An Inconvenient Plain Truth

I have some truth for you ...some plain truth.

Herbert Armstrong.
Now, there's a name many of you have never heard before. Many of you have no idea who he was. Before there was a Gerald Flurry or a Rod Meredith, there was Herbert Armstrong. He is the "the founder, Pastor General, and spiritual and temporal leader of  the ... Worldwide Church of God". He is the reason why there are Church of God groups today. I want to help you to know more about him in order that you can know more about your own Church of God organization.

Herbert Armstrong's primary publication - the flagship magazine of the Worldwide Church of God - was "The Plain Truth". This was the face of the entire church in print. The articles are by various authors but everything that went out in the Plain Truth was officially approved and officially representative of the church.

Know this! These articles didn't just go out to the world in the name of Herbert Armstrong or the Worldwide Church of God - it was said, repeatedly, that they went out in the name and authority of Jesus Christ and God Almighty!

For today's post, I've read nearly every Plain Truth magazine throughout the 1950's and I've brought you some quotes straight from the magazines. The 1950's should be more than enough. They are representative of the previous years and the years since, all the way up to today!

I ask you to read these quotes for yourself. Keep in mind every one of them are from the 1950's. Compare what was being said then to what is being said now. The modern leaders of the Church of God groups are all students of this material, and in Rod Meredith's case he authored some of it. While you read, ask yourself what would you think about these quotes if some completely other church group had written them - the Plymouth Brethren, for example.

FRESHNESS DATING

Here are over 60 time-specific quotes from The Plain Truth magazine in the 1950's:

"It will take a few years for all this to develop to a point where this Nazi-Fascist rebirth of the ROMAN EMPIRE will be ready to STRIKE with the most tremendous power ever conceived by man. But it’s already developing - and FAST! Much more rapidly than people know! Most certainly it is easily possible the thing will be fully developed and ready to strike in SEVEN years! Yes, TIME IS RUNNING OUT ON US, FAST, AND WE’RE TOO SOUND ASLEEP TO REALIZE IT!"
-Plain Truth March 1950, p.5

"ONE THIRD of our people will die from starvation, malnutrition, and epidemics of disease in the greatest national tragedy ever to hit the world up to that time! And this is not a fanciful fairy story - this is PROPHESIED, and CERTAIN - and in the next FEW YEARS!"
-Plain Truth March 1950, p.5

"Only ONE THIRD - a bare 50 million out of our 150 million population - will be LEFT ALIVE! Two thirds of the people YOU know - of YOUR FRIENDS, acquaintances, relatives, members of your family - will be killed!"
-Plain Truth March 1950, p.6

"The fact that nearly all the prophecies refer directly to the END-TIME events of this 20th Century, A.D."
-Plain Truth October 1951, p.14

"But this I DO know. SOMEWHERE there lives, and breathes and walks, TODAY, the very man who is to rise up as the LEADER Of this UNITED STATES OF EUROPE. The IDENTITY of the individual is not revealed, but it IS definitely prophesied that such a man is living, and PLANNING, under cover, AT THIS VERY MOMENT."
-Plain Truth June 1952, p.2

"For it is those of this very present generation who shall be worshiping this “Beast” or his “Image,” or shall have received his “mark,” that will suffer the unspeakable tortures of the SEVEN LAST PLAGUES!"
-Plain Truth June 1952, p.5

"The time is at hand! The plagues of Gods WRATH will be poured out..."
-Plain Truth June 1952, p.5

"Every sign tells us these things will happen, plunging the world into the most frantic, frenzied state of anguish ever known, WITHIN A MATTER OF A FEW YEARS!"
-Plain Truth June 1952, p.5

"But now, once in the END of this age, just before God takes all power and authority and rule away from mortal man forever, God’s last and final intervention in the affairs of THIS WORLD IS occurring before your very eyes!"
--Plain Truth June 1953, pp.1-2

"This same DUAL PRINCIPLE runs all thru prophecy! First, a former, or preliminary fulfillment which is merely the type or forerunner of a second, the final climactic fulfillment occurring, usually, during this CRISIS AT THE CLOSE we already have entered!"
-Plain Truth July 1953, p.4

"’These days are more terrible than most realize. The time is ominous, storm clouds are brewing above and below the horizon. Within less than a quarter of a century this world will be plunging to destruction in order that men might know once and for all time that rhe Creator RULES and that His laws alone bring peace and happiness."
-Plain Truth Nov. 1953, p.13

"John was projected into the period of OUR present, and the immediate future. ... Ezekiel was not actually taken to Jerusalem, but the SPIRIT lifted him up and carried him IN VISION to Jerusalem. In like manner, John, IN SPIRIT, was carried to see IN VISION the events of the DAY OF THE LORD - the events ALREADY, now, beginning to take place on earth - the events YOU AND I SHALL LIVE TO ACTUALLY SEE! This vision is VITAL! The theme, or subject, of the prophecy is NOT the Middle Ages - it is the teeming, chaotic PRESENT - this very time you and I are just now starting to LIVE THRU! GOD HELP US, then, to UNDERSTAND! And so the very purpose of this Book is to show US of this generation NOW LIVING, the coming world-shaking events of the DAY OF THE LORD - the time of GOD’S JUDGMENTS at this age - END leading up to, and climaxing in, THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, and the happy, peaceful WORLD TOMORROW!"
-Plain Truth Aug.-Sep. 1954, p.6

"John appears to be taken up to heaven, to the very throne of God. There, projected some 1900 years into the future - into our PRESENT LIVING GENERATION - he sees, in VISION, the events already occurring, and those SOON TO TAKE PLACE, on the earth."
-Plain Truth Oct. 1954, p.3

"But in verse 14, Jesus interrupted to tell them WHEN the end shall come - AFTER THE VERY EVENT NOW TAKING PLACE - YES, ACTUALLY TAKING PLACE THIS MINUTE. [quotes Mat. 24: 14]. ... And THAT’S the world event of THIS VERY HOUR! THIS HOUR is THIS SCRIPTURE FULFILLED IN YOUR EARS! He that hath an ear to hear, LET HIM HEAR! ... so here we have THREE successive world-shaking events to come-first, and, now, NEXT to occur in a very few years, THE GREAT TRIBULATION."
-Plain Truth Oct. 1954, p.15

"We are now in the very WORLD-CRISIS at the CLOSE of the allotted duration of man’s rule over his fellows."
-Plain Truth Nov-Dec. 1954, pp.15-16

"[Title] A Prophecy for Today!" "This last resurrection - the TENTH - has, of necessity, to be in OUR TIME, and YET IN THE FUTURE ... There you have it! The TEN Dictatorships forming the UNITED EUROPEAN EMPIRE - a resurrected ROMAN EMPIRE - which the United States and the British governments are now bending every effort to bring about! But this United Europe will not cleave together long - IT COULDN’T! The prophecy reveals its very SHORT duration - 'must continue a SHORT SPACE,' - 'receive power as kings ONE HOUR with the Beast.' WHEN it, therefore, arises, THE SECOND COMING WORLD will be very NEAR. And today we SEE this very thing BEING FORMED. It may take a very few more years. But it is ON ITS WAY - conditions are shaping to this end far more rapidly than anyone seems to realize - yes, IT’S LATER THAN YOU THINK! These things are already BEGINNING to come to pass!"
-Plain Truth Nov-Dec. 1954, p.16

"Weather Bureau experts are frankly frightened about America‘s future. They KNOW that within 20 years this nation will be toppled from its dizzy economic heights by the worst drought in history! Here are the FACTS and what prophecy says WILL HAPPEN!"
-Plain Truth Jan. 1955, p.1

"Prophecy proves it [great drought] will happen - before 1975! Here are the FACTS."
-Plain Truth Jan. 1955, p.1

"WE CAN understand it [prophecy - specifically Revelation], because JESUS CHRIST is the Revelator! HE is the interpreter! And we have found HIS interpretation, which is TRUE! Yes, we CAN know where world affairs today are LEADING. We CAN know what’s GOING to happen during the next 5, 10, and 20 years!"
-Plain Truth Jan. 1955, p.3

"WORLD WAR IS HERE - NOW!"
-Plain Truth Feb.-Mar. 1955, p.1

"Here is an amazing prophecy, which few understand, yet which explains the real meaning behind Russia’s struggle for world dominion. It explains what‘s going to happen to our nation IN THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS!"
-Plain Truth Sep. 1955, p.1

"He has revealed that there remains only the one more 19-year cycle (of which we are well into the 4th year already) - after which it will be Too LATE!!! It’s far later than we think!"
-Plain Truth Apr. 1956, p.2

"What happens by the middle of the 1960s ... This SEVEN YEARS of national trouble takes us - if the dates which appear so definitely indicated by these prophecies are correct - from 1965 to 1972! Many of you will remember that over three years ago we told you of the strong indication that the last half of this - Gods-work of spreading the gospel of the Kingdom of God to all the world would probably end in 1972!"
-Plain Truth Apr. 1956, p.22

"Notice what God says is going to happen to our people in about ten years from now!" [Goes on to describe severe drought, war, Communism, economic collapse, slavery...]
-Plain Truth Apr. 1956, p.23

"WOULD you say that it is an amazing thing if 2600 years ago there were men who could look down into the future and foretell what is going to happen to Egypt? - and to all major nations in the next 15 or 20 years in this last half of the 20th century? You would say that that is impossible, I suppose. But Is It? Such men did exist! Such prophecies were made."
-Plain Truth May 1956, p.1

"To understand the time, the place, and all the facts of the prophecy of Ezekiel 38, we need to begin at the 1st chapter of Ezekiel’s prophecy and read the book clear through. ... [goes on to speak about British-Israelism] ... Ezekiel’s Message is for our day - and it is, therefore, a message for America and Britain, NOW! ... No such destruction and captivity has ever yet come to the House of Israel since this was written! Therefore it is still in the future - IN OUR TIME! It is a warning to Britain and America - NOW!"
-Plain Truth July 1956, pp.3-4

"Coming to chapter 6, the local scene of the vision shifts to the mountainous land of Palestine - but the MESSAGE is for AMERICA AND BRITAIN, today!"
-Plain Truth July 1956, p. 4

"If YOU would rather hear God’s Truth in place of the soothing cries of 'Peace, Peace' (Jer. 6: 14), write in immediately for Mr. Armstrong’s AMAZING booklet, '1975 in Prophecy!' This startling booklet is profusely illustrated with pictures-actually showing you a step-by-step account of what God says IS GOING TO HAPPEN within the next 10, 15 to 25 years!"
-Plain Truth Sept. 1956, p. 14

"No matter WHAT the immediate and temporary outcome of the present Suez Canal crisis, Britain and America will not have control of it when this amalgamated European power rises up-and it will occur inside of 15 or 16 more years - perhaps sooner."
-Plain Truth Sept. 1956, p. 20

"The Nazi underground is now plotting a war that shall end AT ARMAGEDDON! It is the START of the final WORLD WAR! It is NOW being prepared UNDERCOVER! Do you really REALIZE it? IT IS STARTING NOW! This war now secretly being prepared will Only END with the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST! Are you ready for that event? It is now NEAR - EVEN AT THE DOORS! Now is the time to GET READY, for Jesus said, 'BE ye also READY!' REPENT! BELIEVE! PRAY!"
-Plain Truth Oct. 1956, p. 18 [article title: "The SUEZ Crisis In Prophecy!"]

"The Prophecy for OUR DAY ... And notice, this coming martyrdom will be like the previous one - only 1000 times more terrible in intensity. Christians living today are to be martyred 'as their brethren were' in past ages.... This coining horrifying tribulation is now being plotted in secret, underground, by a fascist [Hitler and his Nazis hold up in a secret compound in Antarctica] Babylonish religious [Roman Catholic] political system ...
-Plain Truth Nov. 1956, pp.5-6

"For many years, the Plain Truth magazine has been bringing you the actual prophesied events scheduled to happen within the next 10, 15 or 25 years."
-Plain Truth Feb. 1957, p.14

"If you haven’t yet read Mr. Armstrong’s amazing point-by-point summary of prophetic events from now until 1975 - write in immediately for the booklet '1975 in Prophecy.' We’ll send it to you by return mail."
-Plain Truth Feb. 1957, p.14

"In less than 40 years all nations are going to live in a Utopia! They will be forced to learn the ways of peace. A Utopia of God’s making - not man’s - is fast approaching."
-Plain Truth Mar. 1957, p. 3

"Notice that this whole abominable system is to culminate in a great False Prophet who is to be manifest in OUR TIME - before Christ’s second coming and is to be destroyed by Christ when He returns. This diabolical individual is living TODAY!"
-Plain Truth Mar. 1957, p. 15

"For You - for your family and loved ones - the really significant point in this is that these men and many of their counterparts in Germany and France are NOW beginning to build the very power which God says will ultimately destroy our people! And they are basing it on the same principles and describing it in almost the EXACT way that The PLAIN TRUTH has been warning you to watch for over the past twenty years! Prophecy is future REALITY! It is NOW taking place before your very eyes!"
-Plain Truth Apr. 1957, pp. 7-8

"[Speaking of Ezekiel chapter 5] No such destruction and captivity has ever yet come to the House of Israel since this was written! Therefore it is still in the future - IN OUR TIME! It is a warning to Britain and America - NOW! ...  Coming to chapter 6 [of Ezekiel], the local scene of the vision shifts to the mountainous land of Palestine - but the MESSAGE is for AMERICA AND BRITAIN, today!"
-Plain Truth June 1957, p. 4

"WHETHER YOU want to believe it or not, you are CERTAIN to be affected by the rapid fulfillment of Bible prophecy!"
-Plain Truth Aug. 1957, p.3

"Here is something DEFINITE! Here is something you can TEST and PROVE! ... God is going to use this power to PUNISH us for our sins and our rebellion against His laws! This is DEFINITE. Most of you will live to SEE it come to pass!"
-Plain Truth Aug. 1957, p.4

"After 1965, we are destined to run into increasing trouble with the Gentile nations. America and Britain will begin to suffer from trade embargoes imposed by the brown and oriental races, and by the coming German-dominated United States of Europe” or “European Empire” - whatever it will be called. We will begin to experience the pangs of starvation and of scarcity of goods! ... Finally, when we are weakened from drought, hunger, disease and riots within our borders - and our economy crippled by foreign trade embargoes - the revived “beast” power in central Europe will attack us! Fully one third of our people will perish in the hydrogen bomb attack."
-Plain Truth Aug. 1957, p.6

"But meantime, these prophecies are REAL! They are DEFINITE and SPECIFIC. They WILL COME TO PASS! ... You can KNOW! You can be SURE! You are NOW BEING WARNED!"
-Plain Truth Aug. 1957, p.6

"In former articles in the Plain Truth magazine, we have shown you what the Almighty God says is SURE to happen to OUR NATION within the next few years. We have made those articles specific - definite, actually NAMING the nations which will be involved, and showing from the scriptures what your Creator says will happen. Here is another specific occurrence that you are going to SEE happen! [Describes wars never again being won by military might, rather there will be trade wars.]
-Plain Truth Oct. 1957, p.4

"World War III Is Already Begun! Believe it or not, the next world war is already being fought - and America and the British Commonwealth of Nations are rapidly LOSING that war! ... There is at this moment a tremendous world-wide struggle going on for domination of WORLD TRADE - and we are LOSING OUT, EVERYWHERE!"
-Plain Truth Oct. 1957, p.4

"Germany, after becoming REUNITED with Eastern Germany, and finally united with a group of NINE OTHER NATIONS in Europe, is destined by the sure, un-breakable, unchangeable Word of God to CONQUER THE UNITED STATES AND THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS!"
-Plain Truth Oct. 1957, p.5

"Methods of warfare have changed. Most people, however, are not really aware of HOW these changes will affect THEIR LIVES in the next few years. It has suddenly become possible for madmen in seats of great power to speak the word that might plunge this fear-filled world into a great, awe-inspiring HYDROGEN BOMB WAR! Frightened scientists and world leaders WELL KNOW such a war could mean the frightful END OF ALL HUMAN LIFE! This is REAL! THIS IS YOUR LIFE!"
In what way could we possibly be besieged? IN A TRADE WAR!
-Plain Truth Dec. 1957, p.19

"Trade War Here Now !"
-Plain Truth Dec. 1957, p.20

"Two years ago, Mr. Herman Hoeh showed in this magazine how God’s word prophesied DISEASE EPIDEMICS would strike the United States in TWO SHORT YEARS! THOSE EPIDEMICS ARE BEGINNING NOW! And they will grow MUCH WORSE! God prophesies that finally, within the next fifteen years, fully ONE THIRD of our whole population will die of dis- ease and famine! While we are so weakened-with a monstrous problem of dead and dying in our lands, we will “call” upon our “hired lovers” such as Germany."
-Plain Truth Dec. 1957, p.23

"YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE LONG TO WAIT, NOW, TO FIND OUT WHETHER THE BIBLE SPEAKS WITH AUTHORITY! For your Bible foretells all about today’s chaotic scientific world bent on the destruction of WHOLE NATIONS! It tells what is SOON GOING TO HAPPEN! You won’t have long to wait-then you’ll KNOW - yes, and most of you will come to know too late!"
-Plain Truth Jan. 1958, p.4

"SLAVE LABOR CAMPS are coming back! America is heedlessly plunging toward the greatest national humiliation of her history! It’s time you faced the cold FACTS of prophecy - it’s time you KNEW the truth about YOUR OWN FUTURE!"
-Plain Truth June 1958, p.1

"Now turn to Ezekiel 25. Here is another prophecy for our day. Here is a prophecy revealing what is going to be the fate of the Allied intervention in Jordan and the Lebanon. This is a prophecy to be fulfilled in the early 1970’s. This prophecy has never been fulfilled before! ... My sanctuary, [a temple or sanctuary is yet to be built by the Jews in Jerusalem!) when it was profaned [which shall happen in less than 14 years from now]..."
-Plain Truth Oct. 1958, p.4

"Jesus said certain specific things HAD TO HAPPEN prior to the “end of the age.” Read it! This is a prophecy for NOW! ... In the pages of The PLAIN TRUTH, and over The World Tomorrow broadcast, you have been reading and hearing forewarnings of these very occurrences that are NOW BEGINNING TO MAKE THE NATIONS’ HEADLINES! It’s time to wake up, and realize WHO is causing it to happen!"
-Plain Truth Nov. 1958, p.4

"Jesus Christ Himself had foretold this event! [The first broadcast of the World Tomorrow radio show]... What really occurred that Sunday morning precisely at 10 o’clock was a momentous event. It was the fulfilling of a definite corner-stone prophecy of Jesus. More than that, it was the initial, start-off event of the fulfilling of some 90% of all the prophecies in the Bible! And approximately a third of the whole Bible is prophecy!"
-Plain Truth Jan. 1959, p.3

"For years, The World Tomorrow broadcast and The Plain Truth magazine have been shouting this message - revealing from the prophecies in your Bible the coming UNITED EUROPE now being formed. But first Germany must PULL OUT of NATO, and she must have an understanding with Russia!"
-Plain Truth Jan. 1959, p.8

"YOU LIVE IN THE PROPHESIED 'TIME OF THE END!' The end of all man’s allotted 6,000 years is at hand! And it's MUCH CLOSER THAN YOU THINK!"
-Plain Truth Jan. 1959, p.8

"Prophesied for OUR TIME! ... This [speculation about reunited Germany spearheading a European 'Beast Power'] is conclusive PROOF the prophecy is for OUR TIME - the time just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. ... Almost unnoticed by the world that CRISIS IS ALMOST UPON US! ... As already reported in the pages of The Plain Truth, a vast TRADE WAR is underway."
-Plain Truth Jan. 1959, p.9

"Jesus promises protection from the colossus that is rising to bathe the world in blood. A time of GREAT TRIBULATION is just ahead - and may well come within 13 years!"
-Plain Truth Jan. 1959, p.14 .. [Why 13 years? 1972!]

"Here, Daniel saw four great BEASTS. And again, nearly all of the commentaries, the Bible reference books, are agreed on the historical fulfillment of this chapter. But almost NO-ONE, it seems, understands the PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE FOR OUR DAY, NOW!"
-Plain Truth Apr. 1959, p.5

"The six nation “Euromart,” or the “common market” now in effect in Europe, already comprises the bulk of the nations included in the “ten toes” of Daniel 2, and the “ten horns” of Revelation 17! So far, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy have bound themselves together into a single unit for economic cooperation. FOUR MORE ARE TO FOLLOW!"
-Plain Truth Apr. 1959, p.17

"Mr. Armstrong reports from Germany the world‘s greatest miracle of our time. It was prophesied. It spells DOOM for U.S.A. in ten to fifteen years - unless we HEED!"
-Plain Truth Aug. 1959, p.3

"And yet, about 90% of all of the prophecies in the Bible pertain to events that are yet to happen in the next 10 to 20 years from now, believe it or not!"
-Plain Truth Aug. 1959, p.3

Compare what you've just read to what God says in Deuteronomy 18: 20-22.

PROPHECIES OR PREDICTIONS??

What is a prophet? Is he not one sent from God with a message?
What is the difference between a prophecy and a prediction? Is it not that one claims to be sent from God? A prediction comes from men; a prophecy is revealed by God.
Which are these?

"I do not speak to you by authority of men, or any politically organized church of men - but in the name, and by the AUTHORITY of JESUS CHRIST, the living HEAD of the TRUE CHURCH OF GOD!"
-Plain Truth July 1953, p.6 (bold mine)

"The most startling book of this generation is Mr. Armstrong’s forthcoming book ['The United States and Britain in Prophecy"] revealing tremendous prophecies closed and sealed until now!"
-Plain Truth June 1954, p.1 (bold mine)

"And the time has come for The Eternal - the Creator - RULER of the universe - to reveal to us exactly HOW world events, from here, are going to work out the tremendous CLIMAX of that divine PURPOSE! The whole earth is now shaking with convulsions, preparatory to the mightiest happenings of earths history! We are now in the very CRISIS AT THE CLOSE of this present evil and unhappy world!"
-Plain Truth Aug.-Sep. 1954, p.1 (bold mine)

"But today we live in the dynamic, exciting, terrible “time of the END” - the world-crisis at the CLOSE of the Age! The prophecies and mysteries of God, sealed until now, are today REVEALED to those whom God has chosen to carry His last Message to the world as a witness! Jesus Christ, Head of His Church, is the REVEALER! Christ has opened these mysteries to His servants! The time has come for God’s servants to open up to YOU-to lay bare before your startled eyes-these tremendous prophecies of the Book of REVELATION!"
-Plain Truth Aug.-Sep. 1954, p.2 (bold mine)

"THERE’S the key to this riddle! The Lion of the Tribe of Judah - the ROOT of David - is JESUS CHRIST! No MAN can interpret this momentous prophecy - but Jesus Christ - God the SON - here standing BEFORE the throne of God the Father - here standing at the very RIGHT HAND of God - is able to open these seals, and to REVEAL to us the meaning. JESUS CHRIST is the Revelator! ... Jesus Christ is the Revelator who alone can open up the MEANING of this greatest of all prophecies, pertaining to WORLD EVENTS TODAY, and the tremendous world-happenings of these immediate years JUST AHEAD!"
-Plain Truth Aug.-Sep. 1954, p.7 (bold mine)

"If I am to bring you the REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, I certainly cannot bring you the popular INTERPRETATIONS you have been hearing from MEN - from the great religious leaders of THIS WORLD."
-Plain Truth Oct. 1954, p.15

"But we’ve seen that the one MASTER-KEY to this tremendous prophecy is the fact that JESUS CHRIST IS THE SOLE REVELATOR - the SOLE INTERPRETER!"
-Plain Truth Nov-Dec. 1954, p.3 (bold mine)

"We were very plainly told that NO MAN can understand, or REVEAL the meaning of this prophecy. .. But NO MAN can interpret this Book of Revelation. JESUS CHRIST is the Revelator. The Apostle John was not the Revelator. No modern religious leader is the revelator. This is the Revelation of JESUS CHRIST, and we must accept HIS revelation - HIS interpretation - or fail to understand! THAT’S the master key of this mysterious PROPHECY."
-Plain Truth Nov-Dec. 1954, p.4 (bold mine)

The authority, the message, the understanding, the interpretation, the revelation -- none of it supposedly came from any man at all. It came straight to you, through the Plain Truth, directly from the throne of the Almighty God. This was key! The master key! We were warned, "Accept HIS revelation ... or fail to understand!"
Definitely not predictions.

'YOU HAVE SAID IT'

Is there any way to test if it really is a prophecy? Is there any way to prove if it really is from God?
Don't take my word for it; read it for yourself!

"Scripture is full of warnings about false ministers and false prophets. The world is filled with such men and organizations today. Out of this Babylon of confusion God must somewhere have His work TODAY. How do you recognize it? Here is the test Jeremiah was inspired to give: 'The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when the word of that prophet shall come to pass, THEN SHALL THE PROPHET BE KNOWN THAT THE LORD HATH TRULY SENT HIM' (Jer. 28: 9). That is how you can know who is preaching the truth today - when what he says comes to pass."
-Plain Truth Dec. 1956, p.3

"But who today understands what the prophets foretold? Why, only the ministers today whose word comes to pass! - those who are appointed and guided by God to preach the truth! Those whose utterances do not come to pass have not spoken the prophecies truly. We give you here the record of what we have been proclaiming for the past 2 years - a message which no other voices, to our knowledge, have been proclaiming.... But what we have been warning you about is happening! - precisely as we have stated.... This is how you can know that our work is not of men but of God!"
-Plain Truth Dec. 1956, p.3

"WHERE ARE God’s true prophets today! In this age of world chaos and sudden death, you had better rid your mind of preconceived ideas and prejudice and honestly seek to find out! Listen! This work has been warning America of definite and tremendous events to come for many years! ... They use the words “may," “could,” or “might.” They are afraid to be definite and specific! The truth of the matter is that they DARE NOT be specific about the future because they just DO NOT KNOW what the Bible says is going to happen! But on “The World Tomorrow” broadcast and in this magazine we have dared to unlock the Bible prophecies and apply them to specific nations and events that are NOW being affected. Do you grasp the SIGNIFICANCE of this?"
-Plain Truth Aug. 1957, p.3 (bold mine)

Out of their own mouths! By their own words!

Gerald Flurry says, "He was right!"

Was he? Did these things come to pass just as they said? Were they accurate? Did those people really understand? Were they inspired by God? Were they "true prophets"? If these were written by the Branch Davidians, would you accept them?
The word "prophets" was used; dates were set; divine inspiration was claimed; fulfillment was guaranteed -- on God's authority. They called Herbert Armstrong "Elijah"; the greatest of the prophets!
No. It never came to pass. By their own criteria they are not true.

Anything that they were supposedly "right" about was only partial, since they added circumstances and conditions that never came to be. For example, they claimed that Germany would reunite, leave NATO, make a pact with Russia, unite with nine other European nations under the leadership of the Pope, start a trade war with the United States and the British Commonwealth then destroy them with hydrogen bombs and enslave any survivors, then turn to conquer Palestine, then turn to fight a nuclear war with Russia and China, and finally come to an end in the Second Coming of Christ - all by the end of the 20th century (actually 1972). They cannot then claim "He was right" just because Germany reunited and joined the E.U.! Every other condition, which were every bit as important as these two, failed to materialize. What in fact came to pass was not what they said would come to pass!
...Just like today, when new predictions are made and never come to fruition.

Where is Ron Weinland? In prison for tax evasion. What of his predictions from his book "2008: God's Final Witness"? Failed. Twice! And he's going for a THIRD try!! Yet calls himself "the spokesman of the Two Witnesses", and an even better "Elijah" than Armstrong!
What about Rod Meredith? Some of the above Plain Truth quotes are from Rod Meredith. And he calls himself "God's Annointed"!
What about Dave Pack's prophecies of COG splinters all reuniting by the Feast of Tabernacles 2013? Failed. And because they failed he calls himself a "true Apostle" and "Joshua" [implying Armstrong was "Moses"]!
What about Gerald Flurry? Read our article "Flurry's Follies". Gerald Flurry idolizes Herbert Armstrong perhaps more than anyone else does, and calls himself the "Elisha" because Herbert Armstrong was called "Elijah"!
I haven't the space nor time to go over the remaining hundreds of other splinter-group leaders, but I suspect you will find more of the same. The apple never falls far from the tree.

They are doing the same things today, giving the same messages today, that have failed and failed ever since Adventism was invented in the 1830's. They keep hoping you'll give them more time [what they really hope you'll give them is more money] - by Pentecost; just 1 more year; just 3 to 4 more years; just 5 to 10 more years; just 25 more years.

CONCLUSION

Well, there you have a pretty good introduction to who Herbert Armstrong was.

Is any of this news to you? It was news to me! Why were people told to burn this material? Why was it hidden? Why was it even so much as glossed over? If these things were so "true", so Divinely inspired and revealed by Jesus, why not proclaim these exact same words loudly even today? When does a truth revealed "by AUTHORITY of JESUS CHRIST, the living HEAD of the TRUE CHURCH OF GOD" become an inconvenient truth? Is this how truth conducts itself?
Ask yourself .. what kind of true system comes from a line of false prophets? (The Worldwide Church of God is a descendant of the Adventist movement of William Miller and Ellen G. White. We have several posts on this, including: "True History of the True Church".)  What kind of "true" system produces so many false prophets? What kind of "true" system hides and changes its past? How is that even possible for a "true" church?

God's beloved and desperately sought after children, trust me, I know you just want to please God with your whole heart, but I wonder something....
How much longer are you going to tolerate false prophets and false apostles? How much longer will you fear them? How much longer will you prop them up while they heap titles and honors upon themselves? How much longer are you going to look the other way while they make excuses for themselves? How much longer are you going to let them make a living off of you?



(JER. 5: 31) The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?
(JER. 14: 14) And the Lord said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart."
(EZE. 22: 18) Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken.
(MAT. 7: 15) Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
(MAT. 24: 11) Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; ) Acts 17:11
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