Sabbath 23/11/32/120   

Dear Friends,

This Sabbath we will examine the so-called 18 Restored Truths of Herbert W. Armstrong.  In examining this issue one is reminded of the tale of the Emperor’s New Clothes. The story is one of the emperor who wants the finest and everyone tells him what he wants to hear until he is given a suit of what is purported to be the finest materials spun from the finest of yarns. Everyone tells him how fine it all is and he is emboldened by the sycophants around him who add to the delusion. He believes what his advisors tell him until he is exposed to such an extent that he takes part in a public parade before all his citizens. A child states the obvious and says simply “the emperor has no clothes” and then the farce is up. All the opportunists that have gone along with the delusion are left to face the ridicule of the people who now finally see the fraud for what it is and laugh in derision. 

It is now finally time for us to address this issue and declare the emperor to have no clothes and expose the opportunist sycophants surrounding him for what they are. It is time that the Churches of God stopped being a brainwashed mob of zombies and wake up to the facts of life and learn to handle and analyse the truth and pursue it diligently. The brainwashing extended to the junior ministry. Above that it was cynical exploitation or plain stupidity.  

Truth is paramount and our life is a search for the truth and an understanding of the mysteries of God. When a group of “ministers” stand in front of you, individually or collectively and say they are not interested in discussing an issue, and you either put up with what they teach or leave, you know you are in the hands of the inquisitors. These same people if they had the power would kill you for asking questions. So did their predecessors the Pharisees and the rabbis and the Inquisitors of the Trinitarian Churches. When the Roman Catholics could no longer persecute us the Protestants continued. They knew nothing and used their power to suppress God’s people who genuinely wanted to follow the Scriptures and the Laws of God.

We had to fight to get the Scriptures available to our people. We had to fight to enable our people to read and follow the Laws of God and the Calendar of God. We have massive adult and child education programs commencing from this week all over Africa just so that people can read and understand the truth of God’s word.

A number of years ago we published the reasons why Herbert W. Armstrong could not have been the prophet Elijah. The reasons were published in the paper Elijah? (No. 233) (see also False Prophecy (No. 269)). Herbert W. Armstrong did not correctly restore anything to the churches of God. Our people should not think it impious to challenge any of these fakes who claim that he did. Most of them are themselves the products of brainwashing and they don’t know any better. They teach lies for a living and deceive God’s people for gain. God is about to open the eyes of the Churches of God and tear the face off this hypocrisy.

Herbert Armstrong was not appointed to be a prophet of God. Herbert Armstrong does in fact appear in Scripture and God allowed him to lead the church in the last days to fulfil prophecy. Where he appears in Scripture is identified in the sequel to Elijah? (No. 233), which is the paper The 18 Restored Truths of Herbert W. Armstrong (No. 233b). Make no mistake Herbert W. Armstrong was a minister of the church of God and he has a place in history and in the Church of God. The WCG was allowed to carry the lampstand at the end of their era and until it was removed from his ministry.

Who he was and how he performed is a matter of importance to the elect of the Churches of God. Remember that such choices or heresies (SGD 139) or sects or divisions are allowed among us to show who has the approval of God.

The Cult of the Individual

The article on the “18 Restored Truths” was published seven months after Herbert Armstrong died. The ministry had the opportunity to correct the errors then but they did not take that opportunity. Instead they sought to consolidate their hold over the WCG and stop any disintegration.

The problem lies with the entire US mentality of the cult of the individual. Herbert Armstrong understood the brainwashing system that had been developed under the Nazis and perfected by the communists. It has now become an art form in the US. The ministry were simply not dedicated to truth. They were taught to play the man and not examine the argument. Whenever anyone in the WCG was faced with an argument they never examined the issues. They attacked the man. Anyone that they thought supported their case was always an eminent authority. Anyone who opposed their paradigms was a scoundrel and he was dismissed not on what he said but by association and character assassination. It is always the same.

Never once have we seen an issue properly examined. That the members of the churches put up with this mindset is an utter condemnation of their spirituality. This mindset carried over into the relationships of the brethren with each other. It is not confined to the WCG. It is evident in the manipulation and mindset of the churches such as the SDAs who were manipulated based on the false doctrine of Ellen G White. This weakness was used cleverly by the Jesuit families in taking over the SDA system. So also was it used in the JWs and the Mormons and the COG (SD) and the Seventh Day Baptists in the US who were twisted by the Trinitarians. They simply do not care what is true it seems. When challenged they attack the individual.

We are ALL sinners and we have ALL fallen short of the glory of God. Point out one sin of mine and I will show you a hundred more.  Take the beam out of your own eye and then look at the spec in your brother’s eye. It is the same with the truth. There is only ONE Truth. Oversimplification of any issue is the road to a lie.

The Bereans searched the Scriptures daily to determine if what is said be so. That has not happened in the Churches of God in any significant scale until recently. It is happening now in many countries.

This year ahead God is going to deal with the Churches of God in the US and the core British Commonwealth. The cult of the individual will be exposed. Those who teach for gain and use the errors of Herbert Armstrong or these other false prophets will be exposed and the sheep torn out of their hands one by one and then in droves.

The tendency to play the man will emerge and be used to its full extent in this process. It has to be exposed and stamped out. It is idolatry. What makes it worse is that some of these ministers do it for personal gain knowing it is a lie.

Make sure you understand the truth (see the paper Truth (No. 168)). Truth is pursued in peace. Fight for it. Truth is a casualty of war and division. Pray for the union of God’s people.

Wade Cox
Coordinator General