WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:18.730 It is the great paradox of the twentieth century. On the one hand, man has made incredible progress, 00:00:18.730 --> 00:00:30.860 in science, in technology, in engineering. He has developed the computer, harnessed the 00:00:30.860 --> 00:00:38.840 power of the atom, walked in space and on the moon, and sent spacecraft to probe the 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:50.090 far reaches of the solar system and beyond. And yet, in spite of great material progress, 00:00:50.090 --> 00:00:57.450 much of the world still lives in poverty and squalor. Millions must daily face the threat 00:00:57.450 --> 00:01:03.960 of famine. Children are ravaged with disease and malnutrition, and whole populations are 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:15.039 torn apart by the horror and brutality of endless wars. Why, when there seems to be 00:01:15.039 --> 00:01:20.759 no end to man's inventive genius, can't he solve the problems of living together in peace 00:01:20.759 --> 00:01:28.429 and prosperity? Typical of this paradox is the island nation 00:01:28.429 --> 00:01:35.709 of Sri Lanka, set in the Indian Ocean off the southern tip of India. Blessed with a 00:01:35.709 --> 00:01:42.170 tropical climate, beautiful scenery, abundant natural resources, and not overpopulated, 00:01:42.170 --> 00:01:48.539 Sri Lanka seems in a good position to avoid the problems that beset other nations in this region. 00:01:55.300 --> 00:02:01.539 In the last ten years, Sri Lanka has made great strides in material development. 00:02:01.539 --> 00:02:12.300 But the calm was shattered as rival factions took to the streets in outbreaks of terrorism and violence that rocked the entire nation. 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:25.110 The World Tomorrow - the Worldwide Church 00:02:25.110 --> 00:02:36.150 of God presents Herbert W Armstrong... Internationally recognized Ambassador for world peace... Visiting 00:02:36.150 --> 00:02:44.280 prominent leaders around the globe... discussing the cause of world problems... and proclaiming 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:58.510 the good news of the world tomorrow... ladies and gentlemen Herbert W Armstrong. 00:02:58.510 --> 00:03:07.359 As I mentioned on a previous program, on my recent visit to the Far East, among several 00:03:07.359 --> 00:03:14.219 other countries, I visited Sri Lanka, the island country just off the southern tip of 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:24.939 India. And while there, I found that the same conditions attain there that do all around 00:03:24.939 --> 00:03:31.920 the world, the same paradox, and in fact, they were, at the moment I was there, in the 00:03:31.920 --> 00:03:43.319 throes of a fresh wave of terrorism that was occupying the banner headlines of newspapers. 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:54.670 While there, I not only visited with the president of the country, but with most of the top officials 00:03:54.670 --> 00:04:07.029 of the nation, and also before leaving, I spoke to a local audience of subscribers to 00:04:07.029 --> 00:04:14.650 The Plain Truth magazine. The Plain Truth is one of the largest-circulated magazines 00:04:14.650 --> 00:04:22.700 in the world, as I will mention again at the close of this program. But I want to show 00:04:22.700 --> 00:04:31.300 you some of the things that I said in that meeting to our own Plain Truth subscribers 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:42.069 in Sri Lanka. At the presidential palace in Colombo, Mr. 00:04:42.069 --> 00:04:52.009 Armstrong met with Sri Lanka's head of state, President J. R. Jayewardene. After presenting 00:04:52.009 --> 00:04:56.740 the president with the traditional gift of Steuben crystal, Mr. Armstrong discussed the 00:04:56.740 --> 00:05:04.650 problems that a leader of a nation today faces in trying to help his people. Sri Lanka's 00:05:04.650 --> 00:05:09.430 national state assembly buildings are set on a lake in the outskirts of the capital 00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:16.300 city. The striking, modern buildings are inspired by the traditional architecture of Sri Lanka. 00:05:16.300 --> 00:05:22.860 The parliamentary complex forms the nucleus of a new administration capital for the country. 00:05:22.860 --> 00:05:29.500 At the parliament building, Mr. Armstrong met with Sri Lanka's prime minister, Mr. Ranasinghe 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:32.810 Premadasa. [conversation between Mr. Armstrong and Mr. 00:05:32.810 --> 00:05:37.090 Premadasa] "Thank you." - 'It's a pleasure that I have 00:05:37.090 --> 00:05:38.900 this opportunity of meeting you.' - "Thank you so much." - 'I've read a lot about you, 00:05:38.900 --> 00:05:46.319 and I've read The Plain Truth, oh yes.' - "Thank you, well, it's an honor to meet you." - 'I've 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:54.190 read a lot of copies.' - "Thank you." Mr. Armstrong explained why the Ambassador 00:05:54.190 --> 00:05:59.289 Foundation cooperates with governments and international organizations in undertaking 00:05:59.289 --> 00:06:02.940 projects in the interest of world peace and understanding. 00:06:02.940 --> 00:06:05.710 [conversation between Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Premadasa] 00:06:05.710 --> 00:06:10.099 "As it's been said, it's more blessed to give than to receive, and I find that is actually 00:06:10.099 --> 00:06:18.250 true." - 'If you endeavor to gain, you won't get anything.' - "I think that's the basis 00:06:18.250 --> 00:06:24.389 of the trouble in the world. The people in the world are all trying to gain, and to get, 00:06:24.389 --> 00:06:35.699 and not to share or to give. But sharing and giving is by far better, and will lead to 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:48.060 peace instead of troubles. If people had more concern for others than themselves, and we 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:56.300 weren't competitive, but we were cooperative, and helpful to one another, we'd have peace." 00:06:56.300 --> 00:07:04.490 - 'We are very thankful to you for taking time off to visit our country and discuss 00:07:04.490 --> 00:07:11.479 matters with us, and for the great service you are rendering to mankind.' 00:07:11.479 --> 00:07:19.479 The final afternoon of his visit to Sri Lanka, Mr. Armstrong spoke to an audience of Plain 00:07:19.479 --> 00:07:27.550 Truth subscribers at the hotel Lanka Overi in Colombo, explaining why mankind by himself 00:07:27.550 --> 00:07:34.720 cannot overcome violence and destruction. [applause] 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:43.720 I thank so many of you for coming out now this afternoon, and for subscribing to The 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:55.080 Plain Truth and reading it. You're a part of more than seven and half million subscribers, 00:07:55.080 --> 00:08:02.039 and perhaps as many as twenty or thirty million people reading The Plain Truth all around 00:08:02.039 --> 00:08:13.599 the world. Now this world today is in trouble, and the evils are getting worse and worse. 00:08:13.599 --> 00:08:20.280 Now we've had wars ever since humanity has been on this Earth. And finally, it's come 00:08:20.280 --> 00:08:27.860 down to the place where we have had two world wars. 00:08:27.860 --> 00:08:33.849 And since the last world war, we're having little wars break out here and there, and 00:08:33.849 --> 00:08:41.180 strife in many parts of the world: strife in the Middle East, strife between England 00:08:41.180 --> 00:08:52.170 and Ireland, strife down in Central America, strife all over the world. And we've come 00:08:52.170 --> 00:08:59.320 into even different kinds of warfare, and the latest thing now is terrorism, and you're 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:08.500 having a taste of it even here in Sri Lanka. And so you've had a curfew. And why are we 00:09:08.500 --> 00:09:16.080 having trouble like that? Many people have called me an unofficial ambassador 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:25.050 for world peace, and I had a press meeting in this hotel in another room, a couple or 00:09:25.050 --> 00:09:36.130 three days ago, and some of the press reporters there asked me why I couldn't just bring world 00:09:36.130 --> 00:09:42.420 peace right away. Well now, I didn't come here to just wave a magic wand and "Hocus-pocus, 00:09:42.420 --> 00:09:48.770 you've got world peace." I can't produce peace like that. 00:09:48.770 --> 00:09:55.370 It takes something to cause peace, and there has to be a cause for all of the troubles. 00:09:55.370 --> 00:10:03.100 There is a cause and a reason why we don't have peace. And we will have never have peace 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:11.940 until we eliminate the cause of trouble, the cause of wars, the cause of violence, the 00:10:11.940 --> 00:10:19.030 cause of terrorism. Why do we have things like that? Now I have said you can sum up 00:10:19.030 --> 00:10:25.960 the whole cause of all of the trouble in two words: human nature. 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:32.930 But how did we get human nature, and where did human nature come from, and how did it 00:10:32.930 --> 00:10:41.800 start? I said before a press conference that peace is not going to come until this world 00:10:41.800 --> 00:10:49.960 learns a lesson. We do not live the way that would produce peace. If we lived according 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:59.670 to the right way of life, the way of loving your neighbor as much as you love yourself, 00:10:59.670 --> 00:11:05.060 we would all have peace. But people don't live like that. 00:11:05.060 --> 00:11:11.810 The problems in this world have become so great, that no man in any government can solve 00:11:11.810 --> 00:11:17.770 them. I've talked to heads of government, to kings and prime ministers, and presidents 00:11:17.770 --> 00:11:25.580 and heads of government all over the world, and I had lunch even just this noon with your 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:35.820 president, and they are capable men who will run governments all over the world, but no 00:11:35.820 --> 00:11:41.680 human being is capable of solving all of these problems. Now why? 00:11:41.680 --> 00:11:48.140 This world has been allotted 6,000 years of human experience to go on and learn the lesson 00:11:48.140 --> 00:11:56.440 that selfishness, and trying to get from other people, and competition and strife is not 00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:04.270 the way toward peace, and is not the way toward happiness, and is not the way to have prosperity 00:12:04.270 --> 00:12:10.520 and the good things that can be produced out of the Earth, because all material things 00:12:10.520 --> 00:12:15.050 come out of the Earth. Now I'll go back to the beginning. There was 00:12:15.050 --> 00:12:24.210 a time when there was no human being on this Earth. And the oldest history in the world 00:12:24.210 --> 00:12:32.740 is called the Bible. There's another history that is known in this part of the world called 00:12:32.740 --> 00:12:40.700 the Koran, and it also records the same incident. They are the oldest histories that you can 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:46.360 read to find out what has happened way back in the past. 00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:54.870 Now both the Bible and the Koran give us a recorded history of the very first man. The 00:12:54.870 --> 00:12:59.860 first man was created "out of the dust of the ground." In the Koran, it says "out of 00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:08.400 mud." In the Bible, it says "the dust of the ground." It's all the same thing. "By God." 00:13:08.400 --> 00:13:13.360 And man is just out of the dust of the ground, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:23.140 life, and man became a soul. And to that soul, there was a forbidden tree in the great garden 00:13:23.140 --> 00:13:30.170 where the man was placed, and God told him he must not touch of that tree. 00:13:30.170 --> 00:13:35.330 Now there was another tree in that garden called the Tree of Life, and he could have 00:13:35.330 --> 00:13:43.550 had that tree, and God wanted him to take of that tree, but that would have meant that 00:13:43.550 --> 00:13:50.760 he would have relied on God, that God would teach him, and God would show him the way 00:13:50.760 --> 00:13:58.020 to live to have peace. God would show him how to love his neighbor. The other tree meant 00:13:58.020 --> 00:14:03.080 he would decide for himself what is good and what is evil, and he would take the knowledge 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:10.730 to himself of what is good and evil, and that is what the man did, and he disobeyed God. 00:14:10.730 --> 00:14:17.700 And thereupon, God shut up the tree of life, and shut it off from man for 6,000 years, 00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:24.250 and it's still shut off up to this day. The world doesn't know that, but it is true, 00:14:24.250 --> 00:14:32.720 and that is the condition. Now the man was left to himself. He rejected relying on God. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:40.310 He said, "I will rely on myself. I will think out myself what is good and what is evil. 00:14:40.310 --> 00:14:49.630 I will think out for myself what causes pain and suffering and the way to avoid it. I will 00:14:49.630 --> 00:14:57.390 think out for myself what is good." Now along that same time, before that, the 00:14:57.390 --> 00:15:05.940 creator God had created angels. After God created angels, he created one very great 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:16.290 superangel; he was a cherub. He created three kinds of angels: ordinary angels, and then 00:15:16.290 --> 00:15:22.740 angels that are called seraphs, that are a higher grade of angels with greater minds 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:29.050 and greater power, and then still higher, angels that are called cherubs, and they are 00:15:29.050 --> 00:15:37.950 still higher. Now, most angels are holy, and righteous, and good, but just like the man 00:15:37.950 --> 00:15:46.220 had to decide for himself whether he would listen to his creator and rely on his creator 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:55.490 or just rely on himself and disobey his creator, so this one archangel did. 00:15:55.490 --> 00:16:02.170 He was placed on this Earth. His name was Lucifer, and he was placed on the Earth and 00:16:02.170 --> 00:16:11.960 given the throne. Now he's an angel. He's a superangel of great power, great mind, but 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:20.950 his mind became perverted and warped, because he disobeyed God. And where God says that 00:16:20.950 --> 00:16:29.330 you shall love one another, he said you shall hate one another. He believed just the opposite 00:16:29.330 --> 00:16:41.070 of God. Where God is good, he became evil. Now he influenced the first man and the first 00:16:41.070 --> 00:16:46.570 woman, before they took of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:16:46.570 --> 00:16:52.710 And he has been ruling over mankind ever since, and there are evil spirits ruling in this 00:16:52.710 --> 00:16:58.260 world, and many religions believe that there are different spirits, and they think that 00:16:58.260 --> 00:17:08.730 they are gods. They are not God. There's just the one God family, and God is a family. There 00:17:08.730 --> 00:17:18.350 is a father of that family, and the one who became Jesus Christ was the son. But God is 00:17:18.350 --> 00:17:26.459 supreme over all. Now until you understand that, you can never understand the great mystery 00:17:26.459 --> 00:17:32.570 of life, and why we have trouble in the world, and why things are like they are. They'll 00:17:32.570 --> 00:17:36.370 never make sense to you until you understand this. 00:17:36.370 --> 00:17:43.820 Now human beings have gone along in the way of selfishness and deciding for themselves 00:17:43.820 --> 00:17:48.659 what is right and what is wrong, and they have not relied on God. They've tried to rely 00:17:48.659 --> 00:17:53.360 on themselves, and they're cut off from God, and they don't even know about God. They don't 00:17:53.360 --> 00:18:01.190 think about God. Now God is love, and he loves us all. He loves everybody, and he wants us 00:18:01.190 --> 00:18:08.570 to learn to love everybody, and he wants us to know that we need to rely on him, and that 00:18:08.570 --> 00:18:15.450 his mind alone can understand our problems, and he can show us the way to peace, but people 00:18:15.450 --> 00:18:19.169 don't turn to God. They don't say to God, "Show me your way." 00:18:19.169 --> 00:18:24.190 They don't say to God, "I know I've been wrong, and show me how to get right." No, they want 00:18:24.190 --> 00:18:32.649 to go on their own way. God did not create human nature in us, we turned to that way 00:18:32.649 --> 00:18:39.360 until it got to be habit, and got to be natural, and so we call it human nature. And that's 00:18:39.360 --> 00:18:45.629 the way we are on the Earth today. And we have our problems, but our minds aren't big 00:18:45.629 --> 00:18:51.470 enough to understand all of our problems, and to understand that as long as we're selfish, 00:18:51.470 --> 00:18:59.120 and as long as the whole motivation of life, the purpose of life of most people is just 00:18:59.120 --> 00:19:05.490 to compete, competition, trying to get, trying to get something for themselves. 00:19:05.490 --> 00:19:12.019 And everyone wants more of material things that come out of the ground, and we need to 00:19:12.019 --> 00:19:19.960 think about the spiritual things which is the me in one mind with another mind, in love 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:25.529 and in peace, and in happiness. We don't have peace, because people don't have peace in 00:19:25.529 --> 00:19:31.840 their own minds and hearts. They just don't have peace in their hearts or in their minds. 00:19:31.840 --> 00:19:37.049 And until people have peace in their minds and hearts, and all of the people have peace, 00:19:37.049 --> 00:19:47.409 we won't have peace. Now after 4,000 years of human life on Earth, 00:19:47.409 --> 00:19:56.289 God sent another man that was his own son, the one that had been the Logos, that was 00:19:56.289 --> 00:20:03.149 the very family of God, as the very son of God, and he became a human being, and his 00:20:03.149 --> 00:20:12.909 name was Jesus Christ. The what-is-called the Christian religion is supposed to be the 00:20:12.909 --> 00:20:18.850 religion he started, but it is not, because what he preached was something different. 00:20:18.850 --> 00:20:23.799 And other people have taken a different kind of religion, and put his name on it, and they 00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:31.230 call it Christianity, but it is not the real, true Christianity, because they do not follow 00:20:31.230 --> 00:20:39.629 the teaching of Christ. They do not believe what Christ said. Christ said he came to be 00:20:39.629 --> 00:20:47.570 a king, and they deny that. Christ said he came to rule, and he will rule. But he didn't 00:20:47.570 --> 00:20:56.970 come to rule at that time. He came in love, because he loved people. 00:20:56.970 --> 00:21:05.990 And people who did not love him, but hated him, had him killed. And he died for them, 00:21:05.990 --> 00:21:15.029 and God raised him from the dead, and he ascended to heaven. And in due time, when the 6,000 00:21:15.029 --> 00:21:23.710 years is up, God is going to send him back in supreme power and in glory, and he is going 00:21:23.710 --> 00:21:29.269 to rule over all the nations on the face of this Earth! 00:21:29.269 --> 00:21:36.480 But he won't do that until human beings have come to the place where is he delayed, any 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:43.779 longer, human beings would wipe themselves out of existence by nuclear weapons. And God 00:21:43.779 --> 00:21:56.090 is not going to let us commit human suicide by erasing ourselves from the Earth. He will 00:21:56.090 --> 00:22:02.970 intervene before we go that far, after we have learned we're so helpless we can't solve 00:22:02.970 --> 00:22:10.690 our own problems. We can't solve our problems. We have to rely on God. 00:22:10.690 --> 00:22:17.100 We can't save ourselves, because we aren't willing to love one another, because we go 00:22:17.100 --> 00:22:23.249 on and humans want to compete with one another. And as long as we want to live that way, we 00:22:23.249 --> 00:22:30.590 will not have peace. Now, you can't just pray to God: "Give us peace," and he'll give you 00:22:30.590 --> 00:22:36.509 peace. God says, "You live the way I tell you, and you'll have peace." I'm living that 00:22:36.509 --> 00:22:44.499 way; you can live that way if you want to. And we'll help you. But I didn't come here 00:22:44.499 --> 00:22:51.740 to try to force any of it on you. I'm just talking plain language. I've told 00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:57.179 you where the trouble is, I've told you why we're having trouble. I've told you how we're 00:22:57.179 --> 00:23:02.919 going to have peace; it won't be in this world, it'll be another world altogether. And God 00:23:02.919 --> 00:23:10.700 is going to have to take over and start new government, new organization, based on love 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:19.409 and cooperation and helping one another, and on generosity and giving instead of on selfishness 00:23:19.409 --> 00:23:27.200 and competition and strife and jealousy and envy and hostility. 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:32.639 We have to get hostility out of our minds and hearts, and get love into our minds and 00:23:32.639 --> 00:23:39.929 hearts to want to help other people. So I leave that with you, and hope that you will 00:23:39.929 --> 00:23:47.429 continue to read The Plain Truth. And now, before I go off the air, I want to 00:23:47.429 --> 00:23:53.929 again mention to you a special booklet that has just recently come off the press, a very 00:23:53.929 --> 00:24:01.509 absorbing booklet, A World Held Captive. You have never read anything quite like it. There 00:24:01.509 --> 00:24:09.679 you'll find the world behind bars, A World Held Captive. It explains this paradox that 00:24:09.679 --> 00:24:16.549 is going on all over the world, the causes of it, and how we're going to have peace, 00:24:16.549 --> 00:24:22.919 a lot more explicitly than I could in the program that you have just heard. 00:24:22.919 --> 00:24:29.629 Also, let me mention once again the Plain Truth magazine, and let me mention the booklet 00:24:29.629 --> 00:24:37.990 is absolutely free. The Plain Truth is also free, there's no subscription price. I spoke 00:24:37.990 --> 00:24:46.190 to many Plain Truth readers in Sri Lanka. You may have a year's subscription if you 00:24:46.190 --> 00:24:51.879 wish it, and it is absolutely free. You don't have enough money to buy a year's subscription. 00:24:51.879 --> 00:24:59.619 There is no follow-up of any kind, no request for money. The Plain Truth is one of the largest 00:24:59.619 --> 00:25:11.720 circulated magazines in the world, with more than seven and a half million subscribers. 00:25:11.720 --> 00:25:18.919 It begins with an editorial written by me: What's Wrong With the Business and Industry? 00:25:18.919 --> 00:25:26.789 What's Wrong With Business and Industry? A second article: The Truth Behind America's 00:25:26.789 --> 00:25:35.509 Moral Crisis. Then a third article that is in this recent copy of The Plain Truth: The 00:25:35.509 --> 00:25:44.600 Family - God's Plan for Mankind. Very few realize to what extent the family is an integral 00:25:44.600 --> 00:25:53.249 part of God's plan for mankind and the importance of the family structure. 00:25:53.249 --> 00:26:01.440 Another article: What's Prophesied for Russia and China? What is going to happen? The Plain 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:11.749 Truth is a news magazine, but it makes clear and understandable the meaning of the news 00:26:11.749 --> 00:26:18.210 that you're reading in your newspapers or hearing in newscasts regularly. There's no 00:26:18.210 --> 00:26:23.149 other place where you can get a real comprehension and understand the meaning of what's going 00:26:23.149 --> 00:26:28.779 on in the world, like The Plain Truth. There's no magazine like The Plain Truth. 00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:36.009 It is a family-oriented magazine, and it deals with the human interest and the problems of 00:26:36.009 --> 00:26:42.499 life, the things that confront every one of you in your lives every day. For your free 00:26:42.499 --> 00:26:48.480 subscription to The Plain Truth, if you're not already a subscriber, and for your copy 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:57.269 of the booklet A World Held Captive, just send your request to me, Herbert W. Armstrong, 00:26:57.269 --> 00:27:08.399 at Pasadena, California. That's Herbert W. Armstrong, Pasadena, California, 91123. 00:27:08.399 --> 00:27:20.990 But better yet, just go to the telephone right now. Call now. A free call - you dial 800-423-4444. 00:27:20.990 --> 00:27:34.139 That's area code 800, then 423-4444. Jot that number down. If the line is busy, call again 00:27:34.139 --> 00:27:39.259 in 5, 10, or 15 minutes, and keep calling till you get through, because thousands upon 00:27:39.259 --> 00:27:46.619 thousands of calls are coming through right now. Go now to the telephone. So until next 00:27:46.619 --> 00:27:50.350 time, this is Herbert W. Armstrong. Goodbye, friends. 00:27:50.350 --> 00:28:07.820 For the free literature offered on this program visit Herbert W Armstrong Library (www.hwalibrary.com). 00:28:07.820 --> 00:28:28.710 The Address and Phone Number for the Worldwide Church of God are no longer valid, please 00:28:28.710 --> 00:28:33.759 visit www.hwalibrary.com for all literature offered and produced by the Worldwide Church 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:36.100 of God.