Herbert W Armstrong

   The World Tomorrow. The Worldwide Church of God presents the world tomorrow with Herbert W. Armstrong, ladies and gentlemen, Herbert W. Armstrong.

   I have very frightening, very sobering and yet very reassuring news. And we need to know these facts, and we need to be awake to them and heed them and not be asleep to them. You need to know the facts on nuclear terrorism and how it is escalating today. It threatens the life of every one of us, including you and me.

   Now, what does the Bible prophecy say is going to happen? The only barometer, the only thing that will tell you what really does lie in the future, what is actually going to happen is Bible prophecy. I want to give you the actual facts, and they're more frightening by far than people realize. Then I want to give you what Bible prophecy says about it. And that also is more frightening and yet it is also more reassuring than people realize. And the world's only hope, the world entered the atomic age only 37 years ago. Eight seconds past 8:15 A.M. On August 6th, 1945, an atomic bomb burst over Hiroshima, Japan, suddenly 75,000 lives were snuffed out almost instantaneously. And three days later, the same thing happened to another of Japan's great industrial cities, Nagasaki. The world for the first time had witnessed a real terrorism of the terrific, almost inconceivable, unbelievable power of the tiny atom.

   Seven years later, the hydrogen bomb was announced, 1,000 times more destructive than the atom bomb. The atom bomb is only a trigger to set off a hydrogen bomb. A hydrogen bomb, one hydrogen bomb would destroy New York City, it would destroy London. It would destroy Paris, Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, would wipe out whole vast areas. Soon, the Soviet Union had everything we have, and they have gone on until today. They have actually passed the United States in the power of nuclear weapons. But then it was not long after the Soviet Union had the hydrogen bomb until Britain, France, and China joined the nuclear club, and they had the hydrogen bomb. Small countries even now have nuclear weapons. 35 other countries can have now or will have within a very few years. Now, among those countries are Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Libya, Egypt, and other nations have or will have very, very soon nuclear weapons. Never before has such a frightful thing faced every one of us and all mankind on the face of this earth.

   Well, now what does Bible prophecy say? Let's look into that. The facts are more terrifying than you realize. But let's look at the prophecies in the Bible. I want to go back for a moment now to Matthew 24, which is the greatest prophecy of Jesus Christ. It's recorded in Matthew 24. And the same saying of Christ is also recorded in Mark 13 and Luke 21. But let's just use Matthew 24 at this time (Matthew 24:3), I've gone into it time and again. But I want to bring certain facts out to you that I haven't stressed in this same way before. And in this connection of the very thing that we face today, Jesus Christ had just come out of the temple with his disciples and they were showing Him the buildings of the temple, and He was saying to them that the temple was going to be destroyed. Indeed, it was in their lifetime. They asked Him, 'Tell us, when shall these things be? He'd been telling them that the temple is going to be destroyed, when shall these things be?' And they asked Him another question, 'What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?' Now, actually, His second coming and the end of this world or this age, this time, this society was not going to happen in their lifetime. Jesus Christ knew that, but they didn't, they thought it was going to happen almost immediately. They thought it would happen about the same time. And so, they asked both questions.

   Now, Jesus answered their first question first because that only happened in their lifetime. So, He said, 'Take heed that no man deceive you, Take heed that no man deceive you.' He was talking to them, His disciples who lived then at about 31 A.D. 'For many shall come in my name saying that I am the Christ and shall deceive many.' You know, that has been misunderstood. Many shall come in my name saying that I, Jesus, I am the Christ. There are many places in the Bible where it speaks about others coming in His name. And in every case, it is referring to people coming saying that they represent Jesus, not saying that they themselves are the Christ, but that Jesus is the Christ and shall deceive the many. You know, most people can't understand how people could be deceived, who believe in Christ and yet Jesus said in vain, do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men and making the law of God and the Commandments of God have no effect by your traditions. That's what people have been doing and that's what they've been doing ever since. They said the law of God has done away. Jesus nailed to the cross. Jesus himself said, 'I have kept my Father's Commandments.' He said, 'Think not that I have come to destroy the law.' He did not.

   You know, I was absolutely shocked and amazed 55 years ago to see that everything I had been taught in Sunday school as I was a boy growing up in a most respected Protestant Sunday school was just the opposite of what the Bible says. If you blow the dust off of your Bible, if you look and see what the word of God says, and it is the word of God, this is God speaking in the Bible and it is just the exact diametric opposite of what so many believe is the gospel. We've been hearing a gospel of men about Christ, but the gospel of Christ is the gospel that Jesus Christ himself preached.

   Now, I would like to have you notice what gospel He preached at this point. Now, if you'll notice in Mark chapter one and verse one (Mark 1:1), "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ", then it speaks about John, the Baptist coming to prepare the way before him and about Jesus' baptism and his temptation by Satan the devil. And then it comes in verse 14 to the gospel (Mark 1:14). And it says, "Now after that, John was put in prison. Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel." But what gospel? My friends, the gospel of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is a government. It's the Kingdom of God is the family of God, the born family of God, administering the government of God over the whole world and over all nations, people don't know that today because that gospel has not been preached.

   And Jesus went on "saying that time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye", that has changed your own life, change your ways, repent of the way you're living, the way we're living is causing all of the trouble. The way humans are living is what is causing all of the frightful situation that we're in just now. Men have been inventing many things. We are living in a time of absolutely awesome accomplishment, amazing accomplishment and of advancement in many respects, but all in material respects. And yet we're living in the time of the most appalling troubles and evils that have ever beset humanity and mankind. How do you, how do you square that? How do you square the thing with any kind of truth? Except the very fact that the way we're living is producing material things, but we don't know how to live with one another or with our God. And the way we're living is bringing us to destruction and it's time that we wake up.

   So, I would like to have you notice in just about 22 years after Jesus said that very thing to them, the Apostle Paul writing to the churches up in Galatia after the New Testament church had been started and was gaining power and had been multiplying in membership. And yet Paul said in Galatians in the first chapter in verses six and seven (Galatians 1:6-7), 'I am marvel that you were so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.' Another gospel was being preached which he says is not another, it wasn't a real gospel. Gospel is good news and that is not what they were proclaiming, "but there are some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ". And that is what was going on within 22 years. And the gospel of Jesus Christ was suppressed and false ministers came to deceive the people. They claim to be the ministers of Christ, but they were not.

   Now, we read to them in II Corinthians, the 11th chapter beginning in verse 13 (II Corinthians 11:13-15). "For such, these false apostles" that were changing to another gospel. "Such are false apostles, deceitful workers transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ". They were not the apostles of Christ. They said they were, they came in His name saying that Jesus is the Christ, but they were false apostles, "And no marvel for Satan himself is transformed as an angel of light", pretending to be an angel of light.

   And your Bible says in Revelation 12, that the whole world has been deceived, all nations have been deceived, and they have been. "Therefore, it is no great thing. If his Satan's ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness", pretending to be the ministers of Christ. And in many cases deceived, even themselves believing sincerely believing that they are the ministers of Christ. And they say, preaching Christ to the world. That's been going on for a long time, my friends, but Jesus said "in vain, do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men making the law of God have no effect by your traditions."

   55 years ago, I was challenged. I had to prove to myself, does God even exist? I'd always supposed He did. I'd been brought up from childhood to believe in God. Now I went into a study of evolution and I went to do an in-depth study and I studied Darwin and Huxley and Haeckel and Spencer and all of those fellows. But I proved that that was wrong. And I proved that God is real and that God does exist and that God is creator. And then I looked into the Bible and I studied it intensively and in depth and I put it to every test and I proved to myself, it doesn't make any difference whether I prove it to you or not, you can prove it to yourself if it means anything to you or do you care about your life and about your existence and about your eternity, I proved that this word is God speaking. The Bible is God speaking.

   So, "Therefore, it is no great thing if Satan's ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness" and really believing in many cases sincerely that they are the ministers of Christ, "whose end shall be according to their works". You know, this is a very, very serious thing. But Jesus answered the question of these people back now to Matthew 24. They had asked Jesus, "What would be the sign of His coming and the end of the age", the end of this age. So, Jesus finally came to that answer to the question because that was not gonna happen in their time. And in verse 14 (Matthew 24:14), He came to that and He said, 'In this gospel of the kingdom', the gospel He preached and they had turned to another gospel and that gospel had been suppressed within a very few years. And after 70 A.D. that gospel was no longer preached to the world. That gospel is not being preached to the world today, except by my voice. And those of the true church of God, it just is not being preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God. They preach Jesus as a savior. They don't preach Him as a king. True enough, He's a savior, but He also is a coming King to rule the world.

   Now, He said "this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed or preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come". That was the sign of Jesus coming a sign to let them know that time is near, a sign just before his coming. That is being fulfilled in your ears and in your eyes as you view this program this minute and it was not being fulfilled for 1900 years. That gospel was not being proclaimed. If it was, it would not be a sign of His coming now.

   It was not proclaimed and now the time has come, God's time has come for that gospel to go out. The people have been drugged. They have been deceived and they don't realize the terror that faces us today. Now carry on, what did He say next? Just a little later coming down to verse 21 and verse 22 in Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:21-22). For then after this Gospel of the Kingdom is proclaimed, "then shall be great tribulation or a time of trouble such as was not since the beginning of the world to this same time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved alive". And almost every translation except the King James has saved alive. It is not talking about spiritual salvation, "but for the elite sake, those days shall be shortened". It isn't going to really happen. In other words, it is a time after the gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed that there would be the weapons of mass destruction that could destroy everyone and no flesh would be saved alive. That has never happened before the hydrogen bomb my friends and the world has not heard the gospel of the kingdom until this time and you're hearing it now those things go together.

   Now, what is going to happen after that, that great tribulation is coming upon this world and we're in the four part of it right now. Of course, this isn't the great tribulation as bad as it's going to be. It's going to be far more terrifying, and hydrogen bombs are going to be used.

   But I want you to notice now (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 powers of the heaven shall be shaken, and then shall appear 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, Jesus Christ coming in power and great glory as the King of kings and the Lord of lords to rule all nations on this earth". And that means the United States. That means Britain, that means France and Germany. That means Russia. And that means Japan, that means every nation on the face of this earth.

   Why don't you hear that gospel of the Kingdom of God being proclaimed in other places today? Now, I want you to notice how Daniel backs up that same prophecy in the 11th chapter of Daniel. And in verse 40 (Daniel 11:40), it says, "And at the time of the end", a certain thing will begin to happen and then it continues right on in chapter 12 (Daniel 12:1). "And at that time", the time of the end, "shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of thy people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time". Now, that cannot be some different time than the one that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24. There can only be one time. It's greater than anything that ever happened even to that same time. "And at that time, shall thy God's people be delivered? Everyone that shall be found written in the book", the Book of Life, "and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake in a resurrection."

   So, all you see immediately after the tribulation is going to come the second coming of Christ. Now, the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom precedes all of that. And it's just before the great tribulation, and then immediately it is going to come the second coming of Christ.

   Now, then in this tribulation that is coming, what about this hydrogen bomb? I want to show you one passage that shows that all the cities are going to be destroyed. Whole cities in Ezekiel six and verse six (Ezekiel 6:6), "In all your dwelling places, the cities shall be laid waste". My friends, that could never have happened until the hydrogen bomb came just 30 years ago, 29 1/2 years ago. It never could have happened and it couldn't happen until this time. So, it is more terrifying than you understand or than you realize. But there is more hope also because God's people are going to be delivered and then it's going to come the second coming of Christ and He's going to cut short those days and all flesh is not going to be destroyed, but man would destroy himself except that God Almighty is going to intervene and send Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords and great power and splendor.

   What is Jesus like in his glorified body? You find it described in the first chapter of the Book of Revelation. His eyes are like flames of fire and his face. It's not a pale face like yours and mine or a yellow or a black face or whatever color it shines like the very sun in full strength. So, it would even blind your eyes looking at Him. And that is the Christ that is coming and Satan is going to be removed, the power that is working in this world and causing this world to live in a way that is causing all of these troubles, all of these troubles. That is the message that must go to the world and to all nations, not into every nation, but as a witness for all nations and it is going and it is going by my voice to this whole world. My friends, I want to, I, I want you to write in or telephone in immediately for some very important literature.

   "Are We Living In The Last Days?" Is this the generation when that is going to happen? I've just given you absolute evidence of it. But here is a book that I have. "Are We Living In The Last Days?", I haven't announced this booklet before on this program. I'd like to have you. Some of our researchers have compiled this, it's profusely illustrated and it's in full color. And I, I'd like to have you get it and there's no charge for anything that we have. We don't charge for anything we don't ask for contributions. None of that, we want to give, not get, that is our policy. "Are We Living In The Last Days?", I would like to have you right in and this will give you evidence that we are living in the last days.

   Now, once again, I want to announce The Plain Truth magazine. This is a mass circulation magazine circulated worldwide. Four and 1 1/2 million subscribers. You can't receive this magazine except you ask for it for yourself. We don't just throw it around at people, but there is no subscription price; we don't charge for anything. You must ask for it yourself. Some 12-15 million people are reading it. It's published in six different languages. It's circulated all over the world.

   I would like to show you some of the articles that are in it, "Behind the Call for a "NUCLEAR FREEZE" in Europe", there is an article. The Plain Truth analyzes today's world news and what it means and what Bible prophecy says is going to happen. You need to be getting it, "The Worldwide Epidemic of Drug and Alcohol Abuse". Then here is an article: "God Hates Divorce, and Yet He Divorced His Own Wife! Why?" Why there is something on that that you need to understand? And this issue is devoted mostly now to the drug abuse and alcohol and things of that sort. It's highly illustrated in full color. A great deal that you won't get in any other magazine.

   Then I want to announce too of a magazine for teenagers, Youth 82. There is no magazine like this, and there has not been ever. When I was a boy, there was a magazine for tennagers, but it didn't compare with this one. Youth 82. So maybe you have youth, or maybe you are a youth, a teenager, and you would like to get it, "Tomorrow - What Will It Bring To Today's Teens?" And here's an article, "What's All This Talk About Character?" And here's one on King Tut, "Who Was King Tut?", something about your first time, "Your First Job", and many, many things of that sort.

   I hope that you will write in for it and it's free. There's no subscription price now for this literature that I have offered. All you do is just send your name and address and your request to me. Herbert W Armstrong at Pasadena California. That's all the address you need. Herbert W Armstrong Pasadena California. That's 91123. Or go to the telephone. That's the quickest way right now. Go to the telephone dial, toll-free. It's a free call 800 then 423-4444. A lot of fours there. You can remember it easily. Area code 800-423-4444. And then if you're living in California, Alaska or Hawaii, you can call, collect, we'll pay for the call. Area code 213-577-5555. That's area code 213-577-5555. And so, until next time, this is Herbert W Armstrong, goodbye friends.

   For the free literature offered on this program, write Herbert W Armstrong Pasadena, California 91123 in Canada Box 44, Vancouver BC or in the continent United States, you may call this toll-free number 800-423-4444 in California, Alaska and Hawaii call collect 213-577-5555. If the lines are busy, please try again. The preceding program and all literature were produced and sponsored by the Worldwide Church of God.