Dear Brethren and Co-Workers with Christ,
Greetings from Charlotte, NC! There is “light” at the end of the tunnel! Right now, an entire panorama of prophetic events is beginning to occur which clearly indicates—more than ever—that we are near the end of this age! For the great God who guides the affairs of men and nations has a seven thousand-year Plan. He has allotted these first six thousand years for mankind to go its own way, under the powerful influence of Satan the Devil whom the Apostle Paul labeled, “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4). Paul was also inspired to describe Satan as the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2).
Thankfully, we are nearing the end of this traumatic six thousand years of human history and the real Jesus Christ of the Bible will soon return to this earth! Then, at the prophesied seventh trump, God’s angels will proclaim, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev. 11:15). At that time, the mass murders and tortures and rape of innocent human beings occurring even now in Darfur, in the Congo and throughout many countries in Africa, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many other nations will finally cease!
For Jesus Christ will be here in person and “in charge!”
In years past, perhaps many of us wondered why the Bible tells us that—when He returns—Christ will rule “with a rod of iron” (Rev. 19:15; Psalm 2:9). But when we read the details of the absolute hate and ruthlessness of so many people today, we should realize that Christ can only straighten out this world’s selfish, hateful, God-rejecting society by intervening with an awesome display of power!
Then these Godless, hard-headed, bestial individuals will finally pay attention!
Meanwhile, I am very grateful to have the awesome privilege of being a “co-worker with Christ!” For He has guided my life and allowed me to serve Him for more than 57 years. And I have been privileged to clearly “see” His mighty hand in world affairs during all those years. Event after event which Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong and many of us, assisting him, specifically predicted has come to pass! I well remember being there in Britain and hearing Mr. Armstrong telling the British people in a series of public campaigns in 1954, “Unless you people in Britain truly repent of breaking God’s laws and turn to the true God of the Bible, He will bring you down and the British Empire will be no more!”
Now my friends, that has happened! There is no British Empire and the remaining “Commonwealth” is slowly but surely coming apart.
Mr. Armstrong also specifically warned during those 1954 campaigns, “Unless there is a national repentance and return to God, He will begin to take away the great ‘sea gates’ He has given you such as the Suez Canal, the Strait of Malacca” etc. Two years later, my wife and I were sent again to Britain when the famous “Suez Crisis” erupted—resulting in perhaps the most vital sea passage in the world being taken away from Great Britain! As time passed, Britain lost control of nearly all the other “sea gates” such as the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, the Simonstown Sea Base, etc. And the United States lost control of the Panama Canal.
Later, Mr. Armstrong repeatedly stated that the nations of eastern Europe—totally controlled at the time by the Soviet Union—would break away in order to be part of the “toes” of the coming “Beast” power in Europe. No one else even remotely predicted such a thing. But, just a few years after Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986, it happened—just as he said it would!
Some of you readers will remember the outstanding newspaper quotation about this very thing which Mr. John Ogwyn referred to at the beginning of his outstanding booklet, The Beast of Revelation. Here is that reference as published in this booklet, “The rapid unfolding of events in eastern and central Europe in 1989 did not catch everyone by surprise, however. As an editorial writer in the Hendersonville, Tennessee, Free Press on December 7, 1989, stated: ‘Like a great many Americans I have been watching the current political situation in East Germany with interest. While many have expressed surprise at the recent events and at East German cries for reunification of East and West Germany, I have to admit I haven’t been too surprised by these events. The reason I haven’t been particularly surprised is that for years I have occasionally read the publications of… the late Herbert W. Armstrong… Armstrong predicted that the Berlin Wall would some day come down and the two German states would once again reunite into a powerful nation.’”
Dear brethren and co-workers, the great God whom we serve is very much alive! He is intervening in human affairs to bring about the many other specific prophecies which God’s Church alone understands!
But God is giving us, now, a few more years to finish this Work of warning the American and British-descended peoples of exactly what is about to happen to them, leading up to and climaxing in the Great Tribulation which Jesus Christ predicted (Matt. 24:21-22). As the preparatory stages of these final events clearly get underway, I am now more excited than I have been in my entire 57 years in God’s Work. As they say, “The handwriting is on the wall.” As I wrote earlier, “An entire panorama of prophetic events is beginning to occur!” It is indeed a blessing from God to be able to genuinely understand what is happening on the world scene, to know the reason why, and to know the outcome. All of you who are truly “co-workers with Christ” can look forward to the blessing and future divine protection of God if you sincerely continue to “seek” the Truth and surrender your life to the God of the Bible.
We need not fear or lose sleep or worry unduly, as these prophesied events unfold all around us. If our “hearts” are truly in the very special Work which the living God is now performing through His servants, He will watch over and take care of us in a thousand different ways. Our Savior tells us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).
This Work of the living Jesus Christ is now moving ahead faster than ever. Our Internet sites are being vastly improved and having a great deal more impact. The number of television stations we are on is constantly increasing. The beginnings of the Living University are already taking place and classes are now being taped. Many other developments are underway in building a stronger foundation for this Work of Christ to truly explode in power when God’s time is ready!
But there is much to be done before the forces of darkness shut down the Work of the true Church and we have to “flee” to a Place of Safety (Rev. 12:6-17). May God help each of us to be stirred from spiritual lethargy and go “all out” to do our part in preparing for the very real Government of God which will soon be set up on this earth. If we can understand, and are willing to zealously respond to the wonderful challenge that God has put before us, to literally be working hand in hand as “co-workers with Christ” in preparing for this mighty world government—God’s Kingdom—our reward will be awesome!
Speaking of this very “time of the end,” the prophet Daniel was inspired to tell us, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Dan. 12:3).
With Christian love,
Roderick C. Meredith