The life of Herbert W. Armstrong is a powerful example of faith.
Learn how his mission of proclaiming the true gospel message grew from humble beginnings
to a globe-girdling work-next, on The Key of David, with Gerald Flurry.
Greetings, everyone.
Herbert W. Armstrong established the Worldwide Church of God, and he started that church
from virtually NOTHING, and I think he built the most powerful message in the WORLD, even
in this end time.
And he reached an annual income of-or, the Work did-of $200 million ANNUALLY, $200 million
ANNUALLY coming in, and he was on over 400 television stations, he had a magazine with
8 million circulation, more than Time and Newsweek combined at that time.
And I'd like to talk to you about the TURNING POINT IN HIS LIFE that made that all possible,
and I mean there WAS a turning point, and he learned how to build a powerful FAITH,
a faith that would get results.
Now, it is a principle that you could apply to your life in any way because if you have
a powerful faith you're going to succeed in MANY ways in your life, and certainly in your
work that you're involved in.
He was affiliated with a small church at the time, early on, in the Depression of the 1930s,
and they paid him $3 a week.
Now, that wasn't much money, but it was quite a lot in the Depression.
But after a while he began to have problems with the leaders of that church over doctrine,
and they said, 'Well, you either preach THIS doctrine of ours, or the doctrines, or you'll
get fired.'
And so he had to make a choice; that was a real TRIAL for him, a REAL TRIAL, and yet
it taught him the greatest lesson in faith that he ever learned, and you can learn it,
too, and it's available to ALL of us.
That's a promise many places that God makes in His Bible.
But here's what Mr. Armstrong wrote.
Let me read that to you.
Here's what he said: "'As for me and my house,' I then said firmly, 'we shall serve the Eternal
our God, and Him only shall we serve.'
If MEN pay us a salary-even as small as $3 per week-we have now learned we must preach
ONLY what MEN order us to preach.
If we are to work for God, we must look to God as our employer and TRUST Him to supply
our every material need."
Now, from that day on, he was SOLELY, SOLELY dependent upon God for his income.
He TOTALLY trusted God.
Now, let me continue reading a little more of what he said.
He continues: "Never was a more important decision made than the decision to cut loose
entirely from relying on men, and instead relying SOLELY on God-not only for truth and
for direction, but also for support!
That's why we never solicit the public for contributions."
And we don't, either.
And it says in Matthew 10 and verse 8: "Freely you have received, freely give."
Do you know anybody else that follows that formula and follows that commandment of Christ?
Matthew 10 and verse 8, you can read it for yourself.
He goes on to say: "Very quickly after that decision the living Christ began opening doors!
Very small ones at first.
Then additional small ones-then a BIG door--then more and more!"
Now, this was a critical turning point in his life, and his work began to soar.
It says in Hebrews 11 and verse 6: "Without faith it is impossible to please [God]."
But can you imagine what happens in your life if you PLEASE God?
Of course there are trials and tests; that He has to build character within us, the very
character of God in us; that's His goal.
But still He says if you please Him, He will reward you diligently, and God means just
that!
Now, to finance the Work he did work with some co-workers who voluntarily gave themselves
over to the Work and wanted to support it, and so He DID ask people like that for help.
Let me give you another quote, one other quote here.
Here is a quote he made in the context of working with those co-workers, and at times,
yes, he did ask the co-workers and those who had already voluntarily decided to support
the Work, he did ask them for help and he does that with the members, as well.
But listen to this quote: "But I could not invite people to become co-workers.
I could welcome them with gratitude when God CAUSED them voluntarily to become co-workers
with Christ-but until they took the initiative I could not ask them.
No other activity ON EARTH is operated like this-" No other activity ON Earth is operated
like this, "and perhaps NONE has grown so surely."
So much.
No Work grew like that!
It was growing, like, 30 percent annually, which is almost unheard of in any business.
But notice how UNIQUE this Work is.
Remember, the reason he didn't ask the public for money-and we never do on this television
program, we never ask the public for money and we follow the same routine that Mr. Armstrong
did-but do you realize how UNIQUE that is, people who just SOLELY and TOTALLY depend
upon God for ANYTHING, but ESPECIALLY if you're doing God's Work.
They don't-that is, others-just don't solely rely on God.
Check around and see if that's not true.
But this principle can be applied to your life, and it can absolutely change your life
in a PHENOMENAL way, as it did the life of Herbert W. Armstrong.
Notice again what he said.
He said: "Conversion had deflated ego and replaced SELF-assurance with the confidence
that is faith in God."
Now, we need confidence, we have to have confidence to achieve our goals.
But that is faith in God.
Now, THAT'S real confidence.
He goes on to say: "And this crisis was the TURNING POINT," THE turning point, when my
wife and I actually in practice began relying solely on God-no longer on either self or
MEN."
No longer relying on men, even himself.
And he said: "Until those two milestones had been hurdled, God could not OPEN THE BIG DOORS!"
Imagine that!
You see, until those two milestones had been hurdled, God couldn't open the BIG doors,
and those two milestones was relying solely on God and no LONGER on either self or men.
That's not easy to do, but what a wonderful change in your life it will make beyond what
even men can imagine.
This goes on to say: "The difference between this Work of God and others is just that-this
is the Work of God and not of men!
It started and continued to rely on God, not on man."
And he goes on to talk about he's had a lot of experience in learning that lesson.
God kept him in that Work MANY years, many years even beyond 50 years.
But let me read you the concluding comment here.
Here is how he concludes this statement: "The living Christ simply could not start opening
the doors for His Work until I was FREE to rely solely on Him!
I was now FREE!"
Now, how about that?
That's real freedom when you don't have to rely on men, you don't have to preach a doctrine
you don't really BELIEVE in.
You just simply rely TOTALLY on God, and what a FREEDOM that brings in every way.
And men don't know what freedom is.
They can deceive themselves into thinking that REBELLION is freedom; it's not, and you'll
never be free, you'll be enslaved to the devil if you do that because he's a MASTER at that,
and he's the god of this world, II Corinthians 4 and verse 4 says.
But, "I was now free!"
Mr. Armstrong said.
"This final crucial test had proved that I would be FAITHFUL to God and His Word, even
at the cost of giving up EVERYTHING."
Now, THAT'S what it takes to trust God, and THAT'S what it takes to build real, living,
POWERFUL faith!
He relied TOTALLY on God, and how unique that is in this world!
But it was the hardest lesson that he ever had to learn, and I'll take you a little deeper
into that because there's still another part of that faith that he had to build.
He was looking for something like $4,000 to come in per week at this time, and they only
had $2,500 coming in.
Then let me quote from him a little further down.
Well, there was even an additional $12,000 that was added later that it made this just
IMPOSSIBLE to really pay the bills, and he said: "The pressure was almost unbearable."
It was almost unbearable!
"It became almost IMPOSSIBLE to sleep nights.
I never lost faith-really.
I never doubted the outcome, yet I had not learned the total implicit trusting faith
that can RELAX and leave it quietly in God's hands.
I was under terrific strain.
It was literally multiple NIGHTMARES condemned into one super one."
But he had to learn to RELAX and have a relaxed faith and trust God.
And twice he said, 'I just gave up.'
He went to bed, he had given up.
The next morning, he repented and went on with the Work.
Then another time he just gave up, it was so hard.
But the next morning he repented and went on trusting God.
Now, it isn't always easy to build faith, but he was so desperate for a while that he
asked God, he said: 'Look, I'm human, I have weaknesses, human weaknesses, and please give
me a six-month respite, or a time, a period without any trials and tests,' and he said
during that time, during that respite, he said, 'I finally learned to relax in faith.
I finally learned to relax and trust, put it in God's hands and not WORRY about it.'
And then the big doors REALLY began to open.
Because I mean he couldn't just be full of ANXIETY all the time.
Well, that would have wrecked him in his nerves and physically it would have destroyed him.
But he learned to face those trials and say, 'Well, if God has given me this trial or this
burden, He'll take care of it.
After all, it's His Work and He'll take care of it.'
And he learned to relax and built a Work that, as I said before, reached an annual income
of $200 million, unheard of in many fields of religion, certainly.
But surely when we have these troubles and these concerns, we want to be seriously trying
to solve them, but you've got to be FREED from the strain and the worry.
Look around at all the problems.
I mean there are a lot of people even today are straining and worrying about world conditions,
but I don't worry about them.
I know exactly how they're going to be resolved, and I know PRECISELY how God will do it.
This lesson of faith doesn't come easily.
Sometimes God has to really put us through a severe test to TEACH us to have this kind
of faith.
It's not easy to build it, but what a wonderful way of life it is, and what a powerful FREEDOM
AND FAITH it brings into our lives.
Now, we can SAY we're doing this, but it's another thing to really do it, and Mr. Armstrong
proved by his FRUITS, and we ALL have to prove by our FRUITS that we can do this.
We can't fake it.
We simply cannot fake it.
There's one thing you have to realize, that once you do decide to serve God, Satan is
going to attack you MORE, and Satan is much more powerful than human beings, but God is
INFINITELY more powerful than Satan.
That's why, without God, Satan is going to overwhelm this world; that's what they don't
see and don't understand.
Satan and his demons have all been cast down to this Earth and they're confined to this
Earth, and this Earth is in turmoil like it has never been before!
But I know exactly how it's all going to work out.
But why did God push Mr. Armstrong to the point that he almost snapped?
Because He had to teach him to RELAX and TRUST Him.
If we REALLY trust God, REALLY trust Him, we're going to relax.
If we have the kind of faith that God wants to build in all of us, then we're going to
relax.
But oh, how hard that is, and we can sometimes fall back into NOT relaxing if we're not very
careful.
We certainly can.
Mr. Armstrong learned that without a local minister-like if he'd establish a Church and
move to another area-without a local minister Satan just DEVOURED God's people because they
need a minister to FEED the flock, to FEED them, and he realized that after about ten
years that he had to establish a college where he could work and develop men and women around
him to SUPPORT him in that Work.
And then he knew everything would work out just fine, and he raised up three different
colleges, as a matter of fact, three of the most beautiful colleges in the world, and
he did it all starting from nothing.
He did it all on faith!
Ambassador College and those colleges were the only way he could change that, where they
wouldn't keep losing people as fast as they came in.
But then those people, most of them would stay and then they'd build on that, and he
built a really POWERFUL congregation all around the world to support the Work, and they, too,
built this same faith that Mr. Armstrong had, and what change it brought in their lives.
But you see, he had to build this college, and Satan was attacking it, and that's part
of the time when he just wanted to give up.
He just couldn't take it anymore, but God put the pressure on to help him to build the
relaxed faith, RELAXED faith that would cause him to SOAR spiritually and build one of the
most powerful messages ever on this Earth.
I can prove that to you.
But you see, his goal was not to build a Church.
His goal was to preach the Gospel around the world, Matthew 24 and verse 14, as a witness
to this world.
You can read that in verse 14.
It was as a witness.
Well, let me just quickly read it to you: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world for a witness unto all nations;" not to convert them, but as a witness, "and
then shall the end come."
This is about the end time, and if people don't respond, well, there is a witness against
them, nevertheless, and what a powerful message he sent around the world.
He often referred to the example of where Christ asked in Luke 18 and verse 8: "...when
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"
And what He was saying was, well, no, there will be almost total LACK of faith because
men are so caught up in material and physical things that they don't even have God in their
thinking much of the time, if at all.
Now, this is the time we're living in, and notice what he said and what he wrote.
He said, and he quoted Hebrews 11 and verse 1: "Now faith is the substance [or assurance,
the margin says] of things hoped for," once you have received the possession, you no longer
hope for it, but even BEFORE you receive it, you have it in SUBSTANCE.
And that substance, that assurance that you shall possess it, is faith."
You already have it, the way God looks at it, and that is the truth.
That's the evidence!
See, faith is the evidence you shall have it before you even see it.
Now, that's faith.
That's the faith of the Bible.
Faith precedes possession.
First you have to have faith.
And look, this has nothing to do with the five senses of hearing and seeing and tasting
and feeling.
It has nothing to do with the five senses.
It has to do with this Book and trusting in what this Book says!
The Old and New Testament, or the Hebrew Bible, as it's called, and the New Testament.
It's a matter of trusting in that Word.
This Word is Jesus Christ in print, and we have to TRUST it and we have to BELIEVE God!
And it changes everything!
God is not trying to save this world now.
If He were trying to, He would, but He is sending out messages as a witness to them.
Faith is simple reliance upon the Word of God; that's all it is.
Simple, just relying on this Word.
Now, that's how you solely trust God, and when you learn to do that, let me tell you,
there are going to be some FOUNDATIONAL changes in your life.
Listen to this: "People want to wait until they get a certain conviction, a certain feeling,
a sort of assurance they can feel before they really believe they shall have the answer,
but that is not faith.
This is FEELING!"
Coming from the senses, the five senses.
Your feeling, your convictions, your impressions have absolutely not one THING or the other
to do with faith.
Faith has only to do with God's Word; that's it, and it doesn't have ANYTHING to do with
your five senses.
That's where we get deceived.
We look and we say, 'Well, hey, God's not healing me like He said.'
But He didn't tell you HOW and WHEN.
You have to trust Him, and He does heal, and He does bless in a multitude of ways.
And you know what He does?
He actually gives you the very FAITH of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2 and verse 20; Revelation
14 and verse 12).
The very FAITH of Jesus Christ is given to you!
Now, you think that won't make POWERFUL changes in your life?
It's AMAZING what that will do!
And I'll tell you, we have followed Mr. Armstrong's example.
We started less than 28 years ago in this little Church with $80, and now we have TV
all over Britain and America and Canada and Australia and the Philippines and other parts
of the world, and we have two of the most beautiful colleges I believe in the world-the
one here at headquarters, we have 170 acres, and a beautiful, beautiful campus, You see,
that's what will happen if we follow what Mr. Armstrong taught about faith, building
a living faith, but one where you are RELAXED and you put your whole life and your trust
in the living God!
You put everything in God's hands!
Until next week, this is Gerald Flurry, goodbye, friends.
The Bible describes faith as the evidence of things not seen.
It is the assurance of a particular outcome despite a lack of physical proof.
Request our free booklet What Is Faith? to learn how to build this powerful character
trait in your life.
Millions lack faith to receive answers to their prayers-to free their minds from fears
and worries.
Often, this is due to a lack of understanding what faith is.
Read this simple but thorough explanation of the subject.
Examine the deep faith of Jesus Christ.
Learn how to align your life with God's will.
Read What Is Faith? to understand the kind of faith required for spiritual salvation.
Millions of people around the world are familiar with the expansive humanitarian and evangelistic
work of Herbert W. Armstrong.
Tens of thousands are aware of what happened to that organization after he died in 1986:
his successors rejected his teachings, deserted his worldwide mission and reduced the church
to a small, mainstream Christian denomination with practically no work.
But very few know what happened behind the scenes of this destructive transformation.
Mr. Armstrong's successors presided over the worst spiritual shipwreck since the first-century
church splintered on the rocks of apostasy.
Read Raising the Ruins to uncover the scandalous, post-mortem betrayal of Herbert W. Armstrong.
Learn how a miraculous worldwide work built on living faith was treacherously dismantled.
But this story doesn't end in ruin.
There is a work today that is reviving Mr. Armstrong's legacy and once again proclaiming
the good news of the coming kingdom of God to the entire world.
Read Raising the Ruins to discover the identity of this work.
Learn how faith played a central role in keeping Mr. Armstrong's message alive.
You will also be enrolled in our 36-lesson Herbert W. Armstrong College Bible Correspondence
Course.
This course includes an entire lesson on the subject of faith.
Learn how the Bible is more relevant today than ever.
Increase your understanding of the world's most important textbook.
Join approximately 100,000 others who have taken this course and changed their lives.
All our literature is available free of charge, at no cost or obligation to you.
Request What Is Faith? and Raising the Ruins, and enroll in our Bible correspondence course.
Order now!
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