Herbert W Armstrong

   Not very many understand it, but the one doing that working out above reveals that purpose to us. Now it's revealed in the world's best-seller, the book that sells more copies than any other book and has been selling that way for the past 100 years and more. And yet it's the book that nobody seems to understand. It's the book that even if they understand, nobody seems to believe because when our Maker speaks, people don't seem to want to believe what God Almighty says. But he tells us why we're here. He tells us what that purpose is. He tells us what is being worked out.

   Now, one-third of the Bible is devoted to prophecy. One-third of the Bible is telling us what is going to happen. Some of those prophecies have already been fulfilled right on the dot and exact precisely as they were given. However, most of the prophecies, 90% or more are yet to be fulfilled. And in our time, you and I are living in the time when biblical prophecy is beginning to be fulfilled as never before. Most of the prophecies are from now on the next few years. I can't tell you whether it's a couple of three years. I can't tell you whether it's five or 10 years. I know it's in this generation and it's going to affect you and your life. And so, you better listen because you're betting your life on it. Your life depends on what is going to happen.

   Now, of all of the books of prophecy in the Bible, the very last one is the most mysterious and the least understood of all. I don't think any of them are really understood by very many people. But the Book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible is a book of mystery. It's a book that no one seems to have understood. I'd like to read once again as I've done several times in the last, over the last few weeks. Verse one of chapter one (Revelation 1:1), the Book of Revelation. Just once again, the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

   Now, revelation means revealing. It means opening up. It does not mean closing and sealing. But listen, a minute, this book was closed and sealed and I'm going to explain why in just a moment, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, the Apostle John wrote this book in about 90 A.D. He put it in writing, he wrote it.

   Now the book as we see in chapters four and five was in the form of a long scroll rolled up, not a book like we have today. We're, we're using books in a different style, a different form today. When I was over in China, recently in the library, they were showing me showing me some of their ancient manuscripts and they were all long scrolls rolled up. They had them not sealed, but they had them bound with rubber bands that they just stripped off. However, this scroll was sealed with seven seals and you can only open one seal at a time. And that will let you read a little of it. Then there had to be another, but there were seven seals and it was a closed sealed book.

   And the thing is if you read in chapter five, no man on earth was able to open that book to our understanding so that we can understand it, it said that only one qualified and that was called the one who was Jesus Christ called the Lamb of God. No one else was able to understand it. And so, in the vision that John saw a vision that was supposedly up in heaven at the throne of God, and there was Christ standing at the right hand of God. God, the Father on the throne had this book, Jesus came up and took the book out of the right hand of him that stood there.

   Now others around their angel, angelic personages were crying out, "Who is worthy to open the book?" No man is able to open it to our understanding. Not many men have tried to do it. They have not made it plain because they have not been able to understand it themselves. They have been misguided. No, only one was able to open the book to our understanding.

   Now it was sealed, but now it is the Revelation of revealing of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ then began to open these seals. He and he alone could open it to our understanding. I've covered this recently a few times, but I want to go over it again real quickly now.

   He opened the first seal and we find the first six seals revealed in chapter six of the Book of Revelation. Now real quickly, I'm just going to rehearse over a little of it because I've covered this in previous programs. Well, a couple of three weeks ago. Now he saw in the right hand of the Lamb who was Christ in this case, opened one of the seals and he saw a white horse. Now, a lot of people disputed who this white horse was. Some thought it was the second coming of Christ and they've had all kinds of ideas. None of them is right. But I want to pass right over that for the time being because Christ is the one that has to tell us what it means. He's the revealer.

   So then in verse four (Revelation 6:4), we find that he saw next another horse and that was a horse that is red. And then after that, he saw another horse, a black horse and there was a rider on each of these horses. And then finally the fourth horseman, a pale horse and a man on that horse who were these four horses or the four horsemen. Now, years ago, there was a saying going out that the four backfield players of the Notre Dame football team were the four horsemen who were quite famous. I don't know how many of you might remember that. That's some few years ago, I remember it very, very well myself, but they were not the four horsemen met here by any matter of means.

   Now, Jesus is the one that had to open to our understanding and he doesn't do it here. Here we find everything is ensemble and it's symbolic. And you can't understand if you don't, if someone doesn't explain the symbols, you can't decipher the symbols. It takes Jesus Christ to do it. Where then does Jesus Christ do it? He does it in, you might say, well at one time, but it's recorded in three places in your Bible. And that is in Matthew 24 in Mark 13 and in Luke 21 in other words, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all recorded the same speech that Jesus made. Now you have to put them all together to get the whole truth. But primarily I, I'm just going to use the book of Matthew at this time because it gives us all we need to know, the others only corroborated it and fill in more details.

   But, I want you to notice now in Matthew 24 once again, I've gone over this a number of times. So just let me hurry right over it. They were at the temple, Jesus and his disciples were at the temple in Jerusalem. And it must have been around about 30 A.D. and he was showing them, they were showing him the building of the temple and he was telling them that the temple would be destroyed and not one stone would be upon another when it was all torn down. Well, a little later, they were up on the Mt. of Olives and they come, came to him privately and they said, well, tell us, when shall these things be. In other words, the things he'd been talking about was the destruction of the Temple. Actually, that happened back in 70 A.D. in their lifetime. But then they ask another question, when shall these things be? And in verse three, now in Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:3), and secondly, what shall be the sign of thy coming in the end of the world?

   Now, in other places, we find that Jesus had been talking to his disciples and had told him that he was going away, but he was coming back and they knew he was coming back to end this world and bring in a new world. Now, the place where this saying, the end of the world got started was in this very verse in Matthew 24 where they asked him that and the end of the world, they ask him that question. He didn't mean the end of the earth. All he meant was the end of man's government and man-built society on the earth and a new world is coming. I've been calling it the World Tomorrow. That has been the title of this program for a long, long time for a great many years. So, Jesus answered and said, he answered their first question first. The destruction of the Temple. Take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying that I, Jesus, I am Christ, but they shall receive many.

   Now notice it again, many shall come in my name saying that I am Christ and shall deceive many. And now he comes to the second question about his coming and the end of this world. And so, he says, you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, see that you be not troubled for all these things must come to pass. But the end is not yet. Now he's getting into the prophecy. Now he's getting into the prophecy. That is the second seal. The first seal was Christ himself.

   Notice what he says, beginning with their time then, take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying that I am Christ saying that Jesus is the Christ. He didn't say many will come in my name saying they are Christ. Oh no, he said many will come in my name saying and I Jesus and the Christ, but they will be deceiving the many. Now, how can they do that? Well, perhaps I'll have time to explain that I hope, and they shall deceive many. That was the first seal. That was the horseman on the white horse, not the coming of Christ himself, but the deceiver coming before Christ deceiving the many and claiming that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus himself said in vain, do they worship me teaching for their doctrines, the commandments of men and making the law of God of no effect by their tradition? You read that in Matthew and also in Mark the seventh chapter, again, you can worship Christ in vain. And he said many were doing that, now then.

   And next was the horse that is red. What was that? The very next verse here, Jesus explains it, and you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. Now in Revelation six, it says that seal the horseman on the red horse was going to take peace away from the earth. So it is, it gets down to World War finally. And next, after that, for nations shall rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Finally, in a World War, and there shall be famines and pestilences. The black horse represented famines. The pale horse represented a disease, epidemic, pestilences coming as a result of famine. And that is we've had four tastes of that. But the real terrible famine and the real epidemic is yet to come and it's going to kill many, many people, many lives are going to be taken.

   Now then, next I would like to get back to Revelation six. And I want you to notice now after we get through with the four horsemen and I had covered all of that in previous programs. And when he had opened the fifth seal, and here comes the next seal, I saw under the altar, the souls of them that were slain for the word, that is the word of God and for the testimony which they held, the word of God is the Bible they believed the Bible, not very many do, but they were martyred.

   Now, this is just as though they, as if they were still living and their voices were crying out. It's just like at one place, Jesus said, the blood of righteous Able cries out from the ground and it was the blood that was crying out in that case. And now these martyrs cried with a loud voice. Those are the martyrs that were killed back prior to 70 A.D. and shortly after that saying, how long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth. And it seems like they were getting impatient. Of course, the Bible says the dead don't know anything. Maybe you didn't know that someday we'll get around to showing you all of those things in the Bible because people have never understood the Bible anyway.

   And white robes were given unto every one of them. And it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little season, that is in their graves before the resurrection, until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. You know, there's so many things in the Bible that work out in a dual fashion. A first and the last, the first and the second, usually the first is physical and the second is spiritual but not always and not in this case. But there is another martyrdom yet to come.

   Now, that was the fifth seal. Let's go back to see what Jesus said was the fifth seal back in Matthew 24 verse nine (Matthew 24:9-21). Now then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted? Now, the first time was it prior to 70 A.D. and after that, they were delivered up to be afflicted and they were the ones that were crying out. When will you deliver us or avenge our blood? They should deliver you up to be afflicted and they shall kill you and you shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. So that then is the fifth seal. It continues on and down to verse 21. A lot of these things were the beginning of sorrows and coming to verse 21 it goes into a little more detail of a time that is yet ahead and has not come yet. It's just ahead of us a very short time. It's a terrible calamity. Such has never happened to this earth in all time of human history.

   Now, verse 21, for then shall be great tribulation. How great will it be? Such as was not since the beginning of the world to that time, known or ever shall be and except those days should be shortened. There should no flesh be saved alive. That is the correct translation. The Moffit translation renders it that way and some of the others, the King James, it says just save but is not talking spiritually about salvation, is talking about being saved alive. In other words, we have come to the place where there are weapons of mass destruction that can erase human life from the face of this earth and accept those days, except God intervenes, man would destroy man. And in our time in the next few years, but listen in the next verse, and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved alive. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. God is going to intervene before that happens. That is the time called by many, the great tribulation that is going to come. Really, that's the time of Satan's wrath, not of God's wrath, but very few people seem to understand it.

   Now, then what do we find next? Well, let's go back to Revelation next. And notice the six seal, I've given you the first five of the six seals and six seals are opened in this one chapter of Revelation. And there are seven seals all together, all the rest of the book of Revelation, beginning with chapter seven covers that seventh seal. We won't get to that in this particular program. But notice, and when he had opened the sixth seal, that's verse 12 in Revelation six, Revelation six verse 12 (Revelation 6:12-16).

   And I beheld, John is telling what he saw in the vision when he had opened the sixth seal. And lo there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood and the stars of heaven fell under the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind and the heaven departed as a scroll when it was rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman, that is every slave even. And every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains because they're frantic in terror when this thing happens, frightful signs that God is going to cause up in the heavens. This is the Day of the Lord, my friends. This is the time when God is going to intervene and stop this hellish mess of the great tribulation lest all humanity be destroyed.

   Now, then next verse 16 and said to the mountains and the rocks, that's what the people will be crying out for. Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamp. Because then they'll begin to see the face of God and they can't stand it for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand? The day of God's wrath. That is the day of the Lord. That is a time spoken of in some 30 different prophecies in the Old and the New Testament, Joel speaks of it. Isaiah speaks of it. Ezekiel speaks of it. Other prophets of the Old Testament, Christ spoke of it and it's spoken of here.

   Now, let's go back to Matthew 24 again and I want you to notice now immediately verse 29 (Matthew 24:29), immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. That's what they're going to scream for when they see even the face of God or the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of Man finally coming in the clouds of heaven and great glory. That is after the great tribulation.

   Now, I'd like to have you take a notice in the prophet Joel, Joel, the second chapter and verse 31 where we read here, Joel says the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible Day of the Lord, come. Now you see you've got the same thing in Matthew 24 verse 29 and also in Joel 2:31, first is the great tribulation, then God comes to intervene and stop it. But there are terrible signs that God has in heaven. Now, man can't do that and men are going to scream. But the Day of the Lord will not come until after the great tribulation and the signs in the sun and moon will come after the great tribulation. But the Day of the Lord comes after that.

   So, then that finally comes down to the time of the second coming of Christ. Now, Matthew 24 let's go on with from verse 30 (Matthew 24:30), now and coming down to the coming of Christ, then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn? I did read that, and he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. That is the resurrection of the dead in Christ. They're going to be raised out of their graves, immortal. Their face is shining like the very sun. They will be God persons, God beings no longer human. Those are the dead in Christ, not out of Christ.

   Now we're in a parable of the fig tree, when his branch is yet tender and he put it forth the leaves, you know that summer is nigh. So likewise, ye when you shall see these things. And in Luke's account, it says when these things begin to come to pass and that's already happened. Now they've begun, but only the beginning, know that it is near even at the door. Verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass. It's coming on our generation. This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

   But of that day and hour knoweth no man. I can't tell you what's going to happen of that day and hour. No, no man knows that day and hour. Knoweth no man but my Father in heaven only. But as the days of Noah were so it would be the coming of the Son of man. And we're having the same kind of violence they had in the days of Noah. They didn't know until the flood came and took them just like a rat gets snapped in a track, before, trap before he knows what snapped him. Watch therefore for, you know, not what hour your Lord cometh. But know this. If the good man had known when he was coming, he would have taken care. Well, God is warning us and we ought to know we ought to be forewarned.

   I said in a recent program that if a hurricane is coming toward the Florida coast, if they don't have a warning, they, they can't be prepared for it. It's very necessary that they have a warning. Well, it's necessary that we have a warning for these things and God is giving it to you and my voice is giving it to you and you are being warned and you had better be watching. Now, of all of the books in the Bible. The most mysterious is the Book of Revelation. It has never been understood, but Jesus Christ opens the seals. He explains what it is. There's a lot more of detail than I've been able to give you. I have a book that I'd like to have you receive. It's called The Book of Revelation Unveiled at Last, The Book of Revelation Unveiled at Last, I'd like to send it to you and there's no charge, just gratis now we're not allowed to get, we're out to give, we have nothing to sell. We're not going to ask you for money unless you already start sending us money of your own accord. And you indicate that you want to be a co-worker with us. Otherwise, we're not going to ask you for money. We just want to give it to you. We're in the, in the work of giving the world is in the sort of life of getting and taking.

   Now in the midst of this is, is a chart of the whole book of Revelation. It'll give you an understanding of the book of Revelation such as you never had before. This will open it to your understanding. This booklet, the key to the book of, well, it is the Revelation Unveiled at Last. It incorporates the booklet that was entitled "The key to the Book of Revelation." That was just a very short one, but that's incorporated in this book and it explains it to you in plain language just as Jesus does. He's the one who reveals it. He's the one who opens it up to our understanding and we have so many other books we'd like to send you.

   Now, we might notify you of some of the others that we're willing to give to you, but we're not out to get. So please write in or call toll-free. So until next time, this is Herbert W Armstrong, goodbye.