Herbert W Armstrong

   And it is a time after the millennium and after the time or at the time, I'm gonna be talking to you about this afternoon. That's a different time. Whosoever will cannot come now.

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

   Now it was on the last day of the festival while Christ was in earth, and he was keeping these feast days, he was setting us an example, and we're following in his steps.

   And in the seventh chapter of John (John 7:37-38), you'll find it is said here, "In the last day, that great day of the feast". And that is today. This is that great day today, "Jesus stood up and cried. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me as the scripture has said out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water."

   If we turn back page or two in your Bible to John, the sixth chapter in verse 44 Jesus also said (John 6:44), "No man can come to me" now get that no man can. He simply can't come to Christ "except the father which has sent me draw him". Now, is there a contradiction? Not at all. Because Jesus had said, if any man thirst, I tell you, people are not gonna thirst for the Holy Spirit. I didn't finish reading that.

   But this he spoke when he said, come to me and drink this, he spake of the spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, which they that believe on Him should receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet at that time given none of them had the Holy Spirit yet at that time except no, I don't believe it or even not even the apostles, it was not given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

   But now no one can thirst for God's Holy Spirit unless God has called you. They simply can't. The people that God has not called are not being judged. The greatest error, as I say, is thinking that everybody is automatically lost, if you don't get saved. The people God has not called are neither lost nor saved. They are just not yet judged.

   Now, in the church, I want to call your attention to something. It's back here in First Peter the fourth chapter in the 17th verse (I Peter 4:17) "For the time has come, that judgment must begin at the house of God." We brethren, we in, in the house of God are being judged now, you're being judged every day. Well, now God cut off the world except those he called. Do you see what that means? That means that those that are not called have not had a chance.

   Therefore, the responsibility is not theirs. God isn't holding them accountable for the fact he didn't call. God is the one who is responsible.

   Now, that doesn't mean God is guilty. It just means the responsibility is hidden. He's gonna acquit; he's going to acquit himself of that responsibility. And that's what I'm here to talk to you about this afternoon. Only those that have had God's Holy Spirit will be resurrected to be in the 1000 year reign with Christ.

   Now, the kingdom will be reigning over all of the people on the earth for the 1000 years. But now we get to the billions of people that have lived and died, and God never called them, and it isn't their fault. You see, God decided that because of what Adam did long before they were born. And so, it was not their fault. It is God's responsibility. He's not holding them responsible for it, and God has to see to it. God has to take care of that situation because God is no respecter of persons. He's not going to be unfair to anybody.

   There are billions. What about all of ancient Israel? They were not given salvation. What about them? They're not gonna be in the kingdom of God. Only those that have had God's Holy Spirit will be resurrected to be in the 1000 year reign with Christ. But now we read that 1000 years in the 20th chapter of the Book of Revelation. The fourth verse shows how many of us will be sitting on Thrones ruling for the 1000 years (Revelation 20:4). But come down to verse 11 (Revelation 20:11).

   "And I saw a great white throne", white is the color of perfection and purity. And it's a throne before which people are going to be judged, "and Him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great stand before God", a resurrection of people that have been dead standing before God.

   "And the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life." Therefore, some are going to have a chance of gaining eternal life because many of their names will be written in this book of life. And every one of them will then be called, this is a resurrection of all the billions upon billions of people that have lived and have never been called and have never had a chance. And now they're going to be called, let me tell you no church on earth will teach you this. They don't know these things. This is the, is, is the knowledge and the wisdom of the eternal God.

   "The books are opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life", which means that some will be given immortal life, "and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works". There will be a judgment in that great white throne. That will be the resurrection of everybody from Adam and Eve on till now that was not called.

   Herbert W Armstrong will return right after this message.

   Well, life's been pretty good summer home yacht vacation when I wanted. Hm, some little kids sure spent a lot of time with that. Too bad they never last. Yeah, a lot of things are like that, kids are grown now, hm ,Sandy and I aren't getting any younger, hm. Is this all there is? You can know the answer to this age-old question. Why Were You Born? To request your free copy dial direct? 800-423-4444. That's 800-423-4444.

   Now, some few have been called and have rejected the call. Adam was, he had every chance in the world. God called God talked to him but he turned it down. I don't know how many have been called and turned it down. I hope not many, but I don't know that and neither do you. But I do know this, that most of them were not called. And all of those who were not called will come up in this great white throne resurrection. And they're going to come back in the mortal life, flesh and blood, not immortal, no salvation, but they will then be called and given the opportunity of salvation. And there will not be any devil there then. Now the devil will be released after the 1000 years for a short time. Then he's put away again before this judgment. And the devil will not be there at the time of this judgment.

   So, we see then and the sea gave up the dead that were in it and death and the grave delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to his works. Now that's going to be. Now then, what about the ancient Israel of the Old Testament? As I say, they were called by God in a way, they were given his law. They were under God's prophets, but they were not given his Holy Spirit or any chance of salvation. Now, we turn back to the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, and here is this chapter of the Valley of Dry Bones.

   Verse one, Ezekiel 37 (Ezekiel 37:1-14), "The hand of the Eternal was upon me, and he carried me out in the spirit of the Eternal and set me down in the midst of a valley which is full of bones."

   Now, in other words, that means that he's in a vision by the spirit; he's been taken where, in this vision, he sees a valley of bones, "and caused me to pass by them round about. And behold, there were very many in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry". Skeletons and bones are, they are completely, they've been dead a long, long time, and they're all dry now.

   "And he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, oh Lord, Eternal, thou knowest". And actually, Ezekiel was just a prophet and he, he didn't know this was being given to him now in the vision. "And again, he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones and say unto them, all your dry bones hear the word of the Eternal. Thus says the Eternal God unto these bones. Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live", you skeletons full of dry bones. You're going to come back to life in a resurrection, "and I will lay sinews upon you and will bring up flesh upon you and will cover you with skin and will put breath in you."

   Now, that's the kind of breath that we breathe. That's, that's not the immortality of self-containing life by the spirit of God. This is breath that oxidizes the blood with a heartbeat in people, "and you shall live and shall know that I am the Eternal". They didn't know it. They never did really know who the Eternal was during their lifetime. They didn't get to really know him. They just knew about him, but they didn't really know him and they didn't really believe him. But now they're going to in this resurrection.

   "So, I prophesized as I was commanded and lo as I prophesized, there was a noise and behold a shaking" or like an earthquake, "and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo the sinews and the flesh came up upon them and the skin covered them, but there was no breath in them yet". So, they couldn't live without that.

   Now when a baby is born, it usually, there's no breath in it. And did you ever notice how they give it a little slap on the back or on its little bottom or something? And they begin, Yeah, right away. And well, I've seen three of my four Children born and I know how it is. And I can still remember, "then said he unto me, prophesize son of man and say unto the wind. Thus says, the Lord Eternal, come forth, come from the four winds, O breath and breathe upon these slain that they may live the breath of life". This is mortal life, physical life, made out of matter.

   "So, I prophesized as he had commanded me and breath came into them and they lived and they stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army." It will be billions and billions of people, all of ancient Israel. And not only that, all of ancient China and Japan and India and of Indonesia and even of Russia and nations like that. "Then he said unto me, son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel", that tells us what the, what it means.

   You know, I went into Angelo's Temple one time and now this is all this. This is pretty close to 50 years ago. I'm sure it's more than 45 years ago to hear the so-called Amy Semple McPherson. And she had one of her illustrated sermons that night. And of course, in her Angeles Temple in Los Angeles, she has a stage like any theater. And it was an illustrated sermon on this very chapter and there you could see cutouts of paper with a lot of bones all on the stage. Then the curtains were drawn and then the bones began to cut and, and then people got in and began to rise up on their feet. It was all illustrated.

   She says, what are all of these bones? What are they? She said, I'll tell you what they are. They're all the other churches. They're dry and they haven't got any life. But the Foursquare Gospel has got all the life. We are the ones. Well, now, that's not exactly what God says here; he said. "And to me, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold. They say our bones are dried and our hope is lost". You know, Israel played the Harlot. They were worse than any Harlot as God says in one place, the Harlot charges money for her service. But you have been the wife of God, and you have even paid your male paramours instead of charging them. Whoever heard of a Harlot paying money for men to come to her. That's how rotten Israel was. And they, they think that their bones are dried, that they were lost. Well, God didn't offer them salvation, brethren. He did not offer them the Holy Spirit. He offered them his law, his spiritual law.

   Now, he also offered them a separate law of sacrifices of animals, merely a sort of substitute for the blood of Christ, but the blood of animals cannot forgive sin. And so, it was only a reminder of sin, but not a forgiveness of sin. And so, they couldn't have God's Holy Spirit. Then he gave them also a law of rituals. Ceremonial law is also physical things to do of meat and drink, offerings and things to do kernel ordinances, things to do morning, noon and night merely to establish the habit of obedience in them, a substitute for the Holy Spirit, which had not been given to them then because they were a government in the nation, he gave them another kind of law, statutes and judgments to rule the nation.

   Now we're not in that nation today, but really those laws were not done away. And the statutes and judgments if our government and the United States, for instance, would use those as its national law. We'd be a lot better off than we are, but we are commanded of course, to be subject to the government that we're under. And that's the way that is today; "therefore, prophesy unto them. And thus says, the Lord Eternal behold, O my people, I will open your graves. This is all ancient Israel "and cause you to come up out of your graves and will bring you into the land of Israel and you shall know that I am the Eternal". They didn't really know that before they knew about him, but they didn't really get it. "And when I have opened your graves O my people and brought you up out of your graves and shall put my spirit into you", then he will give them the Holy Spirit.

   Now, first, they're gonna get breath. That's mortal life. Then he's gonna put his Holy Spirit into them, "and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land. Then shall you know that I the Eternal have spoken it and have performed It says the Eternal". What a wonderful thing. Look, how wonderful is the way of God. He has decreed that the world should be cut off from Him because Adam made that decision for Him and his descendants. And we're all the Children of Adam. Everyone who's ever lived since Adam and Eve and God has decreed that 6000 years go by with human beings writing the lesson because he knew they would be swayed by Satan and go the way of Satan.

   We've been going the way of get. We've been going the way of self-centeredness. We've been going the way of vanity, lust, and greed. We've been going the way of envy and jealousy. We've been going the way of competition and strife and rebellion against God and against authority. That's the way the world has been going. And that's the way ancient Israel went. And God has wanted it to be written in human suffering and in human sorrow and anguish and pain to show that that way, which is the way that this Lucifer turned to. And the way Adam then turned to is a wrong way. And the love and outgoing concern is the only way that can give you happiness and can lead to eternal life.

   God will not give humans eternal life except in happiness and in glory. Do you ever think of that? And that's, that's the way it is.

   Herbert W Armstrong will return right after this message.

   Plain truth, clears up the issues. Plain truth, brightens your understanding. Plain truth, sharpens your outlook. In today's world, you need the Plain Truth magazine, for your free subscription to Plain Truth. Call this toll-free number 800-423-4444. That's 800-423-4444. See, for yourself. Plain Truth magazine.

   It's not only just Israel, the same thing applies to other nations if you'll notice now in Matthew, the 12th chapter where Jesus was speaking and verses 41 and 42 (Matthew 12:41-42), "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment". Now, that's in this great white throne judgment, the man of ancient Nineveh, you know God sent oh, the man that swallowed the whale. You know Jonah to warn Nineveh, and none of Nineveh was spared because they heeded the warning, but Israel wouldn't.

   But the people of Nineveh were Gentiles. "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation." Jesus said, that's the generation living at the time he was on earth, "and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah". But it didn't give them any salvation. It just saved them physically from destruction at the time. They repented, "and behold a greater than Jonah is here". Christ is greater than Jonah, but they didn't believe him.

   Now, he says, "The queen of the South or the queen of Sheba, the queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation". You see, they're all gonna rise in the generation. That generation was not saved, but they're gonna come up in this generation and the people, the queen of the South, "and shall condemn it: for she came from the outermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But behold, a greater than Solomon is here", Christ was there and he was greater than Solomon, but they wouldn't listen to him.

   Now, then we turn on almost the same thing in Luke, the 11th chapter of Luke verses 31 and 32 where he said (Luke 11:31-32), "the queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation", a resurrection, rise up in this judgment, "and condemn them for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here". But he was saying that to those people, you don't hear the wisdom that I'm giving you. "The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it", for they repented. And there's another place it will be more tolerable for Solomon Gomorrah in that generation in that resurrection. I mean on the generation that Christ was speaking to, it's all speaking of this great white throne judgment, God is going to raise up all of those that he had not called.

   So, you see, predestination has to do with when you're called, not whether you're called. Well, it's whether and when, but I mean, it has nothing to do with whether you're going to be saved or lost because each of us make that decision for himself. All shall have been called finally. Now, the Bible goes on to show you in the 20th chapter of the Book of Revelation, it shows one more resurrection and that will be of those that had been called and still had rejected and gone the wrong way when they knew better. In other words, the incorrigible wicked who cannot be, well in Hebrews, there's one place that if you have known the truth of God, you've been called, you've tasted of the Holy Spirit of God and the wonderful things of God and then you fall away. It says it's impossible to renew you to repentance. It doesn't mean it's impossible for God to save you. It means that you won't do it. God would be willing if you would only repent.

   But, I want to leave you with this. Satan will be overcome. The world could not be made at one with God as long as it was not called and was serving Satan. It will be at one and that at one meant is the atonement. You know, it's spelled out like 'at one mean', and everything is going to work out beautifully. But even those that are incorrigible and who refuse, even though God has given them every chance, they will become ashes under the soles of our feet, they will be burned up. And that's the kind of thing that can happen. They will be punished, but everyone has to die.

   I have already died once. If I hadn't been brought back, I would have been in my grave for over a year by now, and I, the, you know, the funny thing is brethren. I don't fear death anymore. I've already gone through it once and I didn't know anything about it. They told me when I was brought back and don't tell me that you go to heaven or hell because I didn't go anywhere at all. And I didn't know anything either, but God brought me back and he brought me back to lead you and I'm going to lead you on into the Kingdom of God.

   For the free literature offered on this program, write Herbert W Armstrong Pasadena, California 91123 in Canada Box 44, Vancouver BC or in the continental United States. You may call this toll-free number 800-423-4444. That's 800-423-4444 in California dial direct 213-577-5225. The preceding program and all literature were produced by the Worldwide Church of God.