No. 21 - THE CURSE IS REVERSED, EXCEPT...
By: John J. Blanchard
Saturday, August 03, 2002

God’s Church today is in a terrible state of confusion. We know from scripture that God is not the author of confusion. We will look at that familiar scripture just briefly. Let us go to I Corinthians chapter 14, verse 33: “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” So God is not the author of confusion especially in His Church. By the context we are being told about the many church groups extant at the time, and there was to be peace and not confusion in these groups because Christ is the author of peace.

Let us drop to the end of time to the condition of God’s Church today and I do not know if the Church has ever been in such confusion as it is today! If God is not the author of confusion, where did all of this confusion come from? We know that confusion is sown by our arch enemy, and he is the one who confuses and divides.

The Church has descended into, in a sense, a babble of confusion with many voices proclaiming different things all over the Church. We hear of charges and counter charges, conflicting doctrines from group to group, tremendous competition to gain members from one another and rejection of many truths once taught. We could go on and on. It is just a total, complete mess.

Before we get into today’s subject, we have to define some terms so that we know during the sermon what we are talking about. This is incredibly important today because with all of the groups saying different things, people do not even agree on what they are talking about! What definition do you use for the Church? What definition do you use for the holy days, for tithing, for many different doctrines? It has all broken down into horrible confusion. So we are going to define some terms that apply to this sermon. We are not going to go into great depth because we have gone into depth in these terms in different sermons in the past so we will briefly look at them.

The first definition I want to look at is the temple. #1: The temple of God. The temple in this sermon is the true Church of God. Turn to I Corinthians 3, verses 16-17: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” That could not be any clearer.

Let us look at one more just over one page here. I Corinthians 6, verse 19: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Our minds and our bodies belong to God. Our mind is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the temple of God.

The second definition we want to look at is we are God’s house. #2: The temple of God is His house. Hebrews chapter 3, starting in verse 1: “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” Without a doubt, we are the home of God.

The third definition, and it is more or less a definition of a phrase, is our houses are in Jerusalem. #3: Our houses are in Jerusalem. Galatians chapter 4, starting in verse 22: “For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar - for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children - but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” So physical Jerusalem is in bondage to the earth’s system, spiritual Jerusalem is from above.

Continuing in verse 27: “For it is written: ‘Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who do not travail! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.’ Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.’ So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.” The free woman is Jerusalem from above, the Church, spiritual Jerusalem. Our houses, the temple of God, dwell in Jerusalem.

The fourth definition is that of mountains that we have looked at before. #4: Mountains represent government. Turn to Isaiah chapter 2, starting in verse 2: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.”

Obviously the Lord’s house, (we are the house of the Lord) dwells in the mountain. Therefore the house which is in Jerusalem, the mother of the Church, is in the mountain. Mountains represent government.

Go to Isaiah chapter 11, verse 9: “‘They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.’” In all of God’s mountain and all of His government and what it rules over, there shall be no more suffering and no more pain eventually when God’s government reigns.

The fifth definition is that of Zion. Zion in the Old Testament is Zion and in the New Testament it is Sion. That is the name of this mountain. #5: The name of the mountain where Jerusalem exists where the temple of God is is Zion. Turn once again to Isaiah chapter 2, and we will continue from where we left off. We will start in verse 3 this time. “Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Jerusalem, the city of peace, the city on a hill, (so that all men can see the way of God) sits on the mountain called Zion. There is a physical mountain just outside of Jerusalem that God uses to describe this, or is a physical fulfillment, and that is Mt. Hermon, which means Mt. Zion.

The sixth definition is the Church is a daughter of Zion. #6: The Church is the daughter of this government. Turn to Matthew 21, starting in verse 1: “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them,” and immediately he will send them.’ All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”’ So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.” So Zion is told at Jerusalem behold your King is coming. The King, Jesus Christ, is King over the mountain of His government.

Let us look at John chapter 12, verse 12, speaking of the same incident: “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!’ Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.’” Without a doubt, the Church that Christ came to, His government that will eventually rule, is the daughter of that mountain called Zion. So the Church is the daughter.

Romans 11, verse 26: “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’” So the covenant with Zion eventually will take away all sins. In the Millennium people will dwell free of the captivity of Satan, as we mentioned before; but all people will have access to forgiveness, to this covenant with Jesus Christ.

Hebrews chapter 12, starting in verse 18: “For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest...” We have not come to Mt. Hermon. We have not come to the physical mountain or Mt. Zion, we have come to a spiritual mountain as Christ goes on to explain here through Paul. “...And the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: ‘And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with an arrow.’” This is referring to when the people of Israel saw God hidden in the cloud on the mountain and He was talking and they were utterly terrified of Him. They told Moses we do not want this God to talk to us. You go talk to him.

Continuing in verse 21: “And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.)’” So Moses himself was afraid. That is not the mountain we have come to.

Verse 22: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” So what mountain have we come to? We have come to the mountain of God, that is Jerusalem, which is composed of the firstfruits - His Church, the daughter of Zion. That is who we have come to.

Go to I Peter chapter 2, verse 4: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’” We have the privilege, if we hold fast, of becoming one of the stones built into the temple in the city on the hill of the mountain of God called Zion.

I want to read one more scripture. We are spending a lot of time on this definition because then we are going to elaborate on it a little bit. Revelation 14, verse 1, this is John seeing in vision during the revelation that he received from Jesus Christ: “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” The mountain of stones composing the government of God, that is Jerusalem, is the hundred and forty-four thousand.

The summary of definitions 1 through 6: We are the houses for God that form His temple, which is Jerusalem, the city of God. This is on his mountain called Zion. The Church is the daughter of that mountain, the daughter of Zion.

Now we want to define a few more terms. #7: Elijah and the Elijah work is done three times in the Bible. We are not going to go back and review all of the scriptures as we have just covered that in the sermon called “Thoughts on Elijah” but we will look at a few basic scriptures.

We know that Elijah was an individual called by God and a member of the priesthood in the Old Testament, who worked many miracles. If you go back to Matthew chapter 3, Christ says some interesting things here. Matthew chapter 3, starting in verse 1: “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’” So Christ is showing us here through His inspired words that John the Baptist was a type of Elijah crying out in the wilderness and he explains this further in Matthew 17 in His own words to the apostles.

Matthew 17, verse 10: “And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Elijah truly is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.” So Christ by His own inspired word shows us that the man crying out in the wilderness before His work at His first coming was John the Baptist as Elijah and He says that Elijah will come once again and restore all things. John the Baptist did not do this prior to Christ’s first coming. This Elijah would be working prior to Christ’s second coming.

Turn back to Malachi chapter 3, verse 1: “‘Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts.” So a work that a messenger will do prior to Christ’s second coming will make straight the way for Christ to return suddenly to His temple. We have already defined His temple as the Church.

The eighth term we want to understand is a phrase once again. #8: Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong was the end-time Elijah. We covered that fully during the sermon called “Thoughts on Elijah” so we will not look at that right now, but during the course of this sermon that is what we are talking about. The end-time Elijah work is Mr. Armstrong’s work.

Definition #9: The Zerubbabel work had to be done twice by Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple in Old Testament times and by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong as Zerubbabel in the New Testament era. Turn, if you would, to Haggai chapter 2, starting in verse 2: “‘Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: “Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory?”’” In other words, who was alive and saw Solomon’s temple? “‘And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?’” So the temple Zerubbabel was working on was falling far short of the temple that Solomon built.

Verse 4: “‘Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

Verse 5: “‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.” This never happened under the original Zerubbabel. So the Zerubbabel work must get done again and was by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.

Go to Zechariah chapter 4, verse 6 where this work is described here. “‘So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts. “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands shall also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”’”

So we can see that a mountain is lowered because of the work of Zerubbabel. That mountain, of course, is the mountain of Satan, the current government over the earth. Because of the work of Zerubbabel to build the temple, Jesus Christ can come to it suddenly, as we saw in Malachi. As we saw in Haggai, it would be far more glorious than Solomon’s. That work was done by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.

The tenth and final definition we want to look at this morning is tribulation. #10: Tribulation is #2347 in Strong’s in the New Testament which means “pressure or persecution”. It comes from the word #2346 which means “to crowd, to afflict, to narrow, to force through a small narrow opening and causing pressure, tremendous pressure”. That term comes from #5134 and #5131 which is “a rut or worn track, a he-goat, to wound”. So the Church has been in a rut or a tribulation for a long time. It is a worn track that has been forcing God’s Church through it for a long time. Tribulation means pressure.

There are many events during the history of the Church that have caused tribulation. There is not just one time of tribulation. That is important to fix in our minds. How can we prove that? Let us take a moment to look at a couple of scriptures in Revelation.

Revelation chapter 1, verse 9. When John was on the Island of Patmos and he saw this vision that we call the Book of Revelation, he wrote this in verse 9: “I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” So John says I am your companion in tribulation. John lived almost 2,000 years ago.

Go to chapter 2, verse 9 of Revelation. We understand the Church eras down through time since Jesus Christ’s first coming. You will find in Revelation chapter 2, verse 9 the persecuted Church of Smyrna is spoken of in verse 9: “‘I know your works, tribulation, and poverty...’” So that Church era was in tribulation.

Finally, let us look at John chapter 16, verse 25. This is Christ speaking. “‘These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.’” He is talking to His apostles here.

Verse 26: “‘In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.’ His disciples said to Him, ‘See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’” The word “tribulation” here is all the same word.

So that tribulation that John went through and the apostles went through that eventually cost most of them their lives, is the same pressure that anyone called of God, covenanting with Him and who has received the Holy Spirit will go through until Christ’s second coming! That is tribulation - pressure.

Now that we have looked at these definitions I would like to get into the sermon. The sermon is titled “The Curse is Reversed, Except...” In a sense we are going to look at the story flow of the entire Bible itself.

The world was in darkness with all people dwelling in total darkness under the government of Satan. Now this world that was dark had no hope. It was a world of waste, destruction, confusion and hate. All that is and all that was was in vain. There was no hope. Before we read where we are really talking about the beginning of this situation of no hope for mankind, I want to go back and look at the physical example that God gave us to help us understand the spiritual. This is the principle of the former showing us the latter. So we are going to look at the former first.

Go to Genesis chapter 1, starting in verse 1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.” This light was good because it removed the darkness wherever it shown. Without form and void in Hebrew is “tohu” and “bohu”. Everything that God’s Spirit moved over was ugly and was useless to God. Why? Because Satan was ruling the entire earth and he had made a mess of it. Satan rules with an iron hand from his mountain.

Before we look at the light that God brought, let us take a brief moment to look at Satan and his darkness. Go to Matthew chapter 4, starting in verse 1: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”’ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge concerning you,” and, “In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”’”

Continuing in verse 7: “Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”’ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”’ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”

So when Christ reached the ultimate temptation from Satan, it was to be taken on Satan’s mountain where He could see all of the kingdoms of the world. There is no physical mountain where that is possible. Because he rules this earth, Satan had the authority to give it to Christ if Christ would worship him. Of course, Christ refused.

Now let us go to Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” That is the mountain of Satan and he rules the earth from there. Revelation 12, verse 9 (You do not have to turn there.) tells us that the whole world is deceived by Satan because he is in charge of the whole world.

Now what does Satan rule over? He rules over chaos, confusion, hatred, fearful subjects who are without hope. In other words, Satan and his government rule over the world through a vain system, vainly deceiving all of those who live in vain. Can you think of a more hopeless situation? Let us look at that term “vanity”.

We should take a minute here and define “vanity”. When you look up “vain” in your Strong’s, you will find it is #7723 in the Old Testament which means “the sense of desolating, ruin, idolatry and uselessness”. Number 7722 means “to rush over, a tempest, devastation and desolation”. “Vain” comes from the Hebrew word “tohu” which is #8414 which means “to lie waste, desolation of the surface, desert, a worthless thing, in vain, confusion, without form, wilderness”. It is related to the word that is #8415 in the Strong’s which means “the deep sea, the surging water, or the abyss”.

We can see that these two words for “vain”, 7723 and 8414 are very similar. Let us look at some examples of how they are used. Isaiah chapter 45, starting in verse 18: “For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, “Seek Me in vain”; I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.’”

We are looking at three scriptures here in which #8414 is used. The word “vain” mentioned twice, once in verse 18 and once in verse 19 is number #8414 “to lie waste, desolation of the surface, desert, a worthless thing, in vain and confusion, without form and wilderness”. That is what is mentioned here in verses 18 and 19 of Isaiah 45.

Now go to Ezekiel chapter 13, starting in verse 1: “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, “Hear the word of the Lord!’” Thus says the Lord God: ‘Woe to the foolish prophets…’” (this can be understood as shepherds or teachers) “‘...who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!’”

Verse 4: “‘O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts.’” So through His inspired word Christ was being very forceful here about His shepherds and specifically in the last times. “‘You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord. They have envisioned futility and false divination...’” In the King James this is rendered “vanity”. “‘...saying, “Thus says the Lord!” But the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed.’”

Verse 7: “‘Have you not seen a futile...’” (vain) “‘...vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, “The Lord says,” but I have not spoken.’ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,’ says the Lord God. ‘My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility...’” That word again, “futility” is “vanity” in the King James. “‘…and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.’” This is referring again to God’s house, His temple, His land.

Now I would like to drop down to verse 14: “‘So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.’” This temple built with untempered mortar, this house of God that was built on error, will collapse! The foundation is what the Church is built on. If you go back and read, when you have time, I Corinthians 3 starting at verse 9 through 16, the foundation is a foundation of the prophets. So when this temple that is built without good mortar falls down, it will reveal once again the foundation, the truth - what everything should be built upon.

Continuing in verse 15 of Ezekiel 13: “‘Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, “The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it, that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,” says the Lord God.’” Peace for the city of Jerusalem, which we know dwells in the mountain of God.

Verse 17: “‘Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy against them, and say, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every height to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves alive?’”’” Is the condition of the Church being spoken of here? Are they trying to gather members from one another?

Verse 19: “‘And will you profane Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die, and keeping people alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies?’ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am against your magic charms by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will tear them from your arms, and let the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds. I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be as prey in your hand. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.’”

So we see a situation of God delivering His people from the hand of their captors who are preaching futility (vain things to the Church) saying there is peace for Jerusalem, the daughter of the mountain when there is no peace for Jerusalem, the daughter of the mountain. That is where #8414 is used.

Number 7723 is used in Ezekiel 12 starting in verse 21: “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails? Tell them therefore, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘I will lay this proverb to rest, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, ‘The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision. For no more shall there be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.’”’” The flattering divination (the false teachings) will end. “‘For I am the Lord. I speak and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it,’ says the Lord God.”

Continuing in Ezekiel 12 verse 26: “Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, look, the house of Israel is saying, “The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.” Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,’” says the Lord God.’” So far off in the future Ezekiel is being shown that a time will come when God will no longer postpone what He is going to do, and He will stop false teaching in His Church. He will stop false teaching of vain things, of vanity, of futility. That is #7723.

Let us go to Psalm 127, verse 1: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.” The inspired word tells us unless God builds the house, and that means it is built with good mortar, those who work on it are working in vain. Unless the Lord guards Jerusalem, the city, the watchmen stay awake in vain. So there are watchmen who can actually be working and building and actually wasting their time. They are building in vain.

Psalm 139, verse 17: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You. Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. For they speak against You wickedly; your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

This Psalm of David clearly shows that using God’s name with bloodthirstiness is something He hates. He loathes it. He asked God to search his heart to make sure he is not like that. We cannot hate. We cannot preach in God’s name in vain and vainly use His name.

Now I want to go back and look at possibly the most famous scripture about vain use of God’s name. Exodus chapter 20, verse 7: “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.’” That brethren is the same #7723. Number 8414 and #7723 are very closely related definitions of the term “vain” and “vanity”. To preach desolation, destruction, uselessness, a desolation of the earth’s surface, to lie waste and in confusion, without form and a wilderness, as something that God is going to do is a vain use of God’s name and is preaching in vain! Now we can understand why God hates it so very, very much.

Now we are going to briefly look at how that is done in the last days. We saw in Ezekiel 13 and Isaiah 45 that there would be preaching of peace and safety for Jerusalem when there is none and that there is futility for the world. Referring to the earth would be made waste in Isaiah 45 God said, no, I did not create the earth to be laid waste. I created it to be inhabited, remember that?

Let us look at Isaiah chapter 28, starting in verse 14: “Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.’” So here in Jerusalem we have teachers that God calls “scornful men” who are saying, do not worry. We will be okay. Call it a “place of safety”, call it a “rapture”, call it whatever you want, but in the Church of God we use the term “place of safety”. The teaching that we will be okay when the rest of the world is destroyed God says He hates.

Verse 16: “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily. Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet...’”

So God says, I in Zion will lay a perfect cornerstone. We know that is Jesus Christ. People will consider before they act hastily about preaching death, destruction and desolation to the world. Because when you consider the foundation (Jesus Christ) and what His purpose is, (to save all mankind) we realize those are conflicting purposes. Christ did not create the earth to be destroyed. In Isaiah 45 He said He created it to be inhabited.

Drop down to verse 18 of Isaiah 28: “‘Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. As often as it goes out it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass over, and by day and by night; it will be a terror just to understand the report.’” So God says the overflowing scourge that you thought you were safe from while the world perishes, is going to happen to you if you do not repent! And I will save the world.

Think about the sermon we did on God’s arm is not too short. His arm is plenty strong enough to save this earth. We should not be minimalistic. The title of that sermon was, “Don’t Be A Minimalist”. It is a good one to review for the power of God. Because if we say God’s arm is short, we preach vainly. Exodus 20:7 - God hates His name to be associated with vanity.

Now what is God showing us here in all of these things? God worked on His plan for ages and ages, well before mankind was ever on the earth. His plan made a way out for this world, and we had better not ignore it! We better get on the same page as Jesus Christ and get ready to help this earth. We need to get out of His way. Because, brethren, the Church right now, in the state it is in, is in God’s way! He will sweep it aside! We just saw that in Isaiah 28.

Now I want to go back to the “light”. I want to go back to the beginning. We looked at Genesis 1:1, but there is an explanation of the spiritual things spoken of in Genesis and that is brought out in John chapter 1. Please go to John chapter 1, verse 1. This is a scripture that Mr. Herbert Armstrong read often.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world.”

Verse 10: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

We are being told here, brethren, that the first time Christ came His own would not receive Him. It could happen again! Unless there is a great repentance in the Church of God, it could happen again. We have to get out of His way and start helping Him preach the good news and not vain teachings of futility, desolation and destruction and hope for only a few. That is not our God. He is the Hope for every man and every woman and every child who wants to repent.

Continuing in verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, “He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.”’ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” Anyone who accepts, receives Jesus Christ and His grace and He is that Light who separates the darkness even until now.

Now let us go back to Malachi chapter 3, starting in verse 1: “‘Behold, I send My Messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. ‘Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem...’” Remember our definitions. “‘...will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years.’”

Christ did not come the first time as a refiner’s fire or as launderer’s soap. He did not. He has not come yet in that capacity and do not let anyone fool you on that. Mr. Herbert Armstrong said that himself. Christ did not come and fulfill that when He cleansed His temple by driving out the moneychangers. He is going to cleanse His true temple driving out the real spiritual moneychangers very shortly! We best not be a spiritual moneychanger. He is going to tear down the false temple built on the good foundation. It is well underway, brethren. Just look at the condition of the Church.

Now go to Malachi chapter 4, verse 1: “‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘that will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.’”

Verse 3: “‘You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.’”

That term “curse” is #2764 which means “usually a doomed object, curse of a dedicated thing, things which should have utterly been destroyed”. That is the earth! It should have been destroyed. The purpose of Elijah is to prevent that. God does not say He might send Elijah. He says “I will”. It is a guarantee; it is a promise.

Do not let it confuse you here where it says “fathers”. It says turn the “hearts of the fathers to the children, and hearts of the children to their fathers”. I spoke with a rabbi by the name of Rabbi Blackman. He told me in the Jewish Bible it does not even have a chapter 4, it is Malachi 3, verses 23 and 24. But the correct rendering, according to him, was “and he will turn back to God the hearts of the fathers with their sons and the sons with their fathers lest I come and strike the earth with utter destruction”. So what God intends to do is to turn people back to Him. How the destruction of the earth is prevented is by turning the people back (in Malachi 3, verse 1) who form the temple!

When that temple gets turned back to Him and gives Him a place to dwell, this earth will be saved. He will come suddenly to that temple cutting time short, making sure the earth is not destroyed. Because He said in Isaiah 45 I did not create the earth to have its surface desolated and destroyed and the people killed. He said do not believe that vain thing. I will make a way around it!

Yes, Mr. Armstrong had to preach the earth would be destroyed unless we repented. He knew by the end of his life he was talking about the temple. The temple had to repent and get cleaned up so Christ could come. That is what he meant. That is what Christ meant. Had we not reached the point of getting all goofed up and in a state of confusion and let Satan make a mess of the Church, we would all be preaching and teaching that today instead of a babble of confusion.

If you were to continue the story of the Bible at this point as I did earlier, you would conclude that the Old Testament is full of types to be fulfilled once again. You would notice the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586 B.C. That is Solomon’s temple. Zerubbabel tried to rebuild it later and did. He got it up and running. The temple that he built is the one that Christ came to the first time, the temple of stone and wood. That temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed again. So in history, Jerusalem and the temple have been destroyed at least twice. There is a third time when it was partially destroyed by Antiochus Epiphanes. During that one the altar was desecrated by having pigs blood put on it.

Now what are we to make of this that in the Old Testament the temple and Jerusalem get destroyed and Christ said in the New Testament in Matthew 24 it would happen again? It did in 70 A.D. and a physical temple was destroyed. Many Jews were killed. What does it mean in the latter days when that would happen again? Remember our definitions. We are the temple, we dwell in our houses that exist in Jerusalem on a mountain of God’s government called Zion.

Now let us go read II Thessalonians chapter 2, starting in verse 1: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Verse 5: “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”

Verse 8: “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie...”

What is the lie? The vain teaching that God hates is the lie! The vain teaching is that His arm is too short, that His creation and all people will be destroyed, that there is only hope for just a few in some little isolated Church group somewhere. Many separate little groups in God’s Church believe they are the ones and that the rest of the world will get punished and killed and martyred except for His special few. Isaiah 28 says that God hates that teaching and He will reverse it on people who believe that. Ezekiel 13 says He hates that teaching that there is peace in Jerusalem and everyone else is going to perish.

That is what Satan wants to do - destroy the earth and destroy the Church, destroy everyone. The sermon we did, “Clearing God’s Name” expounds that concept very well. We cannot apply to God the qualities, characteristics and names that belong to Satan and Satan alone.

So the son of perdition, it says here, sits in the temple of God. Well, we defined the temple. The temple is the house of God, composed of the people who have the Holy Spirit of God who dwell in Jerusalem on the mountain called Zion. That is why God is not the author of confusion and the chaos that we see in God’s Church today comes from none other than the son of perdition. That is why the Church is in a mess.

Matthew 24 makes this even clearer. Matthew 24, starting in verse 15: “‘Therefore when you see the “abomination of desolation”, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place...’” What is the holy place in the last days? Is it a sandstone mountain with a dome on it called the “Dome of the Rock”? No, the holy place is God’s temple. “‘...then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those with nursing babies in those days!’” This part applies to 70 A.D. which was just a type of the fulfillment of what will happen to God’s Church in the last days, spiritual Jerusalem.

Continuing in verse 20: “‘And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no , nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved...’” That was true of Jerusalem back then and that is true of Jerusalem now. If God does not spare us, His Church, Jerusalem, there will be nothing left. “‘...but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.’” That, brethren, is what makes it so the earth’s tortuous history under Satan’s government will be cut short and the surface of the earth will not be desolated.

Verse 23 of Matthew 24: “‘Then if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.’” Now what are they going to try to deceive with? Some will be foolish enough to point out where Christ is, it goes on to say. But let us back up to verse 1.

Matthew chapter 24, verse 1: “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’”

Verse 3: “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?’” So they wanted to know, what would be the sign? What should we look for to know You are coming? Let us notice what Christ said.

Matthew 24, verse 5: “‘For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ” and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.’”

So Christ said wars are not the sign, famines are not the sign, earthquakes are not the sign, and pestilences and diseases are not the sign. Mr. Armstrong pointed out clearly there was only one sign and the scriptures prove it.

Continuing on in verse 10: “‘And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.’”

That is the only sign! That is the only physical sign. There have been many spiritual signs and we have been missing them right along! Why? Because we point to and look for physical signs: earthquakes, diseases, wars, Dome of the Rock falling, Jerusalem surrounded by armies. Remember our definitions. Remember what has happened to God’s temple, His people, His priesthood, to Jerusalem, the spiritual city on a hill.

So I ask you, what temple was Christ talking about? I ask you what signs was Christ talking about? Brethren, since Elijah’s work is clearly part of God’s plan to spare each person on the earth and eventually convert the earth and its inhabitants and His plan is to save His people (the Church), we can see that the curse has been reversed, except…