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Education and Religion Tomorrow

CHAPTER 5

WHEN JESUS CHRIST RETURNS to earth in the full supreme power and glory of the Creator God, He is coming, this time, to save the world, spiritually. When He sits on the throne of His glory, in Jerusalem, all nations composed of flesh-and-blood mortal humans will be there before Him. He shall begin dividing "His sheep from the goats." To the sheep, on His right hand, "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). Those converted, now, are heirs. We shall inherit the Kingdom at Christ's coming. The dead in Christ shall be resurrected, rising first -- changed to Spirit immortality. We which are then alive, in Christ, shall be instantaneously changed to Spirit immortality, and caught up with the resurrected ones, to meet the descending Christ in the air. We shall then be separated by immortality from the mortal humans on earth. Wherever Jesus is, from there, we shall be ever with Him. Where, then, will He be? His feet shall stand that same day on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). It is after this that He separates the sheep (those who repent, believe, and receive His Holy Spirit) from the goats (those who rebel). This separation -- this educating converts for God's Kingdom -- will continue throughout the entire thousand years of Christ's reign on earth. Christ will give to all nations a new and pure language: "For then will I turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the [Eternal], to serve him with one consent" (Zephaniah 3:9). The pure truth of God will be proclaimed to all people. No one will be deceived any longer. But "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the [Eternal], as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). Christ is the "root of Jesse," father of David. To Christ, then, will the Gentiles seek (Isaiah 11:10). Christ will set His hand to save all Israel (verse 11). (See also Romans 11:25-26.) But all this work of world evangelism -- of spiritually saving the world (as a whole, not necessarily every individual but surely a majority) -- will require, simultaneously, reeducating the world. Close to half of all people on earth today are illiterate. They are so ignorant they simply could not be given even what might be called bare "saving knowledge." A man in a country in the interior of Central Africa had heard "The World Tomorrow" program on Radio Elisabethville. He was a steady listener, and he received The Plain Truth magazine. He wrote us letters. He wanted to represent this Work of God, and raise up a church among his people. We sent two ministers stationed in London to visit this man, get to know him, and determine by personal contact what should be done. They found he was the only man of any education among them. The others were illiterate people. They were so ignorant, it was impossible for them to comprehend anything about God, or Christ, or salvation. Sadly, our ministers said such people would have to receive at least elementary education before they could be reached with the Gospel.

Reeducating the World But now consider those in our more universally educated affluent nations -- the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, and such nations. We covered a section on this world's paganized, agnostic, decadent education earlier in this book. The academic system was founded by the pagan philosopher Plato. It has always remained pagan. Injected into it, in more recent times, has been German rationalism, and the atheistic theory of evolution. Evolution, the atheist's explanation of a creation without a Creator, is the basic concept on which modern education has been built. Modern education is a mixture of truth and error, fact and fable. The educated of this world started, at birth, from scratch, so far as knowledge goes. At the hour of birth, they knew nothing. The process of education in this world is one of funneling knowledge into minds. It is a process of memorizing. The student is taught from texts. Textbooks are supposed to be true and authoritative. The student must read, study, accept and memorize. In exams he is graded on the accuracy of repeating what was "in the book." He is not supposed to question, but to accept and believe. Modern education has been based on a false, erroneous, untrue foundation. The supposedly educated of this world -- even the great minds -- have absorbed false knowledge. They have been trained in a false approach to knowledge. Almost always, error is based on a false assumed premise or hypothesis, taken for granted, never questioned -- and, of course, unproved. The "educated" minds have been filled with such false hypotheses. They have allowed a false sense of values to flood their minds. Truth appears to them to be fable. What is right may be to them foolishness. That which may be utterly wrong appears to be right. They come to view things through the false concept of evolution. This mis-education holds their minds captive. It has been explained how the natural carnal mind, devoid of revealed knowledge from God, is limited to knowledge of the physical and material. The approach to all knowledge in the Western world has been through the evolutionary hypothesis -- never through God's revealed knowledge. In God's millennial civilization, the basis of all knowledge dissemination will be revelation. Light will replace darkness -- truth will replace error. Understanding will replace crass materialism. True knowledge will replace intellectual ignorance. -------------------- PHOTO CAPTION: THE EDUCATING and reeducating of this world will be one of the most important tasks the Kingdom of God will face. Young people today follow too often false and deceptive values. Their entire thinking will require reorientation -- a change of direction. -------------------- Many years ago, I handed a comparatively brief paper, disproving the evolutionary theory, to a scientist, asking for comment. This was the approximate comment: "Mr. Armstrong, you appear to have an uncanny knack of getting immediately to the trunk of the tree, and its roots, avoiding all the little twiggy propositions dependent on the trunk. You chop down the trunk, pull out the roots, and all supporting equations come crashing down. I have to admit you have chopped down the entire tree. Yet I have to go on believing evolution. All my life has been devoted to science and philosophy based on evolution. I have done graduate work and post-doctorate work at some of our highest-rated universities. I have been continually in contact with scientists, and have absorbed that atmosphere completely. I am so steeped in it I would be utterly unable to disbelieve in the evolutionary process, even though you disprove it." One of the great problems facing the returned glorified Christ, will be that of reeducating the supposedly educated. These minds -- and they are, indeed, the world's finest and best minds -- have become so perverted with false education that they will be unable to accept truth until they first unlearn error. And it is at least ten times more difficult to unlearn error, firmly imbedded in the mind, than it is to start from "scratch" and learn new truth. It may actually take them longer to come to a knowledge of truth -- to become truly educated -- than the illiterate of this world. God's inspired Word, the Holy Bible, is the foundation of knowledge. But they have been trained to hold this true foundation in prejudiced contempt. Yes, indeed, the educating and reeducating of the world will be one of the most important tasks the Kingdom of God will face, after Christ returns to rule. Today people follow the false and deceptive values. Their entire thinking will require a reorientation -- a change of direction.

A Headquarters Church We have seen that the earth, after this thousand-year-period begins, will be as full of the true knowledge of God as the oceans are full of water (Isaiah 11:9). How will this be brought about? The Prophet Micah gives part of the answer: "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the [Eternal] shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it" (Micah 4:1). Prophecy uses "mountain" as a symbol of a major nation, and "hills" as a symbol of smaller nations. In other words, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of resurrected immortals -- the ruling Kingdom -- -will be established in complete authority over the major nations (of mortals) and exalted above the small nations -- and people will flow to God's Kingdom. Now continue: "And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the [Eternal], and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion [the Church] and the Word of the [Eternal] from Jerusalem. And he [Christ] shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (verses 2-3). This knowledge -- this teaching -- and even knowledge of God's Law -- shall go forth from the Church -- and from Jerusalem, the new world capital. We add another fact revealed in Acts 15. A misunderstanding had arisen about certain doctrinal duties in the Church at Antioch. This was in the early days of the New Testament Church of God. The pattern is there revealed that there was a Headquarters Church at Jerusalem. The Apostles Peter and James, and other top ranking ministers were there. So the matter was taken to this Headquarters Church for authoritative instruction. Gathered there for this conference were the Headquarters apostles, plus Paul, and the elders. Even so, there was sharp contention and much disputing. Then Peter, chief apostle, rose and gave God's inspired decision. The Church received its teachings from the apostles. But in the Kingdom, Jesus Christ Himself will be there to lead His Headquarters Church. At Jerusalem, James was pastor. And as a matter of protocol to make Peter's decision official, James approved it and wrote up the official authoritative document. This chapter discloses the pattern. Christ, Himself, will be ruling from Jerusalem. Stationed there with Christ, under immediate direction of Elijah, it is indicated, will be those immortals chosen by Christ to constitute the Headquarters Church. Revelation 3:12 indicates those of this "Philadelphia" era will be pillars in that Headquarters Church. Next, in this all-important Headquarters Church organization, working with and directly under Elijah, it appears, will be the resurrected John the Baptist. He came "in the power and spirit of Elijah" (Luke 1:17). Of him, Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist ..." (Matthew 11:11). He was the Elijah prophesied to come (Matthew 17:10-13; and 11:7-11). Jesus said that no man who ever lived was greater than John the Baptist. Yet, even the least in the resurrected Kingdom will be greater (Matt. 11:11). It is evident that John the Baptist will be placed in very high office. It seems logical that he should be placed with, or immediately under, Elijah. This Headquarters Church, at Christ's own world capital of Jerusalem, then, undoubtedly will be given the administration of the world's new system of education. Also the indication is that the teaching of spiritual truth -- of the true gospel, the spiritual conversion of the world -- will be directed, worldwide, from this Headquarters Church, under Elijah and the overall direct supervision of Jesus Christ. The principal purpose for which Christ is returning to earth is to spiritually develop in humanity Godly character, and to save the world. Most religious people, ministers, and evangelists (fundamentalist), have supposed that this time, now, is the only day of salvation. The verse of Scripture they rely on is a mistranslation (II Corinthians 6:2). It should read "a day of salvation," not "the" (quoted from Isaiah 49:8, where it is "a" not "the"). If Christ had been trying to "save" the world, He would have saved the world. It hasn't been "saved." God doesn't use a babylon of confused, disagreeing religious organizations, divided into hundreds of different concepts of theological doctrine, as His instruments. But the real world evangelism will be administered by this Headquarters Church, composed of resurrected immortals, under direct personal supervision of Christ Himself. One thing there will not be in the millennial Headquarters Church is a doctrinal committee of intellectual "scholars" to decide whether Christ's teachings are true doctrines. There was no such doctrinal committee in the first century Headquarters Church at Jerusalem. All teaching came from Christ through the apostles -- and a few times Christ communicated to apostles via the prophets (of which there are none in God's Church today) -- since the Bible for our time is complete. God's Church today, as in the first century, receives its teachings from the living Christ, through an apostle, just as in A.D. 31. One other tremendous organizational function will be directed from this Headquarters Church -- that of direction of all the churches over the world. These churches will be composed of those who become converted -- begotten of God by receiving His Holy Spirit -- though still mortal. Just as the converted Christian in this present age must continue to live a life of overcoming, and of spiritual growth and development (II Peter 3:18), so will they in the Millennium. Happily they then will not have to overcome Satan. But they shall have to overcome all evil impulses, habits, or temptations, innate within themselves. With only one Church -- one religion -- one faith -- there will be many church congregations in every city, others scattered through rural areas. There will be district superintendents over areas, and pastors, elders, deacons and deaconesses in every local church. This, then, gives an insight into how the world will be organized. This shows how a super world government can, and will, be established on earth.

Why Supernatural Force World leaders today are virtually unanimous in concluding that man's only hope of being saved alive for even another generation lies in establishing an all-powerful super world government. Yet all confess that nations are utterly unable to bring it about. Sir Winston Churchill once said: "The creation of an authoritative all-powerful world order is the ultimate aim toward which we must strive. Unless some effective world super government can be brought quickly into action, the proposals for peace and human progress are dark and doubtful." Clement Attlee, a former British Prime Minister, said: "The world needs the consummation of our conception of world organization through world law if civilization is to survive!" Again he said, "We have not an awful lot of time. There is too much dangerous stuff in the world, and there are too many fools about, trigger-happy idiots and the like." We could reproduce such quotes from world leaders, past and present, for the next hundred pages. But all know that man is utterly helpless and unable to bring about such a solution. Would the United States say to the leaders of other nations, "We are ready to relinquish all sovereignty over ourselves, and place our great nation under the absolute rule of leaders from Russia, China, France, Egypt, and other countries"? Would the leaders in the Kremlin step down, and relinquish all Communist sovereignty to a government headed by leaders from the United States, and these other countries? And, if men should undertake to establish a super world government, wielding all the military power over all nations, what form of government would the nations submit to? The men in the Kremlin would never step down in submission unless this world government would be Russian Communism -- and even then, these men in the Kremlin would insist on having all the power. But the Chinese communists would not submit to that -- they would demand that the new world government be their brand of Communism. Most nations would never accept democracy as the form of world government, and the United States would accept nothing else. Could anything be more impossible than for this world's nations to get together, in a new world government of some form, each surrendering all its power and sovereignty to it? No, and even when Almighty God, the Creator and Ruler over the entire universe, does supernaturally intervene to set up His world government -- His perfect Government -- the nations will be angry. The nations will fight. Men will say, "We don't want God to rule over us!" That's why Christ is coming in all the power and glory of God's supernatural force. That's why He will rule with a rod of iron. Man will never submit to the way of peace, prosperity, happiness, and abundant well-being unless he is forced into it!

Purposed Long Ago But God Almighty is working out a purpose here below. And the Eternal God carefully planned every move toward the accomplishment of that purpose. His first promise of this happy state was made to Abraham. God promised Abraham this whole earth as an everlasting inheritance for him and his children. God promised that through Abraham all nations of the earth would be blessed. At the same time, God began insuring the efficiency and perfection of His world-ruling government by causing Abraham, Isaac, Israel and Joseph to be trained -- during a lifetime -- in several basic essentials for top personnel in a government of perfection. First is right attitude. That is essential. God looks on the heart -- the spirit -- the attitude. That is where He looked in choosing David to be king over Israel (I Samuel 16:6-7, 11-12). That is where He looks in you, and in me. These men were trained in submission to God and those over them in authority. They were trained in teamwork -- in harmoniously working together. Secondly, they were trained in knowledge of the true values. After that, they were trained in handling people, in wise management of people, of wealth -- without letting it turn their heads. In the same way, King David was trained and developed. All who, made immortal, will occupy important executive offices in the coming world super government were trained in these essentials. All realize fully not only the power, but the wisdom, the love, the holiness and perfection of Almighty God. All know of a certainty that His ways are the right ways -- His Laws, the right and perfect Laws -- His Rule and His Government, the perfect Government that will bring every blessing to those whom they govern. In this way, the Everliving God has prepared for His Kingdom. He began, long ago, selecting men of outstanding ability who would yield fully to Him, inculcating into their innermost being those principles and characteristics that form the seven basic laws for success in life: 1) The right goal -- to be born into God's Kingdom -- the goal which inspires motivation and stimulates the ambition to achieve that goal. 2) The right teaching or education. Every one of these men was freed from the shackles of pagan teaching, tradition, erroneous knowledge, false sense of values, and pagan customs. Every one was trained in God's Way, based on God's Law, and the principles of that Law. They were trained in the ways of righteousness. They became skilled in applying the principles of God's Commandments, laws, statutes and judgments. 3) They were trained in the development of good health -- avoiding the causes of sickness, disease, infirmities. They were trained in keeping their minds sharp, clear, alert, balanced, sound. 4) Every one was trained in developing drive -- constantly putting a prod on self, not only to accomplish more, strive harder, but to drive the self away from wrong desires, impulses, or temptations, and into the right ways of God's Law. They were trained to flee temptation. (They were all human. They all did sin--- sometimes seriously -- but they repented; they profited by mistakes; they overcame these things.) 5) These men were schooled through a lifetime in resourcefulness. God allowed multiple problems, hazards, obstacles to confront them -- to try the mettle of these men. They learned how to face up to and solve problems -- not to be defeated by them. 6) These men endured. They kept their eyes constantly on the goal. When the going got so tough that even with their resourcefulness they could not think their way through -- when it appeared they were completely defeated, when it appeared hopeless to try to carry on further, they did not give up -- they never quit! They endured through thick and thin -- they endured to the end. They endured by faith in God. 7) And, along with these traits, these men relied on the guidance and the help of God. They walked with God. They talked to God. They listened to God -- whether He spoke verbally and in person, or through His Scriptures. They sought wisdom from God. They relied on God for guidance, for protection, for every need. They submitted to, and obeyed God.

Compare with Today's Politicians And now -- finally. Consider! Take outstanding, superior men, having undergone a human lifetime of this attitude, this training in the ways of success and perfection. But now change these men by a resurrection into the perfection of immortality. And consider that immortality will multiply their aptitudes, abilities and powers perhaps a million times above what they achieved as humans, by infusing into them the power and glory of God. That is what God is going to do! And there you have the chief executive personnel, under Christ, administering the new super world government. Compare that to the scheming, compromising, selfishly motivated politicians that head most of the governments of this world today and other phases of civilization. Feast your eyes for a while on the picture of the world tomorrow which God's Government will produce -- as we shall now do -- and when you take your eyes from this book, and look again on this drab, ugly, sin-sick world of corruption, violence and suffering -- it will make you sick at heart. But doesn't it make you want to shout for joy, to realize what a civilization -- what a world -- is actually coming? Doesn't it make you want to really put your heart into your prayers, praying earnestly, "Oh God! Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven!" Just a few general afterthoughts before we leave the subject of the personnel and organization of the coming Kingdom. One may well ask: "What of such men as Abel, and Enoch?" You read of them, in the faith chapter -- Hebrews 11 -- as men of faith and righteousness (verses 4, 5). We answer: God has not revealed to us where they will be placed. We have mentioned here only those few where there appears to be real scriptural indication, based on what is revealed, as to what posts they will fill in the Kingdom. This same 11th chapter of Hebrews implies, certainly, that others such as the harlot Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, and Samuel will be in God's Kingdom. We cannot presume to decide what office Christ has in store for them. And there are many, many others. It is one of the joys of anticipation to realize that we shall know where they shall be placed in the near future. Someone may ask, "What about the women?" Yes, there were outstanding women -- Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel. There were Miriam, Deborah, and others. In the Kingdom, there will be no sex -- no male and female (Matthew 22:30). Women, then, will be the same as men. Sarah is called the mother of righteous women in the New Testament (I Peter 3:6). Deborah actually judged, or ruled Israel for a time. Their status in the Kingdom will be the same as men. We would certainly suppose that women such as these will be given high position and great honor in the Kingdom. But we do not presume, in this present writing, to suggest what it shall be.

 

CHAPTER 6 ...................Now Picture Tomorrow's World!

WE HAVE COVERED SOMETHING of the organization of the government that will rule tomorrow's world. Now picture the changed conditions! Look now at the solved problems! See, now, a glimpse into a world of no illiteracy, no poverty, no famine and starvation, into a world where crime decreases rapidly, people learn honesty, chastity, human kindness, and happiness -- a world of peace, prosperity, abundant well-being.

The Population Explosion Solved God predicts vast reforms everywhere in the wonderful utopian era He says will soon break out on this earth. Can you imagine it? A world of great strides in solving the most crucial problems facing mankind. Today -- the greatest and most awesome problem of all is the population explosion. Growing populations in all nations are rapidly outstripping the ability of the world to sustain them. And the areas of the greatest rise in population are the underdeveloped parts of the world -- the "have-not" nations of poverty, illiteracy, disease and superstition. Remember, not more than 10 percent of the earth's surface is tillable, or arable, land. And now the latest U.N. figures indicate the world will double in population in just 34 short years. The daily, ominous pressure of people is one of the truly incomprehensible problems today. But God has the solution, and how simple it is. Simply make most of the earth cultivatable. Reduce the bare, snow-swept and craggy mountains, raise up some of the deep, arid desert valleys, change the world weather patterns. Make all the deserts green and fertile. Open up huge slices of the earth, like the Kalahari Desert, the Lake Chad basin and the Sahara in Africa, the Gobi Desert in Asia, and the great American deserts. Make green and verdant the vast wastes of Mongolia, Siberia, Saudi Arabia and many of the Western states in the U.S. Thaw out the deep ice packs and snowdrifts, the permafrost and tundra from the vast, almost limitless expanses of Antarctica, North America, Greenland, Northern Europe and Siberia. Make level the awesome Pamir Knot, the huge giants of the Himalayas, the Atlas, Taurus, Pyrenees, Rockies, Sierras and Hindu Kush -- level the immense sweep of the Andes, and all the other forbidding, towering, virtually uninhabitable mountains of earth. Then, provide good, gentle rainfall, in right balance, just at the right season. And what happens? Multiple millions of acres of unbelievably fertile, productive, wonderful farmland suddenly become available -- just waiting to be discovered, and pioneered. Impossible? In the hands of man -- certainly. But look what God promises. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the [Eternal], and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. "Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the [Eternal], and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the [Eternal] will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains [artesian wells] in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. "I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah [acacia] tree, and the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree [cypress] together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the [Eternal] hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it." (Isaiah 41:14-20).

Pure Water-Fertile Deserts Can you imagine such a fabulous scene? Deserts becoming green, fertile, garden lands of trees, shrubs, bubbling springs and brooks; mountains brought low, and made inhabitable. Notice how God describes these conditions in many parts of the Bible. "Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons [jackals], where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes" (Isaiah 35:6-7). Read the whole 35th chapter of Isaiah. God says, "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing ..." (verses 1-2). Some years ago, in a dry, dusty canyon deep in the profusion of hills between Bakersfield and Los Angeles, California, a minor earthquake struck. The proprietors of a small resort, now almost totally ignored, and nearly always deserted because of the parched conditions of the area, were considering closing up and moving elsewhere. Suddenly, a groaning, jolting earthquake rippled through the arid hills. Not long after the earth rocked and groaned beneath their feet, they heard a faint gurgling sound. They ran to the dry, dusty creek bed that coursed through their property -- and were utterly amazed to see water flowing swiftly along. As the creek gradually cleared up, they found the water to be crystal clear and pure -- sweet and refreshing to drink. -------------------- PHOTO CAPTION: CAN YOU IMAGINE deserts becoming green, garden lands of trees? Imagine the joy of the impoverished desert dweller when he sees fulfilled the prophecy: "... in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water ..." (Isaiah 35:6-7). -------------------- Needless to say, their business picked up again. Somehow, the earthquake had broken open an underground water source, sending it cascading through their property. Think about the vast wastes of this earth. Does it sound incredible, unbelievable that God could make them blossom like a rose? Why should it? The mountains were formed. Great forces caused gigantic upheavals, or huge cracks and slippages in the crust of the earth. Massive blocks of granite lunged up into the sky -- the earth rocking and reeling in the throes of the greatest earthquakes in its history. Mountains were made -- they didn't just happen. The God of all power, who formed the hills and mountains (Amos 4:13; Psalm 90:2), will reform them -- will re-shape the surface of this earth. Read of the huge earthquakes yet to come which will directly accomplish much of the rehabilitation of the land surfaces. (See Revelation 16:18; Zechariah 14:4.) God says, "The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt ..." (Nahum 1:5).

Land Beneath Sea Reclaimed Man recognizes much of the wealth of the world lies beneath the seas. Oil, gold, silver, and dozens of minerals -- these all remain unobtainable today, lying untapped deep under the vast oceans. Also, seawater contains a great deal of gold and most of the world's gold supplies are under the oceans. Many areas of the earth are ravaged by tidal action -- by the ceaseless pounding of the surf that gradually wears away additional land. The lowlands of Europe, Holland in particular, consist to quite an extent of land reclaimed from the sea. Think of the multiple millions of additional acres available to mankind if some of the world's oceans were reduced in size. And God says they shall be! Notice it, "And the [Eternal] shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod" (Isaiah 11:15). Sounds incredible -- but it's true! Today, the United States realizes water shortages are becoming critical. Wasted water through the huge consumption of industry, through pollution, and through the prodigious amounts used by each person each day, mean the ominous approach of that day when water is scarce. As a result, additional huge dams are planned -- fantastically expensive seawater conversion plants being constructed. So far, however, the cost of desalinization is completely prohibitive. But God describes a wonderful era of discovery and invention in the world tomorrow -- major portions of the earth reclaimed and put to productive use. The problems of the population explosion are real and manifold. Not only does mass starvation face millions within the foreseeable future, but government leaders recognize there is an even more immediate concern. Food wars. Witness what happened in India. Government troops once battled 100,000 people who were rioting because of the slaughter of "sacred" cows in their country -- done, in part, in an attempt to stave off starvation for those same rioters. You see, there are more cattle in India than in the U.S. Yet, because of religious beliefs, the cattle are not eaten. They wander about the fields, and into the villages and towns, eating prodigious amounts of food, some of which would be edible for humans. The cattle are not used for any constructive purpose. In addition to this, some years ago terrible floods and long- term drought in many areas produced grain shortages more severe than usual. (Fully half of India's crops traditionally have been lost as well through lack of adequate transportation and storage facilities, to rodent and insect damage and by being siphoned off to the black market.) As a result, India asked the United States for help. The largest peacetime armada in all man's history was assembled -- over six hundred ships -- and began plying the oceans between U.S. ports and India. Quickly, the vast wheat reserves of the United States were depleted. But the famine in India was only barely staved off for one season. And any sudden disasters in American wheat areas could mean threatening famine in the United States -- because she has insufficient reserves. -------------------- PHOTO CAPTION: A HYDROELECTRIC PLANT on St. James Bay, Canada, captures natural energies for human use, while in India solar energy dries mud bricks made by hand. Tomorrow's world will have to be built from the ground up because humans in today's world did not learn the way to peace. Man will finally be forced to learn how to live with his neighbor in mutual harmony and how to share the natural resources through the way of giving, instead of the way of greed and getting. -------------------- But what about the following years? Government leaders fear huge food wars may be fought -- each nation struggling mightily to possess the dwindling means of survival -- food and water.

Sickness and Disease Feared A horrifying "solution" to the population explosion may right now be in the making, unless God averts it. With growing malnutrition and starvation comes the macabre threat of disease epidemics of massive, worldwide proportions. Already, officials warn of the threat of vast epidemics of cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, flu, or even the dread "black death" (bubonic plague) that took the lives of millions in Europe during the 15th through the 17th centuries, and in the huge plague that ravaged England in 1664 and 1665. But God says disease and sickness will finally be conquered. That is the express aim of all the vast medical and pharmaceutical companies today -- the final conquering of the ills, sicknesses and diseases of mankind. Medical science seeks to find cures for sickness -- cures for flu, and the common cold -- cures for cancer, sclerosis, heart disease, arthritis, deafness and blindness, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, and all the other pain-ridden debilities of man. Let's understand the real meaning of this word "cure." Do you realize that cures for diseases already contracted merely mean rendering God's laws ineffectual? It means ignoring the cause -- allowing people to perpetrate the cause -- and then treating only the effect. It means continuing to break nature's laws which God has made to operate in the human body, and then trying to prevent nature's laws from exacting their penalties. But God shows that, when His Kingdom rules, He will teach people to obey nature's laws -- stop causing sickness and disease. In other words, stop sinning -- because sin is defined as transgressing God's laws (I John 3:4). God reveals a great result of the increased productivity of the land, and the abundance of right and good foods -- together with right knowledge and education in health laws -- will be good health for all. The dream of conscientious doctors may be to put themselves out of a job, by finding cures for every sickness and disease. But let's face it! To ignore the cause and merely treat the effect -- to tacitly encourage people to continue causing sickness and disease by neglecting to educate them against it -- could only perpetuate the medical profession. Can we have utopia with people causing themselves sickness and disease, secure in the delusion that medical "science" can remove the penalty? In God's new world tomorrow, there will, indeed, probably be a place for doctors. But it will be teaching people to keep well, by avoiding the causes of disease. That will require an entirely new type of medical education -- only we shall then drop the term "medical." A very good doctor friend once said to me: "We physicians have been kept so busy treating sicknesses and diseases, that we haven't had much time to do extensive study and research into the causes of these troubles." In God's new world, they will be given ample time for that. In the world tomorrow there actually will be utopia. There will be universal good health. How can such utopian dreams come true? It's simple. Remove the cause of disease. But how is that going to be done? Two ways: First, by right education. Cause people to know that God did not design the human physical body so that it must be getting sick all the time, catching continual diseases. Sickness and disease occur only when nature's laws are broken. It is not natural to be diseased -- it is unnatural. Educate people in the laws of good health. In proper diet. God designed certain foods for good health. Some things that grow are not designed for food. Some are poison. Educate people in sanitation, hygiene, required amounts of sleep, pure water, fresh air, sunshine, exercise. And secondly, when people in spite of this education, do get sick or catch a disease, it can be healed -- God's way. Actually, Christ's healing is forgiveness of sin. It works on a principle exactly opposite to the supposed cures of medical "science." -------------------- PHOTO CAPTION: TODAY'S WORLD is afflicted with innumerable degenerative diseases. Above, the first heart transplant on a child. The operation was done in Paris. Education today includes little to help solve the causes of today's diseases. With all the God-given food available to keep us in good health, why is it so few know how to cook properly? -------------------- The medical equation is this: One poison in your body, plus one poison in the form of medicine, equals no poisons. One plus one equals nothing? That isn't the way they teach in second grade arithmetic. God's equation is different. God supernaturally removes the poison in the body. One minus one equals nothing. The second-grader could figure that one out. But does God, then prevent His laws of nature from working -- from exacting their penalty? Oh, no -- not at all. Upon repentance, and faith, God forgives the sin, and removes the penalty. How? Why? Because Jesus Himself "took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matthew 8:16-17). And Peter explains that by His "stripes" [we are] "healed" (I Peter 2:24). Before Jesus was put to death (paying the death penalty for spiritual sin in our stead -- Romans 6:23), He submitted to being beaten with stripes, thus paying in our stead the penalty of physical sin. God does not prevent His laws from working. Christ paid the penalty for us. In God's way, the penalty was paid -- not nullified. Christ said, when He observed the faith of some friends of a man with palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee (Mark 2:5). Christ's healing is forgiveness of sin. But when the people didn't understand such a strange statement, Christ said, "Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins ..." (Mark 2:8-10). And when Jesus Christ becomes the great ruler of this earth, He will use that great power. In vision, John saw the angels praising Christ at His coming to rule this earth. They said, "We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned" (Revelation 11:17). The combined force of right education about true health, and healing of all sickness, when it is repented of, will mean perfect, utopian health. Notice how God describes it. "But there the glorious [Eternal] will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the [Eternal] is our judge, the [Eternal] is our lawgiver, the [Eternal] is our king; he will save us. "And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity" (Isaiah 33:21-22, 24). Listen to this wonderful promise: "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing ..." (Isaiah 35:3-6). God describes the rewards for obedience to His laws of mercy and love. Notice Isaiah 58:8: "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily ..."

Happiness in Health In describing the conditions of good health and plenty to be ushered in upon the earth, God says, "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds ..." (Jeremiah 30:17). "Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the [Eternal], for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. "Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the [Eternal]" (Jeremiah 31:12-14). -------------------- PHOTO CAPTION: FEW NATIONS have ever shared in the blessings of a land "flowing with milk and honey." But in the world tomorrow, the whole earth will enjoy fantastic abundance. -------------------- And why not have good health? Why should we be so willing to believe such a perfect state of health and joy is impossible? There are blessings for observing the laws of health -- absolute guarantees good health will result -- and that sickness and disease will become a thing of the past. Notice what God promised His people, "... if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the [Eternal] thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day ... all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the [Eternal] thy God. "Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store" (Deuteronomy 28:1-5). But we are not receiving those wonderful blessings today. Instead, we are under a curse! Our cities are festering sores, filled with the clangor and confusion of jangled traffic, riots, racial hatred, crime, pornography, air pollution, and an unhappy, wretched populace that seeks fast money so it can escape the obnoxious environment of the big asphalt and concrete "jungles" of our time! Our fields are cursed; cursed with upset weather, drought, flood, insect damage and disease -- cursed with chemicals and man- made blight. One out of fourteen of the babies born in the United States are illegitimate, and in Chicago, Cleveland and Houston, it's one out of ten -- and of the total babies born each year, over six percent are blighted at birth with a serious defect; cursed with blindness, dumbness, deafness, malformed limbs, or terrible diseases even from the womb. Some babies are born each year with cancer! Our basket and our store is cursed -- depleted national reserves -- gone overseas to feed starving peoples (to nations which rarely, if ever, back U.S. policies) in an admittedly temporary effort -- only delaying the starvation facing millions. Whether we like to admit it or not -- our peoples are under a curse today. But soon, the great God will force us to take the blessings. He will impose His warm and merciful rule on rebellious, stiff- necked mankind, and bring us compulsory joy. He will insist on happiness for us; demand plenty of goodness in our lives; command us to be healthy, and filled with a sense of well-being and contentment. And so the frightening, manifold problems of the population explosion, bad weather, sickness and disease, and all problems relating to the population rise -- such as over-crowding, pollution, rising crime, and the psychological pressures from big-city living -- all these will be solved -- and in our time.

What about Distribution of Populations? Will there be room for the multiple billions of humans on earth? Of course. Remember, only 15 percent of the earth's surface is habitable today -- and not more than 10 percent is cultivatable. But when God makes all the earth inhabitable, even changing the whole weather patterns of earth, the ocean currents, and flow of arctic air, the jet streams, the pattern of mountain ranges and placement of continents, all earth will be peopled. God shows individual races returning to their own lands, repopulating them. "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit" (Isaiah 27:6). God says the wastes will be rebuilt. "For behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you and ye shall be tilled and sown: and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded: And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates ..." (Ezekiel 36:9-11). Read the whole chapter of Ezekiel 36. God says, "... I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded .... This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited" (verses 33, 35). And what about all other nations? Notice: "In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt [Egypt still exists as a nation] to Assyria [many of whose people migrated centuries ago to Europe -- modern Germany], and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: whom the [Eternal] of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance" (Isaiah 19:23-25). What a utopian prediction that is! Egypt and Germany are pictured in loving, respectful, serving cooperation with the very peoples they contended with in the past. That's real progress! So your Bible reveals nations still existing -- and in specific places. It reveals repopulation of waste places rendered temporarily useless by the ravages of war and plagues.

 

CHAPTER 7 .............CAN YOU IMAGINE A WORLD OF ONE language?

Think back a little. One of the major barriers to mutual understanding and cooperation between peoples has been the language barrier. When one man cannot understand another -- he can't freely exchange ideas, philosophies, concepts, or opinions. And in translating, the personal rapport, the sense and feeling of what is being said, is lost. If you have ever experienced talking to someone through an interpreter, you probably remember how awkward you felt. Today, this world stands on the brink of cosmocide. Great races, having different languages, cannot seem to come to a meeting of minds. And different peoples' minds work differently. A different language means a different culture, different music, different habits, different education, different values and standards, and a whole different approach to life.

Fantastic Illiteracy Think what an almost unbelievable step forward it would be, if all peoples everywhere spoke, and read, and wrote the same language. But today, vast areas of the earth do not even possess a written language. Millions upon millions are illiterate -- cannot read or write, even their own names. Millions of others are sadly limited in expressing themselves, even in their own language -- and haven't bothered to learn the language of another people. One of the great handicaps to free trade, to the exchange of ideas and cultural thought, is the language barrier. If the language barrier were removed -- and everyone became totally literate -- with fine minds, grasping the same thoughts, capable of thinking the same terms, capable of understanding each other fully -- think of the huge changes that could be effected. First, consider what a universal worldwide language would mean today, with the world cut off from God. Evils would multiply. Universally there would be a new age in art and perverted literature (pornography), Godless education, Satan-inspired music -- such as the U.S. and Britain are spawning over the world now -- of quarreling and hostility and war between nations. Such evils beginning at the Tower of Babel caused God to confound the languages, to prevent such evils from spreading through direct communication between peoples and nations. But, in the world tomorrow with God's civilization established, and ruled by Christ -- what a blessing it will be. Man was once bound together by a common tongue. But he used his knowledge for evil -- for an attempt to begin the very civilization that would end by destroying itself. When God divided the languages at the tower of Babel, He was merely forestalling that eventual time of world chaos which even now threatens the annihilation of humanity. But once the returning Christ conquers this earth, He will usher in an era of total literacy, total education -- and give the world one, new, pure, language. This subject by itself needs a book to describe. The whole literary processes of the whole earth changed. Today, all languages are corrupt. They are literally filled with pagan, heathen terms -- superstition -- misnomers -- exceptions to rules -- peculiar idioms. In our English language, Germanic in origin but with a great deal borrowed from Latin (either directly or through French) and other languages, there are many such terms we take for granted. "Romance" comes from "Roman" -- because that's what the Romans did. People are called "lunatics" because of an old superstition that the moon (Latin luna) caused insanity. Some "thank their lucky stars," a holdover from astrology (which more and more of our "enlightened" society are turning to). Others even still use pagan curses such as "by Jove." Our rockets (Thor, Agena, Atlas, Titan) are named after pagan gods and goddesses of the Greeks and Romans, and our space programs (Gemini, Apollo) are named the same way. June brides want to get married under the sign of the ancient goddess of fertility (though it's not chic to have large families any more), and our days and months bear pagan names. All languages have peculiarities of expression and grammatical oddities which cause misunderstandings and make them difficult for foreigners to learn. In most cases, even native speakers have problems with their own language, as Professor Higgins so astutely observed in My Fair Lady. Many are in sad need of spelling reform, English being probably the prime example ("ough" has about six different possible pronunciations). The modes of writing vary from Chinese, which still uses a form of picture writing, to a multiplicity of different alphabets, including Greek, Arabic, Sanskrit, Hebrew, and Russian. Something must be done. God says, "For then will turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the [Eternal], to serve him with one consent" (Zephaniah 3:9). Think of the new era of good literature, good music, and of the avoiding of duplicated effort, misunderstandings through linguistic difficulties and thousands of painstaking hours of translations. What an age it will be, when all the world becomes truly educated -- and speaks the same language.

What about the Economic Structure? God shows Jerusalem will become the financial capital of earth. The Creator says, of the newly built city, "Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea [the world's gold and silver reserves are mostly under the seas] shall be converted unto thee, the forces [wealth, margin] of the Gentiles shall come unto thee" (Isaiah 60:5). And what vast wealth there is in the sea. The Dow Chemical Company, manufacturers of about 500 substances taken directly from seawater, say one cubic mile of seawater stores 175 million tons of dissolved chemicals worth five billion dollars. Each cubic mile of seawater contains 93 million dollars worth of gold and eight and one-half million dollars worth of silver. Each cubic mile contains seven tons of uranium, and enough other minerals, elements and chemicals in dissolution to make each cubic mile worth, in today's figures, five billion dollars. It's been estimated the total value of the oceans would amount to one quintillion, five hundred quadrillion dollars. A quadrillion dollars means a thousand trillion. And a trillion is one thousand billion. A billion is one thousand million. And a million is one thousand thousand. So a quintillion is one thousand quadrillions of dollars. This is in the waters of the seas, alone. But, as you've already read, God Almighty says He'll raise many places now covered by waters of the oceans; that He'll make much more land available. Scientists know most of the earth's raw materials lie in the strata beneath the depths of the seas. God says this vast wealth will become available for constructive use during the reign of Jesus Christ on this earth. God says the wealth of the world will be centered in Jerusalem, and that the vast rebuilding programs, rehabilitation processes and new-age pioneering that begin will be backed by that wealth. "... Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire [desirable things, margin] of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the [Eternal] of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the [Eternal] of hosts" (Haggai 2:6-8). But God's great treasury will be for public display. No gold bricks, reposing in deep, subterranean vaults -- utterly useless except for their meaning -- no fear of thievery, or robbery. But breathtakingly beautiful decorations for the capital building, the temple in which Christ will dwell. The gold standard will be set up; and values will never change. No more speculating or gambling on other people's ability. Never again will any person become rich from investing in the labors and creative ability of another person. No more stock markets, world banks, financing centers, insurance companies, mortgage companies, loan agencies, or time payments. In God's abundant Government people will buy only what they need, when they can afford it, when they have the cash to pay for it. No more interest. And no more taxes. But the tithing system will be universal. Today's governments demand up to 40, 50, and even 90 percent in inheritance taxes, income taxes, hidden taxes; federal, state, county, school board, and city taxes. But God requires only ten percent. And out of that ten percent will be financed the entire governmental, educational, and spiritual leadership of the whole earth. "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? [And God answers] In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the [Eternal] of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:8-10). That's a prophecy for now. And what a blessing that will be. None of the financial burdens that curse most peoples today. People will not, then, try to "keep up with the Joneses," so they will not try to live beyond their means. They will be educated to resist impulse buying, and lustful acquisition of various gadgets, toys, playthings, and luxury items that they can't afford, and don't need. Take the commercialism of various holidays away -- expose the true origin of pagan holidays -- and people would have more money for the essentials of life that really count. Reduce the really big expenses in most people's homes; take away all the taxes, real and hidden. Take away property taxes, school taxes (since all education will then be handled by the Family of God, and the physical family of Levi) and all other taxes; cut down totally on any medical bills (only small fees for first aid, or child delivery, or necessary physical helps), and insure no one ever again signs a 36-month contract at up to 35 or 40 percent interest on an ancient used car that falls apart while the buyer still owes more than the car is worth. Do these things, and the financial curses under which most people live will be healed. God says financial blessings are to become the order of the day. Take away thievery, robbery, accidents, weather damage, rust, rot and decay, from plants, stores, manufacturing concerns. How much less could merchandise then sell for -- and at how much greater profits? Take away weather problems, insect damage, blight and fungus from farmers -- losses through government price controls and overflooding of markets -- and what would be their lot in life? Take away massive, assembly-line production of cheap, flimsy automobiles, and what would that do to solve the traffic snarls, the smog problems, the collisions and loss of life and the whole social and economic picture?. God will accomplish these things. How will He do so? First, by changing the nature of human beings; changing their outlook toward life, removing their lust and selfishness, their covetousness and greed that drives them onward toward material goals. And how will that be done? By putting away the super-powerful Satan, the prince of the power of the air -- the spirit being that now is working in deceived, misled, human beings (Eph. 2:2; Rev. 20:1-3). Satan is the source of what is called human nature, which humans acquire from him. James says, "Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?" (James 4:5). And Jeremiah was inspired to write, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Human nature covets. It lusts for the things money can buy. It longs for prestige, recognition, admiration and popularity. It lusts for power, position, wealth. Ask any segment of our modern-day populations what they desire most in life, and they'll almost invariably answer, "money"! Actually, they want the things money can buy. They know prestige and recognition come through the acquisition of material goods. They know most people evaluate other people by what they possess -- by the kind of clothing they wear, the kind of home in which they live, the kind of automobiles they drive, and the material goods they possess. No wonder God says, "... godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (I Timothy 6:6-8). Christ commanded, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:19-21). He said, "Therefore take no [anxious, worried, concerned] thought, saying, What shall we eat? or ... Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God [His soon-coming, righteous Government on this earth, which very Government, and its results this book is explaining], and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:31-33). Notice. It is not a sin to be rich. But it is a sin to covet riches, or to put your heart on material things. Our God is a multi-billionaire heavenly Father. "The gold is mine ..." He says (Hag. 2:8). And God wants every child of His to truly prosper. "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health ..."(III John 2). Christ said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). God wants fullness, abundance in every life. But look at the material "successes" you've known. How truly happy are they? As J. Paul Getty, one of the world's richest men, is reputed to have said, "I'd give all my millions for just one happy marriage!" In God's Kingdom, these commands of His will be obeyed. They'll become the standard for regulating commerce, business, finance, and the entire economic structure of the world. And all will be on the giving basis. Christ said, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again" (Luke 6:38). The giving standard will be followed in God's rule on this earth -- not the grasping, conniving, striving, deceitful, clandestine, furtive, scurrilous, devious, cheating and lying chicanery that is commonplace in today's business world. Look at the corruption in the world through lust for money. It's no wonder God says, "... they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all evils [correct translation] ..." (I Timothy 6:9-10). But when God converts rebellious mankind by the display of His mighty power -- when He brings to pass His promise; "As I live, saith the [Eternal], every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God" (Romans 14:11), when He humbles the vain, proud spirit of man -- then man will be made willing to give. -------------------- PHOTO CAPTION: IN TOMORROW'S WORLD an understanding of the biological and the botanical realms will be based on the laws of God set in motion at creation, not on the theory of evolution. -------------------- And until God breaks the haughty spirit of man (Isaiah 2:10-12,17) -- the peoples of earth will not be ready to accept such a wonderful, loving, generous, honest, giving standard for the whole economy. It would require a thick book to begin to describe the wonderful conditions which could prevail on this earth -- and which will finally prevail, when the human heart is humbled, converted -- given the very nature of God (II Peter 1:4). Never again will anyone build a building he can't afford, and doesn't need, to lease and rent to tenants who help him pay for it. No more interest. God says it is sin to lend money at "usury" or interest. Once each fifty years, all debts, public and private, will be cancelled, completely. Since governments will be in the hands of the spiritual Family of God, and partially administered by those human leaders directly under that great ruling Family -- and since there will be no huge bureaus watching other huge bureaus, which are suspiciously watching other bureaus; no military establishment; no "intelligence" (spy) agencies or members of Interpol; no huge cartels, monopolies, unions, or giant government spending -- the economy of the world will be healed. Think of it. No more foreign aid -- none of the wasted billions to buy "lovers" (allies) (Ezekiel 23:9, 22; Lamentations 1:2, 19; Ezekiel, 16th chapter) who turn and rend you later. No more strings-attached government grants to industry, to science and space technology, to schools and institutions for research. Instead, every necessary industry, educational institution, and business will be in sound financial condition. What a world that will be!

Final Summation Statesmen, scientists, educators know the only hope for survival and for peace is one world government. We could quote many scores of world leaders affirming this. We could quote other scores of world leaders saying it is impossible. So it's "world government -- or annihilation" on the one hand, and it's "world government is impossible" on the other hand. That is the stark paradox of terror facing all mankind today. No wonder God Almighty says "the way of peace have they not known" (Rom. 3:17). But what man cannot do for himself, the Great Living God will do for him. World government -- perfect government -- is coming in our time, in the hands of the Great Ruling Christ, and unnumbered thousands of Co-Rulers given immortality with and under Him. And that good news is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ is to inherit the world throne (Luke 1:32-33), which God had promised to David would never cease on this earth (II Samuel 7:13). Jesus said, before Pilate, it was for this express purpose that He was born (John 18:36-37). Jesus constantly preached the good news about the coming Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:23; 6:10; 7:21; Mark 1:15; 4:11; 14:25; Luke 4:43; 8:10; 9:2, 11, 62, etc.). He pictured Himself as the young nobleman going away (to heaven) to be coronated, and to return to earth (Luke 19:12-27). Repeatedly Jesus said He would return to earth (Matthew 24:27, 30-31, 42; 25:13; Mark 13:26; Luke 12:42-43; 17:24; 18:8; 19:12; 21:27; John 14:3, etc.). "If I go and prepare a place [position, office, habitation] for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3). He will then be on the earth -- Zechariah 14:3-4 with I Thessalonians 4:16. The living Christ is coming in all the power and glory of Almighty God, as "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Revelation 19:11-21), to put down the rebellion of warring nations (Revelation 17:14), and establish God's world-ruling Government over all nations (Daniel 2:44; 7:9,13-14, 18, 22, 27; Isaiah 9:7). No wonder the whole hope of a true Christian is the resurrection (Acts 23:6; 24:15) to immortality -- eternal life -- as a co-ruler, under Christ. Jesus said: "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron ..." (Revelation 2:26-27). And again, "to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne [on this earth] ..." (Revelation 3:21; Luke 1:32-33). And "... we shall reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:10). The Apostle John, in vision, saw a preview of the beginning of that rule and world government: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them ... and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (Revelation 20:4). Jesus said no one could see or enter into the Kingdom of God until he is born of God (John 3:3-5). He made plain when one is born of God, he, just as God is, will be Spirit. We have now, as humans, been born of flesh -- and therefore we are flesh. But God is Spirit (John 4:24, Revised Standard Version), and when we are born of God -- of the Spirit -- we shall be Spirit (John 3:6-8). Now, we are earthy -- of the earth (I Corinthians 15:48). We are "flesh and blood" from the earth -- from matter (verse 50) -- yet flesh and blood humans cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (same verse). But, as we have borne the image of the earthy -- mortal -- human -- we shall, when born of God, bear the image of the heavenly that is, spirit (verse 49). Jesus Christ is the firstborn of many brethren (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:18) who shall be born of God "by a resurrection" (John 5:25-29; 6:39, 40, 44). Christ, the King of kings. Perfect in character, absolute in honesty, integrity, faithfulness, loyalty and trust; filled with outgoing concern for the governed -- their welfare and salvation; total knowledge, understanding, wisdom. Complete love, mercy, patience, kindness, compassion, forgiveness. Yet, possessing total power, and never compromising one millionth of an inch with His perfect law -- which is the way of love. He will enforce God's Law -- God's Government on earth. He will compel haughty, carnal, rebellious humans to yield in complete submission to God's Government. No one will be deceived -- as the vast majority of mankind is today. All will know the truth. No more religious confusion. Eyes will be opened to the truth. Humans will become teachable. People will start living God's Way -- the way of outgoing concern for others -- the way of the true values -- the way of peace, of happiness, of well-being, of joy. Crime, sickness, disease, pain and suffering, gone. Poverty, ignorance banished. Smiles on people's faces -- faces that radiate. Wild animals tame. Air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, gone. Crystal pure water to drink; clean, crisp, pure air to breathe; rich black soil where deserts, mountains and seas formerly were, producing full-flavored foods, and fantastic beauty in flowers, shrubs, trees. A world filled with happy radiating humans, guided, helped, protected, and ruled by former mortals made immortal -- and all the humans realizing that they, too, may inherit everlasting life in supreme happiness and thrilling joy. What a fabulous picture! . . . For further reading on topics briefly discussed in this book, the following titles by Herbert W. Armstrong are available on this web site: "Does God Exist?", "The Seven Laws of Success", "Why Were You Born?", "What Do You Mean -- Born Again?", "What Is The True Gospel?"

 

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