THERE ARE 57 BASIC TRUTHS that God has given to His Church at this time. These truths have come out of three periods of time in this final age that precedes Christ’s second coming. God’s Church began in 31 AD and resistance to it has grown through the centuries, just as the world resisted the head of God's Church, Christ.
In 325 AD, a different church calling itself Christian, but one that has always resisted and opposed God’s true Church, became established over the Roman Empire. Due to the support of this great world-ruling power at that time, this Roman church grew in great popularity, power, and size. It became recognized as “Christianity,” while God’s own Church became increasingly oppressed and suppressed.
This Roman church did much to destroy the “Truths of God,” as it invented its own belief system that had nothing to do with the Word of God. It established the false belief of the Trinity, Easter and Sunday worship, as well as giving a new name to Christ. During this time and due to its support from the Roman Empire that established this church as the state religion, the “Truths of God” became outlawed. Passover observance and worship on God’s Sabbaths were forbidden.
By the 1400s, the emergence of the printing press led to the establishment of protestant churches that rose up against this Roman church, but they still continued in that church’s major doctrines. These events only led to greater religious confusion and opposition to God’s own Church, and by the end of the era of Sardis in the 1920s, most truth had been lost in God’s Church. Only the first three of these 57 Truths remained.
In the early 1930s, God raised up an end-time apostle, Herbert W. Armstrong, to begin restoring truth to His Church in order to begin preparing for His Son’s second coming. This was during the era of Philadelphia, and during this era of time, God restored 18 truths to His Church.
The death of Herbert W. Armstrong in 1986 also brought an end to the era of Philadelphia. Then the seventh and final era of Laodicea began, which led up to the prophesied Apostasy that would mark the beginning of a countdown to Christ’s second coming. That era of Laodicea continued until it came to an end on the Pentecost of 1998. During this entire period of the era of Laodicea, NO additional truths were revealed to God’s Church.
It was after God reestablished His remnant Church on Pentecost 1998 that He began to once again restore and add more truth to His Church. God did this in preparation for the second coming of His Son to become King of kings over the nations of this world. It has been in this countdown period of God’s remnant Church that 36 additional truths have now been given.
The 57th Truth is the last of all these truths that God has restored to His Church, but it needs to be stated here what that truth is, because it will appear in these following truths when necessary. It concerns the name God commanded that His Son should be called and known as after his birth. That name was not Jesus; it was Joshua. The Messiah—the Christ’s true name is Joshua. Indeed, he is to be called by the name Joshua—as declared by His Father—the One Almighty Eternal God.
God’s Word is truth, and His Word is spiritual. It is the truth that sets apart God’s people in His Church (John 17:17). It is not something revealed through human intellect. One can only “see” the truth as God opens the mind to see spiritual matters
Truths Remaining at the End of SardisOnly three basic truths still remained in God’s Church at the end of the Sardis Era in the late 1920s when Herbert W. Armstrong was called of God to become His apostle for the next era, Philadelphia.
1 (1) The seventh day Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath has remained one of the most basic signs of God’s true Church. God’s people have always obeyed the seventh day Sabbath.
2 (2) The name of God’s Church – the "Church of God." God’s Church bears His name, as it belongs to Him.
3 (3) First Tithe to God. God gave the tithing system for the purpose of doing His work on earth. This tithe is God’s and He has given it to the leaders in His Church to use in His work as He directs the Church through His Son, Joshua the Christ.
God restored the following 18 truths to His church through Herbert W. Armstrong during the Philadelphia Era. These truths that are foundational to God’s Church also served to reveal that Herbert W. Armstrong fulfilled a role of the prophesied “Elijah to come,” just as John the Baptist.
John the Baptist fulfilled that role by preparing the way for the first coming of the Messiah, who in turn would fulfill his role of God’s Passover to mankind. Herbert W. Armstrong fulfilled his role as a type of the “Elijah to come” by restoring “all things” (all truths) that the Church had lost by the closing age of Sardis — truths needed for salvation and preparation (of the Church) for the second coming of Joshua the Christ.
The restoration of these truths, given through Herbert W. Armstrong, paved the way for the appearance of the third and final "type" of the "Elijah to come" in this end-time, the one whom God would use to prepare the way (in the Church and in the world) for the actual coming of His Son a second time, who will return this time to fulfill his role as “King of kings”—as the Messiah who will reign in His Kingdom.
4 (1) The government of God. When Christ comes, He will restore God’s government to the whole earth. God’s government was restored to His Church during Philadelphia. It is not a government of men where decisions are made by such practices as voting or one’s own will, but as God leads through the power of His spirit. (Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12)
5 (2) The Gospel of the Kingdom of God. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been restored after 1,900 years. It is the “good news” of the government of God, which is to be restored at Christ’s return.
6 (3) God’s purpose for mankind. God is reproducing Himself and no other church knows or preaches this truth. We are to be born of God and become God—in the God Family: Elohim.
7 (4) Who and what is God. God is a Family into which we may be born. God’s spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are begotten children of God.
8 (5) What is man? Man does not have an immortal soul. Man is a temporary living, mortal being that returns to the elements of the earth at death and does not go to heaven or hell. Only God can give mankind immortality in His Family.
9 (6) The human spirit in man. The difference between the human mind and animal brain is that there is a human spirit within the human brain that gives the ability of free thought, creativity, and memory. This human spirit must be united with the spirit of God for man to be able to come to know the true ways of God.
10 (7) The Church is only the first fruits. The Church is only the first fruits for the beginning of God’s plan of salvation. God is not yet trying to save the whole world. The first fruits are those who have been tried and trained to become part of God’s government, in His Kingdom, when Joshua the Christ returns as King of kings in the Millennium. Those who are converted during the Millennium, along with the first fruits, will become kings, priests and teachers for the rest of the world that will be resurrected after the end of the Millennium.
11 (8) The Church is not yet the Kingdom of God. The Church is not yet the Kingdom of God but it is the embryo that will become the Kingdom of God. A false gospel in traditional Christianity teaches that the church on earth is the Kingdom of God. Mr. Armstrong clearly saw that the coming literal Kingdom of God is the message Christ brought from the Father.
12 (9) Only those whom God the Father calls and draws to Him can be converted. Only those God chooses and calls now can come into the Church of God. Satan has deceived the whole world, and the Church is called out of that world. (John 6:44)
13 (10) The resurrection to judgement. The resurrection to judgment is the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20). This period of judgment covers 100 years and follows the time of the Millennial reign of Christ on earth. God has not been trying to “save” the world over the past 6,000 years, and the billions who have not had the opportunity for salvation during that time will have it at this coming time of judgment. Their time for salvation is coming. Over this time of judgment, those resurrected to a second physical life will have to prove they want to live differently than they did in their first life.
14 (11) The Millennium. The Kingdom of God will rule the nations on earth during this 1,000 year period. Joshua the Christ and the 144,000 who are resurrected to become kings and priests will rule and bring prosperity to the entire earth. For the first time in the history of mankind, since Adam sinned and God closed the way to the tree of life, salvation will finally be opened to all.
15 (12) The holy spirit coming into us only begets us. God’s holy spirit opens our minds so we can understand the coded book, the Bible, which is otherwise locked from understanding. Without that spirit we cannot understand the Bible. Spiritual knowledge comes from the Bible through the revelation of the holy spirit that God grants a portion of as He calls someone. Once baptized, this holy spirit then continues to dwell in those who have been begotten of God’s spirit, so that a person can continue to grow in knowledge and understanding of God.
16 (13) We are only begotten now, not born again. We are not yet inheritors, but only heirs of God. The holy spirit begets us as children of God, but we are not yet born of the spirit of God—spiritual in composition. Those in God’s Church can only be begotten of God’s spirit and born in God’s Family in a resurrection to spirit life.
17 (14) The identity of Modern Israel. The Church understands the identity of modern Israel and the location of the lost ten tribes. It understands that Jews are Judah and that the United States is Manasseh. Mr. Armstrong clearly saw from the Bible that the descendants of Israel were to receive the birthright promises and that the English-speaking peoples are the descendants of Joseph's two sons.
18 (15) Prophecy can be understood only if you know who are the modern day nations of Israelites. The Church understands what prophecies apply to the modern day nations of Israel. These nations include Israel, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and most of western Europe, including the United Kingdom. The Church understands the Great Tribulation will be the time of Jacobs’s trouble. As well as proclaiming the Gospel, Mr. Armstrong also preached an Ezekiel warning, which was meant for the descendants of Israel at the end-time.
19 (16) The annual festivals. The plan of God, as shown through the Holy Days, was revealed to the Church of God only through Herbert W. Armstrong. The Passover and Holy Days picture God’s plan of salvation for mankind.
20 (17) The authority of the sacred calendar preserved by the Jews. Through Herbert W. Armstrong, the Church understands the authority God gave to the Jews to preserve the weekly and yearly calendar.
21 (18) Second and third tithe. The second tithe is for observing God’s feast days. Third tithe is for the needy, and was established within God’s Church during the earlier part of the Philadelphia era. It began to no longer be required of God’s people for the Church when more governments began to institute social programs to better take care of such needs in their respective nations. This third tithe was originally established to be collected and distributed in the nation of Israel, much like what government assistance is today (collected by taxes).
Herbert W. Armstrong taught that the Church of God would always continue to grow in understanding and knowledge of God's truth. There can never be a point in time that God’s Church stagnates, otherwise we cannot be God's Church. Wherever God’s spirit dwells there will be growth.
During the era of Sardis, the Church was not growing. When that era was coming to a close in the late 1920s, it had lost nearly all the truth it had. Only three truths were remaining—the first three listed in these 57 Truths.
After the era of Philadelphia came to a close in January 1986, the Church once again ceased to grow and began to water down God’s truth. This continued through to December 1994 when nearly all of God’s truth came under attack and the Worldwide Church of God at that time tried to destroy all the truth God had restored through Herbert W. Armstrong.
Since that Apostasy and the scattering of God’s Church that followed, some 600 plus organizations formed. Only one small group emerged as a prophesied remnant of what God would restore and prepare for Christ’s second coming. The rest have continued to stagnate even though they had been shaken from a deep spiritual sleep that existed before the Apostasy. Soon after that, they all simply drifted back into a deep spiritual sleep where truth has been watered down once more and/or simply rejected.
Despite what has been happening to most who were scattered, God has continued to bless that remnant of His Church with a deeper understanding of His word, especially as it pertains to this end-time. The Church has indeed continued to grow in understanding and truth. God has revealed these truths through Ronald Weinland who is His apostle for this final period of a countdown to Christ’s coming.
All who become part of the remnant God is calling will come to agree with these truths. The 3 truths remaining at the end of Sardis and the 18 truths restored during Philadelphia separated God's Church from the World, and those truths are vital for salvation. These truths given after the Apostasy separate God’s true remnant Church from the rest who were scattered after that event. These truths identify God's true Church and who those people are with whom He is currently working and revealing continuing truth. Most of these truths represent a transition from a strict physical view in the past to a deeper spiritual understanding now.
The remaining truths were all revealed after the era of Laodicea came to an end in 1998. These began to be given after the prophesied remnant of the Church became established as the continuation of God’s Church in 1998 and would continue right up to Joshua the Christ’s second coming.
22 (1) There has been an apostasy that is unprecedented in the Church of God as prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3. The context of 2 Thessalonians 2 is for the end-time, before the return of Joshua the Christ, and was not for the time period of the early apostles. The word “apostasy” means “to forsake and depart,” and in this apostasy there was a forsaking and falling away from the truth God had given to His Church. Never before had this happened within the top leadership of the Church of God. Never before had there been such a large departure from the truth by the membership of the Church. This had to happen before the unfolding of end-time events that would lead to the return of Joshua the Christ. Many in the scattered Church do not yet believe that this apostasy has happened, and so by implication, they believe they must grow much larger in number than what Worldwide was in order to fulfill this prophecy.
23 (2) The Man of Sin has been revealed to be Joseph Tkach, Sr., who initiated the end-time apostasy. Mr. Tkach tried to change the law of God, and his actions led to great destruction within the Church. By changing the law of God, he exalted himself above God. The word “sit” in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 means “to be given authority.” Mr. Tkach was given authority in the Church to be its physical head under Joshua the Christ, and shortly afterward he turned against God. Joseph Tkach, Sr. died 40 weeks to the very hour that he delivered his sermon of apostasy, which was a sign to God’s Church that Joshua the Christ was now coming and that final end-time events had begun.
24 (3) The “temple” in Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians 2, and in many other prophecies, is about the Church of God. The Man of Sin, who “sat in the temple of God,” was Joseph Tkach, Sr., who sat in authority in the Church of God. As it was taught by Herbert W. Armstrong before his death, only God's presence makes anything holy, and God’s presence is not in a physical temple, but a spiritual one which is God’s own Church. If a physical temple were to be rebuilt in Jerusalem by anyone, it could not be sanctified and made holy.
25 (4) The Abomination of Desolation is about what Joseph Tkach did in the Church. This “abomination of desolation” began within the Church as a result of the sermon he gave in Atlanta on December 17, 1994, where he changed the laws of God. This initiated the Apostasy, which was an attempt to defile and destroy the very “temple of God,” which is God’s Church. This became the prophesied event spoken of by Daniel of the “abomination of desolation standing in the holy place.” (Mat. 24:14-16)
26 (5) The stones of the temple are about the people in the Church of God at the end-time. The discussion between Christ and the disciples in Matthew 24 is about the end-time. Christ stated that the stones of the temple would be cast down before he returned. This happened immediately after the Apostasy at the time of the scattering of God's Church—the spiritual temple of God.
27 (6) All in God's Church during the era of Laodicea were Laodicean (referring to the period after Mr. Armstrong’s death in January 1986 up to the Pentecost of 1998). The Church of God formerly believed that at the end there would be two eras coexisting side-by-side: Philadelphia and Laodicea. One (Philadelphia) was to go to a place of safety and the other (Laodicea) would have to go through the great tribulation. Yet, one era cannot overlap another, and history has shown that all who lived during the era of Laodicea were Laodiceans. This era became progressively more and more lukewarm and filled with pride. After the Apostasy, only a few began to repent of this condition in their lives, and as a result, God began to work in their lives once again. (Rev 3:1-16)
28 (7) All of Laodicea was spewed out of God's mouth as prophesied, separated from Christ, and scattered. God did this in order to help awaken some of His people out of the spiritual slumber and sleep they had entered. God will not accept that which is only lukewarm, spiritually sleepy, and steeped in pride. God will not be around sin and pride is sin. Pride and spiritual sluggishness permeated the Church of God through the mid-'90s, and the entire Church therefore became separated from God, as prophesied in Revelation 3:16. Until this condition is acknowledged and repented of, God will not work in the lives of such people. Even after that point in time, spiritual sluggishness is a condition that must always be fought against, just as those in Laodicea were admonished to do.
29 (8) The entire Church fell asleep just as it is described in Matthew 25:1-13. This was the direct result of being Laodicean and lukewarm. The Church used to believe that there were five wise virgins who went in to the wedding and that the five who were foolish were rejected by the bridegroom. Yet the Bible says “all” of the virgins fell asleep, both the wise and the foolish. Both had to repent for not using the oil available to them. When the cry went out that the bridegroom was coming, it was time for those virgins to wake up and begin “using” the oil (God’s spirit) in order to prepare themselves (to trim their lamps to give proper light in their life) for the wedding.
It does not say how many or who was accepted by the bridegroom, whether they were of the wise or the foolish. Many in the scattered Church today go through the motions of religion like the Protestant world, talking about the truth, but without genuine zeal for it. They do not comprehend that an apostasy happened in their midst, and therefore remain asleep. Only those who are able to repent of the Laodicean condition can become accepted by Christ at this end-time. And only God can awaken someone out of the spiritual sleep that has encompassed the whole Church that has remained scattered. So only those virgins whom God has awakened can repent and prepare themselves for the wedding.
(Mat. 25:1-6) Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, “Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him!”
Up to the time of the Apostasy, the condition of the Church had become one of slumbering and sleeping. Then a cry went out [a great sound shook the Church]. The Apostasy occurred which was a sign that Christ was now coming—the countdown had begun.
(Mat. 25:7-10) Then all those virgins arose [of those who had been awakened] and trimmed their lamps [those awakened of both the wise and foolish virgins—those shaken awake by what had happened]. Then the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise answered, saying, “No, unless there should not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.” While they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready [of those who previously were described as being from among the wise and foolish], went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut.
(Mat. 25:11-13) Afterward the other virgins also came [of those who had not properly made themselves ready], saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” But he answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.” Therefore watch, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
30 (9) Matthew 24 is first and foremost about the Church at the end-time. As Joshua the Christ gave prophecy concerning events that would lead to his coming as the Messiah, he first spoke of events that would occur in the Church (vs. 4-21). These events have been believed to be about physical events that would happen on earth, but they are about the Church and the spiritual meaning of those events.
Troubles in the Church began in the 1970s. Ministers began to rebel against Mr. Armstrong and the Laodicean condition began to slowly set in. While Mr. Armstrong tried to put the Church "back on track," as he stated many times, he openly doubted just how many people really got it. He warned the Church many times that they were falling asleep during the 1970s and 1980s, up until his death in 1986. This is what was being spoken of in the verses before Matthew 24:14. It speaks of wars and rumors of wars, and earthquakes ("shakings" within the Church), "but the end is not yet."
After Mr. Armstrong died and the gospel had been preached "into all the world," Laodicea and the final end-time began. Verses 15-28 describe the Church being scattered, fleeing into the mountains (different governing Church organizations that sprang up from the scattering), and of greater trials upon the Church, including spiritual warfare, deception, and famine. Events like these will occur in the world, but these scriptures apply more fully to the Church.
God has now shown that there is a duality concerning both the Church and the world that applies to verses 21 and 22. All these prophesied events in Matthew 24 lead up to the time of the very coming of the Messiah to this earth (vs. 29-31).
31 (10) The first four Seals of Revelation are about the Church, and these parallel Matthew 24. These four Seals are not about physical events at the end-time. Herbert W. Armstrong taught that these four Seals of Revelation could only be understood by understanding Matthew 24. He was correct about this, but he thought this was about physical events rather than spiritual ones that concerned the Church as God later revealed. Most of those who are scattered still do not understand that this is not about physical events, but spiritual ones. As the Church lived through these events, it became evident that Matthew 24 was about the Church, and so is Revelation 6:1-8. The First Seal is about the Abomination of Desolation. The second concerns the spiritual warfare in the Church. The third is about a famine of the preaching of the word of God (Amos 8:11). The Fourth Seal speaks of the perpetuation and worsening of all of these conditions within the scattered Church organizations that sprang up from Worldwide after the Apostasy.
32 (11) Ezekiel 5 has been fulfilled (spiritually) through the scattering of the Church of God since the Apostasy. After the Abomination of Desolation, approximately one-third of the Church remained in Worldwide (or accepted the same kind of beliefs of other false churches in traditional Christianity), one-third gave up completely, and one-third went into the various organizations that formed afterwards. The last third was to endure further trials, mirroring what God said about Laodicea. Within all this spiritual destruction, God prophesied that a tithe (ten percent) of a third would survive captivity within the end-time destruction and be offered to become apart of His remnant Church that would continue to the very end. This small remnant Church is spoken of in many other prophecies of the Bible.
33 (12) There is no literal physical place of safety for the Church during the time of great tribulation, but there is a spiritual one. The wings referred to in Revelation 12:14 are symbolic of protection, as are the skirts (Hebrew for “wings,” as in “protection”) in Ezekiel 5:3. This is in reference to a specific time period of protection for a few whom God first began awakening and calling to be part of a remnant of the entire scattered Church. This period of time that lasted for three and one-half years has already come and gone.
(Ezekiel 5:1-4) You, son of man, take a sharp knife, take a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon your head and upon your beard. Then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair. You shall burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled. You shall take a third part, and strike it about with a knife, and a third part you shall scatter in the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. You shall also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in your skirts [Hebrew for “wings,” symbolic of protection]. Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire, for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel [spiritual house of Israel—God’s Church].
(Revelation 12:13-17) When the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman [God’s Church] who brought forth the man child, and to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [three and one-half years], from the face of the serpent. Even as the serpent had cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. Then the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had cast out of his mouth [protection by “scattering” a remnant]. Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed [the remnant of the Church], who keep the commandments of God, and have the witness of Joshua the Christ [in their lives].
34 (13) Of all who had been scattered, God has been awakening a remnant out of it as a final witness of this end-time. This witness is both to the Church (about God’s calling into His Church through time, and especially in this end-time) and the world (in how the world has consistently responded to God over the past 6,000 years). The vast majority of the Church has never repented of the Laodicean condition, and therefore they remain prideful and lukewarm. God promised to awaken ten percent of a third of Laodicea as a witness of what He is doing in His Church, and a witness of what the scattered Church did during Laodicea and of what they have continued to do.
Another great witness of this end-time concerns a very large percentage of those who were awakened and given opportunity to become part of a remnant of God’s end-time Church. They were awakened from a spiritual sleep and given the opportunity to see these truths, and have rejected them. Just as it has been with the Church for the past 2,000 years, the witness is that many have been called, but few chosen. That is because even though those who have been given such great blessing and opportunity to receive God, His Son, and truth into their lives, most have eventually rejected it.
35 (14) We understand that Joshua the Christ is “continually coming” in the flesh of those who are in the Church of God. This has only been partially understood by the Church. Some scriptures refer to Christ “coming” in the flesh. Much of the Church has taken this physically, meaning that he first came to mankind while in the flesh, as a man. Other expressions about Joshua the Christ “coming” are taken as though this is speaking of a time he will return to this Earth. Yet the literal Greek concerning this word is neither about a “past tense” existence in a fleshly body, nor of a “future tense” return. The closest expression in English is that of being “present progressive,” meaning that Joshua the Christ is “continually coming” into our lives (in our flesh)—of God’s spirit dwelling (abiding, continuing, living) “in” us.
36 (15) No one goes to heaven, not even the 144,000. Of all who have ever lived and died, only Joshua the Christ has ever gone to heaven. Satan has deceived many religions into teaching that mankind will go to heaven. Even many of those scattered from the Church of God believe that the 144,000 will go to heaven for training before Joshua the Christ returns.
The resurrection of all 144,000 occurs just prior to Christ’s return to establish the Kingdom of God to reign over all nations. This first great resurrection from the dead into God’s Family of those who have lived at some period of time over the past 6,000 years, who will return with Christ to reign, has been misunderstood by many. The sea of glass that is mentioned at the time of this first resurrection is misunderstood to be at the very throne of God in heaven. It is not!
This sea of glass mentioned at this this resurrection (Rev. 15:2) is the location in the upper atmosphere of the “heavens” above the earth where this great event takes place. Even the people on earth can see some of this spectacle in the heavens (as a great light). People will not understand what they see, but God has revealed that there are those things that will be made physically visible at Christ’s coming concerning events happening on a spirit plane. That sea of glass upon which the 144,000 are resurrected within earth’s atmosphere is not to be confused with the sea of glass (spiritual creation) that exists before God in the spirit heaven of His very throne (Rev. 4:6).
So indeed, no one goes to heaven, even as God reveals that no one has ever ascended into heaven except Joshua the Christ.
37 (16) The remnant of God’s Church from Laodicea has been given the greatest proof ever of Joshua the Christ perfectly fulfilling all the symbolism contained in the entire Passover day of Abib the 14th. Ever since the 1970s there have been ministers throughout the Church teaching that Christ fulfilled some aspects of Passover on the 15th day of Abib and not on the 14th (which was when the Israelites observed Passover). Mr. Armstrong taught that this teaching of the 15th was false, yet it continues today. Along with fulfilling the symbolism of the Passover lamb, Joshua also fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover sacrifices performed by the Levitical priesthood on the afternoon of Passover, before the beginning of the 15th. This daylight portion of the 14th, which contains great meaning for what Joshua fulfilled, has not been fully understood. All of what Joshua the Christ fulfilled took place “between the two evenings,” in the night of the 14th and in the day of the 14th, and not on any part of the 15th.
38 (17) The 144,000 are all those who have been called and tried by God over the past 6,000 years who will be in the first resurrection at Christ’s return. The Philadelphia era taught that there would be 144,000 from Philadelphia who would be resurrected at Christ’s return, along with an innumerable multitude who would come out of Laodicea during the final 3 1/2 years of great tribulation. This is false. In order to enter into the God Family one must be tried and tested over many years and not just for a mere 3 1/2 years or less. Those who live through the tribulation will be a continuation of people making up the Church on into the Millennium. The innumerable multitude mentioned in Revelation 7 is the same 144,000 who have been sealed and then resurrected at the time of Christ's return. All have gone through great tribulation to become part of the God Family. They are called innumerable simply because from a physical vantage point no human could count such a gathering of people, and only God knows the number of those whom He has worked with over the past 6,000 years who have been molded and prepared to be in His Family and in His government. (Rev 14:1, Rev 7:1)
39 (18) Herbert W. Armstrong was a "type" of the prophesied "Elijah to come," as he restored all truth essential to salvation to the Church of God during the Philadelphia Era. Very few in the Church that was scattered teach this today. Mr. Armstrong described himself as a voice crying out in the wilderness and stated in Mystery of the Ages that he had fulfilled the prophecies of the Elijah to Come.
40 (19) Matthew 24:14 was completely fulfilled through Herbert W. Armstrong alone. Many of the organizations in the Church that was scattered have rejected this truth, as many of them believe they themselves are to continue preaching the gospel into all the world. They do not acknowledge that Herbert Armstrong fulfilled this prophecy that is about the Church.
41 (20) Antichrist is not about the Pope or any other single individual “in the world." It is only about any in the Church who work against Christ and God's purpose in their lives. As the true context of 1 John 2 reveals, there have been “many” antichrists through the ages of the Church. It also makes it evident that such people have been part of the true Church of God, but have left the truth and have worked against Joshua the Christ’s purpose of “living in” those in the Church, through the power of the holy spirit, in order to complete God’s work in them. Antichrist simply means “against Christ.” The “world” has never been called to the truth and has not been given the opportunity of God’s spirit dwelling “in” them. If someone “works against” this purpose then they become antichrist. Not allowing God and Christ to dwell in us, due to the refusal to repent of sin, is to deny why Christ died for us as our Passover, so that the Father and Son can dwell in us.
42 (21) God the Father is Yahweh Elohim and He alone has eternally existed. The teaching that Christ has always existed is not from scripture, but became established in the Nicene Creed that emerged out of the work of the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. This creed established the creation of the Trinity doctrine. It is from this time that the true origins of the Catholic Church began. It wasn’t until hundreds of years later that Protestant churches emerged and also adopted this teaching of the Trinity of the Church of Rome.
The truth is, what earlier had been translated into scripture as the “Holy Ghost,” which is supposed to be one of the beings of the Godhead, is misunderstood and is not a being at all. The correct translation should be “holy spirit,” which is simply the spirit that comes from the One Eternal God—Yahweh Elohim. There are not three beings in the Godhead as this doctrine of the Trinity teaches.
Instead, there is only one Almighty God who has eternal existence. Joshua the Christ was conceived in Mary, his earthly mother, but begotten by God—Yahweh Elohim—who therefore became the Father of Christ. Joshua the Christ had no existence until born of Mary. There is a vast amount of proof to these truths in scripture and a vast number of them were covered extensively in Feast of Tabernacles sermons given in 2005.
Also, there are some verses that God gave to be recorded in Isaiah that mean exactly what they say, and even one where God makes it abundantly clear who the very Creator of all things that exist is.
(Isaiah 45:5-6) I am the LORD [Heb.- Yahweh, meaning the Eternal], and there is no other; There is no God [Heb. – Elohim] besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the LORD [Yahweh, the Eternal], and there is no other.
(Isaiah 45:18) For thus says the LORD [Yahweh, the Eternal], who created the heavens, who is God [Elohim], who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited, “I am the LORD [Yahweh, the Eternal], and there is no other.”
43 (22) The remnant God will have awakened before Christ’s coming will consist of 10% of a third of those who had been in the Worldwide Church of God, before the Apostasy began. These are those who are awakened and given opportunity to be part of God’s end-time remnant Church—a remnant of those who have come out of the Apostasy. Yet as covered in Truth #34, not all have accepted and received God’s awakening from captivity. Instead, some chose from the outset to refuse what God offered them. Others received the awakening for a time and fellowshipped with God’s remnant Church, but later they rejected God’s truth and His awakening to it.
This truth concerns God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promise to awaken 10% of a third of those who had been in Worldwide. The true witness is that God is faithful to His word as recorded in Ezekiel 5, but so often, physical human beings do not remain faithful to God.
After all the time since God first revealed this truth, the Church has now nearly concluded experiencing the complete fulfillment of it. Before Christ will have returned, a full 10% will have been awakened from the Apostasy and given opportunity to be part of God’s remnant Church.
This truth was given as God gave understanding that Ezekiel 5 was about the effects of the Apostasy upon His Church and the remnant God would awaken out of that Apostasy. As a result, it needs to be clarified that although these verses appear to have a dual purpose that applies to the scattered physical nations of Israel as well as God’s Church, that has not yet been fully revealed by God.
There are areas of duality in scripture that apply to the scattered physical nations of Israel and to the spiritual Israel of God, which is the Church of God. Those in Ezekiel 5 are focused fully upon God’s remnant Church in the end-time. In times past, we have believed that Ezekiel 5 also contains duality that concerns the physical nations of Israel. Since this truth has always been about God’s remnant Church, it must be stated that it is yet to be revealed to us if these actually have a definite duality that applies to physical Israel or not.
44 (23) The captivity of the United States and the British Commonwealth will occur during the 5th Trumpet of the Seventh Seal, and not during the 5th Seal as previously taught in the Worldwide Church of God. This understanding came as God revealed that the first four Seals of Revelation were about the Church and not about the world.
45 (24) Not all baptized members, including many in the remnant, will be part of the 144,000. Over the past 6,000 years, God has been calling and then choosing those who are to be sealed as part of the 144,000. Those sealed will be resurrected to come with Christ to reign over the nations of this earth. There remain some who are yet to be chosen and sealed as part of that 144,000. Being called and then baptized in this final period of the countdown to Christ’s coming does not mean that one has been chosen to be part of that count.
God has recently made clear to His Church that once this process has been completed and all have been sealed who are to be in this complete count of the 144,000, then the final period often referred to as the great (physical) tribulation will begin. Here is that account.
(Revelation 7:1-4) After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. Then I heard the number of those who were sealed—one hundred and forty-four thousand of [among] all the tribes of the children of Israel."
This account is about the completion of this process that has been ongoing for nearly 6,000 years. Only a few remain to yet be sealed. This 144,000 are those who return with Christ as his coming. Once resurrected into God’s Family, they become spiritual Israel and in the structure of God’s government that bear the names of the twelve physical tribes of Israel. They became sealed to be “of” or “among” those bearing the names that comprise this structure of God’s government in a spiritual Israel of Elohim.
Once the Seventh Seal was opened, seven angels blew their trumpets. Revelation 7 is about how the first four angels are held back from beginning the destruction of the first four trumpet blasts until this sealing has been completed. Once the sealing is finished, those four angels begin to pour out their destruction upon the earth. Revelation 8 is a description of that event. The next several chapters then describe even greater destruction that follows in the fulfillment of the three remaining angels and the fulfillment of their trumpet blasts.
Once the sealing has been completed, then the larger portion of those who are baptized in the Church of God will continue in their physical life on into the beginning of the Millennium. They will constitute a continuation of God’s Church into the new era of Christ reigning on earth.
46 (25) The Church of God- PKG is the only physical organization God is working with in this end-time as a remnant of the vastly larger Church before the Apostasy. God has always worked through a hierarchical method of government, especially at this end-time. There was one end-time apostle during the era of Philadelphia, and this apostle led the only physical organization that God worked through for His Church. Likewise, there is one apostle who leads God's Church today.
47 (26) The two end-time witnesses (two end-time prophets of God) have already been revealed. Although God’s Church believes that the two end-time witnesses have been revealed, those scattered after the Apostasy, who have formed into hundreds of different organizations, do not believe that such witnesses have been revealed. It is in God’s timing and method as to when and how He makes these two known to the Church that remains scattered. That is also true concerning any in the world who will at that same time begin to recognize them as those witnesses.
48 (27) The Seven Thunders have been revealed and will happen precisely as foretold. As stated in sermons and in 2008–God’s Final Witness, all these thunders began during the time of the Sixth Seal. They will continue to be fulfilled with increasing magnitude during the time of the Seventh Seal. These thunders are:
1.) Terror of War: 9/11 is when the 6th Seal was opened (with all 7 buildings of the World Trade Center destroyed) and was the beginning of the Seven Thunders.
2.) Earthquakes: Related to this are tsunamis and volcanoes.
3.) Abnormal Weather: Related to this are flooding, mudslides, wildfires, and loss of agriculture.
4.) Global Economic Upheaval
5.) Death, in addition to destruction (divided into three separate phases and with random order).
6.) A growing revelation of God's two end-time witnesses, in both the Church that was scattered and in the world.
7.) An accelerated revelation of God to man, in both the Church that was scattered and in the world.
49 (28) Joshua the Christ will return to this earth on a Pentecost, along with the 144,000. Pentecost in Old Testament times was the day the Wave Loaves were waved before God to be accepted by Him. These Wave Loaves represented this future group of the 144,000 who return with Christ in the Kingdom of God. They will then be in God’s Family—the firstfruits of God’s creation of Elohim. Indeed, this truth concerns the revelation given by God of the actual timing of Joshua the Christ’s return to establish the Kingdom of God that will reign over all nations. The Church of God has long believed that Joshua would return as the King of kings on the Feast of Trumpets. This is not true! The Feast of Trumpets is about the sounding of trumpets that lead up to Christ’s coming and of finally heralding that he has now become the King of kings over all nations.
Pentecost is about the firstfruits of God’s creation of Elohim. These 144,000 firstfruits of God are those called by God from among mankind over the past 6,000 years who were molded and prepared by Him to be in His government at Christ’s coming. Joshua the Christ is called the first of the firstfruits and he is pictured by the Wave-Sheaf offering that was waved before God to be accepted by Him. This always occurred on a Sunday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was from this point that people were to count forward by 50 days to know when to observe the annual Holy Day of Pentecost.
So it is on a Pentecost that the first of the firstfruits (Joshua) is united together with the rest of the firstfruits of God (the 144,000) to begin their reign on earth in God’s Kingdom. The Wave-Sheaf offering and the Wave Loaves offering are uniquely tied together in timing and purpose.
God reserved this revelation, for this very end-time, to be revealed at the time of the beginning of His final witness that He has been establishing. This “final witness” began on Trumpets of 2008. The scope and complete meaning of that witness has not yet been fully revealed. What has been given is that it will continue right up to the time when the destruction from the first four trumpets begin to be poured out upon the earth. God’s final witness is about His Church, the world, and an evil spirit realm led by Satan. This final witness is about establishing a complete and final judgment upon these three groups.
50 (29) God has revealed the identity of the Elijah to come. As part of this revelation God has clarified to His Church that John the Baptist was a “type” of the Elijah to come and that Herbert W. Armstrong was also a “type” of the Elijah to come. There is final “type” of the Elijah to come to be fulfilled by God’s last apostle to His Church in the end-time. That third and final role as a “type” of the Elijah to come is nearly complete. Over the past 2,000 years there have been three people who will have fulfilled part (as a “type”) of the purpose of the “Elijah to come,” but Joshua the Christ will fulfill this role in its completeness.
51 (30) God is restoring knowledge concerning the rightful place of women in the family. This involves the start of the greater removal of the curse laid upon woman from the beginning which was the result of sin.
52 (31) The ordination of women in the Church. With the revelation of the 51st Truth, God is continuing to reveal the rightful role of women with this truth by showing that God has and will continue to work with and through women to help prepare the path for the return of Joshua the Christ and to fulfill a breaking of bonds (restraints as in bondage) for all humanity.
53 (32) There is an end to Satan’s existence. His punishment is that of eternal death, never to have life again, once God brings an end to his spirit life.
54 (33) Angels were created and composed of spirit essence when given life by God (spirit life), yet they do not have self-sustaining life inherent in themselves. They are sustained by God, and only God has immortal, self-sustaining life inherent in Himself. It also needs to be understood that at their creation (although the angels were given spirit-sustaining life) they were never given of the holy spirit, nor were they ever given access to it.
55 (34) God created both good and evil, but to understand “how” is to understand why God gave beings, both human and angelic, independent free choice, apart from Himself, as free moral agents.
God’s way is the way of right living that produces the only true peace that exists in right relationships. By revealing (showing, teaching) “this way—the way of peace,” evil was created. This happened because “in” those created, there existed the choice to live a different way than the way of peace revealed by God. When any being in God’s creation chooses a different way of living than the way of peace that He has shown (given), then “evil” is created.
56 (35) Through the power of the holy spirit, Almighty God will “dwell” IN His Family into everlasting life, and they will always dwell IN Him. This will be accomplished through the power of the holy spirit that emanates from God and it will never cease to be “coming into” the lives of all who are in the God Family. This will be a perpetual and continuing process into everlasting life.
Once begotten of God’s holy spirit, the flow of the holy spirit can be suppressed and completely removed (cut-off) from a begotten person’s life.
God dwells (abides, lives) IN the life of a spirit-begotten person (a person of the holy spirit) and they therefore dwell IN Him. Through the power of the holy spirit, the life (nature, truth, Word, way of life) of God begins to dwell in a begotten person’s life (in the spirit essence given to the human mind), helping to change the very way one thinks and lives, from that of selfishness and pride to that of outgoing concern and love toward others. This power, however, is suppressed and sometimes cut-off because of sin, as God will not dwell in sin. Once given spirit life in a resurrection from death (or resurrection from physical life) to spirit life, this process of God dwelling in a “born” person’s life (no longer begotten), and they in Him, will never cease nor be interrupted, but will be perpetual and continuous into everlasting life.
Each member who is born into God’s Family has independent reasoning and thought, but each is perfectly united in purpose, will, and one way of life through the power of the holy spirit that will forever abide in them (which continuously emanates from God—who is the source). It is God “forever dwelling” in each member that makes the Family of God a reality in “one” perfectly united way.
57 (36) The name of the Messiah—the Christ— God said his name should be Joshua, not Jesus.The name “Jesus” (Iesous in Latin) was adopted by the Catholic Church after 325 AD and then accepted much later by the protestant churches once they formed and came into existence hundreds of years later.
God instructed that the name to be given to His Son once he was born of Mary was to be Joshua. That was the same name as the Joshua of the Old Testament who led the children of Israel into the promised land. The name means “the Eternal’s (Yahweh’s) salvation.” In his physical life, the Messiah first came as the Passover lamb—indeed “the Eternal’s salvation” offered to mankind.
Late in the 4th century the Catholic religion adopted a Latin translation of the Bible—the Vulgate. In the Old Testament, the name for Joshua was translated as Iosue. This is actually closer in sound to the Hebrew name for Joshua (Yehoshua). However, in the Latin Vulgate of the New Testament, a different word is used—Iesu and Iesus. This was even done to Joshua’s name in Hebrews 4:8, where it was translated as Iesus. In writing about Joshua leading the children of Israel into the promised land, the apostle Paul would clearly have used the correct name for Joshua. Then the question needs to be answered as to why the Vulgate didn’t use the same Latin word Iosue as they did in the translation of the Old Testament.
Both the Greek and Latin translations in the New Testament have been altered when the name for Joshua could have been a clearer transliteration, just as it was done in the translation of the Old Testament. Especially in the Latin Vulgate, the Catholic Church, whatever the motive, made a clear change between the name of Joshua in the Old Testament and the name that Christ should have been called in the New Testament.
In both languages, a name could have been translated that carried the same meaning like Joshua does in Hebrew, but they didn’t. Yet this was done properly when the word for the Messiah of the Old Testament was translated as Christ (Christos) in the New Testament. Both mean the same thing, which is “the anointed one.”
However, the name given to Christ by the Catholic Church is not an actual translation of words that convey the same meaning, as was done with the word for Messiah and Christ. The name Jesus does not carry the actual meaning of the name for Joshua, yet it could have. It isn’t even an accurate transliteration.
The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written in Aramaic, which is a Semitic language that is of the same family as the Hebrew language. Today, most religious scholars want to discredit this and instead claim that the apostles only wrote in Greek. Certainly, Paul wrote in Greek to the gentiles, but the disciples of Christ spoke and knew Aramaic. Many Jews of that time in other regions of the Roman Empire did speak and write in Greek, but in this area at the time of Christ, Aramaic was the language of the Jews.
The word “Jesus” in the English language did not even come into existence until the late 1600s. It was a transliteration of the Latin word Iesous and the same corresponding word from the Greek. However, as it has already been stated, Iesous is not even a good transliteration. If God’s instruction had been followed, then the name translated would have been Joshua—the same as the Joshua who led the children of Israel into the promised land after Moses’ death.
Here is that instruction given by God as the correct name is translated from Aramaic to English:
(Matthew 1:18-25) Now the birth of Joshua the Christ was as follows: After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the holy spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was mindful to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the holy spirit. She will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Joshua, for he will save his people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,” (Isa 7:14) which is translated, ‘God with us.’ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn son. And he called his name Joshua.
Indeed, after nearly 2,000 years God is about to send His Son as the Messiah—the Christ—to first save mankind from self-annihilation, and then to establish the Kingdom of God over all nations. The last great error to be removed from God’s Church in order that it be made fully ready for Christ’s coming is the correction of his very name. The name “Jesus” Christ represents all that began to be taught in error in a church calling itself Christian after AD 325. The name “Jesus” represents the teaching of that church in doctrines such as the Trinity, Easter, Sunday worship, Christmas, and much more that is in error and contrary to God’s Word.
The one whose feet may well be standing once again upon the Mt. of Olives, after nearly 2,000 years, is Joshua the Christ—the true Messiah sent from God to save mankind.
