Herbert W Armstrong

   Now, you might stop and think about that yourself. Because, down through the years, when I think back about different ministers I've known, maybe even ministers I've worked with, ministers I've studied with and prayed with. You know, when we used to make district trips, on Monday after the weekend circuit, we'd always get together with the men and have a Bible study on Monday. We talk about things they've been thinking about and study subjects out of scripture, or maybe just read some chapters if nobody had questions or discussions they wanted to get into. Then after we study, how we get down on our knees and we pray.

   So, you know, I've heard those men who aren't in the church now pray, down on their knees, out loud before God. And they — we've all heard each other pray — so we knew they were sincere, and they really were trying, and they wanted to do what God wanted them to do. But, you know, when I look back over, one of the very main things that all those men had in common was exactly this question Mr. Armstrong asked: How many of those people really did just come into the church because they began to listen, and they began to get booklets, and they began to check them up in the Bible, and they said, "You know, that's true. You can't eat supper in the morning. You don't eat the Lord's supper four times a year." And they began to see, point by point, step by step, truths that they hadn't seen before and exposed errors that they believed before.

   But sooner or later in every person's life, it has to be more than just head knowledge. You know, conversion isn't just in my head. Conversion has to be in the heart; it has to be in the will; it has to be in the whole man. It has to be a lot deeper than just head knowledge. I look back and I can see people that came into the church because of prophecy. I can see people that came into the church because of the Sabbath. I can remember people that came into the church because of this truth or that truth or any other truth. But, as he said, how many of the people have really been conquered by God? And how do you know? How do you know whether you're sitting here as someone who's really been conquered by God, or whether you're just sitting here as someone that found the church got more truth than some previous church?

   Now, in connection with that, he harped quite a bit on people say, "Oh, I believe God. I believe in God. Oh, I believe on God." And maybe you had that background like I've had for twenty years. I'd hear every week, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved." Believe in, believe in God, believe in Christ, and, you know, they always talk about believe on, believe in. But as Mr. Armstrong said, you know, the Bible says, "You believe in one God, you do well; the devils believe that and tremble." That's not enough to save anybody. The devils even believe there is one God. They know there's only one God, and they know where he is and who he is, and they know a lot about God. And they tremble; they have a fear. So it takes more than that.

   You know, how many people really believe God, though? Not just believe in God, not just believe on God, but they really believe God. Now, you can think of another number of scriptures that say, "To this man, I will hearken: to a man who is of a meek and quiet spirit and trembles at my word." You know, is that the attitude we have for the Bible when we open the scripture? An attitude of reverence, and attitude of humility and meekness and fear. Could you say that you tremble at God's word?

   You know, I can tell you in the last couple of weeks — well, the last couple of months by now — I remember sitting with one guy, and he was making light of Mr. Herbert Armstrong's traveling overseas. He said, "Why, imagine this: take soup and crystal and buy your way before kings, and then when you get in their presence, you start saying, 'There are two ways: give and get.'" You know, you talk just, uh, you know, "What good can that do? Is that really preaching the gospel of the kingdom as a witness?" You know, he was making light of this and that.

   And I said, "Wait, wait, just a minute now. Would you just, uh, would you mind taking your Bible and going back here and noticing that God said that the apostle Paul would bear Christ's name before the Gentiles and before kings and before the children of Israel?" Quite an interesting scripture. When did the apostle Paul bear God's name before kings and before the children of Israel? Now, Jesus said he would. The Holy Spirit said that that's what Paul would do.

   Now, this man said, "Yeah, but wait a minute. You know, in Matthew 10, it said you will be brought before kings. That means you will be dragged before kings. You will be, uh, brought in there in a humiliation way. That means you are going to go before a king with a gift and talk to them as a friend or an ambassador as a representative of the way of God? That is talking about being dragged before kings."

   I said, "Well, wait a minute now. On what basis do you say that? Do you ever look up the word 'brought'? 'You will be brought before a king.' That word means 'dragged'? Does it mean, uh, brought as a humiliated slave? What does it mean, 'You'll be brought before a king'? Because you remember what it says." Now, what did somebody say this "drag before a king? You read the rest of that scripture in Matthew 10. He said, "Don't worry ahead of time what you're going to say." In other words, you're being brought before that king as a speaker. You're gonna get to say something. So he said, "Don't take thought ahead of time what you are gonna say, because it will be given you in that hour what you are to say."

   Now, you see why God was going to have him before kings? Because he had something through them he wanted to say to kings. Now, why it's important to God, I don't know if I can elaborate on that a great deal, because when I read what Paul said before the kings in the book of Acts, I kind of scratch my head and say, "I wonder why that was important to God." So far, I just kind of have to shrug my shoulders and say, "Well, I, I don't know yet." I know it was. I know God even had Paul claim his Roman citizenship so he could go before Caesar. You know, Paul could have gotten off the hook. Paul would have been released except he appealed to Caesar. But God had already said he'd bear his name there at Rome, so he had to. But now, why was it important to God?

   But, you know, I mentioned to this guy, I said, "If I were in your shoes, I would be sure I took the book of Acts and studied vigorously exactly what God inspired Paul to say before King Agrippa and King Festus and Felix and whoever all those other guys were. Uh, you better be careful, you know, what God had Paul say before them." Because they were saying, "How many of those kings began to believe? How many of them became converted? How many of them — " That's not what our job is, you know.

   There seems to be a big emphasis now on getting people to accept Christ, you know. I couldn't believe I heard Mr. Ted Armstrong the other night on WATS, and he said, "We got to get people to accept Christ." I kind of shook my head and thought, "No, that's not our job." God adds to the church daily such as should be saved. It's not our job to try to get people to believe what we're saying. Only God can open our eyes. We can't — we can't do anything with all of our efforts that way at all.

   But, you know, when I explained this to this man, you think he feared before God's word? You think he trembled at God's word? You think when I said, "Open your Bible, if you will, and read there what Paul said before those kings" — he wouldn't do it. He didn't do it. He wasn't going to do it. Now, you know, that person probably no more converted than a jackrabbit. I don't care how much truth he believes. I don't care how many doctrinal points he believes. If that man hadn't been conquered by God to the place that he trembled before God's word, then he isn’t converted.

   Now, when you're converted, you're trying to live by every word of God. And you look at men in the Bible when they were finally converted, and when God spoke, they say, "Yes, Lord, here I am. What, what do you want? Here I am, Lord, send me." And they had a conquered attitude, you know; they had a yielded, submissive attitude to God. They didn't have an intellectual attitude to God. They didn't have a modernistic attitude.

   And, you know, I noticed, too, that out of all of the seventy-five people who went over there to Tyler to hear Mr. Ted Armstrong, most of them were younger people who have been brought up in a different generation. They were people who have been taught in schools to question everything. So, don't just accept somebody's word for it. Don't just be there under authority and have that authoritarian, conquered attitude towards somebody in authority.

   You know, that's one great thing I'm thankful my dad — did with us as a family that he certainly disciplined and conquered us and made us realize we are under authority. I didn't argue with my dad, or I picked myself up off the floor, you know. If my dad didn't whip me every day of the week, it was either Christmas or ten folks were visiting, and it would have embarrassed me. I didn't — he did it usually when they were there anyway.

   But, uh, how many people have ever been conquered? Well, he expanded this a little further, and he tied it in with faith. You know, maybe this is why a lot of people don't have faith. Because if you don't believe God, you can't have faith. If you doubt God, if you question what God says, if you reason with what God says, you can't have faith like someone that's just taught to be under authority.

   And, you know, that one man Jesus said that he hadn't found anybody in Israel that had as much faith as this man. You remember who he was? The centurion. He said, "Lord, look, all you gotta do is say the word. I said — I'm a man in authority, and I know if I say to this man 'go,' he goes, and if I say to this man 'come,' he comes." And, you know, he was talking about obedience; he was talking about authority; he was talking about somebody being conquered. And you remember what Jesus said? He said, "I'll tell you, I haven't seen so much faith in anybody in Israel."

   You know, there again, faith has to do with being conquered, being under authority, believing God. Whatever God says, you know, you, you just aren't going to reason with it. You are gonna say, "Well, I know God says salt is good, but I don't believe it. I think salt is bad for you — bad for high blood pressure, bad for your kidneys. Salt isn't good. I don't care what the Bible says." Milk, you know, "a land flowing with milk and honey." People say, "Why, milk is one of the worst foods there is, causes mucus and congestion, gives you all kinds of health troubles, so swear off milk," you know, a lot of speakers say. I don't care if they disagree with the Bible; I turn my ears off. I don't even listen anymore. You know, they say salt isn't good — I just don't believe it. The Bible says salt is good. That's what I believe. I might not say Morton's iodized salt. I mean, it doesn't say ocean salt either, because I don't think they got ocean salt back then.

   But anyway, you know, how is our attitude towards God's word? God hearkens to a man who trembles with the word of God. You know, a lot of times I have wondered what it would do. Let's say if we just took this church as an example. We said, "Alright, we need to get back to this reverence for God's word. We need to get back to this attitude of trembling in God's word. So from now on, anytime anybody opens the Bible, everybody is to stand." So, you know, from that time on, any time the minister takes his Bible and starts to open it, boy, everybody stands. And then, you know, if he reads there from morning till noon, if he reads there from morning till evening — you remember that in Ezra and Nehemiah when they lost the scriptures, they lost God's word, and they have been in captivity, and after seventy years they came back, and it says every time a man stood on this pulpit and opened the Bible, they all stood. And they stood as long as he was reading God's word, even if it lasted till noon or till evening.

   Now, you know, that's really an attitude we all ought to have for God's word. Well, he tied this in — I want to show you today — the faith and being conquered and having this respect and this awe and this reverence towards God. Okay. Notice, in the book of Psalms, we're going to just scan through the book of Psalms in this subject and then look at some of the other books of the Bible as well on it.

   Psalm 33:18. Now I, I would suggest that you take the scriptures we covered today and, mark these in your Bible. I took a plastic protractor or triangle one time, you know — you can get these little plastic protractors, and they've got hexagons and circles and checks and all kinds of things on them, and they make good markers for your Bible. You can take different subjects, and you can mark them through your Bible. So I've marked this in my Bible with a red hexagon. Everywhere I run into the verses like this, I've marked them with a red hexagon, so they jump up at me when I open on the page.

   Alright. Notice verse 18: "Behold, the eye of the Eternal is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy." The eye of the Eternal is upon them "to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine." Now, notice the benefit from having this reverence and attitude, this being conquered by God. God's eyes upon you if you fear him, if you have hope in his mercy. He will deliver your soul from death. He will keep you alive in famine.

   Now, how many people have this attitude of hoping in God's mercy? How many people don't have an attitude that God owes me this? The church owes me this, you know. "I have done this and that, and I've been doing this and that for years. So God owes me, and the church owes me." And as I mentioned, you know, anytime you ever get the attitude that God or the church owes you anything, you're already in the wrong attitude. You're already in trouble. That is not an attitude to have. We ought to all have this attitude: hoping in God's mercy, saying, "Look God, I don't want what I'm entitled to. Please don't give me what I deserve. God, don't reward me. Please don't reward me. I don't want what I am entitled to and what I deserve. I just want mercy."

   Now, God's eyes on you if you have that attitude. Now you can't believe how many different things — notice chapter 34, verse 7 (Psalm 34:7-11): "The angel of the Eternal encamps round about them that fear him and delivers them." Now, it isn't just as if an angel's available from time to time in your life. According to that scripture, the angel of the Eternal camps round about them that fear him. God's angel is just there perpetually. He's encamped roundabout. He stays there all the time. So you're not gonna have bad things happening to you. He's gonna deliver you. He's gonna keep things from happening to you.

   Now, Job didn't have a fear of God, as you can read. When you go through the book of Job, you're gonna find out how many times Job didn't fear God. Job lived God's way because of faith — that's what Satan said. Well, he missed it a little bit. Job obeyed God because he was righteous, because he knew it was best. And, but he didn't obey God out of reverence, out of awe, out of the fear of God. In fact, you will find the neighbors of Job chided him and said, "You don't have any fear of God. You wouldn't talk like that." "I want to talk to God. I want to take my case before God directly, personally." Well, you know, what kind of an attitude is that? I don't — I don't want to state my case before God personally, directly, because he knows more about my case than I do, you know. I might say all my case, but I'm prejudiced, you know. I'll slant everything in my favor, and God won't let me get away with that.

   But do we have that attitude? The angel of God encamped round about them that fear him. Notice verse 9: "Oh, fear the eternal, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him." There is no want. That's what God says, and God means what he says. And you may have known people in the church, since you have been in the church, who did have that reverence, that awe, that fear of God, who had that attitude of being conquered by God, and they just never seem to have any want. Everything always seems to just go great for them. Well, there is a secret. There's a secret. There's no want to them that fear him.

   Now, I know it's verse 11: "Come, ye children, hearken to me. I will teach you the fear of the Eternal." So if you don't have it, it's something you can learn. It's something you can learn through scripture. And notice how he is going to teach them the fear of the Eternal: "What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days, that he may see good?" Well, if you have the fear of God, that'll happen to you. "You keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile." If you fear God, you would — you wouldn't — you'd be afraid to say things out of line that you didn't really know.

   Now, in Psalm 60 — we went over this on Wednesday night at Bible study — Psalm 60, and verse 4 (Psalm 60:4): "You hast given a banner to them that fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth." So think about that, or let that soak in, or meditate on that. God has given a banner to those who fear him. It's displayed because of the truth.

   Now, notice in Psalm 85:9: "Surely his salvation is near them that fear him." Once you learn the fear of God, you know, you're not too far off from being able to be born again as the Son of God, as a spirit being. If you have a fear of God, he'd never have to be afraid of giving you the power of the God family. You wouldn't misuse it; you wouldn't rebel against God. You know, God is never gonna have another Lucifer. There is never gonna be another being who is given the power of the spirit until he proves himself. We are all going to have to prove ourselves that we will never be rebels before God is gonna give us salvation.

   People who have proven themselves rebels are gonna have to go through a tribulation to make themselves be conquered and yielded and submissive. You know, I've really begun to believe, when you look at the description of the Laodiceans that have to go through the tribulation in the book of Revelation, the real key is: there are people who have never been conquered by God. They've never been under authority. They've never had that submissive, yielded attitude. They've always been independent, self-willed. They've always been free thinkers. They've always been the kind that said, "Well, I'll think about that. I'll weigh that. I'll study that scripture, and I'll make my own decisions." And just kind of an independent, self-willed, unconquered, not under authority.

   And all, all the ministers I know of that have ended up going out of the church, that's in common with every one of them. And that's the only thing I've seen in common with all of them. Every one of them had that kind of an independent, self-willed, kind of a lack of being under authority.

   I know one of the top ministers went out a few years ago was asked to do some research and bring some input that Mr. Herbert Armstrong wanted his council. So this man did his job — researched, got his preparation ready and his council ready and his input ready. Then he went into Mr. Herbert Armstrong's office. Well, one of the other top men in the work at the time just happened to be coming down the hall when he came out. This man came out — one of the most beloved ministers in the church; you know his name very easily, and you probably enjoyed his preaching as much as anybody in the past — but, you know, this man came out of Mr. Herbert Armstrong's office angry, red-faced, hurt, and just having an adult tantrum right there in the hall. Boy, was he ever upset!

   This other man said, "Well, what in the world happened anyway? What's the matter with you?"

   He said, "Well, here I spend all this time and get all this research and go in there and give my counsel and have my input, and then what do they do? Make the other decision anyway."

   And this man said, "Well, you, you did your job. I don't see any reason you have to be upset. You did your job. You did what was asked of you. You did what was required of you. I mean, well, why are you all upset?"

   "Well, I do all this, and they go in there, and I give my counsel, and they make the other decision anyway."

   And he said, "Well, I thought that's what Mr. Herbert Armstrong was in that job for us — to make the decision. I thought your job was input, research, counsel. You did it. I thought his job was to make the decision."

   And, you know, this man warned this man three or four months before he went out of the church: "If you don't change your attitude, if you, you know, if you don't get a hold of yourself, this is gonna end up putting you out of the church." And it did. It did. He hadn't been a minister for several years. He didn't know the difference between council, research, and input and being in authority to make the final decision.

   Now, you could have told him that he was rebelling against authority. You could have told him that he wanted to be in authority and make the decision, and he wouldn't have believed it. He wouldn't believe that at all. But that's true. And, you know, people need to understand the difference.

   I have known people down through the years who have gone to Mr. Armstrong and said, "Now look, Mr. Armstrong, I don't think we ought to have that auditorium. I think we ought to just take all that money and buy a local church building. Why spend all that money on an auditorium?" And then from that time on, never, never support, never agree with the auditorium. Now, if you are under authority and you didn't agree with the auditorium, then what do you do? Do we really know what it is to be under authority?

   You know, what if you are in the military? I learned that at A&M and in football and in the Boy Scouts, because I had a scoutmaster that would whip you with a switch or a stick and had all of our folks' permission to do that. That's old-fashioned, isn't it? I had a football coach that would take a willow switch, and if you didn't do what he wanted you to do, he'd switch your calves down there because the rest of you is covered and he couldn't hurt you. But he whipped your calves with this willow switch, you know. He had a way of getting you to do what he wanted you to do, what he told you to do.

   But some people, you know, have never been conquered; they've never been under authority. Now, let's say, when are you under authority? When are you under authority? Let's say you don't agree with the auditorium. It's there. It's there. Has it been worth its salt? Has it accomplished its value? You know, once the decision was made to build it, somebody under authority put aside all their differences, their exceptions, their counsel, their input, their rejection, their disagreement with it, because once it's decided to build it, it's built. It's there.

   But, you know, some people think they are under authority when all the years since they gripe and bellyache and complain and don't agree with it and don't support it, condemn it, talk against it — maybe not publicly, you know, maybe not from the pulpit or maybe not from Bible study. That's not being under authority. That is not being under authority.

   You know, in the military, if the sergeant calls you over and said, "Corporal Smith, I want you to dig a john right here. I want you to dig it six feet deep, and I want you to start today."

   You say, "Well, Sarg, you know, I kind of like to, but I just don't feel the best today, and I think that's hard ground there. I think it would be better if we dig it over here. And who needs one six feet deep? I think four feet deep — " You know, then, well, what's gonna happen? At least in the old days — I don't know what they have nowadays. They probably say, "Well, let's take a vote on it" nowadays. But that didn't — what it used to be, they — the guy used to say, "Look, Corporal, would you look at these stripes here? Would you look at those stripes on you? I said dig it there. I said dig it today. I said dig it six feet deep."

   You know, a guy under authority is digging. I mean, he's on the job digging right away. But, you know, a guy can go ahead and start digging and smirk and smart off and gripe and bellyache and complain and — but he digs it. But is he under authority? No, he's not under authority. That's not under authority. We need to learn the difference. A lot of people never have.

   Well, notice back here in Psalm 85 again we are reading. When you get the attitude of reverence toward God — I know there are different words for fear. You know, I had a student say, "Look, I don't want to have anything to do with any god or any religion that's motivated by fear." And I talked to her, and I found out she had a dad she was terrorized by. She is terrified of her dad.

   I said, "Look, that's not what we mean when we mean the fear of God. When we, when we mean the fear of God, it means reverence and awe. It means fear to a degree, but it doesn't mean horror; it doesn't mean terror. You know, God is never going to abuse you. I mean, God may save you by putting you through what Job went through, but in the end you'll be grateful. It's worth it. God isn't going to do anything against you. But God may chasten you when you go astray, but later you're gonna be glad he did. You're gonna appreciate it and thank him. So the fear of God is wholesome. It's not horror; it's not dread and terror. It's not gonna burn you forever in hell. He's not going to get you or punish you. It's always for your good."

   But notice this statement: "Salvation is near." "Surely God's salvation is near them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land." So if you really have that conquered, yielded, humble, submissive fear of God, I will guarantee you Mr. Herbert Armstrong has it. I mean, he is always aware that God is going to take him to task if he gets out of line, if he doesn't uphold scripture, if he doesn't intervene and deal with men in his responsibility — even if they are his son or even if there are people he loves very greatly, his own family or any of us. His main concern is whether he is going to do what God would have him do and uphold God's way and God's word. Well, salvation is near when you get that fear of God.

   Notice Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Let's start off with verse 8 in this case (Psalm 103:8): "The Eternal is merciful and gracious. He's slow to anger. He's plenteous in mercy." Now, that's the God you need to get to know: full of mercy, gracious, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy. "He will not always chide or strive or contend. Neither will he keep his anger forever." So if God gets angry with you, it's just for a short time, for your own good. He won't contend and strive with you forever. It's just a short time for your own good.

   "He hath not dealt with us after our sins. He hath not rewarded us according to our iniquities. Because, as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, that’s how far he’s removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pities his children, the Eternal pities them that fear him. Because he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Eternal is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep his covenant."

   Now, notice in that moving passage about how far God removes your sins from us, God not dealing with you after your sins, God knowing your frame that you're dust — three different times he talks about the fear of God. And, you know, when somebody has the fear of God, God's mercy comes quickly. God's mercy is there very long when someone has a fear of God. "So great is his mercy toward them that fear him."

   What if you don't have a fear of God? He can't intervene with mercy very quickly. Well, there is a stubborn, independent hardhead. "I guess we gonna let him suffer for a while till he gets a little more humble and meek and yielded and submissive. Oh, I wish I didn't have to whap him over the head that way like old Job. Look at that. If he just feared me, then my mercy could be quick. My mercy could be there a long time. Great could my mercy be to that guy if he just feared me." But, you know, I've seen God's mercy taken advantage of, and God would be merciful, and then all of a sudden here the guy goes back to his hardheadedness again and back in trouble again, and God has to let it go a little longer this time before he intervenes with mercy. But God's mercy is great for you if you fear him.

   Alright, now, in verse 13 it says (Psalm 103:13), "The Eternal pities them." Do you do that with your children, you know. What if you correct your children, and they are so humble and responsive and yielded and so sorry? Boy, your pity is really there in a hurry, isn't it? But what if you discipline your children, they stiffen and rebel and get callous and tough and hard? You can't pity them. You can't have pity there. "The Eternal pities them that fear him." But not the rebel, not the defiant, the stern, the hard, the strict.

   Verse 17 (Psalm 103:17): "The mercy of the Eternal is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him." You know, as long as you have a fear of God, you can have human slip-ups, you can make human errors, but as long as God looks down and knows you fear him and you have humility and reverence and awe towards God, God's mercy is from everlasting to everlasting if you have that attitude. That's why it's so vital and so important.

   Psalm 115. Psalm 115:13: "He will bless them that fear the Eternal, both small and great." So maybe that's why God isn't able to bless you the way he would like to. No matter whether you are successful or competent or very capable, talented person, or whether you are just an average man — if you fear God, he can bless you. But if you don't fear God, how can he bless you? It would doom you to rebellion, independence, stubbornness, hardheaded self-will, unconquered, never under authority. God just can't bless you if you don't fear God. His mercy just can't be there the same.

   Go to Psalm 145. Psalm 145:19: "He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him." You know, when, when you've learned so many lessons, and the key really is the fear of God, and you've learned that lesson, there are so many of your desires God can fulfill. I mean, he can just fill up to the full your desires if you fear God, because you've learned one of the main things, one of the keys. So God's salvation is near when you get to that place that you have a fear of God. "He will also hear their cry, and will save them." So somehow God just seems to hearken quicker when you have a fear of God, because he can afford to. You have grown and overcome and learned, and you are not a bullheaded, stubborn, independent he has to teach lessons.

   Psalm 147. This really does me a lot of good to read this verse (Psalm 147:11): "The Eternal taketh pleasure in them that fear him." You imagine that? When God looks down and he sees you tempted, and you say, "Oh no, I'm not gonna do that. God says 'thou shalt not covet.' Boy, it isn't good for me to covet it. It's bad for you to want always what you don't have and never appreciate what you do have. What does it do to your nature to always be wanting more, always be looking at what you don't have? No, I'm not gonna covet. God says 'thou shalt not covet,' and I'm just not gonna do it."

   Now, God takes pleasure. God looks down and said, "Would you look at that son of mine? Boy, I'm sure pleased with him. Look at that guy — tempted, but he was afraid. He knew he better not do that because I said 'thou shalt not.' I said 'don't do that,' so he was afraid to do it. I said 'do this,' he was afraid not to do it." God takes pleasure in you if you're one that fears God.

   And notice the last part of this verse is the same as one other one we read: "in those that hope in his mercy." In other words, if you fear God, your attitude is hope in his mercy. Your attitude is gracious. You don't deserve what you have; you're not entitled to what you have. Your attitude is, "Boy, look what all God's done for me! Hasn’t God been good to me! Look what God has given me! Look how God blessed me! I don't deserve any of it."

   You know, can you tell the difference between a person you are around who is gracious and a person you are around who isn't gracious? You should be able to. If a person has that humble attitude — "I sure don't deserve what I have. I am sure not entitled to what I have" — that's a gracious attitude. It's an attitude everybody likes to be around.

   But, you know, if you've got a, uh, attitude of, "Well, you know, I wish God would realize what all I've done and how long I've been around, what all I've had to give up, and what all I've been through. And God, are you awake up there? I mean, why don't you look down here and realize how much I've done, what all I've given up?" And, you know, nobody likes to be around a Job. Nobody likes to be around that attitude. Well, no wonder God then takes pleasure in those that hope in his mercy, that have that fear of God. God takes pleasure in those kinds of people, and he looks down with delight on those kind of people.

   I'm sure we realize some of the key passages in all the Bible like Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31. After he gives all these alphabetized traits of a strong Christian woman — not just virtuous woman; that's not really a very good translation there, because it's talking more about a strong Christian woman, not just virtue as moral. And he gives twenty-two traits here that he alphabetizes, so they are easy to remember and memorize and write songs about and poems about and learn. But notice when he comes right down to number 21 — which is really a good number, 21 — "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain."

   I wonder why God summarizes this strong Christian woman by those two things: favor and beauty. Is that, is that a special problem with them? Is that a special danger to them? Is that a special area they need to be on guard against and watch out? Favor and beauty — one is a lie, and the other is vain. "But a woman that fears the Eternal" — it doesn't matter about her beauty, doesn't matter about her favor with men — "a woman that feareth the Eternal, she shall be praised." And that's — that'll happen. I'll guarantee you that'll happen. If a woman has that reverence and awe and attitude towards God — I'll tell you, I had to get after the girl students over in Big Sandy many times, because for some reason women tend to think the Bible is a book for men. For some reason, women tend to think that the guys ought to memorize verses; they ought to be able to explain the Bible; they ought to really dig in and vigorously study the Bible, but, you know, "I didn't that way for women." I can't believe that. I don't believe that. You surely don't believe that either. That's ridiculous! When we are kings and priests, we are all gonna have to use this Bible as the word of God.

   "A woman that fears the Eternal" — people are gonna say, "You know, that's sure a fine woman there. That's sure a God-fearing — isn't that a real strong Christian woman? I will tell you, that woman really has a knowledge and acquaintance with God. Isn't that great to be around someone that is just that much aware of God, and God is that much real to her?" Boy, a woman who fears the Eternal, she shall be praised. Can't be avoided, can't help it. It will just happen automatically.

   Now, surely we remember Ecclesiastes, the last statement that Solomon — after all of his experiments. Ecclesiastes 11 or 12, verse 13. Ecclesiastes 12:13: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter." All Solomon's experimentation, all of his study, all of his research, all of his observation, all of his wisdom, all of the proverbs, all of the people that he counseled and got counsel from — the conclusion of the whole matter: "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for that’s the whole man."

   Now, you know, the "duty of" is in italics there, and it's really saying nobody is complete. No man is what he ought to be. No man is whole in God's judgment until he learns the fear of God and keeps his commandments. Then a man has got the whole sum total of what he needs to be. That's the whole matter.

   So I don't care if — I know of people that are keeping his commandments, but they don't fear God. They are not conquered by God. They don't have a yielded, submissive, humble attitude at all. Sad to say, some of them are ministers, and they are gonna end up the way other ministers have ended up who don't have any yielded, submissive, humble, conquered attitude at all.

   You know, I had — sad to say that that old scripture "he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." I never thought that would mean "he that endures the kind of, uh, trouble we've been having in the last four or five years in the church." You know, I thought it meant "he that endures the earthquakes" and "he that endures lawlessness abounding" and "he that endures famine and pestilences and war and, uh, false leaders, uh, and false Christians." I didn't think it meant "he that endures his brother," "he that endures the minister," "he that endures troubles within the church." I never ever imagined it'd ever mean that. "He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved."

   And I know there, there are ministers right now who are ministers — all they're keeping is commandments. Maybe not even in the same way a man would who did fear God. You know, I don't think if you fear God, you'd fringe on the commandments. I think if you fear God, you want to keep them totally; you want to keep them maybe more so than you should. I don't think someone fears God when they say, "Well, I don't see anything wrong with going to the Rose Bowl on Sabbath day," or "I don't see anything wrong with having hamburgers during Unleavened Bread if you're out preaching and traveling and, you know, having a, a difficult job as a minister." And, you know, you don't reason with God's law that way. You can't, you know, nip off parts of God's law and add to it and take away from it. No, I think if somebody fears God, they even keep his commandments differently. But even this statement shows some people could keep his commandments and not fear God. That that happens with a lot of different people.

   Now, one example that I want to turn to and be sure we get is back here in Numbers 12. Numbers 12. Here are some people that kept the commandments, but they didn't learn the fear of God. They had to learn it the hard way. And they were some of the top leaders — one of the top men and one of the top women in the work, in the church, in the, God's people.

   Numbers 12 (Numbers 12:1): "And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses." And, you know, it's hard to imagine when I look back and see what happened in the '70s — '73, '74, '71, '72, no matter when it was — and you read Numbers 12, it's just like Numbers 12 happening all over again. It's just like Numbers 12 happening all over again. So here are two people that God did use. One was a prophetess, and the other was the spokesman: Miriam and Aaron. Now, we know who they were; we know what they did. We know how God used them. We know that they lived God's way and taught God's way and, uh, but look what happened.

   "Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses." So it must be hard for someone when you're dealing with your own brother. You know, Aaron must have thought, "Why, you know, why did God pick Moses anyway? I mean, why did God choose my brother here?" And, "I am — " Miriam must have thought, "Well, Moses, the chauvinist or something, you know. He doesn't allow for the same position for women. Moses is just prejudiced because I'm his sister." You know, it doesn't fill in all the details. It just says Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses.

   Look at the way this next sentence is worded: "because of the Ethiopian woman whom Moses had married." Oh. "For he had married an Ethiopian woman." Now, it's almost as if God's saying, "Yeah, that's right. He made a mistake. He shouldn't have done that. He did what he shouldn't have done. He did wrong."

   But that's God's job to take care of Moses. You know what happened to Moses because he married the Ethiopian woman? You ever read about Moses' sons amounting to anything? You ever read about Moses', uh, descendants and genealogy? And, you know, you got Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph and on down like that. Boy, you know, Abraham had a dynasty and all kinds of descendants and grandsons and great-grandsons. And what about Moses? You remember his, his son's name? How many did he have? Did he just have one? Who are these sons of Moses? What, what did they amount to? What happened to them? Did Moses get away with doing what he shouldn't have done? Oh no, God took care of that. Really, God didn't have to, in a way; the natural laws took care of it.

   But what's going to happen? God admits Moses married an Ethiopian woman. Now, some people would have you believe that means Ethiopian by nationality and not by race. Well, that's — I don't think you can prove that one way or the other, you know. To me, you can't prove that at all. Ethiopian — Moses married an Ethiopian woman. Does it make it any less wrong if she's Ethiopian by nationality and not black by race? Does it make any difference if she is Ethiopian by religion? No matter how you look at it, he did what he shouldn't have done. I mean, no, there's no way around it. He didn't do what he should have done. He did what he shouldn't have done. But whose job is it to make him pay for it, to take him to task about it?

   Well, you know, right after God admits he had married an Ethiopian woman, they said, "Hath the Eternal indeed spoken only by Moses?" You know what it is? Ambition. You know what the problem was? Jealousy, competition. "Why, why didn't God realize — didn't Moses realize how much God has used us too? Who does Moses think he is anyway?" And really they were trying to make themselves somebody they weren't. But they naturally said, "Who does Moses think he is? Hath the Eternal indeed spoken only by Moses? And hath he not spoken also by us?"

   Well, that's true, you know. There's nothing wrong with that. That's right. God has not only spoken by Moses. God had spoken by Miriam and Aaron, and that's true. But God saw their competition and envy and jealousy. God saw their ambitious attitude. "And the Eternal heard it."

   "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." And I, I — if I had to describe Mr. Herbert Armstrong in one word, it'd be "meek." A man in his position, with his years of God's spirit, who receives letters by brand new ministers writing in complaining or giving their opinion about something he writes or something — I, I feel Mr. Armstrong is as meek as anybody I've ever known to accomplish as much as God used him to do.

   Well, "the Eternal spake suddenly." I notice this: God didn't speak suddenly with Moses about the Ethiopian woman he married. But all of a sudden, when Miriam and Aaron start their insurrection and their rebellion, God speaks suddenly. "Come out you three unto the tabernacle of the congregation." And they three came out. Really, the word "came out" there in Hebrew is "yanked up" or "jerked up." It's not a mild-mannered word. It doesn't mean to say, "You all meander on out here when you get time." And, oh no, no, it doesn't either. The Hebrew word there means God jerks and yanks them out of there.

   "And the Eternal came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they stepped forward." And come toward God. And he said, "Now I want you to get this. I want you to hear this and get this straight. "If there be a prophet among you, I the Eternal will make myself known unto him in a vision, or I’ll speak to him in a dream. Not with my servant Moses."

   "Why, my servant Moses is so humble, I can deal with him directly, and he doesn't get the big head. I can talk to him directly, and he doesn't get cocky and vain and conceited. My servant Moses is so humble, has the fear of God, and is conquered by God and yielded to God. Why, he’s faithful. With him I’ll speak mouth to mouth, even directly and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Eternal" — nobody else is ever allowed to do that but Moses. "The similitude of the Eternal." Moses is going to be allowed to be holy.

   "Now, realizing that, you people should realize the special way I've used Moses. You should realize my servant Moses isn’t even like the other prophets I have spoken through. You should realize that my servant Moses has been in my contact directly when he got the Ten Commandments and other times. Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"

   Well, one thing Mr. Herbert Armstrong said that kind of — I've thought about, I wondered about, and kind of put a little fear of God in me. And, you know, he said, "I'm surprised with this present trouble that God hadn't intervened and been dealing with some people." He said, "As a matter of fact, I think before this is all cleared up, there's going to be some people dealt with supernaturally the way God has dealt with some people in the past."

   You know, I remember back years ago when Mr. Armstrong tells about when he got started up in Eugene, Oregon, and he had these two adversaries — two men that were just out to get Herbert Armstrong. They just didn't like him. They had no use for him. They were going to get rid of him. They both died in the same year with cancer. Now, you can just sluff that off — well, it's just time and chance, or, you know, circumstances, or happenstance, or didn't have anything to do with anything — but I don't believe that. I don't believe that a bit. I believe when God needs to, whether it's an Ananias and Sapphira or whether it's, uh, those men back in Eugene, Oregon, or no matter what it is, if God has to put a fear of God in the church, he will do it. And we may find that happening. Well, Mr. Armstrong warned that.

   But you notice this then says, since they realized the way that God had specially and, in a unique way worked through Moses, why weren't they afraid to speak against his servant Moses? But, you know, in our day the devil has really done a good job getting us ready. Boy, he started the freedom of speech movement back in San Francisco, and then he started the — all these exposés of leaders: Billy Sol Estes and all the corruption, all the fraud. We've had the Watergate, and then we've had, uh, Mylai exposés. We've had all kinds of exposés of the FBI and the CIA. And then, you know, people get where they don't believe anything. They don't trust anybody. People get to where they say, uh, "Yeah, you know, I wonder — I wonder about that Mr. Armstrong. I wonder what all he is doing. I wonder what he is doing. I wonder why he did this; I wonder why he did that." You know, we've got the attitude that now we have a right to know. I mean, we have a right to know. So we're getting dangerously close to the attitude that Miriam and Aaron had back here.

   Well, we ought to be afraid to speak against God's servant. You know, that doesn't mean that Mr. Herbert Armstrong — I know when Mr. Ted Armstrong was in the church and he was, uh, broadcasting and telecasting and giving sermons and, uh, you know, it applies to people that God uses that way where it's obvious that people know God is using someone. Then for them to get competition and envy and jealousy or ambitious and speak out against them — that's a lesson.

   Notice what happened, verse 9: "And the anger of the Eternal was kindled against them" — against Miriam and Aaron. Not against Moses. Moses' mistake was humanity, just weakness. Moses' mistake was apparently just growing to love somebody that he allowed himself to have interest in and spend time with when he should have just prevented trouble, avoided trouble. But he didn't, so he got duped into this by his own human weakness of his nature. God could understand that. God knows our natures and our temptations. But somebody deliberately, with forethought, with self-will, with rebellion and stubbornness and independence — God's anger wasn't kindled against Moses. God's anger was kindled against Miriam and Aaron.

   And of course they got smitten with leprosy. The the cloud departed from off the tabernacle. Miriam became leprous, white as snow, and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. Well, God didn't strike Aaron, so apparently Miriam was more of the instigator. Apparently she got talking to her brother and said, Hey, you know that big brother of ours, how big-headed he's getting, you know how, uh, cocky he's getting, don’t he realized how much God used you and me and you know, Aaron was the kind of guy that listened to people too much. I mean he listened to the children of Israel. Oh, you know, Moses gone up there. He's not coming back once you build a calf. No, I'm not gonna do that. They kept talking to him, of course he listened he did. So Aaron apparently is the kind of a guy that is just too easily influenced. He had more personality than he did character.

   "And he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous." Well, God didn't strike Aaron, so apparently Miriam was more of the instigator. Apparently she got talking to her brother and said, "Hey, you know that big brother of ours, how big-headed he's getting? You know how, uh, cocky he's getting? Haven't you realized how much God used you and me?" And, you know, Aaron was the kind of guy that listened to people too much. I mean, he listened to the children of Israel: "Oh, you know, Moses gone up there. He's not coming back. Won't you build us a calf?" "No, I'm not gonna do that." They kept talking to him. Of course, he listened; he did. So Aaron apparently is the kind of a guy that is just too easily influenced. He had more personality than he did character.

   So Miriam is the one that got stricken with leprosy. And now Aaron goes to Moses, and look at these different attitudes. You talk about a different attitude! Now he says, "Alas, my lord." Now he wasn't looking at him as a human. Now he is looking at him as God's prophet, God's instrument, as God's servant. Before, he got familiar; he began to look at him through familiarity. But now he says, "My lord, I beseech you, lay not the sin" — so rebellion is a sin. The independence, self-will, stubborn, envy, and competition like this is a sin. Even Aaron confesses it is a sin — "Don’t lay this sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned."

   Of course, God — Moses asked God to heal her, and God did. But, you know, Moses wanted God to heal her immediately. Moses felt sorry for his sister. Moses wanted God just to heal just like that and her be totally healed. And God said, "Now wait a minute, Moses. Even if her father had just spit in her face, she’d been unclean for seven days? I'm not gonna heal her immediately. You shut her out of the camp. Shut her out seven days." So here she had to wander about outside the camp for seven days. It's obvious the main trouble was with Miriam, and Aaron was caught up in it through weakness. That happens that way many a time.

   Well, I wonder if we have a fear of God where we wouldn't, wouldn't do that. Notice back in Genesis 22. It's surprising when you begin to look at the great men of God — you're gonna find out salvation is near them that fear God. One of the main ingredients is really men that fear God.

   Genesis 22. Here is the very trial of Abraham's faith, where God tells him to take his only son out and sacrifice him. And the son says in verse 7 (Genesis 22:7), Well, "my father," uh, "look, here is the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb?" And then Abraham said, Well, "my son, God will provide himself a lamb" — prophetic statement looking ahead to Christ.

   Well, they came to the place. Abraham built the altar. "And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife and the angel of the Eternal called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Don’t lay your hand on the lad, neither do you any thing to him: for now I know" — that you'll obey? Well, no, no, not exactly. "Now I know that, uh, you'll just do everything I say." Yeah, that's true. But how does — why would he do everything he said? Why would he obey him? The angel said, "Now I know that you fear God." "I know you fear God."

   Why, if God would tell you to take your only son after God had already told you that he'd give you a son, and you waited ten years, and he said, "You'll have your genealogy from your own body, from your own loins, and not from a handmaid," and you waited ten years, and now you've got that son, and now God — the same God that says "thou shalt not kill" — now tells you to take your son and sacrifice him. But after all, God is God. If God said this and God said that, then, you know, whatever God said, Abraham just did what God said. Abraham didn't reason with God.

   You know, I've heard people say, "Well, you know, the Bible says, 'Come now, let us reason together.'" Uh-uh. What's the context of that verse? Don't ever take that verse out of context. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." "Come now, let reason together." No, no, no, no. You don't reason with keeping the Sabbath day holy. Well, you know, "Tithe all your increase.” You don’t reason with that. Where, where does it say, "Come now, let us reason together"? You remember the context of that? You better remember. Don't ever let anybody misuse that scripture on you. You don't come and reason with God like Job wanted to. You don't come and reason with God about what God says.

   Abraham had better excuses for reasoning with God. He could have said, "Now wait a minute, God. After all, I waited ten years, and you told me that was the one that I would be carried on in genealogy through. And you said 'Not to kill.' God, you said, 'Whoso sheds human blood, by man shall his blood be shed.' Now come on, God, what are you trying to tell me now — to go out and sacrifice my son?"

   Well, your Bible in Hebrews tells you that Abraham knew God was able to raise him from the dead. So even if God let him go ahead and sacrifice him, God would raise him right back up. And then it would be a type of Christ being crucified and resurrected. Abraham didn't reason with God. He didn't question God.

   It says, "Come now, let us reason together, your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." That's where God reasons with you! When God wants you to realize, no matter how much sin you've committed, no matter how bad they've been, no matter how red and how dirty and — when God reasons with you, it's about forgiving your sins, and they'll be forgotten. They're removed, and never be called and remembered. But you be careful how you use that scripture, "Come now, let us reason together."

   Well, I have heard people excuse rebellion by that scripture. I have heard people excuse independent, stubborn, bullheaded, self-willed, unconquered, unyielded, not under authority attitude just by that scripture. And, of course, it's quite common for people to do that.

   Now notice back in Genesis 42. And here's Jacob sending his sons to Egypt. Of course, Joseph's already down there as the prime minister. And all of a sudden, verse 14 (Genesis 42:14), Joseph says to them, uh, "You're spies." And, "Here's the only way we will prove whether you really are spies or not: By the life of Pharaoh, you're not gonna get out of here, except your younger brother comes here. So you send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and the rest of you are going to be kept in security here — "and we are going to prove your words, whether you’re are spies or not, whether you are telling the truth or not — "or else by the life of Pharaoh you’re spies."

   Well, "he put them all together into ward three days. And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; I fear God." "You don't need to worry about me taking advantage of you. You don't need to worry about me misusing you or abusing you. Don't think for a minute I am going to imprison you or torture you or do anything inhumane to you. You just go ahead and do what I tell you to do, because I fear God. You can trust me; you can depend on me. I will keep my word. I am not about to misuse anybody. I fear God."

   Now, you know, is that so in your dealings? Is that so in your day-to-day life? Is that so in your attitudes to others? They don't need to worry about you taking advantage or misusing them. You're not about to do any of that. You are afraid of God. God is God. He's up there in heaven. He sees you all the time. He knows your thoughts. He knows your temptations. He knows you. God — God is always there. If you fear God, you're not going to do a lot of things some people do.

   Notice back in Exodus 18. Here is another example. You remember where Jethro said to Moses, why, "You know, you are going to wear out. You can't handle all this job of governing all these people. You need to pick out the men and teach them so they can help you handle part of this job."

   Now look at the qualifications here. Exodus 18. Moses' father-in-law, verse 17 (Exodus 18:17), says, "What you are doing isn’t good you will wear away, you and this people that is with you: this thing is too heavy for you; you’re not able to perform it yourself alone. You hearken now to my voice, I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: You be for the people to God — you stand between them and God and they can come to you and ask things they don't understand, and you can bring the causes to God. "And you shall teach them statues and laws, show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Provide out of all the people able men."

   But first they have to have the ability. They have to have the knowledge, the wisdom, and understanding. They have to be able men. "Such as fear God." Men of truth, hating covetousness. You don't — don't pick anybody that can be bribed. Don't pick anybody that's interested in material things; otherwise they'll be showing favoritism. They will judge with respect of persons. Don't put anybody in there either that's not a man of truth, a man of reasoning. Don't put a man of reasoning in there. Don't put a man of self-will, a man of high-mindedness. Put men of truth, put men who fear God. They will be afraid to misjudge. They'd be afraid to take advantage of anybody. They would be afraid to reason with what God says. They fear God. And that's one of the great qualifications.

   Now notice in Exodus 20. The very reason God gave the Ten Commandments the way he gave them was to teach these people this. Verse 18, Exodus 20 (Exodus 20:18): "All the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking." And you know, if you could — if we could witness something like that, boy, I will tell you, that would be something else that puts fear into you. You know, you get afraid when you see a storm brewing or a tornado on its way or when you see certain calamities. But what about God's presence, the thunderings, lightnings, the trumpets, and the mountain smoking?

   When the people saw that, they kept moving back and backing further off — "and standing further off. And they said to Moses, now, you know, we just can't stand here and endure anymore. I mean, God has spoken with us all these previous verses, and, you know, we're about to pass out here in just fear." They said, "You speak with us, and we'll hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

   Well, "Moses said unto the people, God didn't mean for you to be that terrified. God didn't mean for you to fear for your life. Why, don't be that kind of fear. "God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that you sin not." Now there you get one of the things fear does for you: it keeps you from doing what God says not to do. It makes you do what God says to do. It makes you watch yourself when God warns you about your nature. So one of the fear, traits or actions that fear for most — it'll keep you from sinning.

   But, you know, the very reason God gave the Ten Commandments with all that power and glory and majesty and thundering and rumbling and fire and power was so people would have the fear of God. And, you know, it really worked. Ten Commandments — most people still understand and believe and know exist. They don't even believe the statutes and never even heard them. They don't even know what they are. So it's important to God that people have that attitude.

   Now somebody might just say, "Well, it's just all Old Testament." No it isn’t — let’s look in the book of Acts. You're gonna find out it starts out right where the Old Testament ended.

   Acts 10:22: "And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man" — in other words, fair, equitable, someone that dealt justly — "a just man, and one that fears God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an angel to send for you into his house, and to hear words of him." You notice the descriptions of this man God used to have Peter go through and talk with. First, he was just. Secondly, he feared God. Thirdly, he had a good report of people all around him. He was a good neighbor, a good employee, good employer, good friend. He had a good report of people. But he feared God. Whatever God said, he didn't reason with and second-guess and doubt.

   Now on over in, uh, verse 34. Here Peter is preaching one of the key sermons, and notice what he says. Acts 10 (Acts 10:34). "Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive God is no respecter of persons" — Jew, Gentile, Greek, Israelite — "of a truth, I have learned that lesson from now on," Peter says. "God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation" — China, Russia, Mexico — "in every nation he that fears him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with God."

   Now, some people might work righteousness like Job did. Some people might work righteousness out of other motives. But the person also has to fear God and work righteousness, and anybody out of any nation that does that is accepted with God. Of course, all of God's commandments are righteousness.

   Now I notice in chapter 13. In Acts 13:24: "When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. There comes one after me, whose shoes I’m not worthy to loose. Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you fears God, to you is the word of this salvation sent."

   So out of all the people that heard John the Baptist, out of any of the people in his preaching area — children of the stock of Abraham and brethren — whoever among them feared God? There wasn't very many, very few really. They had a ritual. They had a self-righteous way of going God's way, but they didn't fear God.

   Now notice in Romans chapter 11. This is especially interesting and unique because it points out the opposite of people who fear God. He's talking about how the — verse 17 (Romans 11:17) — "some of the branches be broken off, and some branches of the wild olive tree, were grafted in." So he says, verse 18, "Not boast not against the branches. If you boast, you don’t bear the root the root bears either one of you." Whether you are natural branches or grafted-in branches.

   "But you are going to say to then, the branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in." No, that wasn't really true. They were broken off because they weren't fulfilling their purpose, and then others were grafted in. "Well; because of unbelief" — because of disobedience, because of a lack of faith, as the word "belief" there is — "they were broken off, and you stand by faith." So the only way you are grafted in and you're gonna stand there grafted in is by having faith and not judging those who were broken off or feeling superior to them. You are standing; it better be by faith.

   "Be not highminded." Look at the attitude these Gentiles that were grafted into the tree had. They got highminded, puffed up, big-headed, self-willed, stubborn, independent. They got haughty. They got — they thinking they were better than the ones who were broken off. "Why, those who were broken off were just broken off so I could be grafted in." Oh, that's highminded, that's big-headed, that's self-willed.

   And, you know, when you get right down to it, a lot of people's authority — their god is up here in their head. Their god is their own intelligence, their own brain, their own head. Their god isn't the God of the third heaven, the invisible spirit God. How many people do you know of that reason with God and say, "Well, you know, I'll think about that, and I'll consider it, and I'll weigh it, and I, I and me and my and I, my big mind. And, well, I want to know everything. I want to see if Mr. Armstrong was right. I know he's had the Holy Spirit fifty years and I've had it three years, but I think I might know better than he." You know, that doesn't make sense at all. I can't understand people.

   Uh, I, I think the big mistake is we used to think that the leaders weren't human, you know. We used to think those people in the Old Testament were different from ones in the New Testament. I know we've even had articles trying to say that people in one Testament had the spirit of God and the others had the spirit of Christ. That's a big laugh! Those guys are going to be our leaders in the kingdom. Abraham is the father of the faithful, how does he have a different spirit than we do? Those men had God's spirit too! But, you know, we knew their mistakes. So somehow we wanted to think, "Yeah, but now we in the New Testament, we've got the Bible, we have the spirit of Christ, and it's different from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, no it isn’t either."

   We're human just like they were. We make mistakes just like they do — judgment mistakes, personal mistakes, human temptation weaknesses. We’re human just like they are. We've had to learn a good lesson, and that is that all of us have to realize when we first came into the church, you know, we just expected everybody to be perfect. First time you heard anybody gossip, you probably dropped your teeth. You thought, "Well, I cannot believe that in God's church!"

   You know, we just had to learn a lesson, and we're — none of us are perfect. We're all humans; we all make mistakes. We have our ups and downs and temptations and failures and mismanagements and misuse of funds and all done innocently, sincerely, all done — you know, people look back and say, "Well, I don't see why we ever got that Quest magazine." Oh, that's great, you know. Look back twelve months after that happened. Great! Boy, you got good hindsight, you know. That's great.

   But I will tell you this: if I had been there when the presentation was given about what that magazine could have done, I'd have said, "Well, that sounds like a good idea. Let's go ahead with it." Now, that's not what makes it right because I agree with what Mr. Armstrong said, but I have to admit I would have done the same thing looking back at the time it was done. But we don't do that, do we? We sit twelve months later and said, "That was wrong. We shouldn't have done it. Wasted the money."

   You know what God's gonna do? He's gonna turn around and cause it to not have wasted any money, to bring some money into the church. And I think he may turn right around and make that magazine do what we thought it was supposed to do in the first place. But if you want to be a Monday morning quarterback and take pot shots from twelve months afterwards — boy, that's not fair. That's not honest. Well, anybody can sit down twelve months afterwards and judge, sure. Boy, we love to do that, don't we? We just love to be Monday morning quarterbacks. We love to judge afterwards.

   Well, let's come back to the book of Malachi and a couple of scriptures I want to end with here. I'd suggest maybe when you get home today you get a Concordance and take the word "fear" and look it up through your Bible. Mark, mark the fear of God. It's many times in Proverbs — boy, I tell you, there are a lot of great proverbs about people who have the fear of God. You know, if you just make a list of all the blessings to those who fear God, boy, you're gonna say, "I want to get that. I gotta get the fear of God. I'm gonna study that. I'm gonna learn that. I'm gonna experience that. I got to get that." Look at all those, look at all those benefits if you fear God. And then you will start reaping some of the blessings from people that have that fear of God.

   Malachi 1:6. The last prophet in the book of prophecy says: "A son honours his father, and a servant honours his master." If that's the case, "I thought I was your father. Well, then where's mine honour? And I thought I was your master. Well then, where's my fear? saith the Eternal of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name."

   So notice, even the leaders, even the priests who were supposed to have this attitude toward God that the son has to the father, who were supposed to have the attitude that the servant has to a master — yet they lost it. They got highminded. They got big-headed. They got self-important. They got vain and cocky because God was using them — like Miriam and Aaron. So now they lost that humility.

   I never forget those words God said to old King Saul: "When you were little in your own eyes, didn't I call you and allow you to be the king and bless you and give you this great nation and gave you victory? And all — Saul — think about all I did when you were little in your own eyes." You remember when God first called you? Were you little in your own eyes? "Why did God call me? Who am I? Why me, God? I get to be one of the few that's called and chosen and a firstfruit and in the first resurrection? God, why me? Who am I? Why should it be me, God? I'm nobody. I never done anything. I — why not Billy Graham? Why not somebody, somebody?" Remember when you were little in your own eyes? Well, I hope it's still that way, you know.

   "A son honours his father, and a servant his master." But what about us? God's our father — do we honor God? God's our master — do we fear God? Or have we gotten vain because God has used us and called us and chosen us? And now we, we're gonna sit in judgment? We're going to second-guess? And we're going to say, "Well, you know, I want to know everything so I can just decide whether we're doing right and what's going on."

   Notice verse 16 of chapter 3 (Malachi 3:16). It's one of the golden verses, one of my favorite ones in the Bible: "Then they that feared the Eternal spake often one to another: and the Eternal hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Eternal, and that thought upon his name."

   Imagine that! Anytime by the fear of God — that we talk to one another: "What a great thing it's going to be to be in God's family, to be sons of God, to be born again! Boy oh boy, the world tomorrow and what great blessings and opportunities and joys and privilege!" People who fear God speak to one another often about that. God hears it. God writes it down. It's in a book of remembrance. We think on God's name and fear God.

   Notice how God treasures those. We've already read that, uh, how God feels — he takes delight. He pities those who have the fear. "And they shall be mine, saith the Eternal of hosts, in that day when I make up my special treasure." "When I make up my rare jewels, when I make up my special treasure, I’m going to fear him, as a man spares his own son that serves him." That makes a lot of difference to God if we have that attitude.

   Now finally, in the last chapter of this book, here he says: "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings." That's the end-time return of Christ — to heal you, to give you eternity, salvation, the God family. If we fear God's name, the Sun of righteousness is going to rise with healing. "And ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall." We'll be in God's pasture, God's flock, God's sheep, God's calves when God heals us of our humanity, and our human flesh — to those who fear God's name.

   Well, I hope all of us can grow in the fear of God and learn to have that conquered attitude towards God. I hope Mr. Armstrong can look back later on and say, "Well, I'm sure glad a lot more of those people really were conquered by God than I might have thought." And it's gonna make a lot of difference, because, uh, there is one verse I didn't read, and it says: "The secret of the Eternal is with them that fear him." "The secret of the Eternal is with them that fear him."

   So if you wonder what the secret is, if you see some people in the church and they just seem to be blessed, and God seems to be with them, and he seems to have mercy for them, and he seems to really care for them and hear them quickly — and there, there is a secret right there. They have a fear of God. They have a reverence for God. They have been conquered by God. They have that humble, yielded attitude, and they don't have this independent, self-willed, stubborn, hardheaded attitude of intellectualism that a lot of people have. I hope we can learn that and be that kind of people.