Two Trees: Two Ways of Life

This is a slightly edited version of a two-part radio broadcast by the late Herbert W. Armstrong from the 20th century. Before starting it, notice the following from the late first/early second century:

This is shown to point out the position that there are only two ways was something that early professors of Christ believed and taught.

Well ladies and gentlemen, greetings. You live in a world ... that is plunging to absolute extinction. The weapons now exist of mass destruction that can erase all human life from this planet.

Now we've been having on television, and even in some newspapers, daily reminders — there were for many, many months, daily reminders — of the hostage crisis. But we don't have any reminders of the fact that there are four billion of us that are being held hostage — four billion of us that are facing extinction {it is now over 7 billion}. The weapons exist now that can absolutely annihilate human life off this planet.

One hydrogen bomb today is as powerful and will be as destructive as all of the bombs that were exploded by both sides in World War II. Now just think of that. Think of how many cities in Germany were destroyed, how much of London I've seen that was destroyed. Yes and even in Germany and I've seen that, too. It's all been rebuilt now. But one hydrogen bomb alone will destroy more than all of those bombs put together.

And we try to put it out of mind. Is it absolutely so frightening that we're afraid to think about it? I think we need to think about that. Do we think it's just going to go away if we forget it? Do we think that it's so frightening that no one will dare set it off?

Let me remind you that no weapon of mass destruction has ever yet been produced that has not been used. And nuclear warfare is not only possible of the United States and the Soviet Union, but there are now a number of smaller nations that also have nuclear weapons. And other nations can have nuclear weapons, and perhaps do, and we don't know it — and they can have it on very short notice. It is now possible for a number of nations to produce nuclear weapons. And a small nation can set off a war that can spread until it does engulf both the Soviet Union and the United States and until there wouldn't be a human being left alive on this earth.

Now there are madmen; there are people who want to commit suicide; there are suicides practically — well I guess there are everyday somewhere in the world. And it could be some man that could start such a thing in a smaller nation and it could spread.

I want you to think about two things and it's time that we begin to think about it. First, I want you to think about why we face extinction; what has brought us to this place? This was not true when I was a young man; it was not true until I was even past middle age — if I ever was and, incidentally, I can't remember ever having reached middle age. If I ever did, I never knew it. But now, the calendar at least tells me that I'm past it.

But I never thought of things like that. And such a possibility had not arrived yet — not until the hydrogen bomb, not even with the atomic bomb which destroyed, what was it, very close to a hundred thousand people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki — each one of those an atomic bomb. But an atomic bomb is merely the trigger that sets off a hydrogen bomb.
And then think of the chemical warfare and the many other things that we have. It is now possible to annihilate all human life, to erase all human life, from this earth fifty times over! Now just to erase all mankind once would be quite enough! There wouldn't be anybody left to erase any longer.

The second thing I want you to think about is that — what is going to happen; how is it going to come out? Are we going to escape; will humanity escape this terrible thing — and, if we are going to, how — and why?

Now what has brought us to the very brink of — I like to call it, 'cosmocide.' Cosmos, I know, relates to the whole universe, but about all the life we know of in the whole universe is right here on this earth. So it is a matter of cosmocide.

Well the cause is simply the way we have lived. The way we have lived has brought us to this place.

There are two ways of life. And humanity has been living one of those two ways. There are only two philosophies of life, only two ways that we could be living.

One really is the way of out flowing love — away from self — outflowing. And that is, of course, that is the way of love first to God and secondly to neighbor. That is the way of love which is out flowing, not incoming, which would be, not love, but lust.

Now the opposite of that way and the transgression of that way of life I like to call, 'get.' So I like to simplify these terms — the two ways of life: one I like to call, 'give,' just four letters, a little four-letter word that is a very good word — 'give,' and the other is, 'get.'

The one is love, as I say, it's cooperation; it is humility; it is wanting to help your neighbor as yourself; it is sharing and giving and helping and cooperating.

Now the world has chosen the opposite way which I like to term, 'get,' just the little three-letter word: G-E-T, get. And that is the way of, 'I love me; I don't care about the other fella.'

I've said before it's like the old song that came out about 1924 I remember. It was quite popular and it was called, 'I Love Me.' "Oh, I love me; I'm wild about myself. I put my arms around myself and I give myself a squeeze. I love me." But I don't care a thing about you. I don't care what happens to you. If you suffer all the agonies you suffer. You can wail and scream. It doesn't worry me. I'm not suffering. Why should I worry about what happens to you? You have worked; you have produced; you have gotten something. If I can take it away from you, if I can get it from you, well then that's what I want to do.

That's the way this world has been living. It is the way of coveting; it is the way of vanity. "I love me; I want to exalt myself." And I tell you the great men of the world are self-exalted men. They think of their great accomplishments.

Now let me just show you. We're living in a world of great accomplishments in this twentieth century. And the greatest accomplishments that have ever happened in the world have happened in the twentieth century. I would say that somewhere around ninety percent of the great accomplishments that mankind has ever accomplished on the face of this earth has been during this twentieth century because science has only come on in the last — well, the last two, three hundred years. But most of the growth has been in this century — until more than ninety percent of all of the scientists who ever lived are still alive today. Think of that! Science and technology are new things. And the progress that we've made is phenomenal; it's mind-boggling.

As a matter of fact, recently, when the photographs came back from Saturn, after we had had close-up photographs from Jupiter and then we came to Saturn and our astronomers said it was absolutely mind-boggling!

Now they had sent unmanned spacecraft who were able to go within — they call that approximately close…about within one million miles or so, but that's approximately close compared to what the telescopes can show us from the earth here. We're a great many millions of miles away here. And they sent back details that our astronomers had never seen. And oh it was so great!
Think of the things that we have done. We have been able to send spacecraft to the very surface of Mars and send back photographs on the surface of Mars until we can have close-up photographs of the very surface of Mars sent right back here to the earth. And yet it'll all come from the earth — the things that men had invented. Think of sending men to the moon and back. And men up there playing around on the moon and sending us the photographs of it while they were doing it. And we could watch them doing it in our own living rooms here on this earth.

Think of the computer. Think of the marvelous machines and the things that technology has invented. Why the progress that we have made is phenomenal; it's mind-boggling. But all of those things are in the physical and the material realm. Now just think about this a moment. All of the great things we have done, all of the accomplishments are in the physical and the material realm. And yet our troubles and our problems and our evils are spiritual in nature. And we can't solve them.

A man goes up and trapes around on the moon and comes back safely — and he can't get along with his own wife, can't get along with his children, and there is a divorce and his home breaks up.

Oh we can do great things, but we can't get along with one another. We can't get along within the home and the family. We can't get along with group. Nation can't get along with nation. And so we have wars and we have destruction. So that way of life — get — is the way of getting. It is the way of taking; it is the way of competition and strife and rebellion against authority. It's the way of 'me.' "I love me and I don't care about you."

And generally we don't have much love for the other fellow. If he suffers, you think, "Well I don't suffer. I'm not feeling it. Why do I care if he feels it? What if I care if he's suffering and having pain? I'm not feeling it. Why should I worry about him?" That is the general attitude today. We have no love for other people. We have only concern about our selfish selves. In other words, it is self-centeredness.

And that is the way that we have been living. That is the cause of every trouble we have. Our troubles, in other words, are spiritual and we can't solve spiritual problems. But our great accomplishments are all in the materialistic realm. And there we have done some wonderful things.

Now the human mind is able to accomplish — well it seems like there is no limit to what the human mind can accomplish.

You know, God Almighty looked down on the earth one time, at the Tower of Babel, as we read in the historic portion of the Bible. And He said, "Now this they have begun to do and if we don't stop them, there is no limit to what man will be able to do." (Genesis 11:6 paraphrased)

And that is right, but they were building something physical and material. And there seems to be no limit to what man can do in the physical, material realm. But our problems, our troubles and evils are spiritual in nature and we don't know how to deal with them. You need to think about that. That's where the trouble is. We think of twentieth century progress, but it's all in one direction.

Let's go back just real quickly. I want to show you how it all started. You can believe evolution all you want to, but it isn't going to get you anywhere. And evolution is not taking us any closer to peace and a happiness and universal prosperity and well-being.

Here we are in a world that is more than half illiterate, uneducated — minds with nothing in them; minds that are so great — and the illiterate minds may be just as great, and could be as great, as those of the captains of industry and the scientists and the technologists and the people that have produced these mind-boggling things. But they just have not been developed, that's all.

And we have a wrong system of education in this world. But there had to be a beginning. And there had to be a reason why it's gone that way. You go back in the very, very beginning and you read of the first man and where human life started on this earth.

So begin, if you will, with the twenty-fifth verse in the very first chapter of the book of Genesis in the Bible.

"And God made the beasts of the earth after its kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after its kind: and God saw that it was [very] good [now cattle after the cattle kind, dogs after the dog kind, elephants after the elephant kind and so it is. Then read on the next verse]. And God said, Let us [not me] let us [that's something I won't have time to discuss now, but I have on other programs], Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." (Genesis 1:25-26)

Let us make man after the God kind — after our kind. God said that. "Let's make man after the GOD kind." We're not made after the animal kind; we're made after the God kind.

Now take the human brain and then look at it, examine it. And that has been done. They've examined the human brain in every way. I saw on television just the other day where now they can explore and look through the brain of a living person. They don't have to take a dead corpse. But they can see everything in the brain while the person is still living.

Now I don't know how damaging that's going to be. And I don't think the scientists know either. They're experimenting with things clear beyond their control today. But nevertheless, we understand the human brain. We know what it's like. We can see it. And it's something that's physical that our eyes can see. We can take hold of it and feel it.

But do you know that the brain of an elephant is just as good, but larger? The brain of a chimp, a chimpanzee, is just as good, but a little smaller? But the brain of a dolphin and of a whale are larger than a human brain. And yet they are stupid compared to a human. We think of them as having certain intelligence. You know that if they have any intelligence whatever, well we think it's something terrific for an animal because they are the 'dumb brutes,' after all.

The output of the human brain is thousands, or millions, of times greater than that of an animal brain. And the reason is we are made after the God kind.

In other words there is a spirit in man that enters man with his first breath. Man himself is not that spirit. As man is born he is nothing but human flesh. But with the very first breath the spirit enters into him with that breath. It's a portion of spirit — a little particle of spirit. And that particle of spirit imparts the power of intellect to the human brain.

However it does not think; it does not see. And it can deal only with material things. Man was made with a spirit, but he was made to need another spirit — the spirit that comes from God.
And he cannot understand spiritual equations and spiritual problems and things that are spiritual in nature until he has a second Spirit that only God can impart. And there are certain conditions by which God will impart it.

Now then let's go back where the man was created. And we read now, next, in the second chapter of Genesis, beginning with verse seven:

"And the [Eternal] God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)

Now animals also became living souls. And in the Hebrew language in which this was written the word, 'nephesh,' is the word that was translated, 'soul.' And the word, nephesh, is applied to animals just the same as men — a living soul, not an immortal soul.

The spirit in man is not a soul. It's nothing. It's just like a man swallows a little tiny marble. And it is not part of the man; it's just something that is now in him and that has been put in him after the man was a man. And that's the way with this spirit.

Now let's read on. Man was made out of matter. But he does have this spirit that came with the first breath.

"And the [Eternal] God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the [Eternal] God to grow every tree that was pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:8-9)

Now there was one tree that was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The other tree was the tree of life. Those were symbolic trees. The tree of life simply symbolized the spirit — the second spirit that man needs to add to the spirit already within him — the Spirit of God! And that is the impregnation of the very life of God until we become actually, eventually shall become God beings.

But nevertheless man, naturally, just has this one spirit and it cannot think; it cannot see. It is the physical brain that sees and hears and smells and tastes through the eye and the ear and the nose and the mouth and so on — and does all the thinking. The spirit doesn't do the thinking; it empowers the brain to do it! But the animals don't have any such spirit to empower their brains; they just don't have it.

Now I would like to go on a little farther over here in the fifteenth verse on to the seventeenth.

"And the [Eternal] God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden [he was created outside of the Garden of Eden, but God took him and put him in the Garden of Eden] to dress it and to keep it [for a purpose — he was supposed to dress it and keep it. We should take care of what we have.] And the [Eternal] God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)
You eat of it today you are going to die. That doesn't mean you'll die today, but you are going to die.

And, now, what did happen? Let's go a little bit further. Turn over to the third chapter of Genesis and verse six. Satan was around. And Satan got to Adam through his wife, Eve. And Eve was the beginning of this movement for women to dominate over men that we have going around the world today. And now pardon me; some of you aren't going to like that, but maybe you don't like the truth of God which I give you.

Verse six, the second — or the third chapter of Genesis. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes [that's all physical — it was good to taste and to sight — the physical senses] and a tree to be desired to make one wise [that is vanity — and so intellectual vanity entered her], she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also to her husband; and he did eat." (Genesis 3:6)

In other words what they did, my friends, they took to themselves the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. They decided for themselves what is the way to go — what is the right way to live.

Now God had shown them the way to live. The way of the tree of life — the Spirit of God — will give us spiritual knowledge so we can solve spiritual problems and troubles and evils. But they rejected that. And that is why men ever since have been unable to solve their problems.

Now let me go just a little further — the last part of this third chapter of Genesis where: "The [Eternal] God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever" (Genesis 3:22). Lest he gain immortal life going the wrong way — the way of get. That's the way — they took to themselves! That was the way of taking; that is the way of getting! And they started out on the way of get instead of the way of give.
God wanted to give them the Spirit of God — the Holy Spirit. But they took the other way of life.

"Therefore the [Eternal] God sent them forth from the garden...and so he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:23-24)

And mankind has not been able to get back and get the Spirit of God — so he can solve his spiritual problems — ever since! And mankind — our first parents — cut mankind off from God! And mankind in general has been cut off from God ever since and going the way of get instead of the way of give.

Now let's just go a little bit further. There is a spiritual law and it was typified and it was symbolized by those two trees. And that is the law of love — outflowing love — and its transgression, as I say, is the way of get.

I call one the way of give, the other the way of get. It is a spiritual law! It is as inexorable as the law of gravity. It's inflexible; it's inexorable. You break it and it will break you. And humanity has been breaking it ever since clear down to this time for 6,000 years! We've lived the way of materialism and the way of get!

Now then the second part of this question, or of the knowledge that I want to impart to you right now: what's going to happen; how can we escape extinction? How can we escape this; what is going to happen?

Alright, there was then, Jesus Christ. There was the first Adam. He was physical and material. And he started the way of physical, material living. Then came Jesus Christ who was a spirit. That is He was born of the Spirit of God. He was filled with the Spirit of God and with spiritual knowledge.

Jesus came proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God. He called a few — and it was a comparative few. He preached, during His three-and-a-half years, He preached to many, many thousands. Twice there were over 5,000 men, not even counting women and children, that were listening to Him. And there might have been several hundred thousand who heard Him.

And yet of all of those out of three and one-half years of His ministry only 120 really believed Him and still followed Him at the end, as you read in the first chapter of Acts in verse fifteen.
But Jesus was the second Adam and He came with the Spirit and Spirit knowledge. He started a few living the way of give instead of get. And those were His Church. The Church was started out that way.

You will read in Mark the first chapter that Jesus... "The [very] beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [He] came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God." (Mark 1:1,14)
Jesus was born to be a king; He was born to be a king. But you also will read in the nineteenth chapter of Luke of how He explained to His apostles that He was going away to the Throne of God in heaven to receive a kingdom and then to return and establish that kingdom on the earth (verses 11-27). He has been there ever since as the High Priest of His Church. And the Church has had to live in this world, persecuted, ever since. But mankind still is stumbling around.

Now I'm not going to have time, I see, to really finish in this program. And I would like to finish this. How it's going to all finally come out. So you be listening there.

It all has to do with the fact that Christ was born to be a king. The gospel of Christ was about a government — the kingdom of God. It hasn't been preached. No one seems to know it. You won't believe it.

Now there's been both good and bad in the way we've lived. And I showed you how our very first parents in the Garden of Eden made the decision. They rejected the spiritual way of life. There were the two trees in the Garden of Eden. One was the tree of life. That represented, really, the Spirit of God. And that represented the spiritual way of solving problems and the spiritual knowledge, spiritual way. The other was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They took to themselves the creation, you might say, of the knowledge of what is good and what is not good, or what is good and what is evil — in other words what is right and what is wrong. And we've been living the wrong way ever since. In other words they took to themselves the way of materialism.

And all of our problems have come from a spiritual lack of understanding. Our problems are spiritual. Our accomplishments, the achievements, have been material.

Now we live in a twentieth century when we think of progress — progress that is absolutely awesome. Human progress — why we're accomplishing things that even if an Abraham Lincoln could come back to life now he would just be awestruck by the things that have been accomplished since he lived: sending men to the moon and back; the marvelous machinery and things that we're doing; the achievements in modern medicine that — everything that we're doing. And it's all in the physical and the materialistic realm. It seems like the human mind is limitless in the physical realm, but when it comes to spiritual things we are helpless.

Now I was explaining how our first parents chose that way and mankind has gone that way ever since. The two ways of life: one is out flowing love — it is love toward God, it is love toward neighbor — love in two different directions. But it is out flowing and not incoming. The other way is get and that's incoming. That means, "I love me, but I don't care about you." That means, "I want to take; I want to get whatever I can from you. I will let you produce; I'll take it away from you, rather than produce myself." The way of love is the way of cooperate. That is the way of help, of serve, and the way of sharing. We don't like that way. Humanity has been living the way of get. And that is the materialistic way. That is the way we have been living. That was the way that was started by the first human — Adam. He was a physical man. He chose the physical manner; he chose the physical and the materialistic way of life.

Now what can be the solution — the solution? Some people would say, "Well, what is the solution?" The solution is Jesus Christ. But they don't understand that. That is true, but they don't understand it. Christ was the second Adam. But Christ came with the spiritual way of life. Jesus Christ was born of the very Spirit of God through a human mother. So He was both man and God.

He was filled with the Spirit of God. And He proclaimed a spiritual way of life which is the way of out-flowing love — the way I call "give" just to simplify it into a little four-letter word — give.

And the opposite way is "get." Christ came proclaiming the way of give instead of get — a different way than humanity was living. Now He started a few on that way — and that few were His Church. Jesus Christ proclaimed His gospel — His message — which was a way of life. And He proclaimed that way to many, many, many untold thousands. Of course we don't know how many. I know twice He spoke to crowds of 5,000 men not even counting women and children. He must have spoken to many, many thousands. But of all of those He spoke to in three and one-half years of His earthly ministry only 120 believed Him.

Now there were others who believed on Him, but they still tried to kill Him because they didn't believe what He said. You don't believe that? Turn to the eighth chapter of the book of John in your Bible. And begin with the thirtieth verse and you'll find many who believed on Him. Just like there are many who believe on Christ today. And they think they're alright. They think that's all there is to salvation. "Just believe on Christ and you'll be saved."

There's a lot more to it than that. You have to believe Christ. That means believe what He said. Adam and Eve didn't believe what God said to them. They didn't believe God. The Bible is the Word of God. But people don't believe what it says. They try to twist it; they try to translate it; they try to change it and interpret it their own way! They don't like to believe what it says. Now Jesus came and started a few the right way and that few started His Church. And His Church, believe it or not, has always been small and persecuted. But there have been false churches and there have been false prophets that have been misleading the world. And your Bible says the whole world and all nations have been deceived because the Bible says there is a devil — believe it or not (Revelation 12:9). There is a Satan the devil and he has been deceiving people in the wrong spiritual way — which is the way of get instead of the way of give.

Now I want you to notice a little something about the gospel that Jesus preached and what He taught that very few have ever believed. And it's in the book of Mark starting right out at the very beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ — Mark 1:1: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophets" (Mark 1:1-2). It goes on to talk about John the Baptist who prepared the way before Him and so on down to the time when Jesus, Himself, was baptized. And then where He was tempted of the devil. And where He conquered Satan and qualified now to restore the government of God on this earth.

Now Jesus Christ was born to be a king. In a broadcast a week or two ago I gave you the prophecies of how Christ was born to become a king to head a government — to establish a government on this earth — a government of God. And that is a real government. Before Pilate, when He was on trial for His life He said, "You say I am a king. To this end I was born, and for this cause I came into the world" [to be a king] (John 18:37). He preached the kingdom of God. Now notice: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [now we come on down to after He had conquered Satan the devil in verse 14] now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching..." (Mark 1:1, 14)

What; what did Jesus preach? Very few have heard it, my friends, very few because that gospel has been maligned and put aside! And what the world has been hearing is the gospel of men, not the gospel of Christ — a gospel of men ABOUT Christ! And the true gospel is the gospel OF Christ ABOUT the kingdom of God! Here it is: "Jesus Christ came [this is the beginning of the gospel of Christ] preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God" (Mark 1:14).

That is the government of God! He was born to be a king — in a government! And a government is ruled by a law — by a basic constitution. And that law in the government of God, in the kingdom of God is the way, the spiritual way, of give. And that is God's law. And that's what the first Adam rejected — was that government of God — which is that way of life, which is give. You can call it the Ten Commandments if you want to; you can call it the one word, love; you can call it the two great commandments: you shall love the Lord thy God and thy neighbor as thyself (Matthew 22:36-39). It's the same law; it's the way of out flowing love, not incoming lust, not incoming covetousness! And not toward other people a matter of jealousy, not a matter of envy, not a matter of trying to compete with others and take away from others and to get from others. That is the way the world has been living.

But here Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15). Now let me analyze that a little bit. He said the time is fulfilled. It was not fulfilled until He had conquered Satan. What happened to Adam in the garden of Eden? You can't understand the things that are going on in the world if you want to deny that there is such a spirit being as the invisible, but immortal, Satan, explained in the Bible. You can't see him. And it isn't very fashionable today to believe there is a devil. I know that. But he is so very, very real that he has the whole world deceived (Revelation 12:9). He has even deceived the churches and the ministers, believe it or not. He has deceived every facet of our civilization: government, education, business and industry, science and technology. Every facet of modern civilization has been deceived. This was the deceived world and it is plunging to extinction! And it's time we wake up to the causes and to the way out of it and what really is going to happen.

Now notice: the time was fulfilled. Jesus has just conquered Satan. Satan was set on a throne and he still is ruling on that throne. But Satan [Jesus] has qualified to replace him on that throne. {1} He has qualified to restore the government of God. And the foundation of that government is, of course, a law, a basic law or constitution. Every government has to be based on a foundational law. And that law is the way of give, the way of outflowing love: love toward God, love toward neighbor. And Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye..."

Repent means turn away from the way of get and turn to the way of give. But how many did? One hundred and twenty out of all of the thousands to whom He preached — only a hundred and twenty. How many of you will turn when I preach to you now? One out of thousands of you! And that's about all; and I know it as well as you do! But I'm going to proclaim it to you as a witness just the same. I love you enough to do it because love is out flowing. And I'm proclaiming this because I love the people in the world, but I don't love the way of the world.

And God loves the people of the world, but He doesn't love the way they're going. And Jesus came to turn them from it and to turn them, really, to a different way. Now He said, "Repent." That means to change from the way of get to the way of give. You don't hear it preached that way because in, well, the religion we call, 'Christianity,' you will find in the first chapter of the book of Ephesians [Galatians] {2} that the gospel of Christ was perverted and they changed it to another gospel. And that's what the world's been hearing now for over nineteen hundred years. But Jesus was born to be a king.

Now let me show you another scripture that I want to give you right here at this point — in the third chapter of Revelation and verse twenty-one, where Jesus, Himself, said — now He was speaking to His Church when He said this:

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne [He was born to be a king; He's going to sit on a throne. He came and qualified to restore the government of God. And the government of God is based on the law of outflowing love — or the way of give. Now He said] to those that overcome [the way of get, that's what He means] to him will I give to sit with me in my throne, as I also overcame [which He did when He was here on earth] and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:21). That means He is up in heaven on — in His Father's throne now.

Now, again, what He said here just a little before that, in Revelation 2:26-27. [He said], "And he that overcometh [He that overcometh the way of get, the way of this world — that is the way of sin; call it S-I-N — sin, if you want to. That's a biblical term and it isn't very fashionable to use. I use a word that I'm sure you will understand — the way of 'get.' It's all the same thing], And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end" (Revelation 2:26). That is the way you live! Jesus came talking about the way we live. Modern Christianity, so-called, doesn't have much to do with the way you live. It's, "Just accept Christ." Just get, receive — all get, not give!

My friends, when I was converted I didn't feel I was getting something. I gave myself to God. I said, "Jesus Christ bought me. He died — He gave His life to purchase me. He bought and paid for me; I belong to Him." And I gave my life to Him and told Him if He could use a life like mine, He could have it. I didn't see how He would ever use it. I didn't think it was worth much. It wasn't to me. But He has used it a little bit. And He has helped some of you that are listening now.

[But] "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end [He's talking about how you live.] To him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." (Revelation 2:26-27)

So those that overcome, in the Church, are going to rule and reign in that government, in that kingdom, with Jesus Christ. You don't hear that kind of a gospel being preached today because the gospel was perverted.

Alright — also now, to the apostles, Jesus said, I want to turn back here to the fourteenth chapter of John. And I'd like to read to you just the third verse for a moment. Jesus said that He was going away; He was going to God the Father and going to leave the earth for quite a while. And He's been gone for over 1900 years. But listen.

"If I go and prepare a place for you [the place He was going to prepare is an office, a position, an office in the government...and prepare a place for you,] I will come again [He's coming back to the earth, He said] And receive you unto myself; that where I am, you may be also" (John 14:3). And when He comes back He'll be here and that's when we'll be with Him — not up in heaven!

I'll pay you a thousand dollars if you show me one place in the Bible that gives any hope or promise of anyone ever going to heaven or that anyone ever did go to heaven except Jesus Christ! Now that's a shocker for you. Alright — you want to get? That's a way to get a thousand dollars; I'll give it to you. Show me in the Bible because the Bible doesn't preach that! The Bible says that "...the righteous will inherit the earth, and dwell therein forever" (Psalm37:29). And I have heard preachers say, "The Bible says, 'When we all get to heaven...'" The Bible says nothing of the kind. Show me where it says that and I'll pay you one thousand dollars. Now I think that's about a case of 'put up or shut up,' — I know what I'm talking about.

Alright now, next turn on to Luke 19. That's what I wanted to turn to a minute ago, but — let's turn to the nineteenth chapter of Luke and notice the eleventh verse — something Jesus said to the apostles who were part of the very foundation of the Church. "And as they [meaning His apostles] heard these things, Jesus added and spake a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they [the apostles] thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear." (Luke 19:11)

Now the kingdom of God is not the Church. The kingdom of God is not some fluffy sentiment in your minds and hearts — a sentimental nothing. The kingdom of God is a literal government that is going to be set upon this earth and it's going to prevent the extinction of mankind. That's the ultimate solution of our great problem. So listen. "He said, therefore, A certain nobleman [now He is that nobleman and this is only a parable] went into a far country [which is heaven in reality] to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return." (Luke 19:12)

Jesus went up to heaven to receive the kingdom. And when He comes back He will come with many crowns; He will be already crowned. The ceremony will take place up in heaven and He will come already crowned as king. And Satan is going to be replaced and is going to have to be taken away from this earth where he cannot deceive nations any more at all. So you notice now that He went to heaven, but He's going to return. And He went to get the kingdom and to return as the king over that kingdom.

Now if the world problems don't frighten people now, before He comes, they will. People are going to be frightened very soon now. I want you to notice another prophecy in the New Testament and it's in Luke 21 — the twenty-first chapter of Luke and beginning with verse twenty-five — beginning with verse twenty-five. "And there shall be [now this is just ahead of us in this twentieth century, not very far ahead from right now] there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon [the moon], and in the stars; and upon the earth, and distress of nations [nations in distress and perplexity — we're in chaos right now] distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth:" (Luke 21:25-26)

We haven't quite reached that yet. We are very close to it right now; we're very close to the time when that is going to happen and, before we're delivered out of this trouble that we're in now, it's going to get worse. What man has brought on man is going to become worse. Oh yes we've had great progress materially. But spiritually we've been tearing things to pieces. And we're going to annihilate human life from off this planet if God does not intervene to stop it, which, of course, He will. "And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and great glory. And when these things [happen — when they] begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:27-28)

That is going to happen and then Christ is going to come and save us from ourselves finally at last. And He's going to rule with power.

Now let's turn over again now into the book of Revelation, in the nineteenth chapter of the book of Revelation, and beginning with verse eleven:

And John is telling here — the apostle John in about 90 AD when he wrote this — he saw a vision. He was on the Isle of Patmos and he saw things in a vision. But in vision he was in the time of — called the Day of the Lord. In other words, after the day of man, after the day that we're living in is over, and the time of Christ's coming and the time when God intervenes in the affairs of men.

He says here "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war [that is referring to Jesus Christ when He comes with having received that kingdom. And He's coming back to this earth]. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. (Revelation 19:11-12)

And by the way in the first chapter of the book of Revelation (verse 16) you will find that His face was like the sun in full strength — so bright it would put your eyes out if you were up close looking at it. That is the way He's coming — in power and in glory — a power and a glory that no human man has ever seen yet, but will see.

"And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood [showing of the blood of Christ when He was crucified on the cross] and his name is called the Word of God [Jesus is the Word of God]. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses [and in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew you will find those armies are all the holy angels are coming with Him] clothed in fine linen, white and clean [and that clothing is merely symbolic of righteousness and holiness] and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword [now this is speaking symbolically — that sword is not a sword of steel, but out of his mouth goes a sharp sword,] that with it he should smite the nations [that sword is the Word of God — the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Another place in the Bible interprets that (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). It's His own Word that people don't like, which is the Word of give instead of get, that's all] and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (Revelation 19:13-16)

That is the way He's coming. And He is coming to restore the government of God on this earth which will have as basic law — the way of give and not get! Satan the devil is going to be taken away and will not be here to deceive the nations any more. And people are going to learn to live the way of give instead of get.

Now I'd like to read you, if I have time, just one more verse. It's a prophecy in the Old Testament in the book of Micah.

"But in the last days [and we're right in those last days now, in the last days] it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains [that is the nation of God will be established over all of the nations because it'll rule over all nations] and it shall be exalted above the hills; and many nations will flow unto it. Many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the [nation, it is, or] mountain of the [Eternal], and to the house of the God of Jacob; and HE WILL TEACH US HIS WAYS! [It's a matter of a way of life. And He will teach us that way of life — the way of give.] And we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion [that's the law — it is a spiritual law — the way of outflowing love, go forth of Zion,] and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge amongst many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off [a world-ruling government] and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Micah 4:1-3)

That is the way it's finally going to be when Christ comes to rule with the way of life of give instead of get and when Satan the devil is put away! Then there won't be any devil as some people think there isn't even right now. My friends, what is the kingdom of God? That is the gospel that Jesus preached. You haven't heard it. You've heard the gospel of men about the person of Christ. What about the gospel Jesus Himself preached — the kingdom of God? I want you to have a free booklet that I would like to send to you: 'What do You Mean - The kingdom of God.' 'Just what do You Mean - The kingdom of God.' Now there's no charge whatsoever; so until next time — Herbert W. Armstrong — goodbye friends.

{1} Here Herbert. Armstrong mistakenly says that it was Satan who had "qualified to replace him on that throne," when, obviously, he was speaking of Jesus Christ who had qualified, at this time, to replace Satan and restore the government of God to the earth.
{2} Herbert Armstrong references the first chapter of Ephesians here, but the scripture to which he is referring is found in Galatians 1:6-7

The Two Trees Only Two Ways of Life