Dear Brethren and Friends,
The various Sabbath-keeping Church of God groups owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Herbert W. Armstrong. Standing virtually alone at first—enduring persecution and physical and financial hardships for many years—they worked together as a team to restore many truths to the Church and to revive the Work of God. A real awareness of the true Creator God, of the importance of the Ten Commandments and an entire obedient way of life, and of the Sabbath and Holy Days as they picture the great plan God is working out among men—all of these truths and many more were shared with millions of people all over the globe.
Mr. Armstrong was used mightily by God as a modern “Apostle of faith.” And for those who were willing to repent and to grow, he energized and inspired tens of thousands in the Body of Christ to make a real effort to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the whole world. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent getting out Christ’s message to millions of people of every race, religion and background.
In the early days, most brethren called Mr. Armstrong “Brother Armstrong,” or they would address Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong as “Herbert and Loma.” A closeness and friendship prevailed that partly faded out later on. As the Work grew, a sense of adulation crept into people’s attitudes toward Mr. Armstrong. Over time, in the eyes of many, Mr. Armstrong and his son Mr. Garner Ted Armstrong became “superstars.” Slowly, great pride began to build among the membership that since we had the Truth of God—and especially the “sign” of the Sabbath—we were God’s “special people.” Many older men told me, in effect: “Mr. Meredith, since I keep the Sabbath and follow Mr. Armstrong I know I will be in the Kingdom!”
Yet, instead of being thankful and being humble about being called to the Truth, some of these people were smoking, drinking heavily, slapping their wives around and were generally arrogant and even somewhat worldly in a number of ways. Certainly, with this kind of hardheaded arrogance, their “Sabbath-keeping” was not going to save them!
Also, the “setting of dates” began to creep in. Mr. Armstrong and a few of the older ministers began to set specific dates for the end of the Work, for Christ’s coming and for a series of punishments to begin on our nations. Of course, that was unwise, as we learned when those dates turned out to be wrong! Certainly, that weakness is understandable since even the Apostle Paul apparently expected Christ to come in his lifetime as you read in 1 Thessalonians 4 and elsewhere. Even so, many of us in the Church began to think of ourselves too much as God’s “pet” people, took liberties we should not have done in setting dates, and looked down in a wrong way on “worldly” people. We did not retain the sense of deep humility and forgiveness we had experienced at baptism! Again, the idea that the Armstrongs were “superstars” even in God’s sight caused a sense of arrogance among many in the membership. Sensing this, Mr. Armstrong’s elder son, Mr. Richard David Armstrong, wrote a powerful article that was published in the Good News magazine in August 1958. Even today, this article should be helpful to many of our older members—and instructive to newer members who never knew Mr. Armstrong or Dick personally. Here are the beginning paragraphs of that most helpful article:
Do you know what Church you belong to? When your friends ask you, “What is your church? What denomination do you belong to?”—what is your answer? Do you tell them you are an “Armstrongite?”—or a member of the “Armstrong Movement”—the man that preaches over the radio on the World Tomorrow program?
Just what do you tell them?
First, let’s look at the meaning of the word “church.”
As it was originally used, the word “church” meant a group of people, no more, no less. It did not mean a holy group or a Christian group—merely a group of people. That is the meaning of the original Greek word, ekklesia.
If you call yourself solely “a follower of Herbert W. Armstrong” or any other man, then you are not a follower of Christ—hence not a Christian! The word Christian implies one who is a follower of Jesus Christ, who patterns his life after the life Christ led, who believes His teachings and follows His precepts.
As popularly applied, the word “church” is taken to mean a group of people bound together by a common creed or religious belief. There are many different churches of this world, each with its own name, each with the name of the particular person, creed or custom it follows. What, then, is our creed and whom do we follow? Whose group are we and, to whom do we belong?…
Notice 1 Corinthians 1:12–13 where Paul says, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Herbert W. Armstrong crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Armstrong?
We are not to follow man, but we must follow Christ even as He followed the Father.
The true and correct name for the church (group of people) that is God’s, that belongs to him—keeps his commands—is “The Church of God.” Its members pattern their lives after His Son who lived perfectly. It is God’s group, or God’s Church! This name implies that we have given ourselves to God—recognize Him as the supreme authority on this earth at the present time and have come to be able to be chastised by him, to accept correction and reproof where we are wrong and follow God’s true way!
As Dick Armstrong realized when he wrote the above words, most people have a difficult time believing in an “invisible” God. They want to follow a man whom they can see or an idol that they can see—something physical. That is why in the churches of this world there are so many idols of various so-called “saints” and luminaries and even so-called “pictures” of God and Christ—which are frankly forbidden by the Second Commandment. The natural tendency is for people to follow a man whom they can see—not Christ. So Dick Armstrong warned them about this—as I warn you about this even now. I do not want you “following Rod Meredith” or “following Herbert Armstrong” or following any man as such. You can and should follow us as we follow Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). But each true Christian must be careful not to adulate or worship a man.
As Dick Armstrong began his article in 1 Corinthians 1, I will refer to that passage. Notice that Paul was writing “‘to the Church of God’ which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (v. 2). As most of you brethren know, the official name for the true Church is definitely the “Church of God.” It is mentioned 12 times in the New Testament!
Paul writes: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (v. 10). Notice that Paul indicates that there should be no divisions among true Christians. Ideally, we should all be in one “corporate body”—as was the case in the New Testament Church. And we should have the “same mind” in respect to all major doctrines and practices.
Paul continues: “Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ” (v. 12). Each one of us, dear brethren, must have a deep and growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master. We cannot—we dare not—just think that because we have the “Truth” or “keep the Sabbath” that we will be automatically saved. We must constantly and humbly recognize, rather, that we will in no way enter the Kingdom of God unless we have Christ living within us!
We must constantly remind ourselves of Jesus’ powerful question: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). And we should also apply this to following Mr. Armstrong, or me, or any true leader in the Church. For you are not truly “following” Mr. Armstrong in the right way by “adulating him.” And you are certainly not following him, or me, if you do not follow what we teach from God’s Word! Many brethren—and even certain Church of God fellowships—claim to follow Mr. Armstrong, yet follow an unbiblically different form of government and reject a number of important teachings which he promulgated throughout his lifetime! For the important thing was not the “man,” but his message. And, except for several mistakes regarding “date-setting” and a few other minor points, the message Mr. Armstrong preached was overwhelmingly correct!
Yet, as I have indicated, even though we should follow the true message, we should not adulate or worship the man in doing so. Many instances remind me that Mr. Armstrong did not want this kind of adulation. One of them was the 25th anniversary celebration of the World Tomorrow radio program, which was held in the beautiful Rosewood Room of Ambassador Hall on the Pasadena campus of Ambassador College in 1959. I was there. Actually, Mr. Armstrong did not plan this occasion. It was planned by others in his honor and was in fact a “surprise” banquet.
After a number of flowery comments from some of our leaders, our station representative and even civic officials, Mr. Armstrong began to lower his head and clear his throat. Having known him well for years, I knew what was coming! He then got up and, at first, graciously thanked those who were trying to honor him. But then he said powerfully: “Though I am grateful for your kind remarks, I want all of you to realize that Herbert W. Armstrong has built nothing! Christ has had to beat me down and chasten me again and again! He has only used me as a weak, human servant whom He has had to work with patiently and correct many times. So don’t say that Herbert Armstrong has done all these things!”
The audience became very quiet and contemplative. But most, who were in the Church, realized that Mr. Armstrong really meant it! He did not want people looking on him too highly, as though he had done all these things as a “superstar!” This and other instances helped me realize that although Mr. Armstrong was human—and at times did entertain praise and encouragement too much—in his heart he knew that he was the bondslave of Jesus Christ just like the Apostle Paul! He knew that he could do nothing apart from Christ! And that was a good example for all of us.
Again, Mr. Armstrong taught—as do those of us in the Living Church of God who carry on in the same tradition—an entire way of life based on all ten of the Ten Commandments! The Sabbath is certainly the “sign” of the true Creator God, but the commandments against murder, adultery and dishonoring your parents and others are all still binding and still very important as the basic way of life for all Christians. Remember what the Apostle James was inspired to write in James 2:10–12: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.”
Dear brethren, we must always remember that as Christians, we are to reflect Jesus Christ in everything we think, say and do! Frankly, one of our chief “mottos” ought to be Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (KJV). Christ will live within us—through the Holy Spirit—the same kind of loving, serving and obedient life He did live more than 1,900 years ago while in the human flesh (Hebrews 13:8). Please study the “fruit of the Holy Spirit” described in Galatians 5:22–23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” These are the fruits of Christ’s spirit—of Jesus Christ living His life within us!
Do you, personally, reflect love and joy and peace in your daily interaction with others? Are you constantly aware that you are to reflect Jesus Christ every day that you live? Are you studying the Bible and “feeding” on Christ (John 6:57) so that you can reflect Him more and more? Are you crying out to God in fervent prayer for the faith and the self-control you need to truly be an “overcomer?”
Again, just “following” Mr. Armstrong, or me, or anybody else will never get you into God’s Kingdom unless Christ is living within you! That is the “key.” I cannot emphasize that too much!
Also, in addition to believing the full Truth, keeping the Ten Commandments and honoring God’s true Sabbath, there is yet another “sign” which all true Christians should exemplify. On that last night before He laid down His life for all of us, Christ enunciated this special sign when He said: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35).
This command was “new” in the sense that in His own life Christ exemplified how to carry out God’s instructions to love our neighbors. Jesus’ total out-flowing concern for others—His constant spirit of service, mercy and compassion and His wonderful example—shows us how to be genuine Christians more than could any one “command.” That is why we must constantly study God’s Word and “feed” on Christ. That is why—in constant communion with Christ and the Father—we must “walk with Christ.”
And all of the above shows that we must go far beyond being a kind of “letter of the law” Armstrongite, or Meredithite. We must genuinely have Christ living within us and so reflect His character, His obedience and His love.
