
And they don't give themselves a chance to realize that everything that God has for us is good, and everything that God condemns and forbids is bad for us. And God gave us His Law that it might go well with us and that we might live long, and that means eternal life. But eternal life in Godliness and in joy, and in peace. When they satisfy, when it just feels so good to be alive! And the thing is this: the greatest secret of all of it is this: that vanity, selfishness, and greed, which is the actuating motive back of most everybody's human nature, does not give you anything that does satisfy. Now let me tell you something: Mr. Chesterfield is lying when he tells you his cigarettes satisfy. I say to you, they don't satisfy! Because the only reason anybody smokes them is for the gratification of a sensual pleasure. And it's really smell and not taste. But I won't argue that with you. You can go ahead and say taste if you want, because it doesn't make any difference to me what you think it is. But it is more blessed to give than receive. And when you're serving, and when you're helping, when you're able to give and to serve, let me tell you that when you succeed in that, in the greatest measures, it brings a thrill that is so much greater than the thrill to think you get or just pleasure or passing things that are past time for the moment, and the world has never learned it. Well, that's one of the great lessons they have to learn. Well, now God has mapped out 6,000 years in which he has made us free moral agents. Well, people will be free moral agents even after that, as long as they're human. But, I mean, He has given us more free moral agency and latitude now than He will later in that He has allowed people not only to reject Him and His government privately and individually but also collectively. And He has allowed human beings to come under the rule of other human beings and human beings of ambition to go out and organize multitudes and nations and empires and to rule them and to set up human rule and human governments on the earth. And it's all based on vanity and its offspring, greed. Everything in this earth is based on that. And this earth, the people of this world, have got to learn that that way is not good and that it is never satisfying, and that only the things of God. Love is of God. Love is giving; love is serving; love is helping; that's the thing that will satisfy. And the ways of this world do not satisfy; they've never satisfied any of you. They will never satisfy anybody. We have contented powers, but not contented people. So when we learn God's ways, we're going to be contented and we're going to be just filled with enjoyment and with thrills—real thrills. Thrills inside of the heart and the soul. And it's just going to feel so good to live. Jesus said that he came that we might have life, not only, but that we might have it more abundantly; but there's a way to have it that way. Well, the 6,000 years will soon be up. And we've seen that before the second coming of Christ, men are going to get to the place; they are going to bring such fiery on the earth. There's enslavement. World War III will break out, and the United States is going to be conquered. I have gotten up to the great tribulation, and I've shown you, yesterday morning, I think it was, of the individual part of the great tribulation and how the Christians, unless they are counted worthy to be taken away to a place of escape and safety prior to that time, are going to be persecuted and martyred. Now I told you there was also a national phase, and I won't take the time to go into that now. I've shown that on the radio so many, many times. You've read article after article in the plain truth. You should know what you find in the fifth chapter of Micah. What you find in the 30th chapter of Jeremiah. What you find in the 47th chapter of Isaiah and many, many other prophecies that show that our people are to be conquered by this power that is called a "beast" rising up over in Europe, revealed in the 17th chapter of Revelation, which is a resurrected Roman empire. And now, our people are to go to some place of safety if we're accounted worthy. And those who are not accounted worthy, and each one of us will decide which plan we're in. God won't decide that for us. Those who were not are going to be tortured, as I explained to you, if they have not been killed in the war or if they have not died in the starvation and the disease epidemic that is going to come. But now there is a way of escape. And that's the next thing that I want to come to now. After the great tribulation, will be the "Day of the Lord," and I don't think the exact duration of that is given in any prophecy, but there are indications that it will be 3.5 years. The great tribulation is apparently the last 3.5 years. I think we have the duration of that rather plainly expressed in the prophecy, and apparently there's another 3.5 years for the time when God begins to take over and send plagues upon the people in punishment in order to awaken them. Here's the idea: God has sent His prophets of old. He sent his son; they stoned the prophets; they crucified his son. He sent out his ministers, they martyred them. And the church was forced to flee in the middle ages, even to save its life. They were not allowed to proclaim the gospel to the world. For their own lives, they had to flee and just preach to themselves in the wilderness, mostly. They preached to as much of the world as they could, but they were not able to get to the whole world. But now conditions are such that we are allowed to preach this gospel of the kingdom to all the world as a witness unto all nations before the end comes. Brethren, do you realize what a glorious commission Jesus Christ has given to us? What a wonderful thing it is to be able to participate in that great and glorious commission! I hope I do, and I hope you do too. Now, we're in a recess between the second and the third round, you might say, of a world war that isn't like a prize fight with a number of rounds with little recesses for resting in between. And the only reason for this present recess is to allow this gospel of the kingdom to go to all the world. And to allow that the economic situation in the United States will be good enough to make it possible. Now, the financial outlook is that we're going now right into a big boom. And if the government didn't check it, it might get out of hand. The boom would go up into finally a bust. But the government is already beginning to put on the brakes to try and slow down the boom. Because it isn't healthy to get too big a boom and grow too fast. They are beginning to tighten up credit. It's beginning to be more difficult to borrow any amount of sum of money. And you're going to find that in the next 6 to 9 months, it's going to be a lot harder to buy all of the, oh, refrigerators and washing machines and the gadgets, the electronic devices, on-time payments than it has been. You'll have to probably begin to pay a bigger down payment or make bigger payments and a lot of that sort of thing. Now, if they slow it up and they've been able to, every time before that we were threatened with a boom that would go up to a bust will hold this prosperity going right along. And somehow I believe that it is going to go along for the simple reason that this very work requires it. And I think that God, God is manipulating everything. God is the real force, the real ruler back of everything. He's allowing them to run the world yet. And, God only interferes in the running of the world in so far as it is necessary to carry on His plan, His chosen. Now, he will interfere enough to see that if this very work needs the money, he'll make even conditions prosperous for the whole United States for that purpose. I wonder if you believe that God is in this Work to that extent. Well, I know it; He really is. And, then how much of your hearts be in it? Now, if we are faithful, God promises every one of us who is faithful in this Work, and that's one of the conditions of getting His protection against this great tribulation that'll be brought on by the devil through his agency, both religious and military and civil and economic, that is coming. And also, that no plaques in the Day of the Lord will come near our dwelling. Now, there are conditions, but there are promises of escape. Now first here is a general one that I would like to read back in Joel prophecy, Joel. You read in the day of the Lord in Joel in the first chapter, he speaks here of the drought and the epidemic of the insects that will destroy crops. And then he saw here in the 15th verse of the first chapter. Joel 1:15. "Alas, for the day! for the day of the LORD (or the ETERNAL) is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come." It's a time of destruction. God is sending it. It's coming from the Almighty. Now, "The Day of the Lord" is the time of the plagues God will send, and that immediately follows the sun and the moon being dark, remember, and the stars falling, which will be a horrific meteor shower. Not stars bigger than the earth won't fall on the earth, of course, and then that follows the great tribulation. So this is all after the tribulation. Now onto chapter two, (Joel 2:1) "Blow {1} (ye) the trumpet in Zion, [that's the Church] (and) sound an alarm in my holy mountain: [that is the Church] let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the {2} [great] day of the LORD cometh, (for) it is nigh at hand;" When you see this drought in that condition. We're seeing the forerunner of the drought. The drought isn't here yet. What we have here we're talking about, isn't this prophesied drought. It's only the beginning of it or a forerunner before, which ever it turns out to be, and I can't tell which. But, if you come over here now to the second chapter and beginning the 12th verse, here is God's promise of escape. Listen to this: Joel 2:12 "Therefore also now, saith the ETERNAL (LORD), turn ye even to me with all your heart, [Turn to God with all your heart] and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:" Joel 2:13 "And rend your heart..." Now that's when the invasion of insects comes and the drought. That's before; that's only the beginning of the great tribulation. That's before the invasion of the foreign armies, and the real great tribulation in proper tongue. Joel 2:12..."with all your heart, and with fasting [That means in real earnest. No kidding. And no monkey business about this] and with weeping and with mourning:" That means really put your heart in your prayers. You've got to be serious about this thing. Joel 2:13 "And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn onto the ETERNAL (LORD) your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." Joel 2:14 "Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the ETERNAL (LORD) your God?" Joel 2:15 "Blow {3} [ye] the trumpet in Zion, [Zion here represents the Church] sanctify [that's set apart] a fast, call a solemn assembly:" Well, we're seeing the very beginning of that right now. And it's going to get worse, and it just comes worse, and the real drought comes. Here's what we're told to do: Joel 2:16 "Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, (that's the church congregation), assemble the elders, gather the children and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of {4} [the] (his) chamber, and the bride out of her closet." Joel 2:17 "And let the priest, the ministers of the ETERNAL (LORD), weep between the porch and the alter, and let them say, [cry out and pray to God and say] Spare thy people, O ETERNAL (LORD), and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them..." Because, the heathens from over in Europe and that conglomeration of nations over there are going to come to rule over Manasseh here in America and over Ephraim in the British Isles and over the other side of Israel in western and northwestern Europe. Joel 2:17 continued ..."Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?" They'll say well, you claim that you worship God; where is He? And why doesn't He save you from us?" Joel 2:18 "Then will the ETERNAL (LORD) be jealous for his land, and pity his people." Joel 2:19 "Yea, the ETERNAL (LORD) will answer and say [to] (unto) his people... If the whole nation will turn to him then, but they won't do it. Actually, this isn't going to happen because the people won't do what God said. Joel 2:19 continued ...Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith..." God would end the drought if the people would do that. Now, brethren, it's my job to preach this to the people of America. So when that time comes, they will do this very thing. And you know, even the churches of this world that are not the true churches of God at all—they're deceived. But if they cry out to God, God is merciful, and He will listen. You know that God does sometimes even answer the prayers of people like that. If they pray from the heart and if they just receive, then not aware really of all of their sins; they don't have the knowledge of God's law that we do. And I read in the paper of a town where they were having a terrible drought and famine right here in Texas. Maybe you read of it. I don't remember where it was or which town. Well, anyway, what I read about this town was that the people all did unitedly pray and ask God. They really got serious about it because they were frightened; they were scared. Maybe they didn't know how we do. But for the minute they were actually sincere and honest, their hearts were right, even though they were carnal-minded people, and God heard and answered, and the rains began to fall. And yet you know where that town was? (Mr. Armstrong talking to someone in the crowd) Well, oh yes, which Mr. Dennison lives there yet. Was it Dennison? Oh land and house, and they got the rain. Well, now God would do this if the people would pray. But they're just not going to do it. Now, if all of the people won't do it and the nation won't do it to get protection, then what of the end does this yield? Well, Jesus said or at least recount of here in Luke 21. Now Luke 21 is telling the same thing as Matthew 24. The same speech of Jesus when he was on the Mount of Olives. And when they asked him about the time of the end and his second coming and he said, first would come all these false preachers, preaching in his name, preaching about Christ, but yet deceiving the people. And then the wars and finally the world wars and the famine and the pestilence, and finally, the great tribulation. Then the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And that of course, He mentions that after that, He will come. And he mentions the sun and the moon being dark and all of that. And then finally, the second coming of Christ. Now he says in verse 31: Luke 21:31 "So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Then in verse 36 He says: Luke 21:36 "Watch you (ye) therefore, and pray always, that you (ye) may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." That's at His second coming, when they are going to come and stand right on the Mount of Olives with him after being caught up in the air to meet him. Now, notice what he says: "WATCH you." You cannot watch unless you know the prophecies and unless you read the newspapers and see what is going on. Luke 21:36 "WATCH you therefore, and PRAY ALWAYS..." That means you've got to be in the "SPIRIT OF PRAYER" all the time! It doesn't mean you're on your knees all the time, 24 hours a day, that you never take time to work or to eat, or sleep. I wonder how many of you pray, even while you drive your car, not if verbally out loud, vocally. But even in your mind a in spirit of prayer and just talk to God in your mind. That's without saying the words out loud. How many of you pray even as you walk along, when you're taking a walk? How many of you men pray as you shave in the morning? Now you should get down on your knees and pray a great deal. Don't misunderstand me; private prayer, real prayer, but you must be in the spirit of prayer. Why, when anything comes to my mind, no matter where I am, I just in my mind, give a quick prayer to God, and I know He hears me, because I've had some miraculous answers "just like that" from that kind of prayer. You know one time, I've never mentioned this before, but one of the times that I will pray to God or that I meditate to think and where the ideas come to me and if what I should do during the day. And some of my best ideas is while I'm shaving in the morning, something about shaving it's on the face that begins to get those brain cells working. And I begin to think, and ideas come. Sometimes I have to stop right in the middle and jot down a note of something that is tangible that I must remember to do when I get over to the office, and I'm afraid I'll forget if I don't jot it down. Well, I get ideas while I'm shaving in the morning. Now that's a good time to just silently pray like that. That's not on your knee, and that won't take the place of praying on your knees either, but do it in addition; do that in addition. Praying always. Always being in that attitude and spirit of prayer. You know how temptation that failed you, and you got weak, and you just didn't resist the temptation. You didn't really mean to do it, but you did it; you couldn't resist. You know that you never failed and did something that later you're sorry for, that you shouldn't have done when you were tempted, and you let it conceive and bring forth sin, as James says. That has never happened when you were in a real serious spirit of prayer. It's always when you haven't been praying and you were just out of prayer with the Lord and you were away from him and you were too close to the temptation and the material things and the things of vanity and greed and pride and human desire and all that sort of thing. Now if you're praying always, it's not only just going to get you this protection, but it's also going to keep you from sinning and it's going to make you a better test. And that's one of the ways to live a Christian life. Alright, now then, another thing: that's your individual work. But, first of all, I should have read this verse really. The first commission that God has given us is the collective commission in His church of carrying this gospel to the world. Every one of us has a part. Listen, brethren, I tell you that often, what was it? $7000 this afternoon or this morning? (Mr. Armstrong asking someone as question) Oh, have things been higher in the New Year? I think it was $7,000 [someone speaking to Mr. Armstrong]. Huh? Yes, $7600 was our offering today. I don't know whether Ted knew that. He's been busy now trying to catch up with a new son. $7000 offering this morning. After nearly a $10,000 offering about $9000 or $8-900, I forget exactly a week ago. I almost feel like using the Texas expression saying proud of all of you. But then, I am pleased, [Mr. Armstrong giggles] and I believe God is. Well Brethren that helps, that goes into the Work of God. Well it may go to the Tabernacle this time, but that's only to release other money to go into the Work of God instead of having to come to this work to the Tabernacle. So in the long run, it's carrying out the gospel. Now, then, for those of us that God is calling and that give Him our prayers that give Him our tithes and our offerings that make sacrifices—not of animals, sheep, and goats, and that sort of thing—but of giving up things we'd like that takes money to buy so that money can come into the Work. We all have our part. Now we ministers just devote our whole lives, our time to it. It's our job. You may have a job of devoting your time to something else so you can earn the money. Well, if we all just worked like our only ministers, we couldn't go anyplace, there wouldn't be any money. You have to do your kind of work so we can do ours and our work. Well, it, it's, it's all of us together as a team, don't you see? We're a, Fruits from our work is something that you have just as much part in as we do. Now, we are this Church of Philadelphia in this era. God says, He knows our works all right, as He did with every one of these churches. And He says, (Revelation 3:8, paraphrased) He set before us ..."an open door"... and we read from the Apostle Paul that that means the opportunity to carry the gospel into other countries and to carry it out. It's a medium or a media for carrying out the gospel. And he said, (Revelation 3:8, paraphrased) ..."No man can shut it"... Of course, God could shut it remember, but no man can. Revelation 3:8 ..."for thou hast a little strength"... And you could read that only a little strength. That's all we have. My, I have to realize so often how little strength I have. Some people ask me, "How do I keep going as I do?" Well, sometimes I just think I don't keep going as well as I ought to. But one of the ministers said in here this noon: "Did you notice that we ministers can keep going better than any of the people, for some reason?" Now, this is a different kind of work than farming or working at manual labor in a factory or something of that sort, yes, but I'll tell you, most of you men that do that kind of work could never keep up with us in this kind of work. You couldn't endure what we do, and that's a fact. It would tear you apart. Of course, I guess some men that never did anything like this carry the anxiety and the load of burden and have to carry the things on their mind that we do and the responsibilities don't realize how, what that does to your nervous system and everything else, and maybe they think that that's a snap and we don't really work, and they do. Well, that's not quite true. But why are the ministers able to do it? Well, I think it's because we're in God's Work and we're merely his instruments, and he gives us the power to do it. God is the one that has all strength and gives strength to those that need it. He said, young men will run and fall. But with the power of God, the old man will leap right out ahead of them, you know. And God gives strength and increases strength, and I believe he gives us strength to keep going. He's having to give me strength this afternoon. I only got about five hours and 30 or 45 minutes of sleep last night. And anytime I get less than seven hours, I'm just about laid out, and it tells on me more in the afternoon. I wish I could have spoken this morning now. I was fresh, but now I'm not. I didn't get to bed until quite late. I didn't get to sleep until quite late. I had to read a long time before I could go to sleep last night. And my wife slept in another room last night and kept her door closed, so when the telephone rang about this grandson, we expected to be born, and somehow I knew it was going to be a grandson. I don't know why, but I didn't let myself admit it, but I sort of hoped, too, it might be a granddaughter. But yes, sir, it was a grandson, alright, for I said it. Ted can boast and brag now if he wants to; he has more sons than I have. I only have two; Ted has three. Think of that. I will tell you that's fine. Three sons! I will tell you this is a great day for the Feast, and it's a day of rejoicing for some of us. Brother and sister Hammer, just as much as much as Mrs. Armstrong and me too. I don't want to be selfish. It's just as much theirs as ours [Mr. Armstrong giggles]. That's a little grandson we all share; we love a lot. (Revelation 3:8, paraphrased) Well, we have but little strength but God GIVES and INCREASES STRENGTH! And it's the power that God has given us that carries on this work. He gives us the energy that we need. (Revelation 3:8 continued paraphrased) Now then, and we have not denied his ..."has not denied my name... and have kept his word...". That's the thing. We have kept the word—the truth—and have not resisted it. Revelation 9 "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, [He's speaking spiritually here; that's what people say; they're Christians, in other words] and are not, but do lie... I will make them come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved [you] {6} (thee). Revelation 3:10 "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation....that's not a correct translation. In the margin, you will see a better translation right in your own Bible: "trial or great tribulation". ..."I (also) will keep you (thee) from the great tribulation, which shall come on all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." Revelation 3:11 "Behold, I come quickly:" [It's just before his coming]. Now there is a promise that if our hearts are in this Work of God and we're doing all we can. God will keep us from the great tribulation. If we are watching, watching world events, studying the prophecy that recognize world events and know what is coming, and praying always. We may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are coming and to stand before the Eternal. (Mr. Armstrong is referencing Luke 21:36) Now, there's your promise. Again back here in Ezekiel 33: Ezekiel 33:2 [He says here]..."When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:" Ezekiel 33:3 "If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;" Ezekiel 33:4 "Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; [That's the people out in the radio audience now, and they hear the warning, and they don't take it.] if the sword come, and take him away, his blood will (shall) be on (upon) his own head {7}. Ezekiel 33:5 "He heard the sound of the trumpet, {8} he (and) took not warning; his blood will be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul." You take the warning, you shall be delivered from the trouble that comes. And we acquit ourselves, if we're the ones that carry the warning, and if you trust me and Ted Armstrong and Dick Armstrong and Rob Meredith and Herman Hoeh and the rest of us ministers to carry that warning to the world; you're having as much part in it as we are. And that promise applies to you just as much as us; you will deliver your soul too. And there's another promise that you will not have to go through this tribulation. But now if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet, if we fail or if you lay down on your part of this job and the people are not warned because you're part of it, even if it's only a dollar, every dollar is reaching a lot of people. Now, there was a time a few years back when we were buying time pretty cheap on STG and STLO, and those stations reached out better than they do now. There's more interference now than there was then. Television stations and more radio stations cut in on them, and they don't reach out as well anymore as they did. There was a time when we were reaching 2000 people with every dollar that came in. And even in the early years of Ambassador College, we were returning on the college sending out all the literature to as many as got it, besides reaching 2000 people on the air for every dollar. Now, we can't do that anymore; times have changed. We don't even reach 1000 people with a dollar anymore, but we still reach a few hundred; it just takes more dollars. They don't go as fast and as far, and there's nothing that we can do about it anymore. We have to just realize that's the situation that has developed in the world. But listen, any dollar that you spend that should have come into God's word. Now don't misunderstand; God knows that you need things and that there are necessities and even some pleasures that are rightfully yours. I don't mean that you have to deny yourself everything like that at all. I don't want to be misunderstood. But of money that you know, that you rightfully ought to send for God's work, and I mean, extra offerings in addition to your tithe, that tithe you owe to God. You don't owe it to us. You owe it to God. But God designates that it shall come into His Work and that we're His laborers that He uses in His Work. So, it's really God doing it. But extra offering that actually should come into the Work, but if you'd think that you'd get some extra things you don't really need and that you ought not to have that are more than you should have. Every single dollar means that there are a certain number of certain hundreds of people that are not going to hear that warning that would have heard it if you'd sent that dollar. That's all there is to it. We can go as far as we have money to go. When we have more dollars, we buy time on more radio stations and more thousands and hundreds of thousands and millions of people hear this warning. So now look what it means to you; if you withhold that, and the people be not warned if the sword come, and it's going to come, and take any person from among them. He is taken in his iniquity, all right. But, his blood God says, will I require at the watchman's hand. You're a watchman as much as we are, and God will require his blood at your hands. Now, on the one hand, if we are going to yield ourselves to this, God promises us protection. I read to you yesterday, the church is going to be taken on the two wings of a great eagle to a place of protection. We know the place is not up in heaven; it will go through the air, "maybe" not necessarily even that. But, God has a place of protection. But on the other hand, if we don't do our part, if we lay down on the job and the people are not warned, God will require their blood at our hands. Now, this is dangerous knowledge, isn't it? But, it's also very wonderful knowledge, because it means we can be protected where other people will not. Well, now, I wish I had time to go on with more of this. But there's a lot more in Ezekiel, but I'm not going to do it. Now, how are we going to be protected? Well, he says we'll be taken to a place. Now where then is that place? Well then, I'm going to say frankly, I don't know. I'm not going to tell you it's Petra. But I'm going to read you some scriptures that make it seem like it's Petra. And if it isn't Petra, then I don't know where it will be. That certainly is the most likely place. Now, listen real carefully as we go into this. In the first place, back here in Revelation 12 in verse 14, you will notice this: And the woman, to the woman, that's the church, that's this Philadelphia Church now that has warned the people that God opened the doors to warn them, and because we have done it, He's going to keep us from this hour of great tribulation. Revelation 12:14 ... "to the woman were given [the] two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness...Now, one thing is, it's not heaven. It's a wilderness, and the place where we're to be taken is a wilderness. And wilderness means desolate, desert, or a mountainous country. Now, Petra is both mountainous and desert. There's desert down inside and mountains all around. It certainly fits the description. Revelation 12:14 ...into her place, [it's a place you notice] where she is nourished for a time, times and half a time..." Nourished. Well where, how are we going to be nourished? Now that brings up a point. The first I ever read about Petra must have been twenty-seven or eight years ago, now I imagine. It was a booklet that I believe someone in Colorado was publishing, but I'm not sure of that now. Some little pamphlet or track or booklet, and I have misplaced it and lost it years and years ago. I don't know what ever happened to it. But anyway, one of the startling things about it that startled me was the statement that over there has been stored, and I think you may have heard me mention this in past years, that there was stored over there, enough food to feed a million or more people for several years that had been stored in a condition that it had been completely preserved, for maybe 2000 or more years. Just waiting for the people to come there. Now, I don't believe a word of it. We've been there; we spent one whole day and parts of two other days there. We arrived there about sundown, before sundown. One evening, we had a couple of three hours that evening there, and then we had a couple of hours or so in the morning of the third day there besides the day in the middle. And there certainly is no evidence of it. And we asked our guard about it, and he just laughed at the idea; Ridiculous, preposterous! Well, someone out here wrote a track that had never been there, and he probably thought that sounded pretty good. Maybe he thought God might have done it, and he said that. Well, I don't think there's any evidence of that whatsoever. Well, how are we going to eat in that desert? I don't know. I don't know. But God says here..."where she is nourished..." that means fed. We're going to have something to eat. I don't know where it's coming from. But I do know that if God said, "they're going to be nourished", He's going to look out for that and find a way or show us how we can look out for it. Now, I don't know whether God will rain manna down from heaven again. He did that when he delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, didn't He? Or I don't know He might just rain, rain down from heaven. And maybe with enough rain, we can plant enough and live over there. Maybe He had caused someone to have brought food in by that time. I don't know. God may have a 1000 ways of providing for us. Here's one thing I've learned about faith, that if God says He'll do something, He doesn't tell you how He's going to do it, and He doesn't always tell you when. And faith means you take God at His Word and you trust Him to do it, and you don't worry about the how or the when; you leave that to God. He'll take care of it. Now, I for one am going to leave it to God. I think when I get over there, my mouth is going to be fed, and I'll find out when I get there how. How about you? If that's the place where we go, I'm still not sure that's where we're going. I think though, before I get through, most of you are just human enough; you're going to be sure that's where we go. Well, I'm still not sure, but all the evidence does lean that way. Now then, and how are we going? Well, it says to the woman, we'll be given the two wings of the great eagle. Now that's symbolic language. The Bible interprets the Bible. Well, there's more than one place. I'll just read you one of them at the present time, just to show you that it doesn't necessarily mean airplanes or actual eagles. Turn back to the 19th chapter of Exodus now in the fourth verse. Exodus 19 in verse four, where the children of Israel had been led out of Egypt. And God said, when they got over here to, they were in the wilderness of sin here, I think, in coming to Mount Sinai. Exodus 19:2 ... "they departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and (had) [they] pitched in the wilderness; there they camped before the mount." Yes, they had come to Mount Sinai here. And God said: Exodus 19:4 "You (Ye) have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bear you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." Now, God had bared them and brought them on eagles' wings from Egypt as far, far as Mount Sinai. They didn't fly on an airplane. They walked on their own feet. However, God performed a miracle and caused the waters of the Red Sea to part so they could walk on dry land. And He drowned the Egyptian armies that were following them. And God did perform miracles. Now, in what way God is going to perform miracles to take us over there? I don't know. He doesn't tell us farther than that. He bored them on eagle's wings. Well, there you are. Now, what does it mean? I suppose some of you are still going to give it a different meaning. Well, I'm not; I don't know. Now, then where are we going to go? That's as far as I can give you about how. The only place, the one and only place that God says, any place in the Bible that I know of, that is going to escape in this coming great tribulation and the war that is going to happen in World War III, is the place where Petra is located and down in that identical exact land. Now you find that here in Daniel in the 11th chapter of Daniel and the 41st verse. I read this yesterday, remember? He, this is this dictator now that is rising up the resurrected Roman Empire. Daniel 11:41 "He shall enter also into the glorious land, [that's Palestine] and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand...Now, here are the lands that will escape and the only ones mentioned that will escape... these shall escape out of his hand even "Edom...That's Turkey, but it doesn't mean modern Turkey. It's the land where Turkey used to be... and Moab, and the chief of the children of the Ammon". Now the ancient land where the Turks first were and then where Moab and Ammon later came is Jordan, and down there into Turkey. I don't mean into Turkey, I mean down where Petra is. The lower part of Jordan and about 100 miles south of Jerusalem, but over on the east side, well of the land of the Dead Sea there, it's down below the Dead Sea altogether. Now there's Amman, and the capital city of Jordan today of this part of the land of ancient Moab is "ah-Mahn", not Ammon but "ah-Mahn". They spell it somewhat differently, but it comes from the old word Amman here, "Amman (ah-Mahn)," and we were there; we spent all night in Amman (ah-Mahn), the capital of Jordan. That's where you saw, if you saw the movie, that UN plane was at that airport at Ammon (ah-Muhn). That is the place that is to escape, and the only place mentioned in the Bible. I read to you yesterday there's a flee to the mountains if they're in Judea. It would not be the mountains up north because the armies are going to be coming from that direction. No armies will be coming from the south. There is the land that will escape, and the armies won't be there. It would have to be to the mountains to the south, and the only mountains down there are the mountains around Petra. So there you are; it seems to be rather identified, I think. Alright, now then, Christ is our rock as a protection, is He not? When you think of Christ as protecting us from enemies and from trouble and things of that sort, He's called a rock in which we hide. Now, for instance, Psalms 31 and verse 13, I believe it is. Psalms 31, no, it's the first three verses. Psalms 31:1 "In thee, O'ETERNAL (O LORD), do I put my trust; [Now we're going to trust in God to protect us] let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness." Psalms 31:2 "Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock... [(Act 4:11 paraphrased) Christ is the stone that the builder set at naught that it become the head of the corner. He's called a great rock or a stone all through the Bible, many, many places.]...for a house of defense to save me." You see a rock in a place where we are going to be saved and spared. Psalms 31:3 "For thou art my rock (and) my fortress; [of protection, you see] therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me." Now, would it be possible because Christ is called a rock. A rock then is a symbol of a place of protection from trouble. Then would it be natural that in a natural material place we're to be taken, it would be in a rock, and it would be in the mountains, and it would be in the land of ancient, where Edom originally was or Esau's children that had gone now off into Asia, Minor—Turkey. And where the children of Ammon, and I don't know why names escape me. Well, anyway, it's the people of Jordan today and where they are there; it seems to be rather closely identified. Now, then in the 71st Psalm, turn on over to the 71st Psalm and the third onto the fifth verses. Here's David again saying: Psalm 71:3 "Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: [a place to resort for protection] thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress. Psalm 71:2 "Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and the cruel man." Psalm 71:5 "For thou art my hope, O Lord (ETERNAL) {9} GOD: thou art my trust from my youth." A place to hide in the rock, and so on. It's symbolically used that way all along. Alright, now next notice the 94th Psalm and the 22nd verse. Psalm 94 and verse 22 "But the ETERNAL (LORD) is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge." A place of refuge from trouble is a rock again. When you're literally in the rock. And we, we spent two nights actually in a cave dug back in a great mighty rock while we were at Petra. Now, then Isaiah the second chapter, yes, Isaiah, the second chapter, and the 10th and the 12th verses now. Here it says: Isaiah 2:10 "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for [the] fear of the ETERNAL (LORD), and for the glory of his majesty." Isaiah 2:11 "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the ETERNAL (LORD) alone shall be exalted in that day." Isaiah 2:12 "For the day of the ETERNAL (LORD)... [Coming right down to this time, the tribulation is just ahead of it, not over 3.5 years away from it]. "For the day of the ETERNAL (LORD) of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:" Now, next, let's notice now let's turn next to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42 in verse 11, "Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing...[Now that's people living in a rock that are inhabited inside of a rock, that's not a capital "R" meaning Christ. It means a literal rock in a mountain]... let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains". See, it's a rock in the mountains. Isaiah 42:12 "Let them give glory unto the ETERNAL (LORD), and declare his praise in the islands." And it seems to be talking about the time of the second coming of Christ as if we would be there at that time. And now I would like to have you notice next in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 48 in verse 11. Here it is, Moab. Now it's the land of Moab and Ammon that is to be spared. I don't know why the word Moab wouldn't come to me just a minute ago, that's what I meant. Now, here about Moab; there's a whole lot about Moab along in here in this 48 chapter of Jeremiah. But notice this: Moab and the Moabites today are apparently the people of Jordan. They are supposed to be Arabs. Now, all Arabs are apparently not descended from Ishmael. The Saudi Arabians are descended from Ishmael, but there's been a lot of intermarriage, and they're all Arabs over in there. There are different kinds of Arabs, and there are certain differences in the different Arab nations that much we did notice. And the Arabs that you find in Jordan are not exactly the same kind of Arabs. They seem to be a different nationality altogether from the Saudi Arabians or the Egyptians, for instance, who are Arab rather than actual Egyptians, mostly. Moab, which means these Arabs of Jordan now, and remember that Petra is in Jordan. Amman (ah-Mahn) is the capital of Jordan. It comes from the ancient name Ammon, or "ah-Mahn.". Jeremiah 48:11 "Moab hath been at ease from his youth... [From way back in Old Testament times, and they certainly have been at ease those Arabs over there]...and he hath settled on his lees...[that is he's just laid right down and stays there. It's speaking of wine here in a way, but you get the comparison]...and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel...[like the leaves or the a, you know, the a sediments that comes in a bottle of wine sometimes...[hasn't] (has not) been emptied from [bottle] (vessel) to [bottle] (vessel)... [It just stayed right there in the same place or like in the same bottle.] ...neither hath he gone into captivity: [And those people never have that I know anything about.]...therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed." It sort of gives it a wine idea there, you know. Now, he's remained right there all the time, and they still are there now today. All right. Now, then, if you will turn, to Isaiah 16. Next is Isaiah and Isaiah 16, beginning with the first verse. Now these first two or three verses I am not sure about. And all of a good many of us ministers were going over here during the noon hour, and almost every translation you pick up twists it around in a different way that would even give a different meaning. And the meaning of the first part of it is not altogether clear. Now, I want to run this down, and all I can say is we ran across this scripture and we're studying it and specifically while we were in Petra, in that cave over there. And somehow I've had other things crowding it out of my mind since we got back. I want to go to all of the commentaries and see if we can find in the original Hebrew language and see if we can find the exact right translation of the beginning of it. But anyway, as we get into it, I think the meaning becomes clear. So now listen, Isaiah 16: 1 "Send ye the lamb...[which seems to be a peace offering here]...to the ruler of the land from Sela...Now it's from Sela. Sela is Petra. You take on your maps and the old maps, it was formerly called Sela and in many of the maps in the back of your Bible even or you get a Bible atlas and you will find, it will say Sela and then in brackets, it will say Petra. Now Sela is Petra. Remember that. Isaiah 16:1 "Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela [or from Petra] to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion." ...unto the mount of the daughter of Zion." Now the daughter of Zion is the Church. We're the daughter of Zion, or it would refer to Jerusalem, one or the other. Isaiah 16:2 "For it shall be... [Different translations will twist that around and give it a totally different meaning. So let's not try to get the exact meaning of that just now. But we will go into it and it'll be in the good news some of these days when we're sure of the exact meaning.] Isaiah 16:2 "For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon." Now, Arnon is that river; it's a little over half way north from Petra as you come up to Amman and get around into Jerusalem. But we had to go down, and you actually forge the river; there's no bridge. But the river is only water about that deep, you see; it comes up almost to the hub of your automobile, and our automobile just ran right through it, and we literally forded the Arnon River. It's just like looking down into the Grand Canyon from the top almost, and you wind and wind around perilous precipices. Mrs. Armstrong was really frightened as we were going down those little narrow precipices. And we kept wondering, well, if we meet a car, how in the world we would pass on these ledges!? Fortunately, we didn't meet a car. When we got down, we're going over on the other side. I think only one car passed us and that whole long perilous trip that takes about an hour and a half or two hours of going down and fording the Arnon going up back on a plateau. Now, the land all around us is on a plateau, and this river is like in a great gorge or a great canyon way down in the bay. I don't know how many 100 feet down. And we have literally forded the Arnon. I'm certainly glad that we were able to go over there. These things become more real, and we're going to be able to understand a lot of things now that we would not have if we had not been there. Now, there are different meanings given to this. It might mean that they've been routed out of there, like little birds are forced to fly and shoved out of their nest, or it could mean that they're just, you see as a wandering bird cast out of the nest. So the daughters of Moab, that is this generation now, which is the people of the Arabs of Jordan, shall be at the fords of Arnon. Now, right near Arnon, there is the largest little town or city that you go through along from Petra back up to Amman is the city of Karak. Karak, it's built up on a hill, a desolate hill. It certainly is a barren place. It's a wilderness. Now, there is some vegetation, and even some—I think they have a little water and some irrigation ditches down below—but the town is up over a hill. We went up over into the town once going or coming, and I believe we had to on the return get gas if I'm not mistaken. We were running out of gas about that place. Alright now, then you notice the place that it's talking about. Now, let's read on. Isaiah 16:3 "Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; [now this bewray means betray. It is translated in all other translations that way] betray (bewray) not him that wandereth. God says, (Isaiah 16:4) "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab... Now who would be God's outcasts coming into that place? That would be us, would it not? That would be the church that is to be taken on the two wings of an eagle to a place of safety to hide in the rock. Isaiah 16:4 "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab... [Or as the margin says, let mine outcast dwell with thee] As for ...Moab; be thou a cover (covert) to them from the face of the spoiler... Now who is the spoiler? Why this Roman beast rising up that is going to conquer America and would conquer all of our people and would put us to death if we weren't fleeing far away from the spoiler. Now this is God's outcast, fleeing from this spoiler, the Roman power. This much of it now becomes quite plain. The beginning doesn't make any difference anyway; I want to get the meaning of it, but it doesn't alter what we're into now. The locale is Petra. It speaks here of the Arnon of that, that very place where we were. Isaiah 16:4 "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a cover (covert) to them [or with the after Moab, be thou a cover to them] from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end..." Now, who is the extortioner? Well, if you read the history of Ancient Petra, this is the way it was built. There were the Nabataeans, an ancient band of people. I don't just know from whom they were descended. But the Nabataeans really built Petra, and they were a kind of nomad down in that desert, and at first they were well over east and southeast of Petra. Now, at that time, all of the big trade caravans from Africa and from down south and some from Egypt that were doing business up into Palestine, on, up into Damascus, Assyria, and on over to Babylon. And in other words, Egypt and Babylon were the two great nations, and there were great trade going back and forth there up in other cities of Tyre and Sidon and Ashkelon and Ashdod, and Ekron and all of those. They had to come through that land, and they had to go through Petra some way to get through there. Well, these Nabataeans would come out and they were marauders, and they would pounce in on them just like the hold-up man in the Wild West, you know, would stop the stage coaches and hold them up, and they would rob them. Then they would start to flee to the desert. Well, these other people, they got to sending great bunches in their caravans, and then they would arm a sort of a posse and go to chase them out in the desert. Well, once they got out in the desert, they didn't know their way around, but these Nabataeans did. The Nabataeans knew where there were a few little springs and where they could get water, and they would go to these places and they had water, but the, the posse's that would chase them didn't. And finally they would die of thirst, and that's the way they got away with it. Now they were extortionate. But finally they got the idea of going into Petra and building a city there, and having all of the caravans come through there and making them pay a great big toll to get through. So they, they were extortioners. They merely held them up. And that was the purpose of building that city originally. They had their idol gods and way up on top, the place of sacrifices and things you saw in the pictures of. That's the way it was built. Now, apparently we don't know exactly, but apparently these, these present Bedouins that are nomads, and they are a different type of Arab altogether. They have different facial characteristics. They're a different type of people. Then the, people, the other class of Arabs of Jordan who seem to be Moabites. Now, the Moabites are descended from Lot, and one of the daughters of Lot, you know. But I don't know who these Bedouins are. Anyway, these Moabites are those Arabs; they dwell in cities, and they are very proud. They're a proud people. But these Bedouins are not proud at all. And the Arabs look down on these Bedouins. The Bedouins live in tents. They're usually black tents. They're made of black goat skin, and they have a pole, and they come down like this and up to another pole and down over here to another one. And funny-looking tents spread out all over the desert with their camels, their flocks of black sheep and goats—black goats rather. And oh, they have some horses, and they have these little donkeys, you know, and pack mules, and one thing or another. And we saw them all over the desert. Now, the Bedouins are down there, and they take you in from Elgee, the point station of Elgee. The Bedouins have quite a little town around in there at Elgee. And they took you in on horseback, and they expect tips. "Bochesheets", there always saying; that's their word to give us a tip. And I guess according to their religion, they get a blessing if they get a tip, and they're going to be under curses if they don't get it; they are extortionists! They are extortionists. Now we've been wondering about the Bedouins, but apparently this is the Bedouins. Isaiah 16:4 "...the extortioner is at an end [and they will probably get out of it] the spoiler ceaseth, [now that's the spoiler then is this Roman power] the oppressors [the Roman power] are consumed out of the land." Isaiah 16:5 "And in mercy shall the throne be established: [that's speaking of Christ's Throne now in Jerusalem], and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness." That shows the second coming of Christ, with Christ hasting righteousness and ruling on the throne of David in Jerusalem. And this whole thing is in that local and just before the time of the coming of Christ. Now, it looks like it says this that God says: Isaiah 16:2-4 (partly paraphrased) don't betray him that wanders (these outcasts) "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee Moab; be thou a cover to them..." And in the rock, right there at Petra, way south of these fords of Arnon. Now, that is the closest identity that we have found yet about going into Petra. Maybe it's circumstantial evidence, but the evidence piles up of going to Petra, doesn't it? Well, don't think it's gonna be too big a holiday. I'm telling you it's wilderness, and it's roughy when you get there. Now then, from Moffatt's translation, I want to read to you, Zephaniah, the third chapter. Zephaniah, the third chapter and the eighth to the 10th verses. Now this is speaking about the time of the coming of Christ in the beginning of the millennium. Listen: Zephaniah 3:8 "Wait for me, then, says the Eternal, wait till the day of my challenge; for I mean to muster the nations and assemble all of the realms, to vent my wrath upon them, [that's in the day of the Lord, God's plagues] the full heat of my anger, for the fire of my fury [it's the time of God's fury, the plagues] shall consume the whole earth." Zephaniah 3:9 "[[Then will I grant the peoples a clean speech, that all may call on the Eternal's name... [That's the time of the great Fall Harvest, pictured by this Feast of Tabernacles] ... call on the Eternal's name, and worship him with one consent; Zephaniah 3:10 for from beyond the streams of the Nile my worshipers shall come, bringing me offerings even from Patras.]]" OR PETRA! It seems like God's worshipers are going to be in Petra during the Day of the Lord or after, and will come up to Jerusalem at the time of the second coming of Christ from there. Now that's Petra; I don't find that in the King James, but it is in the Moffatt translation. And he gets that in the original Greek, the original Hebrew rather. And the King James has put something... (tape garbled). Okay, the last service of the last day, brethren, it comes down to a pretty serious thing. Maybe it's just interesting now, and to have seen these pictures and for us to have been over there and to see these scriptures. It looks like we're going to go. It looks like one nice grand holiday. And all we've got to do now is just wait until the time comes. Well, don't you believe it! It's a pretty serious thing, and I want to close this whole campaign. Campaign, I mean, I'm just going on sheer nervous strength now I'm going from loss off sleep. It finally tells on me in the afternoon; you'll have to overlook that. But of this festival, I wonder how many of us are going to be there. Here we are today, but brethren, I'm afraid some of us are going to be missing when we go over there. Now, there are very stern conditions to our going. Now, I've read to you a good many of them, and I want to read you just a few more scriptures before we leave it off now. From 1st Peter, 1st Peter, the fourth chapter beginning with the 17th verse. I think you heard some of this read this morning. 1 Peter 4:17 "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God..." That's us. Brethren, it will be on the world during the millennium. Judgment will be on the world then. But judgment is beginning with us now. Now judgment in this sense, brethren, was the trial. For you have a court trial to see if a man's guilty of murder or whatever he's been accused of or threatened/threat. You bring in the witnesses. The trial is not a sentencing; the trial is not a punishing; it is a test to find out whether the man is innocent or guilty. And judgment is the time when you're called to salvation. And when you have to live a life of overcoming, when you're told to grow in grace and righteousness, and you're going to be judged according to your works. And we are being judged right now according to our works every day, and judgment is on us. It will be on the other people of the world in the millennium, and we'll be there to teach them, to rule them, to help them. But now judgment is on us; are we going to make the grade? It's an examination. How are you going to pass this examination? What kind of a grade are you going to get? Is God going to say well done, good and faithful servant? I give you a grade "A.". You go on, and you're going to be accounted worthy to escape. I tell you my brethren, a lot of us are careless. A lot of us are taking it for granted. A lot of us think all we have to do is just have this knowledge, and we can just be all complacent and smile and do nothing about it, and we'll just go through. Oh no, you won't. Judgment is on us right now, and we're going to be judged according to our works. What are your works? How much are you praying? How much are you overcoming? Overcome means to change your habits, change your ways! Now, listen, some of you people come here. I don't want to scold again. But, there's too large a portion; I believe it's quite a minority, and I hope so. But there's too large a proportion of us to show that culturally, we've had practically no upbringing at all. If you want evidence of it, just go back any of you women any time and any of the men janitors and go after the women have all left and look at the condition of the woman's restroom back here. You know that the condition of that woman's restroom is always a whole lot dirtier and filthier than the condition of the men's restroom. And I used to think all women were perfect and clean and neat, and all men were sloppy and filthy, and men were evil and dirty. Why we were surprised the first year we had it here, that very condition, and brother Hammer told me, "Well listen, I could have told you that." He used to run this roller skating rink over here. He's run public places with men's and women's restrooms. He says a woman's restroom is always dirtier and filthier than the man's. Well, I never knew that before; that was a surprise to me. Well, listen, I'm a mere man, but all I can say is shame on some of you women. I say some, because I don't think you're all that way by any means. It's just some. And I think the ones that are not that way feel like shaming the rest of you with me too. And I know that some women that are refined women are neat and clean that come here. And one woman said to my wife that if she had come a year ago before, she was quite as fully converted as she is by now; she would have been so offended at the stench and the filthy nastiness she saw in that room she would have gone home. She would have thought we were such barbarians; she wouldn't have stayed here. She said this couldn't be the people of God. All right. Now, one thing some of you need to overcome is that SLOPPINESS that FILTHINESS that's DIRTINESS, some of you women! And I tell you, you're going to the homes of some of you women, and you'd find more fifth than you would in any old Johnny sloppin hog pen. That's a fact. There are a few of you; not many are like that, but there are some. There's one thing I've always wanted, and was for my wife to be a neat housekeeper. And frankly, I wasn't satisfied with her housekeeping for a good many years. God has finally given us a fairly large home, and now my wife is keeping our home in such a manner that I think most of the time, if any of you happen to drop in on us, that we won't have to be ashamed. And I don't think you're going to find any dirt and slop and filth like a hog pen around our home; I'm quite sure of it. I know if you did, I wouldn't be fit to be in God's ministry. If I can't rule my household better than that and see that my wife is doing better than that. I shouldn't be in the ministry. And that's true of you other ministers and your wives too. And I don't believe I need to say it. I think all of our ministers' wives are a different kind than that, I'm sure. Well, now that's one thing. I'm just going to mention one or two little things now, just so that it'll sink in and we'll get the lesson. If I'm coming out here, I like to shake hands with you people. But someone has a problem, and they start to talk. Well, I'd like to stop and talk to you about it, and I've tried to a good many times. Just as sure as I do, and we're talking, someone else comes up all ears to listen. Or they come up, "Well, how do you do, brother? I'm from", and they just shove this first person out of the way, and they start to talk. And then the third person comes up and elbows them; now Brother Armstrong I'm here now; I'm going to talk to you. You get out of the way. You didn't need to talk to him. They don't say that, but that's the way they act. All right. Now, let me tell you what you should do since some of you don't know. I, I don't know. Again, I have to talk to some people, like little children, but if that's it, I guess we need to instruct you. If I'm talking to someone, if Mrs. Armstrong is talking to someone, if Roderick Meredith is out here talking to someone or any of us, keep a respectful distance and wait for the two if you see they're talking with someone. I think I mentioned I was having a business conference out where I had to have at the minute with Mr. Hammer and Mr. Carter, who's the contractor, building this building. Some people come up and they just want to listen to every word. It's none of their business. Why, if you had a little bit of the kind of culture that we have to learn, if we're going to be Christians and get in the Kingdom of God and teach others these things, you'd know enough and have enough good manners to keep a respectful distance where you couldn't hear if you wanted to see me or Mr. Hammer or the other man until we're through and then come up. I believe I would be that polite. The second great commandment: "Love thy neighbor as thyself" means to have that kind of respect for your neighbor. That's part of loving your neighbor. Keeping things neat and clean; managing your children; keep them with you here in church. Be sure you know where your children are, and even some of the teenage children are. Well, they are young, and they're only following the event of nature if they go out here and want to get off in the woods somewhere and start to neck; it's just a natural impulse. You used to do the same thing, but it isn't right and it isn't good, and they have to be taught, and it's your job to teach them. Now to be an overcomer, if you're going to get to Petra, you're going to be the kind that will begin to learn these things. You'll change your ways. You change your lives. Are you doing it? Are you going to be changed when you come here next year? Or are you just going to drift along the same old track? Let me tell you, if you go along in that same old rut, that same old track that you came here that you people that are guilty of any of those things another year, I'll tell you you're not going to be at Petra. You're either going to be one that will die of the starvation and disease, or you will die of the invasion; be killed at that invasion, or you may be tortured to death and be a martyr, or you'll give up everything and swallow the religion of that beast power, that'll be Roman Catholicism; and then you'll suffer the plagues of God and go into the lake of fire. Now, which of those do you want? I don't want any of those choices. I don't think it's going to be any picnic down there at Petra, but just think, we'll have our brethren. We'll have that fellowship. We'll have fellowship with Christ. And when we go in there, we're going to clean up that place. Why I was just thinking while we're there, I was thinking of Jack Elliott, and I was thinking Mr. Elliott and I'll go around, and we'll decide what we'll do with this and that and the other place. And I think that he's going to direct the work, and he'll have other men under him just so as we are getting practice in doing it out there at Ambassador College all the time. And Mr. Hammer will be right there working with us because he takes charge of this here and he's getting experience. Yes, Mr. Elliott and Mr. Hammer, they'll probably ask me what to do about this or that, but they'll carry it out, and they'll get men under them, and we're going to clean up that place. We're learning to clean up. God is giving us old places that are fine but have been run down, and we're getting experience in cleaning up places. I believe part of it is because we're going to have to clean up Petra, and then we're going to have to clean up the whole world, and we're beginning to get a little experience and know how. Now notice, judgment is on us now. Well, here I turn to another place; the wind blew it; and it says that, (1 Peter 2:9) "... you (ye) [were] (are) a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people..." that wasn't what I meant, but that's just marked right there. I'm gonna read it while I'm there. Now, here's where I was. Are we a chosen generation? Well, we've got to perform. You're going to be judged according to your works. Why do some of you women clog the toilets up back here? So water runs all over the floor all the time. Shall I get down into a low-bred kind of lack of culture and say, "Ain't you got no manners"? That isn't quite the way for a college president to talk, though, is it? Well, maybe chastening isn't pleasant at the time. But you know, if we take it, it just brings forth beautiful fruit, and we'll come into the joy of God's Kingdom in the end if we do. All right now, listen: 1 Peter 4:17 ..."the time [has] (is) come that judgment must begin at the house of God: [That's us.] and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" And what will it be for you if you don't obey? I Peter 4:18 "And if the righteous SCARCELY be saved, I wonder if you realize, and that means that the righteous are scarcely going to be accounted worthy to go to Petra. Jesus said, Many will seek to enter there in at the gates into the city and then to the Kingdom of God and shall not be able; many will never be able to get in. It isn't so easy. If we don't put forth a little effort, if it isn't a little bit hard, it isn't worth getting. I find that everything that I have ever had that God has let me have has not come easy; I've had to work for it. I've had to work hard for it. There was one member here deeding or making a will to deed the property or a certain amount of property and a pretty nice amount—a big amount at that—to the church and the college. And I noticed a part of the will in which it said that this person had had to work hard and to make sacrifices, and to be careful to have this amount of money and wanted it carefully spent. Let me tell you, you all have to work hard if you're going to get a good prize. Is this prize of being made like God and entering the very Kingdom of God and being very God? Is that a high enough prize for ya? Is it worth the effort? Are you working hard? Have you striven under blood, resisting sin? No! Are you working as hard as that to overcome and to grow in righteousness and grace? No, most of you are not. And I frankly wonder if most of you are not falling short. I don't think we're taking this seriously enough! Notice now, (1 Peter 4:18)... "if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Peter 4:19 "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as (unto) a faithful Creator." Oh, I tell you, it isn't going to be easy brethren. Now notice Ephesians, the sixth chapter, the 10th on to the 18th verse. I haven't heard this read for quite a while now. We need to read this quite often. Finally, my brethren... Let this be finally from me. I'm not quite through yet. But listen: Ephesians 6:10 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might." Ephesians 6:11 "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Ephesians 6:12 "Because (For) we wrestle not against flesh and blood..." Actually, not even against the flesh and blood within you; that's going to give you plenty of a battle. You're your own worst enemy, every one of you, just as I'm my worst enemy. And I know it, and I fight this guy right here. Here's the one man I fight. You don't know how hard I've had to fight Herbert W. Armstrong. Oh, you think of Herbert W. Armstrong is a leader in the man you listen to on the radio, and you maybe you think you owe it to him because you've got the truth. No, you don't; you just owe it to God. I'm just a mortal human that perhaps has sinned more than any of you. And I've had to come and say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God has had to forgive [skip in the tape] all that I could be used as his instrument to bring these things to you. There's nothing good about me, I'll tell you that. But there's everything good about God. If there wasn't, I couldn't be here. He's so good. He's been able to atone for all my past sins and let me stand here. But there isn't anything very good about you either. The only good is from God, and he'll give you as much of that as you will take. And the goodness of God coming in will force out the meanness and the badness that's in you. That's a pretty good exchange, and we need a lot more of it. Now listen ... Ephesians 6:12 "...we wrestle not against flesh and blood [hard as it is], but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of (the) darkness or {10} of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness [or wicked spirits] in high places". In other words, the DEVIL and his DEMONS and spiritual forces and powers that are much stronger than we are! And you've got to withstand them and wrestle against them, and you're not strong enough alone to do it. Ephesians 6:13 "Wherefore take under you the whole armor of God..." It's a BATTLE, and we're in a battle. I don't like to fight, but I've always had to fight. There's meaning in names. My name, Herbert means a "warrior"; A "fighter". Did you know that? I don't mean to be a warrior. I don't want to, but I've had to be all my life. What do you think the name Armstrong means? It means a strong, armed warrior! My whole name; both names mean a fighter and a warrior. And I've had to fight all my life. This guy right here first, I've gotten so mad at myself I've taken my fist and hit myself on the jaw, jaw and then sore I mean, for days. You ever get that mad at your own self? I've turned around to try to punish my own self at times. When I get out of hand, I have to straighten myself out. Well, so do you. And it's all right to laugh, but at the same time realize it's not a laughing matter. It's a very serious matter. I mean this seriously. Some of you are not going to be at Petra. You're going to have this thing [Mr. Armstrong hits on something when he said that] that Petra is only for 3.5 years. It's going to be tough over there, but it's going to be a place of protection. And then comes the great resurrection under the Kingdom of God afterwards. Listen, you have to have on the armor of God for this fight. You've got to have armor. Over in London, I believe it was, uh, where was it, out in the Tower of London, I believe, where we saw so many armors, what he said? The Tower of London, all those armour's, coats of armour, every kind back in the old, Middle Ages, you know. There, it's like a museum there, and my we never saw so many things and swords and great long spears and all of those things. Oh, they always had to have lots of armor on in those days. Well, we have to have armour, but this is Spiritual Armour. Oh, I don't want to lug around those great big heavy metal armors that they had. But this is a Spiritual Armor... Ephesians 6:13 ..."that you (ye) may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." We're coming into that evil day. Ephesians 6:14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with [the] truth, [Here's the armour; the first thing you've got to have God's truth] and having on the breastplate of righteousness;" Now that is the love of God shed abroad in your hearts that fulfills the law, and that is righteousness; and it's the righteousness of God, not your righteousness or mine. And that's your breastplate here; it'll really protect you from where your heart is, and from that, you see. Ephesians 6:15 "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; And, (Ephesians 6:16) "Above all, taking the shield [With which you knock away the fiery darts of the devil, we'll say, or his spear thrusts] the shield of faith, [trust in God] wherefore you (ye) should be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked". Now, you have to have a helmet on your head. Ephesians 6:17... "the helmet of salvation, and [the sword you fight back with is]"the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" How did Jesus fight back at the devil? He quoted the word of God and obeyed. You have to be a doer as well as a hearer. Don't just quote scripture; quote it right, quote it rightly, rightly dividing the word of truth, and then obey it and live it. That's the only way it'll do you any good. That's the only way that you can answer the devil. And that's the only way that you could survive. Well, but that,that still isn't all. Has this gone off?{Mr. Armstrong thought the mic went off, he was clicking it back and forth to see if it was working.}No, I see. So I thought the power had gone off. Now, PRAYING ALWAYS who's going to be accounted worthy to escape? (Mr. Armstrong paraphrased Luke 21:36) Watch and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape, said Jesus. Ephesians 6:18 "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints;" Do you pray for all these other people? Do you pray for all of us ministers? We need it. Oh, the devil is after us harder than anybody. Your own nature is after you too. Well, that's it. That's it. Now, there's the wind blowing everything here. I want you to notice, Brethren, that where we're coming to in the end; I don't want to just leave it there. If we can withstand and if we can be accounted worthy, and we can go through this time of roughing it over there and protection; we're going to stand before the Son of Man. We're going to be caught up in the air with the dead saints; just think Peter and Paul and John and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and David; they're all going to be raised up out of their graves, and we're going to go right up with them, and you're going to see those men and those saints. We're going to meet Christ in the air and come back down and stand on the Mount of Olives with him. Will that be a time of rejoicing! Is that worth it? That's what's ahead of us. And that's what we're here to picture. Now just a few brief scriptures that I do want to take time before we close Isaiah 14 verses seven and eight. Here's what we will find after the second coming of Christ, if we can endure through all of this. Isaiah 14:7 "The whole earth [at that time] is [going to be] at rest and [is] quiet: they break forth into singing." Isaiah 14:8 "Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon [even]..." A time of rejoicing that even the cedars of Lebanon are going to break out and sing and rejoice. That's why this is a time of rejoicing. We're here to picture all of that. Now, notice quickly, Isaiah 52 verses nine and 10. Isaiah 52 verses nine and 10. Isaiah 52:9 "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: [waste places of Jerusalem, I want to tell you that it is waste over there now and desolate.] for the ETERNAL (LORD) hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. Isa. 52:10 "The ETERNAL (LORD) hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all (the) nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. Does that sound like at the second coming of Christ, the earth will be left desolate and without an inhabitance? That Christ is coming to destroy; I should say not! Now, then Jeremiah 50 verses four on to six. Jeremiah 50:4 "In those days, and in that time, saith the ETERNAL (LORD), the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together... That's the mortal people that are not converted now. We will have risen up and been changed to immortality by this time. And then they're going to begin to come and we're going to minister to them and help them find salvation. All Israel that has been blinded. That's all of the people that have not been killed by the plague and by the war and that have been gone through the great tribulation and with the Jewish people together. ... going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the ETERNAL (LORD) their God". Jeremiah 50:5 "They shall ask the way to Zion [that's the Church in Jerusalem, that's the Kingdom of God] with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the ETERNAL (LORD) in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." Jesus says here, God says: Jer. 50:6 "My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds (have) caused them to go astray..." But He's going to come and save them. And now notice a little farther along in the 19th and 20th verses now what will happen. Well, let's begin with the 18th verse four. Jeremiah 50:18 "Therefore thus saith the ETERNAL (LORD) of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria." And this is the modern Babylon or the resurrection of Rome. Jeremiah 50:19 "And I will bring Israel again to his habitation... Coming back from the great exodus after the second coming of Christ this happened after. We'll be there to help in that... and he shall feed on Carmel... We were all over in Mount Carmel. One of the pictures I took up on Mount Carmel, looking down on Haifa there where you saw it in the Bay of Haifa... and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead". Jeremiah 50:20 "In those days [listen now] "In those days, and at (in) that time, saith the ETERNAL (LORD), the iniquity of Israel [will] (shall) be sought for... People are going to try and look for the sins of Israel. Those dirty old Israelites, they're going to look for the sins and the sins of the Jews now. These people that hate the Jews, they're going to try to look and find something to accuse the Jews of ... and they shall not be found... They won't be able to find any sin in them at all... for I will pardon them whom I reserve". That's the time that there'll be one pure language that all the nations of the earth may come and worship God. Listen, how can some people tear all of those texts and chapters out of their Bible and say that we won't be on the earth from the time of the second coming of Christ? I don't know. Even the Cedars of Lebanon are going to shout out for joy. It's a time of joy and rejoicing. But let me tell you, as you go home, you've got work to do if you're going to overcome, if you're going to change, or let God change you. But you've got to work on it yourself, and he'll give you the strength, and he'll do what you can't do. Now, listen, here's the last brethren, before we're dismissed. We can't start driving home. We shouldn't till sun's down anyhow, and it'll soon be down, but it isn't yet, the value of this festival. Now we've spent here, we've concluded the eight days. The value of this festival to you depends on whether you put the sermons you've heard here to work in your life at home when you return. Have you come and enjoyed the show, and now you put it out of your mind? If I ever do go to a movie, which is very seldom, when I get outside, I put it right on my mind; I've forgotten the whole thing. I get my mind back on something else now. I enjoyed the show. Has this been a show you enjoyed and going to put it all out of your mind now? It hasn't done you any good. You'd better stayed home. The whole value of this and the sole value is whether you're a doer as well as a hearer. You've done a lot of hearing here, but be not hearers only but doers of the word. It depends on whether you have taken notes, and if you haven't, you'd better, while it's hot on your mind, make notes of the main points that you got out of these messages here, take them home, and begin to live them in your life. Let the things you've heard here correct you and change you. Pray to God and ask for his power to come into your life and change you and to give you the power that you lack. Become a doer as well as a hearer. Has it paid us to be here? Some of you put a lot of money into it here. My, the two times about $17,000. Is it worth 17,000? Now, there's been several more $1000 in food and motel bills around here. Has it been worth that much to us? That all depends on what you do with it when you get home, Brethren. Now, think about it when you get home. Meditate on these things you've heard here! Think of these messages right out the word of God. Put them to work in your life and see if it's really paid you to come. I want to tell you it's paid you a thousand fold and maybe a million fold if you'll do it. Now, let's go on our way of rejoicing. Let's buckle down and put our shoulders to the wheel, and all of us be back next year. Brethren, I don't know whether we're coming here. I don't know whether some of us going to the Pacific coast. I don't know; God will provide, and I think we're going to show what a Great God we have and how wonderfully He will provide. I just know it. Let's have faith and trust Him and not worry at all about where it will be. I know God will show his servants where and how He's going to fix it for us. Until another year now, let's go in faith, believing you that have been prayed for; know that you have God's promise; you will be healed; go on and believe; expect it! But just wait until God does it and have that faith until He does. Think of these messages; put them to work in your life. Be an overcomer. Continue to pray always! And God bless every one of you until we meet again. EDITOR'S NOTE: WORDS IN [] ARE WORDS MR. ARMSTRONG STATED OR ADDED. {1} Editor's Note: The word (ye) is part of Scripture. {2} Editor's Note: The word [great] was added by Mr. Armstrong. {3} Editor's Note: The word [ye] was added by Mr. Armstrong. {4} Editor's Note: Mr. Armstrong stated in Joel 2:16 let the bridesgroom go forth of [the] chamber, instead of (his) chamber. {5} Editor's Note: Mr. Armstrong said "you" instead of "thee" while quoting Revelation 3:8. {6} Editor's Note: Mr. Armstrong said loved [you] instead of (thee). {7} Editor's Note: Mr. Armstrong used "will" verses (shall) and "on" verses (upon).] {8} Editor's Note: Mr. Armstrong said "he took" instead of "and took" used in the Scriptures. {9} Editor's Note: Mr. Armstrong kind of stumbled when he said O Lord (ETERNAL) and missed saying "GOD" after. {10} Editor's Note: Mr. Armstrong repeated this part of the Scripture [or] of the darkness of this world.