THE APOSTLE'S TEACHING

"GOVERNMENT”

Part IV

Make-Up

Over the past several months we have presented information from God's end-time apostle, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. This information has been presented to benefit those who still believe that he was God's end-time apostle, that he was inspired by Jesus Christ to restore God's truth to the Church, and that he was given authority by Him.

These articles have also been presented to refute arguments by some that no longer adhere to all the doctrines instilled into the Church by Christ through Mr. Armstrong. To abandon or alter those doctrines amounts to rebellion against Jesus Christ, the head of His Church.

If a minister denies that Mr. Armstrong was in the office of an apostle, he denies his very own credentials and authority which he himself may think he has. If that same minister believes Mr. Armstrong was an apostle and then does not adhere to the doctrines taught to the Church by him, he is in rebellion, plain and simple. Such a one is without excuse.

The majority of the ministry today is withholding pertinent information from you brethren, believe it or not ! You need to WAKE-UP to this fact before it is too late! This will be proven to you a little later in this article.

Do you want to follow a leader into the tribulation and possibly the lake of fire? WAKE-UP! Most of you are being misled and don’t even know it! Here’s what God’s Word says about such leaders:

Romans 1:18-21 : "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold (back or withhold) the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. ....... so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."

These verses apply right now to much of the ministry in God’s Church! Most ministers and leaders, including the highest ranking ones, the evangelists, are withholding some truth from you. THEY KNOW they are! They may say they aren’t, but we can prove otherwise. They are without excuse!

Now remember, God does want His government in the Church. That is the very heart and core of the gospel that Christ brought. Mr. Armstrong stated many times that the government of God was restored in the Church by Jesus Christ through him. There also was a definite chain of command, government. God does things decently and in order.

I Corinthians 14:33: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” And in verse 40: “ Let all things be done decently and in order.” (NOTE: order in Strong’s is #5010. It means: “ Fixed succession of rank or character, official dignity”).

This very clearly shows what Mr. Armstrong taught to us about structure and rank within the government of the Church was right. He taught us from God’s Word. Read what he taught again for yourself:

I Cor. 12:28 : “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” (This definitely shows order or rank.)

Eph. 4:11-14 : “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; (Note: Mr. Armstrong said there is no need for prophets today because the Bible is complete for us) and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (again there is an order) for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Why don’t those of lower rank follow and teach all the doctrines that the apostle taught to us? It is the only way we will ever be able to get back to speaking the same things and have unity once again within the Church.

But why even talk about Church government? Does it even make any difference what form or type of government we practice? Is Jesus Christ even concerned about such things?

Well, He certainly is concerned! This is clearly stated in Matthew 6:33: “ But seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God , and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you. ” Putting on God’s righteousness is done for a reason. It is what qualifies us to sit with Christ on His Throne, to rule with Him and bring this world peace.

Revelation 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;”....... And in chapter 3:21: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”

Throne means government, it means to rule, it means order! Do we get it? Mr. Armstrong stated in His sermon on Pentecost 1985 that he felt the majority, including the ministers, just didn’t “ get it”. He was right!

This subject is all important for us. It is the heart and core of the gospel that Jesus preached. God’s apostle taught the same gospel to us. We are without excuse. The gospel, in a nutshell, is God’s Government. It's the government that will bring the knowledge of God to the whole world and peace that will last forever. It's the government of God!

The Church is our school for learning and growing in these things, in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, so we may qualify to rule with Him on His throne when He returns to take over the governments of this world. You and I are qualifying for a government position in the World Tomorrow.

We must be trained in the same government that will rule in the World Tomorrow. We must be practicing it and not some other form NOW in our lives in order to learn how it works.

The ministry is given to the Church for the very purpose to teach the members this doctrine as given from those above them in the chain of command of God's government.

In our case, it not only means from the Bible, but those doctrines taught to us through God’s apostle, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong (read Acts 2:42 again). We are to HOLD FAST to these things. “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" ( Rev 3:11 ).

These things are clearly and easily understood if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. So now we have a problem, a very great problem, and that is: the ministry is failing to teach all doctrines as given through an apostle.

Most claim they are holding fast to these things. Let’s see whether they truly are or not. We already covered this area of government and find the largest group to form after the break-up of the Worldwide Church of God has a voting government. So they are way off the track from what the apostle taught on this doctrine.

But also, if ministers or leaders do not teach the many other doctrines as given through the apostle, they too are guilty of not following God’s government! That constitutes rebellion against higher authority, plain and simple! It comes as a package deal, and there’s no way around it.

One area that most Church group’s leaders and ministers are off the track in doctrine is the area of “ MAKE-UP”. OH! OH! A touchy subject here that sets some nerves on edge!

This subject makes some people nervous and they may even bristle a little, especially the ministry! How about you? What did the apostle really teach about this doctrine? Are you afraid of the TRUTH? Will you adhere to the teaching from God’s government?

Most ministers, including those of the highest rank have not been telling you the truth on this subject. They say Mr. Armstrong went back and forth several times on this subject and so it's not that important. That is not true, and I will prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt from his own words what he really said about this doctrine of make-up.

NOW PLEASE OPEN YOUR MINDS TO LISTEN TO GOD’S APOSTLE ! Here is what Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, God's apostle taught, and still is teaching us via tapes, writings, etc., about make-Up:

"This time I hope to make this matter clear. I myself made a mistake along the way, and I let that subject be the one that started Satan's ball rolling to get liberalism into God's Church. After that came a falling away in such things as Divine Healing, the keeping of the Sabbath, and how we keep it, and any number of very important things. We began to get liberal, we wanted to compromise with Satan" (Bible Study: Philippians 1 & 2, HWA, 11/6/81 ).

"Now JESUS CHRIST, through His chosen apostle, is going to RULE on this question once and for all!" (PUBLISHED IN: Pastor General's Report of November 2, 1981 and Worldwide News of November 16, 1981).

"But I'm telling you, or let's put it this way, Jesus Christ is telling you through me. I'm only an instrument He is using in telling you. And this, believe me, is coming from Jesus Christ, and you'd better pay attention ! And I want this to get out to the whole Church."

“Now I want to make it plain. And it isn’t something I’m going to study and research anymore, that’s already been done. AND THIS IS A DECISION! AND THIS IS FINAL! AND IT ISN’T GOING TO BE WATERED DOWN ANY FURTHER IN THIS CHURCH! UNLESS.. It’s over my dead body, let me tell you that” (Sermon: What God Expects of Us, HWA, 11/7/81 )! What was that decision made by God’s apostle? WAKE UP, BRETHREN ! Don’t be deceived!

In the next article, we will read “ What the Apostle Taught” us about this subject of “make-up” in this series on God’s Government. You will learn the real truth straight from him.