God has revealed to me a much deeper understanding of the Apostle John’s epistles. I believe the subject “from the beginning” is the very deepest in the Bible! Only people who are strongly dedicated to God can hope to have this understanding revealed to them!

John was an old man when he wrote i, ii and iii John. He was the only original apostle left alive. A violent persecution was raging against God’s Church. Many biblical scholars think John was writing these epistles from the isle of Patmos, where he was a prisoner. False leaders were getting control of some of God’s own churches. Diotrephes rebelled and took over one church area from John. The Apostle John saw these problems coming and gave God’s people the most profound and magnificent truth to combat this heresy. But most of them didn’t get it.

We must get John’s message, or we are certain to be deceived! I will show you that this is a message to all of God’s churches—especially to God’s Church in this end time.

Diotrephes Wanted Preeminence

John was preaching to many Gentiles. “Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles” (iii John 7). John had taken over Paul’s work to the Gentiles because Paul was beheaded about a.d. 67. The persecution continued to rage. These Gentiles were not even asked to support God’s work in Ephesus (located in Turkey today). John thought that asking for God’s commanded tithes could add a stumbling block at this stage.

“I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church” (iii John 9-10). “If I come” indicates John was still a prisoner on Patmos and that his release was uncertain. (However, John did return to Ephesus. Tradition says he died there.) There was a breakdown of Church government. That is what iii John is all about.

That same problem is happening on a massive scale to God’s Church in this end time. Government is usually the first area of Satan’s attack. It always gets back to government. In God’s Church, everything revolves around government.

The Philadelphia Church of God (pcg) started by rejecting a government of men. We are commanded to only follow men who follow God (i Cor. 11:1).

The history of God’s Church was blotted out from a.d. 70 to 170. God’s Church entered a.d. 70 as a commandment-keeping Church and surfaced in 170 as a very different church, according to historic records. A great false church destroyed the true records. The only place in the whole world where you will find an accurate record is in i, ii and iii John! That gives you some indication of how severe the persecution was.

Thankfully, there were a few loyal ministers. “Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true” (v. 12). Demetrius had a good report of men, but more importantly of the truth itself. That means you can prove who the true and false ministers are.

“The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth” (v. 1). Rebellious Diotrephes was obviously talking about a phony love. But John was talking about God’s love—“whom I love in the truth.” John’s love was grounded in God’s law—His truth—or the Bible. There is a big difference between the love of God’s deceived people and the love of God’s very elect! You and I have the responsibility to prove which love is biblical. Those who don’t deeply search out the truth will be deceived.

In those treacherous times, how precious was this loyal minister—“wellbeloved Gaius”! We can’t appreciate the wonderful value of loyal ministers unless we have lived through such a Church crisis! New leaders were being exalted by John as many ministers rebelled.

John saw it all building and prepared the obedient people to endure by revealing to them some incredible truth. Before we see that truth—and it is the most incredibly inspiring truth in the Bible—let’s put this all in a proper context.

Church Eras

This same John also wrote the book of Revelation on the isle of Patmos (Rev. 1:9). John always gave a marvelous perspective in the first verse of his books. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Rev. 1:1). How men are confused about these prophecies. Most people think John revealed the book of Revelation. A tiny few think this revelation came from Christ. They are all wrong. The Father gave this revelation to Christ, who then gave it to John.

The book of Revelation puts prophecy into a time sequence, or a time frame. If you fail to understand this book, you will never know where we are in prophecy—even if you understand a specific prophecy!

So we see that the Father has the final word on when prophecy is fulfilled. Only the Father knows the day and the hour of Christ’s return (Matt. 24:30-36). Not even Christ knows.

The Apostle John was the only Church leader who received revelation from God at that time. God always reveals through one man at a time. Revealing to three or four groups simultaneously would be utter confusion. That is not the way of God’s government. But many rejected God’s government taught by John. And many of God’s people are making the same mistake today by rejecting the government taught by Mr. Armstrong.

When you reject God’s government, you also cut yourself off from all of God’s revelation!

Diotrephes failed to grasp John’s supremely inspiring message because of his government problem—his rebellion. God only reveals to babes, or those who have childlike attitudes (Matt. 11:25; 18:1-3).

That means the people of God’s own Church, if they rebel, cannot even understand the specific Bible prophecies about themselves! They can’t grasp their own Church prophecy, even as it is being fulfilled.

God says His own Laodicean Church fails to see their own Church prophecy (Rev. 3:14, 17). They are “blind” and have cut themselves off from all revelation! Only the Philadelphia Church receives God’s revelation today.

Notice in the first verse of Revelation 1, John takes us back to the beginning. That precious revelation didn’t come from a man—not even Jesus Christ. The Father gave it to Christ, who gave it to John. God’s family government is clearly established. In the very first verse, John begins to stretch our minds by picturing what happened from the beginning—where the most important book on prophecy really originated! God was revealing these staggering prophecies only to John—and nobody else!

“Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne” (Rev. 1:2-4). John addresses the seven churches or Church eras that were to exist from the first coming of Christ until the Second Coming.

Only the book of Revelation indicates where each Church is in Bible prophecy! Without this critical information, we cannot know where we are in Bible prophecy. We cannot know what is happening in God’s Church now! But with this information, for example, we can know now that God’s Church has become Laodicean and where it is! This is essential understanding.

The seven churches had and have problems that afflict every era. But there is one dominant problem, or characteristic in each era. (Write for our reprint article, “Successive Church Eras.”)

Jesus Christ, whose face shines like the sun in full strength, is the Head of each era. “Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last” (vv. 11-17). When John saw this vision of Christ he fell over as if he were dead! A church would have to be very blind not to know when this great being has removed His lamp! But that was exactly what Diotrephes’ problem was. And that is precisely the problem of all of God’s Laodicean churches in this end time.

The very first era John addresses is the one in which he was living. “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Rev. 2:1-4). The Ephesus Church had lost its first love. Other eras would have this problem, but it was the dominant problem only in Ephesus.

The Laodiceans today talk endlessly about love. But it is a phony love. As we get into John’s epistles, he expands on that love. He discusses a law of love—or a law that is God’s love (i John 5:3). God’s government is a government of love. But Diotrephes was getting into a false love which allowed him to kick John and his followers out of the Church. Spiritually, Diotrephes was removing himself from God’s true Church. It was all done in the name of love! That is why John discusses this subject so much in his epistles. It is critical that we understand God’s true love.

If you have law, you must have government to administer that law. Even the National Basketball Association understands that. They have a law, or rules of the game, and referees, including a head referee, to enforce those rules. Without that government, the games would be utterly chaotic; and so it is with God’s government and law. A law is of no effect unless there is someone to administer it.

First and Last Century Parallels

Jesus Christ came in the first century. He is going to return in this last century. There was a first- and last-century John the Baptist (Isa. 40:1-9; Mal. 3:1-2). There was also a first and last century Elijah (Matt. 17:9-13). The true Church was taken to Pella, in a.d. 69, and protected. God is going to take His true Church to a place of safety in this end time (Rev. 12:14). The gospel was preached around the world only in the first and last centuries (Matt. 24:14). The preaching of the gospel in the first century was a type of the gospel being preached around the world by Herbert W. Armstrong in this end time. There was a first-century “son of perdition”—Judas. There is an end-time “son of perdition” (ii Thes. 2:1-11). There was a Laodicean Church then and there is one today (Col. 2:1-2; Rev. 3:14-20). There was an a.d. 70 holocaust, which is a type of the Great Tribulation in the latter days.

These parallels helped cause the apostles to think the end was coming in their time. That helped them to have a stronger message then and for us today. And perhaps that is a major reason why Christ didn’t reveal the whole truth to them.

These parallels make John’s epistles even more of a warning for God’s people today! The first-century Church preached the gospel to the world, and then went to sleep (Rev. 2:1-5). That also happened today. (Write for our free book Malachi’s Message.) For almost 1900 years, the Church slept. There was no gospel preached around the world.

There is an essential message in these failures. When we take our minds off God’s work, we fail! John clearly showed the first-century disciples how to avoid failing.

Peter was killed around a.d. 68-69. Paul was killed about a.d. 67. Persecution was raging! John had to serve many of the people Paul had served. John had to deal with God’s Church in Ephesus after Paul was killed. “And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church” (Acts 20:17). The Ephesus church was pastored by Paul. That whole first-century Church became known as the Ephesus era (Rev. 2:1-5). Let’s look at some of the problems Paul faced shortly before he was put to death.

Paul’s Warnings

Paul was having a ministerial conference. He told them some bloodcurdling news. “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy [Spirit] hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:27-30). Paul warned of grievous wolves coming in from the outside to destroy God’s spiritual flock. But there was an even more chilling message. Some of those very ministers Paul spoke to—inside God’s Church then—would rebel and lead God’s people astray.

Paul also prophesied that a great rebellion would occur in this end time just before Christ returned (ii Thes. 2:1-11). And it has happened! It’s occurring before our eyes!

Paul had a solution. “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31). They would succeed if they could remember. The Apostle John powerfully expanded on this concept.

Paul warned those people night and day with tears! He loved them as God’s own family. Still, most of them didn’t get the message! “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (v. 32). Paul was about to die, so he commended them to God. The people were about to face their greatest crisis—an attack by Satan when Paul was no longer there.

Through death, God took Herbert W. Armstrong away from the true Church in this end time. The members were commended to God. And the church Mr. Armstrong founded has fallen into great turmoil. That church had a very dangerous flaw. They couldn’t be loyal to God without a strong leader in the church—someone they could physically see. For many, as in Paul’s time, it proved to be a fatal flaw. So many followed perverse teachings, but at least they could see their treacherous leaders!

“And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship” (vv. 36-38). Here we see the perilous flaw revealed. The people sorrowed “most of all” because they would no longer see Paul, whom they would be with for all eternity if they were loyal. They should have sorrowed most of all because “grievous wolves” and very evil false ministers inside the Church would destroy God’s flock. Many of God’s saints would lose their salvation! What a terrifying prophecy.

Paul gave the same prophecy for this end time. But most of God’s people didn’t get the message!

You and I are being tested to see if we remember what we were taught. I don’t believe there is a writer in the Bible who has taught more beautifully on how to avoid this disaster than John! Remember, this is the testing mind of God in action. And eternity is at stake for God’s flock!

Paul worried that even most of the ministers didn’t get the message. And that was after Paul had personally taught them for three years! That means this warning is terribly serious for God’s people in this end time! Paul delivered a powerful message to them. It was his last as a free man!

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (ii Tim. 1:12-13). This was Paul’s final book, written about a.d. 65. Paul was soon to die. Still, I believe this to be Paul’s most inspiring book. He said, “I know whom I have believed.” He wasn’t looking to a man. He remembered the “sound words” God taught him. Most people forgot the sound words that were taught in true “faith and love”—free of deception.

John had to come after him and try to pick up the pieces.

“This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes” (v. 15). In one area, all of the people left Paul! Does that sound like mainstream religion today? Obeying God is very serious business. Satan’s persecution comes in different ways today.

Already, most of God’s people have turned away in this end time. Paul warned us it would happen.

“The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain” (v. 16). Onesiphorus was a loyal minister, in good and bad times. How precious he was to God and Paul. He was not ashamed of God’s apostle who was on death row in prison. He knew this was God’s leader. Onesiphorus was “not ashamed” of Paul’s chains. That means he was not ashamed of God. God says, if we are ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of us.

The Ephesus era had a great beginning, but a sad ending. Christ, the Son of God, actually began that era. But how quickly men forget. The Philadelphia era had a great beginning in this end time. Sadly, it ended with a Laodicean rebellion! How we start is not the big issue—it’s how we end that really matters.

The Apostle John was also caught up in this persecution. He was imprisoned on the little Mediterranean island of Patmos. There he wrote the greatest book of prophecy in the Bible—Revelation. He apparently wrote his three epistles from there also.

Many of God’s people turned away. And so it is in this end time. Most of God’s people have become Laodicean. Fifty percent of them will lose their salvation. From all this rebellion, we must draw a sobering conclusion. The Kingdom of God is not for everybody! It should be. But it isn’t.

In the midst of all that turmoil, John revealed a gloriously beautiful vision. I believe it is a vision more profound than any message ever given by any of the apostles! Now let’s all make a very determined effort to get it!

The Vision

John begins his epistles with a vision that most people have never understood. And even after it is taught, many still don’t understand!

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (i John 1:1). Notice the expression from the beginning. Now notice how often John repeats that expression in these epistles.

“I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one…. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father” (i John 2:13-14, 24).

If the wonderful truth God has revealed to us remains in us, we “shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.” This is an ironclad way we can avoid deception. There is no excuse for being deceived after we have received God’s revealed truth!

“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil…. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (i John 3:8, 11).

“And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it” (ii John 5-6).

Now let’s go back and look at this expression more closely. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (i John 1:1). Word is capitalized. It refers to the God who became Christ. To better understand who this Word was, we need to look elsewhere.

This same Apostle John wrote the gospel message which bears his name. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). If you want to start at the real beginning, you must start in John 1. This is a period of time before the angels were created, also before the universe and the Earth were created! This is the true beginning. Please keep that in mind. Word is from the Greek logos. It refers to the Spokesman for the God family. He is not the Head of the family, but He is the God who speaks for the family. The overall direction of the family is provided by the God who is today called the Father.

Thayer’s Lexicon defines Word this way: “The doctrine which he [the Father] commanded to be delivered” and the “thing spoken” (or the message from the God family).

The expression “was with God” is defined by Lange’s Commentary (emphasis mine): “The word denotes the most intimate and divine sort of relationship to another” and “closest intercommunion.” The Companion Bible has a similar definition.

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (v. 18). Thayer’s Lexicon explains the word bosom: “unto the bosom of the father (God) i.e. in the closest and most intimate relation to the Father.”

John discusses the Father and Son at length in i John! These two God beings have the closest, most intimate relationship ever known in the universe—by far. Think of the closest father-son relationship you ever saw, and it is not even close to the intimacy of this God family relationship.

This is at the heart of what John is trying to teach us about the God family and our potential to enter into it!

The Apostle John was the first of the disciples to believe Jesus rose from the dead (John 20:8). He was also the first disciple to recognize Christ on the Sea of Galilee. John had a strong grasp on God’s truth. But there is another ingredient we need to focus on even more.

John refers to himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 20:2). There was a special closeness between John and Christ. “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). This also refers to John and Christ. Jesus had a special love for John, partly because of John’s depth. But, more importantly, John was given special attention and preparation for the great work he was to do after all the other apostles were dead.

John was “leaning on Jesus’ bosom.” Christ was building in John that special love which He had for His Father—“in the bosom of the Father.” Christ is building this same intimate relationship in all of God’s family. This is the message the saints who are called now must teach the whole world. And we can’t teach it if we don’t learn it now!

Nobody can come to God unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). These called-out ones then follow Christ’s example “into the Father’s bosom”—the way it reads literally. Only the Father calls people to be in His family—this is never done by Christ. He is the Husband of the wife—those firstfruits called out before Christ returns. Nothing on the human level comes close to this glorious God family relationship. This is the very gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom or family of God.

This understanding didn’t make John vain—it humbled him. His name is not mentioned once in his Gospel message. On the other hand, Diotrephes wanted preeminence among a small group of people then, instead of the almost unfathomable glory God is going to give us, when we rule the whole universe! (Heb. 2:8).

How many of God’s own ministers have turned away from God because they fail to grasp John’s vision?

John had a strong passion to exalt the Word. Diotrephes was exalting himself. We must capture John’s vision in order to get ourselves out of God’s way so He can prepare us for this incredible human potential! It is this oh, so glorious message that we must get to mankind! And we must not allow human vanity to block this most inspiring message ever delivered to mankind!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4). This vision is so mind-stretching that I strain—even as I write—trying to fully understand and get Christ’s message to you!

Was the universe created by Jesus Christ? The answer is yes and no. “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Eph. 3:9). God the Father created all things—by Jesus Christ. Here we see Christ is in total submission to His Father. And by implication we see how completely the Word submitted to God for all eternity! They have been in complete, loving unity and peace forever. When you look at the chaotic governments of this world, you see how utterly phenomenal that is! This could only be done through God’s law, administered by God’s government.

It is that government which is soon to rule this Earth (Rev. 2:26-27). God’s family teamwork is about to usher in an earthly paradise.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Heb. 1:1-2). Notice, the Father speaks to us today by His Son. Again, we see God created the universe through the Word. The Father is clearly the Head! Christ came to establish His Father’s authority. God is building in man this loving God family relationship.

The Word became flesh. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He had a great purpose. He came to declare the Father (v. 18). Our passion must be to declare the Father and His Son, who leads us in that endeavor. Then there is no room for a vain Diotrephes to work his wicked will!

This is the same problem Lucifer had. He wanted to exalt himself, not God. We cannot declare ourselves, as Diotrephes did, if we are passionately declaring the Father. It’s against God’s law of love to declare ourselves.

That oneness is declared in John 1:1. The “Word was God.” That depicts a godly unity. We can enter God’s family only if we become so unified!

This great Word died for all of us. He could never have performed this greatest act of love in the spirit of Diotrephes! You and I would have no future if the Word thought like Lucifer or Diotrephes. Christ’s sacrifice was the greatest act of love man has ever known! Something new and wonderful is in the Earth! Do we grasp it? Do we get it?

Men didn’t get that message when Christ was on the Earth (John 1:5). “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe” (John 1:6-7). All men must get this message or they have no future. We must have the Spirit of Jesus Christ—not the spirit of Lucifer, Diotrephes, or the Laodiceans.

“He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (v. 8). John the Baptist was a witness to that Light. It caused him to lose his head! It is not easy being a true disciple of God. We cannot deliver that Light if we don’t comprehend it. We must come out of the darkness to grasp such a majestic, royal calling.

God says there is only one lamp. Where is that lamp—that work—today? We must see that bright lamp in this very dark world. We only have a short time before the Great Tribulation to prove where that work is and become a part of it.

“He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (vv. 11-12). God has called us to be sons of God—sons of the Father—bride of Jesus Christ. This is the most exalted honor God can give!

Less than one percent of all humans who have ever lived will be given this glorious opportunity of being at the bride level in the God family!

But there was a great price that had to be paid. John is the only apostle to designate Christ as the Word. He does so only in four verses: John 1:1, 14; i John 1:1; Revelation 19:13. Let’s look at the last verse. “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God” (Rev. 19:13). This is the Word who created all things and was eternal before the angels or the universe were created. This great Being’s vesture was dipped in blood. He became a man and shed His blood for lowly men—for you! Remember the price that was paid for your sins.

This is what you need to remember “from the beginning.” Hard, rebellious human beings can’t comprehend this magnanimous love. Mankind has never even come close to comprehending such a sacrifice. God’s own minister, Diotrephes, did not comprehend this sacrifice. There is an opposite spirit in this world. That is why we are overwhelmed with problems.

Fifty percent of God’s own Laodicean Church will lose their eternal lives because they do not want to live by the giving spirit of the Word. They refuse to let His Spirit abide in them (i John 2:13-14, 24; Phil. 2:5). Again, the Kingdom of God is not for everybody! What a glorious calling. But it isn’t easy.

Christ didn’t come to speak of Himself, but of the Father (John 14:9-10). He obeyed and even “pleased” His Father (John 6:29; 8:29; 10:17-18; ii John 4; Luke 24:44). Christ believed in family government.

That understanding helps us to see what John was teaching in the epistles. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (i John 1:1). John is reminding himself who this Jesus Christ really was—who He was from the beginning. He was eternal before the angels and the universe were in existence. This is the Being the apostles had seen with their eyes and “looked upon” (gazed upon is a better translation), and their hands had handled. This was not just a man sent from God. This was one of the two great Gods who are eternal. John wanted to make certain he never forgot the whole wonderful story—from the beginning.

It obviously means to go back to the beginning, when Christ was on the Earth. But then you are pointed to the real beginning by John. So if you listened to John, he kept you grounded in God’s dazzling inspiration! If we grasp this message from the beginning, it takes your breath away!

Why is it so important that we have this view? Because it is God’s view! The created must get the Creator’s view—if they themselves are to become creators! If we are to be born into God’s family, we must have God’s view. Then the ambition of Diotrephes becomes spiritual madness! God is offering us a billion times more. However, it is not easy to use God’s Holy Spirit to search out the deep things (i Cor. 2:10). This subject is the very deepest understanding from God’s mind. What a mind-boggling reward God has for those who understand.

If people were listening to John, they would have thought he was about to mention Christ. But instead, he discussed the Word. “(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (i John 1:2-3). John’s goal was to show to you eternal life. Eternal life manifested in the flesh! He lived eternally with God and now the people could fellowship with the Father and the Son. John was trying to make this mind-splitting message real! So many were losing this understanding. Otherwise, they would never have followed Diotrephes!

If John were here today, you would hear him discuss the Word, as well as Christ. That would give us this magnificent picture from the beginning. To have a great vision of the future, we must keep this great vision of the past! It is the eternal past vision that keeps us focused on the eternal future! The Word should conjure up in our minds this fabulous past. Then we can clearly see God’s plan for His family and our part in it—forever!

The Word was not just a man named Jesus. Or a man called Christ. He was the Word—from the beginning. It is that beginning John discussed in his epistles.

John did his best to make this message plain. Still, many of God’s people lost their salvation. Many saints are making the same mistakes today. It is the greatest possible tragedy on this Earth today! Not because of any punishment they receive, but because they are rejecting the highest calling and reward that God gives to any human beings ever!

We must understand our own minds. “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Rom. 8:7). Our natural mind hates God’s rule over us. But that rule brings us the happy and joyful life we all desire.

The majority of God’s own people have turned away from Him in this end time. The failure to understand “from the beginning” is the primary reason for this greatest of all catastrophes!

Rejecting God’s Government

The book of Haggai, like all of the major and minor prophets, is primarily for the end time (Hag. 2:23). Haggai shows how the ministers falsely measure God’s law, upon which God’s government is based.

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord: Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty” (Hag. 2:11-16).

We must look at these verses spiritually today. It is a prophecy about how the ministers today measure very badly when it comes to God’s law. Only God’s Church keeps His laws spiritually. So it is a stern warning to God’s own people to beware of their Laodicean ministers—“that which they offer is unclean”! Unless the people can measure better than most of them, they are going to be deceived! And don’t forget, it’s about measuring God’s law—upon which God’s government is based. Those who are properly measuring cannot be deceived! Then you follow God and not God’s Laodicean ministers who have been deceived.

Let’s not forget that the primary meaning is for this end time. “In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts” (v. 23). In that day always refers to the end time. So there must be a spiritual leader in this end time who was a type of Zerubbabel.

Herbert W. Armstrong started and finished an era that “restored all things.” Before he died, he started it and finished it, with the power of God’s Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:6). His hands laid the foundation and his hands finished the house—the Philadelphia era. “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it” (Zech. 4:9). It is clearly talking about a hands-on operation.

It twice mentions hands, designating a starting and finishing of a project. The Anchor Bible Commentary says hands is literal, and expresses participation in temple building (“Book of Zechariah,” p. 251). That is, it was built by a human being with “hands,” not built “without hands”—as Christ does it.

Notice what Mr. Armstrong wrote in a letter to the Church in 1981: “Zerubbabel built the second temple to which Jesus came the first time. John the Baptist prepared the way before the first coming. But who was to build the spiritual temple to which Christ shall soon come the second time? Who was to prepare the way before His Second Coming?

“Remember God does things in dual stages. As Zerubbabel built the first temple of material stone, wood and other materials, he was a forerunner or type of one through whom Christ would raise up or build the spiritual temple—His Church of our time, prior to the Day of the Lord and Christ’s Second Coming. As John the Baptist prepared the way, in the physical wilderness of the Jordan River for the First Coming of the human Jesus (both man and God), then coming to His material temple, and to His physical people Judah, announcing the Kingdom of God to be set up more than 1,900 years later, so God would use a human messenger in the spiritual wilderness of 20th-century religious confusion, to be a voice crying out the gospel of the Kingdom of God, about the spiritual Christ, coming in supreme power and glory to His spiritual temple, to actually establish that spiritual Kingdom of God.

“Brethren, has that been done by this Church?

“Did God raise up a one-man leadership to be used by Him in building this spiritual temple and in proclaiming after 1,900 years the true gospel of the Kingdom of God in all the world—to even go to kings and heads of nations (Rev. 10:11)—in bringing the Church back to the faith once delivered (Jude 3)?

“Has this happened, in your days, and has God brought you into this prophetic fulfillment as a part of it?

“Has anyone else done it?” (March 19, 1981).

Did Mr. Armstrong think one man would and did fulfill this prophecy? Absolutely! He speaks of one, a human messenger, a voice, a one-man leadership and then ends by asking, “Has anyone else done it?”

This end-time Zerubbabel was made “as a signet.” The word signet means an emblem of authority. Anciently, a king often had a signet or ring with which to place his stamp of authority—when he was not present.

God says He “will make thee [Zerubbabel] as a signet.” That must mean after he is dead. Otherwise, in this age of jet planes, there would be no need for a signet. However, the government God established through Herbert W. Armstrong is still very binding today! That government is based on God’s law.

“Government Is Everything”

As Mr. Armstrong said, “Government is everything.” Nobody can properly implement God’s law without God’s government. And that is where the Laodicean ministry is measuring so badly in this end time. Of course, we have to look at this spiritually today.

The Philadelphia Church of God is the only Church that has kept the government God established through Mr. Armstrong! “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (Rev. 11:1-2). This remnant is told to measure “the altar and them that worship therein.” The altar symbolizes the ministry, which caused the problem discussed in Haggai 2. Since the ministry is the primary problem, they are listed first and are to be corrected more severely. These deceived ministers are condemned because they so badly measure God’s law, upon which God’s government is based. God then has to command His loyal remnant to rise and measure for Him.

God uses the pcg to measure His ministry and temple (the Church today). This little remnant could not measure if they hadn’t already been given God’s government and authority to do so—through an end-time Zerubbabel! Only those submissive to that government will allow themselves to be measured and therefore qualify to measure for God.

God gives His revelation only to this obedient remnant, which resides in the inner court—where God dwells!

Because the Laodiceans measure God’s law and government so badly, they have to be put in the outer court. They were in the inner court, but they rebelled and God no longer does His work through them.

Because they rebel against God’s government, they will be plunged into the Great Tribulation. Fifty percent of them will repent at that time. The remaining fifty percent will lose their eternal lives! (Matt. 25:1-13). Do we see why it is so critical that we learn to submit to God’s rule?

The gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom or family of God—which is the government that administers God’s law in the World Tomorrow. How could they possibly fulfill such a role if they don’t submit to God’s government today?

Let me give you an example of how badly they measure God’s law and government. One member of the board of directors in the United Church of God sent out a packet of their beliefs to many of their members. That church left the Worldwide Church of God early in 1995. Here is a quote from one of those letters: “We find it interesting that the only one of the ’18 Truths’ restored by Mr. Armstrong which has not been changed by the apostates [referring to current wcg leadership] is the ‘truth’ about church government. Those men are so deceived they cannot see that is the only one which needed to be changed.”

God called Mr. Armstrong to “restore all things” (Matt. 17:10-11), not these leaders. Yet these men think they can reject the government God established through him.

Here is a quote from another one of their board members (March 17, 1995): “Learning to work, in a new form of government, will be the principal challenge” (emphasis mine). The problem is God has given them no authority to make such a change! This is where the Laodiceans are measuring so badly today.

Let’s take another look at Haggai 2:15: “And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord.” God’s temple, or Church, was built in this end time through Mr. Armstrong. God says if we view it “from the beginning,” before one stone, or doctrine, was established, we can measure accurately.

Remember, Mr. Armstrong was called to “restore all things”—that means all of God’s foundational truths. The Laodiceans lack the faith to believe God. So they select and choose only those doctrines which appeal to them. They compromise God’s truth. That is why they are Laodicean!

The first doctrine listed among the 18 restored truths is government, which is built on God’s law. This government directed the most successful work of God ever on this Earth—in terms of numbers of people! For over 50 years, God used this government to preach the gospel around the world (Matt. 24:14). And all of these Laodicean ministers supported that government while Mr. Armstrong was alive! Now they somehow think God has commissioned them to change it! Somewhere along the line they were hypocrites, either then or now.

Notice what Mr. Armstrong said on the Feast of Trumpets in 1985: “There was an Elijah to come and to restore things in the Church. That has happened, and what has been restored is the government of God—and many of the truths, at least 17 or 18 principal, vital doctrines of truth, have been added to about the three that had survived in the Sardis era of the Church…. But they didn’t know about the government of God in the Church. They didn’t know about what I’m telling you today.” Mr. Armstrong clearly stated that he was the end-time Elijah. God used Mr. Armstrong to restore His government in this end time and nobody else!

The Two Trees—Back to the Beginning

God keeps directing us back, back, back. He wants us to see the whole “movie” or we get confused. So if we go back to the beginning of the Philadelphia era headed by Mr. Armstrong, we can easily see the Laodicean error.

But that’s not all. The subject Mr. Armstrong repeated most of all was about the two trees. He kept our minds focused on the distant past as well as the glorious future. If we go back far enough, God gives us tremendous vision.

The meaning of the two trees goes back much farther than Adam and Eve. That is why God inspired Mr. Armstrong to repeat it so often.

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Gen. 3:1-7). That is how this present evil world began! Man chose to rule himself and reject God’s rule. Adam and Eve missed the greatest opportunity that could ever be offered to them.

Satan is the god of this world. “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (ii Cor. 4:4). Satan has a throne. Adam and Eve had the opportunity to replace Satan on that throne and rule for God. They had to qualify to sit on the throne over this whole Earth. All Adam and Eve had to do was choose the tree of life.

“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever” (Gen. 3:22). Instead, they chose the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. Adam and Eve and all mankind have chosen their own education, religion and government—not God’s way of life.

If Adam and Eve knew they had an opportunity to rule the whole Earth and replace Satan, they also knew about how Lucifer was given that opportunity before man was even created! Adam and Eve also had to know that God created the angels before there was any universe (Job 38). They knew God’s plan was to let the angels rule the universe, and how, after Lucifer rebelled, God had changed His plan. God had realized at that point that only God could rule in such a capacity. So He decided to reproduce His own character in man, or recreate Himself in man (Gen. 1:26). “In his image” means with God’s very own character.

So God taught Adam and Eve about what happened “from the beginning.” They knew about the beginning when there was only God and the Logos or Spokesman (John 1:1). But they didn’t really “get it.”

Now We Must Qualify

So the first Adam failed to qualify to rule this Earth. The second Adam—Jesus Christ—did not fail. And Christ wants to share that rule with the firstfruits.

Today, we are given the opportunity to rule the whole Earth, and ultimately the whole universe, with Jesus Christ. The firstfruits will become His bride (Rev. 19:7). Like Adam, we must choose the tree of life to qualify for this mountainous responsibility. That is why we are called “out of season.” We must be preparing to teach and rule all the rest of humanity, who will be called later.

We must choose between human intellect—man’s own reasoning—or the tree of life—representing revealed knowledge from God (see Amos 3:7-8).

The pcg has kept all of the revealed knowledge God gave to Mr. Armstrong. All of the Laodicean groups have rejected at least part of that revelation. Therefore, God has given them no new revelation since Mr. Armstrong died! But the pcg has been flooded with new revelation. We are the only group that is eating from the tree of life! And you can prove it. Because the Laodiceans have rejected God’s revealed government, God will not use them to do His work.

Remember, Satan was right there with Adam and Eve to lead them away from the tree of life. Satan has also deceived God’s Laodicean churches and led them away from the tree of life—God’s revelation. (See ii Thessalonians 2:8-10 and write for our free Colossians booklet.)

How can Satan be so deceptive? Because the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means you have both good and bad knowledge. Having some good knowledge deceives them into thinking all of their knowledge is good. There is some good in all of the Laodicean groups. However, they have rejected most of God’s revealed knowledge, and therefore God rejects them. God does not tolerate compromise. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23).

Lucifer ruled the Earth for God. He had been the covering cherub over God’s throne of the whole universe. So he should have been able to administer God’s government on the Earth. However, he forgot what happened “from the beginning.” He was created and chose to fight his Creator! What folly. He was created by fiat. When Lucifer rebelled, God decided He must recreate Himself—with godly character in humans. The angels lacked the character to rule our universe. Now we have the opportunity to build the universe-ruling character of God!

Satan led Adam and Eve to make the same mistake he made. And today, Satan has led the majority of God’s own Church to reject God’s government, just as he did.

We must accept and administer God’s government, or we can never qualify to sit on thrones as kings and priests for God. We are called today to rule the Earth in the future. That means we must prepare by submitting to that government today. We must choose—just as Adam and Lucifer had to choose! Only the right choice will qualify us to rule this Earth with Jesus Christ!

We are being tested now!

We can’t qualify to replace Satan if we can’t overcome him! Today we have to choose between the two trees. The right choice will ensure that we don’t lose our crown.

Laodiceans Didn’t “Get It”

Mr. Armstrong’s made this very strong, condemning statement in his sermon on Pentecost, May 26, 1985—a few months before he died: “Why is this Church the firstfruits of God’s harvest for His Kingdom?… Brethren I want to say to you, I think that most of you don’t understand that at all. I think that most of you think it merely means that God chose us to get into the Kingdom first and then they’ll come in later. That is not the answer at all. And I perceive that even our ministers, when they preach, take it for granted that the whole goal is to get us into the Kingdom of God and that’s all we’re called for now and for no other purpose—but we’ll get in ahead of the others…. There is a reason why we’re the firstfruits! And I wish I could drive that home. But I fear that most of you just don’t get it. You don’t understand it at all. Why? Why are we the firstfruits? I’m going to try to make it plain this afternoon and still I think you won’t get it.”

How terribly prophetic those words have proven to be! Mr. Armstrong perceived that many ministers and members did not understand this precious truth. We can’t rule with Christ if we don’t even understand His family government.

God reveals His truth to babes (Matt. 11:25). This means humble people who submit to His loving family government.

If the Laodiceans would go all the way back to the beginning of Mr. Armstrong’s ministry, they would not make such serious errors. Then they could understand what John taught about “from the beginning.” Then they would see the whole picture. Then they would understand God’s loving family government and not arrogantly presume they can change it!

The Message

The Word, or Logos, is a Spokesman. That means He has a message. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (i John 1:1-5). One definition of Logos is “revelatory thought.” God’s truth is revealed. The Word has one primary function. He is to deliver a message about the God family. Christ came to reveal the Father—and the God family. Christ didn’t come to focus on Himself, but on His Father and the God family.

Please notice, it is His message that we must declare. God’s Laodicean churches have only a hazy view of this message. That is why they are deceived. They focus too much on the messenger and not enough on the message. That is why their ministers measure so badly!

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matt. 24:3). Christ was addressing His own disciples. But the main focus is on God’s end-time disciples. And how are most of the Laodiceans deceived?

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (vv. 4-5). They focus on the person of Christ, but they fail to grasp His message. Christ demonstrates that very forcefully. “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not” (v. 23). Christ is still speaking to His own disciples. There is obviously more than one Laodicean group. “If any man shall say unto you”—not Christ. Perhaps they are well-known evangelists or tv personalities. So these Laodiceans listen to men talk about Christ. But they fail to hear Christ and His message!

This is happening now in God’s own Church! This is how Satan deceives the Laodiceans. Christ says not to believe these men. Why? Their focus is too much on the personality of Christ—not His message!

The pcg always discusses the message of Christ. We encourage people to “prove all things,” then they can know where Christ’s message is. Every group says Christ is with them. But they are not willing to prove that they have the same message Christ revealed to Mr. Armstrong. That’s because they know they don’t have the full revealed truth!

Even the statement “Christ is over here” reveals confused leaders. The focus is simply not on the message. We must get beyond Jesus Christ—to the Father and the God family—the gospel. Christ Himself taught us that (see John 5:30; 14:10).

The Father

The Laodiceans would be more accurate if they would say, “Here is the Father”—not “Here is Christ.” Then they would be getting closer to the family government that is not now ruling them! John said our fellowship is with “the Father and his Son Jesus Christ” (i John 1:3). The Father, Son and firstfruits—God’s family. It is a family message.

John discusses the Word and the Father. That means he is discussing history before and after God became a Father, and before and after Christ became a Son (see John 1:1). That vision includes the rebellion of Lucifer. It was after that rebellion that God became a Father and the Word became a Son. God is recreating Himself now through His family plan, and the gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom or family of God. That family will administer the government of God. The Laodiceans avoid the family government issue because they have rejected that government!

God says there is a universe out there to be ruled (Heb. 2). Only His family will be qualified to rule. Not only will we be ruling the whole universe, we will also rule over all members of God’s family who are not part of the bride of Christ.

Even given this glorious future, men like Diotrephes (iii John 9-10) and the Laodicean ministers seek the preeminence among a small group of people in this evil world! What grotesque, twisted priorities.

Later in that Pentecost 1985 sermon, Mr. Armstrong said this: “Jesus called these disciples out of the world to live the way of God and to teach them that way of life about the government of God.” But the Laodicean ministers, like Lucifer, have failed to administer that family government, headed by the Father.

The book of Revelation was given to Christ from the Father (Rev. 1:1). That book is the only book which puts prophecy into a time sequence. So the Father is the one in charge of prophecy. Only the Father knows the day and hour of Christ’s return.

Christ said, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). Repeatedly, He taught us family government!

That is the same government God established through Mr. Armstrong. And the same government all the Laodiceans reject. Most of them even admit they have a new government in their churches!

We must learn God’s family government now. That message permeated Christ’s teaching.

The Apostle John introduces us to God’s family government after Lucifer failed. The Father is clearly the Head. It is that God family which we must declare to the Laodiceans and the world. The Father must remain at the head. Only then can we begin to grasp God’s family government.

“Where Is My Honor”

The book that most forcefully condemns the end-time Laodicean rebellion is Malachi. (Write for a free copy of Malachi’s Message.) “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?” (Mal. 1:6). The ministers are condemned for not honoring the Father—they despise the Father’s name! That is another way of saying they reject God’s family government, with the Father firmly at the head. They focus too much on Christ and preach a false gospel.

Since they don’t honor the Father, He doesn’t reveal prophecy to them! If they would honor the Father and His family government, then they would be flooded with new revelation as the pcg is! As it says in Matthew 7:16, “You shall know them by their fruits.”

The name Elijah means “my God is God.” The original Elijah came to reveal the true God—the God family. John the Baptist was a type of Elijah (Matt. 17:10-13). He came to reveal the true God, so people should have known who Christ was at His first coming.

Herbert W. Armstrong was the end-time Elijah. He was prophesied to “restore all things,” to reveal the true God (Matt. 17:10-11). He delivered the God family message to the whole world (Mal. 4:5-6; Matt. 24:14). He taught us what happened from the beginning. He repeatedly referred to John 1:1 as the beginning, not Genesis 1:1.

The Jews thought Elijah was sent to help widows and heal a multitude of people. When Christ corrected them, they tried to kill Him! “But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias [Elijah], when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow” (Luke 4:25-26).

They didn’t understand the Elijah work. Elijah was only sent to one widow. He was primarily sent to reveal the true God. That was his mission or purpose. He was not sent to save widows or to heal people. If the Jews had listened to John the Baptist—a type of Elijah—they would have known who the Son of God was! To this day, they still don’t know.

“And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode. And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true” (John 10:40-41). John, the first-century Elijah, did no miracles. Yet, Christ said there was no greater born of woman than John (Matt. 11:11). All things that John spoke of Christ were true. Everybody at that time and throughout history should have known who Jesus Christ was. John’s purpose was to reveal the true God—the real Christ. He revealed all about the Lord from the beginning—the God who became Jesus Christ.

Mr. Armstrong didn’t perform many great healings or do numerous miracles. He didn’t shake the nations, as one Laodicean group said the Elijah would. But he did reveal the true God, which was why God sent him!

He prepared the way for Christ’s Second Coming as John did for His first coming (Mal. 3:1; 4:5-6; Matt. 17:10-13; 24:14).

He taught us about the two trees from the beginning. He restored all things—including the government of God—by far the most important doctrine of all. Except for the pcg, all of those members Mr. Armstrong left behind have rejected that doctrine! That means they have also rejected Mr. Armstrong as the end-time Elijah. These Laodicean groups must somehow feel they are Elijah types to make such a radical and dangerous government change!

None of these Laodiceans were commanded to do an Elijah work! Now they are having a great controversy over which is the right government—as they rebel against the government God has already taught them over a period of many years! They need to go back to the beginning of that vital instruction and study all that Elijah taught on the subject. There could never have been such a towering Elijah work accomplished by Mr. Armstrong without God’s government. Everybody should be able to see that. Even more obvious is the fact that he was the end-time Elijah.

Back to Horeb

After performing some very impressive miracles, Elijah heard some bad news and became discouraged. “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers” (i Kings 19:1-4).

After all those miracles, Elijah feared Jezebel and asked to die. He knew she was very good at killing people. She had already killed all the other prophets! Elijah lost sight of that “from the beginning” vision God gave him. He got his mind on Jezebel trying to kill him and off the great miracle-working God.

“And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat: because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God” (vv. 7-8). He was directed back to Horeb—or Sinai—the mount of God. This is where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The people saw lightning, thunder, a quaking mountain and were very fearful because of God’s power. God took Elijah back to a crucial beginning. Then he was again very much aware of God’s overview and power to back His chosen servants.

“And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?” (vv. 11-13).

A strong wind broke the rocks on the mountain in pieces. Then there was a shattering earthquake. After that, a fierce fire. But God was not in the strong wind, earthquake, or fire. However, He was in the “still small voice.” What was God’s point? God does not often manifest Himself in mind-shattering physical events. Usually He comes in a still small voice. But it is still the same omnipotent God! You must learn to recognize God in that “still small voice”—like in what you are reading right now!

If we truly understand this great vision at Horeb and “from the beginning,” we do not need physical miracles from God. All we need is faith! That faith comes with the “from the beginning” vision.

Prophesy Again

“And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Rev. 10:10-11).

God has commissioned the pcg to prophesy again. God has given us the little book—Malachi’s Message—because we are the only Church that knows how to “prophesy again.” The end-time Elijah prophesied the first time. We continue from that point. How can the Laodiceans prophesy again as the Elijah did if they do not even think the Elijah has come yet? If they just understood the Elijah work “from the beginning”—that is, from the original Elijah—they would know Mr. Armstrong fulfilled that role.

The Elijah work continues until Christ returns (Rev. 11:1-6). “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them” (Rev. 11:7). The two witnesses finish their testimony. That means they finish God’s Elijah work. They don’t just study their Bibles! The people will kill the messengers and reject the message—as usual.

“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (v. 2).

These people got away from the “inner court” of God’s temple or Church. The inner court is where God dwells—where God administers His government. They have gotten away from the temple understanding in the Old Testament and what it means today. They have gotten away from the Elijah work.

We were commanded to remember the law. “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments” (Mal. 4:4). Again, God points the Elijah work back to Horeb, where the law was given.

Judgments are made in each Elijah work based on God’s law and statutes. These judgments change with each Elijah work. That means Elijah enforces the law—that is government! There always has to be a government to enforce God’s law! Always! Who would establish that government and enforce God’s law in the end time? “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he [one man] 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” (vv. 5-6).

I believe this is the strongest warning in the Bible. God’s own ministers are going to lose their eternal lives if they don’t understand who the end-time Elijah was today! That is what these verses mean. Remembering revolves around the God family government.

The God who gave the law in Horeb was the Word. It was that God who became Jesus Christ and died for us. Taking that sacrifice lightly will cause 50 percent of the Laodiceans to lose their eternal lives (Matt. 25:1-18; ii Thes. 2:10).

This is by far the greatest crisis facing God’s Church in these latter days. That is because they fail to remember from the beginning.

Messenger With a Name

John the Baptist knew all about the Word “in the beginning” (John 1:1). He knew God and the Word existed before the angels and the universe were created.

God also inspired this first-century Elijah to put his name in the Bible. “He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias” (v. 23). John the Baptist recognized that he fulfilled a specific biblical prophecy. He was a voice crying in the wilderness. Mr. Armstrong, the end-time Elijah, also fulfilled this prophecy. He and John the Baptist both were voices crying out in the midst of religious confusion. Isaiah 40:3 is a prophecy about the first and Second Coming of Christ. These Elijahs didn’t shake the nations of Israel. Most people ignored them!

Mr. Armstrong also applied many other scriptures to himself, including Malachi 3:1 and 4:5-6, Matthew 17:10-11 and 24:14.

Both of these men had this vision from the beginning! And in both cases it comes down to finding a man who was doing the Elijah work—who was delivering God’s message “from the beginning”—even though it is prophesied that most people would not even recognize these Elijahs (Matt. 17:10-13).

Unless we deeply recognize the origin of God and the Word, we will not recognize the man God is using. Many of the end-time Laodiceans talk about “the evils of a one man government.” That means they must reject God’s end-time Elijah! It is a message inspired by a rebel called Satan. One of the Laodicean leaders said it was wrong to apply scriptures to Mr. Armstrong. That too is satanic. If God applies scriptures to a man, we must do it too.

John the Baptist, Christ and all of the apostles, except the Apostle John, got themselves killed delivering that message! That is because Satan is the god of this world (ii Cor. 4:4; Rev. 12:9).

Lucifer Rebels

What was Lucifer’s major sin? “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (i John 3:8).

Satan sinned from the beginning. That means we must understand that Lucifer once ruled this Earth. He sinned by failing to administer the government of God on Earth.

That means you must know that he was once a great cherub who helped to cover God’s throne. He was created for that responsibility. He was educated in how to rule God’s way—with God’s loving government. No angel should have known better how to rule! He may have sat at God’s feet for millions of years! Then Lucifer was sent to this Earth to apply what he had learned.

“And he [God] shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:20-21). Jesus Christ is coming to replace Satan as the Ruler—the government—of this Earth.

The first Adam—inspired by Satan—did not qualify to administer God’s government. The second Adam, Jesus Christ, did qualify. The battle was all about qualifying to enforce God’s government on Earth.

The leading Laodicean ministers sat at Mr. Armstrong’s feet, as Lucifer did at God’s feet. They heard Mr. Armstrong discuss the two trees scenario, where Adam failed to qualify to replace Satan. Now they are rebelling the same way Lucifer did—committing the same sin! What a dangerous sin. They are being defeated just as Adam was.

We are called today to follow the second Adam and to share His governing of this world. Christ came the first time to destroy the works of the devil. God’s Church is called to overcome Satan. But most of God’s people are being overcome by Satan! They are failing to qualify to rule—just like the first Adam.

If we have this from the beginning vision, we see what a terrible struggle we have with Satan. In any war, the first and most important lesson is to know your enemy—to know its history from the beginning.

Since Mr. Armstrong’s death, most people familiar with the Worldwide Church of God know that church has divided into many different groups. A newspaper previously called In Transition (since changed to the Journal) covers much of the news of many of these different groups and what each one believes. I have read several articles from two or three issues discussing the government controversy in several groups. Not once have I seen the word Satan in that newspaper! Satan has torn the Laodicean Church apart, and they are oblivious to the main enemy who has devastated them!

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (i Cor. 1:10-13).

I don’t hear or see the Laodiceans discussing these verses. Surely any honest Christian knows the Laodiceans are not fulfilling the kind of unity Paul was talking about! God says they are “blind” to their own disgusting evil (Rev. 3:17-18). They are failing to do God’s warning work and don’t even know it. If they knew about Satan from the beginning, they would know they are losing a war and would repent. But they are all so self-righteous that they seem to be unaware they are even in a war!

Mr. Armstrong once said, “If we begin to compromise with God’s truth, even in the smallest, slightest manner, we have allowed Satan to get a foot into the door of the Church, and soon he will push open the door (he is stronger than we) and take over the whole Church.”

Satan destroys whole nations. He even gave Jesus Christ a difficult battle. Whether we realize it or not, we are in a fiercely dangerous war!

Rejecting the Head

The first-century Laodiceans that Paul dealt with had the same problem the Laodiceans have today. A Laodicean attitude is the same in any period of history. That makes the first-century Laodicean problem a prophecy of what happens to the end-time Laodiceans.

“For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh” (Col. 2:1). Paul was in a great conflict for the brethren. But they would not fight as he did.

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (v. 8). They were getting into worldly pursuits: philosophy, vain deceit and the traditions of men. It is all “after the rudiments of the world”—that expression means “ruling spirits of the universe.” That refers to Satan and his demons, who have power and influence that reach beyond this Earth. It is this frightening power that has overwhelmed the Laodiceans.

This has led to a catastrophic problem. “And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God” (v. 19).

They are “not holding the Head.” Jesus Christ no longer rules them. Just like Lucifer, they were once ruled by God. But they were not able to hold the Head.

Most of the Laodiceans today even boast of how they have “a new government.” They know they do not have the government God taught them through Mr. Armstrong.

The Laodicean discussion of a government change really means they are rejecting their Head—Jesus Christ. That is how blind they are!

Lucifer rejected his Head and now he has led the Laodiceans to do the same. They have committed Satan’s sin from the beginning. They try to ignore Satan but he won’t ignore them!

“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (Rev. 11:1-2).

There is a group that has Christ as their Head. They are used to measure—through God’s law and government—a loyal ministry and members of God’s true Church. The Laodiceans are put in the outer court to be plunged into the Great Tribulation. Those who will not be measured have rejected their Head and His government—just like Lucifer did.

Lucifer was the great covering cherub. “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou are the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire” (Ezek. 28:13-14). This is a description of what was and is the very headquarters of the universe. What an exalted office Lucifer had. But he wanted more.

Lucifer became so arrogant that he—the created—tried to overthrow the Creator! He was on God’s “holy mountain.” Then he fell off—and what a hopeless fall it was. He now faces only the blackness of darkness forever. All because he refused to administer God’s government.

This all happened before man was even created. If we understand Satan from the beginning, we realize this is the supreme warning to God’s own Church—either administer God’s government or be an eternal failure!

We urgently need to understand this history—or we will be wretched and hopeless failures.

When you read of the serious wcg problem in the 1970s, Mr. Armstrong often spoke of Satan’s attacks on God’s Church. He knew who the real enemy was. Only the pcg thinks that way today. That is not a boast—it’s reality!

“Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee” (v. 15). What iniquity? Satan, like Diotrephes, wanted the preeminence. He wanted to govern his way—not God’s way.

“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee” (v. 17).

He was very vain and corrupt. Satan even thought he could rule the universe without God’s government!

Why did the Apostle John discuss Satan? Because it was Satan who got to Diotrephes when he wanted the preeminence.

It is also Satan who gets to the Laodicean leaders today. Satan leads the Laodicean ministers to think they can rule with a new government, which is really rank rebellion! Satan has already shown that it will not work—from the beginning.

John discussed the law again and again. He personally was God’s human government that Diotrephes rejected. He was the one-man rule at that time.

Universe Created

“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man: for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the Earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:1-7). Job didn’t get it. So God took him back to the beginning, before there was an Earth or universe.

Tradition and history indicate that Job built the great pyramid. He was a splendid architect. However, he thought he was so great that he challenged God. Then God showed him how He built the whole universe—how it was from the beginning. A great architect indeed.

So often we get caught up in the present and forget this vision of the past—which also gives us a great vision of the future. We must see God’s master plan from beginning to end. Then we won’t focus on our puny power but on God’s omnipotence.

There is another lesson in the history of Lucifer and the one third of the angels over which he had charge. All of the angels shouted for joy when God created the universe. They were to be used by God to beautify the whole universe. The angels were all happy, because they kept God’s law and were ruled by God. Then Lucifer and one third of the angels lost sight of this beginning and rebelled. Satan and the demons destroyed God’s physical creation on Earth and in much of the universe. In the process they also destroyed their joy, by failing to rule the Earth with God’s government. May God help us to avoid Satan’s sin—from the beginning.

The Laodicean era is the final era of God’s Church. Because of their sins, God has to spue the Laodiceans out of His mouth into the Great Tribulation. That means the majority of God’s own people go astray in this end time! But why? How could this happen? Because they lose this “from the beginning” vision. Then they descend into the evil of this world.

The Beginning

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:14-16). Jesus Christ embodies “the beginning of the creation of God.” This is the same message as John 1:1 and i John 1:1.

This introductory verse reveals the vision they have lost. They have gotten away from the Logos understanding. They are eating mostly from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—not the tree of life.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). Christ is outside of their lives, knocking to get inside!

Remember, these are God’s own people. At one time, Christ was inside their lives. They have moved the great God outside their spiritual house. Is there any greater tragedy? Spiritually, this is the most colossal tragedy of all!

This is why God says the Laodiceans are blind. They are so blind that they don’t see the ultimate spiritual disaster that has struck their lives.

There are two trees: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Which tree are you eating from? It depends on which side of the door you stand!

Are you having Christ knock on your door? Or are you helping Christ knock on the Laodicean door? There is a great difference in the rewards depending on which side of the door you are on. Even the Laodiceans who repent in the Great Tribulation lose their headquarters position for all eternity.

The Laodiceans get excited about physical goods—things on this Earth. But they can’t get excited about being the bride of Christ! So God will spue them out of His mouth.

Men are always used to do God’s work. So God uses a small remnant to knock and rebuke, hoping the Laodiceans will repent. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (v. 19). People accuse us of lacking love when we warn the Laodiceans. Just the opposite is true. We warn them of the danger of losing what they received from the beginning. We do so because God motivates us to love them. They are losing the only great vision and purpose they ever had!

These verses reveal that the Laodiceans are not easily corrected. God knocks, rebukes, and finally scourges before most of them respond. And even then, only 50 percent respond in the Tribulation.

This is a very strong warning to all of us in this end time! Are we extremely sensitive and responsive to Christ? Are we quick to hear His rebuke? Our eternal future is being shaped by how childlike we are toward Christ’s correction!

“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” (v. 21). This is the same vision John discussed in his other books. There is the Father, Son and “him that overcomes,” or Christ’s bride. They all sit on thrones and rule the Earth’s inhabitants. God is now building His family. We must prepare today to rule over the billions of people who are to be resurrected in the future. We are called today to become teachers for God. We are to learn to administer God’s law of love.

The last warning to the Philadelphia era was to “let no man take your crown” (v. 11). That is precisely what the Laodiceans are allowing! They have lost God’s family government that was given to them by Herbert W. Armstrong. They have lost what they received from the beginning about crowns, thrones and their calling to rule the Earth as a part of God’s family government! They have lost almost everything that means anything!

Christ deeply honors His Father. The Laodiceans were prophesied to dishonor their Father (Mal. 1:6). They have lost what they were taught about the beginning—about how God became a Father and how the Word became Christ.

Christ always exalts the Father as Head of the family. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Rev. 1:1). The Father is the origin of the book of Revelation. He gave it to the Son who gave it to John—an exercise in government.

The Laodiceans—like Adam and Eve—are eating from the wrong tree. They are in danger of losing their crown and throne. They are not qualifying as they should to sit on a throne and administer God’s family government. If we lose this “from the beginning” understanding, then we lose the vision of our breathtaking, indescribable future!

Like Diotrephes, the Laodiceans want the preeminence now. How pathetic. God wants to give them royal thrones over billions of people in the World Tomorrow and eventual rule over the whole universe. And they want preeminence over a few people or things today in this evil world!

We fellowship with the Father and Christ today and for all eternity. The Father and our Husband are family oriented. And so must we be. That is why we are called God’s jewels—or, as a better translation renders it, His “most prized treasure” (Mal. 3:17). That should reveal to us how important God’s family is to Him. Nothing else even comes close to being as important! That means we must fit into God’s family government. In any stable family there is government.

We are holding fast to the government that is going to shape the lives of billions of people. It is the only government that has ever worked! Now is the time we must submit and prepare for those prodigious responsibilities.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 3:22). This expression is used at the end of each era’s description. There are seven eras. It is used seven times. Why? Because if any of God’s people go astray, this is the reason. God’s people have routinely gone astray. So God repeats this warning seven times in two chapters. This is the most thunderous spiritual warning God could give! Still, most of God’s people fail to hear it. They reason around what God says. And what a terrifying penalty awaits them!

This is a very profound understanding. This is what sets the very elect apart from the Laodiceans. This verse reveals why the majority of God’s own people are deceived throughout history and today. This is why Herbert Armstrong told the Church, “Most of you don’t get it.” He was referring to those called out ones who have God’s Spirit, but still fail to hear the Spirit—a monstrous tragedy! They refuse to hear God’s Spirit and be corrected. They are blatantly rebelling. Unless we can clearly hear the Spirit, we are eating from the tree of human reasoning.

God warns and warns and warns! Still, most of God’s people remain lukewarm. To hear the Spirit, we have to let God kindle a fire in our spiritual lives. Only then will we hear what the Spirit says. That is what it means to eat from the tree of life. We must choose the tree of life, or we have no future throne.

The Laodiceans continue to eat from the wrong tree. They cannot get excited about this vision of the past and the future. “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (v. 17). What they think of themselves and what God thinks of them are vastly different. We must examine ourselves with God’s Holy Spirit. We must see ourselves as God sees us!

That means we eat from the tree of life. It does not mean we act like we eat. We must really eat from that tree. God’s mind must be in us (Phil. 2:5). We must think like God. That is what conversion means!

“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (v. 18). If you are eating from the tree of life, you see and know what God is doing and what you are doing! You are not blind to anything important!

We must be clothed with the very righteousness of God. That means if we go to a movie, we take Christ with us. Christ is with us when we watch television. Whatever we do, it is done with God and His righteousness.

God is going to implement His loving government. No one is exempt, even if God has to chasten them in the Great Tribulation. God would much prefer that we hear His rebuke now.

God talks to the Laodiceans about “the beginning of the creation of God.” We need to examine that expression more carefully.

Tohu and Bohu

John 1:1 predates Genesis 1:1, but we need to look more closely at the beginning of the creation of God in Genesis. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1-2). The Hebrew word for without form is tohu, which means desolation, waste or confusion. God obviously did not create the Earth in this condition. “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else” (Isa. 45:18). God did not create the Earth “in vain” or waste—from the same Hebrew word tohu. So something happened to this Earth after God first created it.

The word void in Genesis 1:2 means “indistinguishable ruins.” We know God is not the author of confusion (i Cor. 14:33). What happened to the Earth?

When it says the Earth “was” without form, and void, it should read that it became that way. The Earth and the universe were created in beauty and majesty. Then that creation became tohu and bohu when Lucifer rebelled.

So what we see in Genesis 1:1-2 is really a re-creation. It happened after Lucifer and one third of the angels rebelled. They failed to administer the government of God on this Earth. Destruction was the result. That is always the end result if we do not administer God’s government and law.

The angels disqualified themselves to rule the Earth and the universe. God then decided He must recreate Himself through man. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (v. 26). The animals were created after their kind. Man was created after the God kind. We have God’s likeness—His features. We are also made in His image, which refers to God’s own character.

God’s plan is to call out firstfruits before Christ returns. They will get ready to marry Christ and be His bride (Rev. 19:7). That means we must qualify to rule the Earth with Christ. Satan will no longer have his throne. He won’t be ruling this Earth like he is today.

The Laodiceans are making Lucifer’s mistake. They are failing to administer God’s government. This means they are losing their throne. It’s all about qualifying for a throne!

Notice, God said “let us make man”—there is more than one God being. There is God and the Word, the Logos, who are now Father and Son. The Father is a Father because He has a family. All humanity was created to be in the very family of God! It is why we exist!

The Word of the God family came and died for us. He had “His vesture dipped in blood.” Now man can repent and be born into God’s spiritual family.

God is extremely serious about our calling. He gave the blood of His only Son.

The Laodiceans have lost the understanding of “the beginning of the creation of God.” They are not qualifying to rule with the Father and Son. They have lost this “from the beginning” vision.

After Adam and Eve were created, they had to choose between the two trees (Gen. 3). They ate from the wrong tree by trusting in human intellect—not God’s Spirit.

That is how Adam and Eve disqualified themselves to rule. And that is how the Laodiceans are losing their crown.

The Human Intellect

The book of Jeremiah is prophecy primarily for this end time. (Write for our free booklet Jeremiah and the Greatest Vision in the Bible.)

“O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders” (Jer. 17:3). This is God’s mountain, Zion—God’s Church today. “And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever” (v. 4). These people had a heritage from God and discontinued it!

This rebellion has kindled the fire of God’s anger—“which shall burn for ever.” Many of these people are going to receive God’s wrath forever. They are going to lose their eternal lives. This could only apply to God’s own Church. Only they can “discontinue from” their heritage. Only they have been called out of this world today. This is not primarily aimed at the nations of Israel.

“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord” (v. 5). They are cursed because they departed from God. They are cursed because they trust in man—after having trusted in God! A very serious crime.

“For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited” (v. 6). Because the Laodiceans trust in human reasoning, they cannot see when good comes. They are blind to God’s great vision.

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is” (v. 7). This man is blessed because he eats from the tree of life. He believes God and always keeps His word. “For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit” (v. 8). He is likened to a strong, green tree with powerful roots that can withstand any drought and continues always to be fruitful. Spiritually, that is the tree of life.

The Laodiceans have lost the vision because they trust in evil human reasoning. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (v. 9). Note carefully: our human minds are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. We cannot trust our thinking. That is eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Satan’s nature permeates human intellect and human reasoning. We cannot trust our own minds. i Kings 8:38 refers to the plague of every man’s own heart. What is the solution? “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jer. 17:10). We can’t search our own hearts. God must do it. That is how we eat from the tree of eternal life.

God’s truth is revealed. And that includes truth about our human reasoning. Trust your own intellect and you are cut off from revealed truth.

“A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary” (v. 12). God has given us a glorious high throne. If we lose this vision, we forget our gloriously high calling and begin to descend into human evil.

When God discusses making man in His own character (“image”), that is a glorious high throne. And it is even a far more glorious throne for God’s firstfruits, who are called to be the magnificent bride of Christ! This was in God’s plan from the beginning.

God’s sanctuary is the holy of holies where He dwells—the inner court (Rev. 11:1). To dwell with God and rule this Earth and the universe is indeed a “glorious high throne”!

If we descend into the evil of this world, we forget that mind-splitting vision. “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters” (v. 13). These are people who forsook God. And you cannot forsake God if you never knew Him!

They have forsaken the fountain of living waters. They knew the living God and then forsook Him.

If we forsake God, it “shall be written in the earth.” Like a mark in the sand, it is quickly effaced. Our majestic calling can be turned to dust.

God implies how this vision reaches beyond the Earth into eternity. But it is so easy to lose if we lapse into human reasoning. Double destruction means they die the second death (v. 18). This is such a serious calling. God help us to heed it!

God’s Family Government

Even most of God’s own people fail to understand what John was teaching about God’s family government. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (i John 1:1). John said we have heard, seen, gazed upon, handled. He was referring to the other apostles who lived and worked with Christ. That is the foundation on which the Church is built (Eph. 2:20).

“(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)” (i John 1:2). Again, John uses the word we. All of the apostles heard Christ’s word and agreed. They all agreed with the doctrines established by Christ.

They all agreed that the first-century Elijah was John the Baptist. Today all of the Laodicean churches of God reject Mr. Armstrong as the end-time Elijah. They all reject the government Christ taught through him.

Mr. Armstrong was also an apostle—the only end-time apostle sent by God. And yet the Laodiceans say Mr. Armstrong didn’t even fulfill that role, as he taught us. There is deep division in God’s Church today on these crucial issues.

God’s true Church agrees with the first-century apostles and the last century apostle. They all taught the same doctrines. As John said, we should all agree. “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (v. 3). It is only through this unity that we also fellowship with the Father and Son. We must be a deeply unified family—with “no divisions” (i Cor. 1:10).

John kept talking about his unity with God’s original apostles—all of whom were dead, except himself. That means we today must still fellowship with the original apostles and Mr. Armstrong through the Father and Christ. We do so by obeying what God inspired them to teach.

There will be no strangers ruling in the God family. We cannot disagree on major issues like God’s family government today and still expect to rule with that government in God’s future world!

We are fellowshiping with Mr. Armstrong today if we accept his crucial Elijah role and the government he taught. It is dangerous to take lightly any doctrine that such an exalted office taught. Very dangerous.

Remember, we are the bride of Christ. We must be in deep harmony with our Husband. That is how we get prepared for the marriage. This is the period of time when the Husband and bride get to know each other and unify before the children arrive—billions of people in the World Tomorrow.

Unless our fellowship is with the Father and Son, we are just another group—not the bride of Jesus Christ.

Today, we hear many people in the Laodicean churches talk about the “evils of one-man rule.” No wonder they reject Mr. Armstrong as being God’s end-time Elijah! You can’t follow the one man whom God sent or sends if you believe that satanic doctrine! Major Bible prophecies reveal that one man would be the critical leader in this end time (Zech. 4:9-10; Mal. 3:1-2; 4:5-6; Matt. 17:10-11; Rev. 3:7-8). Only rebels reject these prophecies!

Of course that is the story of the whole Bible. God repeatedly sent one man like Noah, Moses, Joshua, David, Peter and John to lead His work.

If we cannot accept this most basic and important doctrine of all—government—we cannot fellowship with the Father and Christ. Christ said His Father was greater than He. Over and over, He told us that He came to reveal the Father.

If we are going to be in God’s family, we must firmly establish once and for all, who is the Head!

“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are” (John 17:11). We are to be one as the Father and Son are one. There is no deeper doctrine than that! But that is not all. They have been one for all eternity. And the one who became the Father has always been the Head! Always!

It has been that way “from the beginning.” It is going to be that way for all eternity. The only question is, are we going to be born into that deep family unity?

There would be no Laodiceans today if all of God’s people had this humble attitude of Jesus Christ.

We are now being tested to see if we want to be the bride of Christ. If we qualify, then we shall administer God’s loving family government over the Earth and into the universe.

That is the same government Mr. Armstrong used. He did—in terms of numbers of people—what was probably the greatest work ever on this Earth. Yet the Laodiceans he taught reject that government. By so doing, they imply that God’s work can be done without God’s government! The opposite is true. The Laodiceans rebel by eating from the tree of human reasoning. They reason around God’s government. Mr. Armstrong did such a great work only because he did administer God’s family government. The fruits prove that to be true.

Any work’s success can be measured by how effectively it applies God’s government. If we don’t implement God’s government, we are eating from the wrong tree. And that means we are choosing not to be rulers in God’s family. Thankfully, half of the Laodiceans are prophesied to repent in the Great Tribulation.

“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15). The evil should read the evil one. Lucifer was given God’s government, but then refused to administer it. Now he is working feverishly to get God’s people to follow him—as one third of the angels did. He is the author of statements like “the evils of one-man rule.” And God’s Laodicean Church has bought his philosophy.

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one” (vv. 21-22). They were one because Christ was always willing to submit to His Father. Christ demonstrated the ultimate depth of humility. Our glory is to be one—as the Father and Son are one. This is the deepest kind of unity, which ordinary men cannot even imagine.

The Father and Christ have never had a serious disagreement. They have never disagreed over one major doctrine. This is the government that has always ruled the universe! And it will continue to rule the universe as God’s family (Isa. 9:6-7).

God’s government is the only government that has ever worked—and it has worked forever! It is the only government that ever will work!

It is not natural for man to submit to this government. It’s very unnatural. But by overcoming our human nature, we qualify to rule with God forever.

We are discussing God’s universe-ruling government. It is a huge concept which we must work to master—if we want to be a part of it.

If you understand family in the Bible, physical or spiritual, it’s about government. The physical family is a God-plane relationship, created to lead us into the spiritual family. The physical family was created for this awesome purpose. That physical family is a type of God’s own family!

The word government is only used four times in the Bible. Why is such an important subject mentioned so rarely? Because no government in this world is like God’s. All governments are evil. Not one government is even remotely close to God’s. So God usually refers to His government as Father and Son. It is a family government of deep love. If men would study that government, they would remove the horror-house governments of this world.

The only way to ever correct this evil world is to implement God’s precious and inspiring family government. It is the solution to all of man’s problems.

It is not easy to submit to God’s government, but it brings awe-inspiring, precious rewards. Even the majority of God’s own Spirit-begotten Church has rejected that government in this end time. They are not fellowshiping with the Father and Christ. But they were taught how to and are going to be greatly ashamed.

The word government fails to fully express the meaning of God’s family government. It is a loving family government that will bring peace for all eternity. May God speed that glorious day!

Zerubbabel’s Building

The book of Zechariah contains prophecy for this end time—right now! “And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof” (Zech. 4:2). This refers to the prophesied seven Church eras (Rev. 1:20; Rev. 2 and 3).

“Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6). An end-time Zerubbabel came and built by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. He was the example we are to follow.

“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you” (vv. 8-9). This end-time Zerubbabel built a great work. He laid the foundation for that work and finished it (Mal. 3:1; 4:5-6; Matt. 17:10-11; Matt. 24:14). He finished an era (Rev. 3:7-8). This was a gigantic work and can be easily identified by God’s loyal people. He not only started that work—he finished it. It is a magnificent spiritual structure.

God says, “Thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.” If you are spiritually discerning, you know this refers to Herbert Armstrong and what he built! God is discussing a one-man rule and you must see what he built with God’s government. You can study in detail what he built. Then you will know God sent him. This is not a guessing game. We must know through whom God built His end-time work!

If God sends a man who lays the foundation and finishes a great work, we must know God was behind it. Our salvation depends on it. That is why God says you shall know. In time, everyone is going to see what Mr. Armstrong did and accept it—or go into the lake of fire! That is because God sent that man.

“For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth” (v. 10). Even in the day of small things—when he began—you should know who sent him.

From the beginning of that work, you could see God’s plummet in his hand. He built for God from the very smallest beginning. He built God’s only house, or Church, in this end time. He started and finished the Philadelphia era. With God’s plummet, he built and measured with God’s Holy Spirit.

If we look to men, the day of small things will deceive us. We don’t see the living God behind the man.

If we have closely studied this man’s work, then we know exactly where God’s work is today. We know how God built in the past and is building today.

It is only through this one man that we were taught to build. That is why a small remnant knew how to measure for God when Mr. Armstrong died (Rev. 11:1).

He taught us that from the beginning vision and we cannot be deceived—if we hold fast. It was a one-man rule in the greatest work of this end time.

“In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts” (Hag. 2:23). In that day means this end time.

It is only necessary to leave a signet behind when the man is gone or is dead. Notice what the New Bible Dictionary says concerning signet: “The action describes the passing of the master’s word to his disciples.”

God’s true disciples will be ruled by what God taught through Mr. Armstrong. They will submit to the government he taught. That is what the signet is all about.

Unger’s Bible Dictionary defines the signet as “an emblem of authority.” Anciently, it was used as the king’s authority when he was absent. It’s about submitting to the government taught by an end-time Zerubbabel—after he died. Herbert Armstrong clearly fulfilled that role.

God’s signet, or signature, is on Mr. Armstrong’s work. You will find God’s work today when you find that signet, or God’s government. Mr. Armstrong is the man and work we must study and heed to find God. He was the spiritual father of us all—as Paul was in his time (i Cor. 4:15).

“And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts” (Hag. 2:7). This is a time when God is about to shake all nations—obviously, the end time.

“The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts” (v. 9). Here is a house more glorious than Solomon’s temple, by far. It is God’s spiritual house or Church today. It is the only place on Earth where you will find God’s peace. That peace passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7).

The modern-day priests, or ministers, mentioned here have a problem with God’s law. When the ministry administers God’s law, that is God’s government. If the ministry errs about God’s law, the Church is led into disaster. What they offer becomes polluted (vv. 12-14). However, God tells them how to avoid such a catastrophe. We urgently need to grasp this lesson.

“And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord” (v. 15). God directs us back to the beginning. Before one stone was laid to build the temple, or before one doctrine was established to build God’s end-time Church. (For more information on the book of Haggai, write for our free booklet, Haggai—Proof of God’s Work Today.)

Go back to the beginning of Mr. Armstrong’s life with God. Study his Autobiography (vol. 1). See how God prepared this man to build this majestic end-time temple. Then examine from the first doctrine to the last and see how he restored all things for God. He was used by God for over 50 years to build the Philadelphia era of God’s Church. See how he measured and built. Then follow His example, and you will find the living God!

These rebellious ministers are condemned because they could not measure accurately for God (vv. 16-17). They failed to build as Zerubbabel did. If you go back to the beginning, that is easy to see.

Study what Mr. Armstrong built, stone by stone (v. 18). Carefully study Mystery of the Ages and his other major writings.

The harvest is not in yet. God can still bless your life if you have not yet heeded (v. 19). If you go back to Mr. Armstrong’s beginning, you’ll capture this vision “from the beginning.”