The World Tomorrow

Gospel of World Government

by Herbert W Armstrong

(PLAY FROM START)

I wonder, my friends, if you realize what a world you're living in? Conditions were never like this in any past time. Not until World War One broke out in 1914 has the world ever gone through times such as we are living in. Now, world news is more serious than you realize, conditions are more grave than you dream. World famous scientists know what is taking place and they know that now it's becoming possible to annihilate human life off the face of the earth. They know what engines of destruction are being invented and they tell us that nothing but world government can now preserve us and bring us world peace! That's all, nothing but world government.

A lot of people now are gullibly and altruistically believing that the engines of destruction have become so terrible that have been invented that there won't be any war because no one would dare to start it. Oh, my friends, I wonder if you realize that there is a devil loose, and that devil would like nothing better than to blast human life from off the face of this earth. I wonder if you understand that your Bible is telling the truth, that in your Bible is the absolute prophecy of all these things that you see in this world today. It's about time we wake up and understand. In the Bible it gives you an analysis of this news, it tells you the significance, the true significance. It tells you why its happening, where we're going; what's on ahead and what's going to happen next and what is the real meaning of all of it. What is the purpose being worked out here below by the divine supernatural miracle-working Almighty God above?

One Third Of The Bible Is Prophecy (Play from 02:07)

About one-third of your Bible is devoted to prophecy and that is the third you don't read or study very much, that's the third that you don't read about. That's the third that most of you know nothing about and yet one-third of your Bible, practically, is devoted to prophecy and about ninety percent of all prophecy pertains to our living present and these few years right ahead of us now, in our time and our generation. We're coming to the grand smash CLIMAX of an age. We're coming to the end of this world and the beginning of the World Tomorrow.

We'll all be here on this same earth. But a different world, a new and different world on this same old round earth. Thank God a better world is coming. Thank God we're near the end of this earth. It's about to commit suicide. And God is about to step in and supernaturally intervene. And He is going to send Jesus Christ to set up the Kingdom of God. A world ruling government, a divine government to rule by supernatural power.

Now someone more than a mere man knew of all this thing. God Almighty knew what was coming. That same God tells you what's going to happen in the next few years. It about time you opened your ears and begin to listen. Now, Jesus Christ, who is the living word of God, and who inspired every word that's written in the written word of God, your Bible, said when He was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, He preached also that nothing but world government would save us, and He preached in Matthew 24:21-22 that there would be such a time of world trouble in our time now. That except God intervened with supernatural divine power to shorten those days, there would not be any life left alive on the face of this earth.

We've come to that time. We have come to that time and you'd better wake up and listen. But, He said for the elect's sake, God would step in and intervene. And the Gospel that He preached was that of world government. That, my friends, was His Gospel.

Why haven't you heard that Gospel preached? Why haven't you understood what is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Christ is not a Gospel about the person of Christ. You hear a lot about Christ. You hear that He was the Son of God. You hear about the virgin birth. Yes, you've heard about His death. You've heard about His resurrection. You've heard He was born of a virgin. You've heard that He was a great personage. That He was God made flesh. You've heard those things. But have you heard of His Gospel? You've heard a Gospel of men about Him. You've heard men extol Him and exalt Him and worship Him as a great personage! But WHY, my friends, have you not heard what He preached; the world government that He was born to set up? He said, "...except these days be shortened that no flesh would be saved alive" (Matthew 24:22 paraphrased). In other words, that human life would be blotted out of the face of the earth.

That's what Satan the devil would like to do. Because the devil could control the world if he could blot out human life because, my friends, the Kingdom of God is something we can be born into and the Kingdom of God when it is set up, is a world government that'll be composed of those who are now human, that will then be made divine. Will then be made immortal. When this mortal shall put on immortality (I Corinthians 15:54), and when we shall be given the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, if the devil could blot that out, wouldn't he love it. Then he would continue to reign supreme on this earth with his demons.

Christ was born to be a King, you read of it in Luke 1:32 and 1:33. Before Pilate, Pilate said, "...Are you a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world" (John 18:37 paraphrased).

But, my friends, in His parable in the nineteenth chapter of Luke, He represented Himself as a rich young nobleman. Oh, He's rich. Because He is the son of God Almighty and God Almighty is the creator and the owner of the whole universe; far more than just this whole earth. Mars and Jupiter and Saturn; the sun, the moon; all the galaxies, the milky ways, all of the mighty worlds that you see in the heavens. And Christ is the heir of all that. Yes, He is the rich young nobleman and He pictured himself going to a far country, which was heaven, to get for Himself a kingdom and to return. To get for Himself a kingdom and to return.

Now, He told His disciples, if He went, He said would go away from this earth. He told them He would die and He said in three days and three nights, He would be raised from the dead and that was the only sign that He gave that He was the Messiah. Why don't you believe that sign? Can you figure three days and three nights between a Good Friday crucifixion and an Easter Sunday morning resurrection? Why don't you write in for our booklet about the Resurrection that will explain that. There's no charge. Just write in for the booklet, 'Resurrection', better jot it down now because I don't think I'll mention that again at the close of the program, but I'll tell you where to write at the close of the program. You better get these booklets, they'll open your eyes.

You don't realize, my friends, the Bible said that this whole world will be deceived at this time. And it certainly is or else your Bible isn't true. And your Bible is true because it foretold all these things that are taking place. Now, Jesus said if He went, He would come again. So, He is coming again and He's coming to rule the world as the King of kings. He went to get that Kingdom, to get the authority of God at God's headquarters, to rule the whole earth; The whole world, a new world; The World Tomorrow.

Where Is Christ Now? (Play from 07:56)

And then in Acts 3:20-21 you read that the heavens have received Him now "...until the times of restitution of all things" (Acts 3:21). So, He's up there on the very throne of God. And when He comes again in Revelation 11:15, the kingdoms of all this world "...will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ" (Revelation 11:15 paraphrased). And Revelation 19, He's coming as the "KING OF KINGS, AND [the] LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:16) when He comes again.

But He hasn't come yet and He's been up there about 1900 years. Well, what's He been doing? In the mean time, what's He been doing? You read great volumes about what Jesus did during His three and a half years earthly ministry. Well, what's He been doing these 1900 long years, my friends? You read of that in the book of Hebrews and that what we've been going through. Reading about Christ, up there, as our High Priest. Christ up there as the head of His Church. He is in heaven as our High Priest; that means our servant, in a sense. And yet as our Lord and our Master who we must obey too. Any yet, He's the Lord and the Master that is there to serve us for our good and not for His pleasure. Well, that is His pleasure though, our good.

Now, He's on the very throne of God, why? Because that's the throne of the universe. Why did he have to go to heaven to get this Kingdom that He's to rule? Because the headquarters and the throne of ALL the universe is heaven. And this earth is only one little department of that whole universe. And, here's Satan the devil and he called it 'his kingdom'. He said to Jesus Christ in the temptation on the mount, "bow down to me and I'll turn all this over to you because it's all mine. And I can give it to whosoever I will" (Luke 4:5-6). Jesus didn't deny that. Yes, Satan the devil is the ruler of the world, he's the prince of the power of the air over this world (Ephesians 2:2), but Christ conquered him. But still Christ had to go to the headquarters of the universe, to the throne of the whole universe; more than just a throne of this world.

The throne of God the Father to have it conferred on Him. In Daniel 7:13-14 you will find the vision of Christ coming up there in the clouds of heaven and having this conferred on Him and in the mean time there He is at God's headquarters. It's the headquarters of God's work - wherever it might be in the whole universe that is the supreme headquarters of God's work. And Jesus Christ is there at the Father's throne now, that's where Christ went.

Now when He was here on this earth, He had a job here to do but He was leaving, so He said. He didn't bow out and leave it. He called His disciples and He said, "I will build My Church." And they have become the body through whom God works. God worked through the body of Christ when He was on earth. Now He works through the collective body of His Church. Jesus said, "I will build My Church." (Matthew 16:18)

But, He gave His Church a divine commission to carry on the work of God which is going to the world and preach this Gospel; the good news of the Kingdom of God, the government of God. The fact that these nations are going to kill themselves off, where no flesh would be saved, but the fact that Christ is coming again, that He's going to set up the Kingdom of God on this earth, the fact that we can be born into that Kingdom; that it is the everlasting Kingdom into which we can be born and that that's what salvation means. That is His gospel, my friends. And He commissioned His Church to preach that as a witness to the whole world.

The Divine Commission (Play from 11:24)

Never it seems do you hear Christ preached as the DYNAMIC LIVING HEAD of His Church that has a big job and a commission to perform that is the most important work on the face of the earth today. Why don't you hear more about what Christ is doing now? He's alive and He's on the job, night and day. We've been reading it in the book of Hebrews. That's the book that tells the present mission and the present life. The present job, if you please, of Jesus Christ. He doesn't have to get all worn out and tired and go to sleep and spend a whole night sleeping like you do. He's on the job, what in here, in our time on this earth, is night and day for us. And He's there for us.

We've been reading how great He was in the very first chapter of this book of Hebrews. He's the express image of His Father's person, of God Almighty, upholding all things - the entire universe, by the word of His power. And He is the one of whom God the Father said,to the Son He says; "...Thy throne, O God [speaking of Jesus Christ], is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." (Hebrews 1:8)

What does He mean His throne; His kingdom? You read back here in the first chapter of Luke, that Jesus Christ was born to be a king and to reign over the house of David and the children of Israel forever. Not only that, you find in the book of Revelation that all the kingdoms of this world, of all the nations of this world, are soon now to become His kingdom. (Revelation 11:15)

Jesus Christ, on trial for His very life before Pontius Pilate, when Pilate said, "Why, they accuse you of being a king, they say you're a traitor to Caesar. They say that you ought to be put to death as a traitor. How about that, are you a king?"

"Jesus said, You say I am a king, to this end was I born, for this cause came I into the world" (John 18:37 paraphrased).

Why? To be a King! But He said that my kingdom is not of this age. My kingdom isn't of this time. Well, Pilate didn't know that the age He was speaking of was going to last until near the end of the twentieth century AD, the time that you and I are living in now today, did he? That's what Christ meant. My kingdom is not of this world, is not of this time, of this age, but of the age that will begin in the latter part of the twentieth century.

We know that now, a lot of these prophecies are opened up; we can understand them now. They couldn't understand them then. And Christ is soon coming back to this world, to bring us world peace. Now once again, I told you so many times in these recent programs, our scientists today are telling us, that very soon, unless there is world government the way they put it, human life is going to blasted out of existence by the terrifying weapons being invented by modern science. Jesus Christ said the same thing 1900 years ago, but He didn't say except there be world government. He said that "...except those days be shortened" (Matthew 24:22), but He everywhere preached world government. And that is the thing that's coming to shorten it and to change the situation. And He said otherwise there would "...no flesh be saved [alive]." (Matthew 24:22)

We're coming into a World War III, my friends, and we're coming into a time so terrible, that except God Almighty intervenes, you better believe there is a God, because if there isn't, you haven't any hope. If there isn't a God that's going to step in and intervene by supernatural power, you and your children are going to find your life snuffed out. Your town, where you live, isn't going to be there any longer.

But many of you don't even believe in prophecy so you look at conditions - you'd better be frightened. You'd better be frightened enough to begin to look into prophecy and see what's going happen and to look into your Bible and find where your only security lies, because you don't need to worry about a bit of it, if, you find God Almighty's security. But, there is no other security. I'll tell you right now, that in what's coming, all the armed force and the military strength of any nation whatsoever is not going to offer you security. We're coming to the place where your Bible says that our cities are going to be blasted off of the map. You're coming into a place where this nation will be laid waste. You're coming to a place you're going to need God! You'd better begin to find Him, right now. One way to begin to make it simple and plain and to understand it a little better is to write in for that booklet I've been telling you about so repeatedly, 'The United States in Prophecy', where we're mentioned in the Bible prophecies. Because this thing is mighty real and you're going to find out.

Christ Our High Priest (Play from 16:10)

Well, now in this book of Hebrews, we had come up to the eighth chapter, we find that Jesus Christ is our High Priest. That means He's head of the Church, He's head over all the work of God. He's my boss, is He yours? He said, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord and do not the things that I say" (Luke 6:46)? I mean He's my boss, I mean I have to do what He says. Now, Christ is the living Word of God and He's alive and living.

But I have also the living word of God in another form. I have the word of God right here in my hands written in a book. And this is the written word of God. And Jesus is the living word of God and He is the one who through the Holy Spirit inspired this whole word and everything He got came from God the Father! It was inspired by and through the Holy Spirit. But Jesus Christ is the Word who did the inspiring and He inspired to be written here what the Father gave Him. So, this is the very Word of God.

Now it reveals to us that Christ is the High Priest; that is He's the head of the Church. He's our chief minister. And as our chief minister, He is our servant as well as our boss, our master and our ruler. But Jesus Christ is not only our master, but He has made us free moral agents and He has said, You'll have to choose whether you will obey Him or whether you will disobey. And if you disobey, you going to bring curses on yourself and most of you have had those curses on you and you don't why, you call it luck, you call it this, you call it that. But, it isn't luck. No, every action is followed by a reaction. There's a cause for every result. And if you had what you think is bad luck, there's a cause and it wasn't because you've broke a mirror or some black cat passed before your path either. It was because you've been bringing that curse on yourself.

But if you choose to obey God and if you make Jesus Christ your Lord and Master, and live by every word of God as He said you should; honestly seek and read the word of God to show yourself approved unto God and letting it correct you and reprove you, and Christ is your ruler and your Lord and your Master, you're going to begin to get the breaks. You're going to find blessings now and eternal life in the hereafter. And I want to tell you, it pays off. I began trying that over fifty years ago. And I want to tell you it's a practical thing; I didn't do it for that reason. I don't believe that you'd reap the rewards if you do it for a selfish reason. And yet, if it weren't wrong to be so selfish, I think you might very well do it for that reason because I want to tell you it pays. And I have been blessed with every wonderful rich blessing in the heavenly sphere! I want to tell you, God Almighty pays off. You hear people give their testimony, well can I say that much is my personal testimony? I found it out. You don't need to take my word; you try it. Just try putting yourself in God's hands.

Now then, in God's way, the one who is the ruler is also the servant. And He gives the rulership over to the one who is the servant. And so Jesus Christ is my minister. He's my pastor, he is my servant in a way but he's also my master and my ruler. But He is doing the ruling for my good. And I learned that years ago. And I found it to be true by experience. And I found He always keeps His word and He always keeps His promises. He promises you're going to be under a curse if you don't do it and He'll keep that promise too. And you wonder why things are going wrong. Why you're in so much trouble. Well, we all get into trouble, He doesn't promise you won't get into it, we've always gotten into it and we still do. But we have a master and a servant and a pastor who is all-powerful to bring us out. Do you? And we always get delivered from everything and everything always turns out right in the end, absolutely.

Well now, here He has a more excellent ministry than the priests and the High Priest under the old covenant because He is the minister of a new and better covenant established on better promises. He's going to come as the King of kings. He's going to set up world government that will save this world and bring us prosperity and peace and happiness and joy. He's going to do it. But when He sets up that government that is going to rule the world, there will have to be a covenant to rule it. Now we been going through that. Better promises? Oh, yes the promises of eternal inheritance as you read in the ninth chapter over here of Hebrews and the fifteenth verse of the ninth chapter.

Why they didn't have any such promise in the Old Covenant between Moses and Christ but we have that promise. Now, there was a fault with the old, and the fault wasn't with the promises, the fault was not with the law, the fault was with the people who didn't keep the law.

"...finding fault with them [God says], Behold the days come, says the [Eternal] that I will make a new covenant [not with the Gentiles like most people believe], but with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt because, they continued not in my covenant." (Hebrews 8:8-9)

Co-Heirs With Christ (Play from 21:41)

Now we've gone into that. I've shown you a covenant then, is an agreement bind between two parties; the original word however in the Greek language here really means a last will and testament. Jesus Christ is the heir of all this earth and every thing in it. As a matter of fact, even of the whole universe. We become co-heirs with Him. And God has promised us this earth for an everlasting possession. He promised that to Abraham and if you are Christ's you are Abraham's children and heirs to that promise that God made to Abraham. And you're a joint heir with Christ. He is the heir of these things. And by His last will and testament He bequeaths that to you but it is a conditioned will. There are conditions. And it takes an agreement between you and Him. And you have to perform your part of the agreement before you get paid this time.

Now, ancient Israel became His nation just on their glib promise. There was an agreement, Jesus Christ, it was, who was really there, the Yahweh or the Eternal that spoke to them and He said "If you will obey my voice and do what I say, I'll bless you and make you the greatest nation on earth and give you prosperity and you'll be the head not the tail of all the nations of the earth. (Deuteronomy 28:1-2,13 paraphrased)

The people said, "All that the ETERNAL has said, we will do, and be obedient." (Exodus 24:7)

Why, they didn't mean it, did they? No, they got to have the nation. They started out with great blessings but they didn't obey. They didn't keep up their part of that agreement. Now, there's a condition before you get the reward. This time, you have to prove, before you enter into that covenant with Him, before the covenant is actually made, before the Kingdom of the government is set up, before you are born by being born again into the Kingdom of God, you have to prove that you'll keep His law. For what is the New Covenant? What is the way that changes, that there was a fault, a mistake with the old and the people were the ones at fault.

"Not according to the covenant that I made with them in those days....For this is the covenant [verse ten, in the eighth chapter of Hebrews] this is the covenant that I'll make with the House of Israel after those days saith the Eternal. I will put my laws in their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people:" (Hebrews 8:9-10 paraphrased)

"I will put my laws in their mind and write them in their hearts." Listen, my friends, you aren't going to make that covenant with Him. You are not going to ever enter into that Kingdom, you're not going to be born again into the Kingdom of God as an immortal and have the gift of eternal life from God unless and until after you have already let God put His laws in your mind and in your heart and made Him your ruler. And you have surrendered to obey Him and until you have proved it by the life that you're living. That doesn't sound like a deathbed repentance would do you much good, does it? You wouldn't have time to demonstrate it.

Do you know that Jesus Christ said many are going to seek to enter into this Kingdom and shall not be able. Do you know that your Bible says you have to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling? (Philippians 2:12)

Now, remember everything comes by grace and as a gift from God, that's true, but you've got your part in it. That's where the condition comes. He gives you the gift and its free because Jesus Christ paid the price. You can't earn it. But there are conditions and He isn't going to give it to you until you perform the conditions. You'll have to let Him put His laws in your mind and heart until you are surrendered, unconditionally, until you've been conquered; that will of yours, that stubborn will has been put has been put down until you can say like Jesus Christ, 'not my will, but thine be done' (Mark 14:36). Otherwise, you're never going to be born again, you never going to enter into this final covenant; where you enter into that Kingdom. And where you're a part of that Kingdom.

And it's a marriage contract, just like Israel of old was married to Him. You're not going to be part of that bride that'll be married to the great bridegroom, Jesus Christ, when He comes on any other conditions whatsoever. What was wrong, was the law wrong? Why, in the 19th Psalm, the law is perfect. "The law of the ETERNAL is perfect converting the soul: (Psalm 19:7) that's in the seventh verse. Again, in the 111th Psalm, you'll find "The works of His hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They [all of them], stand fast for ever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness." (Psalm 111: 7-8) That's the 111th Psalm:7-8.

And "All scripture [including those I just quoted], is given by inspiration of God and is profitable to correct you and reprove you" (II Timothy 3:16 paraphrased). Read that over in the third chapter of second Timothy, my friends. That's in your New Testament.

Now then, the New Covenant has its conditions. And we must grow in grace and in knowledge and Jesus Christ everywhere said it is those who overcome and master themselves and live according to His way and His rule, by His laws, by every word of God. And every word of God is merely a magnification of the law of God which is the principle of love. It's the principle of loving your neighbor as yourself, of loving God with all your mind and heart and soul and strength.

Now, notice, "...I will put my laws in their mind, and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people." (Hebrews 8:10)

And get this, when this covenant is made, listen: Has the New Covenant been made? People think it was made 1900 years ago. They think that that covenant was all made: Was it? Did it set up any nation then? I should say not. It's made with Israel and Judah; the Jews rejected Him at that time.

"This is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel...." (Hebrews 8:10). And above it said that the House of Israel and the House of Judah and the Jewish people. Judah rejected the Messiah, at that time. And Israel had gone way off too.

Why, He says here "They shall not teach [when he makes this], every man his neighbor... saying Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest." (Hebrews 8:10-11)

Why, when Christ comes and sets up His Kingdom, you read in the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, "...the earth will be full of the knowledge of the ETERNAL" (Isaiah 11:9). That's when the covenant will be made. And it's only the overcomers, it's only those, my friends, that surrender to God and then have faith in Christ and receive this thing "...by grace through faith that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God for we our His workmanship - but you have to yield to be His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before ordained we should live in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 paraphrased)