My Father

Many of us can rightly consider Herbert W. Armstrong a spiritual “father,” the same way the Apostle Paul was to many in the first century (1 Corinthians 4:15). He helped me to relate personally to God the Father.

My own father did not know how to be a good father because no one had taught him how; his father didn’t know how. So he did many things wrong. This is true, to one degree or another, for many of you in your own family background. To turn a family around, someone in the family needs to break the cycle and learn how to do it right.

My dad was an alcoholic and, at times, pretty violent. When I was growing up, he gave me some severe discipline. He didn’t whip me a lot, but when he did, he really cracked down, usually with a good-size switch.

I needed some of that correction, but many of my needs went unfulfilled. I certainly learned to submit to government, but there were many things I wasn’t taught that I should have been. Frankly, I grew to have a certain amount of bitterness toward my father. That made it difficult for me to relate to God.

When the time came, I was happy to move out on my own. I wanted to live the “exciting life” everyone in the world was living. Yet it wasn’t that way at all. Soon I felt life was hopeless and empty. I even started wondering whether there was a God. The more I tried to prove it, the more I thought God did not exist. This discouraged me even more.

My mother had been called into God’s truth in 1957, and from that time she tried endlessly to convert me. I rebelled against that and persecuted her for it. Whenever Herbert W. Armstrong came on the radio, she turned up the volume so I could hear him, and that upset me. I was antagonistic against him and his message—that is, until my life had become so miserable and hopeless that I was desperate enough to do anything to change it, even if it meant looking into “Mom’s religion.”

Protected by God

About the time I was being called, one stormy night my dad was out back, knocking to get into the house, but no one heard him because it was raining and thundering. Finally I heard him and went to open the door. He was standing there, drenched, drunk and in a rage because we hadn’t let him in quicker.

He stormed into the house and into the back bedroom. When he came back out, he had a handgun, and he was coming after me. I recognized what he intended to do and tried to grab the gun. But before I could reach it, he put it against my head, and I heard the gun click.

I took the gun from him. It turned out that, though the chamber had been empty when he fired at me, the next chamber did have a bullet in it. My dad had literally tried to kill me.

I am convinced God miraculously saved my life. He had plans for me, and that is one of a few instances I can think of where He protected me.

Humanly, I would rather not mention that incident, but it might help you to know what God brought me through.

Sometimes we hold back from really giving ourselves to God because we have a bad background or certain problems in our past. We just can’t quite get over it and put it behind us. We may think, If I hadn’t had this or that happen to me, maybe I could make it.

We must not limit God. He has reasons for calling whom He calls, and He can work miracles in our lives beyond what we can imagine. Often, He has ways of using the tragedies in our past to His ultimate advantage.

I will be honest: The way my dad abused his authority made it a struggle in some ways for me to get my mind straight about authority in the Church. Having seen authority abused, I learned to hate that about as much as anything. It has also helped me learn to exercise authority in a godly way.

Did you know that most of the people God has called into His Church have had problems, some of them extremely serious? Some of what many of us have gone through in our childhood was so horrible we don’t want to talk about it! 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 describe us as the despised and lowly of the world.

We have all come out of a world that can leave us deeply scarred. But we can’t sit around and mope about that. If you have come out of a situation like I did, or worse, what can you do?

Thankfully, my own children didn’t have to deal with those problems. They certainly have a flawed father, but things got better all the time—as they do in God’s Church. Because of God, we can stop that madness in our families! You and I have that opportunity. What a priceless blessing! We must take advantage of it.

Called Into God’s Church

In early 1961, I was 25 years old and living in St. Louis, Missouri, when God called me into His Church. At that time, I was a spiritual mess—one big towering failure. My life was so off course, I’m sure I would not have survived to age 40. I really needed someone to give me direction.

God had brought me to the point of desperation. I knew I needed help, and I was thankful there was a God who would reach out to me. When He called me, I took advantage of His help.

There is only one way we can learn how to make life work, and that is to have our heavenly Father show us!

For example, a few years later when I got married and had a child on the way, I knew nothing about how to rear children; my parents had not set an example I could follow. Mom was too easy; Dad was too hard and taught me little. Where would I learn how to train my children? That is something we must learn from God!

So I began to study God’s Word and the child-rearing book published by the Worldwide Church of God. I studied and studied. I wanted to give my children the opportunity to make successes of themselves! I wanted to give them the direction they needed, the way God was giving it to me.

Right at the heart of Mr. Armstrong’s teaching was his instruction about the God-plane institution of family. He taught us how to build beautiful marriages and how to rear happy children. We educated our children with Youth Educational Services lessons; we provided our teens rich experiences through the Youth Opportunities United program—with its sporting events, talent contests and summer camps.

Anyone who applied God’s family education personally experienced the blessings that result!

A Father Figure

Once I was in God’s Church, I came to think of Herbert W. Armstrong as a father. My own father was lacking, but I saw that Mr. Armstrong was very stable. Following him helped me stabilize my life and become a stronger man.

I proved that Mr. Armstrong was God’s man. He led the Church powerfully, keeping the truth alive. He gave me what it took to make my life meaningful and happy. He taught me how to love God; I had never experienced anything like that before.

It is a very biblical perspective to view Mr. Armstrong as a father. The Apostle Paul had a fatherly perspective toward God’s people. He considered men like Timothy, Titus and Onesimus as sons (1 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 10). He called the members in Galatia “[m]y little children” (Galatians 4:19). He exhorted and comforted God’s people “as a father doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of God …” (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12). To the people of Corinth he wrote, “I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you” (1 Corinthians 4:14).

Paul considered his followers to be his spiritual sons. Why? “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (verse 15). Paul was their spiritual father because they came to God through him. He called himself their spiritual father.

Mr. Armstrong said the same to all those who came to God, either directly or indirectly, through him.

This is different from giving someone the title “father.” Jesus Christ instructs us not to use that as a religious title (Matthew 23:9). In God’s Church we do not call our ministers “father” as is done in the Catholic Church. We did not address Mr. Armstrong that way, Paul did not use that title, and members of the Philadelphia Church of God do not address me or any minister that way. But that did not stop Paul or Mr. Armstrong from describing themselves as fathers to the Church members.

Paul and Mr. Armstrong were rare. We “have not many fathers.” This “father” label is a very exalted calling from God! That is because it points us to God the Father.

The End-time Elijah

Here is a clear, direct prophecy from God, which was fulfilled by Herbert W. Armstrong: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5). Mr. Armstrong came in the spirit and power of Elijah the prophet. It is clear from this prophecy that this role would be fulfilled in the end time. The “great and dreadful day of the Lord” hasn’t happened yet, but it is about to!

Mr. Armstrong recognized toward the end of his ministry that he fulfilled this prophecy. He said so on several occasions and wrote about it in his final book, Mystery of the Ages. Yet within three years of his death, his successor, Joseph Tkach, said, “It is not appropriate … to assign various scriptures to Mr. Armstrong or me personally as though our leadership were specifically prophesied in the Bible. Besides being erroneous and spiritually presumptuous, this kind of thinking only serves to falsely brand God’s Church as a cultish sect that worships its human leaders” (Worldwide News, Jan. 9, 1989).

Mr. Tkach gave no scriptures to support his assertion, which was a massive change in the Church’s teaching. When Christ’s disciples asked Him about Malachi’s prophecy, He didn’t tell them not to assign names to it. In fact, He told them that prophecy had already been fulfilled, in type, by a specific man—John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

Of course, that fulfillment wasn’t “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord”—there would be an end-time Elijah. And Christ also said that in this end time, Elijah would “restore all things” (verse 11). If you really know your Bible, you will notice when a man is restoring all things! That is what Mr. Armstrong did for God’s Church, restoring all the foundational doctrines of truth that had been lost. If God hadn’t sent him, we would know nothing about the true gospel of Christ, the purpose of God, the government of God, the nature of God. We wouldn’t know God’s master plan and how it is pictured by the annual holy days. We wouldn’t have the key that unlocks biblical prophecy, which is one third of your Bible! Mr. Armstrong restored all these truths and many more. No one else has even come close to fulfilling this role. God worked through one man to restore these truths—not a committee of scholars. That is undeniable. (Request our free booklet A Pivotal Sign of the End Time to learn all about this prophecy.)

God always builds His Work around a man. If you don’t accept this profound concept, then you must reject the end-time Elijah and what Christ said about him. God’s whole end-time Work revolves around him! The Bible makes that clear. He was the physical leader directing the Church under Christ. The whole Church got behind him to do God’s Work.

The Laodicean groups do not believe Mr. Armstrong fulfilled this fundamental prophetic role! Some of their members may believe it, but their leaders are wishy-washy about it at best. That condemns their religion!

Because we understand Mr. Armstrong fulfilled this pivotal prophesied role, we published Mystery of the Ages and several other important works he wrote. Those books were inspired by God, and He wants them offered and distributed freely to this world! The wcg sued us to try to keep Mr. Armstrong’s books out of print. We battled them in court for six years before they finally offered to sell us the copyrights. The Laodicean groups did nothing to help us. Many Laodiceans hoped we would fail! If they valued the truth restored by God’s end-time Elijah, they would have supported our effort to keep it alive—but they did not! That loudly testifies of their disrespect, or even contempt, for God’s Elijah.

You must prove this foundational doctrine. Once you do, it provides a solid foundation for many aspects of biblical understanding and right living, according to every word of God.

Do you view Mr. Armstrong the way God does?

Turn Your Heart

Here is how God describes Mr. Armstrong’s work: “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:6). The subject is family love—turning the hearts of fathers to children and children to fathers. That is not just about physical family, but about God’s Family.

Mr. Armstrong turned my heart to God the Father! He fulfilled this prophecy in my personal life! He did that for many tens of thousands of people who became members in the Worldwide Church of God. And he also worked very hard to build physical families, especially within the Church but even with people in the world. What a marvelous Work God did through this man!

God the Father has turned His heart toward us—we need to turn our hearts toward Him and love Him. Once people have learned to love their heavenly Father, they will then learn to love their children, their family and everyone else. That will revolutionize our lives, turn everything around, and change the whole world!

If there is one word that describes where the Laodiceans have gone wrong and where the remnant of Philadelphians has not, I believe it is the understanding of the word father.

Note the warning at the end of this passage: There are people who turned away from what Mr. Armstrong taught and accomplished—and they are about to receive the ultimate curse and lose their eternal lives! To avoid that curse, we must turn our hearts to God and love His government as Mr. Armstrong did and as he taught others to do.

The Schools of Elijah

The life of the original Prophet Elijah has many parallels with the end-time Elijah. Elijah raised up three colleges, probably located in Gilgal, Bethel and Jericho (e.g. 2 Kings 2:1-5; see also 2 Kings 4:38). Mr. Armstrong also raised up three colleges. Gilgal was in Ephraim. Mr. Armstrong also had a college in Ephraim, modern-day Britain.

Why did God establish these colleges? We can know the answer because we know why Mr. Armstrong established Ambassador College: Without it, the Work simply couldn’t grow. The Work kept falling apart as fast as he could build it because he didn’t have the ministerial and administrative help to keep people’s minds on what God was doing. After he started the colleges, he had trained help, and the Work began to grow at a phenomenal pace!

Elijah was educating students to teach the whole world. That is what this Elijah work is all about: preparing teachers to teach and to lead all humanity! Through the college, God was able to deeply educate people in His vision! That is His goal. People don’t naturally have godly vision, but once He can educate them and point them in the right direction, they can do a great Work for God! That is also why we have established Herbert W. Armstrong College at the Philadelphia Church of God headquarters campus in Edmond, Oklahoma.

The students of Elijah’s schools were called “the sons of the prophets” (1 Kings 20:35; 2 Kings 2:3; etc.). They looked to Elijah as a father. He taught them all about God’s Family.

An inspiring proof of that fact comes at the moment Elijah’s authority is transferred to Elisha, his successor.

Elijah was about to be taken away by God. Apparently, he was visiting his three colleges to say goodbye. He loved those young men, and they were extremely emotional about his departure. He told Elisha to remain behind in Gilgal while he traveled to Bethel, but Elisha said, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee” (verse 2). Elijah, as he went from college to college, kept offering Elisha the chance to stay behind. But Elisha would not leave Elijah’s side. He was deeply loyal to his teacher!

Elisha had learned something most of God’s people still have not learned today, and that is never to leave Elijah! Even after his death, do not leave the spirit of Elijah or what he taught. If it is God’s Elijah work, we must cling to it!

‘My Father, My Father’

At last God took Elijah in an impressive display! “[T]here appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11).

Here was Elisha’s emotional response: “And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. …” (verse 12). Elijah was not his biological father, but his spiritual father, through whom he had received the truth of God, just as Mr. Armstrong was our father in this end time.

I believe God has separated the Philadelphians from the Laodiceans mainly over this issue. All the Laodiceans have rejected the father office, which means they have rejected God’s family government. This is the foremost reason they are Laodicean.

The members of the pcg look to Mr. Armstrong as “my father, my father.” Of course, he was not infallible; this is simply acknowledging him as the man who gave us the truth of God. If we are going to make it, our attitude toward Mr. Armstrong’s teachings must be like Elisha’s reverence for Elijah’s work.

Elisha saw that Elijah’s office was the only office that could lead Israel forward! It was Israel’s only hope—then and now! He saw that, ultimately, all Israel would be governed by the teachings of Elijah. Calling out “My father, my father” revealed his deep understanding and beautiful attitude. God loved his attitude so much that He used Elisha to continue His Work after Elijah. That is why Elisha was chosen for the job, I believe. As Elijah was about to be taken away, Elisha didn’t think, I’m glad I’m finally getting that job! He wasn’t like a vulture waiting for Elijah to die. Elisha said, My father, my father! He loved Elijah.

The original Elijah and the end-time Elijah held extremely important “father” offices for God. The pcg, like Elisha, recognizes that fact. This is the foundational issue that sets the pcg apart from the Laodicean groups. That is why we fought in court for Mystery of the Ages and nobody else did. Only the pcg today owns the copyright and prints and freely distributes that important book.

This is such a vital principle to understand. If you follow Elisha’s example in this respect, God will make you a king with a headquarters position forever!

Why? Because this foundational truth points us to God the Father.

Jesus Christ said, “[M]y Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). He repeatedly made such statements to establish the Father-Son family relationship. God is trying to get us to capture, or recapture, this God Family vision. We can rule in the God Family only after we prove to God that we will be ruled—that we are in total subjection to God our Father.

The lukewarm Laodiceans show by the way they treat Mr. Armstrong’s writings that they are not honoring God the Father! If you don’t understand the role Mr. Armstrong filled, you don’t understand God the Father!

This is a beautiful family vision that a person with a carnal attitude cannot grasp because God cannot reveal it to him.

God wants you to honor Him. Mr. Armstrong established Ambassador College to teach the young people that. If all those students had clung to this truth, we would have many thousands of people in the Church today doing a spectacular work! We ought to have many more people helping to deliver God’s message, because it is the only hope in the world today. Imagine the impact on the world we could have with more people!

This family understanding will keep us spiritually grounded forever! Then God knows we shall always remain loyal to the Father and Son and anyone else they place over us. We must become locked into God’s family government and accept the Family rule forever!

The God of Elijah

After Elijah was taken away, Elisha learned an important lesson. “He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over” (2 Kings 2:13-14).

If you study this account in the original Hebrew, you will see that the first time Elisha came up to the Jordan, he smote the water but didn’t speak—and nothing happened. Then he asked the important question, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” and smote the water, and the river opened up and he walked across!

Do you want to know how to do the Work of God today? How to have doors open for you—even part rivers, if necessary? Here is the formula. Elisha knew where the God of Elijah was, and he was following his spiritual father. So God parted the waters of the river for him, just as He did for Elijah.

Where is the God of Elijah today? Where is the great Almighty God who did that powerful Work?

Can you answer that question? Far too many of God’s people aren’t even asking it! Most of them are not even interested in where He is! If they wanted to know, they would submit to God’s government and end up in God’s true Church.

After Mr. Armstrong’s death, many Church members failed to look to the God behind the man. They didn’t ask where that God of miracles was—as if He had died along with Mr. Armstrong!

God did not die! Yet none of the scattered churches of God have that kind of power. They don’t receive and proclaim God’s revelation. They have rejected God’s government. And their works are devoid of the kind of miracles and wonders that were almost routine when the Work was led by Mr. Armstrong.

We must find and remain with the God of Elijah!

When the waters of the Jordan parted for Elisha, everyone knew where the God of Elijah was. “And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him” (verse 15). These young students were deeply submissive to God’s government. It’s sad that so few of Mr. Armstrong’s “students” have this attitude.

Where is the God of Elijah today, who did such a powerful Work through His end-time messenger? You can answer that question with another question: Where are the people who honor God as a Father today, and at the same time, honor Mr. Armstrong as a spiritual father?

Honor the Father

The book of Malachi is directed at the Laodiceans. The first criticism in that book is about God not being honored as a Father. This has far deeper meaning than we sometimes realize. I believe it is at the root of all the Laodiceans’ problems.

Malachi’s prophecy begins, “The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob” (Malachi 1:1-2).

God brings up Jacob and Esau for good reason: These two brothers were estranged, alienated from one another. There is family division in God’s Church today. What is the cause? Here God tells us why.

“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? …” (verse 6).

What a penetrating question! Where is my honor? This is profoundly important to God. Astonishingly, some Laodiceans no longer believe that God is a Father.

The Laodiceans stopped honoring God the Father, the Head of the Family! It’s impossible to survive if we do that. They rejected their spiritual Father. They also rejected Mr. Armstrong. But it wasn’t really Mr. Armstrong they rejected—it was our spiritual Father, God the Father!

To maintain a right spiritual perspective, you must honor the Father! If you fail to do so, you are rejecting the Family and the Family government.

Even in a physical family, if it is to be strong and produce good fruits such as children with character, the father must be honored. If he is not, the family begins to break down.

God is a Father—and He must be honored.

The Fear of God

In Malachi 1:6, God corrects the Laodiceans for their lack of godly fear: “[I]f I be a master, where is my fear?”

Contrast this with Mr. Armstrong’s example, also highlighted in Malachi. There God refers to him as “Levi,” who was the father of the physical Levites, who ministered in the tabernacle and the temple (e.g. Deuteronomy 21:5). God uses that prophetic name to show that Mr. Armstrong was the spiritual father of God’s ministry in this end time.

God tells the Laodicean ministry, “And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 2:4). God made a covenant with this man. He then commends him: “My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity” (verses 5-6). What a commendation! Mr. Armstrong turned many people away from lawless living, like he did me! My life is a personal testimony of his fulfilling this prophecy. Many among the Philadelphian remnant would say the same.

Notice what this says about Mr. Armstrong’s character: His fear of God is mentioned three times in verse 5 alone. Mr. Armstrong had a living fear of breaking God’s law and going against His government. That is why he did such a great work. He was a remarkable example of that fear—and a model of obedience to God! No one can honestly deny the fruits.

Do you fear God? Is that reflected in your daily life? If you are a Christian, following Jesus Christ, you must fear God. This is a deep, respectful awe that leads to right living. God commands it (Deuteronomy 10:12, 20; see also Deuteronomy 6:2, 13; 13:4; Ecclesiastes 12:13). Fearing God is “the beginning of wisdom” and “the beginning of knowledge” (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10; 1:7). Jesus Himself echoed this principle (Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5). Throughout the New Testament, the fear of God is tied to holiness, obedience, worship, humility and motivation to avoid sin (e.g. 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:17; Revelation 14:7).

God cannot rule anyone who doesn’t fear Him. We must properly fear Him and fear breaking His law. That produces obedience from the heart! Our level of understanding will depend on how much we fear God and humble ourselves before Him like a little child. Then He can reveal His truth to us. Those who do this, God rewards mightily!

We all need to learn to fear God as Mr. Armstrong did. Study that man’s life. We will happily send you a free copy of his autobiography, which is filled with examples of how that fear motivated his righteous life. This is one of the books we won the copyright for.

God also confronts His people’s lack of fear in Jeremiah 2-7. “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts” (Jeremiah 2:19). Is He talking about you? So many of God’s people had that fear—but now they have “forsaken the Lord.”

“‘Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Will you not tremble at My presence, Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? …’” (Jeremiah 5:22; nkjv). God is an all-powerful God to be feared! Do you fear to disobey Him and rouse His anger? Most of God’s people in this era do not! “But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God …” (verses 23-24). That fear needs to be in our heart.

Notice how verse 24 describes God: “… that giveth rain, both the former [revelation given to Herbert W. Armstrong] and the latter [revelation given during this final Church era], in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.” The biblical truths and doctrines Mr. Armstrong taught truly were spiritually refreshing rain—but we have to realize that the Source of that was not a man but God Himself! That is also true of the revelation we have received during this Laodicean era. What a precious gift we ought to cherish!

Appointed weeks refers to the Feast of Pentecost. That holy day pictures Christ marrying us! Christ’s wife must properly fear her Husband and submit to His lead. This fear is a great treasure. If this marriage were real to God’s people, they surely wouldn’t rebel against such an unparalleled honor.

“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you” (verse 25). How tragic! God yearns to give His people so many good things— wonderful, inspiring blessings—but He cannot do so because of their sin and rebellion! Are you denying God the opportunity to give you “good things”?

Remember that question from God: “If I be a master, where is my fear?” Do you fear when your marriage might be failing? Do you fear when your children are not doing what they should? Do you fear whether you are lukewarm toward God’s Work? Do you fear whether you are doing your part in this Work? Do you fear division in the Church? Do you fear competing with God’s government? Can you get on your knees and say, God, I know that there are some areas where I hate your government, and I don’t want to change my marriage, or I don’t want to work with my children the way I should. God, please help me to fear you the way Mr. Armstrong did!

The time will come when every knee will bow to Christ (Philippians 2:10). God is giving you, as you read this message, the opportunity to become one of the first to bow to Christ the King—before the rest of humanity does. Those who refuse His rule will lose their lives.

Remember the Father’s Name

Further on, Malachi describes the faithful Philadelphians: “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name” (Malachi 3:16). Whose name? This is talking about God the Father. These saints have proper fear of God, and they remember God the Father’s name.

Look how the Father blesses these people: “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (verse 17). The word jewels is not a good translation to describe God’s faithful saints. The Hebrew word means a special treasure. It describes what God prizes.

We are far more than jewels to God. We are sons! You know that a pile of jewels is nothing compared to your own son or daughter. Your own child truly is a special treasure!

Even the Soncino commentary says these people are not like the other people in the book of Malachi; these are a faithful minority. Indeed they are. They are extremely special sons to God.

God spares from the Great Tribulation His own sons who serve Him. That is how He feels about His obedient sons. He expects honor. And when you honor your Father, He will spare you like any father would his son. That is the love of a father. We ought to thank God for that daily! That keeps these saints loyal: They know their Father, and they know they are sons, and they thank God for that continually! Oh, Father, I am your son! You look after me and protect me and provide all that I need! What a blessing to be your son! What have I ever done to be such a special treasure to you?

God’s people enjoy a special relationship with God today—and we are called to help all humanity enter that special relationship! In Jeremiah 3:18, God says He will reunite the divided kingdom of Israel: “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.” That is inspiring—but it is only the start! God is then going to unite the whole world! He will graft all the Gentiles into the Family.

We are going to help God bring all people under one Head. How is that possible? The only way we will ever unite this world is to unite them under one leader—God the Father. Then they too will become His special treasure!

‘A Glorious Throne’

Isaiah 22 has an end-time prophecy about a father and son: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah” (verse 20). Two clay seal impressions, or bullae, with the names Eliakim and Hilkiah were excavated in Israel proving their familial relationship. We displayed these artifacts in Armstrong Auditorium as part of our “Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered” exhibit. I believe God was behind that. These two bullae don’t mean much to the world, but they mean a great deal to us: They point to the end-time Hilkiah and Eliakim, who are types of Herbert W. Armstrong and me, respectively. God actually calls Eliakim “the son of” Hilkiah! How inspiring!

God gives Eliakim a responsibility in this end time: a government to administer (verse 21). This was stripped from an evil leader in God’s Church, Shebna (verses 15-19).

Verse 21 states: “… and he [Eliakim] shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.” This man is a “father” to the inhabitants of spiritual Jerusalem—the people in God’s Church. These supporters and members all share the goal to do everything possible to have unity and harmony in this government.

Eliakim is a type of my office. God has given me His government. We have government in this Church, with a focus on the Father. The Father is trying to help us see what it takes to get away from Shebna and his false teachings. Eliakim is a spiritual father; he is the son of Hilkiah, who preceded him in that office. In spiritual Jerusalem, God says, this leader is not a tyrant but a father. This type of leadership does not force itself; it simply leads as God directs. God says that Eliakim is also a father to Judah. This is a family government, a family Work. God really emphasizes that here.

This “father” can’t do all the Work by himself; he needs a lot of support. All of us are doing the Work, and there is only one way to do it. Mr. Armstrong made that clear. God the Father is the Head, and He is the ultimate authority. We are on Earth to be His sons and daughters—His Family. Government is everything.

We have not many fathers in the Church. God emphasizes these two leaders, Hilkiah and Eliakim, as fathers.

Regarding Eliakim, God says, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (verse 22). This is about the house of David—descendants of King David himself! God has opened many powerful doors for His Work, enabling us to proclaim His truth around the world.

“And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house” (verse 23). How will Eliakim be for a “glorious throne”? What “glorious throne” could this be? This is David’s throne—a glorious throne! It is a prophecy about David’s throne being here in this Church. I explain this important prophecy in detail in my book The New Throne of David (please request a free copy). That book shows how this throne started with a new “stone of destiny”—Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock. This revelation builds on the revelation in The United States and Britain in Prophecy and explains how that throne will be turned over to Jesus Christ!

Mr. Armstrong was the end-time Elijah, and we carry on the Elijah work. We must keep in mind the focus here on “father.” Eliakim is the son of Hilkiah. Mr. Armstrong is in the picture the whole time. He prepared the way for us to have a new stone and a new throne.

You see him also in the next verse: “And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house”—that harkens back to Hilkiah—“the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons” (verse 24).

All unrepentant Laodiceans are going into the Tribulation, and only 50 percent will come out of it—in a resurrection—after dying in the Tribulation! The “offspring” are those who repent and are reconciled to God. The “issue” are the 50 percent who lose their eternal lives. The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary says “issue” refers to “vile things … worthless shoots, excrement.” God says they are like worthless excrement! (Please read Chapter 6 of Isaiah’s End-Time Vision to learn more.) Those who reject God are like spiritual dung! God will have nothing to do with them.

What caused the Laodiceans to degenerate to this horrible state? They lost the vision of the Family of God.

This is a big issue to God! He is the Father! This is His Family! God loves His Family; He gave His only begotten Son to be savagely beaten and then crucified to pay for our sins. What a tremendous sacrifice! That is how much the Father loves His Family! He called those people into the Church and chose them. He is very mournful over their rebellion.

We must emphasize the Father in the family government. You need to be absolutely clear on and excited about this most foundational truth. God is telling us, If you can get the focus right and can learn to follow me, your Father, I truly am going to let you share the very throne of Christ and rule this world with Him!

A Work of Miracles

When Herbert W. Armstrong led the Worldwide Church of God, it was a work of miracles. Over his 55 years in Jesus Christ’s ministry, the Work blossomed. It started with nothing and grew into a huge, Spirit-led Work that spread God’s beautiful truth across the world.

Mr. Armstrong oversaw a work that was based on the principle of give—which is an expression of God’s love. By the end of his life, the Church was giving 8 million free copies of the Plain Truth newsmagazine each month, a greater circulation than Time and Newsweek combined at that time. We gave 6 million copies of The United States and Britain in Prophecy, not to mention countless other magazines, newspapers, books, booklets, tracts and articles—all without cost. We made the World Tomorrow broadcast freely available on over 400 television stations.

At that time, the Work received an annual income of about $200 million. God put our tithes and offerings to magnificent use, and we were happy to be part of such a noble cause.

The Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, which Mr. Armstrong founded in 1975, sponsored humanitarian projects including archaeological digs, schools and anthropological excursions. Its activities stretched from Bombay to Brussels, the Philippines to the Netherlands, Tokyo to Cairo. We hosted projects in Jerusalem, Jordan, London, Nepal and Okinawa. Why? Because Mr. Armstrong was commissioned to preach the gospel “for a witness unto all nations” (Matthew 24:14).

Using the international contacts Mr. Armstrong established through the cultural foundation, God opened doors for him to meet hundreds of high-ranking officials around the world. Mr. Armstrong was invited to speak publicly on many occasions, and he took those opportunities to preach the gospel—to tell people about God’s master plan and about their incredible human potential. These events opened the way for personal appearance campaigns, where he spoke to many thousands of leading people in various countries.

At the wcg’s headquarters in Pasadena, California, we hosted the concert series, staged in Ambassador Auditorium, which attracted world-class performing artists and brought a standard of excellence to the community. Physically, it was the crowning achievement of a Work that over decades had built great resources to draw on for the betterment of mankind.

Under Mr. Armstrong, the Worldwide Church of God practiced the way of give—of godly character, generosity, cultural enrichment, true education, of beautifying the environment and caring for fellow man. Mr. Armstrong never deviated from his God-given commission, and the Work flourished! His work acknowledged God’s desire to have all men saved and brought to the knowledge of His truth (1 Timothy 2:3-6). It was an inspiring display of God’s love for all mankind.

When Mr. Armstrong died, he was highly praised by leaders and prominent individuals from around the world. Even unconverted people could clearly see the towering legacy of love and generosity he left behind, and they were deeply impressed by it. Certainly we in the Church all recognized on a much deeper level what he had achieved.

What truly distinguished Mr. Armstrong’s accomplishments was that they were all built on the foundation of God’s truth. God flooded Mr. Armstrong with biblical understanding, restoring all true foundational doctrines to His Church through that man. We learned and lived by the wonderful truths of God, and our lives were richer as a result.

Did Mr. Armstrong do all that? Certainly he worked hard to implement God’s law and government and to walk by faith. But was the Work so powerful and effective simply because of Mr. Armstrong’s intellect or advertising expertise? Did Mr. Armstrong swing open all those mighty doors?

No—the great God did that!

As Zechariah 4:6 says, and as Mr. Armstrong often noted, that Work was done “[n]ot by [human] might, nor by [human] power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” It doesn’t take great spiritual discernment to recognize that God was behind that Work—God was blessing that Work—God was empowering and multiplying that Work—as Mr. Armstrong submitted to Him. No man could have ever built such a marvelous and wondrous work in this satanic world. It was built and sustained by the miracles of the living God!

Critics

Since Mr. Armstrong died, I have heard a lot of people criticize him in unfair, even scandalous ways! I know those criticisms are rank slander! There simply is no truth to most of the accusations against him. Mr. Armstrong made mistakes, and he publicly acknowledged many of them. But God could never have accomplished what He did through that man for over 50 years unless he was righteous and intensely committed to serving God! He changed my life in many wonderful ways. To this day I am deeply grateful for him, and I look forward to seeing him again in God’s Kingdom very soon!

The Laodiceans don’t want God’s government. They don’t want “the evils of one-man rule,” as they have publicly stated. Those words are from the mind of the devil! They never discuss the blessings of one-man rule when that man follows God. Was the era of Herbert Armstrong evil? I know that Mr. Armstrong’s rule was wonderful. It almost drove me crazy after he died, when we no longer had that wonderful gift. Is one-man rule bad? I have to say my experience with one-man rule was splendid! I exalt the office, not the man. But Mr. Armstrong was a wonderful blessing all my adult life. I know. I experienced it. I don’t care what any carnal-minded rebel says.

Naturally, the Church wasn’t perfect; there were problems. Some members and even ministers did not implement God’s loving family government the right way. But the problem went well beyond simple neglect. As mentioned earlier in this book, Revelation 3:9 tells us that “the synagogue of Satan” was actually at work within the Church of the Philadelphia era—even while Mr. Armstrong was alive!

The Bible is filled with prophecies that show that God knew this crisis would happen—and actually allowed it in order to test our loyalty to Him. The Bible also shows that He is going to bring every abuse to judgment. God will not be mocked! I strongly encourage you to request a free copy of Malachi’s Message for a thorough scriptural study of God’s perspective on what happened to the wcg.

Many of God’s people have turned away from God altogether—because of the mistakes and sins of men. They are missing the big picture.

Do the sins of men change the truth of God?

Mr. Armstrong died 40 years ago. But did the Almighty God who empowered his work die?

Is God too weak to do the same marvelous Work today—simply because a man has been taken from the scene? Absolutely not.

The Work of the PCG

The Philadelphia Church of God has far fewer members and supporters than the wcg had at its height. But I challenge you to examine the miraculous Work God is doing with these few!

The pcg started out in December 1989 with $80 and 12 people. Since that small beginning, God has given us a wonderful group of faithful, loyal supporters all over the world. He has opened doors for us to produce television programs, daily podcasts and radio programs for mass audiences. The Key of David is broadcast on television stations worldwide. God has given us the means to freely distribute hundreds of booklets, magazines and Bible correspondence course lessons to millions of people. The Philadelphia Trumpet magazine and its website, theTrumpet.com, carry on the work of the Plain Truth. We publish Royal Vision, a Christian-living magazine; Let the Stones Speak, an Israel-focused archaeology magazine; True Education, which is directed toward our youth; and a 36-lesson Bible correspondence course in which over 100,000 students around the world have enrolled. The pcg has revived personal appearance campaigns, hosting campaigns in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

God has given us four regional offices around the world located in Canada, the UK, the Philippines and Australia. The Church headquarters is situated on a beautifully landscaped 170-acre property, which includes an administrative office building and a mail processing center as big as a football field, which houses our literature inventory, call center and a television studio. We have several buildings and dorms for a small college and a K-12 academy, and students who give us invaluable help in doing God’s Work. Since 2001, our Herbert W. Armstrong College has graduated hundreds of students, over 80 of whom are employed full-time or part-time in the Work. We have full-time ministers all over the world.

The focal point of our campus is a house for God—Armstrong Auditorium, a performing arts venue of the highest quality, with crystal-trimmed chandeliers, crystal candelabra, Spanish marble, Azerbaijani onyx and world-class acoustics. Through the Armstrong International Cultural Foundation, the pcg sponsors culturally enriching experiences, such as fine art performances and humanitarian projects abroad. The foundation sponsors archaeological excavations in Jerusalem. We have exhibited some of the most biblically important artifacts ever found, hosting three exhibits in our auditorium, most recently the “Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered,” in which we showcased the priceless Tel Dan Stele, which proves the dynasty of King David.

All this has been paid for without soliciting donations. We started with $80 and faith in God. Because we have trusted in God, He has provided astonishing means to serve Him and His Work!

And—most importantly—for holding fast all the foundational truths we received through Mr. Armstrong, God has given us an abundance of truth over and above even that. God has continued to bless us, as He did Mr. Armstrong, with new revelation. The living God did not stop speaking to His people after Mr. Armstrong died. He has continued to give us “present truth” that builds on the foundation of the truth He restored through Mr. Armstrong. The pcg produces over 100 books and booklets, the large majority of which contain new revelation from the great God.

That is the single greatest proof that the God who inspired Mr. Armstrong is behind our work.

We hope you can clearly identify the same miracles and blessings that built Mr. Armstrong’s work. Most of all, we hope and pray that you can recognize the Work of the great God of Elijah!