work.

   You know where God's church is. You know where God's work is. You know where God's anointed is. You have David's attitude. You bad-mouth God's anointed? You're afraid to speak evil against God's servant? Would it smite you if you accidentally whacked off the corner of his robe?

   David said, "My father, see — yea, see the skirt of your robe in my hand, and that I cut off the skirt of your robe and didn't kill you. You ought to know and see that there's no evil or transgression in my hand. I've not sinned against you, yet you hunt my soul to take it. The Eternal judge between me and you, and the Eternal avenge me of you, but my hand shall not be upon you."

   If there's gonna be any action taken, God is God and you're God's anointed, so God will have to take care of you. "The judge — the Eternal judge between me and you, the Eternal avenge me of you, but my hand shall not be upon you. As says the proverb of the ancients, 'Wickedness proceeds from the wicked,' but my hand shall not be upon you. After whom is the king of Israel come out?"

   Now you want to know why David is gonna be the king over Israel forever? Look at his respect for that position. "Why would the king of Israel come out after one? Dead dog? One flea?" That's not just put there for vanity or false humility. "So after a dead dog and a flea, the Eternal be judge and judge between me and you and see and plead my cause and deliver me out of your hand."

   When David made an end to speaking these words, Saul said, "Is — is this your voice, my son David?" Saul lifted up his voice and wept. And he said to David, "You're more righteous than I. You've rewarded me good, whereas I've rewarded you evil."

   "Now I know well," verse 20, "you're gonna surely be king. The kingdom of Israel is gonna be established in your hand." "For the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one does hunt a partridge in the mountains." Verse 23: "The Eternal render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Eternal delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch forth my hand against the Eternal's anointed."

   Now I know, and I know that I know, where God's church is. And I know that Mr. Armstrong is God's apostle. I don't have any doubt where I learned all the truth. I know the church is my mother. And I know every year when I see all those eulogizing Mother's Day cards, I wanna send those to Mr. Armstrong, the Pasadena, and the church.

   I might just mention Mr. Armstrong had a day of Trumpet service in his home and spoke for about one hour and ten minutes to all of them who were gathered together there. Then on the Thursday after Trumpet, Mr. Armstrong felt, because of their jobs, that the men should be ordained. So there were three new men ordained as evangelists.

   One of them now working with the ministerial services, the man who takes a lot of the things we turn into Mr. Armstrong — Joseph T. Tkach. Also Ellis LaRavia, the man who works for the buildings and grounds in the facility at Pasadena, a long-standing minister who is in the financial area, managing the financial area. Mr. LaRavia also was ordained as an evangelist. And also Stan Rader. He's been — Mr. Armstrong felt like because of the jobs these men have been doing, that they should have been ordained, and they've been passed up in the past. And so he made the decision to ordain them, and they didn't ask any of us and didn't let anybody vote on it. He just decided to do it, and he did it, and it's done. And I'm glad. I'm glad he knows God is with him and running the church.

   Two men were ordained as elders: two brothers, Aaron Dean and Kevin Dean. They've been in the church for many years, Ambassador graduates.

   Also the man who's entertained visitors in Tucson, who's traveled Mr. Armstrong around in the automobile as the chauffeur for many years, who does far more jobs than just as a chauffeur — Mel Olinger was ordained as a deacon.

   And also the lady who's been the hostess in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong for years, who's been the homemaker, the cook, the housekeeper, the hostess — Ramona Martin was ordained as a deaconess. So there were seven altogether, and that was really news for rejoicing.

   Well, I appreciated being here, and when you only get to speak once in the feast area, you try to think, well, what can I give that would assure most of the people of staying in the church? And I hope that's what I've given. And I hope we'll see you here year after year and that you won't let anybody rob you of the crown God has for you.