Articles for the Benefit of Members and Ex-Members of the WCG

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30
Was Herbert W Armstrong Guided By God?

Many people, who have been members of the Worldwide Church of God, ask this question when they learn that their former leader, Herbert Armstrong, was not all he was made out to be.

This is an oft-asked question. It is understandable. After you have put implicit trust in a man, after you have learned truth from God through him, and have looked up to him as a vehicle of God's revelation, when you find out that his private life was not godly, you naturally wonder. For a while you are disorientated. Your faith is shattered, or seriously challenged.

Was Herbert W Armstrong used by God? How come he fell into serious sin? Why would God allow that? And while he was in such a state, was God working through him?

If he were a man of God, he would not have committed incest with his daughter. But the facts reveal that he DID have an incestuous relationship spanning several years, perhaps as much as a decade! He did not repent of this gross sin. In fact, he hid it from others. He covered it up rather than confess it to God and turn away from it. (For the truth on this subject, write for the article The Corrupt Leaders of the WCG, available for £2.00 from Midnight Ministries.)

If he had repented of this sin, he would not have been afraid of the truth coming out later. Certainly it would have been highly embarrassing, but he would not have been so furtive in his attempts to conceal the matter, and paranoid about people knowing his sordid past. He could have weathered such storms.

Since there is substance behind the allegations of HWA's sexual abuse during the 1930's, did God use Him? Does God use people like that, who are spiritually corrupt, to do His Work? WOULD God have used such an unclean vessel? DID God use HWA?

These are the questions many are now asking. And if God did use him, how much can we trust what he said? How reliable is the "truth" many learned through this man?

I will answer these questions here.

Unclean Vessels!

Firstly, we must realise that the only vessels God has to use are all unclean! There are no different degrees of sinfulness that we should concern ourselves with as humans. To God, whatever the sin, it is unacceptable, even abhorrent! We must all repent.

To compare ourselves with one another and think that one person might be better than another is a futile exercise. It misses the point of recognising our own sinfulness.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23, NIV).

That is not to minimise anyone's sin, but to put the matter into proper context. All God has to work with is sinful humanity! He has chosen to work through people. And since that is all He has got to work through, He makes the best of a bad situation.

Of course, once we come to recognise sin, as the Holy Spirit convicts our conscience, we realise sin is evil and we make a conscious decision to turn from sin. We take every step NOT to sin! We take God's nature on board, and God's nature hates sin!

That is the result of God's call upon our lives and our correct response to it.

"Yes, I know that," you may say, "but it doesn't answer whether God still works with those who have not yet turned from sin."

OK. Let me ask you some questions.

Did Jesus work with Judas? He betrayed Jesus in the end, but while Judas was with Jesus, was he supportive of Jesus' work?

Yes. He even went out as an evangelist and preached the gospel, and, with the authority Jesus gave him, may have even healed the sick and cast out demons! (Luke 9:1,2;10; Jn 10:5-8; Mark 6:7-13.) Mark says:

They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them (Mark 6:12,13, NIV).

Judas was most probably used in exactly the same way that God used all the other eleven disciples - to preach the gospel, to heal the sick and to cast out demons. There is no evidence to suggest that God made any distinction between him and the others.

We know with hindsight that there WAS a very important difference between Judas and the other eleven. But at that time, such a difference was not apparent. Only Jesus knew because God had given Him spiritual discernment to perceive Judas' nature and to know the future. Jesus was a prophet: the greatest one to perform such a function.

Why did God use Judas to do His Work when He knew that Judas was a traitor? We don't know all the reasons, but we know one important one - he was to fulfill scripture. He was fore-ordained to betray Christ. He was one vehicle God used to work out His plan.

So was Herbert Armstrong. He was one vehicle God used to enact His plan. It doesn't mean he was a man of God. Only a person's spiritual fruits (Matt 7:15,20; 1 Cor 6:9,10) give an indication of whom he serves - whether self or God.

Fruits Indicate Godliness

The spiritual fruits of a person's life are the barometer of their spiritual standing with God. A man who likes to commit incest, or who has other unbridled lusts, is not being led by the Spirit (Gal 5:22-25).

Remember, a person is called by God. They are offered salvation. They can taste of the good things of the Spirit of God, but they have to choose whether they really want what God is offering, or whether they are merely going to settle for the things of the flesh, the temporary 'pleasures' of this life. Based upon their response, they are either 'chosen' or rejected.

...many are called but few are chosen (Matt 22:14, NKJV).

You are either chosen to inherit eternal life - if you demonstrate to God that you want to be rid of sin and accept His Spirit - or you are rejected. Jesus explained this with several parables, such as the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt 25). It is up to you. You have to choose. God forces no one.

If your response is positive - if you desire the fruit of His Spirit and shun the sinful desires of 'the flesh' - He chooses you for eternal life, and depending upon the depth or 'fire' of your response, He rewards you in the end (Rev 22:12). Thus, you are called, chosen and faithful (Rev 17:14).

Some will say, "Well, HWA was faithful! He was faithful to preach the gospel and to lead the church, and to preach against sin."

Yes, and so was Judas. But the fruits of the lives of both these men show that they compromised somewhere down the line. The compromise was in a spiritual area, something you cannot naturally perceive. It takes the gift of discerning of spirits to see true spiritual reality, and that gift of discerning of spirits is what it says - a GIFT. It comes through the exercise of God's Spirit. It is a separate gift. You can have God's Spirit, but not have the gift of discerning of spirits, just as you can have bread without butter.

The fruits we are talking about are SPIRITUAL fruits, not mere physical accomplishments. HWA established a fairly large church, three Bible colleges, a multi-million-dollar corporation. He published a magazine to preach the truth (as he understood it), which topped about 7 million circulation (The Plain Truth). Later he produced two more (The Good News and Tomorrow's World) as well as many books and booklets. He started a radio programme, which later expanded onto TV. He founded the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation. He gave big sums of money to charity. He became well-known in international circles. He was invited to meet world leaders. He had fame and fortune. And he died with his reputation in tact in the eyes of men. He was highly acclaimed.

But all that was 'in the flesh'. Those are physical results, not spiritual fruits. They are to be seen in the lives of other 'great men', but who were men of the world - men of accomplishment, who worked hard, and who wanted to make something of their lives. But you don't work your way into the Kingdom of God. You are accepted in by grace - as a little child much in need of God's mercy, not as a proud conquering hero.

Compare HWA's life with that of John the Baptist whom Christ acclaimed as the greatest at that time.

John lived in the desert, shunned the niceties of life, offended the rulers and those in power by his tactless preaching, and finally lost his head for his vehemence against sin. In his last days, he was imprisoned; wondering whether Jesus was the One to come, because the physical circumstances of his existence were so trying. He was so humble that he would not deign to loose the latchet of Jesus' sandal!

If you have spiritual perception, you will see that HWA did not have humility. He was proud -- a self-made man who worshipped his 'creator'.

He did not love the Spirit of God. The fruits of his life testify against him. I do not judge him. God's Word does that. I hope you understand that in assessing his life I am not desiring to condemn him. Condemnation does not come from my heart against him, but from God's Word. I am merely calling a spade a spade.

Being Used by God

But, even though the spiritual fruits of HWA's life were not those of the Holy Spirit (they were merely humanly produced fruits), God used him. People can be used by God to preach the gospel if:

• God calls them.
• They make themselves available, i.e., respond.
• They are hard workers, and
• They accept the Word of God.

They may only accept God's Word superficially on an intellectual level. There are levels of acceptance and degrees of spirituality. To go on and be chosen, they need to:

• Be willing to battle demonic powers.
• Be willing to forsake all.
• Be humble, and develop God's nature.

There are many preachers who have responded to God's call. Some are true and faithful. Some are charlatans. That doesn't mean all they preach is wrong. Some aspects can be right. But what they preach will be a mixture of truth and error. All are being drawn out of the darkness of this world into the full light of God.

HWA was being used by God up to a point. He did not accept the full light of the truth from Jesus. He only accepted those parts he could come to terms with with his own intellect. When it came to the deeper things of the Spirit, he failed to grasp them and he mocked others who did.

Not all he preached was truth. But certainly God used him to promulgate the truths of Sabbath and holy day observance in a world of Christendom where such understandings were well-nigh absent.

However, only those who are led by the Spirit of God are His sons (Rom 8:14). You know well Jesus' words that only those who do God's will shall be in the kingdom (Matt 7:21-23). Jesus will even reject some who prophesy in His name, and drive out demons. HWA never reached that spiritual level, yet even some of those who minister in God's power will be cast aside!

What is most important is the heart response of repentance in turning from sin.

Malcolm B Heap, February 1998