2008

Except the Lord Build the House

COMPILED BY DAVID C. PACK

Do you recall what Mr. Armstrong taught about government, voting, division, heresy, Laodicea, doing the Work, the synagogue of Satan, disfellowshipment, training to be rulers, and other vital topics? Here it is in his own words. Prepare to be surprised by how much you have forgotten!

ORIGINAL FOREWORD

[The three paragraphs below are as I wrote them in the original foreword to this book in early summer, 1995—two and one half years after I was terminated from the Worldwide Church of God. It appears in its original form because I want the reader to see that my thinking has not changed since that time. A new foreword follows. The other book mentioned in paragraph 1, There Came a Falling Away, has been edited, expanded, and re-released. This book was first released in 1993, and has had fourteen editions.]

This is a companion book to my previously released book There Came a Falling Away. The idea for its creation was born during many conversations with people who were interested in what Mr. Armstrong taught regarding true Biblical government and the importance of doing the true Work. I intensively researched these two topics and found that they are inextricably bound together. You simply cannot have one without the other. Mr. Armstrong explains why in the many quotes included herein.

I discovered that there were also many other related issues that Mr. Armstrong once addressed in the direct way that only he could. These are all found in the Table of Contents on the previous page. These same issues are once again issues today. For those who respect what Mr. Armstrong taught and are sincerely attempting to return to all of the Truth as he taught it and as it can still be proven from the Bible, it is hoped that this book will be helpful. The many who have chosen the 18 Truths as the place to start may wish to note that the 18 Truths themselves start (number 1) with the truth about church government.

I expect two clear and opposite reactions to this book. I know from experience that I will be severely attacked by some simply because I am willing to record what Mr. Armstrong said on vitally important issues and questions. Others will view it (and rightly so) as merely an attempt to reflect what we all once believed—not as an attempt to indict other groups. The current issues facing God’s people are herein addressed—not by me, but by Mr. Armstrong. I hope very few will choose to challenge or attack him. We must all “examine ourselves whether we be in the faith” (II Cor. 13:5) and have the courage and spiritual savvy to draw our own conclusions.

David C. Pack, Summer 1995

(Author’s Note: All quotes contained in this book are from Mr. Armstrong, unless otherwise noted. It contains statements authored by certain ministers who were in the Worldwide Church of God before that organization veered from the doctrines restored by Mr. Armstrong. While some of the authors fell away, the quotes themselves are sound. Also, while Mr. Armstrong’s words are precise, most of the italicizing was added for emphasis.)

FOREWORD TO SECOND EDITION

Since 1995, God’s people have fallen into greater confusion. When Mr. Armstrong died, no one could have dreamed that a full-blown apostasy would strike the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)—though this was clearly prophesied to occur. Similarly, no one could have imagined the awful confusion that would ensue, with thousands scattering to different places that they believed would help them hold to the truth. This was also foretold. Yet, people have been confused and sometimes abused by the many groups that have arisen.

Each organization offered its own solution to the numerous doctrinal changes made by the WCG. In reaction to this, most have taken an attitude of deciding which true doctrines to accept and which to reject and abandon. However, many still remember that Christ’s apostle, Mr. Herbert Armstrong, taught that we must never compromise any of God’s doctrines, or have an attitude of deciding for ourselves what to believe.

This book primarily addresses certain fundamental teachings that are now being twisted in the splinters—that are deceiving, confusing, and dividing people there. Sadly, these conditions continue to worsen. Other books in our Splinter Explanation Packet address why. But, those who remain clear in understanding—those who can see—can avoid becoming permanent victims of the scattering. Ephesians 2:20 states that God (the Lord) builds (his house) on “the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ as chief cornerstone.”

This book recalls and describes the form of government that Christ established to lead His Church through the ages. God’s government has always been from the top down, with the tail never wagging the dog. In modern times, God used Mr. Armstrong to restore the truth to the Church and to lead it in doing a great Work. Virtually all who have stood up for any part of the truth agree with this. But, many now have come to believe that the Work ended at Mr. Armstrong’s death. Many of his statements here will make plain the terrible error of this thinking. I have since written a thorough book addressing this vital topic—THE WORK OF GOD – Its Final Chapter! (Several other important subjects are related to proper government and continuing the Work—doctrinal compromise, Laodicea, Satan’s role, disfellowshipping, and many of God’s other teachings are made plain here.)

There is no apostle today to lead God’s government in His Church. By no means do I claim this rank (see Author’s Note at bottom). But following, without compromise, all the doctrines that Mr. Armstrong restored to the Church must include the proper understanding of Church government. Any other form of government would not only be incorrect, and therefore heresy, but would deny the Church’s true Leader—Christ. This is most basic to see because God’s government defines how He works through His servants! The invention of any other form of government for the Church today blocks the only way that God says He works. You must come to recognize that it is this simple.

Psalm 127:1 states, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.” Most splinters seem to have forgotten this central scripture. We in The Restored Church of God are determined not to labor or watch in vain, which would be the case if GOD were not building and keeping our “city.” The right form—the correct pattern—of Church government is a huge key that God uses to build and keep HIS city! (We now have available a six-sermon series “The Towering Government Doctrine,” which covers this doctrine in very thorough detail.)

Carefully read Mr. Armstrong’s statements in this book. Remember how they used to excite and inspire God’s people before the apostasy—before so many took so much for granted.

This volume is an attempt to rekindle old feelings about things that almost all in the Church once loved. (It must be understood that, since this foreword was written, our book “Anoint Your Eyes” – Christ’s Warning to His People has become the all-important centerpiece of our Splinter Explanation Packet, greatly expanding the understanding given here.)

What will you do?

David C. Pack, Fall 1999

(Author’s Note: In the fall of 2004, I came to realize the office of apostle had been given to me. I certainly did not “claim” or take it to myself. This is explained in detail in the sermon “21st-Century Apostle” and in “ANOINT YOUR EYES” – Christ’s Warning to His People. Many of the quotes in this book address and speak of the government of God in His Church. A second book, The Government of God – Understanding Offices and Duties, explains this government in extraordinary detail—how it was fully restored to the Church by the mid-1950s, why the Church and Work of God cannot move forward without it, how Mr. Armstrong “got it right,” how the splinters and slivers have all rejected it—and what it means to you today!)

PROLOGUE BY HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG

“When the PURPOSE of assembling in a local group departs from God’s purpose—when the method of conducting the local assembly departs from the Bible instructions and example, members often are driven away from God and into loss of eternal life!

“For the safety and welfare of all, I must speak plainly and candidly. God commands His true ministers: ‘Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality’ (I Tim. 5:20-21).

“Some, who have attended a local congregation of God’s Church for years, have gradually succumbed to the influence of Satan and the pull of the flesh, until they have come to look on the purpose and function of the local church something like this (and I summarize their unscriptural view as a warning to ALL!): “‘We just want to have peace’, they protest, justifying their departure from the BIBLE ways. ‘We just want to attend church every Sabbath, and enjoy the fellowship, without having any preacher lambaste us, or tell us what’s wrong with us, or use the Scriptures to hit at us. We want a pastor who will show LOVE toward us, by letting us do as we please, and as each of us sees it for himself. We don’t want a pastor to use the Bible to strike out at us, and tell us we’re wrong, and make us feel uncomfortable.’

“‘And another thing,’ this attitude continues, ‘we want to have the “say-so” in what we do, and how our services are conducted. We don’t want any part in what our pastor calls “God’s work”—that’s just his own personal work, and we’re not interested, and we don’t want to hear about it—we want no part in it. We don’t care anything about going into all the world and proclaiming the Gospel….’

“Rather astonishing, isn’t it, that people who have heard God’s TRUTH preached for many years—people who at first accepted it in the love of God, professed it, started out practicing it—should, through the years, fall away from the truth, reject new truth as it is uncovered, begin to embrace false doctrines and errors, and finally come to such an attitude as above quoted?

“But I assure you, my brethren, that such has happened! I do not here accuse any individual. I say to those concerned, look down deep into your own hearts! If the shoe fits, either put it on and wear it—INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE, TO BE BURNED!—or else REPENT before it is everlastingly TOO LATE! But to those who do not share this degenerated carnal attitude, I say, ‘I don’t mean you!’”

“Local Assemblies Are NOT Social Clubs,” GN, Oct. 1957

CHAPTER ONE –

GOD’S GOVERNMENT IS ALWAYS FROM THE TOP DOWN

“Today some in the Church of God do not UNDERSTAND just what the Church of God really IS! Some have become confused as to whether there is ORGANIZATION or government in it—and I mean in GOD’S OWN CHURCH! And God HAS ONLY ONE CHURCH! (I Cor. 12:12, 13). But we of ‘the wise’ shall understand! That understanding shall be made PLAIN in this letter.”

“Many times I have told you, dear Brethren, that when God first called me, beginning in the autumn of 1926, that the living Christ brought me into His truth a step at a time. YOU have not had to learn the truth so slowly—Christ used me to do it for you. And one of the very last truths He opened to me was that of CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT!”

“Brethren, I have felt it necessary that you should know and understand these things, so you may realize WHY I did not yet fully understand the truth regarding church government and organization, in February, 1939—MORE THAN 35 YEARS AGO—when I wrote an article on church organization.

“There had been much confusion and argument among the ‘Sardis’ brethren about church organization. When the new so called ‘Bible Form of Church Organization’ was introduced at Salem, naturally the Stanberry people argued against it. I think we all became confused on the question. It’s like being too close to one tree to see the forest…In both of those—Stanberry and Salem—the people voted—government from the bottom like these dissenters today.”

“We published an article revealing new truth about church organization in The GOOD NEWS, November, 1952, and again in August, 1953, ‘GOVERNMENT in Our Church,’ and in November, 1953, ‘JUDGING and DISCIPLINE in God’s Church.’As God revealed truth, His Church accepted it. And long since, we came into the FULL TRUTH on church organization and government.”

“Notice, now, the FORM, or PRINCIPLE of God’s government in ancient Israel: It’s given in Exodus 18:13-29.”

“Here is government FROM THE TOP (GOD) on down. Here is God’s own PYRAMID principle of government in ancient Israel.

“At that time the whole NATION—with church and state united—occupied one concise area. The form of organization could be administered by ONE MAN under God, at the top. It was Government from GOD. Under the Eternal God in authority was Moses. Under Moses a NUMBER of rulers, each over THOUSANDS (it could have been several thousands under each ruler). Under each ruler of a thousand, rulers over hundreds. Under each ruler of a hundred, rulers of fifties, and under each of them rulers of tens.

“It was RULE FROM THE TOP DOWN—that is, FROM GOD—it was the GOVERNMENT OF GOD! God chose Moses. Moses chose rulers of thousands, and so on down.”

“In the days of Samuel, the people of Israel rejected GOD as their real Ruler, ruling through such humans as HE chose, as at that time, God was ruling through Samuel. They demanded a MAN to be their king. God gave them Saul, who rebelled against God. Then God gave them David, a man after His own heart. Still it was government FROM THE TOP DOWN!

“That is God’s PRINCIPLE OF GOVERNMENT. It’s the SAME TODAY in His Church! He says, ‘I CHANGE NOT!’(Mal. 3:6).”

“As we progress through the Bible on the question of GOVERNMENT, the PRINCIPLE of government from the TOP DOWN, is consistent. But the application or details of STRUCTURE differs, and varies to adapt to the time, conditions and facilities. The revolters from God’s Work confuse structural form with PRINCIPLE of government, which is ALWAYS from the TOP (GOD) down. They are NOT THE SAME.

“In the Old Testament, God chose ONE (Moses, Samuel, Saul, David, etc.) at a time, UNDER GOD, because Israel was ONE nation in ONE location or area. ONE at the top of the human level, under God, with others under him, was all that was required to administer the PRINCIPLE of government FROM THE TOP DOWN.

“But in the first century of the Gospel Work in the New Testament, God was sending the Gospel into MANY COUNTRIES, over wide areas. So He organized His Work into TWO principal divisions, or areas—ISRAEL and GENTILES. They were widely separated geographically. Communication was virtually nil, except by personal contact. Transportation was by foot, horse or muleback, or by camel or elephant, or sailboat. If Peter were the sole human head under Christ, it might take him weeks to communicate with the man next under him in Rome, if he were in Jerusalem. So God worked directly with TWO in separated areas.”

“With such communication and transportation facilities available today, Christ requires only ONE, once again, directly under him. Several times I have questioned whether Christ would ordain one or several more apostles, but always on counseling with evangelists, their response has been a decisive and absolute ‘NO.’”

“…the GOVERNMENT OF GOD…[is] organized from the TOP DOWN.”

“Now let’s look into New Testament teaching to see how this is POSITIVELY REVEALED.

“I quoted from Galatians 2:7-8 about how Paul was assigned by Christ to head THE WORK to the Gentiles.

“Now notice Titus 1:4-5 and 2:15—Paul wrote to Titus (UNDER PAUL), ‘To Titus, mine own son after the common faith (even as those under me in THE WORK today, are MY own sons, directly or indirectly, in the Lord),…from God the Father (first in rank) and the Lord Jesus Christ (second in rank) our Savior. For this cause left I (next in rank—to Gentiles—under Christ) thee (under Paul’s authority in the Work) in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders (under Titus who is under Paul, who is under Christ) in every city as I had appointed thee.’

“No authority in the Church? What did God MEAN when He says in His Word, ‘OBEY them that have the RULE over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account (as I know I shall) that they may do it with JOY, and not with grief: for that (causing those over you grief) is unprofitable for YOU. Pray for us (THOSE OF US GOD HAS SET IN AUTHORITY TODAY) for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things, willing to live honestly’(Heb. 13:17-18).

“No government in God’s Church? Then WHY did God inspire this to the Thessalonians? ‘And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are OVER YOU in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves’ (I Thes. 5:12-13).

“One of the things SATAN works overtime in injecting into any mind that will let it enter, is RESENTMENT OF AUTHORITY. GOD’S authority is administered in LOVE—and actually as one SERVING those under His authority for THEIR GOOD and out of loving CONCERN for them. That is the way I try to use what authority God has delegated to me, and I try to teach those under me to use it in the same manner—as a servant, not one lording it over those under him—as JESUS gave us an example. Satan DESPISES government, except as HE himself harshly and in hate employs it.

“But what does God say about DESPISING GOVERNMENT?

“‘But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and DESPISE GOVERNMENT. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption’ (II Peter 2:10-12).

“Brethren, THAT’S GOD’S WORD, not mine!

“Now notice I Corinthians 12: In this chapter God is showing that in THE WORK of the Church—proclaiming the Gospel to the world, and feeding the flock, there are different ADMINISTRATIONS, different OPERATIONS, in the Church, and for these, God has given various spiritual GIFTS, or empowerments, by His Holy Spirit.”

“So in the Church, God has set differences of ADMINISTRATIONS. For example, we have today the Division of Church Administration (CAD), or, Executive Administration over minister and churches. There is the Educational Administration, or Executive direction over the Colleges and Imperial Schools. There is Publishing Administration, Broadcast Administration over radio and TV, etc. This of necessity requires organization. The exact pattern or STRUCTURE may vary according to conditions, needs, etc., but the PRINCIPLE of the organization MUST BE THAT OF GOD’S GOVERNMENT, from the TOP, God, then Christ, on down, as CHRIST has directed and chosen.”

“The very fact that God has endowed different members in His Church with additional spiritual gifts, added to their own natural talents and abilities, in itself shows emphatically that there is definite ORGANIZATION in His Church, and that the ORGANIZATION must flow from a chain of authority, according to the PRINCIPLE which GOD (our legislative branch), has set—that is, AUTHORITY FROM THE TOP DOWN. That is the PRINCIPLE. The OPERATIONS refers to functioning according to the practical application of the PRINCIPLE of government given us by GOD.

“The ADMINISTRATIONS in the Church refers to executive performance and managerial responsibilities, NOT to policy-making. In other words, adapting the method of functioning, according to the PRINCIPLE which GOD (the Policy Maker and Law Giver), not we, has laid down.”

“Now WHAT is this chapter (I Corinthians 12) showing? That the Church is ONE—and ONE ONLY—and has many members. That there are different Administrations and different operations (verses 5-6). That there are different spiritual GIFTS (but ONE SPIRIT—verses 4, 7-11). Christ is the Head of the Church, called ‘the Body of Christ,’ having many members for many functions. To show many functions, it is compared to the human body (verses 12-26). Then, we read of the respective offices in rank (verses 27-30).

“So, as to RANK of offices of executive administration, and operational functions, ‘And GOD hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues (languages)’ (I Cor.12:28).

“Notice now! GOD says—the Holy WORD OF GOD says: ‘And GOD set some in the church, first, apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers…‘That’s what GOD says. But [a] leader of the theology of the dissenters from God’s Church says, ‘BUT I THINK it is far better to call these titles, rather than ranks.’ He THINKS his way around the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, and the AUTHORITY which CHRIST has delegated.

“GOD SAYS, first, secondly, thirdly. But HE THINKS his way around GOD’S WORD! Brethren, GOD’S Church dares not handle the Word of God so carelessly, so deceptively.”

“In the world of the unconverted, those in authority do exercise lordship over those under them. Christ said it should NOT be so with us. But He did not in so saying abolish all authority or rulership. He PUT RULERSHIP in His Church. He DELEGATED authority. What He was teaching His future apostles, is that we in GOD’S G O V E R N M E N T should NOT bear rule IN THE SAME HARSH AND UNLOVING MANNER as the unconverted in the world.

“Let’s get this point CLEAR. It’s basic. Misunderstanding at this point has caused some to leave God’s Church, and perhaps even God’s salvation and gift of eternal life!

“Notice what Jesus taught… [in] Mark 10:42: ‘…ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them…but so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister…’ But no one can say Jesus had no authority.

“Years ago, seeing this, and not considering the many, MANY Scriptures charging some in the Church with authority, rulership, saying to rebuke the unruly, etc., I took the above scriptures to mean there is no authority in the Church. I did not want to exercise authority. I was still NEW in God’s truth (this was over 40 years ago). So, in the early days of the parent Church of the Philadelphia era, at Eugene, Oregon, I allowed ‘wolves in sheeps’ clothing’to come in and sow the seeds of discord among brethren. It resulted in splitting the church in two—possibly turning half my flock onto the way that leads into a lake of fire! God had His own way of REBUKING ME SOUNDLY, making me see this in its true light. Jesus here is talking about THE MANNER in which the authority Christ delegates is used. He is NOT saying there is NO AUTHORITY.”

“…in the same speech where Jesus taught against ‘lording it over’ those under one’s authority [Luke 22], He delegated to them authority of KINGSHIP, sitting on twelve thrones.

“I have had to correct some under me in God’s Work on this very point—the manner in which authority was used. Those of us in God’s Church are not YET perfect. We must OVERCOME and GROW in grace. But the remedy is not to take all authority which Christ has delegated OUT of the Church, but to learn to administer it IN THE MANNER Christ has taught.”

“The parallel instruction on the RANK of authority in the Church is Ephesians 4, beginning with verse 11: ‘And he (Christ) gave some,…’ The RSV translates it more clearly: ‘And His gifts were that some should be apostles,’etc. Continue, ‘some prophets, and some evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for THE WORK of the ministry (proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the world), for the edifying of the body of Christ…’”

“God has ONLY ONE CHURCH on earth, which He directs in the doing of His Work—not TWO churches—not MANY denominations and sects, and ‘groups.’ ‘But now are they many members, YET BUT ONE BODY’(I Cor. 12:20—see also v. 12, 13). ‘For by one Spirit are we all (not part of us) baptized into ONE body.’”

Brethren Letter, May 2, 1974

CHAPTER TWO –

SATAN CAN OVERTHROW GOD’S GOVERNMENT

“I have frequently been pressured to compromise—‘just a little’—with God’s TRUTH.”

“Nevertheless, if we begin to compromise with God’s TRUTH, even in 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.”

“Personal,” GN, Dec. 1976

“I want you, brethren, to think about and understand what happened to God’s Church in the 1970s lest history repeat itself!”

“Most of the dissension of the past in the Church has been over the matter of government. The dissenters believe in a very liberal government—the way of Satan and his world. The whole purpose of the Gospel is to call those chosen by God out of this world and its ways into the ways of God. God’s government is based on God’s law. All government, even in the world’s nations, is based on a foundation of law.”

“And Jesus Christ will never receive any of those who have gone out to draw a following after themselves to come back and lead God’s Church into Satan’s liberalism. It would be no longer God’s Church, even as Ambassador College was no longer God’s college….”

“Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the WCG,” WN, June 24, 1985

“There is only one place on earth where the government of God is administered—and even that has been sidetracked.”

“AS RULER over the UNIVERSE, God set a throne on the earth and placed the super archangel Lucifer on that throne to administer GOD’S government over the earth.

“But Lucifer rebelled.”

“God gave Adam the opportunity to SIT ON Lucifer’s throne—IF Adam…would reject the ways of Satan and accept GOD’S WAY—that of GOD’S LAW! But Adam rebelled against God and chose to go HIS OWN WAY…”

“Some 4,000 years later, the SECOND Adam, Jesus Christ, came to earth…overcame Satan, chose the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, based on the LAW OF GOD. But He was not to take over the throne of the earth until the end of 6,000 years. He raised up His Church, with the GOVERNMENT OF GOD ruling IN THE CHURCH.”

“My son…began his own conspiracy to TAKE OVER the Church—and if his father did not oblige him by dying, to put Herbert W. Armstrong into retirement.”

“God Almighty and Jesus Christ were virtually thrown out of the college—and were rapidly being thrown out of the Church!”

“Christ Now Moves to Put God’s Government Back on the Track,” GN, Sep. 1979

“God placed on earth’s THRONE the archangel, the cherub Lucifer, to administer the GOVERNMENT OF GOD over the angels.”

“I repeat: That GOVERNMENT is based on God’s spiritual laws—as all governments are based on a constitution of foundational law.”

“The super-archangel Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-14) had been perfect in all his ways from the day of his initial creation, till iniquity—lawlessness—was found in him.”

“The GOVERNMENT OF GOD no longer was operative on earth!”

“7 Proofs of God’s True Church,” PT, Mar. 1979

“…do you think YOU are immune from the wiles and subtle deceptions of Satan? Are YOU stronger than Satan? DON’T SO UNWISELY UNDERESTIMATE SATAN! Satan is the strongest personage God ever created, except the other two archangels Michael and Gabriel. Satan DID get to the more than a half dozen top-ranking ministers in God’s Church!”

“The heavens must receive Christ ‘until the times of restitution’ (restoration) ‘of all things.’ What is to be restored is centered around the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, which Lucifer made inoperative.”

“These ministers thought they had discovered a new truth, contrary to the teaching of God’s Church.”

“But their ‘new truth’ was gross and harmful error. They misled brethren…”

“It all gets back to THE LAW OF GOD, and the ‘SIN QUESTION.’”

“The churches of traditional ‘Christianity’ teach that ‘the Law was DONE AWAY.’…They cannot REPENT of sin when they do not know what sin IS!”

“The Holy Spirit of God is given to those who have REPENTED of—TURNED FROM – sin…If we do not FOLLOW where God’s Spirit leads, the ‘lamp’—or its light (the Holy Spirit) leaves us.”

“YOU LET DOWN YOUR GUARD AND ALLOW SATAN TO DECEIVE AND USE YOU when, once you have known the truth, repented, received God’s Spirit, started on GOD’S WAY, you take a step away from that way, begin to liberalize, compromise with Satan.”

 “He, if deceived by Satan and used by him, is one who, like Lot’s wife, began to ‘look back’—even if just a little at first. He may have been willing to compromise on a minor point. He became a little ‘liberal’ on some point.”

“Brethren, ministers and even chief evangelists in God’s Church: ‘EXAMINE YOURSELVES to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test YOURSELVES.’”

“For GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS. For if God spared not even the ANGELS that sinned (II Peter 2:4), He would no more spare YOU!”

“‘Satan Deceive and Use Me? Never!!’” WN, Dec. 8, 1980

“Remember, Lucifer had been placed in rulership.”

“God placed the great cherub, Lucifer, to carry out His government on the earth, but Lucifer refused to carry out God’s will, God’s commands, God’s government. He wanted to substitute his own. So he disqualified himself.”

“Jesus Christ…REFUSED to obey the devil. He quoted scripture correctly. He obeyed God.”

“So God did NOT create a devil. He created a cherub, Lucifer—perfect in his ways, but with the power of free choice—and Lucifer transformed himself into a devil by rebellion against the government of God!”

Did God Create a Devil? (1978), p. 9

“[Satan] turned hostile to the law of God. He turned to a way of life of vanity, covetousness, envy, rivalry, competition, violence and destruction. And this hostile way of life is itself a LAW… That, then, became the basic LAW of the GOVERNMENT of Lucifer, whose name was changed to Satan the devil.”

“So the government of God on the earth had been replaced by the government of Satan.”

“…the THRONE and GOVERNMENT placed on earth—the SIN of Lucifer and earth’s angels, the replacing of the GOVERNMENT OF GOD by that of Satan over the earth—all this was the backdrop to the creation of MAN on the earth.”

“Adam had to choose between the government of Satan with its self-centered way of life, and the government of God with its GOD-centered way of life. Each way of life was the basic LAW of a GOVERNMENT.”

“World Peace Just Around the Corner!” PT, Nov.-Dec. 1984

“Judgment—the time of trying and testing to determine whether we will choose and walk in the way of GOD’S LAWof His GOVERNMENT—began, therefore, with the CHURCH OF GOD, AFTER the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Coworker Letter, Apr. 24, 1981

“[The] angels followed their king Lucifer in the decision to turn from and rebel against the GOVERNMENT of God….”

“…Satan’s kingdom of angels—now turned to demons—rejected the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, and it was thus removed from earth.”

“That GOVERNMENT OF GOD exists at this time on earth only through those that are doing God’s Work.”

“Few, even among professing converted Christians, realize the vital and SUPREME NEED to be conscious and constantly aware of Satan’s efforts to get to US, who already have turned from Satan’s way and to the WAY of the GOVERNMENT OF GOD.”

“Human Nature—Did God Create It?” WCG reprint, 1976. (Also Incredible Human Potential, pp. 167-168)

“Dissidents and enemies of God’s CHURCH have been saying that we disobeyed Romans 13 in appealing the government lawsuit of Jan. 3, 1979. They say, falsely, the Church of GOD should have caved in…and let the State of California take over and run or destroy the Church of the LIVING GOD!”

“When the Philistines came against Israel, with the giant Goliath, young David said, ‘Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the LIVING GOD?’ The attack was not against David, nor even Israel, but against the LIVING GOD!”

“According to the dissenters David and all Israel should have ‘caved in.’ For it was a GOVERNMENT (the Philistines) who came against God’s CHURCH of the Old Testament, and it’s a GOVERNMENT of men that has now come against the CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD!”

“Now notice what [the Adam Clarke’s Commentary]…says in expounding Romans 13. ‘Speaking of government rulers: If he rule according to the Constitution nothing can justify (the individual) rebelling against his authority…When the ruler acts thus (contrary to law or the Constitution) he dissolves the compact between him and his people; his authority is no longer binding, but illegal; and it is illegal because he is acting contrary to the laws of the Constitution, according to which, on being raised to the supreme power he promised to govern. This conduct justifies opposition to his government’—and the commentary means in GOD’S sight!”

“Romans 13 and the State of California Attack,” GN, Mar. 1980

“The Book of books, containing the revealed knowledge of the Creator God, tells us that God created angels as composed of Spirit. But can you imagine angels becoming sinning angels?…Since sin is the transgression of God’s law, these angels rebelled against God’s law, the basis of God’s government.”

“And the government of God was administered on earth until the rebellion of the sinning angels.”

“When God placed angels—apparently a third of all (Rev. 12:4)—on the newly created, perfect, beautiful and glorious earth, He set over them, on a throne, to administer the government of God, an archangel—the great cherub Lucifer.”

“His rebel rule was not a government based upon the principle of love…but based on…darkness and error, instead of light and truth…”

 Incredible Human Potential (1978), pp. 41,42,45,48

“The government of God produced a wonderfully happy state—as long as Lucifer was loyal in the conduct of God’s government.”

“And then, even after Lucifer himself made the decision to rebel…it is not revealed how long it took him to persuade all of the angels under him to turn traitor and follow him.”

“I know well the method he used. He uses the same method still today in leading deceived humans into disloyalty, rebellion, and self-centered opposition against God’s government. First, he turns one or two to envy, jealousy, and resentment…Then he uses that one or two, like a rotten apple in a crate, to stir up resentment…in others next to them. And, as each rotten apple rots those next to it until the whole crate is rotten, so Satan proceeds.”

“If, in the government of God on earth today, the ‘rotten apples’ are not thrown out early enough, they would destroy the whole government.”

Incredible Human Potential (1978), p. 51

“God started this Lucifer out with everything going for him.”

“He had been trained and was thoroughly experienced in administration of the government of God at the very throne of the endless universe.”

“Yet this superior being…had resorted to wrong reasoning and made a diabolical perverted decision. He worked on the angels under him until he turned their minds to rebellion also.”

“…the king [God] set as ruler—Lucifer—rebelled, revolted, misled a third of all the angels, and the government of God no longer governed the earth.”

“The question might be raised: Could not God have known, in advance, what Lucifer and the angels under him would do? Doesn’t God know everything? The answer is no…He gave these Spirit beings, as He gives us, the power to think for ourselves, to choose, to make decisions. Otherwise we would be nothing more than automatons, doing what we are compelled to do.”

Incredible Human Potential (1978), pp. 58,60-62

“God placed Lucifer on the throne of the earth. He was no longer administering the government of God—he was now disqualified—”

“…once the earth became inhabited by those in rebellion against the government of God—once that government ceased to function—it became necessary for someone to qualify as successor to Lucifer (now Satan)—and to qualify to restore the government and way of God, the successor must actually reject and/or turn from Satan’s way.”

“…Lucifer led his angels into rebellion. The government of God was rejected, no longer enforced. The earth as a result, became waste and empty, in confusion and utter darkness.”

“Until Jesus had qualified to restore God’s government by overcoming Satan, there could be no assurance, save in the mind and purpose of God, of the restoration of the government Satan had rejected.”

“When [Lucifer] turned to rebellion, it left only God Himself to be utterly relied on NEVER to deviate from God’s way—God’s government.”

Incredible Human Potential (1978), pp. 69,73,115,153

“Once [Adam] succumbed to Satan’s WAY of choosing to ‘do his own thing,’ in rebellion against a deliberate command of God, he became spiritually the property of Satan. He actually succumbed to the GOVERNMENT of Satan, choosing the LAW of that government…”

MYSTERY OF THE AGES (1985), p. 141

CHAPTER THREE –

THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN PERSECUTES PHILADELPHIANS

“The synagogue of Satan refers to the great apostasy that occurred at the close of the apostolic age, the apostasy which gave rise to the host of denominations we have today—a great mother church and her daughter churches (Rev. 17).”

LAD Letter 938, Radio Church of God, 1956

“Whenever they were able to influence a majority in a local church…false ministers began to expel the true Christians.”

“In the letter of the apostle John to Gaius, we read: ‘I wrote unto the church, but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the pre-eminence 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 and 10).”

“The true Christians, who alone comprised the true Church, were being put out of the visible, organized congregations.”

“But that did not mean the scattered individuals were not part of the Church. They were the Church because they were joined to Christ through the Holy Spirit. Those who drove them out became the false church—the church of the god of this world—‘the synagogue of Satan’.”

“This synagogue of Satan is the great apostate church which developed after 80 A.D. and ultimately became recognized as the State Religion of the Roman Empire. That Church has had many Protestant daughters which are also Satan’s churches (Rev. 17).”

H. L. Hoeh, A True History of the True Church (1959), pp. 7-8, 17

“Perhaps the synagogue that claimed to be the synagogue of Jehovah but was really the synagogue of Satan (Rev. 3, v. 9; cf. 2:9) had excommunicated the Philadelphian Christians.”

The Abingdon Bible Commentary (1929), p. 1376

“First, remember this Church was never large, never politically powerful, or a world-known organization of men. It is a spiritual organism, not a political organization. It is composed of all whose hearts and lives have been changed by the Spirit of God, whether visibly together, or individually scattered.”

“Under the lash of continual persecution and opposition from the organized forces of this world, it is difficult for such a people to remain united and organized together.”

“Even in Paul’s day, many among those attending at Antioch, at Jerusalem, at Ephesus, at Corinth, and other places, began to apostatize and turn away from the truth. Divisions sprang up. Those individuals, unconverted or turned from God’s truth and way of life, were no part of God’s true Church, though visibly assembling with those who were. The ‘mystery of iniquity’ was already working within these visible churches. This apostasy increased! By the year A.D. 125 the majority in most churches, especially those Gentile-born, were continuing in many of their old pagan beliefs and practices, though professing to be Christian! Gradually, a smaller and smaller portion of the visible churches going by the name ‘Christian’ remained truly yielded to God and His truth, and led of His Spirit. After Constantine took virtual control of the visible, professing Church in the early fourth century, this visible organization became almost wholly pagan, and began excommunicating and persecuting all who held to the true Word of God! Finally, it became necessary for real Christians, who, even as a scattered people, alone composed the true Christian Church, to flee from the jurisdiction of Rome in order truly to worship God! Thus, the visible, organized Church which rose to power was the FALSE Church—the ‘Great Whore’ of Revelation 17.”

The Plain Truth About Easter (1973), pp.11

“God reserves His strongest condemnation for those who claim to be speaking for Him, but are actually leading people away from the true God.”

“‘Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams…and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all…for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God…’ (Jer. 23).”

“Not all false prophets come from outside the Church. Some were formerly faithful servants of God, but swerved from the ‘straight and narrow’ path.”

“Faithful pastors protect the flock from those who would spoil them. But some of those called and ordained in God’s true Church would covet Christ’s sheep. So they would turn from the teachings and the teachers they had originally acknowledged.”

“Why does God allow wolves to have access to His flock? Why doesn’t He expose them before they do any harm? He has his reasons!”

“The first and most basic scripture about false prophets explains why. ‘If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul’ (Deut. 13:1-3).”

“God wants his flock to stay with Him and the truth no matter what.”

“The flock of God is certain to encounter many trials and tests—false prophets and treasonous pastors among them. But the true sheep of His pasture, who seek His leadership and His will, won’t be led astray and devoured. Thankfully, it is just not possible. Christ’s sheep will see the fake fleece and run!”

Robert E. Fahey, “Beware of False Prophets,” GN, May 1979

CHAPTER FOUR –

THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION TYPIFIED WRONG HIERARCHICAL GOVERNMENT

“During the first 300 years after Christ, entirely apart from the true Church, more than fifty different professing ‘Christian’ sects appeared…They tried this idea of ‘having LOVE’ for those with whom they disagreed. But the DIVINE Love of God—the same Spirit that guides all brethren in GOD’S WAY, into ALL TRUTH—was not the kind of love they had. Their human ‘love’ only divided them in error! It proved no foundation for unity. It brought repeated DIVISION.”

“The [Catholic] Church evolved the ‘primacy of Peter’ doctrine. The principle of authoritative government in the Church was God’s—but their system of using it was Satan’s. It was not God’s government, but that of men swayed by Satan.”

“Until the time of Luther, this counterfeit Church government, however, did prevent division! The Roman Church continued many centuries undivided. But the system of applying the principle of Church government was all wrong. It ruled by the will of man, Satan-inspired. It preserved unity by physical FORCE. It was the instrument of Satan. Therefore its fruits were EVIL!”

“The Protestant movement failed to correct what was wrong. Because the Catholic government was a counterfeit mis-rule, they abolished the rule, instead of yielding themselves to the divine government of GOD. They reasoned that every man ought to do what was right in his own eyes.”

“Some…wanted DEMOCRACY—government by the whole congregation.”

“They went the way that seemed right in their own eyes. But, devout though they were, they had no firm basis for UNITY. They split and re-split, and today we have hundreds of Protestant denominations!”

“[These same] ideas held by a small few in the Church today…have been put to the test of experience and TIME. And they have proved the very CAUSE of division and confusion. They have not unified the Church members in TRUTH—but divided them in ERROR!”

“Brethren, it is because we did not as yet ourselves fully comprehend this working of GOD’S GOVERNMENT in His Church, and because no such authority was exercised in the parent church at Eugene, Oregon, that a division came about which did split the Church there.”

“If some one trouble-maker appears, bent on attracting a following and dividing the Church with some wrong doctrine or idea, we shall obey God’s Word in the exercise of His government, and mark that person, and, as Paul commanded in I Cor. 5:13, ‘put away from ourselves that wicked person.’”

“Christ Did Put Authority and Rule in His Church,” GN, Jan. 1957

“We have seen how Martin Luther rebelled against this corrupt hierarchy, but still retained most of its doctrines and traditions…The answer to many peculiar and wicked Protestant deeds is that, even long after their separation from Rome and their ‘conversion’ to Protestantism, the early reformers and their followers were still literally saturated with the doctrines, the concepts and the practices of their ‘mother’ church at Rome.”

“At least in order to clear their own consciences, the Protestant leaders were forced to distort or reject many passages of Scripture which did not conform to their doctrinal ideas.”

“Remember that Jesus spoke of His Church as the ‘little flock.’ He taught that it was to be scattered and persecuted (Mat. 10:16-23; John 15:18-20).”

“The Church of Revelation 12 is pictured as being small and weak of itself. It is pictured as having to flee into the wilderness during the Middle Ages (Rev. 12:5-6). Certainly this picture is exactly the opposite of the dominant, worldly, historical Catholic Church! This is the Church the reformers should have united with, but did not.”

“The reformers were actually rebelling against only a small part of the Roman Catholic teachings. And they were as men spiritually drunk—not knowing where they wanted to go, or how to get there—still guided and misled by a background of paganized Roman doctrines and concepts…when they came out of the Roman Catholic Church they brought most of her teachings and traditions right along with them.”

“They came out of her. But…retained most…pagan doctrines and concepts.”

“In spiritual darkness, groping their way out of apostate Rome, the reformers were not guided by the same Spirit of God that empowered the original apostles to change men’s lives.”

“We must acknowledge that in freeing men’s minds from some error, the reformers added much error of their own devising. They did not turn men to the truth. Rather, they turned them to independent, self-willed human reason.”

“This has multiplied the already existing religious confusion.”

“This is not the ‘unity of the Spirit.’ This is not the one true Church Jesus Christ said He would build (Mat. 16:18).”

“DON’T RUN from the truth! The END of this age is near!”

R.C.M., “The Plain Truth About the Protestant Reformation,” PT, May 1959

CHAPTER FIVE –

MR. ARMSTRONG’S DREAM ABOUT DEMOCRATIC CHURCH GOVERNMENT

“Shall we all leave the Church of God and join ‘the church of people?’”

“Some already have done that. Let’s think about it for a moment.

“I had a vivid example of this a couple of mornings ago, awakening from a dream. In the dream it seemed to be several years ago when the Church was smaller. There was a young man across the street who looked like a possible one of our leaders. He was about age 30, with outstanding personality and appearance, and an articulate extrovert. Then two other young men of about 30, well dressed, of somewhat impressive appearance and manner, were seen walking over and talking to him. They took pains to avoid me, and I seemed to know they were opposed to me personally.”

“In the dream I determined to speak immediately with the man they were trying to influence adversely. I told him I knew they were ‘lobbying’ against the Church and against me.”

“‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘but I have to tell you, Mr. Armstrong, I think these men have something worth listening to. They say you arrogate to yourself too much power. You make yourself the leader of the Church. They say the people ought to have all the “say so”. The people ought to vote on who they want to be their leader and on what they want to believe and accept as Church doctrine. That sounds like a good idea to me. I think we need more DEMOCRACY.’

“I awoke at that point, thinking about the dream, which had stuck in my mind. But before awakening, I remember I said to this man in the dream, ‘Well, the REAL QUESTION is whether this is GOD’S Church or the PEOPLE’S Church! If it is GOD’S Church, then GOD is running it, and revealing what we shall believe and teach. GOD has the ‘say so.’ God runs it through Jesus Christ, who is the HEAD of the Church. And Jesus Christ runs it through His chosen apostle, whom HE, not men, chose, prepared and now guides and leads. Those men are getting your eyes off of God—you are leaving GOD out of the picture—out of the Church. You are looking only to people! If you want to put GOD out of His Church, then you will have to be excommunicated!’

“I awakened considerably impressed with the dream. Was God revealing to me that TOO MANY within the Church membership are leaving GOD out of the picture?—in their own minds putting GOD out of the Church? Do they think that the kind of men the people would vote for ought to be made the LEADERS in the Church?—that the people should say to GOD, ‘This is OUR Church, God, we want you to GET OUT of the Church and leave us alone. WE will run this Church OUR way!’ I awakened impressed that TOO MANY of our people are LEAVING GOD AND CHRIST OUT OF HIS CHURCH, and trying to make it OUR Church—the church of the PEOPLE, and NOT the CHURCH of GOD!”

“Man does not see things the way God does. God says, ‘There is A WAY which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of DEATH’(Prov. 14:12)! As to how MAN looks at it—how MAN would choose, God says, ‘Lean not unto thine own understanding’ (Prov. 3:5).”

“[In the 70s there] were at least six or seven in TOP offices next to Christ’s apostle in authority—men trusted and honored. But they were going to make it ‘THE CHURCH OF PEOPLE,’ instead of the CHURCH OF GOD. They could not see God nor Christ in their mental picture of God’s Church. They were LIBERALS!”

“Now churches or works OF THEIR OWN have been started. But they overlook one thing: ‘EXCEPT THE LORD BUILD THE HOUSE, THEY LABOUR IN VAIN THAT BUILD IT.’”

“GOD is not building their houses!”

“Christ Did Put Authority and Rule in His Church,” GN, Jan. 1957

CHAPTER SIX –

GOVERNMENT, UNITY AND DIVISION

“The Word of God clearly teaches us that there is but the ONE Spirit, and the ONE Body. (I Cor. 12:12-13,20).”

“That one body of Christ, carrying on his work, must function as a unit. It must work in harmony and unity, with teamwork, for God is not the author of confusion. There must be no pulling off in different directions by different men in that one Body. There must be no competition, or division. And any who knowingly promotes, or encourages anyone in promoting, such disharmony, competition, and division, becomes the enemy of God, and serving the devil and not God!”

“In order that this ONENESS—this UNITY of purpose and action—this HARMONY and cooperative teamwork, be maintained and preserved in GOD’S WORK, God has ordained GOVERNMENT IN HIS CHURCH. And He has empowered His Church with DIVINE AUTHORITY.”

“That government in God’s Church is government from God, thru Christ, thru apostles, thru evangelists, thru pastors, thru other elders, in that order!”

“Must God’s Ministers Be Ordained by the Hand of Man?,” GN, Oct. 1962

“Now suppose a member thinks he or she has found an error in our doctrines. How must you proceed? IF you have found truth, we all want to know and embrace it! But how MUST you proceed? NEVER by trying to convince another member of your ‘finding,’ lest you fall guilty of Romans 16:17-18.”

“WHAT, then?”

“Take it to your local minister or write to headquarters. What must a local pastor do? Send it to headquarters. If it is felt to be a valid truth, it will be brought to me personally, and the LIVING CHRIST will make it clear to my mind!”

“[This is] how a member should proceed who thinks he has found where the Church is in error on a doctrine, or where he thinks he has discovered ‘new light’ the Church does not yet have.”

“Personal,” GN, Apr. 1979 & June-July 1979

“In God’s Church, we ministers do not tell you what to believe, and command you to believe US, without even looking into your Bible. That is what the Roman Catholic Church does—but not God’s Church.”

“Am I now asking you to merely believe ME—to take my word, without proving it to you by GOD’S WORD?”

“But suppose, when you study your own Bible, you come across something you feel is contrary to the teaching of the Church? Must you hide your eyes from what you see in your Bible? CERTAINLY NOT!”

“Well, what then shall you do, then?”

“LISTEN! UNDERSTAND THIS! You must not go to any other member with what you feel you have found is contrary to the Church’s teaching. Instead, YOU MUST BRING IT TO THE MINISTERS! If you are a member of a local congregation, take it to your pastor. Go into it WITH HIM—but with NO ONE ELSE, lest you foment division, and be cast out of the Church! If there is no local pastor, bring it to one of God’s ministers, or write to HEADQUARTERS.”

“God’s ministers will go into it with you. If you are right—if you have found any place in the Bible where we are in error, then WE WANT TO KNOW IT. We hate error, and love truth, even though the truth corrects and reproves us! Bring it to us. If YOU are wrong, we will patiently show you, and explain it more perfectly to you. If WE are wrong, we will correct it BEFORE THE WHOLE CHURCH, so that ALL the Church may, with one mind, believe the TRUTH, and speak the SAME THING!”

“If any other member comes to you to point out where the Church is wrong—DO NOT LISTEN! Rather, tell him to take it to the CHURCH! And then report him to Headquarters.”

“This, Brethren, is the ONLY way we can have unity!”

“Should We Listen to Others?”, GN, May 1960

“Until about 1969 we in God’s Church did all ‘speak the same thing.’

“By 1978 many…ministers were speaking different things! God had withdrawn…His blessing and power that for 35 years caused the Work of His Church to grow at the approximate rate of 30% every year over the preceding year!”

“WHAT CAUSED GOD TO WITHDRAW HIS BLESSING AND POWER?”

“Precisely the same thing that choked the growth of the Church of God at Corinth from A.D. 56, 25 years after the Church was founded at Jerusalem. They were following different leaders, speaking different things, watering down the sacred and precious truths of Christ!”

“Christ’s apostle wrote to the Corinthian church, in A.D. 56, ‘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’ (I Corinthians 1:10).”

“They were starting to follow different leaders teaching different doctrines. The Church was becoming divided! A church divided against itself cannot stand!”

“It is only common sense to realize that if everyone teaches what he, personally, believes, or if we follow different leaders each speaking his own thing, WE HAVE ONLY CONFUSION!”

“But the self-minded among us, even the few in the ministry, DO NOT UNDERSTAND!”

“And Now Christ Sets Church Back on Track Doctrinally,” GN, Apr. 1979

“I want you, brethren, to think about and understand what happened to God’s Church in the 1970s lest history repeat itself! I want you to see the ‘fruits’ of rebelling against God’s way and God’s government.”

“After all, the basic issue all along was that of God’s government in the Church. One who followed one liberal who, as the apostle Paul predicted, sought to draw away followers after himself (Acts 20:30) said, ‘We are liberated from that church government and now have a loosely knit organization, and that’s the way we like it.’”

“The Church is ‘built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in Whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord’ (Ephesians 2:20-21). Note, the Church is organized and fitly framed together, not organized with competing and differing branches.”

“Notice Ephesians 4, there is only one organized church ‘fitly joined together and compacted’ (verse 16)—compacted as if welded together into one well-organized body. And how did He organize this body? How was it governed? ‘And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith…(Ephesians 4:11-13). It is not DISunity or some other type of organization and government. Paul also said ‘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’(I Corinthians 1:10).”

“To make clear one of the reasons—if not the primary reason—for the conflict caused by the liberal element, I quote from a Western newspaper. In an interview with a former minister, who had sought to draw away a following of members after himself, it was stated concerning this split-off church that they have ‘a completely different administrative structure.’

“Most…dissension of the past in the Church has been over…government. The dissenters believe in a very liberal government—the way of Satan and his world.”

“We who remain in the one and only true Church grieve over the loss of those who are so far failing in their final exams.”

“Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the WCG,” WN, June 24, 1985

“God says to His Church, through the apostle Paul, ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 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’ (I Corinthians 1:10).”

“This passage continues saying the church at Corinth, precisely like today’s Church of God, was following various and differing men with differing doctrines.”

“What happened in those churches…has happened to us today. Those guilty of causing division are fighting God and shall be judged by Him!”

“This group of liberals assumed the authority of setting Church doctrine [with the goal of unity in mind]…that is, unity in watered down doctrines that older loyal ministers did not and never would accept! THAT WAS NOT UNITY—IT WAS DIVISION!”

“What Is a Liberal?”, GN, Mar. 1979

“…the one and only true CHURCH is NOT an ORGANIZATION OF MEN, but a SPIRITUAL ORGANISM. Yet that fact does not preclude organization.”

“This spiritual organism is the ‘Body of Christ’ existing for the PURPOSE of carrying on THE WORK OF GOD.”

“If every individual in it goes out alone, independently, trying to carry out the divine Commission in whatever way he sees fit, we shall have confusion, a house divided against itself.”

“Christ has, indeed, ORGANIZED HIS CHURCH, SO FITLY joined together as a physical building put together with the precision of every part of the most expert craftsmen.”

“Just What Is the Church,” Reprint, 1970

CHAPTER SEVEN –

DOCTRINAL COMPROMISE

“Why are the different branches of ‘Christianity’ talking about UNION? WHY is it possible for them to make overtures toward compromise?”

“And anyway, is it not right that they should all GET TOGETHER? WHY should Christianity be divided?”

“The Vatican Second Ecumenical Council is making many overtures toward both Protestants and the Eastern Orthodox church. They are even taking a conciliatory attitude toward Jews. Recently Pope Paul VI assured the non-Catholic Christian world of his purpose to clear away every obstacle blocking ‘Christian unity.’”

“The BIG question is WHY is such compromise possible?”

“Can you imagine Jesus Christ beginning to compromise and get together with the Pharisees?”

“Did all the hundreds of differing and disagreeing sects and denominations calling themselves ‘Christian’ receive their varying faiths from the SAME SOURCE? Quite obviously not!”

“Now we ought to begin to see the answer to the question, HOW can these differing religious groups compromise and get together? Their beliefs, their customs, are the inventions of HUMANS. In actual fact, they did not receive their beliefs from the true and living GOD—or from His Word, the Bible. Their religions are of HUMAN ORIGIN. Therefore humans feel at liberty to alter or change their own beliefs and ways.”

“We ought to understand, therefore, how those who, like the Roman Catholic Church, reject the Bible as the supreme AUTHORITY—setting themselves, as a CHURCH, ahead of it as supreme authority…we ought now to understand how they can compromise and GET TOGETHER.”

“Since [the one and only true Church] is ruled and guided by the living God, whose written Word means what it says, it cannot and will not compromise or unite with the churches of this world.”

“Personal,” PT, Dec. 1964

“The first full, inside story of ‘Operation Thunderbolt,’ titled 90 Minutes to Entebbe, is just off the press.”

“I have just picked up a copy. I’m so impressed with the striking parallel between the Israeli’s determined policy on never compromising with terrorists and compromising with GOD’S TRUTH, that I have come immediately to my typewriter while the supremely IMPORTANT truth may flash hot off my mind onto paper to be printed for you to read.”

“Sometimes, whether in terrorist skyjackings, or handling the Word of God, temptations tend to sweep us off our feet. So far as I can think of right now, the only nation that has had the WILL, the DETERMINATION—the STEADFAST FAITH—to refuse to give in to terrorist threats is the comparatively small but tenacious nation of Israel.”

“Forty-three years ago, the living Christ commissioned to me His GREAT COMMISSION.”

“But during these 43 years, I have frequently been pressured to compromise—‘just a little’—with God’s TRUTH.”

“[God] entrusted me with this precious TRUTH.”

“But honestly, now, WHAT DO YOU THINK?”

“Wouldn’t it be all right to compromise, ‘just a little,’ on some ‘unimportant minor point’? Especially on some ostensibly unimportant point where we appear ‘crazy’ to the world.”

“Nevertheless, if we begin to compromise with God’s TRUTH, even in 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.”

“A little leaven leavens the WHOLE LUMP!…I have been charged with the commission of KEEPING GOD’S WORD. Keeping it inviolate—NO COMPROMISE! I have NEVER compromised with God’s TRUTH—regardless of the cost or the circumstances. I never shall!”

“There is a striking parallel in the recent skyjacking ‘Operation Thunderbolt’—the spectacular Israeli rescue to deliver innocent terrorist hostages from violent death in the 90-minute strike at Entebbe Airport in Uganda.”

“Other nations, one after another, have given in and submitted to terrorist demands. But Israel, a tiny nation, has an IRON POLICY NEVER TO COMPROMISE EVEN ONE INCH WITH TERRORISTS.”

“The real philosophy of this was printed in a brief foreword in the new paperback book just out on newsstands: 90 Minutes to Entebbe. I want you to READ IT—carefully, and even a second time.”

“Quoted in the book, Yerucham Amital, former Deputy Chief of the Israeli Air Force, said: ‘If Israel should ever fail to protect her own, she would cease to have meaning. We have been forced into aggressive defense and the stakes keep getting higher.’”

“‘In the end, we may have to choose between action that might pull down the Temple of Humanity itself rather than surrender even a single member of the family to the executioners.’”

“‘Survival in other circumstances is not survival at all. And all of us, whatever our race, won’t be worth a damn if we buy our lives at the cost of our conscience.’

“Just as Israel is LITTLE in population and financial means among the nations, so GOD’S CHURCH is LITTLE in numbers and popularity among churches or religious organizations. But ISRAEL stands STRONG and ALONE among this world’s nations in determination to NOT YIELD ONE INCH TO THE OUTRAGEOUS METHODS AND DEMANDS OF TERRORISTS!”

“Satan is the chief of terrorists. He HATES God’s holy, sacred Word.”

“I will CHANGE whenever proved wrong. I will accept NEW TRUTH as often as PROVED to be new truth to me or to the Church. But I will not compromise with the truth! I never have!”

“I won’t compromise—not even ‘just a little.’”

“Personal,” GN, Dec. 1976

CHAPTER EIGHT –

THE REASONS FOR DISFELLOWSHIPPING THOSE WHO CAUSE DIVISION

“There’s no question about it—God commands emphatically that we in His Church do ‘all speak the same thing’ (I Cor. 1:10).”

“For many years I have striven to bring all God’s children into a unity of belief (Ps. 133:1).”

“…of all the religions and all the more than 250 denominations and sects in ‘Christianity,’ NOT ONE, except the Worldwide Church of God, knows WHO and WHAT God is! NOT ONE knows what, and why, MAN IS! NOT ONE knows the TRUTH about the nation Israel—WHY God chose them, yet gave none but their prophets His Holy Spirit—where they are today. NOT ONE knows what is the TRUE GOSPEL Christ proclaimed! NOT ONE knows what happens in the hereafter—the transcendent human potential.”

“NONE but God’s one and only TRUE CHURCH has the full knowledge God has revealed to His own Church. NOT ONE knows what salvation really is!”

“Doesn’t it, then, become abundantly apparent that we must all know precisely what God has prepared for those who love Him—and that we speak these amazing TRUTHS as they are—all speaking the same thing?”

“But first, WHY is it important that we all believe and speak the same DOCTRINES? Continue in I Corinthians 1:10: ‘that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.’”

“A corollary to I Corinthians 1:10 is Romans 16:17-18: ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.’

“‘Avoid them’ means just that. Walk away from them. Do not invite them into your home. ‘If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed’(II John 10).”

“To the Thessalonians God made this a command: ‘Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the traditions which he received from us [that is, from Christ’s true apostles]…And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him’ (II Thes. 3:6, 14).”

“This is SO IMPORTANT to GOD that He had the apostle John, in the 90s, A.D., write, as quoted above, ‘If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine’ (as received through Christ’s apostles), ‘receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed’ (II John 10).”

“WHY DOES GOD WANT US—COMMAND US!—to mark and avoid those who come with a different doctrine? Because they create DIVISION among God’s people! ‘And’ (Rom. 16:18) ‘by good words and fair speeches’ they DECEIVE those who listen—they claim to serve God—but they DO NOT AGREE with God.”

“Personal,” GN, Apr. 1979

“Are some of you trying to be more kind, merciful and considerate even than GOD? Are we actually disobeying God in our soft, fence-straddling approach toward certain others?”

“‘Now we COMMAND YOU, brethren, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly,’ and, ‘if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him…’ (II Thessalonians 3:6, 14).”

“God is far more strict in all such matters within the Church than we have sometimes been inclined to be.”

“We MUST NOT appear to try to be more kind than God. Christ will say, ‘Depart from me!’ WE MUST NOT COMPROMISE! GOD DOES NOT!”

“I do pray for all such. I pray that God will BLESS THEM—with whatever He in His supreme wisdom knows is BEST FOR THEM—even though that may be severe PUNISHMENT!”

“Can We Fellowship the Disfellowshipped?,” WN, May 4, 1981

“Ministers were crying for more and more watering down of truths Christ had put into His Church through His apostle.”

“I had repeatedly asked ministers or members to contact me personally on problems in the field—but my requests fell on deaf ears.”

“[My son] then brought [a minister of his choosing] back as ‘head of the ministry.’ He was [his] tool, working with…the ‘intellectuals.’ Ministers who should have been fired were left in. [The minister my son chose] always has worked to keep people ‘friendly’ to him.”

“As the ancient prophet Eli was condemned and punished by God for allowing his sinning sons to remain in the priesthood, so ministers who should have been eliminated were left in. [This head of the ministry] would offend no one. After [my son] was put out of the Church, [the head of the ministry] did all he could to keep disqualified ministers loyal to him personally, building power for himself.”

“Christ Now Moves to Put God’s Government Back on Track,” GN, Sep. 1979

“If you have truly repented, you have stopped using human reason and acting according to the way you look at it!…If you have received God’s Holy Spirit, it is to lead you into all TRUTH—which means understanding of GOD’S WORD, and what it instructs on all these questions, so that you know what to obey. Therefore you will look into the Bible for your answer…God will not accept worship ‘according to the dictates of man’s conscience.’”

“YOU are to have fellowship only with those who know and obey the TRUTH!”

“When the so-called ‘Jehovah Witnesses’ come to your door, should you admit them?”

“‘Well, the way I look at it,’ some might say, ‘is this: it would be discourteous not to admit them, and that would not be “Christian,” would it?’

“BUT HOW DOES GOD LOOK AT IT? God says ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD’ (Isa. 55:8). What does God COMMAND?”

“‘For many deceivers (including “Jehovah Witnesses”) are entered into the world…Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not (obeys not) in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God… If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine (of Christ, and of God’s true Church), receive him not into your house, neither bid him God-speed: for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds’ (II John 7-11).”

“These ‘Jehovah Witness’ people DO NOT OBEY GOD! They argue against God’s Commandments, and especially against the Sabbath.”

“‘Jehovah Witness’ people especially will argue against God’s Law. They DO transgress God’s Law, and they abide not in the doctrine of CHRIST. Therefore their deeds are EVIL. God says you, also, are partaker with them of their evil deeds if you receive them into your home.”

“When these people come to your door, just smile and tell them politely, but FIRMLY, you are not interested—you do not discuss religion—and be closing your door as you say it…”

“But all these temptations to ensnare you into the world—into false doctrines—into forbidden fellowship or false worship are mild compared to the one in our very midst, HARDEST OF ALL TO RESIST!”

“The Apostle Paul, speaking his farewell to the elders of the large Church of God at Ephesus, said: ‘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 20:29-30).”

“THAT DID HAPPEN IN THAT CHURCH!”

“The greatest danger of all is when one who is among us, supposed to be one of us, approaches you with some doctrine or interpretation CONTRARY to that of God’s Church, and of God’s ministers.”

“Whether it be a so-called ‘Jehovah Witness’ or even one supposedly a member of God’s own Church, remember THIS COMMAND: ‘If there come ANY unto you’— it does not say member of another church—it says if ANY come unto you—‘and bring not this doctrine, RECEIVE HIM NOT INTO YOUR HOUSE….’— DON’T LISTEN TO HIM!”

“What we say is, do not listen any longer to those who bring a DIFFERENT doctrine! If you have already seen these truths for yourself—already PROVED them in your own Bible—already proved this is the true Church of God, then GOD’S TEACHING, as I have shown you in this article from the BIBLE, is, DO NOT LISTEN to those who bring a different doctrine.”

“Should We Listen to Others?,” GN, May 1960

“Paul gave the reason, in the following verses, for GOVERNMENT and AUTHORITY in the Church—‘For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers…whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses (even as those fighting against order and government in God’s Church are doing today), teaching things they ought not (as right now), for filthy lucre’s sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, (lazy gluttons—RSV),…This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.’ And Paul adds, chapter 2:15, ‘…and REBUKE, with ALL AUTHORITY.’

“Yes, God’s Government is NECESSARY in His Church, and He PUT IT THERE!”

“Notice what Jesus taught…[in Luke 22:24-26 and] in Mark 10:42: ‘…ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them…but so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be chiefest, shall be servant of all.’”

“Years ago, seeing this, and not considering the many, MANY Scriptures charging some in the Church with authority, rulership, saying to ‘rebuke’ the unruly, etc., I took the above scriptures to mean there is no authority in the Church. I did not want to exercise authority. I was still NEW in God’s truth (this was over 40 years ago). So, in the early days of the parent Church of the Philadelphia era, at Eugene, Oregon, I allowed ‘wolves in sheeps’ clothing’ to come in and sow the seeds of discord among brethren. It resulted in splitting the church in two—possibly turning half my flock onto the way that leads into the lake of fire! God had His own way of REBUKING ME SOUNDLY, making me see this in its true light. Jesus here is talking about THE MANNER in which the authority Christ delegates is used. He is NOT saying there is NO AUTHORITY.”

Brethren Letter, May 2, 1974

“Let’s let GOD tell us what He means by UNITY.”

“Paul’s final word to the Corinthians was this: ‘Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace.’ Being of ONE MIND is the WAY to peace, and unity (II Cor. 13:11).”

“‘… stand fast in ONE SPIRIT, with ONE MIND, striving together for the faith of the Gospel’ (Phil. 1:27).”

“‘Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.’ (Phil. 2:2). Notice how being AGREED and of ONE MIND is continually connected with true love in God’s Word! It says nothing about showing love by disagreement. God FORBIDS you to do something according to what is right in your own eyes!”

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. Therefore Christ, of necessity, had to provide A WAY of preventing disagreement and divisions.”

“Brethren, it is because we did not as yet ourselves fully comprehend this working of GOD’S GOVERNMENT in His Church, and because no such authority was exercised in the parent church at Eugene, Oregon, that a division came about which did split the Church there. Several whom we loved and had served in love for years turned bitterly against us and left the Church. THAT MUST NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. If some one trouble-maker appears, bent on attracting a following and dividing the Church with some wrong doctrine or idea, we shall obey God’s Work in the exercise of His government, and mark that person, and, as Paul commanded in I Cor. 5:13, ‘put away from ourselves that wicked person.’”

“Christ Did Put Authority and Rule in His Church!,” GN, Jan. 1957

“God’s instruction to ministers of local churches is this: ‘I charge thee therefore before God…PREACH THE WORD; keep at it in season, out of season; REPROVE, REBUKE, EXHORT with all patience and doctrine’ (II Tim. 4:1-2). He said the time would come when some in congregations ministered by GOD’S TRUE MINISTERS will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts heap to themselves teachers—turning away their ears from the TRUTH.’”

“Should the brethren HATE God’s minister when he properly uses God’s Word, and declares is boldly?”

“What about those few disgruntled, unhappy and rebellious ones who twist the truth into believing a preacher shows ‘LOVE’ by condoning…their sins?”

“God has given instruction in HIS WORD as to how His ministers whom He has set in authority shall deal with those who have thus departed from HIS LOVE, and who stir up dissension among brethren.”

“In past years your Pastor tried to show ‘love’ by not acting drastically or harshly with such people. God has punished him, and brought him to see how such people MUST be dealt with, for a little leaven will leaven the whole lump. And hereafter God’s ministers will demonstrate IN POWER, if necessary, the authority God has given, and carry out His instructions, that the love and the spiritual growth of THE MANY shall not be perverted and destroyed by FEW!”

“Local Assemblies Are Not Social Clubs!,” GN, Oct. 1957

“The apostle Paul instructs that in the Church we must be of one accord all speaking the same thing (I Cor. 1:10). We are to mark those who, in hostile attitude, cause division and controversy among brethren and avoid them.”

“If the entire Church had followed these commandments from God’s Word we would not have had the troubles in the Church in 1974 and the later 1970s.”

“God’s Church must follow these biblical instructions….”

Brethren Letter, Apr. 1, 1984

“In the Church we are commanded that all must speak the same thing as Christ does—all AGREE 100 percent. The CHURCH must be 100 percent in LOVING SUBMISSION to God’s authority. Just one hostile teammate on an athletic team will cause the whole team to lose games. One rotten apple rots those next to it in the crate. God COMMANDS we must MARK those who cause division and are in hostile attitude, and avoid them by disfellowshipment. It is because we did not obey that command in Scripture that we had trouble in the Church for a few years up to four or five years ago.”

Brethren Letter, Sep. 20, 1983

“A primary reason for the contentions and slowing down in the growth of the Church during the liberal years is the fact that, in our desire to hold rebellious and liberal ministers and members within our fellowship, we did not rigidly obey the command of Romans 16:17…”

“To make clear one of the reasons—if not the primary reason—for the conflict caused by the liberal element, I quote from a Western newspaper. In an interview with a former minister…it was stated concerning this split-off church that they have a ‘completely different administrative structure.’”

“The story continued to explain that they totally differ with the governmental structure of God’s Church. He was quoted as saying ‘he also does not believe in expelling people from the church if they do not live up to its teachings.’ It also stated they believe ‘the church is where people belong to help them overcome their problems.’ In other words the liberal idea is to disobey God’s instruction to disfellowship and avoid those who are contentious and cause division and accept members who believe and live contrary to the teachings of Christ and the Bible.”

“Recent History of the Philadelphia Era of the WCG,” WN, June 24, 1985

“In Romans 16:17 it speaks of marking ‘them which cause DIVISIONS and OFFENCES CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE WHICH YE HAVE LEARNED.’”

“In II Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15 is the COMMAND: ‘Now we COMMAND YOU, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye WITHDRAW yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us…And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed…’”

“It is a COMMAND. And if we try to be MORE KIND—MORE RIGHTEOUS—than God and DISOBEY THAT COMMAND, we convict ourselves of disobedience to God’s COMMAND!”

“Which Family Comes First?,” GN, Apr. 1980

CHAPTER NINE –

WAS MR. ARMSTRONG TRYING TO BE A CONTROLLER?

“Any government, organization, operation or activity without a directing, governing HEAD is riding to disaster!”

“We would suppose, according to organizational patterns, that the top authority in a college or university would be the trustees, or the regents…But what is happening in actual practice? Do they, in practice, exercise authority? Are they really in charge?”

“After the student uprising and violence, 1968, at Columbia University, William S. Paley, a trustee…said: ‘It is essential that we make it possible for students to work for the correction of such conditions legitimately and effectively…Legally the university is the board of trustees…but actually,’ he continues, ‘it is very largely the community of teachers and students.’

“In other words, the trustees have weakened and in practice relinquished their authority to the teachers and students. He continues: ‘That a board of trustees should commit a university community to policies and actions without the components of that community participating in discussions leading to such commitments has become obsolete….’

“For the top authority to question teachers and students, to learn their attitudes and ideas, to carefully consider them, arrive at a judgment, set a policy and enforce it is one thing.”

“At Ambassador College, the top authorities, in whom the government is legally invested, govern. It is authority from the top down, not from the bottom up. Students come here to learn—to receive what they know we have to give, not to teach us.”

“On the other hand, if we did not keep abreast of student attitudes, needs, and welfare—if we gave them reason for grievance, we might expect opposition. It is our responsibility to remove all just reason for student discontent or revolt.”

“So today, trustees almost everywhere—except at Ambassador College—are re-examining their role in college government. This is the typical TREND in American and British thought today.”

“The president’s job is to provide administrative leadership, to enforce policies and rules. Unless there is this leadership, and this enforcement, the institution will run downhill.”

“But Britain and America are sold on the idea of government directed from the bottom up.”

“So presidents are becoming timid, gradually relinquishing disciplinarian powers. Faculties and militant student minorities are taking advantage of this weakness and tendency toward appeasement.”

“So what is emerging?”

“A relinquishing of power and control at the top. A loss of pride in our power! A tendency toward government dictated from BELOW. For those who need to be taught and governed, a tendency to rule over their superiors, and dictate how they would like to be governed.”

“It’s the same principle of the Biblical prophecy come true in our time: ‘…children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you, and confuse the course of your paths’ (Isaiah 3:12 RSV).”

“WHO IS IN CONTROL?”

“The answer, to quote a university alumnus magazine, ‘is at once simple and infinitely complex: The trustees are. The faculty is. The students are. The president is.’”

“But NOT AT AMBASSADOR COLLEGE!”

“Personal,” PT, July 1969

“‘PITTSBURGH (AP)—An educator said yesterday colleges have no business meddling with the sex lives of their students. “The college,” he said in a lecture, “should not establish standards of student dress, dictate the length of male tresses, or attempt to regulate the sexual morality of the students.”’”

“WHY is it that on AMBASSADOR COLLEGE campuses—in Pasadena, in Texas and in England—there is PEACE, and ORDER, and RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY, unchallenged! WHY?”

“WHY do you find, on these unique campuses, NO hippies—NO dirty, sloppy, long-haired, unkempt males lolling around shiftlessly and aimlessly? No painted-up, micro-mini-skirted, frowzy, stringy-haired, slovenly females who think chastity has gone out of style. NO cigarette-smoking lung-cancer victims. NO beatniks. NO despondent, discouraged-looking, depressed, frustrated young people who see NO FUTURE ahead.”

“What IS that basic DIFFERENCE between Ambassador and the decadent colleges and universities in chaos, allowing militant students to take them over or destroy them?”

“There is ONLY ONE Source that has the right ANSWERS…Education has REJECTED that Knowledge-Source, and so Education is decadent, and today GROPING IN CHAOS!”

“And we are developing, at the three Ambassador campuses, the EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM of the WORLD TOMORROW!”

“Education in Chaos!” PT, August 1968

“Jesus came to call people out of this world to be prepared to teach and rule under him when he becomes King and takes over the throne of the earth.”

“God’s CHURCH was designed in his supreme master plan to prepare that dedicated and organized personnel of GOD BEINGS.”

“Let us illustrate by an analogy. Many states in America have state teachers’ colleges. The states could not start or conduct schools until they had first trained teachers for those schools. The Church may be called God’s teachers’ college to prepare rulers and teachers for the kingdom of God when God does offer redemption and eternal life to the world as a whole.”

“The CHURCH, as initially called in this life, is NOT YET capable of RULING the earth…of administering THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.”

“And THAT IS WHY God has placed HIS GOVERNMENT in his Church. That is WHY God’s Church government is theocratic instead of democratic. That is why God has set ranks of government in his Church, apostles, evangelists, pastors, elders, both preaching and non-preaching, ‘till we [in the Church] all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph. 4:13)…That is WHY it is hierarchical in form—government from GOD at the top on down, not from the bottom up. Otherwise those at the bottom would be ruling GOD!”

“The Church is God’s special school for training those he has selected and called to be trained in his Church—to be kings and priests, to rule and to teach—for their part in that kingdom.”

“The very purpose of the Church of this present time is to provide God’s training school or teachers’ college to train in spiritual knowledge, education and godly character, to supply all the positions at the beginning of this wonderful 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth.”

MYSTERY OF THE AGES (1985), pp. 210, 227-228, 256, 270, 351

“Christ’s apostle is accused of using ‘total thought control’ over the Church. What is the TRUTH?”

“One of my son’s ‘fair speeches’ (Rom. 16:18) intended to deceive and draw away members tries to turn the very command of God, that we must all speak the same thing, into an accusation that I am using MIND CONTROL over our members.”

“So he sends out a ‘fair speech’ in writing, attempting to associate God’s Church with the Jim Jones Guyana cult. He says: ‘For too many years’ (when he was in God’s Church) ‘I tried with all my being to encourage our brethren to think for themselves.’ In other words, to QUESTION and doubt the validity of the doctrines CHRIST had put in the Church. He continues, ‘The demoniac preacher Jim Jones used extreme forms of total dictatorial control over his followers.’ Then he spoke of ‘total thought control’—inferring that now, all of a sudden, I am another ‘Jim Jones’ and exercising ‘total thought control’ over you members.”

“He says that when I say, with I Corinthians 1:10, that we ‘all speak the same thing,’ I am using mind control over you, and he sends out letters and booklets EMPHASIZING that HE DOES NOT AGREE WITH OR PREACH the SAME THING as his father.”

“Personal,” GN, Apr. 1979

Let’s summarize the whole reasoning. It simmers down to the idea that each individual must be free to decide for himself what is right, or what is wrong, for him. It all revolves around the false idea of what constitutes free moral agency. This reasoning proposes that each member of God’s Church, in order not to be robbed of free moral agency, must be free to decide for himself what constitutes SIN—and every other member is supposed to have tolerance for his belief and way of conduct. This attitude resents having God’s ministers show the people their sins, and wants them to preach the soft and smooth things.”

“Free moral agency means God has decreed that the individual is free to decide for himself whether he will obey God…The individual is NOT left free to decide for himself WHAT is sin—but free moral agency allows him to decide WHETHER to sin!”

“And when we come to these vague, disputable questions of DEFINING God’s Law in respect to sin, it is GOD’S prerogative, not that of the individual, to set the definition.”

“In the time of the Judges, it is written of the congregation of Israel: ‘Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ (Judges 17:6). But GOD had commanded, just as He who is the SAME today commands today: ‘Ye shall NOT do after all the things that ye do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.’ (Deut. 12:8).”

“Yes, those who do not want GOD’S GOVERNMENT thru His ministers of HIS choosing, but want to do whatever is right in their own eyes today, actually want to DISOBEY the direct command of GOD! Let them read these Scriptures, and then try to answer GOD in the final judgment!”

“And this system of disobeying the DIRECT COMMAND: ‘Ye shall NOT do…every man whatsoever is right