As we covered in a sermon series (“Our Journey of Faith”) about our recent history, I addressed an issue that God had given me which was to acknowledge how He and His Son, Jesus Christ, had made me an apostle as well as a prophet. I had long believed that Herbert W. Armstrong was the last apostle to the Church, but due to the truths that God has revealed over the past several years, it was now time to acknowledge that such truths given are only accomplished through an apostle.
The prophecies given to the Church have been through the office of a prophet, but the doctrines and truths have come through an apostle. And as God inspired Paul to write, we “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Eph. 2:20). In other words, God works in a very specific manner through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the head of the Church, to give truth of doctrine and instruction through His apostles and to give prophecy through His prophets. How the Church then responds to truth (by seeking to live by it) and how it responds in faith to prophetic revelation (living according to it) determines the spiritual relationship each member has with God the Father.
The Church that was scattered, due to the apostasy, has fragmented into over 500 different organizations, yet only one has been reestablished as God’s true Church. It became fully reestablished once again on Pentecost of 1998, as the true remnant with whom God was working. This is not a popular thing to declare, yet it is simply the truth. God’s Church cannot be organized into many fragmented groups with differing ideas of government and doctrine. That is not God’s way and thus it is fully contrary to the laws of God and how God’s spirit works in His Church.
Mr. Armstrong was a “type” of the Elijah
Herbert W. Armstrong fulfilled a “type” of the Elijah to come as prophesied in the Old Testament and as prophesied by Jesus Christ.
It was revealed by Jesus Christ that John the Baptist was a “type” of the Elijah to come. He was one sent to prepare the way for the first coming of Jesus Christ, as a voice crying out in the physical wilderness of Judea. Many came to John to receive a baptism of repentance as they increasingly began to look for the coming of the Messiah. They did not know his first coming was to be as a Passover Lamb to be sacrificed for all mankind.
An angel of God appeared to Zacharias and revealed that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to a son and that they were to name him John. Zacharias was told that John (later, John the Baptist) would turn many to God and that he would do so in the spirit and power of Elijah. It was also said of John that he would be instrumental in turning the hearts of the fathers (the beliefs and teachings of the fathers of old) to the children (the descendants of the fathers), and the disobedient (those who would later come to John for baptism) to the wisdom of the just (the fathers of old who lived and taught God’s ways to Israel) to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (of whom several hundreds were baptized on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. when the Church began, which is the spiritual Body of Christ).
When Jesus Christ spoke of John the Baptist coming in the spirit and power of Elijah, he made a distinction in the previous verse of that which did not apply to John: “Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things” (Mat. 17:11).
John the Baptist was not used by God to “restore” anything. However, we did see Herbert W. Armstrong used in a very unique way to “restore” truth to the Church that the era of Sardis had lost (they only had three basic truths remaining). God said of Sardis that they were spiritually dead and that was because they had consistently become weaker through time by losing many foundational truths of God. The Church had become so weak that it was ready to die completely. God prevented it from dying out by raising up Herbert W. Armstrong and his wife, Loma, in order to restore lost truth to the Church. Mr. Armstrong is well-known for restoring 18 foundational and basic truths of God that were necessary for the Church (for salvation) in order to be revived and restored to spiritual strength once again. God had strengthened and restored 21 foundational truths for the Church.
If God had not raised up Mr. Armstrong, the Church would not exist today. The Church was given the spiritual life it needed in order to be thrust forward and survive the apostasy that would follow Herbert W. Armstrong’s death. One of the greatest battles of the Church after the apostasy was to once again recapture and reestablish all 21 truths for the Church. After the apostasy occurred, so many of these truths were either being omitted or watered down by the scattered organizations that followed the destruction of the temple.
When Mr. Armstrong began to see that he was being used of God to fulfill a “type” of the Elijah to come, God was also showing him that he was a “type” of Zerubbabel. This is in reference to rebuilding the temple once it was destroyed. Indeed, God did use Mr. Armstrong as a “type” of Zerubbabel to build up the temple, the Church of God, after it had nearly died out through the Sardis Era. And it should be clear to all that as with John the Baptist, Mr. Armstrong fulfilled a “type” of the prophetic Elijah to come. Yet, former pastors and evangelists in God’s Church are uncertain or fully disbelieving of this great truth!
The Fulfillment of the “Elijah to Come”
The truth is that neither John the Baptist nor Herbert W. Armstrong fulfilled the complete prophecies concerning the “Elijah to come,” but they fulfilled a “type” of that prophetic fulfillment. The actual fulfillment has not yet occurred, but it is about to be fulfilled in full spirit and truth.
As God has made me both an apostle and a prophet for this end-time, He has also given me to fulfill prophecies being the spokesman of the two end-time witnesses of Revelation 11. In addition, He has given me to fulfill the prophecies of the “Elijah to come” and of Zerubbabel. It is actually God, in and through Jesus Christ, who fulfills all these things, but He is doing so through a human instrument. The Book of Acts makes it very clear that Jesus Christ will come to fully restore all things in God’s great plan after He returns in his second coming as King of kings.
But there are things that God will restore before Jesus Christ returns.
Herbert W. Armstrong did restore truth to the Church—truth lost during Sardis. He also helped to build the Church once again as it had nearly died out. Only a few in Sardis were able to be revived and become part of the era of Philadelphia. But the Church—the Temple of God—had not been destroyed. During the era of Philadelphia and Herbert W. Armstrong, the Church had not fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus Christ that He said would occur before His coming in the complete fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Messiah as ruler over the earth.
After Jesus Christ’s disciples asked about His coming, He prophesied that not one stone of the temple would be left on top of the other. It would be fully destroyed before His coming and that would be the sign that He was now going to return as the Messiah. Most of those who were scattered at the time of this prophetic fulfillment about the destruction of the temple do not believe what Jesus said.
It is because they refuse to believe what God said would happen to the Church that these same people refuse to believe how God is working today. These people not only refuse to believe whom God has sent to them, but they go so far as to mock, ridicule, and violently strike out at God’s true servants. They cannot acknowledge the truth that God has revealed through me to His Church. They cannot accept me being the spokesman of the final two end-time witnesses. They mock that God would use a woman and more so mock that she should be my wife, who is the second witness. They ridicule that it is so convenient that she is my wife, or that God would even dare to use a woman in such a position.
On Jesus’s last day of human life, these same people would have mocked and ridiculed Jesus Christ and cried out that He should be put to death. But such people would gasp at such a statement and they would declare that they are not at all like that; however, they are the very ones who refuse God’s word through His apostle and end-time prophet.
Yes, as hard as it is for these people to stomach such thoughts, God has made my wife an end-time witness and prophet for this end-time. God does use both men and women in His great plan for mankind. There are two great occasions in history where God revealed this truth in a powerful way. One is in the example of Moses’ sister, Miriam, who was a prophet and another in the great example of a judge and prophet of Israel, Deborah.
Yet the scattered organizations, who were once active in the Church of God, ridicule God’s choices and how He works in His Church. It is for this very reason that most will not be awakened spiritually to repentance in this age and they will not enter into the promised land of the beginning of the millennium. These must wait until they are resurrected once again at the beginning of the Great White Throne and then at that time awakened spiritually so they can repent of their sins against God. Prophecy does show that a few thousand such people will be brought to repentance as we progress forward in time into the blowing of the Trumpets of the Seventh Seal. These will accept God’s messengers and God’s message.
All the stones of the temple (God’s Church) were cast down and not one was left on the other. God further reveals that the Church had become so complacent and lukewarm that He had to separate it from Himself by spewing (vomiting) it out of His mouth. God used this occasion to bring a few to true repentance and He then began to draw together a remnant that would be reestablished as His true Church.
Final Fulfillment
Since the reestablishment of the Church on Pentecost (after 1260 days of the apostasy had passed) in 1998, God first began by reestablishing the 21 original truths in the Church once again (3 from Sardis and 18 from Philadelphia). Since that time, God has continued to restore more truth to the Church and has now fully established 50 truths. God has been using me to “restore” His truth to the Church on a scale that fulfills that full portion of prophecy concerning the “Elijah to come.”
God has also been using me to rebuild the temple that had been cast down after every stone had been moved out of its place—not one stone upon another! God used Mr. Armstrong to revive the Church and rebuild it again, but only after it was dying out and not because it had been destroyed.
So God gave Malachi to prophecy, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse [utter destruction]” (Mal. 4:5-6).
Yes, I have come in the full spirit and power of Elijah. God and His Son have made it so—not me! I seek to fulfill the commission God has given me with all the zeal and power God gives me to do so. And He has given me much to fulfill this task!
John the Baptist was not a prophet. Herbert W. Armstrong was an apostle, but he was not a prophet. Yet God says He will send “Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the LORD.” I am that prophet and I am to proclaim it so! That is given to me from Jesus Christ and God the Father.
On December 17, 1994, the Church was cast down after the apostasy of Joe Tkach, Sr., and on that day was the opening of the First Seal of Revelation by Jesus Christ. On September 11, 2001, the Sixth Seal of Revelation was opened. The prophetic “type” of destruction that occurred on that day would be fulfilled on the United States in the blowing of the first Five Trumpets of the Seventh Seal. That destruction is now very near.
On November 14, 2008, the Seventh Seal was opened and on December 14, 2008, the First Trumpet was blown and God commissioned the beginning of the two end-time witnesses. Although we had believed that this phase of God’s plan would begin eight months earlier, God used that period of time to reveal the Fiftieth Truth concerning Jesus Christ actually returning on Pentecost of 2012, rather than Trumpets of 2011.
Some who like to ridicule and mock stated this was proof that I was not God’s prophet. On the contrary, it helped establish it. All the prophesied events that are written in 2008 – God’s Final Witness will come to pass exactly as written. The prophesied events have not changed and they will occur as written. Timing has changed only a little, but not the events.
The timing due to the 50th Truth is in God’s control, as are all things. God alone is responsible for the revelation of Christ’s return and the timing involved. If God changes or in any fashion alters the timing involved, then He will reveal it through His prophet.
God has also altered the timing for massive destruction to begin. God can do that whenever He chooses. He is God! And thank God He heard the cries, petitions, and heart-felt prayers of His people—His Church—when they fasted for two consecutive days that God would have mercy on mankind and through that process of mercy, bring more people to repentance in both the world and the scattered Church. God is being merciful to both the world and the scattered Church, but that does not mean that more will actually repent when all is said and done. Time will tell.
All prophesied events stated in the book will come to pass before Jesus Christ returns on Pentecost, May 27 of 2012.
Prophecies Fast Coming to Pass
God is continuing to “restore” many things on a greater scale as the world is being made ready for the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. This Sabbath, God is beginning the process of restoring things that have been removed from mankind since the days of Adam and Eve. Satan has caused much destruction and deception in this world, and slowly but surely he is being stripped of the power of that deceit over mankind. Satan’s time is rapidly coming to a close. His sway and power over mankind is coming to a close!
As we move forward and when the Second Trumpet does blow (which can happen tomorrow or late into 2011 – as written in the book, we will not know the time until it happens), people will begin to be humbled in a very great way. The hearts of people will begin to be softened so that they will hear the words of the “fathers” concerning the truth of God’s way of life and salvation for mankind.
And there are those who have condemned me for what I wrote in the book concerning the death of many ministers who were part of the scattering in God’s Church, especially of specific leaders that were mentioned. God has clearly revealed to His Church that I am the “Elijah to come,” and not in “type,” but in fullness of spirit and power. Elijah was known most by what he did to several hundred false prophets. He killed them! Now a prophetic type of that is going to follow upon the Church that was scattered. It is one of the Thunders of God, which God gave to me to proclaim. It was of my choosing, but my choosing was in unity and harmony with the power and spirit of God. It came from God!
Yes, time will prove I am who I say I am. And that is my commission to proclaim such a message!
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