Just What Do You
Mean…
By Herbert W. Armstrong
Is it the CHURCH? Is it something "setup in
the hearts of men"? Is it the
The shocking TRUTH is here made PLAIN!
Why cannot the churches agree on what
is the GOSPEL? Jesus Christ came preaching the Gospel of the
A prominent evangelist said to a worldwide
radio audience that the Gospel of the
Not One Is Right!
Some churches claim either that their
particular denomination, or "Christianity" as a whole, constitutes
the
The truth is not merely surprising - it is
shocking - staggering! Yet it is truly GOOD NEWS - the most glorious GOOD NEWS
ever to enter human consciousness!
CHRIST'S Gospel
What is the one
and only Gospel of Jesus Christ? THE WORLD DOES NOT KNOW! It has not
been preached for 18 1/2 centuries, strange as that may seem. Look into your BIBLE.
Look at it from the very beginning!
"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus
Christ" you'll read in Mark 1:1. "Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD,
and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent
ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15).
It is necessary to believe that GOSPEL
to be saved! And how can you believe it, unless you know what it is?
Jesus went everywhere preaching the GOOD
NEWS of the
Isn't it amazing that the world has LOST
the knowledge of what it is?
The Apostle Paul preached THE KINGDOM OF
GOD (Acts 19:8;
Daniel Knew!
Haven't you heard men speak of the
Because they rejected Christ's
Gospel 1900 years ago, the world had to supplant something else in its place.
They had to invent a counterfeit! So we have heard the
The Prophet Daniel, who lived 600 years
before Christ, knew that the
Daniel was one of four extraordinary,
intelligent and brilliant Jewish lads in the Judean captivity. These four men
were stationed in the
Nebuchadnezzar was the first real world
ruler. He had conquered a vast empire, including the nation
Daniel disclaimed any more human ability
to interpret dreams than the Chaldean magicians, "BUT," he said,
"there is a GOD in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the
king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be m the latter days" (Dan. 2:28).
First, God's purpose was to reveal to this
world-ruling human king that there is a GOD in heaven - that GOD IS SUPREME
RULER over all nations, governments, and kings that God RULES THE UNIVERSE!
This Chaldean king knew only about the many pagan demon gods. He knew nothing
of the true living AIMIGHTY God. Like people and rulers, even today, he
did not know that GOD is the living, REAL, active, RULING - and GOVERNING
PERSONAGE who actually and literally governs not only what is on earth,
but the UNIVERSE ENTIRELY!
The whole purpose of this DREAM was to reveal
GOD'S GOVERNMENT - the fact that God RULES - the truth of THE
KINGDOM OF GOD - the very thing that is the one and only true GOSPEL OF
JESUS CHRIST! And, secondly, to reveal - preserved in writing for us TODAY -
what is to happen "in the latter days" - actually
within the next two decades - THIS LAST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY!
For US, Today!
This is no dry, dull, dead writing for a
people of 2500 years ago. This is LIVING, TREMENDOUS, BIG NEWS for OUR
DAY! It is advance news for us, NOW. News before it happens
- of the most colossal event of all earth's history certain to occur in
your lifetime - during the very next few years!
This is THE TRUE GOSPEL! It is the very
Gospel Christ preached! It is intended for you and me TODAY! It is vital that
you UNDERSTAND!
Read, in your own Bible, verses 28 through
85. In his dream, this king had seen a vast statue - larger than any image or
statue ever built by man - So tremendous it was terrifying, even in a dream.
Its head was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs
of brass, legs of solid iron, feet a mixture of iron and clay.
There was a time element. Nebuchadnezzar
had viewed it until a supernatural STONE came from heaven, smashing the
statue on its feet. Then the whole of the statue broke into small pieces, and
was actually blown away by the wind - it disappeared! Then this STONE expanded
miraculously and quickly became a great MOUNTAIN - so great it filled the whole
earth!
What did it mean? Did it have
meaning? Yes, because this was God's doing. Unlike ordinary dreams, this one
was caused by God to convey the message of God's sovereignty to Nebuchadnezzar
- and, because it is part of the written Word of God, to us today - to reveal
important facts of the TRUE GOSPEL!
"This is the dream," said Daniel
(verse 36), “and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king."
This, then, is GOD'S interpretation. It is decidedly not Herbert W.
Armstrong's interpretation. Men ought never to interpret the Bible. The
Bible gives us GOD'S OWN INTERPRETATION! Here it is:
"Thou, O king, art a king of
kings" - he was the first real WORLD RULER over a world empire! "...
for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and
glory." God was revealing Himself to this human world-dictator as the MOST
HIGH Ruler over all.
People today, like this Chaldean king,
seem not to think of God as a RULER - as the Supreme One who GOVERNS - as the
Head of GOVERNMENT. The Eternal was revealing Himself through Daniel to
Nebuchadnezzar - and through the Bible to you and to me TODAY - as a
SOVEREIGN, ALL POWERFUL, GOVERNING GOD who is to be obeyed!
"Thou," continued Daniel to this
human emperor, "art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another
KINGDOM inferior to thee, and another third KINGDOM of brass, which shall bear
rifle over all the earth" (verses 87- 39).
What IS a Kingdom?
Notice! This is speaking of KINGDOMS. It
is referring to kingdoms that bear rule over the people on earth. It is
speaking of GOVERNMENTS! It is not speaking of ethereal sentiments "set up
in the hearts of men." It is not speaking of churches. It is speaking of
the kind of GOVERNMENTS that bear RULE and AUTHORITY over nations of PEOPLE
here on earth. It is literal. It is specific. There is no misunderstanding,
here, as to what is meant by the word "KINGDOM."
There is no misunderstanding the
interpretation. GOD gives His own interpretation through the Prophet Daniel.
The great metallic image represented national and international GOVERNMENTS -
real, literal KINGDOMS.
It represented a succession of
world-ruling governments. First was the head of gold. That represented
Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom - the Chaldean Empire. After him - later,
in time sequence - was to come a second, then a third KINGDOM "which shall
bear RULE over all the earth" - world empire!
Then, verse 40, the legs of iron represent
a fourth world-empire. It was to be strong, even as iron is strong
- stronger militarily than its predecessors. Yet, as silver is less
valuable than gold, brass than silver, iron than brass, though each metal was
harder and stronger, the succession would deteriorate morally and spiritually.
The two legs meant the fourth empire would be divided.
After the Chaldean Empire came the still
larger
Now - verse 44! Read it! Get your Bible.
See it with your own eyes in your own Bible. Here, in PLAIN LANGUAGE, is God's
explanation of what the
"And in the days of these kings. .
." it is here speaking of the ten toes, part of iron and part of brittle
clay. This, by connecting the prophecy with Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 and 17,
is referring to the new UNITED STATES OF EUROPE which is now forming, out
of the European Common Market, before your very eyes! Revelation 17:12 makes
plain the detail that it shall be a union of TEN KINGS OR KINGDOMS which (Rev.
17:8) shall resurrect the old ROMAN EMPIRE.
So, mark carefully the time element! "In
the days of these kings" - in the days of these ten nations or
groups of nations that shall, IN OUR TIME, resurrect briefly the
Roman Empire - notice what shall happen:"… shall the God of heaven set up
a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed… but it shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever"!
Yes, in OUR TIME!
Now here we have described FOUR universal
world-empires - the only four that ever existed! Revelation 17 shows
that after the fall of the original Roman Empire there would be SEVEN revivals
which would be ruled over by a Gentile CHURCH - the "daughter" of
ancient BABYLON - a church claiming to be Christian, but actually named by God
"MYSTERY BABYLON the Great" - or, more plainly, BABYLONIAN MYSTERIES!
Six of those have come and gone. The
seventh is now forming - the last, final, brief resurrection of the
This, then, shall be THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
Compare with Revelation 17. Here is
pictured a church. Not a small church - a GREAT church. She rules over
"many waters" (verse 1) which are described in verse 15 as different
nations speaking different languages. She posed as the
But she has committed fornication. How? By
having direct political union with HUMAN GOVERNMENTS of THIS WORLD! She
"sat on" (Rev. 17:3) all seven of these resurrections of the
She is, therefore, to "sit on"
this last "head of the Beast" - this final resurrection of the
We see it in process of rising, now.
Therefore we are CLOSE to the coming of Christ! We are now very near the
END of this world! When Christ comes, He is coming as KING of kings, ruling the
whole earth (Rev. 19:11-16); and His KINGDOM - the
Revelation
This is THE KINGDOM OF GOD. It is the END
of present governments - the governments that rule
This makes completely PLAIN the fact that
the
Jesus Christ was BORN to be a KING - a
RULER!
When He stood, on trial for His life,
before Pilate, "Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art thou a king then?
Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world." But Jesus also said to Pilate: "My
kingdom is not of this world" - (John
Have you not read what the angel
proclaimed to Mary, the mother of Jesus, prior to His birth? Jesus told Pilate
He was born to become a KING. The angel of God said to Mary: ". . .
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name
JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the
Lord God shall give unto Him the THRONE of His father David: and He shall
reign over the House of Jacob forever; and of His Kingdom there shall be NO
END" (Luke
These scriptures tell you PLAINLY that GOD
is supreme RULER. They tell you in plainest language that Jesus was born to be
a KING - that He is going to RULE ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH - that
His Kingdom shall rule eternally.
But all this is only part of the
fantastic, amazing, actually SHOCKING TRUTH about the
The
Can Be Entered!
In Jesus' day, the religious leaders knew
He was a Teacher sent from God with GOD'S TRUTH. They branded Him a false
prophet, heretic, and seditionist. Yet they knew His was the voice of GOD!
One of them, a Pharisee named Nicodemus,
occupying an office of authority over the Jews, came secretly by night to see
Jesus.
"Rabbi," said this Pharisee,
"we know that thou art a teacher come from God" (John 3:2). Yes, we
Pharisees, he said, know that! He did not say "I know it."
He said "WE know" - we Pharisees! They knew He spoke
the TRUTH - yet they not only rejected it, they crucified Him!
But Jesus hewed straight to the line! He
told Nicodemus about THE KINGDOM OF GOD. He told him some things you need to
UNDERSTAND!
Notice! "Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Yes, notice! The
But what about the CHURCH? Can carnal
people who make no claim to having been "born again" SEE a CHURCH? Of
course! But they cannot see the
Notice further: "Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
Notice further! In the resurrection
chapter of the Bible, we read: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the
Now do flesh and blood people enter into
the CHURCH? if so, then the
What do you think the "Church"
is? Is it the building? Flesh and blood people can and do enter buildings and
cathedrals called "churches." Is it the converted PEOPLE? Flesh and
blood people can and no enter into the membership of any group of PEOPLE that
may call itself the church. But flesh and blood cannot enter the
In Men's Hearts?
Now some think the
Is it the "god within you"? No,
it is not something that was born inside of man, or has ever entered into man -
it is something man may enter after he is "born again.
What about the
But, someone misunderstanding the scripture
may ask, "Didn't Jesus Himself say that the
In Hearts of Pharisees?
Let's take a good look at this. First
realize, if it does say that, it is contradicted by
all the other scriptures I am giving you in this article. If the Bible does
contradict itself, you can't believe it anyway - so then it still would prove
nothing.
First, to whom is Jesus speaking?
Read it!
"And when He was demanded of the
Pharisees, when the
He was speaking to the unconverted,
carnal, hypocritical, lying Pharisees. Notice, "He answered them, and
said -" It was the Pharisees who asked Him the question. Were they in the
CHURCH? No, never! If one thinks the Kingdom is the CHURCH - and the Kingdom
was "within" the Pharisees - was THE CHURCH within the
Pharisees? Such an assumption is rather ridiculous, now, isn't it?
Notice again, precisely WHAT JESUS SAID.
Remember the CHURCH had not yet been set up. Jesus did not say "the
Luke wrote these words, originally,
in the Greek language. The Greek words he wrote were translated into the
English words "within you." But, if you have a Bible with the
marginal references, you will notice that this is alternately rendered "in
the midst of you," or "among you." "The context
indicates that this indeed is the better translation. If your Bible is a
Moffatt translation, you will notice that the translation recognized that Jesus
was talking of His reign or rule, at the head of government.
This is the Moffatt translation of the
same verse: "He answered them, 'The Reign of God is not coming as you hope
to catch sight of it; no one will say, "Here it is" or "There it
is," for the Reign of GOD IS NOW IN YOUR MIDST.'" The Revised
Standard translation renders it "the
Jesus was not talking about a church soon
to be organized. He was not talking about sentiments in the mind or heart. He
was talking about His REIGN, as the Messiah! The Pharisees were not asking Him
about a church. They knew nothing of any New Testament church soon to be
started. They were not asking about a pretty sentiment. They knew, from the
prophecies of Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others, that their Messiah was to
come. They overlooked completely the prophecies of His first appearing as the
"Lamb of God" to be slain for the sins of humanity - being born as a
babe, growing up, being rejected and despised by them, as recorded in Isaiah
53. They looked only to the prophecies of His second coming as the
all-conquering and ruling KING.
But they had even these prophecies
distorted in their minds. They looked for Him to come as a purely Jewish
Messiah, to liberate them from the Romans, and reversing the situation so that
the Jews would be masters over the Romans. They looked for a limited Jewish Kingdom,
located in only a small part of the world, with the Messiah ruling and letting
the Jews lord it over the Romans.
This, the Pharisees anticipated as the
World-Ruling Government
Jesus set them straight. He explained that
it would not be a local, or limited Kingdom for the Jews only. It would not be
merely one of many human and visible kingdoms which men could point out or see,
and say, "This is it, here"; or "that is the Kingdom,
over there" But He, Himself, was born to be the KING of that
Kingdom, as He plainly told Pilate (John 18:36-37). The Bible uses the terms
"king" and "kingdom" interchangeably (see Daniel
Jesus went on, in the following verses, to
describe His second coming, when the
Plainly, Jesus was not saying that the
Now continue with the other scriptures,
and it becomes very PLAIN!
Jesus distinctly said that those Pharisees
would not be in the
The
Has Not Yet Appeared
But one may ask, did not Jesus Christ say
the
But Jesus did not say the
Notice - read it in your own Bible: Jesus
"added and spake a parable... because they thought that the
Now continue: "He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for
himself a kingdom, and to return" (verse 12). Christ is that
"nobleman." He is speaking of His ascension to the throne of God His
Father, in heaven. Notice, He went there to be given rulership of the
Kingdom - to receive the Kingdom.
Notice, too, He is to return, when He has
received it! He has not yet returned! Other scriptures explain this. We
will turn to them a little later.
But continue: "And he called his ten
servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I
come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us." The
original 12 tribes of
Now Jesus Christ was born of the tribe of
And so the nobleman's citizens who
rejected him were the Jews at
So it becomes plain that the ten
servants of the parable, to whom He gave the ten pounds, represent the TEN
TRIBES, who had become known as the LOST Ten Tribes. After the Jews rejected
Christ, He sent His original apostles to the "LOST sheep of the HOUSE OF
ISRAEL" -and the term "House of Israel" always applies,
after the division, to the ten-tribed kingdom - never to the
Continuing the parable, spoken because some
thought the Kingdom of God was immediately, then, in the first century, to
appear: "And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received
the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he
had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading"
(Verse 15). When Christ returns, we shall all be called before the Judgment
Seat of Christ - to give account!
Now notice in verse 17, the one who had
gained ten pounds is given authority to RULE CITIES - "have thou authority
over ten cities"! To the one who had gained five pounds, he said, "Be
thou also over five cities." This is speaking of the SECOND COMING OF
CHRIST - and of His delegating authority to rule to saints converted
during this Christian era, between Christ's first and second appearings on
earth.
This parable, then, was spoken to make
clear to us that the Kingdom of God is a literal GOVERNMENT, to be set up AT
CHRIST'S SECOND COMING - and not before! The CHURCH, then, cannot be
the
Saints to Rule
Now read the description of Christ's
actual receiving authority to RULE the Kingdom. He is the nobleman who
went to heaven to receive this kingship, and to return. We have already
seen how the Prophet Daniel recorded the setting up of the
"I saw in the night Visions, and,
behold, one like the Son of man [Christ] came with the clouds of heaven, and
came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him" (verse
18). Jesus continually referred to Himself as the "Son of man" - all
through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.. Christ
ascended to heaven in clouds (Acts 1:9). He ascended to the very throne of God
in heaven (Mark
"And there was given him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve
him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and
his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan.
That is plain! Christ ascended to the
throne of God in heaven. God is Sovereign over the entire universe. This vision
shows God Almighty, Father of the resurrected living Christ, conferring on
Christ dominion. Dominion means sovereign or supreme ruling authority. Also
given to Him was "a kingdom." Where is that Kingdom to be? It says
"a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages, should serve
him." The people, and the nations speaking different languages, are here
on earth. He is given dominion over ALL NATIONS - the whole world!
Important Word "UNTIL"
Now will you read, in your own Bible, Acts
3:21? It says the heavens have received Jesus Christ UNTIL - not permanently, just
until a certain time. Until when? Until the times of RESTITUTION of all
things. Restitution means restoration to a former state or condition. It is
speaking of restoring God's laws, God's government - of restoring happiness and
universal PEACE.
In this 7th chapter of Daniel, the prophet
had experienced a dream, and visions. He had seen four wild animals. Notice,
verse 16, the interpretation begins verse 17. This is GOD'S inspired
interpretation - not mine: "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings,
which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take
the KINGDOM, and possess the kingdom forever, even for ever and ever"
(Dan.
Notice it! Not only is Christ to
rule - but the saints - that is, converted true Christians - those
begotten as sons of God - are to take and possess the Kingdom! They are to rule
under, and with Christ! In the New Testament it is recorded that
converted saints are co-heirs with Christ!
In this same 7th chapter, Daniel explained
another power. The fourth beast of his dream - the fourth empire - the
Now read about this "little
horn" - the religious kingdom - verse 21: "I beheld, and the same
horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, UNTIL [note,
another 'UNTIL'] the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the
saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the
kingdom."
The saints - then no longer human flesh
and blood, but immortal - are to possess the Kingdom, at the second coming of
Christ!
Jesus Christ makes that plain. It is
Christ who is speaking in Revelation 3:21, and 2:2&27: "To him that
overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame,
and am set down with my Father in His throne." The Father's throne is in
heaven - where Jesus Christ is now; but Christ's throne, in which the
saints shall sit with Him, is the throne of David, in
Further: "And he that overcometh and
keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and
he shall rule them with a rod of iron."
Can't Know the TIME
After His resurrection, on the
His disciples wanted to know whether the
"Lord," they asked, "wilt
thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Jesus again made plain that the Church is not
the Kingdom.
"And he said unto them, It is not for
you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own
power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost [Spirit] is
come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
The commission He had given the CHURCH was
to preach His Gospel to all the world. They were to
receive the Holy Spirit, begetting them as saints - as Christians - putting
them into God's CHURCH. This would infuse them with the power to carry out the
mission of the Church. But it was NOT the setting up of the
Just what did Jesus mean, "It is not
for you to know the times or the seasons"? He explained it another time.
It is recorded in Matthew 24:36: There He was speaking of the end of this
world, and His second coming:
"But of that day and hour knoweth no
man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." He was speaking of
His second coming, and setting up of the Kingdom, the time of which no man
knows, but only the Father.
However, though we do not, even now, know
the day or the hour, we do know, from God's prophecies, that it is
today very near! Notice this, in Luke 21:25-32: He had been foretelling the
world events, right now beginning, leading to "distress of
nations" in world troubles and world wars, "with perplexity" -
"men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth" - world trouble such as never before
experienced. "When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the
The Two Fateful Alternatives
This world trouble began in 1914, with
World War I. There was a recess from 1918 until 1939. We are in a second recess
now - although we have been in what we call "COLD WAR." But now at
last we have nuclear energy. We have hydrogen bombs stock-piled in such power
and volume that they could blast all human life off this planet several times
over. There are two other destructive weapons today in existence, either of
which could erase humanity from the earth.
Today world-famous scientists say only a
super world-government can prevent world cosmocide. Yet MEN cannot and will
not get together to form such a world-ruling government.
It's time we face the hard, cold,
realistic FACT: humanity has two alternatives: either there is an Almighty,
all-powerful GOD who is about to step in and set up THE KINGDOM OF GOD to rule
all nations with supernatural and supranational FORCE to bring us PEACE
- or else all human life would be obliterated (Matt. 24:22).
If the deceived religionists, who think
the CHURCH is the
But notice what Jesus Christ said!
Can you BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST?
Where is your trust - in the Word of God,
or in paganized, empty, deceiving teachings falsely labelled
"Christianity" - inherited as "Christian tradition" - which
says the CHURCH is the