Herbert W Armstrong

   And so I think it's fitting this morning to take a quotation like this: "It is good for a man to stand against the wind" and apply it to us as a church, especially relative to recent troubles within the Church of God. And troubles which obviously will continue is certainly not going to end. Troubles will be here until you hear a sounding of the 7th trump. They have always been, they are, and they will always be just like in any organization, any nation, any group of people, they will always be in the Church of God.

   God also says that it is good for each one of us to stand against wind. And indeed God emphasizes that we must stand if we're going to receive the reward of the Kingdom of God. We all took a vow when we came into the church. And I try to remember and emphasize this to anyone that we're going to baptize by reading them Luke chapter 14, beginning about verse 26 (Luke 14:26). I won't turn to that right now, but Jesus did say there, paraphrasing it, He said if any one of you is going to come and be a Christian, going to come and follow me - that's what Christian means - then he's going to have to love me more, Christ says, than his father or mother, brothers, sisters, any members of the family, any other human being, and it says, and his own life also, or Christ says he cannot be my disciple. Christ meaning that he wouldn't be able to make it unless we love God and His way more than anything.

   And unless our faith is in God, then Christ said there is no way that that individual will ever be a successful Christian. Why? Because of troubles. If we get our minds on those things that are less than God, and then when we see those things that are less than God stumble or we see them crumble, we see them fail, we see imperfections in them, then we'll quit. We'll give up unless we always remember that there is God, that God has a way, God has a work, and that God's word is absolutely sure. His promises are without mistake, they are without - you know - God does not change. He doesn't change the things He promises, and unless our faith is in that kind of thing, then when the winds of trouble do come, we're going to find our faith faltering and we are going to give up.

   Now in the recent activities that have gone on in the work, I think they've been blown somewhat out of proportion by those who've written about them, although all of this is based on fact. Some have come to the feelings, "Well, could this be the work of God really when there might, when there is so much trouble within the church?" Some have felt like throwing up their hands and just kind of separating themselves from the church and saying, "Well, I'll wait until things straighten out and then I'll determine whether it's the Church of God and then I may come back to it."

   There have been a few even here in the Houston area who've decided to withhold their tithes until they are sure that this is the church. That kind of person will fall. They'll finally give up. You won't see them around the Church of God in the near future. You just won't because our faith again has to be based on God - the laws of God, what God says, what God promises, and what we have committed our lives to.

   And brethren, you did not commit your life when you were baptized to Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. You did not commit your life to Mr. Ted Armstrong. You didn't commit your life to any other minister. You didn't commit your life to any man. You did not commit your life to any human institution. You committed your life to God.

   Now am I saying in some way that you're not to respect and follow the examples that are set or follow the direction that is given? Obviously not. I mean that would be stupid. I'd be cutting my own throat to say that and I would be a liar to say that. But at the same time, your faith and my faith has to be in God and our trust and faith in God, God's direction of those whom He is using.

   Now, just to sort of set the record straight for those who might be recording it, I do believe that Mr. Herbert Armstrong is God's servant. I have no doubt in my mind. I have no question in my mind. I do believe that Ted Armstrong is a servant of God, although, as his father said, he, you know, has made mistakes and as a result has to be relieved of some duties. I mean, what's wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with that. That's expected. That's what we all would expect, and that's what Ted Armstrong expected. It's just it hurt him because it came in such a, you know, unexpected and sudden way that it shocked him.

   By the way, those of you who have not heard, Mr. Ted Armstrong is broadcasting. He is making radio broadcasts. He is representing his father. He is speaking in the name of Herbert W. Armstrong. He does believe this way with all of his heart. He has met with his father and they have discussed any differences of feeling or administration.

   And as I pointed out to someone here recently, well, this past week with an individual who asked me something about that, I said, "Well, there is no difference. These men do not have doctrinal differences. But they do have administrative differences." And your Bible does say there are differences of administration. The only thing is Mr. Ted Armstrong wants to administer or he wants to run the work differently than his father does. And his father said, he said, "Look, I have run this work this particular way for, I write it, going on 50 years. And it has worked. And if God has blessed it and it has worked this way for these many years, then we shall continue to do it that way." Who can you blame for that? I can find no blame, you know, I appreciate it.

   I am fully supportive and thankful for the fact that Mr. Herbert Armstrong has taken over the reins. I really am, and you ought to be also. Some comments have come back to me: "What does he think he is making those kind of decisions and treating his son like that? Who is he?" He's the head of the work, he's God's called and chosen. He is a servant of God. He has that right and he will do it. That's who he is. "Well, I don't think he's doing what's right." Well, wait and see, see the results. See the blessings. Begin to see when God does start blessing this work again.

   And I can tell you right now that I know since 1973, I have had very, very little work to do relative to visiting, counseling with, and baptizing new people. We don't get them anymore. The Church of God has not been growing. Why don't we just face it and accept it and believe it? The Church of God has not grown in numbers. Now we have grown in experience. We have grown, I think, up in understanding. We are willing to face our own personal problems more. But as far as numerical growth, there's been practically none. Very, very little.

   Right now on my desk I have about a dozen letters of people who have written in recently and some have said, "Let me know where your church is." Others have said, "Do you have a church?" Others have said, "I would like to have contact with a local minister or representative and consider attending your church." I don't believe any one of them said "I want to be baptized." It's not like the letters used to be.

   Well, I've kind of held off right now on these because of the somewhat unstable and fluid conditions in the church until things stabilize a little bit. I'd hate to invite new people in and have them invited in and hear, you know, that things look like they're in turmoil. I'd rather wait a little bit. If God's calling them, God will hang on to them, you know, and they'll be there. You were - remember when the baptizing tour went by to see you and you had been waiting for 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 years in some cases, on the dark continent of Africa waiting over a decade? God kept the people, you know. God's in charge. He knows whom He's calling, and He's going to keep them, and He's going to convert them and if necessary, He'll just go ahead and give them the Holy Spirit. If we don't make it, we don't have to worry about that because it's God and God's work.

   But no matter what your posture may be, which I hope is positive, and yet I know there are the few scattered among us who have very negative feelings and a very negative and critical posture toward Mr. Herbert Armstrong and toward the decisions that have been made and even the comments have been made that I've lied to you. That I've gotten up here publicly and told you that everything is fine, that there are no problems in the Church of God and that Mr. Herbert Armstrong and Mr. Ted Armstrong see eye to eye and everything is hunky dory. Have I ever said that? If I did, I was asleep or something because I have never said that and I've never felt that and I've never believed that.

   So that is simply a misconception or someone is hearing through their nose or is hearing only what they want to hear. I don't know, but that's too bad when people draw those kinds of conclusions because it only hurts them.

   The winds of trouble are an integral part of the growing process. And if you have not come to the place to face them and accept trouble, and know that there is trouble and know that there will always be trouble until you enter the perfect family of God, then you have not yet accepted part of the growing process.

   You know that God intends that you have trouble, I think we all acknowledge that. God prophesized and makes very clear statements in the Bible that this work would have trouble, that the church would have trouble, that membership would have trouble, that ministers would have trouble. Without trouble you don't grow. Without trouble, there is not experience. The Bible says without trouble, there is not patience. So trouble is an integral and an extremely important part of the growing process.

   Now that trouble can come from many angles. It can come from the outside. It can come internally within the church. It can come even within yourself where you're fighting yourself. We find that most of the troubles that we at least we see are the troubles among people inside the organization or the church.

   So true there are troubles. There have been troubles. There are those right now in Pasadena, California who are in absolute disagreement with the decisions that have been made, and you'll probably hear things from them - who they are by name, I'm not sure. I've received a letter from some group out there claiming that, you know, that Mr. Herbert Armstrong is not doing it right. Well, I don't see any place in the Bible where criticism or that kind of thing or that kind of doubt or that kind of feeling has ever been honored by God. I don't find any place that it has ever been honored by God, even if it is valid. You cannot find a place in the Bible where God has ever honored the critical spirit, even if the facts are valid. You can’t find it.

   And I think the most obvious example is the example of David and Saul, where the facts were absolutely valid 100% against Saul and for David. And David fought himself, as he said, not to get into the critical spirit because he knew once he got into that spirit, God would no longer honor David.

   So let's get into a few things about standing today and standing against the winds of opposition. When the winds blow, and they are blowing - sometimes they will blow stronger than at other times, but there will always be as long as you are a living Christian, there will always be at least a breeze of trouble, always. When the winds blow, as they are and as they will, some things will fall. And other things will stand. That's quite obvious.

   I want to show you first of all this morning what things shall always stand. What things, what elements will always stand no matter how strong the winds blow. And there's one interesting thread through all of these. I'll just name here what I've got - 2, 4, 6 of them, and if you'd like to take your concordant sometime and look some of these up, you'll find even more to add to this.

   Isaiah 40 verse 8. Isaiah chapter 40 and in verse 8 (Isaiah 40:8). It says, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever." So number one, no matter how strong the winds might get, we know that God's word will always stand. That's why we should base our concepts and base our belief and base our faith on what it is, what is written in the Bible. Not what somebody else says or thinks, or postulates or theorizes or believes. It must be based on what God says.

   That's why reading the Bible is, you can't compare the value to it. If you don't read the Bible, how do we know what God's word says? If we don't know what God's word says, then we're taking a chance of basing our faith on something that will not stand. Now you found Plain Truth magazines in the past have not stood. Articles in there have not stood because in some cases they were not based on all correct data from the Bible and we've had to junk those.

   You have found that people have not stood. You found things that were not, what the church should not be doing did not stand like commissaries, you know, and this and that. I mean we've been in the moving business, we've been in the retail business, we've been in the wholesale business, we've been in the stock business, we've been in the investment business, we've been in the real estate business, and we've been about everything except the God business at times, and those things never stood.

   They always failed and finally like Mr. Armstrong says, "We're gonna narrow this thing back. And we're gonna get it leaned down and we're going to pare away all this paraphernalia that does not stand and is not God's way and get right down to the trunk of the tree of why God has us here now, why we're in this church now, and it's not to be in some kind of retail or wholesale business or commissary or moving or investment or real estate or whatever, and now not even the college business. That's in the past now, see. We have to narrow it down to what is going to stand."

   Number one, God's word shall always stand. So read it, study it, believe it. When God says, "I'll never forsake you, I'll never leave you," believe it. Psalm chapter 89 or Psalm 89, I won't turn to this one. But in Psalm 89 verse 28 (Psalm 89:28), you'll find that God is here directly talking to David, this is a Psalm of David as to what God told him. And he points out it says God's covenant - God's covenant with David and obviously with anyone that God will make a covenant with - God's covenant shall always stand.

   He said in verse 34 of Psalm 89 (Psalm 89:34), he says, "The words that come out of my mouth, they shall stand." So God's words, God's covenant, God's agreement, when God sets his hand to do something and He makes a promise and He makes a covenant, it shall stand. So again, if we base our lives on God's word and on God's promises, and then a promise, you know, in many cases are covenants, our promises are covenants. God's covenant with you to save you when you were baptized is a promise. And once God has set his hand to save you, then He's going to do it unless you break your end of the covenant and leave God.

   Another one is Proverbs 19:21. Proverbs 19:21, it says "The counsels of the Lord, they shall stand." So again, when we receive counsel from God, we go directly to God's word and receive the direct word of God. Of course, in the cases here of the Book of Proverbs, these men received direct counsel from God in many cases or direct counsel from the direct representative of God who received it in vision, so they could apply it in a very personal way. But any counsel of God.

   In Psalm 111 and verse 8. Psalm 111, I'll turn to this one. Psalm 111. And in verse 8 it says "they stand." Well, I'll go back to verse 7 (Psalm 111:7-8). It says "All his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness." So again we see that God's commandments stand forever and ever.

   Now hopefully you've based your life on God's commandments - the 10 Commandments and all the other laws that hang on those 10 Commandments. And those commandments are sure. Now if you prove them and you know it and you're striving to live by them, you know that nobody can ever talk you out of keeping the Sabbath. Nobody can ever talk you out of the law that hangs under the Sabbath, the holy day law. Nobody can ever talk you out of worshiping the only true God.

   Nobody can ever talk you out of or talk you into the idea that it's all right to lie - "just don't bear false witness." Some people believe that as long as you don't bear false witness against other people, but it is all right to kind of tell half truths. And some of these people have been in the church and some are still in the church and they have these feelings. Well, it's all right to kind of lie as long as it produces good in the end, or it's all right to kind of tell a little bit of untruth as long as it's for a good purpose.

   Well, nobody can ever talk you out of what you believe in if it's based on God's commandment. You can go right on down through the commandments of God and all the lesser from the standpoint that they are under laws of God. And if you know them and you studied them, and you've prayed about them and you've committed your life to God, then you know that they shall always stand. They don't change. It gives you confidence.

   You'll find another mention in Daniel 2 in verse 44 (Daniel 2:44). In fact, I'll turn to this one too. Daniel 2 in verse 44: "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever." So the kingdom of God, once it comes, first of all represented by Jesus Christ, and it sets up household in Jerusalem. And you and I are added to that kingdom. The Bible says it shall never fall. It shall always stand.

   So we've seen then that the word of God is always going to stand. Any agreement or promise or covenant of God with man shall always stand. All the commandments of God, all the laws of God shall stand. And now we've seen that ultimately the great kingdom of God, once established, shall stand.

   Now that makes me want to feel like I want to be a part of things that God has to do with, not get all messed up and muddled up in my head about what human beings do or mistakes human beings make or wrong directions or, you know, wrong decisions that human beings make, you know, or begin to criticize or accuse because I want to be a part of something that lasts forever. Human institutions, human beings don't last forever. I want to be a part of God's family, and I know all of you do, because it shall last forever.

   Now there is one other thing that is stated quite clearly that shall always stand. It doesn't use that direct word or verbiage, but in Matthew 16:18, Jesus Christ said that He came to build His church. And He used an interesting phrase there that means stand, but He says "the gates of hell" - the gates of hell or the grave or you could say death, the gates of hell or death or the ending of whatever it is, the church - "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Which is kind of a poetic way of saying it shall never end. It shall not die. It shall not diminish to finally nothing. It will not be destroyed by men.

   I got a letter here a few weeks ago from the committee of 12, and they said, "Dear fellow minister" - fellow minister which means that apparently it was written by some other ministers or someone who called himself a fellow minister but anyway it says "Dear fellow minister: The work of God is in grave trouble. Mr. Ted Armstrong has been relieved of his duties" and it went on and on and on, and he says, "and unless these things can be reversed and whatever, the work of God will die."

   I thought, "Boy, you know something I don't know. I mean you must have been talking to God at night or something because it's something that I've never heard anything about or the Bible doesn't say that." I mean for the work of God to die would mean that God would have to die because God has promised that it will not die.

   That is the church that does the work. The spiritual organism, the spirit begotten collection of people will never die. For it to die would mean that God would have to turn His back and walk away and take back His spirit and allow a people to die. Now God's promises are absolutely sure that He will not do that.

   That once He's - if we had time, we could wade through and I've taken you through some of those scriptures in the past - and once God sets His hand to do something, He sets His hand to convert you, He is not going to change that. God is not a God of variableness. He's not wishy-washy. He's not one way one day and wakes up the next day and says, "I didn't mean to promise that" and change it. God doesn't do that. So anything that God decides to do, anything that He sets His hand to do, anything that God promises to do, He is going to do it. So therefore the work of God or the Church of God is not going to die. Even though men think that it will. A total impossibility that rules God out of the picture.

   Now the interesting thing through all these 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 scriptures that I've given you is that it all focuses on God. God's word, God's commandments, God's counsel, God's church, God's kingdom. Not men or what men do or think or mistakes of men, but what God does. So let's focus in on God and notice that if we're going to stand with those things that are God's, which are going to stand, then we need to get our minds on God and what He's doing. Not on what men do.

   Now again, I'm not in any way speaking against any man, I am not. I'm just telling you what men, what we do, we, you, me, Mr. Armstrong, all of us do. We all make many mistakes. Many mistakes. But yet if we keep our minds on the fact that there is a God, God exists and we have faith in that God, and we get down and we pray to that God and we believe what God says in His word, then we're not going to give up.

   We're not going to throw up our hands in despair or in disgust and say, "Well, could this be the work of God?" Obviously it is. Guarantee it is. If it were not for the work, if this were not the work of God, it would have fallen many moons ago. Many, many moons ago. Therefore we see God in all that God is doing and the fact that what God does never falls. It always stands. Therefore, if we are going to stand, we must establish our lives on God and what God does.

   Let's pursue that. In Proverbs 12 verse 7 is a single sentence statement. It wraps all of what I've been saying up in one sentence. Proverbs 12 and verse 7 (Proverbs 12:7). And it says "The wicked are overthrown and they are not, but the house of the righteous shall stand."

   Now what is righteousness? The house of the righteous shall stand. Well, it's not the house of the critical. Not the house of the fault finders, not the house of the despair of those who are in despair. Not the house of the doubting. Not the house of those any kind of a wrong spirit, but the house of the righteous, and what again is righteousness? It's not based on what we feel is right. Psalm 119:172 says that righteousness is commandment keeping.

   That doesn't mean that doesn't mean just, you know, getting up and going to church and keeping the Sabbath, or it doesn't mean just not killing, but it's talking about the whole spirit, the whole attitude as a result of loving God's way and seeking to go that way. A change of the spirit as well as literally keeping the letter of the law. Righteousness is as a result of fearing God and keeping His law.

   So again we focus our minds back on God, the fear of God, loving God, and following the way of God, and that kind of person, the Bible says, shall stand. Now you can get all this other stuff out of your mind and all the articles you read in the newspaper articles and all this kind of this and something else and just keep our minds on God's law and His way and our trust in God. The Bible says you shall stand.

   And you get all muddled up with a lot of other things and begin to doubt, then you're setting yourself up for obvious trouble. Now the apostle Peter says the same thing. But he lengthens it out a little bit back here in II Peter chapter 1. He says the same thing. But he says it more colorfully.

   II Peter 1:10. You can actually go back to verse 4 if you'd like to take the time, and it talks about a righteous character building the character of God as a result of serving God. Loving God's way, getting on your knees and asking God to change that in us which is not like God. And then stepping out to do as much as within us is the way of God. A character building and he talks about diligence and about knowledge and about patience and about godliness and about charity and so forth.

   And then he comes on down to verse 8: "If these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacks these things is blind and cannot see afar off and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, the things previously mentioned, you shall never fall."

   Now that's the same thing as mentioned in the book of Proverbs. The house of the righteous shall stand. Or the righteous person who is seeking righteousness here, the laws of God, the character of God, looking to God and not just a man, shall never fall. Another way of saying the same thing.

   So everything so far has boiled down to the fact that if you and I keep our minds and our eyes on what God is doing and not allow, I mean forcibly, not allow your mind to be bogged down with what men do and what men say about men and what editors and writers say about man, which in many cases are very true or at least are based on truth, and keep your eyes on God, then you won't fall.

   And it's such a simple little thing. It's so simple that it almost sounds ridiculous, but the way of God, the laws of God and so forth are always simple. You'll find that God's way is never technical. It's never difficult to figure out how to obey God and what's right and what's wrong. It's always a very, very easy thing. God is not a complicated God. He's not a confusing God. It is not hard to know how to please God, it's a very, very simple thing.

   We tend to get away from the simple things or as Mr. Armstrong calls them, the trunk of the tree, and we get out in the complicated, the confusing, the critical areas. We begin to critique God's law and God's church and God's way and those whom God is using, and then we'll fall off. We definitely will.

   I think here at the outset we ought to be reminded and be mindful of the stumbling blocks that we could stumble across. In this process of growth, if we get our minds off of God a little bit, there are definitely things that we can and will stumble across.

   Number one: We could very easily stumble across other people. More than anything else that I know of as a minister in the Church of God, there is no other area of stumbling greater. There have been casualties. There have not been greater numbers of casualties over any one stumbling block than this one. Few people stumble over God's law in comparison. Most people stumble over what other people do, mistakes of other people, and use that then as a justification to do wrong or to get bitter.

   Paul is exhorting Timothy, says "Shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase onto more ungodliness." So at this time, Timothy was facing a lot of critical spirit within the Church of God. "And their word will eat as does a canker of whom is Himaeus and Philliuss." Now these were two apparently prominent members of the church, and they may have even been among the leadership who had become bitter about something.

   "Who concerning the truth, have heard saying that the resurrection is passed already," so there was one of their largest discrepancies and "overthrow the faith of some." Now, brethren, why would you allow yourself to be overthrown over the resurrections if you still believe in God? Because we get our eyes off of God and get them on some technical point and Himaeus and Phileas apparently were teaching, as is pointed out in I Corinthians 15, that the resurrection had already taken place. And there really wasn't going to be a future resurrection.

   Well, that's not even a point of argument. All we need to be concerned about is do we please God? And if we please God, then may the will of God be done. I don't care how I'm gonna get into the kingdom of God, if it's gonna be about a resurrection or by a change or what it is, who cares as long as I make it? But they got all hung up on the technical points of the resurrection, when and how and you know all these little technicalities and overthrew the faith of some.

   Nevertheless, in verse 19 (I Corinthians 15:19), "The foundation of God stands sure, having this seal." Now here's a very sure thing, "The Lord knows them that are His, and let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." Now notice verse 20 and verse 21 (I Corinthians 15:20-21). "But in a great house." Now the house that he's referring to - the analogy of a literal home or a mansion of someone who's very wealthy is a type of the house of God. Whether you apply that house of God to the Church of God now or to the house of God relative to the kingdom of God, it really doesn't make any difference because one shall become the other.

   "In a great house," and let's apply it now to the Church of God. "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver." These are good vessels. You like these vessels. They are appropriate vessels. They're beautiful vessels, but there are also vessels of wood and of earth. Now what do the wood and earth refer to? "Some to honor," that is the gold and the silver, "and some to dishonor."

   Now you know good and well if the fire took place, you're gonna grab your golden vessel before you are an earthen jar. You're going to grab a sterling silver before you do some element made out of wood. And that's what the Bible says here. Some are honored more than others.

   Now they've all been put in the house by the house owner. He bought all the silver ones and all the gold ones and all the wooden ones and all the earthen ones, and he bought them for a purpose and he put them in his house. What does that mean? Here is a lesson showing that even though all of us have been called by God and given the Spirit of God and we are part of the house of God, legitimate parts of the house, some of us are not honorable. And some are honorable.

   What makes you honorable or not? Obedience to God. Whether or not we are pleasing to God. Whether or not our lives are right before God. We're not talking here about converted and unconverted. We're not talking about called and not called. We're talking about vessels in the house of God who have all been put in there by the house owners. And some please God and some don't please God.

   "If a man therefore purged himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work." So the apostle Paul was telling Timothy, he says, "Timothy, remember that in the church of God you're going to have righteous people and you're going to have troublemakers." And he said among the troublemakers have been Himaaeus and Pylius. He said, "Yes, they've been a part of the church. God called them and God gave them His Holy Spirit, and they are a legitimate part of the house, but they are dishonorable."

   And what did he tell Timothy to do? He says, "Keep away from them." "If a man therefore purged himself from these," he didn't go out of the church. He means stay away from them. Don't let them influence you and brethren, if you know someone who is critical toward the way of God and you don't agree with their attitude, you'd better take this admonition and stay away from them.

   That doesn't mean they can't come to church. Now if they start stirring up trouble and cause dissension, then we as ministers must do something about it. But if they keep their own ideas to themselves, then we'll let them do it, we'll let them attend, hopefully, hoping that they'll straighten up, but don't let them influence you. Now if I know someone who's being all critical against God's way, I don't even talk to them. I just stay away from them. Stay away from it. Because I don't want to take the chances of going down the tubes with them.

   OK, so we see then that others are the most prominent stumbling blocks and under this thing of others, we find that they can be converted and yet not be honorable. So just because someone is in the church, here's the conclusion I want to draw from this: Even though someone is a baptized member of the church, if they are doing wrong, stay away from them. Don't allow that individual to be your stumbling block. Don't use the excuse, "Well, they do it. Why can't I?" Or "So and so said it or does it, why can't I?" "They're in the church doing it. Why can't I do it?" Paul says, "I don't care whether they're in the church or not, as long as they're not honorable to God." And they don't please God, then do not follow that example. It's a very, very clear admonition.

   Now there's another one. Back in Matthew 13. I'll read just portions of this. Matthew 13, which points out that others can be a stumbling block, and in some cases, these others may not be converted members of the church. They may just be a part of it, or, you know, attending with it, but not necessarily a converted part of it. And of course it's not our decision. It's not our right to make that decision and wonder, well, are they converted or not. It really doesn't make any difference.

   But here is an example and I think it's applicable to the church, although Christ in this case quite obviously applies it to the kingdom of God through the millennium. But people being people and human beings being human beings, I certainly think is applicable to the church now.

   Matthew 13:24, a parable about the kingdom of God, we could just place in place of that the church of God. You just say, "A parable saying the church of God is likened into a man which sow good seed in his field. And while men slept, this enemy" - in reference to Satan the devil - "came and sowed tares among the wheat." The wheat we could apply to the converted members of God's church. The tares are not real wheat, and I think Mr. Seaver clearly explained this several months ago, and so I don't need to go into it that a tare looks like wheat.

   When it first begins to grow, it looks like wheat, and you cannot clearly distinguish between a tare and a wheat until harvest time. Not until that ripened head is on it. Then and only then can you clearly - I'm sure if you got each one and put them on a microscope and study them closely, you could tell the difference obviously. But if you just looked out on a field of green and it was a field of wheat, immature yet, not ready to be harvested, and it's growing, and you have tares growing among it, you would not tell the difference.

   That's what Christ is referring to. And not until the wheat turns brown and the heads are ripened, do you notice a difference in color, a difference in texture. It's a little different shape, you know, fruit on there, a little different shaped nut. The wheat is a little different shaped then and only then, can you clearly distinguish the two.

   So we're talking then about converted and unconverted. The wheat being the converted, the tares being those who are hypocrites who look like they're converted but will not obey God. OK, let's apply that to the church. "While men slept, the enemy" - Satan the devil - "came and sowed tares among the wheat" and don't kid yourself that Satan the devil doesn't try to get certain people inside the church. I'll guarantee you that he does and he does a pretty good job. He worms people right into this church.

   And by the time it's all over, I wouldn't doubt that God worms people right into leadership. Whether it be in the ministry, whether it be in administration, whether it be in Ambassador College, whether it be in deacons or elders or pastors or whatever, Satan is pretty sly. And he knows how to make you look like you're qualified for a job and pull the wool over people's eyes. So expect that.

   What I'm trying to point out is don't be amazed when something like that happens. Know that it shall. And when it does, "How could this be the work of God?" He's already said it's gonna happen. We need to read our Bibles.

   Now "when the blade was sprung forth," well, I've already explained this, and finally it came harvest time and the question was asked, "What shall we do with the tares?" And Christ says, "No, lest while you gather up the tares you root up also the wheat with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather together the tares, bind them in bundles, and burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."

   We can apply that to the church. And the way I apply it here is don't let someone else in this church - whether they obviously are converted initially but now are not really going God's way like they should or whether they're obviously unconverted - it really makes no difference because once you stumble, I don't care what you stumble over, you have stumbled out of the church of God.

   But here are two predictions, two promises that you would have to face this possibility of stumbling. But once we keep our minds on God and we do pray on a regular basis and we believe the Bible and don't get our minds all half cocked on just what people do, then we don't have to be so concerned about stumbling over other people. And again, let me emphasize, secondly, or again that this is probably the greatest stumbling block so far. More people have gone out of this church of God because of what others have done than any other thing. 1974 is the greatest witness of that. And they went out because of what others thought or what others did are the sins of others, are the teachings of somebody else. They stumble over what others were doing.

   Let's be cautious then of stumbling number 2: Over ourselves. Now you didn't go out in 1974. You stayed in the church of God. You know that some of those who stayed in got proud about it. And even to this day are proud that they didn't go out and follow so and so, that they stayed in the church.

   Notice I Corinthians chapter 10. I Corinthians chapter 10. And in verse 12 (I Corinthians 10:12), "Wherefore let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall." A very clear scripture. A very poignant scripture. And one which we ought to read on a regular basis. He who thinks he stands, he who is self-sufficient and proud of his spiritual condition and feels that he could never go out of the church of God, take heed because he could.

   And believe you me, every single one of us is going to be tried severely to see whether we will stay in it. And you may laugh at that, you may think that amusing, you may think that half-cocked, but stick around. You shall be tried severely as to whether you stay in.

   And I remember that comment made by an evangelist and I sat in the audience and heard it about 8 years ago. And I thought, "Well, you know, well he's saying it, I believe it, but shall it really happen, you know, really, will it really happen? How is it going to happen?"

   Well, I know that I was severely tried in 1973 when this thing happened because many of my good friends went out of the Church of God, good buddies. College buddies, ministerial buddies. People that I knew in the church, who just walked out of it. And that's kind of trying, you know that? It is really very trying. It shakes you for a while, you wonder, well, you know what's going on. And it's during that time of wondering what's happening that you and I are ripe for trouble. During that time of inconsistency and instability and kind of wondering what's going to happen, that you're right for trouble. Well, I thank God that I didn't, but we never know about the future. You don't know about the future.

   Finally, number 3 of these three basic things that any one of us could easily stumble across if we're not keeping our eyes clearly on God. That is the influence from the devil himself. That influence that is so often not recognized, we forget because Satan is spirit and his influence is spiritual. We forget that influence. We forget why we get into the attitudes and the moods and the critical spirits that we do.

   Ephesians chapter 6. Beginning in verse 10 (Ephesians 6:10), "Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might." Again, Paul is emphasizing God's power, not human power, and the power that God can put in your mind. The power of God's Holy Spirit, or II Timothy 1:6 calls it, the spirit that will give you the love of God. And it will also give you power. There's a definite power there. A power to stay with what you know is right. Without that power, you can't stay with it. A human doesn't have that strength.

   Now he says, "Brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Let's talk about staying close to God. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles" - or the strategies, the techniques - "of Satan the devil."

   "For we do not wrestle against any other person." And again, as I emphasize at the outset here, we don't fight against people outside the church. That's not our battle. And our battle should not be against those within the church, although it is the battle of some. Well, they got to fight against Mr. Armstrong, or they got to fight against Mr. Ted Armstrong, or they got to fight against this administrator or this department head. Our battle is not against any other person or as Paul says, "against flesh and blood."

   But our battle is against principalities, against areas that are controlled by spirit beings, principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Now, who are the rulers of the darkness of this world? Well, all you need to do is study II Peter, you need to study Jude and you'll find out that the rulers of the darkness of this world are invisible spirit beings that are not of God.

   Who have power over areas. Who is the God of this world. Who is the prince of the power of this earth. Our prince of the power of the air, he calls it of this earth. "Rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness" - and that spiritual wickedness is not the wickedness of you in your spirit, but as the margin says, "Wicked spirits." We battled in against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places, or as the margin points out, in the air. That's where the demons live, they live in the air. They zoom about in the air. They don't live in houses, you know, in a subdivision in a city. They live in the air. And they are the princes of the power of the air.

   "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand." Notice this word "stand" all the way through here, "that you may be able to withstand in the evil day." A promise that it would come. And brethren the evil day is not the tribulation. The evil day is not the persecution of some fly by night organization somewhere else. The evil day is not bad mouthing you because of your righteousness. The evil day is when your guts roll around inside and you wonder where God is. That's the evil day when you begin to doubt what you have believed always to be the way of God. That's the evil day. When your salvation is being challenged. That's the evil day. Not physical death. That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about salvation. When your life is on the line.

   "Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth." We have to get that truth from the Bible. Thy word is truth. John 17:17. "In having on the breastplate of righteousness." Again, as I pointed out earlier, that is the laws of God looking to respecting and striving to live by those laws. "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." A gospel or a truth of peace are of a better way.

   I don't know if anyone else is doing that. Anyone else that is preaching the gospel, the good news of peace, outside of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. He's the man, you know. He's a man that does it. He's a man that feels it and believes it more deeply than any of us, and he is the one who can express it more clearly than any one of us.

   And your Bible and my Bible says if we want to stand, we have to stand with our feet shod, be actively involved in it, our feet shod with that gospel of peace, fully supporting it, being with it, not saying "I'm gonna withhold my tithes," you know. Who gives a flip? You know, you and I withhold our tithes. God goes home, can't do the work. Oh Joebo withheld his tithes. So what? My Bible says God owns all the hills, you know, of all the earth and all that's on them and all the wealth inside of them.

   God doesn't need our tithes. Sometimes we get all bent out of shape thinking God could not do His work unless we as a people of God tithed. No, that's just the easy way to do it. God's gonna do it anyway. God will do it anyway. God's not that stupid, you know, God is not that weak. God is not weak at all. And sometimes we make God to look like a human being.

   God doesn't need our tithes, but God is giving us the opportunity to share in something good and receive a return. And that's the tithing system, so to withhold our tithes is no kind of threat to God, it is not.

   "Take unto you then the whole armor of God, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Take the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying always, and watching with all perseverance and supplications for all the saints."

   So there are 3 things that we possibly could stumble across and we need to be mindful of them and remember them. Now let me give you a few positive exhortations about standing. And notice first of all that the winds that are going to come against us and that are coming against us are expected. They are expected.

   Now I go back here to Romans 5. Romans 5 and in verse 3 it says (Romans 5:3), "We glory in tribulations knowing that tribulation worketh patience." Tribulation means trouble. No matter where it comes from. And your Bible says that you and I should expect trouble. And we're having trouble.

   Now it is being ironed out. I'm thankful for that. Mr. Wayne Cole wrote a very, very positive and encouraging letter to all the ministers which we received yesterday. Not a real long letter, about 2 1/2 pages, but a very, very positive and very encouraging one. And one thing about Mr. Wayne Cole, let me just tell you this - and he is a new director of all the ministry in the US and worldwide - I know of no other expression to use for Mr. Wayne Cole that is better than he's a straight shooter. And then he shoots straight from the hip. He tells it like it is. He doesn't cover up. He doesn't pad things, he just tells it like it is.

   Now, obviously, you know, if you want to tell something about your children, as an example, you're not gonna come out and just tell everything, obviously, but you're still gonna tell the truth. You know, my son Joel, that's, I'm gonna say, well, you know, Joel's a thing. Or he did it wrong or he's a bad guy, but I'm not gonna go in and tell you all the little details. You know, I'm not gonna say every little bit thing, but I'm gonna say he's wrong.

   Mr. Wayne Cole is going to say it's wrong. This is right and that's wrong or whatever. He's not gonna go into all the little details because that's not necessary and it's not good for you and me, but he is a straight shooter and he's a great man. He's a good man, he's still a human being. And I'm glad to see him over all the field of ministry, really am because that, that to me is a very encouraging thing.

   But notice then that trouble is coming. It is a necessary ingredient to growth. Now go back, taking that in mind and go back to verse one. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand."

   Now this just so much hocus pocus talk. What does Paul mean? He said when he says this grace wherein we stand, stand against what? Verse 3 against tribulation. Why don't you analyze that sometime in your own mind and ask yourself what does Paul mean? Stand in the grace. Well, frankly, if you'll analyze it and think about it and recognize the grace that you and I do stand in, it'll help you to stand. Because what is grace? Grace is all the unmerited ways that God has dealt with us. Our calling, our forgiveness, our conversion, our receiving of God's Holy Spirit, the hope we have, that's all a part of grace. Grace has to do with the way God deals with you and me.

   Now if we reflect on that and we're thankful to God for that on a regular basis, we reflect on the merciful way that God has dealt with us, if we remember how we came into this church, then we're not going to be stumbling over what other human beings do. We're going to remember what God has done and keep our minds on God. You stand because of grace. Remember that we're here because of God.

   Well there are a lot of other scriptures. I Corinthians 15:1-2 says basically the same thing. Let me go on here to two others. One is in II Corinthians chapter 1 in verse 24. II Corinthians 1:24. The last part says "By faith you stand." By faith you stand. I link that with one other scripture II Corinthians 5 and verse 7 (II Corinthians 5:7): "We walk by faith, not by sight."

   Now putting those two together then, God is promising us this. He says if you're going to be a Christian, you're going to have to live your life in faith. Not by seeing everything. Not by knowing why things are like they are. Not understanding why God does things like He does, why God allows things to develop like God allows circumstances to develop.

   Now this work of God does not function like any other organization. If this were any other organization, it would not stand. And you can study Romans 11. You can go back to the book of Deuteronomy, and time and time again it points out that God doesn't do things the way we do them. Isaiah chapter 55 says the same thing. God says, "I don't think like you think. So I don't do things like you do them." So quit expecting me to act like a human being, is what God says, and this being the work of God is not going to function like the institution of a human being.

   Therefore, Christ says through the apostle Paul, if you're going to stand with this people, if you're going to stand with this church, then you're going to have to do so by faith. Knowing that it is God's work. Again, it all gets centralized back on God, doesn't it? And not by sight.

   So I'll tell you, if you're looking for just sight and just see things, you're going to see the wrong things. And you're going to see the things which will take you out of this church. It again it has to be by faith, faith in God, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in God's promises, faith in the coming kingdom of God. Faith in God's word, faith in God's commandments, and know that God is going to take us into the kingdom of God, no matter what happens now. It's that clear.

   One final scripture is back here in Matthew 7. Relative to wind. And you should know which one I'm going to. An exhortation from Jesus' mouth himself. Matthew chapter 7 and in verse 24 (Matthew 7:24): "Therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine" - again the words of God. And remember what happens to the word of God? It shall stand. "Therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine and doeth them not." And what else stands? The commandments of God stand. Those are the things we are to do. So if we don't do those things that shall stand, then we won't stand.

   "Whosoever hears these things of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock." Now, spiritually speaking, it wouldn't do you a bit of good to go out and build on a physical rock. Because the Bible does point out that all the mountains shall cleave into, you know, and all the islands shall drop into the oceans and so forth. So being on a rock when it finally comes down to the great tribulation of the day of God's wrath really won't do you any good.

   We're not talking here about a physical rock. We're talking about the rock of our salvation. I Corinthians 10 says that Christ is that rock. "I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon the rock" or upon Christ. "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew." The winds blew. And like I said, a famous writer once said, "It is good for a man to stand against the wind." The winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

   "And everyone that hears these sayings of mine and does them not shall be likened unto a foolish man," the critical person, the fault finder, the accuser, "which built his house upon the sand." He didn't build it upon the things which shall stand, the word of God, the commandments of God, the promises of the coming kingdom of God, the assurance that Christ said the church of God would never die. He built it upon sand, upon human beings and what humans do.

   "And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it." So yes, brethren, it is good. It's good for a man to stand against the wind. We're all gonna have to face the wind. We're all gonna be standing out in the wind. But how many are going to stand against the wind?

   You're going to stand and I'm going to stand only so long as we are placing our confidence on those things which we have been promised will stand. And the things which will stand shall be only those things of God: God's word, keeping of the commandments of God, belief in the covenants and the promises of Almighty God, hope in the coming kingdom of God, which shall stand, and right now being fully involved in and having our feet shod with the gospel of the Church of God, which is going to stand.