This Week

With all the confusion in the Greater Church of God today, some have begun to wonder what lies ahead for the Church during the Tribulation. In the following excerpts taken from Mr. Armstrong’s writing and one of his broadcasts, the Church’s consistent teaching on that subject will become clear.

January 8, 1958 World Tomorrow Broadcast

WHY do you suppose you and I today live in a world of such tremendous scientific and technological development? THERE IS A REASON! The world puts these new powers and inventions, largely, to destructive use. BUT THEY ARE NEEDED NOW TO FINISH THE WORK OF GOD! God has said that He would open a door to His Church for this time—the one of these seven stages of His Church, symbolically called “the Church of Philadelphia.” This Church is to be active just prior to Christ’s coming. It is to have divine protection thru the “Great Tribulation” (hour of trial, or temptation—Rev. 3:10).

September 18, 1961 Co-worker Letter

While they—the backsliding half of the Church—were trying to get back closer to God, the coming of Christ shall take place, and the door into God’s Kingdom will be SHUT in their faces! WHAT A TERRIBLE AND AWFUL TRAGEDY! It could happen to you or me.

July 25, 1967 Co-worker Letter

How about it, Brethren?

Are we the CHURCH OF GOD that will be taken to a place of safety? Or are we the contented, lackadaisical, lukewarm LAODICEAN people who are going into slavery in the Great Tribulation—into TORTURE and MARTYRDOM?

August 14, 1978 Co-worker Letter

Revelation 13:7: “And it was given unto him [by Satan] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.” It was Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8) who, in 33 A.D., two years after Christ had founded the Church of God, turned the Babylonian Mystery religion into a so-called “Christianity,” and wielded enough power to SUPPRESS the preaching of Christ’s gospel message (Gal. 1:6,7). If you have ever read “Fox’s Book of Martyrs” you will understand how this religious power, sitting astride the government—during this 1260 years tortured and put to death thousands of saints. The church merely pronounced them “anathema from Christ” and/or state military police did the torturing and killing. This is referred to in Rev. 6 under the fifth seal—symbolizing the now-imminent “Great Tribulation” when another martyrdom of saints is coming in our time, during the Great Tribulation!

Listen! There is no illusion about world conditions. Very soon now your money will be worth NOTHING. Silver and gold will not protect any of us when the Great Tribulation strikes. Men will throw their money away. (Ezek 7:19) ONLY GOD can protect us when that time comes! But He has PROMISED divine protection to His own Co- Workers who have been diligent as His instruments in this last closing work of God in this age. If we are willing to sacrifice material things for Him, now, He will protect us from the terrifying destruction then.

There are only a FEW MORE YEARS. Then my voice …………..will be SILENCED! Soon—a very few years there will be a FAMINE of even hearing the WORD OF THE ETERNAL (Amos 8:11) -- read it yourself!

(Our) Work is not yet completed. …………..prophecy indicates it will be soon—and apparently during the decade of the eighties, if not during President Reagan’s administration—though we cannot set definite dates. Yet WE SHOULD BE WARNED! We should realize our time for completion of Christ’s Great Commission is now very short, and growing shorter daily.

……………….But I have warned you all, Satan is now FURIOUS. He is mighty. He is powerful, next to the power of GOD. He is subtle, clever and can deceive and outwit the best of us.

He is HARD AT WORK AGAINST THE WHOLE CHURCH RIGHT NOW in ways you know not. But the Church NEEDS YOUR PRAYERS—even your most urgent, believing and faithful FASTING AND PRAYING!

Continue this prophecy. Next, when our Great Commission is, in God’s sight, completed, we are to be taken—symbolically flown on the two wings of a great eagle—which could mean by a friendly government made friendly to us by my contacts with heads of so many governments these past 12 years—we shall be taken to a place of protection from the Great Tribulation, which in itself is the furious wrath of a mad and infuriated Satan (Rev. 12:14). While we are in this place of safety three and a half years, the two witnesses shall be preaching to the whole world, protected from Satan. But Satan in his mad wrath will then make war with the REMNANT Church. This has to be the Laodicean era of the Church (verse 17).

Finally, what of the Laodicean era of God’s Church?

Remember, it, too, is GOD’s Church—having the commandments of God and Testimony or Word of Jesus (Revelation 12:17).

But that era of the Church is pictured in Matthew 25. Matthew 24 shows the sign Jesus gave prior to his coming to end the present world order, and the Great Tribulation, Day of the Lord and Second Coming.

Matthew 25 shows the time just before Christ shall return. It pictures the Laodicean Church as 10 virgins who took their lamps (their Bibles) and went forth to meet Christ at His coming. But five of them—half of the Church—took their lamps (Bibles) but without oil to light the lamps (having the Holy Spirit to enlighten their minds to UNDERSTAND the Bible). Some translations render this into English indicating they were losing the Holy Spirit, because of negligence, lack of prayer, fellowship with the brethren and with God and Christ and being overcome with materialistic and worldly interest. Are some of us like that, even now?

July 1982 Co-worker Letter

Incidentally, I know many of you seem to have your hearts set on going very soon to Petra as “the place of safety” during the soon-coming Great Tribulation. Well, GET YOUR MINDS OFF PETRA. Brethren, I HAVE NEVER said that Petra definitely is the place of protection where God will take us. I HOPE IT IS NOT! One reason it could be the place is that it is a place NOBODY ELSE WOULD WANT TO GO. It would be the most UNpleasant, UNcomfortable, miserable place you could go! There is nothing to be desired there. But, just in case, God HAS miraculously given me very gracious favor in the eyes of King Hussein and also his brother, the Crown Prince. They are very friendly to me personally. And through the Ambassador Foundation, I am keeping up a very close assistance and cooperation with a Jordan school for retarded children, a project carried on by Princess Sarvath, wife of the Crown Prince—even to the extent of planning to send some trained Ambassador College personnel to be stationed there to help train teachers for this school, and otherwise help expand its operations. It is a very worthy cause, and the King and the people of Jordan do appreciate what we are doing to cooperate with them in this.