No subject has baffled, perplexed, and worried people more. Here, for the first time, many will read the astonishing TRUTH, so plain all can understand.
Introduction: This was a subject that confused me for many years. I thought, if I am predestinated to be lost or saved, it didn't matter how I lived. Then I read what Paul said in I Cor. 9:27 "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." I began to study on this subject. In late 1955 I came across this booklet. It answered my questions very clearly. I am reproducing this booklet hoping it will help you as much as it did me.
Tom Justus, Minister
Church of God, Sabbath Day
Springdale, Arkansas
March, 1997
Presented By: Church of God UK
Editors introduction. Again this is one of those "original" articles that brought so many people into the Church about 70 years ago. While the main theme remains the same, comments [ ] will be added to the end of the article to show where we think the "original Herbert Armstrong" needed modifying. So to continue:
THE very fact of the casualties of so many wars has caused a great deal of added sorrow and grief that is entirely unnecessary-if we UNDERSTAND! Many have grieved in the belief that loved ones died "lost"-when, if they understood the truth, those probably were not lost at all!
Several years ago a man, quite worried over the subject of predestination, went to a certain
minister. "Do you believe in predestination?" he asked.
"The Bible teaches it, brother," was the minister's reply.
The minister tried hard to explain. "But that doesn't really mean," he said, "that you have
nothing to do with your own salvation. It doesn't mean that it is all set-your decision and
eternal fate all determined for you in advance. You are to make your own decision. But God knows all things, even in advance. And so He knows before hand how you are going to decide."
This didn't satisfy the troubled man at all.
"If God knows before hand how I am going to decide," he reasoned, "then it is all
predetermined. If He knows in advance I am to be LOST, then that's the way I'll have to
decide in the end. And since I'll lose out anyway, WHY TRY? On the other hand, if He
knows now I'm going to repent and accept Christ and be saved, I'll have to do it in the end
anyway, whether I try or not. Then my ultimate fate is predetermined. Isn't that what
predestination means that the ultimate fate of each one is PREdestined- destined,or
determined, IN ADVANCE? And if that's so, then we simply are not free moral agents, and we have nothing to say about it."
The poor man was more discouraged than ever.
And no wonder. Neither could convince the other, because both were arguing from a false
premise-that predestination has to do with whether each individual shall be lost, or saved.
Does the Bible teach that your ultimate fate is already predestinated?
Neither the preacher nor his perplexed questioner had read carefully what the Bible does say. What confusion we are in today-what BABYLON! Let's UNDERSTAND this!
All UN saved Not Finally LOST
But all this perplexity and worry has arisen from another general assumption- one of the
greatest errors of this time, yet almost universally taken for granted without so much as a
thought to inquire into it.
That is the assumption that there are only two classes, living or dead- the SAVED, and the
LOST. How many sermons have you heard based on the theory "there is no middle-ground! Either you are this minute SAVED, or you're a LOST soul!" This teaching has led to untold suffering and unnecessary grief.
Thousands are grieving over departed loved ones who had never made a profession of Christ. Perhaps over one who really lived wickedly; perhaps over one who lived a good life in the worldly sense, but still had never accepted Christ or been converted. Still others grieve because of a doubt- they are not sure whether some loved one died saved.
If this article does no more than dispel some of this needless grief, and bring a little
enlightenment and COMFORT to some of our readers, it will have been worth while.
So LISTEN! Notice carefully! It's important that you UNDERSTAND!
Suppose this universal assumption were true. See where it leads us!
This teaching comes from the supposition, also generally taken for granted without question, that this is the one and only age and time when God is trying desperately to SAVE the world- that the mission of the Church is to save the world- that this is the ONLY day of salvation, and it is now about over. "Probation" is about to close. Soon it will be too late.
What of the Ignorant Heathen?
We know, of course, the Bible plainly says there is but one name given under heaven among men whereby we may be saved- the name of Jesus Christ! (Acts 2:21)
Over in China, India, Japan, other parts of Asia and Africa, many islands, are millions upon millions-probably at least a billion souls-who, in spite of the comparatively few missionaries sent to heathen lands, have never so much as HEARD that ONLY name! Think of it! A billion souls-half the earth's population-have never heard of Christ! They simply do not KNOW about salvation from sin- God's Plan for eternal life-have never HEARD the true Gospel!
They cannot be SAVED! And now let us ask, can we believe that a God of Love brought
these souls into the world without their knowledge or consent, permitted them to live and die without ever having HEARD the precious Gospel-that God has simply consigned them to eternal punishment because they never HAD A CHANCE?
Or, do we believe that in some manner, God saves them, if they live up to the best they know, WITHOUT having known and accepted Christ without having been converted? Is there, then, some OTHER name- some OTHER way to salvation and life eternal, than through Jesus Christ our Lord? Certainly we can find no such teaching in the Bible
Then what is the TRUTH?
The amazing, startling TRUTH is that this is NOT the age in which God is trying to save all the world! It is not the ONLY day of salvation!
Rather, we are nearing, now, the end of the six working days of the millennial week allotted Satan [1]!
Scripture plainly reveals Satan as the GOD of this world-this AGE (2 Cor. 4:4) the prince of the power of the air (Eph.2:2) the actual spirit RULER of this present world! He is IN POWER (Luke 4:5-6). He offered to turn over this power to Jesus, if He would only worship Satan. Jesus actually won the RIGHT to that power- to dethrone and replace Satan in power-by resisting him in that temptation. When Christ comes to rule, Satan shall be dethroned and utterly shorn of power. But he has power, now!
Satan retains that power only by God's express permission! God has, in effect, turned over
ONE WEEK- A millennial week each "day" [2] an actual thousand years-to Satan. A day is as a thousand years with God, and a thousand years as a day. It forms a complete period of time.
God's principles never change. Applied to this millennial "week," God has said to Satan, in effect: "Six 'days' shalt thou labour and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy GOD: in it thou shalt not do any work!"
Satan's WORK is a labour of deception-of deceiving mankind upon earth-of turning God's
TRUTH upside down-causing honest sincere people to accept a counterfeit for the genuine
deceiving the people into SIN! And how successfully he has worked at his occupation for six thousand long years!
We are nearing, now, the END of the first six days of Satan's "week." And the coming
SEVENTH millennial day shall be the Sabbath of 'the Lord our GOD! The first six days God has turned over to Satan, and given him free reign to influence and to deceive, wherever man would permit. But the coming SEVENTH millennium is GOD'S day-it shall belong to HIM.
In it, Satan shall not do ANY work-he shall be chained, restrained, thrown into the symbolic "bottomless pit," (Rev. 20:1-4)- he shall not deceive a single soul! That day shall not belong to him, thank God!-it shall belong to GOD, who shall rule through CHRIST!
Jesus plainly said He is "LORD of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:28) And as this millennial Sabbath dawns, Jesus shall return to earth IN PERSON-as King of kings not only, but LORD of lords!
He is coming not only to reign and to rule, as King of kings. But as LORD of lords, He is
coming as High Priest to SAVE!
The fact we must now see-the ASTOUNDING fact, almost unbelievable in the light of
erroneous traditions, yet TRUE- is that we have been living in the age of SATAN'S
DOMINION-while Satan, with God's express permission, has been RULING- and NOT in the age when God has set His hand to SAVE the world!
Notice carefully, now! Shocking as this truth may come to many, yet it is the PLAIN
TRUTH. During this time while Satan has been permitted to reign, it is simply not given to all to understand God's truth!
For instance, most people suppose Jesus spoke in parables in order to make His meaning
clearer But He didn't. He spoke in parables to HIDE His real meaning-to cover it so they
could not understand! After Jesus had spoken the parable of the sower and the seed, notice:
Mark 4:10-12; Mat. 13:10-13.
Notice, Jesus plainly said that except to His disciples whom He had called, "it is not given" to even KNOW of the Kingdom-even to them who actually saw Jesus and heard Him speak in person! They were not permitted to understand! That's astonishing! But there it is, in your own Bible-READ IT!
But there is no injustice with God. He denies no one an opportunity of salvation. These many are simply [3] called NOW- at this time- in this, Satan's age! This is simply not the TIME when God is trying to save everyone.
If He were- and of course we know Satan is trying to deceive people into loss of salvation-then Satan surely would be getting the better of the contest. But it is NOT a contest between God and Satan, at all. God alone rules in high heaven, and what Satan does he does not do in competition or in spite of God, or contrary to God's will-he does it only by God's express permission- and God gives that permission for an express and wise PURPOSE. Some day we shall understand!
But God denies no one a chance. There is no injustice with God. Everyone is to have his full chance. But God does things HIS WAY and in HIS TIME, and in HIS PLAN all are not being called now. Millions who have died without a chance shall be resurrected and GIVEN their full chance- and without a devil to tempt them! The space of this article does not permit a full explanation of this, but the 37th chapter of Ezekiel is one very definite revelation of this fact.
Notice, I Corinthians 1:24-26: "But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that NOT MANY wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, ARE CALLED."
Notice, "unto them which are called!" Some are called. All are not called, at this time-during this age of Satan's dominion! "For ye see YOUR calling, BRETHREN"- Paul is speaking only to those he calls "brethren"-those who had been called-"how that not many"-notice it, "NOT MANY wise men after the flesh"-and are not most people wise after the flesh today-does that not include MOST?-"not many mighty, not many noble"-NOT MANY of these in the world ARE CALLED!
Did Jesus say the Gospel was to be preached to CONVERT all nations? No, only FOR A
WITNESS! "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come."- the end of the AGE! (Mat. 24:14) Then follows the NEW age when the reign of Christ shall replace that of Satan!
While, during the present age, many in number are called, yet it is but a FEW comparatively. And those who are called are called to a calling, and what is it? First a calling to a changed life-a life of overcoming sin and self. And notice what Jesus said of those now called, who do grow in grace and in knowledge, who endure unto the end, and who overcome! Notice their ultimate calling!
Rev. 2:26-27: "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron."
When Jesus was here on earth it was His custom, as recorded in Luke 4:18, to PREACH THE GOSPEL every Sabbath day. And when this Great Millennial Sabbath dawns, Satan will be imprisoned, and Christ will come not only to rule- He shall also PREACH! The worldly Pharisees thought it wrong for Him to HEAL on the Sabbath-and the religionists of this day, mostly, seem to believe it would be wrong for Him to heal sin- sick souls during the millennial Sabbath! But He shall do it, just the same!
One of the most wonderful chapters in the Bible is the eleventh of Romans. Few seem to
understand it- yet it's plain! Some, today, say God has rejected and utterly cast away the Jews (of Judah) [4].
They suppose the Jews are Israel, whereas actually they are merely of the House of Judah,
which split off from Israel in the days of Kings Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Nevertheless,
Romans II speaks undoubtedly of ALL the tribes of Israel.
This marvellous chapter says God has not cast away His people Israel. But it reveals that only a small portion of Israel are of the election of GRACE at this time.
The rest are blinded spiritually, and GOD blinded them- deliberately and for a purpose-not
permanently, but until the "fullness of the Gentiles be come in,"- and then what?
"Then," we read in Romans 11:26, "ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Delivered"- CHRIST, at His second coming-"and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Israel is spiritually blinded, now. God blinded them. They are not now being called, to salvation. They are not being given any chance, now, at all!
The wonderful opportunity that shall come to them after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in- after the Deliverer comes, and they are no longer blinded- shall not be a SECOND CHANCE- they have never yet had ANY chance!
And, if we can but understand, this chapter dealing with national fleshly Israel refers to our
own race-our American and British peoples, as well as to the Jews (of Judah) It includes MOST of our American people! It includes, undoubtedly, most of these departed loved ones who died without having accepted Christ and becoming converted! They may have HEARD the name of Christ, but they did not understand! God never called them, during their life-time in THIS AGE! Of course they did not die automatically saved-but, on the other hand, neither did they die LOST!
That's the comforting TRUTH! The overwhelming majority of our American people, today, are neither saved nor lost- They simply have not, yet, been called!
But if God is not trying to save the whole world now- if most are not now called, or given
opportunity for salvation- WHY does God call any, during this age? What's the PURPOSE of calling some now?
That great purpose is to be trained to RULE with Christ, and to TEACH, under Him, WHEN HE COMES IN HIS KINGDOM- WHEN all Israel SHALL BE SAVED! We are being trained, prepared, fitted, thru trial and test, thru hardship, thru persecution, thru tribulation, with continual Bible study and PRAYER, growing in grace and in KNOWLEDGE, to be able, THEN, to fill the high office of a king or a priest- either to rule in the civil sense or to preach GOD'S TRUTH when the time comes that ALL may be privileged to understand, and to be CALLED.
What a glorious mission is the true Christian LIFE!
So DON'T GRIEVE over departed ones you have felt were LOST. The chances are they were simply not now called- it was not GIVEN to them to understand-their chance had not yet come. But they shall be resurrected, the spiritual blindness removed, and, if YOU are one of the called, and if YOU are faithful and finally CHOSEN, YOU MAY BE USED THEN TO MINISTER TO THEM, AND TO LEAD THEM INTO SALVATION AND LIFE ETERNAL.
Oh, what a GLORIOUS HOPE! What truly GOOD NEWS, is the true Gospel of CHRIST,
which most people today simply have NEVER HEARD. They are hearing a FALSE gospel
today!
But Paul in Rom. 11 shows that salvation has come to the FEW, the ELECT in Israel, and to some of the GENTILES. And WHY? He explains it in Verse 3 1. They are blinded (verse 25) NOW, that, thru OUR mercy who ARE now called, THEY may obtain mercy and salvation THEN- when Jesus comes as the great DELIVERER! How PLAIN, and how WONDERFUL!
But now, how about the hundreds of millions of heathen who never heard?
Will GENTILES- heathen Gentiles- have a chance of salvation after Christ returns?- after the
KINGDOM is set up to rule over ALL NATIONS?
Flesh and blood, remember, cannot inherit the KINGDOM. Only those finally born again-
born of the Spirit- those who shall have become Spirit, and no longer flesh and blood (John 3:1-8) shall be in the Kingdom!
And they are the saints of this time, NOW called, changed, then, to immortality. (See I Cor.15:50-54). They are those called during this dispensation who have endured unto the end, and proved over comers. And they shall rule, and teach, the nations (Rev. 2:27 and 3:21, Daniel 7:18, 22, 27). They shall reign on the earth, not up in heaven (Rev. 5:10). They shall rule THE NATIONS- ordinary mortals of all races, on earth (Rev. 2:26). They shall thus rule, and teach, for one thousand years- Christ's millennial "Sabbath." (Rev. 20:4, 6).
Those now called, during this time, are called to a life of TRAINING- spiritual character-
training- to fit them for positions of high responsibility in the Kingdom. The one, for example, who multiplies ten times over in spiritual character what God gives him at conversion, shall be qualified to rule ten cities. The one who overcomes, and grows in grace and knowledge only five times, shall be qualified to rule over five cities. The one who thinks he "got saved" merely by, accepting Christ" and, deceived by the "no works" teaching, did not grow or develop in his Christian life at all, will have taken from him even the salvation he though t he had! See the parable of the "pounds," Luke 19:11-27.
But who shall these converted immortals reign over?
One glimpse into this millennial rule is found in Isaiah 11. It portrays Christ ruling the
world in RIGHTEOUSNESS. It is a time when wild animals are tamed. Babies are being
born, and nursing babes and weaned babies shall be playing with wild animals and deadly
snakes- now tamed and harmless. Now notice:
Isaiah 11:10-11: "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse (Christ), which shall stand for an ensign of the people; and to it (the Root-Christ) shall the Gentiles seek.. . . . and it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people (Israel) (from Jacobs trouble).
To Christ, then ruling, shall the GENTILES seek! And then, as the returned DELIVERER, shall He set His hand again the second time to RECOVER ISRAEL AND JUDAH- the time when the spiritual blindness is removed!
Notice, again: Micah 4:2, "And many nations shall come, and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Eternal, and the house of the God of Jacob (The Kingdom of God), and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths."'
And now what of those Gentiles who NEVER HEARD? Notice!
Isaiah 66:15, 19: "For behold the Eternal will come with fire, and with His chariots like a
whirlwind, to render His anger with fury (last plagues) ... And I will set a sign among them, and I send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud (Gentile nations) ... and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles."
When Jesus the Great DELIVERER shall come, the dead in Christ (those who have been
called, and who have accepted the call and been finally saved,) shall be resurrected out of their graves immortal (1 Cor. 15:50-53); and together they shall be caught up into the air to meet the coming King, with whom they shall reign. . . . .
Thus they shall be SEPARATED from all earth's mortals- mark that! The separation between mortal and immortal is made before Christ ever touches this earth!
They meet the King Eternal up in the clouds. Where do they go from there? The first four
verses of Zechariah fourteen reveal that in that same day [5] -not a thousand years afterward-Christ's feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, from whence He ascended!
Then, upon this earth He shall take over HIS throne-the throne of His father David.
(Luke1:32) That, then, is the throne on which the saints made immortal shall sit with Him
(Rev.3:21).
And then what shall happen, during the thousand year reign from then on?
Matthew 25:31-34, 41: "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations (Gentiles and Israelites): and he shall SEPARATE them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.
Then shall He say unto them on the left hand, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire."'
Notice, all those called and saved prior to Christ's second appearing on earth had been
SEPARATED from the unsaved before Christ stood upon earth- while still in the clouds of the air -before He sat upon the throne of His glory!
The SEPARATION going on after He sits upon that throne ruling over THE NATIONS,
therefore, is a different, and a succeeding separation!
Here are earth's nations- earth's mortals-all nations! And now begins a process of
SEPARATION. It is according to the decisions they make, and the actions they take. Those who turn to a life of RIGHTEOUSNESS are set on the RIGHT hand. They are converted- given IMMORTALITY because Christ says to them: "Inherit the Kingdom!" - and mortal flesh and blood cannot inherit that Kingdom! (1 Cor. 15:50).
Those who do evil then receive the full penalty of the law-DEATH! They are sentenced to
depart into the lake of fire!
Certainly this passage pictures nothing but a process of salvation going on, after Christ's
return, DURING His millennial "Sabbath Day."
That is the great "FALL Harvest of souls!" To be cont.
Alice In Wonderland & The
WTC Disaster
Ask Yourself: Who Benefits?
By David Icke
9-1 3-1
Cont. From page 12 cd 83
The American psyche will now be bombarded with more and more shocks to its
security and sense of self, as with Oklahoma and the school shootings in the
past. But from now on everything will be increased dramatically. It is vital
that Americans refuse to submit to this and realise that those who are
condemning the terrorism in their midst are those who are responsible for it.
When I first travelled America in 1996, I was staggered at
what a controlled society the "Land of the Free" really was (though still not as
bad as Canada). Now in the wake of this tragedy, the United States, and other
countries, are set to become a fortress of invasive surveillance and, what's
more, because of what has happened, the American people will not utter a
significant word of protest at the rapid expansion of this Big Brother society.
Problem- reaction- solution. Watch for micro-chipping of people to be suggested
to "stop the terrorists".
An economic disaster has long been predicted by those who have exposed and
studied the Illuminati agenda. To overcome resistance to
single currencies and central control of global finance, they
need a world economic crash that will destroy the present system and kid the
people into accepting centralised global control as the only way to overcome the
crash. Problem reaction- solution.
This is another reason why these attacks struck in the very heart of
America's economic system - and why in the days before the carnage the talk of a
global economic recession was plastered across the world media. Now they have a
blank sheet of paper with the chance to justify such a collapse and you will see
global economic bodies brought in to "co-ordinate a response to the economic
crisis". Indeed the G7 (Illuminati) grouping of nations has
already begun this process.
These are just a few of the "benefits" to the agenda from the death and
destruction in New York and Washington that was, I repeat, co-ordinated by
forces within U.S. borders. Those responsible are possessed by
non- human entities and have no regard for human life any more than most humans
have regard for the death and suffering of cattle.
The reptilian mind has an undeveloped emotional level and therefore there is
no emotional consequence for them no matter to what depths of horror and
depravity they may sink. You only had to watch the emotionless, going- through-
the- motions, reading the script, responses of George W. Bush and Tony Blair,
the UK Prime Minister, in the face of such immense suffering to see an example
of this. It was in the class of the Queen of England after the
murder of Princess Diana. At least Reagan was a professional actor. Bush and
Blair wouldn't get in a school play.
Did George W. Bush know that these devastating disasters were going to happen
that day? What do you think?? Did Tony Blair? What do you think?? But even they
are only pawns in a game controlled by far greater powers and
they are as expendable as anyone once they have served their purpose. Personally
I would not be surprised in the least if Bush was sacrificed
eventually to advance the "global terrorism" scenario, and perhaps someone very
close to Blair also. And, of course, if Bush does go, the new President would be
the serial killer, Dick Cheney (see The Biggest Secret). The stakes are going to
be stacked very high indeed from this point because the final push to global
fascism has begun. The world will never be the same again, that's true, but
within every danger there is opportunity. And for those of us, the vast
majority, who seek peace not conflict, freedom-for-all, not dictatorship- by -
the- few, now have to look ourselves in the mirror and ask what we are going to
do to stop these lunatics from taking over their asylum.
Complaining is not good enough any more. Running is no longer an option
because soon there will be nowhere to run. It is time to lift the arse (that's
"ass" or "Bush" to Americans) from the chair and let's stop sitting down and
taking this. People can bombard the radio phone- ins with another version of
reality and when they cut you off get back again and again; tell everyone you
know where they can get information to give them another fix on what is really
happening; send this and other articles on these subjects to everyone you know
through e-mail, fax, or post; organize PEACEFUL protests against the fascist
state whenever freedoms are threatened; get people together at meetings to
discuss and assimilate information the media will not tell you;
LOSE FEAR AND BE IRREVERENT IN THE FACE OF THIS ARROGANT DICTATORSHIP. IT CAN
ONLY SURVIVE IF WE ARE FRIGHTENED OF IT AND INTIMIDATED BY IT. There is so much
we can do if only we first decide that we want to dedicate our lives to this
with an unbreakable determination that will not concede to any level of
intimidation or consequences.
The Dragon is nothing like as powerful as they want us to believe it is.
Come on, what are we waiting for? - LET'S GO.
Remember: NO FEAR!! David Icke
An amazing 100-page booklet uses prophecy, archaeology, languages, heraldry,
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