The Present Church and the Future Church

 This study is incomplete and needs to be reorganized and revised. This is planned for 2012 

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The purpose of this study is to show

  1. The Seventh-day Adventist Church grew out of the Millerite movement of the late mid-1800’s

  2. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the Laodicean Church of Revelation 3 (Laodicean-declaring judgment – the Sanctuary system)

  3. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a church of both wheat and tares

  4. The Seventh-day Adventists Church with tares in it’s midst cannot finish the work of God on this earth in it’s present condition with tares in it’s midst.

  5. The reason the Seventh-day Adventist Church cannot finish the work in it’s present condition with tares in it’s midst (Satan’s charge that no one can have a perfect character and that all that have sinned are his. He does not accept God’s mercy since he was rejected because he would not return to God when there was mercy granted to him before his final fall from the Grace of God.)

  6. The Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide is to produce the group of people who will give the final message of Revelation 18:2 when Babylon falls the 2nd and final time.

  7. What the final group of people will be like who give the message of Revelation 18:2

  8. The message and work of the final group – the Future Church.

  9. Things relating to the final movement of Revelation 18:2 

  10. The results of the message and the work of the final group - the Future and Final Church.

 1 - 6

  The Present Church  – The Seventh-day Adventist Church – from 1863 to

 7 - 10

  The Future Church– ? to Close of Probation for Babylon

 

This study is not intended to be totally comprehensive or all-inclusive of this study as shown in the title. It is meant as a guide to understanding the present church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and what is future for the final movement as indicated in Revelation 18:2, and expanded on in the writings of Ellen White. As the Seventh-day Adventist Church sprung from the Millerite movement of the 1830’s to the mid 1840’s, the Final movement of wheat only will spring from wheat-tare mixed Seventh-day Adventist Church.

 

Topics

History

The Sanctuary System

The Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Old Landmarks

The Future

Source Material

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The Study

 

And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Daniel 8:14

* The Expected Return of Jesus on October 22, 1844

 

The Seventh-day Adventist Church grew out of the Millerite movement of the late mid-1800’s in which William Miller predicted that Jesus would come to "cleanse the earth". His last prediction was for Jesus to come on October 22, 1844. He thought the earth was the sanctuary of Daniel 8:14. This resulted in a prediction gone wrong. Jesus did not come on the expected day. The majority of those awaiting Jesus return left the movement. A few did not give up and continued to try to understand what was right in the movement and what went wrong.

The morning of October 23, 1844, three men were walking across a cornfield, when one of the men, Hiram Edson had an experience that explained what had really happened the day before.

"We started, and while passing through a large field I was stopped about midway of the field. Heaven seemed opened to my view, and I saw distinctly and clearly that instead of our High Priest coming out of the Most Holy of the heavenly sanctuary to come to this earth on the tenth day of the seventh month, at the end of the 2300 days [calculated to be October 22, 1844], He for the first time entered on that day the second apartment of that sanctuary; and that He had a work to perform in the Most Holy before coming to the earth."

F. D. Nichol. The Midnight Cry. p. 458.

They went back to studying more on this subject, and came to the conclusion that Jesus was now in the Most Holy Place, not coming out of it as they had formerly believed.

 

Daniel 8:14 now took on new meaning. While the Old Testament sanctuary had to do with earthly things, the sanctuary of Daniel 8:14 had to do with the Heavenly Sanctuary. Jesus was entering into the last phase of His ministry in Heaven for the salvation of souls.

 

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* William Miller

 

Let’s go back for a moment to William Miller. He was raised a Baptist, but later left it to become a Deist. A Deist believes that a supreme being created the universe, and that this can be determined by reason and observation without a need for faith or organized religion. However, William Miller, during the time he was a Deist, was also attending the Baptist church. One Sunday morning while reading the sermon during the pastor’s absence, he came to the realization of a personal God in which faith was a necessary part the spiritual life. He discontinued his belief as a Deist, but some of his Deist friends challenged him on his new belief. This started William Miller on a study of the Bible beginning in Genesis 1:1. He read and studied each verse until he felt he understood its meaning. As a result of his studies, he became convince that the 2nd Coming of Christ was in Bible Prophecy.

 

His studies led him to the Bible verse Daniel 8:14 quoted at the top of this study. He eventually came to the point of believing that the end of the 2,300 days (1 day = 1 year in prophecy, Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6) was to come somewhere between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. He was not into setting a date for the 2nd coming, but some of his followers wanted more of a time frame for the expected return of Christ. He is quoted in the book by Everett N. Dick, William Miller and the Advent Crisis, Berrien Springs: Andrews University Press, 1994, 96–97.

 

"My principles in brief, are, that Jesus Christ will come again to this earth, cleanse, purify, and take possession of the same, with all the saints, sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844."

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* Ellen White

 

Now, let’s turn to Ellen White for a moment. Ellen White became a believer in the William Miller movement along with her parents. She began having visions at the age of 17.

 

Her first vision was in 1844 in which she saw a group of people, the "Advent people" traveling along an upward path towards heaven. Behind them was a bright light which she was told by the angel was the midnight cry. She continued to have visions and dreams throughout her life.

 

She had much counsel on a variety of subjects for God’s people. Some have, over the decades, accepted her counsel as from God; others have rejected her counsel as not from God.

 

She was called as a "messenger" to "the remnant" people. She had many visions as well as some dreams.

 

Her education came to an abrupt end when she was in the 3rd grade. A fellow student threw a rock and hit her head causing her to go into a coma for 3 weeks. She was never able to return to formal schooling after that accident.

 

Over the years it has been shown that some of her writings have been found out to be prophetically true. One such is that "Tobacco is a slow, insidious poison." She also states something that we have found out scientifically true today.

 

"It is a disgusting habit, defiling to the user, and very annoying to others. We rarely pass through a crowd but men will puff their poisoned breath in our faces. It is unpleasant, if not dangerous, to remain in a railway car or in a room where the atmosphere is impregnated with the fumes of liquor and tobacco. Is it honest thus to contaminate the air which others must breathe?" Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, page 33, paragraph 2 (1890)

 

Isn’t it true that in recent years studies have shown that 2nd hand smoke affects those around them adversely? For this reason, smoking is now is prohibited on airlines, and in certain public places. It is interesting that at the time she made these statements smoking was not considered anything bad on the health of people.

 

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* The Seventh-day Adventist Church - Formation and the Name

 

The believers eventually organized as a church in 1863 giving themselves the name Seventh-day Adventists. This name was to identify them as believers in the seventh-day Sabbath as the Sabbath of God their Creator, just as the 4th commandment says in Exodus 20;8-11.

8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

They also believed in the 2nd advent of Jesus Christ as the Scriptures foretold in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.

15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

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* The Doctrine of the Heavenly Sanctuary and the Seventh-day Adventist message  

        
            (See also http://jesuschristinhissanctuary.net/brief_overview_of_the_sanctuary.htm)

 

The church has continued on as a church body since that time 148 years as of the latter half of 2011. The Day of Atonement has continued on for 167 years as of October 22, 2011.

  • What is this Day of Atonement?

Let’s get a brief view of what the sanctuary is about, and then we can have a better idea of what the Day of Atonement is about.

 

There are 3 sections to the sanctuary, 1- The Courtyard, 2- Holy Place, 3- Most Holy Place.

  • In the Courtyard

During each day of the year the priests would offer a lamb on the Altar of Sacrifice in the morning and afternoon for the sins of the congregation. There were also individual sacrifices for a particular person who would bring a lamb for a sacrifice.

  • In the Holy Place

The blood of the animal was carried into the Holy Place by the High Priest and offered on the Altar of Incense for the forgiveness of sins.

  • In the Most Holy Place

On the Day of Atonement, (1) the Daily services continued. (2) The High Priest would officiate in the Most Holy Place performing the "end of the year" service. Near the end of the day he would cast lots on 2 goats. One goat was "the Lord’s goat", the other was the scape goat. The "Lord’s goat" would be sacrificed. The scapegoat would have the sins of all the people who had all their sins forgiven for the year placed on the head of the scapegoat. He would be lead into the wilderness, never to ever enter the camp of Israel again.

 

The purpose of the Day of Atonement was to rid the camp of Israel of all the sins of Israel that had collected in the sanctuary during the year, and even on the Day of Atonement. Those who had confessed all their sins and who had all their sins forgiven stayed in the camp while their forgiven sins were placed on the head of the scapegoat and the scapegoat was led out of the camp permanently. Those who would not seek forgiveness would also be sent out of the camp because their sins were forever with them. Sins had to be eradicated from the camp of Israel on the Day of Atonement.

 

During the Day of Atonement the Israelites were told to afflict their souls. Leviticus 23:26-29 records this.

26  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

27  Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

28  And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.

29  For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

Ellen White in commenting on this process of atonement in Israel says in Patriarchs and Prophets, chapter entitled The Tabernacle and Its Services, page 356, paragraph 4,

"…the whole congregation of Israel spent the day in solemn humiliation before God, with prayer, fasting, and deep searching of heart."

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* The Reality of the Sanctuary System – Jesus as the real Lamb of God and our Heavenly High Priest

 

The following chart will demonstrate the life and activity of Jesus Christ in each section of the Sanctuary.

Area and Ministry                                                                                   Time Periods

                     1)       Courtyard – Jesus LIFE, DEATH, RESURRECTION                                                  4 BC – 31 AD

2)       Holy Place – Jesus Christ’s ministry in the HEAVENLY Sanctuary                   31 AD – 1844

3)       Most Holy Place – Jesus Christ’s ministry in the HEAVENLY Sanctuary          1844 – Close of Probation

 

This chart can be found on on the following website: http://jesuschristinhissanctuary.net/keeping_the_sanctuary_simple.htm

 

We are now in the 3rd phase of Jesus Christ's ministry for the salvation of souls, and His 2nd and last phase of His ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

 

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* What are we supposed to be doing in this Great Day of Atonement?

 

This Day of Atonement has been going on for 167 years as of October 22, 2011.

 

In the Scripture quoted above they were to "afflict your souls". What does this mean?

 

Ellen White comments on this relating to us today in the book Great Controversy, pages 489 and 490.

"In the typical service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their souls by [1] repentance of sin and [2] humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people.

 

[So, for us today, it is the same]

 

In like manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by [1] sorrow for sin and [2] true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many professed Christians must be put away. … The work of preparation is an individual work."

That’s pretty well straight-forward for us today – "[1] sorrow for sin and [2] true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart."

 

Notice that IF we want our names retained in the book of life, we should afflice our souls by [1] sorrow for sin and [2] true repentance. In addition there must be deep, faithful searching of heart. Then there is a warning against something and that is a warning against the "light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many professed Christians".

 

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* What is the condition of God’s church prophesied by Jesus while He was here on this earth?

 

What did Jesus tell us in a parable? Let’s look at that parable. It’s found in Matthew 13:3-23. I’m going to just cover part of it.

3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

He describes the different traits of persons in the different type of wheat. Then He goes into another parable in verse 24. Here’s that parable in its entirety to and including verse 30.

Matthew 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Notice that in verse 30 He tells how to handle the tares. They are to be left in the church until the harvest.

 

So, then the church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has both wheat and tares, as do all religious bodies.

Wheat is the creation of God, and is good for food. It furnished the physical body with the elements of nutrition that can be used by the body for good health.

 

Tares are not good for food for the body. They look like the wheat, but they are not the same. They have no real value to the human being. They are an invention of the devil.

* What does Ellen White have to say about the spiritual condition of the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people. The Lord has not closed heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God. Pride, covetousness, and love of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or condemnation. Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us. And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing, and that peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders. The church has turned back from following Christ her leader, and is steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would have it thus.--Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 217. {ChS 38.4}

 

A State of Spiritual Weakness

 

Accumulated light has shone upon God's people, but many have neglected to follow the light, and for this reason they are in a state of great spiritual weakness. It is not for lack of knowledge that God's people are now perishing. They will not be condemned because they do not know the way, the truth, and the life. The truth that has reached their understanding, the light which has shone on the soul, but which has been neglected or refused, will condemn them. Those who never had the light to reject, will not be in condemnation. What more could have been done for God's vineyard than has been done? Light, precious light, shines upon God's people; but it will not save them, unless they consent to be saved by it, fully live up to it, and transmit it to others in darkness.--Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 123. {ChS 39.1}

(The previous quote was an appeal written at Healdsburg, California, May 30, 1882 to be read at the camp meetings.)

 

* Warnings to the Seventh-day Adventist Church

In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence: "Found wanting." By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged. . . . {LDE 59.3}

 

Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself. When she resists the evil and chooses the good, when she seeks God with all humility and reaches her high calling in Christ, standing on the platform of eternal truth and by faith laying hold upon the attainments prepared for her, she will be healed. She will appear in her God-given simplicity and purity, separate from earthly entanglements, showing that the truth has made her free indeed. Then her members will indeed be the chosen of God, His representatives.--8T 247-251 (April 21, 1903). {LDE 60.2}

 

Divisions will come in the church. Two parties will be developed. The wheat and tares grow up together for the harvest.--2SM 114 (1896)

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* What makes the Seventh-day Adventist Church the Laodicean Church of Revelation 3?

 

Laodicea means "declaring judgment". What other church on the face of this earth has an understanding of the Heavenly Sanctuary like the Seventh-day Adventist Church? NONE. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the only church on the face of this earth that is teaching that we are in the Great Day of Atonement, and that it is necessary to confess and repent our sins and turn from them to be ready for the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ. As it was in the Old Testament camp of Israel on the day of atonement when they were to "afflict" their souls before God to make sure their hearts were right with God, so it is for God’s people today to confess, repent, and turn from their sins so that their hearts will be right with God in preparation for the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ.

 

Thus, the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a people "declaring judgment" are the sole heirs of the title in Revelation 3:14 "the church of the Laodiceans". Anyone else declaring that they are the Laodicean Church of Revelation 3:14 must be declaring the judgment going on in the Most Holy Place in Heaven, or they are not truly the Laodicean Church of Revelation 3:14.

 

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* The Church

We should remember that the church, enfeebled and defective though it be, is the only object on earth on which Christ bestows His supreme regard. He is constantly watching it with solicitude, and is strengthening it by His Holy Spirit.--2SM 396 (1902). {LDE 58.3}

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* God Works With Those Who Are Faithful to Him

The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of life, He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it unto the Gentiles. God will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work. {LDE 59.1}

 

When a church proves unfaithful to the word of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important responsibilities. But, if these in turn do not purify their lives from every wrong action, if they do not establish pure and holy principles in all their borders, then the Lord will grievously afflict and humble them and, unless they repent, will remove them from their place and make them a reproach.--14MR 102 (1903). {LDE 59.2}

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* Judged by the Light Bestowed

In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence: "Found wanting." By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged. . . . {LDE 59.3}

 

Solemn admonitions of warning, manifest in the destruction of dearly cherished facilities [THE BATTLE CREEK SANITARIUM, THE LARGEST AND BEST-KNOWN ADVENTIST INSTITUTION IN THE WORLD, BURNED TO THE GROUND FEBRUARY 18, 1902. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY THE DESTRUCTION OF THE REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, ALSO BY FIRE, ON DECEMBER 30, 1902.] for service, say to us: "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works" (Rev. 2:5). . . . {LDE 60.1}

 

Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself. When she resists the evil and chooses the good, when she seeks God with all humility and reaches her high calling in Christ, standing on the platform of eternal truth and by faith laying hold upon the attainments prepared for her, she will be healed. She will appear in her God-given simplicity and purity, separate from earthly entanglements, showing that the truth has made her free indeed. Then her members will indeed be the chosen of God, His representatives.--8T 247-251 (April 21, 1903). {LDE 60.2}

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* The Church Militant Is Imperfect

The church militant is not the church triumphant, and earth is not heaven. The church is composed of erring, imperfect men and women, who are but learners in the school of Christ, to be trained, disciplined, educated, for this life and for the future, immortal life.--ST Jan. 4, 1883. {LDE 61.2}

 

Some people seem to think that upon entering the church they will have their expectations fulfilled, and meet only with those who are pure and perfect. They are zealous in their faith, and when they see faults in church members, they say, "We left the world in order to have no association with evil characters, but the evil is here also;" and they ask, as did the servants in the parable, "From whence then hath it tares?" But we need not be thus disappointed, for the Lord has not warranted us in coming to the conclusion that the church is perfect; and all our zeal will not be successful

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in making the church militant as pure as the church triumphant.--TM 47 (1893). {LDE 61.3}

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* The Judgments – 2 Sections, for the Dead, then for the Living

 

"The hour of his Judgment is come," points to the closing work of Christ's ministration [in the Heavenly Sanctuary] for the salvation of men. It heralds a truth which must be proclaimed until the Saviour's intercession shall cease, and he shall return to the earth to

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take his people to himself. The work of judgment which began in 1844, must continue until the cases of all are decided, both of the living and the dead; hence it will extend to the close of human probation. That men may be prepared to stand in the Judgment, the message commands them to "fear God, and give glory to him," "and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." The result of an acceptance of these messages is given in the words, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." In order to be prepared for the Judgment, it is necessary that men should keep the law of God. That law will be the standard of character in the Judgment. The apostle Paul declares, "As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; . . . in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." And he says that "the doers of the law shall be justified." [ROM. 2:12-16.] Faith is essential in order to the keeping of the law of God; for "without faith it is impossible to please him." And "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." [HEB. 11:6; ROM. 14:23.] {GC88 435.2}

 

"Here is the work of our Intercessor, [on] the great antitypical day of atonement, where [the] work of judgment is going on with the dead. How soon will it begin with the living, when every one of our cases will pass in review before God? And let it be understood by you that if you do not [do] the work that God has given you, you will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting. To us who have this hope and faith it is a dangerous thing to be putting off the day of God. Matt. 24:48. {2SAT 27.1}"

Notice that the question "How soon will it begin with the living, when every one of our cases will pass in review before God?" without an answer indicates that she did not have the answer, otherwise she would have given some sort of answer such as, "It will begin at--- or when---, etc.

When speaking to congregations, there is always before me the final judgment, which is to be held in the presence of the world, when the law of God's government is to be vindicated, His name glorified, His wisdom acknowledged and testified of as just to believers and unbelievers. This is not the judgment of one person, nor of a nation, but of a whole world of intelligent beings, of all orders, of all characters. The judgment takes place [1] first upon the dead, [2] then upon the living, [3 ???-sequence???] then the whole universe will be assembled to hear the sentence. I feel as if I were in the presence of the whole universe of heaven, bearing my message for time and for eternity.--Letter 109, 1898, p. 4. (To Brother Moon, November 29, 1898.) {8MR 244.2}

 

Investigative Judgment for the Living Soon to Begin--I address you who shall have this epistle brought before you, who are leaders, who may be termed princes among the people: "Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord" (Isaiah 52:11). Humble your souls before God. Jesus is in the sanctuary. We are in the great day of atonement, and if the investigative judgment has not already commenced for the living, it will soon begin and to how many are the words of the true witness applicable: "I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I shall come upon thee" (Revelation 3:1-3). {10MR 266.3}

 

The cases of all will be brought up in the judgment and if their sins are not confessed their names will then be blotted from the book of life, and their lot will be with the adulterers and the fornicators, and deceivers, and those who love and make a lie. "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment: and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before His angels" (verses 4,5).--Letter 51, 1886, p. 11. (To G. I. Butler, September 6, 1886.) {10MR 267.1}

 

I was pointed down to the time when the third angel's message was closing. The power of God had rested upon His people; they had accomplished their work and were prepared for the trying hour before them. They had received the latter rain, or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the living testimony had been revived. The last great warning had sounded everywhere, and it had stirred up and enraged the inhabitants of the earth who would not receive the message. {SR 402.1}

 

I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer's inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing the Ten Commandments, throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said. "It is done." And all the angelic host laid off their crowns as Jesus made the solemn declaration, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Rev. 22:11. {SR 402.2}

 

Every case had been decided for life or death. While Jesus had been ministering in the sanctuary, the judgment had been going on for [1] the righteous dead, and

 

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then for [2] the righteous living. Christ had received His kingdom, having made the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins. The subjects of the kingdom were made up. The marriage of the Lamb was consummated. And the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, was given to Jesus and the heirs of salvation, and Jesus was to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. {SR 402.3}

 

As Jesus moved out of the most holy place, I heard the tinkling of the bells upon His garment; and as He left, a cloud of darkness covered the inhabitants of the earth. There was then no mediator between guilty man and an offended God. While Jesus had been standing between God and guilty man, a restraint was upon the people; but when He stepped out from between man and the Father, the restraint was removed and Satan had entire control of the finally impenitent. {SR 403.1}

 

During the time of trouble, the position of God's people will be similar to the position of Joshua. They will not be ignorant of the work going on in heaven in their behalf.

They will realize that sin is recorded against their names, but they will also know that the sins of all who repent and lay hold of the merits of Christ will be canceled. Jesus says: "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." The judgment of the dead has been going on, and soon the judgment will begin upon the living, and every case will be decided. It will be known whose names are retained upon the book of life, and whose are blotted out. Every day the angels of God keep a record of the transactions of men, and these records stand open to the eyes of angels, and Christ, and God. Those who have manifested true repentance for sin, and by living faith in Christ are obedient to God's commandments, will have their names retained in the book of life, and they will be confessed before the Father and before the holy angels. Jesus will say, "They are mine; I have purchased them with my own blood." {ST, June 2, 1890 par. 4}

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* Seventh-day Adventists Distinctive Mission - Their job in this world

The Lord has made us the depositaries of His law; He has committed to us sacred and eternal truth, which is to be given to others in faithful warnings, reproofs, and encouragement.--5T 381 (1885). {LDE 45.1}

 

Seventh-day Adventists have been chosen by God as a peculiar people, separate from the world. By the great cleaver of truth He has cut them out from the quarry of the world and brought them into connection with Himself. He has made them His representatives and has called them to be ambassadors for Him in the last work of salvation. The greatest wealth of truth ever entrusted to mortals, the most solemn and fearful warnings ever sent by God to man, have been committed to them to be given to the world.--7T 138 (1902). {LDE 45.2}

 

In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the Word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import--the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.--9T 19 (1909). {LDE 45.3}

 

 

The people of God, His chosen kingdom, are not as a stagnant pool. They are as a river, constantly flowing, and as it advances becoming deeper and wider until its life-giving waters are spread over all the earth. Whenever the gospel of God is received, its grace heals the maladies that sin has produced. The Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in His beams. Light, strength, and refreshing come from the Lord, and the good fruit borne bears witness to a work of righteousness.--Manuscript 33, 1903.

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* God's People Keep His Commandments

God has a church on earth who are lifting up the downtrodden law, and presenting to the world the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. . . . {LDE 43.1}

 

There is but one church in the world who are at the present time standing in the breach and making up the hedge, building up the old waste places. . . . {LDE 43.2}

 

Let all be careful not to make an outcry against the only people who are fulfilling the description given of the remnant people, who keep the commandments of God and have faith in Jesus. . . . God has a distinct people, a church on earth, second to none, but superior to all in their facilities to teach the truth, to vindicate the law of God. . . . My brother, if you are teaching that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is Babylon, you are wrong.--TM 50, 58, 59 (1893). [THE BOOK OF REVELATION FOCUSES ON TWO SETS OF GOD'S PEOPLE--THE VISIBLE REMNANT (12:17) AND "MY PEOPLE" IN BABYLON (18:4). THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH THE FORMER, AND CHAPTER 14, "THE LOUD CRY," DEALS WITH THE LATTER.] {LDE 43.3}

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* Reasons Why the Seventh-day Adventist Church Was Organized

As our numbers increased it was evident that without some form of organization there would be great confusion, and the work would not be carried forward successfully. To provide for the support of the ministry, for carrying the work in new fields, for protecting both the churches and the ministry from unworthy members, for holding church property, for the publication of the truth through the press, and for many other objects, organization was indispensable. . . . {LDE 46.1}

 

Light was given by His Spirit that there must be order and thorough discipline in the church--that organization was essential. System and order are manifest in all the works of God throughout the universe. Order is the law of heaven, and it should be the law of God's people on the earth.--TM 26 (1902). {LDE 46.2}

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* Organization Will Always Be Essential

Unless the churches are so organized that they can carry out and enforce order, they have nothing to hope for in the future.--1T 270 (1862). {LDE 46.3}

 

Oh, how Satan would rejoice if he could succeed in his efforts to get in among this people and disorganize the work at a time when thorough organization is essential and will be the greatest power to keep out spurious uprisings and to refute claims not endorsed by the Word of God! We want to hold the lines evenly, that there shall be no breaking down of the system of organization and order that has been built up by wise, careful labor. License must not be given to disorderly elements that desire to control the work at this time. {LDE 47.1}

 

Some have advanced the thought that, as we near the close of time, every child of God will act independently of any religious organization. But I have been instructed by the Lord that in this work there is no such thing as every man's being independent. [FROM MANUSCRIPT READ BEFORE THE DELEGATES AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION, WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 30, 1909.]--9T 257, 258 (1909). {LDE 47.2}

 

As we near the final crisis, instead of feeling that there is less need of order and harmony of action, we should be more systematic than heretofore.--3SM 26 (1892). {LDE 47.3}

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* A New Denomination Not Needed

You will take passages in the Testimonies that speak of the close of probation, of the shaking among God's people, and you will talk of a coming out from this people of a purer, holier people that will arise. Now all this pleases the enemy. . . . Should many accept the views you advance, and talk and act upon them, we would see one of the greatest fanatical excitements that has ever been witnessed among Seventh-day Adventists. This is what Satan wants.--1SM 179 (1890). {LDE 51.1}

 

The Lord has not given you a message to call the Seventh-day Adventists Babylon, and to call the people of God to come out of her. All the reasons you may present cannot have weight with me on this subject, because the Lord has given me decided light that is opposed to such a message. . . . {LDE 51.2}

 

I know that the Lord loves His church. It is not to be disorganized or broken up into independent atoms. There is not the least consistency in this; there is not the least evidence that such a thing will be.--2SM 63, 68, 69 (1893). {LDE 51.3}

 

I tell you, my brethren, the Lord has an organized body through whom He will work. . . . When anyone is drawing apart from the organized body of God's commandment-keeping people, when he begins to weigh the church in his human scales and begins to pronounce judgment against them, then you may know that God is not leading him. He is on the wrong track.--3SM 17, 18 (1893). {LDE 51.4}

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* The Patience of God With His People

The church has failed, sadly failed, to meet the expectations of her Redeemer, and yet the Lord does not withdraw Himself from His people. He bears with them still, not because of any goodness found in them, but that His name may not be dishonored before the enemies of truth and righteousness, that the satanic agencies may not triumph in the destruction of God's people. He has borne long with their waywardness, unbelief and folly. With wonderful forbearance and compassion He has disciplined them. If they will heed His instruction He will cleanse away their perverse tendencies, saving them with an everlasting salvation and making them eternal monuments of the power of His grace.--ST Nov. 13, 1901. {LDE 58.2}

 

We should remember that the church, enfeebled and defective though it be, is the only object on earth on which Christ bestows His supreme regard. He is constantly watching it with solicitude, and is strengthening it by His Holy Spirit.--2SM 396 (1902). {LDE 58.3}

 

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* The Old Landmarks

     The passing of the time in 1844 was a period of great events, opening to our astonished eyes the cleansing of the sanctuary transpiring in heaven, and having decided relation to God's people upon the earth, [also] the first and second angels' messages and the third, unfurling the banner on which was inscribed, "The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." One of the landmarks under this message was [1] the temple of God, seen by His truth-loving people in heaven, and the ark containing the law of God. [2] The light of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment flashed its strong rays in the pathway of the transgressors of God's law. [3] The nonimmortality of the wicked is an old landmark. I can call to mind nothing more that can come under the head of the old landmarks.--CW 30, 31 (1889). {LDE 44.4}

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* The Seventh day Sabbath

In these last days it is our duty to ascertain the full meaning of the first, second, and third angels' messages. All our transactions should be in accordance with the Word of God. The first, second, and third angels' messages are all united, and are revealed in the 14th chapter of Revelation, from the sixth verse to the close. The whole gospel is to be proclaimed throughout the world. {13MR 68.1}

 

The advice given to students to the effect that it is essential for them to go to Ann Arbor in order to obtain a finished education, is a mistake. They will obtain an erroneous education, in which error and infidel sentiments will be mingled with truth. Many thus advised become unsusceptible to the truth, and a season spent at Ann Arbor will serve to mold their characters after a false standard. Is the soon return of Christ a reality to us? Let every student seek to reach the highest point of education and be fitted for an inheritance with the saints in light. If he is educated in such a way as to reach this, he will learn that which will continue through eternal ages. {13MR 68.2}

 

The banner of the third angel has inscribed upon it, "The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Our institutions have taken a name which sets forth the character of our faith, and of this name we are never to be ashamed. I have been shown that this name means much, and in adopting it we have followed the light given us from heaven. Let us hear what the Lord saith, [Ex. 31:12-13, 17, quoted].

 

-69- {13MR 68.3}

 

The Sabbath is God's memorial to His creative work, and it is a sign that is to be kept before the world. There is to be no compromise with those who are worshiping an idol sabbath. We are not to spend our time in controversy with those who know the truth, and upon whom the light of truth has been shining, when they turn away their ear from the truth to turn to fables. I was told that men will employ every policy to make less prominent the difference between the faith of Seventh-day Adventists and those who observe the first day of the week. In this controversy the whole world will be engaged, and the time is short. This is no time to haul down our colors. {13MR 69.1}

 

A company was presented before me under the name of Seventh-day Adventists, who were advising that the banner or sign which makes us a distinctive people should not be held out so strikingly; for they claimed it was not the best policy in securing success to our institutions. This distinctive banner is to be borne through the world to the close of probation. In describing the remnant people of God, John says, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" [Rev. 14:12]. This is the law and the gospel. The world and the churches are uniting in harmony in transgressing the law of God, in tearing away God's memorial, and in exalting a sabbath that bears the signature of the man of sin. But the Sabbath of the Lord thy God is to be a sign to show the difference between the obedient and the disobedient. I saw some reaching out their hands to remove the banner, and to obscure its significance. {13MR 69.2}

 

The land that has been abundantly blessed of God is fast filling up the cup of its iniquity. The figures on the side of iniquity are rapidly reaching the sum of corruption which was reached by the Amorites, and by the Jewish nation, once the elect people of God. In the days of Christ they made void the law of God, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, and this led them to reject the Son of God. When the people accept and exalt a spurious sabbath, and turn souls away from obedience and loyalty to God, they will reach the point that was reached by the people in the days of Christ. Oh, if the world could only know this perilous fact, and turn away from the course which they are pursuing! How short-sighted is the policy that is being brought in by the rulers in the land to restore to the man of sin his lost ascendancy! They are manifesting wonderful zeal in taking this spurious sabbath under the care and protection of their legislatures; but they know not what they are doing. They are placing upon a false sabbath divine honors, and when this is fully done, persecution will break forth upon those who observe the Sabbath that God gave in Eden as a memorial of His creative power. Then the commandment of men will be clothed with sacred garments, and will be pronounced holy. {13MR 69.3}

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* The 3rd Angels Message

 

What is the 3rd Angels Message?

 

The 3rd Angels Message is found in Revelation 14:9-12

 

Revelation 14

9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Here are some comments Ellen White makes about the 3rd Angel.

I then saw the third angel [Rev. 14:9-11]. Said my accompanying angel, "Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner. These things should engross the whole mind, the whole attention."--EW 118 (1854). {LDE 14.2}

 

Notice that the angel selects the wheat from (out of) the tares. Here we have a group of tares with wheat mixed in with the tares. At a given point in time, the angel goes to this group of wheat-tares mixture and takes the wheat from this group and sets the wheat in a place separate from this wheat-tare mixture. The wheat does not continue to be with the tares. At this point in time the tares are left by themselves, and the wheat is now by themselves. Both now lie in separate areas.

 

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* Revelation 14 and the Three Angels Messages

In these last days it is our duty to ascertain the full meaning of the first, second, and third angels' messages. All our transactions should be in accordance with the Word of God. The first, second, and third angels' messages are all united and are revealed in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation from the sixth verse to the close.--13MR 68 (1896). {LDE 68.1}

* Three Angels Messages pointing to Most Holy – Anchor to God’s People

Many who embraced the third message had not had an experience in the two former messages. Satan understood this, and his evil eye was upon them to overthrow them; but the third angel was pointing them to the most holy place, and those who had an experience in the past messages were pointing them the way to the heavenly sanctuary. Many saw the perfect chain of truth in the angels' messages and gladly received them in their order, and followed Jesus by faith into the heavenly sanctuary. These messages were represented to me as an anchor to the people of God. Those who understand and receive them will be kept from being swept away by the many delusions of Satan.--EW 256 (1858). {LDE 68.2}

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* The 3rd Angels Message Content

Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message, and I have answered, "It is the third angel's message in verity."--1SM 372 (1890). {LDE 199.4}

 

The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders [E.J.] Waggoner and [A. T.] Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. {LDE 200.1}

 

Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.--TM 91, 92 (1895). {LDE 200.2}

 

The message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God, which closes the work of the third angel.--6T 19 (1900). {LDE 200.3}

 

The last message of mercy to be given to the world is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them.--COL 415, 416 (1900). {LDE 200.4}

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* The Final Warning (from the Great Controversy, Chapter 38)

I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:1, 2, 4.

 

This scripture points forward to a time when the announcement of the fall of Babylon, as made by the second angel of Revelation 14 (verse 8), is to be repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message was first given, in the summer of 1844. A terrible condition of the religious world is here described. With every rejection of truth the minds of the people will become darker, their hearts more stubborn, until they are entrenched in an infidel hardihood. In defiance of the warnings which God has given, they will continue to trample upon one of the precepts of the Decalogue, until they are led to persecute those who hold it sacred. Christ is set at nought in the contempt placed upon His word and His people. As the teachings of spiritualism are accepted by the churches, the

 

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restraint imposed upon the carnal heart is removed, and the profession of religion will become a cloak to conceal the basest iniquity. A belief in spiritual manifestations opens the door to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, and thus the influence of evil angels will be felt in the churches.

 

Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared: "Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Revelation 18:5. She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of His judgments these faithful ones must be called out, that they partake not of her sins and "receive not of her plagues." Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from heaven, lightening the earth with his glory and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard: "Come out of her, My people." These announcements, uniting with the third angel's message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth.

 

Fearful is the issue to which the world is to be brought. The powers of earth, uniting to war against the commandments of God, will decree that "all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond" (Revelation 13:16), shall conform to the customs of the church by the observance of the false sabbath. All who refuse compliance will be visited with civil penalties, and it will finally be declared that they are deserving of death. On the other hand, the law of God enjoining the Creator's rest day demands obedience and threatens wrath against all who transgress its precepts.

 

With the issue thus clearly brought before him, whoever shall trample upon God's law to obey a human enactment receives the mark of the beast; he accepts the sign of allegiance to the power which he chooses to obey instead of God. The warning from heaven is: "If any man worship the beast

 

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and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation." Revelation 14:9, 10.

 

But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until [1] the truth has been brought home to his [a] mind and [b] conscience, and [2] has been rejected. There are many who have never had an opportunity to hear the special truths for this time. The obligation of the fourth commandment has never been set before them in its true light. He who reads every heart and tries every motive will leave none who desire a knowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to the issues of the controversy. The decree is not to be urged upon the people blindly. Everyone is to have sufficient light to make his decision intelligently.

 

The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God's law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God.

 

Heretofore those who presented the truths of the third angel's message have often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that religious intolerance would gain control in the United States, that church and state would unite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God, have been pronounced groundless and absurd. It has been confidently declared that this land could never become other than what it has been--the defender of religious freedom. But

 

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as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce an effect which it could not have had before.

In every generation God has sent His servants to rebuke sin, both in the world and in the church. But the people desire smooth things spoken to them, and the pure, unvarnished truth is not acceptable. Many reformers, in entering upon their work, determined to exercise great prudence in attacking the sins of the church and the nation. They hoped, by the example of a pure Christian life, to lead the people back to the doctrines of the Bible. But the Spirit of God came upon them as it came upon Elijah, moving him to rebuke the sins of a wicked king and an apostate people; they could not refrain from preaching the plain utterances of the Bible-- doctrines which they had been reluctant to present. They were impelled to zealously declare the truth and the danger which threatened souls. The words which the Lord gave them they uttered, fearless of consequences, and the people were compelled to hear the warning.

 

Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time comes for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. [From the Seventh-day Adventist Church] Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. The sins of Babylon will be laid open. [1] The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, [2] the inroads of spiritualism, [3] the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power--all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these. In amazement they

 

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hear the testimony that Babylon is the church, fallen because of her errors and sins, because of her rejection of the truth sent to her from heaven. As the people go to their former teachers with the eager inquiry, Are these things so? the ministers present fables, prophesy smooth things, to soothe their fears and quiet the awakened conscience. But since many refuse to be satisfied with the mere authority of men and demand a plain "Thus saith the Lord," the popular ministry, like the Pharisees of old, filled with anger as their authority is questioned, will denounce the message as of Satan and stir up the sin-loving multitudes to revile and persecute those who proclaim it.

 

As the controversy extends into new fields and the minds of the people are called to God's downtrodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending the message will only madden those who oppose it. The clergy will put forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light lest it should shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they will endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and, in this work, papists and Protestants unite. As the movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided, the law will be invoked against commandment keepers. They will be threatened with fines and imprisonment, and some will be offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages, as inducements to renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is: "Show us from the word of God our error"--the same plea that was made by Luther under similar circumstances. Those who are arraigned before the courts make a strong vindication of the truth, and some who hear them are led to take their stand to keep all the commandments of God. Thus light will be brought before thousands who otherwise would know nothing of these truths.

 

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Conscientious obedience to the word of God will be treated as rebellion. Blinded by Satan, the parent will exercise harshness and severity toward the believing child; the master or mistress will oppress the commandment-keeping servant. Affection will be alienated; children will be disinherited and driven from home. The words of Paul will be literally fulfilled: "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12. As the defenders of truth refuse to honor the Sunday-sabbath, some of them will be thrust into prison, some will be exiled, some will be treated as slaves. To human wisdom all this now seems impossible; but as the restraining Spirit of God shall be withdrawn from men, and they shall be under the control of Satan, who hates the divine precepts, there will be strange developments. The heart can be very cruel when God's fear and love are removed.

 

As the storm approaches, [like a wind blowing that which is not fastened down] a large class [of Seventh-day Adventists] who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By [1] uniting with the world and [2] partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to [1] misrepresent and [2] accuse them, and by [1] false reports and [2] insinuation [implication, inference] to stir up the rulers against them.

 

In this time of persecution the faith of the Lord's servants will be tried. They have faithfully given the warning, looking to God and to His word alone. God's Spirit, moving upon their hearts, has constrained them to speak. Stimulated

 

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with holy zeal, and with the divine impulse strong upon them, they entered upon the performance of their duties without coldly calculating the consequences of speaking to the people the word which the Lord had given them. They have not consulted their temporal interests, nor sought to preserve their reputation or their lives. Yet when the storm of opposition and reproach bursts upon them, some, overwhelmed with consternation, will be ready to exclaim: "Had we foreseen the consequences of our words, we would have held our peace." They are hedged in with difficulties. Satan assails them with fierce temptations. The work which they have undertaken seems far beyond their ability to accomplish. They are threatened with destruction. The enthusiasm which animated them is gone; yet they cannot turn back. Then, feeling their utter helplessness, they flee to the Mighty One for strength. They remember that the words which they have spoken were not theirs, but His who bade them give the warning. God put the truth into their hearts, and they could not forbear [refrain, hold back] to proclaim it.

 

The same trials have been experienced by men of God in ages past. Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Tyndale, Baxter, Wesley, urged that all doctrines be brought to the test of the Bible and declared that they would renounce everything which it condemned. Against these men persecution raged with relentless fury; yet they ceased not to declare the truth. Different periods in the history of the church have each been marked by the development of some special truth, adapted to the necessities of God's people at that time. Every new truth has made its way against hatred and opposition; those who were blessed with its light were tempted and tried. The Lord gives a special truth for the people in an emergency. Who dare refuse to publish it? He commands His servants to present the last invitation of mercy to the world. They cannot remain silent, except at the peril of their souls. Christ's ambassadors

 

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have nothing to do with consequences. They must perform their duty and leave results with God.

 

As the opposition rises to a fiercer height, the servants of God are again perplexed; for it seems to them that they have brought the crisis. But [1] conscience and [2] the word of God assure them that their course is right; and although the trials continue, they are strengthened to bear them. The contest grows closer and sharper, but their [1] faith and [2] courage rise with the emergency. Their testimony is: "We dare not tamper with [alter, corrupt, rig] God's word, dividing His holy law; calling one portion essential and another nonessential, to gain the favor of the world. The Lord whom we serve is able to deliver us. Christ has conquered the powers of earth; and shall we be afraid of a world already conquered?"

 

Persecution in its varied forms is the development of a principle which will exist as long as Satan exists and Christianity has vital power. No man can serve God without enlisting against himself the opposition of the hosts of darkness. Evil angels will assail him, alarmed that his influence is taking the prey from their hands. Evil men, rebuked by his example, will unite with them in seeking to separate him from God by alluring temptations. When these do not succeed, then a compelling power is employed to force the conscience.

 

But so long as Jesus remains man's intercessor in the sanctuary above, the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is felt by rulers and people. It still controls to some extent the laws of the land. Were it not for these laws, the condition of the world would be much worse than it now is. While many of our rulers are active agents of Satan, God also has His agents among the leading men of the nation. The enemy moves upon his servants to propose measures that would greatly impede the work of God; but statesmen who fear the Lord are influenced by holy angels to oppose such propositions with unanswerable arguments. Thus a few men will

 

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hold in check a powerful current of evil. The opposition of the enemies of truth will be restrained that the third angel's message may do its work. When the final warning shall be given, it will arrest the attention of these leading men through whom the Lord is now working, and some of them will accept it, and will stand with the people of God through the time of trouble.

 

The angel [Revelation 18:2] who unites in the proclamation of the third angel's message [Revelation 14:9-12] is to lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted power is here foretold. [1] The advent movement of 1840-44 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God; [2] the first angel's message was carried to every missionary station in the world, and in some countries there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century; but these are to be exceeded by the mighty movement under the last warning of the third angel.

 

The work will be similar to that of the Day of Pentecost. As the "former rain" was given, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the opening of the gospel, to cause the upspringing of the precious seed, so the "latter rain" will be given at its close for the ripening of the harvest. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3. "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain." Joel 2:23. "In the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts 2:17, 21.

 

The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the

 

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former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are "the times of refreshing" to which the apostle Peter looked forward when he said: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus." Acts 3:19, 20.

 

Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. [1] Miracles will be wrought, [2] the sick will be healed, and [3] signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works, with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand.

 

The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord's side.

 

[brackets – added comments or number organization – not part of the original quote by Ellen White]

Some comments on the above chapter.

  1. the 2nd angel’s message is to be repeated.

  2. What is different between the first time the 2nd angels message is given in the 1840’s and the 2nd time this message is given? It is "the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message was first given, in the summer of 1844.

  3. What are the "corruptions" "which have been entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon"?

  4. What is this "other angel" of Revelation 18:2 called by Sr. White? A movement. "Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from heaven…".

  5. Will all receive a clearness in their minds of this message? "But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until [1] the truth has been brought home to his [a] mind and [b] conscience, and [2] has been rejected."

  6. What is the main test in this message? "The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted."

  7. Will the 3rd message have its effect upon the hearer, and what will bring about this effect? "It has been confidently declared that this land could never become other than what it has been--the defender of religious freedom. But as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce an effect that it could not have had before. "

  8. Who are the ones giving this message?" As the time comes for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service…. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them"

  9. What is the power behind these individuals giving this message? "The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions."

  10. What do the people do who hear this message? "…the people go to their former teachers with the eager inquiry, Are these things so?"

  11. What is the response of the "former" teachers? "…the ministers present fables, prophesy smooth things, to soothe their fears and quiet the awakened conscience"

  12. What is the response of the people upon hearing their "former" teachers "defense" of what they are hearing of these "new truths"? "… many refuse to be satisfied with the mere authority of men and demand a plain "Thus saith the Lord,"

  13. Do their teacher admit that their own teachings are wrong? ","…the popular ministry, like the Pharisees of old, filled with anger as their authority is questioned, will denounce the message as of Satan and stir up the sin-loving multitudes to revile and persecute those who proclaim it."

  14. What do the "popular" church(es) do? "The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and, in this work, papists and Protestants unite."

  15. What happens to many within the membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? "As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message…abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition"

  16. What causes these people who have "professed faith in the third angel's message" (Seventh-day Adventists) to "abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition"? They "have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth".

  17. Why have these Seventh-day Adventist’s not been "sanctified through obedience to the truth"? "By [1] uniting with the world and [2] partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light"

  18. Who are some of these people who "abandon their position" with the people of God within the Seventh-day Adventist ranks? "Men of talent and pleasing address…".

  19. What do these "Men of talent and pleasing address" now do in their opposition of those who have been carrying God’s "last warning message" to the world? They "…employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren."

  20. How do these "Men of talent and pleasing address" "become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren"? They "[1] misrepresent and [2] accuse them, and by [1] false reports and [2] insinuation [implication, inference] to stir up the rulers against them."

The two armies will stand distinct and separate, and this distinction will be so marked that many who shall be convinced of truth will come on the side of God’s commandment-keeping people.—Manuscript 6, 1889. {CTr 329.5}

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* Unrolling of the Scroll

 

Here are some statements by Ellen White about the Unrolling of the Scroll

Decided efforts should be made to bring the message for this time prominently before the people. The third angel is to go forth with great power. Let none ignore this work, or treat it as of little importance. The truth is to be proclaimed to the world, that they may see the light. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 2}

 

This is our work. The light that we have upon the third angel's message is the true light. The mark of the beast is exactly what it has been proclaimed to be. Not all in regard to this matter is yet understood nor will it be understood until the unrolling of the scroll.--6T 17 (1900). {LDE 17.2}

 

The light we have received upon the third angel's message is the true light. The mark of the beast is exactly what it has been proclaimed to be. Not all in regard to this matter is yet understood, nor will it be understood until the unrolling of the scroll; but a most solemn work is to be accomplished in our world. The Lord's command to His servants is: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." Isaiah 58:1. {6T 17.1}

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* Many will be laid away to sleep before the fiery ordeal of the time of trouble

It is not always safe to ask for unconditional healing. . . . He knows whether or not those for whom petitions are offered would be able to endure the trial and test that would come upon them if they lived. He knows the end from the beginning. Many will be laid away to sleep before the fiery ordeal of the time of trouble shall come upon our world.--CH 375 (1897). {LDE 255.2}

The Lord has often instructed me that many little ones are to be laid away before the time of trouble. We shall see our children again. We shall meet them and know them in the heavenly courts.--2SM 259 (1899). {LDE 255.3}

The Lord "doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men." "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him; for he knoweth our frame: he remembereth that we are dust." He knows our heart, for he reads every secret of the soul. He knows whether or not those for whom petitions are offered would be able to endure the trial and test that would come upon them if they lived. He knows the end from the beginning. Many will be laid away to sleep in Jesus before the fiery ordeal of the time of trouble shall come upon our world. This is another reason why we should say after our earnest petition: "Nevertheless not my will, but thine, O Lord, be done." Such a petition will never be registered in heaven as a faithless prayer. {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 6}

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* The Character of the Entire Church in Relation to the Time Just Before the Change Over

 

* The Church May Appear About to Fall

We are to be ready and waiting for the orders of God. Nations will be stirred to their very center. Support will be withdrawn from those who proclaim God's only standard of righteousness, the only sure test of character. And all who will not bow to the decrees of the national councils and obey the national laws to exalt the sabbath instituted by the man of sin to the disregard of God's holy day, will feel, not the oppressive power of popery alone, but of the Protestant world, the image of the beast. {12MR 324.2}

 

Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths. We must be divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ. {12MR 324.3}

 

The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. All these, He says, "I have graven . . . upon the palms of my hands" [Isa. 49:16]. They are held in everlasting, imperishable remembrance. We want faith now, living faith. We want to have a living testimony that shall cut to the heart of the sinner. There is too much sermonizing and too little ministering. We want the holy unction. We need the spirit and fervor of the truth. Many of the ministers are half paralyzed by their own defects of character. They need the converting power of God. {12MR 325.1}

 

That which God required of Adam before his fall was perfect obedience to His law. God requires now what He required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness without a flaw, without shortcoming in His sight. God help us to render to Him all His law requires. We cannot do this without that faith that brings Christ's righteousness into daily practice. {12MR 325.2}

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* The Testimony of the True Witness

I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified. {EW 270.3}

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* The Sealing of God’s People

Before the work is closed up and the sealing of God's people is finished, we shall have the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Angels from heaven will be in our midst. … The present is the fitting up time for heaven, when we each must walk in full obedience to all the commandments of God. {19MR 36.3}

NOTE: The outpouring of the Sprit of God comes first. Then after that comes the sealing of God’s people and the closing up of the work. It says, "Before the work is closed up and the sealing of God's people is finished…" "we shall have the outpouring of the Spirit of God". She continues with who shall be in our midst. "Angels from heaven will be in our midst." What are we to do? "…we each must walk in full obedience to all the commandments of God."

"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose" [Isa. 35:1]. God's people will be out of the cities then. [Isa. 35:2-10, quoted.] {19MR 36.4}

 

Here the future restoration of the people of God is brought to view for our encouragement. Lay up these words in your heart . Accept Christ as your Saviour. Make Him your friend. Take the offered salvation, and place yourself wholly on the Lord's side. Every member of your family should now consecrate himself to the service of God. Do not disband, but draw together. Depend on Christ alone for your salvation. {19MR 36.5}

 

I saw Satan would work more powerfully now than ever he has before. He knows that his time is short and that the sealing of the saints will place them beyond his power; he will now work in every way that he can and will try his every insinuation to get the saints off from their guard and get them asleep on the present truth or doubting it, so as to prevent their being sealed with the seal of the living God.--Ms 7, 1850, pp. 2, 3. ("A Vision God Gave Me at Brother Harris', August 24, 1850.)

 

Angels are belting the world, refusing Satan his claims to supremacy, made because of the vast multitude of his adherents. We hear not the voices, we see not with the natural sight the work of these angels, but their hands are linked about the world, and with sleepless vigilance they are keeping the armies of Satan at bay till the sealing of God's people shall be accomplished. {HP 98.3}

 

Only those who, in their attitude before God, are filling the position of those who are repenting and confessing their sins in the great anti-typical day of atonement, will be recognized and marked as worthy of God's protection. The names of those who are steadfastly looking and waiting and watching for the appearing of their Saviour--more earnestly and wishfully than they who wait for the morning--will be numbered with those who are sealed. {TM 445.1}

 

 

Those that overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, will be the favored ones who shall receive the seal of the living God. Those whose hands are not clean, whose hearts are not pure, will not have the seal of the living God. Those who are planning sin and acting it will be passed by. Only those who, in their attitude before God, are filling the position of those who are repenting and confessing their sins in the great anti-typical day of atonement, will be recognized and marked as worthy of God's protection. The names of those who are steadfastly looking and waiting and watching for the appearing of their Saviour--more earnestly and wishfully than they who wait for the morning--will be numbered with those who are sealed. Those who, while having all the light of truth flashing upon their souls, should have works corresponding to their avowed faith, but are allured by sin, setting up idols in their hearts, corrupting their souls before God, and polluting those who unite with them in sin, will have their names blotted out of the book of life, and be left in midnight darkness, having no oil in their vessels with their lamps. "Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings." {TM 445.1}

 

This sealing of the servants of God is the same that was shown to Ezekiel in vision. John also had been a witness of this most startling revelation. He saw the sea and the waves roaring, and men's hearts failing them for fear. He beheld the earth moved, and the mountains carried into the midst of the sea (which is literally taking place), the water thereof roaring and troubled, and the mountains shaking with the swelling thereof. He was shown plagues, pestilence, famine, and death performing their terrible mission. {TM 445.2} [Note the comment "(which is literally taking place)". This comment was already in the text in Testimonies to Ministers.]

 

The same angel who visited Sodom is sounding the note of warning, "Escape for thy life." The bottles of God's wrath cannot be poured out to destroy the wicked and their works until all the people of God have been judged, and the cases of the living as well as the dead are decided. And even after the saints are sealed with the seal of the living God, His elect will have trials individually. Personal afflictions will come; but the furnace is closely watched by an eye that will not suffer the gold to be consumed. The indelible [permanent, cannot be removed] mark of God is upon them. God can plead that His own name is written there. The Lord has shut them in. Their destination is inscribed--"God, New Jerusalem." They are God's property, His possession. {TM 446.1}

 

Will this seal be put upon the impure in mind, the fornicator, the adulterer, the man who covets his neighbor's wife? Let your souls answer the question, Does my character correspond to the qualifications essential that I may receive a passport to the mansions Christ has prepared for those who are fitted for them? Holiness must be inwrought in our character. {TM 446.2}

 

God has shown me that at the very time that the signs of the times are being fulfilled around us, when we hear, as it were, the tread of the hosts of heaven fulfilling their mission, men of intelligence, men in responsible positions, will be putting rotten timbers in their character building--material which is consumable in the day of God, and which will decide them to be unfit to enter the mansions above. They have refused to let go the filthy garments; they have clung to them as if they were of precious value. They will lose heaven and an eternity of bliss on account of them. {TM 446.3}

The above paragraph tells us why, for one reason, that we are not to follow anyone, especially leaders, no matter who they are. They are unsafe to follow. Jesus Christ is the ONLY ONE who is SAFE to FOLLOW. He is OUR SAFE EXAMPLE. All other, no matter how good they are, are not safe to follow. Did they LIVE a PERFECT LIFE for us? Did they DIE for us? Were they RAISED AGAIN to MINISTER in the HEAVENLY SANCTUARY for us TODAY? Are ANY of them COMING BACK IN THE CLOUDS to TAKE US BACK TO HEAVEN?

 

This is SERIOUS BUSINESS. Our ETERNAL LIVES DEPEND on WHO WE FOLLOW? Follow MEN and YOU ARE DEAD. Follow the SAVIOUR, and YOU ARE ALIVE.

Oh, how can any who have the light of truth, the great light given them of God, defy the wrath and judgments of God by sinning against Him and doing the very things God has told them in His word not to do? How can they be so blinded by Satan as to dishonor God to His face, and defile their souls by sinning knowingly? Says the apostle, "We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men." Will these sinners--shall I call them hypocrites?--in Zion inquire, In what manner am I a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men? Answer for yourselves, By my abuse of the light and privileges and mercies God has given me, by unseemly actions which corrupt and defile the soul. Professing to know God, do I put Him out of my thoughts, and substitute an idol? Do I lead other minds to regard sin lightly by my example? Am I a spectacle to the world of moral looseness? Am I a spectacle to

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angels in indecent actions and moral defilement of the body? The apostle exhorts us: "I beseech you, . . . brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." {TM 447.2}

Note that it is by God’s promises that we are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of both the flesh and the spirit. With the promises in our minds and hearts, we become armed in our hearts to change what we think, and thus how we act. This a process and takes time. We must believe that the promises will do as they say they will do. God’s Holy Spirit, along with the holy angels of God, will be with us to guide us to make right decisions. As these decisions become more active in our lives, our hearts will change. As our hearts change, our actions will change. What we once loved to do (sin and rebel against our Great Creator), we will begin to hate. These things will eventually become so offensive to us, that we will begin rejecting them into our minds, and soon after in our actions. Why actions? Because after our thoughts our in place, actions soon follow. Once habits are formed, actions normally follow shortly thereafter. This why our mind’s thoughts are so important in the Christian experience. Actions are an indicator of our thoughts. When our thoughts are upon our Father in Heaven, and His ways, and Jesus Christ, His Son, and His life and ways, we will be turning to Them for our life. As we do this, our expected short life on this earth will be in the process of being transformed into the long and enduring, eternal life. This is our reality.

This is the sorrow of the world, which worketh death, and pacifies [sooths, calms] the conscience, while the sin is still cherished [respected, esteemed, appreciated, treasured, loved], and would be carried on just the same if there were an opportunity, and they could not be discovered. "For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter." Here we can see the duty that rests upon the church to deal with those whose course of action is entirely contrary to the light which they have received. Will the people of God take their stand upon the Bible, or will they be worse than infidels, and give arguments to this class to reproach Christ and the truth, because they do not obey the claims of the gospel in faith and obedience by a circumspect life and a holy character? {TM 448.2}

 

Those who claim to have the light of truth have not met the conditions on which the fulfillment of the promises is suspended, neither have they been worthy of the grace of Christ. The character and service of the church are required to be according to the talents received. Her faith and obedience should be equal to the amount which a faithful improvement of her light and opportunities would have gained for her in moral and spiritual elevation. {TM 449.1}

 

But many--not a few, but many--have been losing their spiritual zeal and consecration, and turning away from the light that has been constantly growing brighter and brighter, and have refused to walk in the truth because its sanctifying power upon the soul was not what they desired. They might have been renewed in holiness and have reached the elevated standard that God's word demands; but condemnation is upon them. Many ministers and many people are in darkness. They have lost sight of the Leader, the Light of the world; and their guilt is proportionate to the grace and truth opened to their understanding, which has been abundant and powerful. {TM 449.2}3

This is some of our heritage – those who have "refused to walk in the truth because its sanctifying power upon the soul was not what they desired". "They have lost sight of the Leader, the Light of the world…". This is why Ellen White has told us that Jesus Christ is to be the Center of our lives, and brought in the sermons of the preacher. "We must direct minds to Jesus, fasten them upon Him. In every discourse dwell upon [spend time in talking about] the divine attributes [characteristics, traits of]. {1888 729.2}"

Let Daniel speak, let the Revelation speak, and tell what is truth. But whatever phase of the subject is presented, uplift Jesus as the center of all hope, "the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright and morning Star." {TM 118.1}

 

The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation must be studied in the light which streams from the cross of Calvary and in connection with the wondrous central truth of the Saviour's atonement. Those who study the Redeemer's wonderful sacrifice grow in grace and knowledge. {GW 315.2}

 

Christ crucified as the atonement for sin is the great central truth of the gospel, round which all truths cluster. To this great truth all other truths are tributary. {UL 85.6}

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* The Little Time of Trouble

Who are the ones involved?

 

When does it take place?

 

What brings it on?

 

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* The Big (or Main) Time of Trouble

Who are the ones involved?

When does it take place?

 

What brings it on?

 

The Time of Trouble

 

I saw the saints leaving the cities and villages, and associating together in companies, and living in the most solitary places. Angels provided them food and water, while the wicked were suffering from hunger and thirst. Then I saw the leading men of the earth consulting together, and Satan and his angels busy around them. I saw a writing, copies of which were scattered in different parts of the land, giving orders that unless the saints should yield their peculiar faith, give up the Sabbath, and observe the first day of the

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week, the people were at liberty after a certain time to put them to death. But in this hour of trial the saints were calm and composed, trusting in God and leaning upon His promise that a way of escape would be made for them. In some places, before the time for the decree to be executed, the wicked rushed upon the saints to slay them; but angels in the form of men of war fought for them. Satan wished to have the privilege of destroying the saints of the Most High; but Jesus bade His angels watch over them. God would be honored by making a covenant with those who had kept His law, in the sight of the heathen round about them; and Jesus would be honored by translating, without their seeing death, the faithful, waiting ones who had so long expected Him. {EW 282.2}

 

Soon I saw the saints suffering great mental anguish. They seemed to be surrounded by the wicked inhabitants of the earth. Every appearance was against them. Some began to fear that God had at last left them to perish by the hand of the wicked. But if their eyes could have been opened, they would have seen themselves surrounded by angels of God. Next came the multitude of the angry wicked, and next a mass of evil angels, hurrying on the wicked to slay the saints. But before they could approach God's people, the wicked must first pass this company of mighty, holy angels. This was impossible. The angels of God were causing them to recede and also causing the evil angels who were pressing around them to fall back. {EW 283.1}

 

It was an hour of fearful, terrible agony to the saints. Day and night they cried unto God for deliverance. To outward appearance, there was no possibility of their escape. The wicked had already begun to triumph, crying out, "Why doesn't your God deliver you out of our hands? Why don't you go up and save your lives?" But the saints heeded them not,

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Like Jacob, they were wrestling with God. The angels longed to deliver them, but they must wait a little longer; the people of God must drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism. The angels, faithful to their trust, continued their watch. God would not suffer His name to be reproached among the heathen. The time had nearly come when He was to manifest His mighty power and gloriously deliver His saints. For His name's glory He would deliver every one of those who had patiently waited for Him and whose names were written in the book. {EW 283.2}

 

I was pointed back to faithful Noah. When the rain descended and the flood came, Noah and his family had entered the ark, and God had shut them in. Noah had faithfully warned the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, while they had mocked and derided him. And as the waters descended upon the earth, and one after another was drowning, they beheld that ark, of which they had made so much sport, riding safely upon the waters, preserving the faithful Noah and His family. So I saw that the people of God, who had faithfully warned the world of His coming wrath, would be delivered. God would not suffer the wicked to destroy those who were expecting translation and who would not bow to the decree of the beast or receive his mark. I saw that if the wicked were permitted to slay the saints, Satan and all his evil host, and all who hate God, would be gratified. And oh, what a triumph it would be for his satanic majesty to have power, in the last closing struggle, over those who had so long waited to behold Him whom they loved! Those who have mocked at the idea of the saints' going up will witness the care of God for His people and behold their glorious deliverance. {EW 284.1}

 

As the saints left the cities and villages, they were pursued by the wicked, who sought to slay them. But

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the swords that were raised to kill God's people broke and fell as powerless as a straw. Angels of God shielded the saints. As they cried day and night for deliverance, their cry came up before the Lord.

 

{EW 284.2}

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* The Cause of the Change Over

 

* Many Called, Few Chosen (This is in connection with the above topic - The Cause of the Change Over)

For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14

 

Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10

During the Time of Trouble

Jacob's history is also an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been deceived and tempted and betrayed into sin, but who have returned unto Him with true repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this class, God will send His angels to comfort and protect them in the time of peril. The assaults of Satan are fierce and determined, his delusions are terrible; but the Lord's eye is upon His people, and His ear listens to their cries. Their affliction is great, the flames of the furnace seem about to consume them; but the Refiner will bring them forth as gold tried in the fire. God's love for His children during the period of their severest trial is as strong and tender as in the days of their sunniest prosperity; but it is needful for them to be placed in the furnace of fire; their earthliness must be consumed, that the image of Christ may be perfectly reflected." {GC 621.1}

 

The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger--a faith that will not faint though severely tried. The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that time. Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God's promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded. Those who are unwilling to deny self, to agonize before God, to pray long and earnestly for His blessing, will not obtain it. Wrestling with God--how few know what it is! How few have ever had their souls drawn out after God with intensity of desire until every power is on the stretch. When waves of despair which no language can express sweep over the suppliant, how few cling with unyielding faith to the promises of God. {GC 621.2}

What Christ is waiting for in His people

"When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own." {COL 69.1}

 

It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (2 Peter 3:12, margin). Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain. {COL 69.2}

 

Isaiah 48:1  ¶Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.

Isaiah 48:1  (with my comments)

 

¶Hear ye this, O house of Jacob [last day 12 tribes], which are called by [called by because SDA’s are "spiritual Israel"] the name of Israel [SDA’s "spiritual Israel"], and are come forth out of the waters of Judah [waters of Judah – original Jewish teachings from the time of Jesus Christ], which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel [SDA’s are the only denomination to take the "spiritual Israel" name, and claim the 144,000 as their own inheritance to come], but not in truth, nor in righteousness [especially righteousness.

 

Question: When did Israel of old, the house of Jacob, come out of the waters of Judah? Hasn’t Ellen White called the Seventh-day Adventist Church "modern" Israel? Then when does this "house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel" come out of "the waters of Judah"?

 

Remember, in the Old Testament, the literal house of Jacob was made by the birth of the 12 children of Jacob, Judah included. He was later called Israel when he passed out of his time of trial and went through "Jacob’s trouble" on his way back to his original homeland.

 

So it will be for those who pass through this time of "Jacob’s trouble" on their way "home" to heaven. However this time, for Seventh-day Adventists, who are called "spiritual Israel"

 

More of this prophecy of Isaiah 48-49 regarding modern day Israel – Isaiah 48

1 ¶Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.

2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.

3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

9 ¶For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.

10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

16 ¶Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

Isaiah 49

1 ¶Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

7 ¶Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

8 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

13 ¶Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

18 ¶Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

24 ¶Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Isaiah 50

1 ¶Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

4 ¶The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

10 ¶Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.

11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

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* The Shaking

 

We are in the shaking time, the time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken. The Lord will not excuse those who know the truth if they do not in [1] word and [1] deed obey His commands.--6T 332 (1900).

 

Notice that God gives COMMANDS. Some do not like to obey His commands, yet these commands are for the good of His children, His people. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15. So Jesus had commandments (commands). "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."1 John 5:3. (Grievous - Causing grief or sorrow; painful; afflictive; hard to bear; offensive; harmful.) God’s commands do not bring grief to us, but relief from Satan’s ways of death and all that they imply. God’s commands bring us joy, peace, and happiness because they bring us the life that God originally intended for us at the beginning before Adam and Eve sold out ruler ship of this world to Satan, the usurper. Satan has sought to make it appear that God and His commandments are not consistent with what God claims He is, but time eventually shows up Satan in his "true colors". Satan will continue to be unmasked, and eventually be fully unmasked before the entire universe. God will be shown to be innocent of all the charges Satan and his followers have cast upon God. We say it this way. God will be vindicated.

 

Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads,--it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved,--just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming. Ms 173, 1902, pp. 3-6. ("Medical Missionary Work in Southern California," November 20, 1911.) {1MR 249.2}

 

NOTE: The sealing takes place first. Then the shaking begins. And what causes the shaking?

 

God's Spirit has illuminated every page of Holy Writ, but there are those upon whom it makes but little impression, because it is imperfectly understood. When the shaking comes, by the introduction of false theories, these surface readers, anchored nowhere, are like shifting sand. They slide into any position to suit the tenor of their feelings of bitterness. {11MR 206.2}

 

I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to [1] exalt the standard and [2] pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this will cause a shaking among God's people.--1T 181

 

We see here that there will be those who will teach the truth, and there will be those who will not accept the truth. This will cause a conflict among God’s people, and the shaking will come by those who reject the truth. The false theories either have already been introduced and those who see the theories will speak out against them, or when the truth is brought out, others will bring in false theories to go against the truth. This conflict among God’s people, the wheat and tares conflicts among God’s people, will cause the church to be shaken to it’s core. It will be shaken so much that Ellen White says it will appear as if to fall, but it will not fall. The sinners, the unconverted within the church, the tares, will be shaken out, and the wheat will remain. It is this wheat body of people who will give the final call out of Babylon in the message of the "other" angel of Revelation of 18:2.

 

God's people will be sifted even as corn is sifted in a sieve, until all the chaff is separated from the pure kernels of grain. We are to look to Christ for an example, and imitate the humble pattern. You do not feel reconciled to the discipline you need, and do not exercise and practice that self-denial which Christ requires of those who are truly heirs of salvation. Those who are engaged in the work of saving souls, are co-workers with Christ. His was a work of disinterested benevolence; of constant, self-sacrifice. Those who have had so great a sacrifice made for them, that they might be made partakers of his heavenly grace, should in their turn sacrifice and deny self, to aid in the great work of bringing others to the knowledge of the truth. Self-interest should be laid aside. Selfish desires and self-comfort should not now stand in the way of God's work in saving souls. God's ministers are laboring in Christ's stead. They are his ambassadors. They are not to study their ease, comfort, pleasure, desires, or convenience. They must suffer for Christ, be crucified with him, and rejoice that they can in every sense of the word, know the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. {RH, January 19, 1864 par. 14}. (Also found in {1T 431.2}).

 

With the light that I have had in regard to sanitariums where the sick are to be treated I cannot give one word of counsel about huddling in the city. I cannot do it myself, and yet it may look very different to others; but with the light that I have, I could not advise placing a building in the city. You are out of the city, I know; you are out at one side. That changes the proposition somewhat; but further than that, I could not say; I could not give you any advice. You will have to arrange that among yourselves, because I could not give advice to build a sanitarium in any city. I could not do it, because it has been so distinctly laid before me that when a sanitarium is built, it must be located where it can accomplish the end in view--the object for which it is established. {1MR 248.1}

 

The object that we have in view is not to get money, particularly, it is to get souls, to take those who are suffering with disease, and place them in the best position possible for the recovery of health. We have no confidence in drug medication. God wants us to be out where we can have the advantages of nature in every respect, in the air and in the scenery. {1MR 248.2}

 

If we can get a place that is completed or partially finished, that will be better than to put up a large building just now, when we know that the end is near, and every city is to be turned upside down every way. There will be confusion in every city. Everything that can be shaken is to be shaken, and we do not know what will come next. The judgments will be according to the

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wickedness of the people and the light of truth that they have had. If they have had the truth, according to that light will be the punishment. Christ pronounced His woes on the cities that had had most of His instruction. That is why I am so afraid of their putting up a great building in Battle Creek, or in any place where the truth has been known for years. To receive from the people that have not accepted the truth, money to help build up the sanitarium,--I can see no light in it. {1MR 248.3}

 

Here, you may say, the light has not been shining so long. No, it has not, but still the word has come that sanitariums should be located out of the cities. God has a purpose in that. He told the children of Israel that when the plagues should come they must go out of the Egyptians' houses into their own houses, for if they were found mingled with the Egyptians, they would be destroyed with them. They must be a separate people. So our institutions should have every advantage possible, not as far as grand buildings are concerned, but in location. The buildings are not half as much consequence as the space and grounds around a sanitarium. It is the sanitarium that should have the fruits, the flowers, every advantage to call out--well, I have written it; you have had it; it is just as forcible now as when I wrote it. I see nothing to change my mind in regard to Los Angeles on these points. . . . {1MR 249.1}

 

The leaders in the sanitarium have mingled with unbelievers, admitting them to their councils, more or less; but it is like going to work with their eyes shut. They lack the discernment to see what is going to break upon us at any time. There is a spirit of desperation, of war and bloodshed, and that spirit will increase until the very close of time. Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads,--it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually,

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so they cannot be moved,--just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming. Ms 173, 1902, pp. 3-6. ("Medical Missionary Work in Southern California," November 20, 1911.) {1MR 249.2}

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* The Change Over

 

 

 

Topics Top

 

 

* The Eleventh Hour

 

NOTE: Show how the 11th hour is synonymous with the 4th angel, the other angel, the Loud Cry.

 

Here are 2 verses in the Bible that talks about the Eleventh Hour.

 

Matthew 20:6  And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

Matthew 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

 

Notice that the phrase is "about the eleventh hour". This indicates NOT an EXACT TIME, but an APPROXIMATE TIME.

 

Notice, that "every man" received a penny, even those who had not been laboring all day in the field.

 

Here are some statements by Ellen White about the ELEVENTH HOUR. Notice that she uses the phrase "at" or "in" the eleventh hour, unlike the Scriptures that use the phrase "about" the eleventh hour.

 

The broken ranks will be filled up by those represented by Christ as coming in at the eleventh hour. There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God's destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who [now] have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched, His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time.--Letter 103, 1903. {LDE 182.2}

 

Thousands in the eleventh hour will see and acknowledge the truth. . . . These conversions to truth will be made with a rapidity that will surprise the church, and God's name alone will be glorified.--2SM 16 (1890). {LDE 212.1}

 

There will be thousands converted to the truth in a day who at the eleventh hour see and acknowledge the truth and the movements of the Spirit of God.--EGW'88 755 (1890). {LDE 212.2}

 

The time is coming when there will be as many converted in a day as there were on the Day of Pentecost, after the disciples had received the Holy Spirit.--Ev 692 (1905). {LDE 212.3}

 

(Repeat of the above, from another compilation)

Multitudes are to be gathered into the fold. Many who have known the truth have corrupted their way before God and departed from the faith. The broken ranks will be filled up by those represented by Christ as coming in at the eleventh hour. There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. {TDG 163.4}

 

The time of God's destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. [refusal to come to Jesus and be saved in God’s appointed way.] Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time.--Letter 103, June 3, 1903, to Elder and Mrs. George B. Starr, workers of large experience associated with Ellen G. White in the United States and Australia. {TDG 163.5}

 

At the Eleventh Hour

Many souls will come from other denominational churches, and at the eleventh hour will obey all the truth, because they have not set themselves in array against heaven's light, but lived up to all the light they had; while those who have had great light, large privileges and opportunities, and have failed to live in the light and walk in the light, will drop out by the way. Their light will shine less and less until their lamps will go out for the want of the oil of grace in their vessels with their lamps. --Letter 36a, 1890 {MR311 48.4}

 

Thousands Will Acknowledge the Truth

As we near the time when principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places will be brought into warfare against the truth, when the deceiving power of Satan will be so great that if it were possible he will deceive the very elect, we must have our discernment sharpened by divine enlightenment, that we may know the Spirit that is of God, that we may not be ignorant of Satan's devices. Human effort must combine with divine power, that we may be able to accomplish the closing work for this time. Christ used the wind as a symbol of the Spirit of God. As the wind bloweth whither it listeth, and we cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth, so it is with the Spirit of God. We do not know through whom it will be manifested. {MR311 49.1}

But I speak not my own words when I say that God's Spirit will pass by those who have had their day of test and opportunity, but who have not distinguished the voice of God or appreciated the movings of His Spirit. Then thousands in the eleventh hour will see and acknowledge the truth. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed." These conversions to truth will be made with a rapidity that will surprise the church, and God's name alone will be glorified.--Letter 43, 1890 (Published in Selected Messages book 2, pp. 15, 16)

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* Future Scenes

We are not now able to describe with accuracy the scenes to be enacted in our world in the future, but this we do know, that this is a time when we must watch unto prayer, for the great day of the Lord is at hand. --2SM 35 (1901). {LDE 17.1}

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* Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun

I was shown that fathers and mothers have departed from their simplicity and neglected the holy calling of the gospel. The Lord has admonished them not to corrupt themselves by adopting the customs and maxims of the world. Christ would have given them the unsearchable riches of His grace freely and abundantly, but they prove themselves unworthy. {5T 74.2}

 

Many are lifting up the soul unto vanity. No sooner does a person imagine that he possesses any talent which might be of use in the cause of God than he overestimates the gift and is inclined to think too highly of himself, as though he were a pillar of the church. The work which he might do with acceptance he leaves for someone else with less ability than he considers himself to possess. He thinks and talks of a higher station. He must let his light shine before men; but instead of grace, meekness, lowliness of mind, kindness, gentleness, and love shining in his life, self, important self, appears everywhere.

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{5T 74.3}

 

The spirit of Christ should so control our character and conduct that our influence may ever bless, encourage, and edify. Our thoughts, our words, our acts, should testify that we are born of God and that the peace of Christ rules in our hearts. In this way we throw around us the gracious radiance of which the Saviour speaks when He enjoins upon us to let our light shine forth to men. Thus we are leaving a bright track heaven ward. In this way all who are connected with Christ may become more effectual preachers of righteousness than by the most able pulpit effort without this heavenly unction. Those light bearers shed forth the purest radiance that are the least conscious of their own brightness, as those flowers diffuse the sweetest fragrance that make the least display. {5T 75.1}

 

Our people are making very dangerous mistakes. We cannot praise and flatter any man without doing him a great wrong; those who do this will meet with serious disappointment. They trust too fully to finite man and not enough to God, who never errs. The eager desire to urge men into public notice is an evidence of backsliding from God and of friendship with the world. It is the spirit which characterizes the present day. It shows that men have not the mind of Jesus; spiritual blindness and poverty of soul have come upon them. Often persons of inferior minds look away from Jesus to a merely human standard, by which they are not made conscious of their own littleness, and hence have an undue estimate of their own capabilities and endowments. There is among us as a people an idolatry of human instrumentalities and mere human talent, and these even of a superficial character. We must die to self and cherish humble, childlike faith. God's people have departed from their simplicity. They have not made God their strength, and they are weak and faint, spiritually. {5T 75.2}

 

I have been shown that the spirit of the world is fast leavening the church. You are following the same path as did ancient Israel. There is the same falling away from your holy calling as God's peculiar people. You are having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Your concord with unbelievers has provoked the Lord's displeasure. You know not the things that belong to your peace, and they are fast being hid from your eyes. Your neglect to follow the light will place you in a more unfavorable position than the Jews upon whom Christ pronounced a woe. {5T 75.3}

 

I have been shown that unbelief in the testimonies has been steadily increasing as the people backslide from God. It is all through our ranks, all over the field. But few know what our churches are to experience. I saw that at present we are under divine forbearance, but no one can say how long this will continue. No one knows how great the mercy that has been exercised toward us. But few are heartily devoted to God. There are only a few who, like the stars in a tempestuous night, shine here and there among the clouds. {5T 76.1}

 

Many who complacently listen to the truths from God's word are dead spiritually, while they profess to live. For years they have come and gone in our congregations, but they seem only less and less sensible of the value of revealed truth. They do not hunger and thirst after righteousness. They have no relish for spiritual or divine things. They assent to the truth, but are not sanctified through it. Neither the word of God nor the testimonies of His Spirit make any lasting impression upon them. Just according to the light, the privileges, and opportunities which they have slighted will be their condemnation. Many who preach the truth to others are themselves cherishing iniquity. The entreaties of the Spirit of God, like divine melody, the promises of His word so rich and abundant, its threatenings against idolatry and disobedience--all are powerless to melt the world-hardened heart. {5T 76.2}

 

Many of our people are lukewarm. They occupy the position

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of Meroz, neither for nor against, neither cold nor hot. They hear the words of Christ, but do them not. If they remain in this state, He will reject them with abhorrence. Many of those who have had great light, great opportunities, and every spiritual advantage praise Christ and the world with the same breath. They bow themselves before God and mammon. They make merry with the children of the world, and yet claim to be blessed with the children of God. They wish to have Christ as their Saviour, but will not bear the cross and wear His yoke. May the Lord have mercy upon you; for if you go on in this way, nothing but evil can be prophesied concerning you. {5T 76.3}

 

The patience of God has an object, but you are defeating it. He is allowing a state of things to come that you would fain see counteracted by and by, but it will be too late. God commanded Elijah to anoint the cruel and deceitful Hazael king over Syria, that he might be a scourge to idolatrous Israel. Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, "Peace, peace," when the Lord hath not spoken peace. I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write. It may be that erelong all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers. {5T 77.1}

 

When God shall work His strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be upon the people. Oh, that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace! Oh, that our

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people may, as did Nineveh, repent with all their might and believe with all their heart, that God may turn away His fierce anger from them. {5T 77.2}

 

I am filled with pain and anguish as I see parents conforming to the world and allowing their children to meet the worldly standard at such a time as this. I am filled with horror as the condition of families professing present truth is opened before me. The profligacy of youth and even children is almost incredible. Parents do not know that secret vice is destroying and defacing the image of God in their children. The sins which characterized the Sodomites exist among them. The parents are responsible; for they have not educated their children to love and obey God. They have not restrained them nor diligently taught them the way of the Lord. They have allowed them to go out and to come in when they chose, and to associate with worldlings. These worldly influences which counteract parental teaching and authority are to be found largely in so-called good society. By their dress, looks, amusements, they surround themselves with an atmosphere which is opposed to Christ. {5T 78.1}

 

Our only safety is to stand as God's peculiar people. We must not yield one inch to the customs and fashions of this degenerate age, but stand in moral independence, making no compromise with its corrupt and idolatrous practices. {5T 78.2}

 

It will require courage and independence to rise above the religious standard of the Christian world. They do not follow the Saviour's example of self-denial; they make no sacrifice; they are constantly seeking to evade the cross which Christ declares to be the token of discipleship. {5T 78.3}

 

What can I say to arouse our people? I tell you not a few ministers who stand before the people to explain the Scriptures are defiled. Their hearts are corrupt, their hands unclean. Yet many are crying, "Peace, peace;" and the workers of iniquity are not alarmed. The Lord's hand is not shortened that He cannot save, nor His ear heavy that He cannot hear; but it is our sins that have separated us from God. The church is corrupt because of her members who defile their bodies and pollute their souls. {5T 78.4}

 

If all of those who come together for meetings of edification and prayer could be regarded as true worshipers, then might we hope, though much would still remain to be done for us. But it is in vain to deceive ourselves. Things are far from being what the appearance would indicate. From a distant view much may appear beautiful which, upon close examination, will be found full of deformities. The prevailing spirit of our time is that of infidelity and apostasy--a spirit of pretended illumination because of a knowledge of the truth, but in reality of the blindest presumption. There is a spirit of opposition to the plain word of God and to the testimony of His Spirit. There is a spirit of idolatrous exaltation of mere human reason above the revealed wisdom of God. {5T 79.1}

 

There are men among us in responsible positions who hold that the opinions of a few conceited philosophers, so called, are more to be trusted than the truth of the Bible, or the testimonies of the Holy Spirit. Such a faith as that of Paul, Peter, or John is considered old-fashioned and insufferable at the present day. It is pronounced absurd, mystical, and unworthy of an intelligent mind. {5T 79.2}

 

God has shown me that these men are Hazaels to prove a scourge to our people. They are wise above what is written. This unbelief of the very truths of God's word because human judgment cannot comprehend the mysteries of His work is found in every district, in all ranks of society. It is taught in most of our schools and comes into the lessons of the nurseries. Thousands who profess to be Christians give heed to lying spirits. Everywhere the spirit of darkness in the garb of religion will confront you. {5T 79.3}

 

If all that appears to be divine life were such in reality; if all who profess to present the truth to the world were preaching for the truth and not against it, and if they were men of God guided by His Spirit,--then might we see something cheering amid the prevailing moral darkness. But the spirit of antichrist is prevailing to such an extent as never before. Well may we exclaim: "Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." I know that many think far too favorably of the present time. These ease-loving souls will be engulfed in the general ruin. Yet we do not despair. We have been inclined to think that where there are no faithful ministers there can be no true Christians, but this is not the case. God has promised that where the shepherds are not true He will take charge of the flock Himself. God has never made the flock wholly dependent upon human instrumentalities. But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor. {5T 79.4}

 

The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Those who have rendered supreme homage to "science falsely so called" will not be the leaders then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed. In the day time we look toward heaven but do not see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster. {5T 80.1}

 

The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ's righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness. {5T 81.1}

 

When trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when multitudes of false brethren are distinguished from the true, then the hidden ones will be revealed to view, and with hosannas range under the banner of Christ. Those who have been timid and self-distrustful will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth. The most weak and hesitating in the church will be as David--willing to do and dare. The deeper the night for God's people, the more brilliant the stars. Satan will sorely harass the faithful; but, in the name of Jesus, they will come off more than conquerors. Then will the church of Christ appear "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." {5T 81.2}

 

The seeds of truth that are being sown by missionary efforts will then spring up and blossom and bear fruit. Souls will receive the truth who will endure tribulation and praise God that they may suffer for Jesus. "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." When the overflowing scourge shall pass through the earth, when the fan is purging Jehovah's floor, God will be the help of His people. The trophies of Satan may be exalted on high, but the faith of the pure and holy will not be daunted. {5T 82.1}

 

Elijah took Elisha from the plow and threw upon him his mantle of consecration. The call to this great and solemn work was presented to men of learning and position; had these been little in their own eyes and trusted fully in the Lord, He would have honored them with bearing His standard in triumph to the victory. But they separated from God, yielded to the influence of the world, and the Lord rejected them. {5T 82.2}

 

Many have exalted science and lost sight of the God of science. This was not the case with the church in the purest times. {5T 82.3}

 

God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the outward training of scientific institutions. These facilities are not to be despised or condemned; they are ordained of God, but they can furnish only the exterior qualifications. God will manifest that He is not dependent on learned, self-important mortals. {5T 82.4}

 

There are few really consecrated men among us, few who have fought and conquered in the battle with self. Real conversion is a decided change of feelings and motives; it is a virtual taking leave of worldly connections, a hastening from their spiritual atmosphere, a withdrawing from the controlling power of their thoughts, opinions, and influences. The separation causes pain and bitterness to both parties. It is the variance which Christ declares that He came to bring. But the converted will feel a continual longing desire that their friends shall forsake all for Christ, knowing that, unless they do, there will be a final and eternal separation. The true Christian cannot, while with unbelieving friends, be light and trifling. The value of the souls for whom Christ died is too great. {5T 82.5}

 

He "that forsaketh not all that he hath," says Jesus, "cannot be My disciple." Whatever shall divert the affections from God must be given up. Mammon is the idol of many. Its golden chain binds them to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. These are Satan's snares, set for unwary feet. But these slavish bands must be broken; the flesh must be crucified with the affections and lusts. We cannot be half the Lord's and half the world's. We are not God's people unless we are such entirely. Every weight, every besetting sin, must be laid aside. God's watchmen will not cry, "Peace, peace," when God has not spoken peace. The voice of the faithful watchmen will be heard: "Go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." {5T 83.1}

 

The church cannot measure herself by the world nor by the opinion of men nor by what she once was. Her faith and her position in the world as they now are must be compared with what they would have been if her course had been continually onward and upward. The church will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. If her moral character and spiritual state do not correspond with the benefits and blessings God has conferred upon her, she will be found wanting.

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The light has been shining clear and definite upon her pathway, and the light of 1882 calls her to an account. If her talents are unimproved, if her fruit is not perfect before God, if her light has become darkness, she is indeed found wanting. The knowledge of our state as God views it, seems to be hidden from us. We see, but perceive not; we hear, but do not understand; and we rest as unconcerned as if the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, rested upon our sanctuary. We profess to know God, and to believe the truth, but in works deny Him. Our deeds are directly adverse to the principles of truth and righteousness, by which we profess to be governed. {5T 83.2}

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* Acceptance of Truth Criteria

 

What does it take to accept truth, and on what are we judged?

None will be condemned for not heeding light and knowledge that they never had, and they could not obtain. But many refuse to obey the truth that is presented to them by Christ's ambassadors, because they wish to conform to the world's standard, and the truth that has reached their understanding, the light that has shone in the soul, will condemn them in the judgment.--5BC 1145 (1884). {LDE 217.5}

 

Those who have an opportunity to hear the truth and yet take no pains to hear or understand it, thinking that if they do not hear they will not be accountable, will be judged guilty before God the same as if they had heard and rejected. There will be no excuse for those who choose to go in error when they might understand what is truth. In His sufferings and death Jesus has made atonement for all sins of ignorance, but there is no provision made for willful blindness. {LDE 218.1}

 

We shall not be held accountable for the light that has not reached our perception, but for that which we have resisted and refused. A man could not apprehend the truth which had never been presented to him, and therefore could not be condemned for light he had never had.--5BC 1145 (1893). {LDE 218.2}

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* Everyone not centered in Christ will fail the test

The truth as it is in Jesus is regarded as an old-fashioned doctrine. The maxims of the world, that know not God, have been worked into the theories of the church. In the eyes of men, vain philosophy and science, falsely so-called, is of more value than the word of God. The sentiment prevails to a large extent that the divine Mediator is not essential to the salvation of man. A variety of theories advanced by the so-called worldly-wise men for man's elevation, are believed and trusted in more than is the truth of God, as taught by Christ and his apostles. The lying spirit that enticed Eve in Eden, finds acceptance with the majority of earth's inhabitants today. Even the Christian world refuses to be converted by the Spirit of God, but listen to the prince of darkness, as he comes to them in the garb of an angel of light. The spirit of antichrist is prevailing in the world to a far greater extent than it has ever prevailed before. The day of test and purification is just upon us. Signs of a most startling character appear, in floods, in hurricanes, in tornadoes, in cloud-bursts, in casualties by land and by sea, that proclaim the approach of the end of all things. The judgments of God are falling on the world, that men may be awakened to the fact that Christ will come speedily. The Lord is about to reveal the difference between the righteous and the wicked; for his "fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into his garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." {RH, November 8, 1892 par. 6}

 

The time is upon us when the miracle-working power of the arch deceiver will be more decidedly revealed. And his deceptions will increase in their delusive attraction, so that they will perplex, and if possible, deceive, the very elect. The prince of darkness with his evil angels is working upon the Christian world, inducing those who profess the name of Christ to stand under the banner of darkness, to make war with those who keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus. An apostate church will unite with the powers of earth and hell to place upon the forehead or in the hand, the mark of the beast, and prevail upon the children of God to worship the beast and his image. They will seek to compel them to renounce their allegiance to God's law, and yield homage to the papacy. Then will come the times which will try men's souls; for the confederacy of apostasy will demand that the loyal subjects of God shall renounce the law of Jehovah, and repudiate the truth of his word. Then will the gold be separated from the dross, and it will be made apparent who are the godly, who are loyal and true, and who are the disloyal, the dross and the tinsel. What clouds of chaff will then be borne away by the fan of God! Where now our eyes can discover only rich floors of wheat, will be chaff blown away with the fan of God. Every one who is not centered in Christ will fail to stand the test and ordeal of that day. While those who are clothed with Christ's righteousness will stand firm to truth and duty, those who have trusted in their own righteousness will be ranged under the black banner of the prince of darkness. Then it will be seen whether the choice is for Christ or Belial. Those who have been self-distrustful, who have been so circumstanced that they have not dared to face stigma and reproach, will at last openly declare themselves for Christ and his law; while many who have appeared to be flourishing trees, but who have borne no fruit, will go with the multitude to do evil, and will receive the mark of apostasy in the forehead or in the hand. {RH, November 8, 1892 par. 7}

 

[What does it mean to be centered in Christ?]

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* Why the Delay in Christ’s Return

Delay of Christ's Coming Will Seem Short in Eternity--Dear brethren and sisters, Christ is soon to come. Will He find you ready and waiting? The bridal lamps must be kept trimmed and burning. His chariot wheels have been delayed because of His long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life. When we shall stand with the redeemed upon the sea of glass, with harps of God and crowns of glory, and before us the unmeasured eternity, we shall then see how short was the waiting period of probation. "Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching" (Luke 12:37).--Letter 21, 1886, p. 5. (To Brethren and Sisters in Healdsburg, July 9, 1886.) {10MR 266.2}

 

We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel, but for Christ's sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action. Now, have men who claim to believe the Word of God learned their lesson that obedience is better than sacrifice? "He hath showed thee (this rebellious people), O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8). {10MR 277.3}

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* The 144,000 on Earth

Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus' coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake. When God spake the time, He poured upon us the Holy Spirit, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses' did when he came down from Mount Sinai. {1T 59.1}

 

The 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united. On their foreheads were the words [1] God, [2] New Jerusalem, and [3] a glorious star containing Jesus' new name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us into prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and they would fall helpless to the ground. Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us, who could wash one another's feet, and salute the brethren with a holy kiss, and they worshiped at our feet. {1T 59.2}

 

Soon our eyes were drawn to the east, for a small black cloud had appeared, about half as large as a man's hand, which we all knew was the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence we all gazed on the cloud as it drew nearer, and became lighter, glorious, and still more glorious, till it was a great white cloud. The bottom appeared like fire; a rainbow was over the cloud, while around it were ten thousand angels, singing a most lovely song; and upon it sat the Son of man. His hair was white and curly and lay on His shoulders, and upon His head were many crowns. His feet had the appearance of fire; in His right hand was a sharp sickle, in His left a silver trumpet. His eyes were as a flame of fire, which searched His children through and through. {1T 60.1}

Notice: The 144,000 are ALL LIVING. They "knew and understood the voice" "which gave us the day and hour of Jesus' coming." So, at a given time, they knew when Jesus was coming so they would be expecting at a given hour His coming and would be looking forward to that time because "Soon our eyes were drawn to the east" where "we all gazed on the cloud as it drew nearer", "and upon it sat the Son of man.". Notice that They were ALL SEALED, PERFECTLY UNITED. They had in their forehead the words[1] God, [2] New Jerusalem, and [3] a glorious star containing Jesus' new name. The wicked could not put them in prison.

 

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* The 144,000 in Heaven

On the sea of glass the 144,000 stood in a perfect square. Some of them had very bright crowns, others not so bright. Some crowns appeared heavy with stars, while others had but few. All were perfectly satisfied with their crowns.--EW 16, 17 (1851). {LDE 282.1}

Notice what Sr. White says of the 144,000 that SHE SAW. She says the "stood in a perfect square". Why is it that some people want to rationalize this away as to where there will be an exact number of the 144,000 or not?

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* Present Truth

Brother Haskell spoke, taking for his subject the sanctuary question, which is present truth. McCullagh makes derision of this subject, thus showing that the counsel given him to seek to know more of present truth, and stating that he had only a superficial knowledge of it, was correct. He knows very little of the precious truth for this time, because he has not sunk the shaft deep into the mine of truth to discover the precious ore. {11MR 206.1}

 

There is a time of trouble coming to the people of God, but we are not to keep that constantly before the people and rein them up to have a time of trouble beforehand. There is to be a shaking among God's people, but this is not the present truth to carry to the churches.--1SM 180 (1890). {LDE 17.4}

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The 3 sections of the sanctuary represent 3 separate and distinct time periods and specific services Jesus Christ performs for the atonement of His People.

 

 

The judgment for the dead has been going on during this time. The judgment for the living is yet to take place. When will the judgment for the living begin? We don’t know at this time, but we do know that some of the prophecies are being fulfilled towards that time.

 

Let’s look at some Scriptures and quotes by Ellen White that relate to this time.

 

Ellen White says,

The third angel's message is to lighten the earth with its glory; but only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it when it shall have swelled into the loud cry." {RH, November 19, 1908 par. 9}

 

So, there is a time coming, forward from her time in 1908 that the 3rd angels message will swell (enlarge) into the loud cry.

 

What were the people among Israel to do on their Day of Atonement?

 

Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Leviticus 23:27

What does it mean to afflict your souls? Ellen White covers this in the following:

Only those who, in their attitude before God, are filling the position of those who are repenting and confessing their sins in the great anti-typical day of atonement, will be recognized and marked as worthy of God's protection. The names of those who are steadfastly looking and waiting and watching for the appearing of their Saviour--more earnestly and wishfully than they who wait for the morning--will be numbered with those who are sealed.

 

We have here again the phrase "only those".

 

First above it is "… only those who have withstood temptation…".

 

The next one is "Only those who, in their attitude before God, are filling the position of those who are repenting and confessing their sins in the great anti-typical day of atonement…".

 

So, in order to be sealed, one must be withstanding temptation in the strength of the Mighty One….

 

In the Great Day of Atonement then "only those"who are "in their attitude before God" must be "repenting and confessing their sins".

 

It sounds like there are sins to be confessed and then repented of among God’s professed people; otherwise the instruction wouldn’t be to take part in this activity. How many people in the Seventh-day Adventist Church today, in 2011, soon to be 2012, are doing this very thing? What is it in the church that they should be repenting and confessing?

 

When we walk into Seventh-day Adventist Churches, what do we see, what do we hear? Is our talk about spiritual things, or is it on our everyday things? Is it reverent in the sanctuary? Are we there to worship the God of Heaven who is the Creator of this world, and the Re-Creator of our souls?

 

What is our dress like? Is it something special that shows we believe this is God’s special day? Is it modest and simple, not detracting from others who have come to worship the God of Heaven?

 

What is our music like? Is it the theme of spiritual things? Or is it some light-hearted music, or music from some classic piece that has nothing to do with the God of Heaven? What kind of instruments are we using, and are they instruments that bring praise and honor to our God in Heaven, or are they detracting from the worship of our Holy God?

 

What about after church? Do we go on our merry doing whatever we please, or are we mindful that this is the Sabbath of our Father in Heaven. Is recreation after the worlds order what we are engaging in on the Sabbath day, or is God’s 2nd book of nature our interest? What about missionary outreach type of activities? What about sharing the message of a loving Saviour with others, or visiting those who are shut-in by sickness or old age?

 

What do we put into our bodies, not only on the Sabbath day but every day of the week? What about "potlucks" or fellowship dinners after church where there is a large variety of food? Are we engaging in eating a lot of food so that our stomachs have to spend much of the rest of the day digesting what we have eaten of such a large variety of cooked foods, and sweet desserts, so much so that any further interest in spiritual is lost because of digestion overload?

 

If our bodies are "the temple of God" are we treating God’s body as if it is truly "the temple of God", or as if it is something we can do with just as we please?

 

Who has our heart? Satan or God? Who is our Creator? Satan or God? Who are we serving in all aspects of our life? Satan or God?

 

Are our interests in sports of competition? Are our interests in the movies of the theater, or the Internet?

 

Is this all the life we shall have here on this earth because we want to do what we want? Or are God’s ways the main focus in our lives because His ways are life-giving?

 

Because we are members of God’s remnant church doesn't assure us that our names are on the books of Heaven. How do our names get and STAY on the books of Heaven?

 

Very simply, by first accepting Jesus Christ as our Personal Saviour. That’s exactly as it says. He’s your Saviour, your PERSONAL Saviour. Saviour from what?

 

What did Jesus come the first time to do?

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

 

Once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our PERSONAL Saviour, the living relationship starts and continues with Him. A study of the Scriptures, and for Seventh-day Adventists, the additional dimension of Ellen White’s writings, the lesser light that leads to the greater light. A prayer life of talking with God. This will lead a person to share with others what he / she has learned from the Scriptures.

We must keep up that continual relationship with Him in which He brings us joy, peace of mind, happiness. Thus, His happiness brings us contentment that we can live with 24/7 all the time. That’s why, when the saved of all ages get to living on the New Earth, they will continue following God’s ways that they learned here on this earth.

 

What are God’s ways? They are His 10 Simple Steps to happiness. When we follow these simple steps, we are continually happy, not because we have to be, for God forces no one to follow Him, but because of the joy He brings us in our relationship with Him.

 

Now, let’s ask this question? Are all God’s people in the Seventh-day Adventist Church united in following God’s ways?

 

What did Jesus tell us in a parable? Let’s look at that parable. It’s found in Matthew 13:3-23. I’m going to just cover part of it.

3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

He describes the different traits of persons in the different type of wheat. Then He goes into another parable in verse 24. Here’s that parable in its entirety to and including verse 30.

Matthew 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

 

Notice that in verse 30 He tells how to handle the tares. They are to be left in the church until the harvest.

 

So, then the church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has both wheat and tares, as do all religious bodies. Now, wheat is the creation of God, and is good for food. It was created for that purpose and brings nourishment to the physical body. Tares are not good for food for the body. They look like the wheat, but they are not the same. They have no real value to the human being. They are an invention of the devil.

 

Are you wheat or are you a tare? If you are tare, do you want to be a wheat where you can have peace of mind, joy and happiness? You can be if you choose to be. It’s so simple to become what God originally designed you to be. Here’s how simple it is.

 

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Matthew 21:22

 

If you want peace of mind, joy and happiness, then it’s just as simple as asking for God to be your God. He will do that and He will do it as immediately as you ask Him.

 

Now, what about the church of the future? Do you know that the last movement in history is to be done by a people who are totally, solidly together with God? They will be all wheat. Yes, you read that right. There is going to be a people who are unmixed with tares. God has a reason for this.

 

Satan has said that God’s law can’t be kept. So, Jesus came to earth to show that God’s law was just and perfect, and would lead a person to joy, peace, and happiness. He did just that. He came in connection with that purpose to pay for man’s disobedience from the first change of allegiance that Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. His death provided the justice that God demanded for His Holy, perfect and good Law. Through Jesus Christ we are reunited with our Father in Heaven.

 

Jesus Christ now went back to Heaven to offer His blood in the Heavenly Sanctuary for the forgiveness of the sins of those who ask for forgiveness.

 

Satan admitted that he wasn’t able to break the relationship Jesus had with His Heavenly Father. Then he said that no human could live a life with a total relationship with the God of Heaven without sinning. Until Jesus came as a human on this earth, Satan had conquered every human being on this earth. But when Jesus came and didn’t sin, Satan’s power was broken because Jesus had done what no human had done, and has not done since that time, even to today.

 

To be pardoned in the way that Christ pardons, is not only to be forgiven, but to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. The Lord says, "A new heart will I give unto thee." The image of Christ is to be stamped upon the very mind, heart, and soul. The apostle says, "And we have the mind of Christ." Without the transforming process, which can come alone through divine power, the original propensities to sin are left in the heart in all their strength, to forge new chains, to impose a slavery that can never be broken by human power. But men can never enter heaven with their old tastes, inclinations, idols, ideas, and theories. Heaven would be no place of joy to them; for everything would be in collision with their tastes, appetites, and inclinations, and painfully opposed to their natural and cultivated traits of character. {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 7}

 

In the parable of the virgins, five are represented as wise and five as foolish. The name "foolish virgins" represents the character of those who have not the genuine heart-work wrought by the Spirit of God. The coming of Christ does not change the foolish virgins into wise ones. When Christ comes, the balances of Heaven will weigh the character, and decide whether it is pure, sanctified, and holy, or whether it is unclean, and unfit for the kingdom of heaven. Those who have despised the divine grace that is at their command, that would have qualified them to be the inhabitants of heaven, will be the foolish virgins. They had all the light, all the knowledge, but they failed to obtain the oil of grace; they did not receive the truth in its sanctifying power. {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 8}

 

Happiness is the result of holiness, and conformity to the will of God. Those who would be saints in heaven, must first be saints upon the earth; for when we leave this earth, we shall take our character with us, and this will be simply taking with us some of the elements of heaven imparted to us through the righteousness of Christ. {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 9}

 

The state of the Church represented by the foolish virgins, is also spoken of as the Laodicean state. The True Witness declares, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in the throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 10}

 

Half-hearted Christians obscure the glory of God, misinterpret piety, and cause men to receive false ideas as to what constitutes vital godliness. Others think that they, also, can be Christians and yet consult their own tastes and make provision for the flesh, if these false-hearted professors can do so. On many a professed Christian's banner the motto is written, "You can serve God and please self,--you can serve God and mammon." They profess to be wise virgins, but not having the oil grace in their vessels with their lamps, they shed forth no light to the glory of God and for the salvation of men. They seek to do what the world's Redeemer said was impossible to do; he has declared, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Those who profess to be Christians, but do not follow in the footsteps of Christ, make of none effect his words, and obscure the plan of salvation. By their spirit and deportment they virtually say, "Jesus, in your day you did not understand as well as we do in our day, that man can serve God and mammon." These professors of religion claim to keep the law of God, but they do not keep it. O, what would the standard of true manhood have become had it been left in the hands of man! God has lifted his own standard,--the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; and the experience that follows complete surrender to God, is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Everything that man touches with unholy hands and unsanctified intellect, even the gospel of truth, becomes, by the contact, contaminated. Man puts confidence in man, and makes flesh his arm, but all the work of man is of the earth, earthy. {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 11}

 

Satan says that all humans are his because they have all sinned. However, he has not taken into account the compassion and mercy of the God of Heaven. It’s because of God’s compassion for the humans He has created, and the mercy He has for them, that He can bring some, at the very last of this earth’s probation, to a perfection of character that will show to all that God’s law is holy and that people can 100% follow God’s ways. It will take a Garden of Gethsemane experience on their part to do it, which means a complete and total relationship with the God of Heaven. It will be done. It is yet future.

 

The converted soul has a hatred of sin; he does not indulge in self-complacency, self-love, self-sufficiency, nor pass on day after day, claiming to be a Christian, and yet bringing dishonor upon Christ by misrepresenting him in character. Those who make this mistake, and pass on filled with self-righteousness, have not in reality made the first step heavenward. The first step toward heaven is conviction of sin, the second is repentance and obedience. True piety never exalts self. {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 4}

 

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* Judgment Begins at the House of God

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17

 

Here we see that Peter says that the first to be judged are those in the house of God. What does Ellen White say about this?

Chap. 24 - The Seal of God

 

"He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand." {5T 207.2}

 

And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house." {5T 207.3}

 

Jesus is about to leave the mercy seat of the heavenly

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sanctuary to put on garments of vengeance and pour out His wrath in judgments upon those who have not responded to the light God has given them. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Instead of being softened by the patience and long forbearance that the Lord has exercised toward them, those who fear not God and love not the truth strengthen their hearts in their evil course. But there are limits even to the forbearance of God, and many are exceeding these boundaries. They have overrun the limits of grace, and therefore God must interfere and vindicate His own honor. {5T 207.4}

 

Of the Amorites the Lord said: "In the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Although this nation was conspicuous because of its idolatry and corruption, it had not yet filled up the cup of its iniquity, and God would not give command for its utter destruction. The people were to see the divine power manifested in a marked manner, that they might be left without excuse. The compassionate Creator was willing to bear with their iniquity until the fourth generation. Then, if no change was seen for the better, His judgments were to fall upon them. {5T 208.1}

 

With unerring accuracy the Infinite One still keeps an account with all nations. While His mercy is tendered with calls to repentance, this account will remain open; but when the figures reach a certain amount which God has fixed, the ministry of His wrath commences. The account is closed. Divine patience ceases. There is no more pleading of mercy in their behalf. {5T 208.2}

 

The prophet, looking down the ages, had this time presented before his vision. The nations of this age have been the recipients of unprecedented mercies. The choicest of heaven's blessings have been given them, but increased pride, covetousness, idolatry, contempt of God, and base ingratitude are written

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against them. They are fast closing up their account with God. {5T 208.3}

 

But that which causes me to tremble is the fact that those who have had the greatest light and privileges have become contaminated by the prevailing iniquity. Influenced by the unrighteous around them, many, even of those who profess the truth, have grown cold and are borne down by the strong current of evil. The universal scorn thrown upon true piety and holiness leads those who do not connect closely with God to lose their reverence for His law. If they were following the light and obeying the truth from the heart, this holy law would seem even more precious to them when thus despised and set aside. As the disrespect for God's law becomes more manifest, the line of demarcation between its observers and the world becomes more distinct. Love for the divine precepts increases with one class according as contempt for them [divine precepts] increases with another class. {5T 209.1}

 

The crisis is fast approaching. The rapidly swelling figures show that the time for God's visitation has about come. Although loath to punish, nevertheless He will punish, and that speedily. Those who walk in the light will see signs of the approaching peril; but they are not to sit in quiet, unconcerned expectancy of the ruin, comforting themselves with the belief that God will shelter His people in the day of visitation. Far from it. They should realize that it is their duty to labor diligently to save others, looking with strong faith to God for help. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." {5T 209.2}

 

The leaven of godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf

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of the church because its members are doing after the manner of the world. {5T 209.3}

 

The earnest prayers of this faithful few will not be in vain. When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity and kept themselves unspotted from the world. It is at this time that God has promised to avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them. {5T 210.1}

 

The command is: "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." These sighing, crying ones had been holding forth the words of life; they had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel; although many still continued the forms of religion, His power and presence were lacking. {5T 210.2}

 

In the time when His wrath shall go forth in judgments, these humble, devoted followers of Christ will be distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul anguish, which is expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and warnings. While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have a zeal for God's honor and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favor of any. Their righteous souls are vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the unrighteous. They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and alarm. They mourn before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church. The Spirit

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of God, which prompts to reproof, is trampled underfoot, while the servants of Satan triumph. God is dishonored, the truth made of none effect. {5T 210.3}

 

The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God. The Lord commissions His messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their hands: "Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house." {5T 211.1}

 

Here we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus "Peace and safety" is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together. {5T 211.2}

 

The abominations for which the faithful ones were sighing and crying were all that could be discerned by finite eyes, but by far the worst sins, those which provoked the jealousy of the pure and holy God, were unrevealed. The great Searcher of hearts knoweth every sin committed in secret by the workers of iniquity. These persons come to feel secure in their deceptions and, because of His long-suffering, say that the Lord

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seeth not, and then act as though He had forsaken the earth. But He will detect their hypocrisy and will open before others those sins which they were so careful to hide. {5T 211.3}

 

No superiority of rank, dignity, or worldly wisdom, no position in sacred office, will preserve men from sacrificing principle when left to their own deceitful hearts. Those who have been regarded as worthy and righteous prove to be ring-leaders in apostasy and examples in indifference and in the abuse of God's mercies. Their wicked course He will tolerate no longer, and in His wrath He deals with them without mercy. {5T 212.1}

 

It is with reluctance that the Lord withdraws His presence from those who have been blessed with great light and who have felt the power of the word in ministering to others. They were once His faithful servants, favored with His presence and guidance; but they departed from Him and led others into error, and therefore are brought under the divine displeasure. {5T 212.2}

 

The day of God's vengeance is just upon us. The seal of God will be placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land. Those who link in sympathy with the world are eating and drinking with the drunken and will surely be destroyed with the workers of iniquity. "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." {5T 212.3}

 

Our own course of action will determine whether we shall receive the seal of the living God or be cut down by the destroying weapons. Already a few drops of God's wrath have fallen upon the earth; but when the seven last plagues shall be poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation, then it will be forever too late to repent and find shelter. No atoning blood will then wash away the stains of sin. {5T 212.4}

 

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book." When this time of trouble comes, every case is decided; there is no longer probation, no longer mercy for the impenitent. The seal of the living God is upon His people. This small remnant, unable to defend themselves in the deadly conflict with the powers of earth that are marshaled by the dragon host, make God their defense. The decree has been passed by the highest earthly authority that they shall worship the beast and receive his mark under pain of persecution and death. May God help His people now, for what can they then do in such a fearful conflict without His assistance! {5T 212.5}

 

Courage, fortitude, faith, and implicit trust in God's power to save do not come in a moment. These heavenly graces are acquired by the experience of years. By a life of holy endeavor and firm adherence to the right the children of God were sealing their destiny. Beset with temptations without number, they knew they must resist firmly or be conquered. They felt that they had a great work to do, and at any hour they might be called to lay off their armor; and should they come to the close of life with their work undone, it would be an eternal loss. They eagerly accepted the light from heaven, as did the first disciples from the lips of Jesus. When those early Christians were exiled to mountains and deserts, when left in dungeons to die with hunger, cold, and torture, when martyrdom seemed the only way out of their distress, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ, who was crucified for them. Their worthy example will be a comfort and encouragement to the people of God who will be brought into the time of trouble such as never was. {5T 213.1}

 

Not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed. There are many even among those who teach the truth to others who will not receive the seal of God in their foreheads. They had the light of truth, they knew their Master's will, they understood every point of our faith, but they had not corresponding works. These who were so familiar with prophecy and the treasures of divine wisdom should have acted their faith. They should have commanded their households after them, that by a well-ordered family they might present to the world the influence of the truth upon the human heart. {5T 213.2}

 

By their lack of devotion and piety, and their failure to reach a high religious standard, they make other souls contented with their position. Men of finite judgment cannot see that in patterning after these men who have so often opened to them the treasures of God's word, they will surely endanger their souls. Jesus is the only true pattern. Everyone must now search the Bible for himself upon his knees before God, with the humble, teachable heart of a child, if he would know what the Lord requires of him. However high any minister may have stood in the favor of God, if he neglects to follow out the light given him of God, if he refuses to be taught as a little child, he will go into darkness and satanic delusions and will lead others in the same path. {5T 214.1}

 

Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost. {5T 214.2}

 

We are too easily satisfied with our attainments. We feel rich and increased with goods and know not that we are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Now is the time to heed the admonition of the True Witness: "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." {5T 214.3}

 

In this life we must meet fiery trials and make costly sacrifices, but the peace of Christ is the reward. There has been so little self-denial, so little suffering for Christ's sake, that the cross is almost entirely forgotten. We must be partakers with Christ of His sufferings if we would sit down in triumph with Him on His throne. So long as we choose the easy path of self-indulgence and are frightened at self-denial, our faith will never become firm, and we cannot know the peace of Jesus nor the joy that comes through conscious victory. The most exalted of the redeemed host that stand before the throne of God and the Lamb, clad in white, know the conflict of overcoming, for they have come up through great tribulation. Those who have yielded to circumstances rather than engage in this conflict will not know how to stand in that day when anguish will be upon every soul, when, though Noah, Job, and Daniel were in the land, they could save neither son nor daughter, for everyone must deliver his soul by his own righteousness. {5T 215.1}

 

No one need say that his case is hopeless, that he cannot live the life of a Christian. Ample provision is made by the death of Christ for every soul. Jesus is our ever-present help in time of need. Only call upon Him in faith, and He has promised to hear and answer your petitions. {5T 215.2}

 

Oh, for a living, active faith! We need it; we must have it, or we shall faint and fail in the day of trial. The darkness that will then rest upon our path must not discourage us or drive us to despair. It is the veil with which God covers His glory when He comes to impart rich blessings. We should know this by our past experience. In that day when God has a controversy with His people this experience will be a source of comfort and hope. {5T 215.3}

 

It is now that we must keep ourselves and our children unspotted from the world. It is now that we must wash our robes of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. It is now that we must overcome pride, passion, and spiritual slothfulness. It is now that we must awake and make determined effort for symmetry of character. "Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." We are in a most trying position, waiting, watching for our Lord's appearing. The world is in darkness. "But ye, brethren," says Paul, "are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." It is ever God's purpose to bring light out of darkness, joy out of sorrow, and rest out of weariness for the waiting, longing soul. {5T 215.4}

 

What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world are receiving the worldly mold and preparing for the mark of the beast. Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth these are receiving the heavenly mold and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads. When the decree goes forth and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity. {5T 216.1}

 

Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of the ambitious, world-loving man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God--candidates for heaven. Go forward, my brethren and sisters. I can only write briefly upon these points at this time, merely calling your attention to the necessity of preparation. Search the Scriptures for yourselves, that you may understand the fearful solemnity of the present hour. {5T 216.2}

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* The Loud Cry

Said the angel, "List ye!" Soon I heard a voice like many musical instruments all sounding in perfect strains, sweet and harmonious. It surpassed any music I had ever heard, seeming to be full of mercy, compassion, and elevating, holy joy. It thrilled through

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my whole being. Said the angel, "Look ye!" My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers. Their countenances expressed the severe conflict which they had endured, the agonizing struggle they had passed through. Yet their features, marked with severe internal anguish, now shone with the light and glory of heaven. They had obtained the victory, and it called forth from them the deepest gratitude and holy, sacred joy. {EW 270.4}

 

The numbers of this company had lessened. Some had been shaken out and left by the way. The careless and indifferent, who did not join with those who prized victory and salvation enough to perseveringly plead and agonize for it, did not obtain it, and they were left behind in darkness, and their places were immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the ranks. Evil angels still pressed around them, but could have no power over them. {EW 271.1}

 

I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. Many had been bound; some wives by their husbands, and some children by their parents. The honest who had been prevented from hearing the truth now eagerly laid hold upon it. All fear of their relatives was gone, and the truth alone was exalted to them. They had been hungering and thirsting for truth; it was dearer and more precious than life. I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, "It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel."

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* The Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins

When the ten virgins went forth to meet the bridegroom, their lamps were trimmed and burning. Five of these virgins were wise. They anticipated delay, and filled their flagons with oil, prepared for any emergency. From those flagons their lamps were supplied, and not left to go out. But five of their number had not this foresight. They made no provision for disappointment or delay. {16MR 267.3}

 

All the Christian world is represented in this parable. The bride constitutes the church that is waiting for the second appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Some who have a nominal faith are not prepared for His coming. The oil of grace is not feeding their lamps, and they are not prepared to enter in to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The representation is such as to call forth our earnest study, that we may know what preparation we who are living in the last days are to make, that we may enter in and partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb. We are to accept the last message of mercy given to a fallen world: "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

 

-269- {16MR 268.3}

 

There is a delay in the coming of the Bridegroom in order that all may have an opportunity to hear the last message of mercy to a fallen world. The first and second angels' messages are all united and complete in the third: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." {16MR 269.1}

 

 

Jesus used the parable of the ten virgins to represent the condition of the church before his coming, and the question that concerns each one of us is, Are we among the five wise or the five foolish virgins? Without going into the details of the parable, we may ask ourselves, What is our condition before God? Those that were wise went in to the wedding. We shall make it manifest what is our true condition by our [1] conduct and [1] conversation. Jesus has warned us as to what should be our position at this time. He says, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh." {ST, August 6, 1894 par. 4}

 

 

To be pardoned in the way that Christ pardons, is not only [1] to be forgiven, but [2] to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. The Lord says, "A new heart will I give unto thee." The image of Christ is to be stamped upon the very mind, heart, and soul. The apostle says, "And we have the mind of Christ." Without the transforming process which can come alone through divine power, the original propensities to sin are left in the heart in all their strength, to forge new chains, to impose a slavery that can never be broken by human power. But men can never enter heaven with their old tastes, inclinations, idols, ideas, and theories. Heaven would be no place of joy to them; for everything would be in collision with their tastes, appetites, and inclinations, and painfully opposed to their natural and cultivated traits of character. {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 7}

 

In the parable of the virgins, five are represented as wise and five as foolish. The name "foolish virgins" represents the character of those who have not the genuine heart-work wrought by the Spirit of God. The coming of Christ does not change the foolish virgins into wise ones. When Christ comes, the balances of Heaven will weigh the character, and decide whether it is pure, sanctified, and holy, or whether it is unclean, and unfit for the kingdom of heaven. Those who have despised the divine grace that is at their command, that would have qualified them to be the inhabitants of heaven, will be the foolish virgins. They had all the light, all the knowledge, but they failed to obtain the oil of grace; they did not receive the truth in its sanctifying power. {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 8}

 

Happiness is the result of holiness, and conformity to the will of God. Those who would be saints in heaven, must first be saints upon the earth; for when we leave this earth, we shall take our character with us, and this will be simply taking with us some of the elements of heaven imparted to us through the righteousness of Christ. {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 9}

 

The state of the Church represented by the foolish virgins, is also spoken of as the Laodicean state. The True Witness declares, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in the throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 10}

Notice that the previous paragraph starts out showing that the foolish virgins are in the Laodicean state. The Laodicean state is different than the identifying mark of the Laodicean church which is "a people declaring judgment". The state is the condition of the people which is represented by the 5 foolish virgins in the parable of Jesus in Matthew 25. The identifying mark comes from the time period of the Laodicean Church, the last church in the sequence of churches given by Christ in Revelation. The reason that it is called "a people declaring judgment" is that it is identified with the sanctuary system. This is now the Day of Atonement this side of the cross, the reality of which the children of Israel had in the type. This condition of the people of the Laodicean church causes them to be lukewarm. This condition of being lukewarm causes Jesus to spew them out of His mouth. There are no conditions to this action by Jesus. He does admonish those who will to do the following –

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.

Revelation 3:18-21

Then Jesus offers these words of consolation for this group of people.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

 

Lastly, He gives them something to look forward to should they take up a living, vital connection with Him.

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in the throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Like Jacob of old, they too can be overcomers, but it takes a vital, living relationship with Him. This will restore the relationship with His Father, and our Father in Heaven. Jesus is the link to our Heavenly Father.

Those who profess to be waiting for the coming of Christ, are represented in the parable by the five wise and the five foolish virgins. The wise virgins had oil in their vessels with their lamps; they had their lamps trimmed and burning, and were ready to go out and meet the bridegroom. But the foolish virgins had no oil in their vessels; and when the solemn cry was sounded, they were found unprepared, and could not go forth to meet the bridegroom. Many profess to be wise; but have they the Holy Spirit? As a people, we profess to know the truth, but of what avail will this be if we do not carry out its principles in our life? How many say, "Oh, yes, the coming of Christ is at the door. The end is so near that there is no time to carry the message to those who sit in darkness. There is no need of spending money on foreign work; for the end will come before it will be accomplished." Is this the way that you carry out the injunction of your coming Lord, to preach the gospel in all the world for a witness to all nations? It is your business to be ready for the coming of the Lord, and you cannot be ready while failing to carry out his commands. There are some who seem to feel no responsibility concerning paying their tithes into the treasury of the Lord. They withhold from Him who has given them everything else, the small portion He has named as His own. They say they cannot see that it is their duty to pay tithe; but there is no reason why they should not see it, except that self is before their eyes. {ST, August 1, 1892 par. 7}

 

May God help you that you may repent, and pay your honest debts to God, saying, "Of thine own have we given thee." God has given us everything, providing for us the rain, the sunshine, the dew, and all the bounties of nature, and can we be hard-hearted, ungrateful, and selfish? Would you not think that you would naturally be glad to give back to God his own? If anyone is robbing God, he may see by studying the Bible that he should repent and make restitution; for his case has been presented in the word of God. He should fear to continue in blindness of mind, lest for his selfishness he should lose eternal life, which Christ died to obtain for him. {ST, August 1, 1892 par. 8}

 

Half-hearted Christians obscure the glory of God, misinterpret piety, and cause men to receive false ideas as to what constitutes vital godliness. Others think that they, also, can be Christians and yet consult their own tastes and make provision for the flesh, if these false-hearted professors can do so. On many a professed Christian's banner the motto is written, "You can serve God and please self,--you can serve God and mammon." They profess to be wise virgins, but not having the oil grace [grace – power to obey] in their vessels with their lamps, they shed forth no light to the glory of God and for the salvation of men. They seek to do what the world's Redeemer said was impossible to do; he has declared, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Those who profess to be Christians, but do not follow in the footsteps of Christ, make of none effect his words, and obscure the plan of salvation. By their spirit and deportment they virtually say, "Jesus, in your day you did not understand as well as we do in our day, that man can serve God and mammon." These professors of religion claim to keep the law of God, but they do not keep it. O, what would the standard of true manhood have become had it been left in the hands of man! God has lifted his own standard,--the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; and the experience that follows complete surrender to God, is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Everything that man touches with unholy hands and unsanctified intellect, even the gospel of truth, becomes, by the contact, contaminated. Man puts confidence in man, and makes flesh his arm, but all the work of man is of the earth, earthy. {RH, August 19, 1890 par. 11}

 

The converted soul has a hatred of sin; he does not indulge in self-complacency, self-love, self-sufficiency, nor pass on day after day, claiming to be a Christian, and yet bringing dishonor upon Christ by misrepresenting him in character. Those who make this mistake, and pass on filled with self-righteousness, have not in reality made the first step heavenward. The first step toward heaven is conviction of sin, the second is repentance and obedience. True piety never exalts self. {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 4}

 

 

September 17, 1895 Have You Oil in Your Vessels With Your Lamps?   By Mrs. E. G. White. (Below)

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps." {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 1}

 

Though five of these virgins are represented as wise and five as foolish, all had lamps. They had all been convicted that they must prepare for the coming of the bridegroom, and all had gained a knowledge of the truth. There was no apparent difference between the wise and the foolish until the cry was made, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him;" but the true state of things was then developed. The wise had taken precautions to carry oil with them in their vessels, so that their lamps that were beginning to burn dimly might be replenished with oil; but the foolish had not provided for this emergency, and now they made an earnest, distressed petition to those who were wise. "And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out." They had neglected to prepare themselves to meet the bridegroom, and now turned to those who had provided themselves with oil. "But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves." {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 2}

 

In reading this parable one cannot but pity the foolish virgins, and ask the question, Why is it that the wise did not divide their supply of oil? But as we make the spiritual application of the parable, we can see the reason. It is not possible for those who have faith and grace to divide their supply with those who have not. It is not possible for those who have made a thorough heart work, to impart the benefit of this to those who have done but surface work. The parable is designed to point out the peril of doing a surface work. Many profess to be Christians, and for a time their half-heartedness is not discerned. The difference between them and those who are truly pious is not made apparent. This parable should awaken solemn reflections. Considering it we should ask ourselves, Are we doers of the words of Christ? Are we building on the rock? Are we, in our probationary time, making our calling and election sure? We should not soothe our consciences in expectation of heaven, when we are not bearing the distinguishing characteristics of the Christian life. Paul says, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 3}

 

All the ten virgins appeared to be ready for the coming of the bridegroom, and yet the test brought out the fact that five were unready. Those who have true piety esteem and revere the law of God. Through the grace of Christ they exemplify the principles of the law in their lives, and will not willfully break any of the commandments of God. They realize that "to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." They yield to Christ, who [1] leads men to repentance of sin, who [2] pardons the penitent soul, and [3] clothes him with his own righteousness. The converted soul has a hatred of sin; he does not indulge in self-complacency, self-love, self-sufficiency, nor pass on day after day, claiming to be a Christian, and yet bringing dishonor upon Christ by misrepresenting him in character. Those who make this mistake, and pass on filled with self-righteousness, have not in reality made the first step heavenward. The first step toward heaven is [1] conviction of sin, the second is [2] repentance and obedience. True piety never exalts self. {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 4}

 

The foolish virgins do not represent those who are hypocritical. They had a regard for truth, they advocated the truth, they were intending to go forth to meet the bridegroom. They are attached to those who believe the truth, and go with them, having lamps, which represent a knowledge of the truth. When there was a revival in the church, their feelings were stirred; but they failed to have oil in their vessels, because they did not bring the principles of godliness into their daily life and character. They did not fall upon the rock Christ Jesus, and permit their old nature to be broken up. This class is represented also by the stony-ground hearers. Christ said: "Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside; and the fowls came and devoured them up; some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth." Jesus explains these stony-ground hearers, and says, "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for awhile; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended." {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 5}

 

(Foolish Virgins) Many receive the truth readily, but they fail to assimilate truth, and its influence is not abiding. They are like the foolish virgins, who had no oil in their vessels with their lamps. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, which is brought into the soul through faith in Jesus Christ. (WISE Virgins) Those who [1] earnestly search the Scriptures with much prayer, [2] who rely upon God with firm faith, [3] who obey his commandments, will be among those who are represented as wise virgins. The teachings of the word of God are not yea and nay, but yea and amen [so be it] – let it be as it is. The requirement of the gospel is far-reaching. Says the apostle, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Practical piety will not be attained by giving the grand truths of the Bible a place in the outer courts of the heart. The religion of the Bible must be brought into the large and the little affairs of life. It must furnish the powerful motives and principles that will regulate the Christian's character and course of action. {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 6}

 

Human nature is depraved, and is justly condemned by a holy God. But provision is made for the repenting sinner, so that by faith in the atonement of the only begotten Son of God, he may receive forgiveness of sin, find justification, receive adoption into the heavenly family, and become an inheritor of the kingdom of God. Transformation of character is wrought through the operation of the Holy Spirit, which works upon the human agent, implanting in him, according to his desire and consent to have it done, a new nature. The image of God is restored to the soul, and day by day he is strengthened and renewed by grace, and is enabled more and more perfectly to reflect the character of Christ in righteousness and true holiness. {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 7}

 

The oil so much needed by those who are represented as foolish virgins, is not something to be put on the outside. They need to bring the truth into the sanctuary of the soul, that it may cleanse, refine, and sanctify. It is not theory that they need; it is the sacred teachings of the Bible, which are not uncertain, disconnected doctrines, but are living truths, that involve eternal interests that center in Christ. In him is the complete system of divine truth. The salvation of the soul, through faith in Christ, is the ground and pillar of the truth. Those who exercise true faith in Christ make it manifest by holiness of character, by obedience to the law of God. They realize that the truth as it is in Jesus reaches heaven, and compasses eternity. They understand that the Christian's character should represent the character of Christ, and be full of grace and truth. To them is imparted the oil of grace, which sustains a never-failing light. The Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer, makes him complete in Christ. It is not a decided evidence that a man or a woman is a Christian because he manifests deep emotion when under exciting circumstances. He who is Christlike has a deep, determined, persevering element in his soul, and yet has a sense of his own weakness, and is not deceived and misled by the Devil, and made to trust in himself. He has a knowledge of the word of God, and knows that he is safe only as [1] he places his hand in the hand of Jesus Christ, and [2] keeps firm hold upon him. {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 8}

 

Character is revealed by a crisis. When the earnest voice proclaimed at midnight, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him," the sleeping virgins roused from their slumbers, and it was seen who had made preparation for the event. Both parties were taken unawares, but one was prepared for the emergency, and the other was found without preparation. Character is revealed by circumstances. Emergencies bring out the true metal of character. Some sudden and unlooked-for calamity, bereavement, or crisis, some unexpected sickness or anguish, something that brings the soul face to face with death, will bring out the true inwardness of the character. It will be made manifest whether or not there is any real faith in the promises of the word of God. It will be made manifest whether or not the soul is sustained by grace, whether there is oil in the vessel with the lamp. {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 9}

 

Testing times come to all. How do we conduct ourselves under the test and proving of God? Do our lamps go out? or do we still keep them burning? Are we prepared for every emergency by our connection with Him who is full of grace and truth? The five wise virgins could not impart their character to the five foolish virgins. Character must be formed by us as individuals. It cannot be transferred to another, even if the possessor were willing to make the sacrifice. There is much we can do for each other while mercy still lingers. We can [1] represent the character of Christ. We can [2] give faithful warnings to the erring. We can [3] reprove, [4] rebuke, with all long-suffering and doctrine, bringing the doctrines of Holy Writ home to the heart. We can [5] give heartfelt sympathy. We can [6] pray with and for one another. By [7] living a circumspect life, by [8] maintaining a holy conversation, we may give an example of what a Christian should be; but no person can give to another his own mold of character. Let us duly consider the fact that we are to be saved, not as companies, but as individuals. We shall be judged according to the character we have formed. It is perilous to neglect to prepare the soul for eternity, and to put off making our peace with God until upon a dying bed. It is [1] by the daily transactions of life, [2] by the spirit we manifest, that we determine our eternal destiny. He who is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much. If we have made Christ our pattern, if we have walked and worked as he has given us an example in his own life, we shall be able to meet the solemn surprises that will come upon us in our experience, and say from our heart, "Not my will, but thine, be done." {RH, September 17, 1895 par. 10}

 

Every act, every deed of justice and mercy and benevolence, makes music in heaven. The Father from His throne beholds and numbers the performer of them with His most precious treasures. "And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, when I make up My jewels." Every merciful act to the needy or the suffering is as though done to Jesus. Whoever succors the poor, or sympathizes with the afflicted and oppressed, and befriends the orphan, brings himself into a more close relationship to Jesus.--Review and Herald, Aug. 16, 1881. {ChS 268.1}

 

Christ regards all acts of mercy, benevolence, and thoughtful consideration for the unfortunate, the blind, the lame, the sick, the widow, and the orphan, as done to Himself; and these works are preserved in the heavenly records, and will be rewarded.--Testimonies, vol. 3, pp. 512, 513. {ChS 268.2}

 

It is in probationary time, the time in which we are living, that we should calmly contemplate the terms of salvation, and live according to the conditions laid down in the word of God. We should educate and train ourselves, hour by hour and day by day, by careful discipline, to perform every duty. We should become acquainted with God and with Jesus Christ whom he has sent. In every trial it is our privilege to draw upon him who has said, "Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me." The Lord says he is more willing to give us the Holy Spirit than parents are to give bread to their children. Then let us have the oil of grace in our vessels with our lamps, that we may not be found among those who are represented as foolish virgins, who were not prepared to go forth to meet the bridegroom.

 

{RH, September 17, 1895 par. 11}

 

Many who heard the first and second angels' messages thought they would live to see Christ coming in the clouds of heaven. Had all who claimed to believe the truth acted their part as wise virgins, the message would ere this have been proclaimed to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. But five were wise and five were foolish. The truth should have been proclaimed by the ten virgins, but only five had made the provision essential to join that company who walked in the light that had come to them. The third angel's message was needed. This proclamation was to be made. Many who went forth to meet the Bridegroom under the messages of the first and second angels, refused the third angel's message, the last testing message to be given to the world. {16MR 269.3}

 

A similar work will be accomplished when that other angel, represented in Revelation 18, gives his message. The first, second, and third angels' messages will need to be repeated. The call will be given to the church, "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins." "Babylon, the great, is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. . . . Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities" [Rev. 18:2-5]. {16MR 270.1}

 

Take each verse of this chapter, and read it carefully, especially the last two: "And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." {16MR 270.2}

 

The parable of the ten virgins was given by Christ Himself, and every specification should be carefully studied. A time will come when the door will be shut. We are represented either by the wise or the foolish virgins. We cannot now distinguish, nor have we authority to say, who are wise and who foolish. There are those who hold the truth in unrighteousness, and these appear outwardly like the wise. -271- {16MR 270.3}

 

Said Christ, "Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. . . . Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man" [Matt. 15:13, 18-20]. {16MR 271.1}

 

It is impossible for men to read the human heart, for the tares so closely resemble the wheat. It is not given to human beings to try to separate them. But the angels of God know them, for their fruits declare their character. Have they not been commissioned to counterwork the work of those who fight against the truth of God's word? These angels will never make a mistake in gathering the wheat from among the tares. {16MR 271.2}

Notice that it says that the wheat is gathered from among the tares. So, the wheat is among the tares, and the angels of God will "never make a mistake" in gathering the wheat from among the tares.

This is the test. Those who are counted among the wise virgins will let their light burn in good works. There are many who will not remain at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him. 1 They have not a knowledge of His ways. Let none rest in the idea that baptism has saved them, while they give no evidence that they are conformed to the image of Christ, while [1] they cling to their old habits, while [2] they exert their influence on the side of the world, and [3] weave their fabric with the threads of worldly ideas and customs. These have not kept the oil in the vessels with their lamps. They are not ready for the Bridegroom. The oil is the holy grace that is sent from heaven, and there must be an inward adorning with that grace, that they may be enabled to stand when He appeareth. {16MR 271.3}

 

1 Many will be lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians. They do not come to the point of yielding the will to God. They do not now choose to be Christians. Steps to Christ, page 48.

 

Brethren and sisters, do we believe the Word of God, or not? Do we not see the signs fulfilling all around us? Do we realize that we are standing on the very verge of eternity, that we have no time to make crooked paths and blundering movements involving the worth of the soul? When the last call shall be made, Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet him, shall we represent the foolish virgins, who had no oil in their vessels with their lamps? Whatever our line of work, let us remember that we cannot carry it ourselves. Let us be sure that we are making every possible effort to save souls. Self and self-serving have no place now and never had in a true religious experience. Everything we do must be done to the glory of God. Work and pray, and God will cooperate with your efforts. {21MR 30.3}

Notice that Ellen White says "When the last call shall be made, Behold the bridegroom cometh" she is indicating that call is future to her time. This applies to those in the Seventh-day Adventist Church after this time she made that statement. As of December 7, 2011 this call has not been made. The word "when" indicates a point in time.

The Lord God has work for women as well as men to do. They can do a work in families that men cannot do, a work that reaches the inner life. They can come close to the hearts of those whom men cannot reach. Therefore their labor is needed. We must have it. We who love God in truth are all working for a heavenly kingdom. There is no time to waste upon a class of work that has no Christ in it, or upon that work that woman, who is man's equal, can do if her heart is imbued with the love of Christ our Saviour. {21MR 30.4}

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* The Loud Cry

 

Now, let’s get into the future church, both in the Scripture and the writings of Ellen White.

 

As we said above,

The third angel's message is to lighten the earth with its glory; but only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it when it shall have swelled into the loud cry. {RH, November 19, 1908 par. 9}

This means that there is a time in the future when the 3rd angels message will SWELL"into the loud cry".

 

There are verses in the Bible and statements in Ellen Whites writings that clarify more distinctly the current church with wheat and tares, and the future church – all wheat, the tares separated from the wheat. Where do you want to be in this process? Separated from the wheat? Or do you want to be among those who give the final call out of Babylon, wheat of God? It’s your decision. You choose. God would love to have you as His wheat during that time, but He will not force your will. He will accept and support you in your decision to be part of the wheat during the "loud cry" call out of Babylon.

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* Clad in the armor of Christ's righteousness

Clad in the armor of Christ's righteousness, the church is to enter upon her final conflict. "Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners" (Song of Solomon 6:10), she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer. {PK 725.1}

The darkest hour of the church's struggle with the powers of evil is that which immediately precedes the day of her final deliverance. But none who trust in God need fear; for "when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall," God will be to His church "a refuge from the storm." Isaiah 25:4. {PK 725.2}

In that day only the righteous are promised deliverance. "The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." Isaiah 33:14-16. {PK 725.3}

The word of the Lord to His faithful ones is: "Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy

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doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity." Isaiah 26:20, 21. {PK 725.4}

In visions of the great judgment day the inspired messengers of Jehovah were given glimpses of the consternation of those unprepared to meet their Lord in peace. {PK 726.1}

"Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof; . . . because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate. . . . The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth." Isaiah 24:1-8. {PK 726.2}

"Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. . . . The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate." "The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men." Joel 1:15-18, 12. {PK 726.3}

"I am pained at my very heart," Jeremiah exclaims as he beholds the desolations wrought during the closing scenes of earth's history. "I cannot hold my peace, because

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thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled." Jeremiah 4:19, 20. {PK 726.4}

"The loftiness of man shall be bowed down," declares Isaiah of the day of God's vengeance, "and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols He shall utterly abolish. . . . In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth." Isaiah 2:17-21. {PK 727.1}

Of those times of transition, when the pride of man shall be laid low, Jeremiah testifies: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down." "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." Jeremiah 4:23-26; 30:7. {PK 727.2}

The day of wrath to the enemies of God is the day of final deliverance to His church. The prophet declares:

 

"Strengthen ye the weak hands,

And confirm the feeble knees.

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Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be

strong, fear not:

Behold, your God will come with vengeance,

Even God with a recompense;

He will come and save you."

 

"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it." Isaiah 35:3, 4; 25:8. And as the prophet beholds the Lord of glory descending from heaven with all the holy angels, to gather the remnant church from among the nations of earth, he hears the waiting ones unite in the exultant cry:

 

"Lo, this is our God;

We have waited for Him,

And He will save us:

This is the Lord;

We have waited for Him,

We will be glad and rejoice

in His salvation."

Isaiah 25:9. {PK 727.3}

The voice of the Son of God is heard calling forth the sleeping saints, and as the prophet beholds them coming from the prison house of death, he exclaims, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead."

 

"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 26:19; 35:5, 6.

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{PK 728.1}

In the visions of the prophet, those who have triumphed over sin and the grave are now seen happy in the presence of their Maker, talking freely with Him as man talked with God in the beginning. "Be ye glad," the Lord bids them, "and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity."

 

"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."

 

"Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree,

And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree."

 

"And an highway shall be there, and a way,

And it shall be called The way of holiness;

The unclean shall not pass over it;

But it shall be for those:

The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." {PK 729.1}

"Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." Isaiah 65:18, 19; 33:24; Isaiah 35:6, 7; 55:13; Isaiah 35:8; 40:2. {PK 729.2}

As the prophet beholds the redeemed dwelling in the City of God, free from sin and from all marks of the curse, in rapture he exclaims, "Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her."

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"Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,

Wasting nor destruction within thy borders;

But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,

And thy gates Praise.

 

"The sun shall be no more thy light by day;

Neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee:

But the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light,

And thy God thy glory.

 

"Thy sun shall no more go down;

Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself:

For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light,

And the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

 

"Thy people also shall be all righteous:

They shall inherit the land forever,

The branch of My planting,

The work of My hands,

That I may be glorified."

Isaiah 66:10; 60:18-21. {PK 729.3}

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* Character of those God will USE during the Loud Cry

The foundation of Christianity is Christ our righteousness. Men are individually accountable to God, and each must act as God moves upon him, not as he is moved by the mind of another; for if this manner of labor is pursued, souls cannot be impressed and directed by the Spirit of the great I am. They will be kept under a restraint which allows no freedom of action or of choice. {5T 725.2}

The Lord has shown me that men in responsible positions are standing directly in the way of His work because they think the work must be done and the blessing must come in a certain way, and they will not recognize that which comes in any other way. ... Why reject the Lord's methods of working, because they do not coincide with our ideas? God has His appointed channels of light, but these are not necessarily the minds of any particular set of men. When all shall take their appointed place in God's work, earnestly seeking wisdom and guidance from Him, then a great advance will have been made toward letting light shine upon the world. When men shall cease to place themselves in the way, God will work among us as never before. {5T 726.1}

There is a deplorable lack of spirituality among our people. A great work must be done for them before they can become what Christ designed they should be—the light of the world. For years I have felt deep anguish of soul as the Lord has presented before me the want in our churches of Jesus and His love. There has been a spirit of self-sufficiency and a disposition to strive for position and supremacy. I have seen that self-glorification was becoming common among Seventh-day Adventists and that unless the pride of man should be abased and Christ exalted we should, as a people, be in no better condition to receive Christ at His second advent than were the Jewish people to receive Him at His first advent. {5T 727.3}

Jews were looking for the Messiah; but He did not come as they had predicted that He would, and if He were accepted as the Promised One, their learned teachers would be forced to acknowledge that they had erred. These leaders had separated themselves from God, and Satan worked upon their minds to lead them to reject the Saviour. Rather than yield their pride of opinion, they closed their eyes to all the evidences of His Messiahship, and they not only rejected the message of salvation themselves, but they steeled the hearts of the people against Jesus. Their history should be a solemn warning to us. We need never expect that when the Lord has light for His people, Satan will stand calmly by and make no effort to prevent them from receiving it. He will work upon minds to excite distrust and jealousy and unbelief. Let us beware that we do not refuse the light God sends, because it does not come in a way to please us. Let not God's blessing be turned away from us because we know not the time of our visitation. If there are any who do not see and accept the light themselves, let them not stand in the way of others. Let it not be said of this highly favored people, as of the Jews when the good news of the kingdom was preached to them: "Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered." {5T 728.1}

We are taught in God's word that this is the time, above all others, when we may look for light from heaven. It is now that we are to expect a refreshing from the presence of the Lord. We should watch for the movings of God's providence as the army of Israel watched for "the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees"—the appointed signal that heaven would work for them. {5T 728.2}

God cannot glorify His name through His people while they are leaning upon man and making flesh their arm. Their present state of weakness will continue until Christ alone shall be exalted; until, with John the Baptist, they shall say from a humble and reverent heart: "He must increase, but I must decrease." Words have been given me to speak to the people of God: "Lift Him up, the Man of Calvary. Let humanity stand back, that all may behold Him in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered. Says the prophet Isaiah: 'Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.' Let the church and the world look upon their Redeemer. Let every voice proclaim with John: 'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.'" {5T 729.1}

It is to the thirsting soul that the fountain of living waters is open. God declares: "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." To souls that are earnestly seeking for light and that accept with gladness every ray of divine illumination from His holy word, to such alone light will be given. It is through these souls that God will reveal that light and power which will lighten the whole earth with His glory.

{5T 729.2}

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* The Two Falls of Babylon

Comment somewhere in this area: Isn’t it interesting that the 2 falls of Babylon occur 1st at the start of the Day of Atonement, and 2nd at the finish of the Day of Atonement.

 

Let’s look at some of those statements mentioned in the above paragraph.

And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Revelation 14:8

Notice that the phrase "is fallen" is mentioned twice the verse above. This particular verse is part of the 3 angels message of Revelation 14. It is again mentioned again in Revelation 18:2, quoted below.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Revelation 18:2

Ellen White comments on this repeat below.

The fourteenth chapter of Revelation is a chapter of the deepest interest. This scripture will soon be understood in all its bearings, and the messages given to John the revelator will be repeated with distinct utterance. {RH, October 13, 1904 par. 2}

 

The prophecies in the eighteenth of Revelation will soon be fulfilled. During the proclamation of the third angel's message, "another angel" is to "come down from heaven, having great power," and the earth is to be "lighted with his glory." The Spirit of the Lord will so graciously bless consecrated human instrumentalities that men, women, and children will open their lips in praise and thanksgiving, filling the earth with the knowledge of God, and with his unsurpassed glory, as the waters cover the sea. {RH, October 13, 1904 par. 3}

 

From the Great Controversy we read -

The second angel's message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time they have fallen lower and lower. Not yet, however, can it be said that "Babylon is fallen,... because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." She has not yet made all nations do this. The spirit of world conforming and indifference to the testing truths for our time exists and has been gaining ground in churches of the Protestant faith in all the countries of Christendom; and these churches are included in the solemn and terrible denunciation of the second angel. But the work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination. {GC 389.2}

 

The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work "with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;" and they that "received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved," will be left to receive "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11. Not until this condition shall be reached, and the union of the church with the world shall be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is yet future. {GC 389.3}

 

Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ's true followers are still to be found in their communion. There are many of these who have never seen the special truths for this time. Not a few are dissatisfied with their present condition and are longing for clearer light. They look in vain for the image of Christ in the churches with which they are connected. As these bodies depart further and further from the truth, and ally themselves more closely with the world, the difference between the two classes will widen, and it will finally result in separation. The time will come when those who love God supremely can no longer remain in connection with such as are "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." {GC 390.1}

 

Revelation 18 points to the time when, as the result of rejecting the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6-12, the church will have fully reached the condition foretold by the second angel, and the people of God still in Babylon will be called upon to separate from her communion. This message is the last that will ever be given to the world; and it will accomplish its work. When those that "believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:12), shall be left to receive strong delusion and to believe a lie, then the light of truth will shine upon all whose hearts are open to receive it, and all the children of the Lord that remain in Babylon will heed the call: "Come out of her, My people" (Revelation 18:4). {GC 390.2}

 

Notice that the messages of Revelation 14 WILL BE REPEATED VERY DISTINCTLY.

 

Then she turns immediately to the prophecies of Revelation 18. She says that it is DURING or WHILE the ORIGINAL 3 angels’ messages are in progress that " "another angel" is to "come down from heaven, having great power".

 

The third angel's message in its clear, definite terms is to be made the prominent warning. All that it comprehends is to be made intelligible to the reasoning minds of today. While we bind ourselves to the development of the truth in the past angels' messages, we are announcing the message of the third angel and of the other angel that follows the third, the second time proclaiming the fall of Babylon. {10MR 315.1}

 

There are 3 things we need to take note in the quote above.

 

1st – "we bind ourselves to the development of the truth in the past angels' messages"

2nd – She was announcing "the message of the third angel and of the other angel that follows the third"

3rd – The other angel, "the second time proclaiming the fall of Babylon."

 

In the 1st note above, we are binding ourselves to "the truth in the past angels' messages". The 3 angels messages of Revelation 14 are still with us. They are not set aside or discarded in any way. We are bound to them. They are still with us.

 

In the 2nd note above she is announcing that the "the other angel … follows the third".

 

In the 3rd note above that the other angel is the second time proclaiming the fall of Babylon.

 

Thus the reason for the phrase in Revelation 14:8 and 18:2 "is fallen" being repeated twice. But when was the first fall of Babylon? This was during the 1844 movement.

 

You may need to add or correct something here.

The message of the fall of Babylon, as given by the second angel, is repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the churches since 1844. The work of this angel comes in at the right time to join in the last great work of the third angel's message as it swells to a loud cry. And the people of God are thus prepared to stand in the hour of temptation, which they are soon to meet. I saw a great light resting upon them, and they united to fearlessly proclaim the third angel's message. {SR 399.2}

Show Ellen White’s writings here that show the first fall was in 1844.

 

So now, we have "another" angel following the 3rd angel of Revelation 14, which is proclaiming the 2nd fall of Babylon.

 

Now, lets find out something more about this "other angel". Does it follow or lead the 3rd angel? Remember that angels represent "messages". The "other" angel, we can say is the 4th message, not of Revelation 14, but in the series of messages in both Revelation 14 and 18. This is a message that is added to the 3rd angels message that is so powerful that it causes Babylon to fall completely. We will see that statement from Ellen White below.

 

Thus the substance of the second angel's message is again given to the world by that other angel who lightens the earth with his glory. These messages all blend in one, to come before the people in the closing days of this earth's history. All the world will be tested, and all that have been in the darkness of error in regard to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will understand the last message of mercy that is to be given to men. {2SM 116.2}

 

So, the "substance of" the 2nd angels message telling Babylon is fallen, is to be given again to the world by "that other angel". This in conformity to both the texts of Scripture in both Revelation 14:8 and 18:2, and Ellen White where she says of the fourteenth chapter of Revelation that "the messages given to John the revelator will be repeated with distinct utterance"

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* The Other Angel

 

Now here’s an interesting statement from Testimonies to Ministers, page 300, by Ellen White which we will show is substantiated by further statements in the Scriptures and in the writings of Ellen White.

"There will be those among us who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world. God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands."

This is astounding. Here she says that "the angel who joins the third angel", (or it can be shown that this is "another angel" or the "other angel"), takes the LEAD. The 3rd angel now becomes the FOLLOWER NOT the leader. What does this mean?

 

She prefaced the first part of that sentence with the following: "There will be those among us who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made…". So there are leaders in our midst who want to control God’s work, even dictating what movements should be made, "when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel. Here we see that "the "other angel", takes the LEAD.

 

Let every one who claims to believe that the Lord is soon coming, search the Scriptures as never before; for Satan is determined to try every device possible to keep souls in darkness, and blind the mind to the perils of the times in which we are living. Let every believer take up his Bible with earnest prayer, that he may be enlightened by the holy Spirit as to what is truth, that he may know more of God and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent. Search for the truth as for hidden treasures, and disappoint the enemy. The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth. For it is the work of every one to whom the message of warning has come, to lift up Jesus, to present him to the world as revealed in types, as shadowed in symbols, as manifested in the revelations of the prophets, as unveiled in the lessons given to his disciples and in the wonderful miracles wrought for the sons of men. Search the Scriptures; for they are they that testify of him. {RH, November 22, 1892 par. 7}

 

Said my guide, "There is much light yet to shine forth from the law of God and the gospel of righteousness. This message, understood in its true character, and proclaimed in the Spirit, will lighten the earth with its glory. The great decisive question is to be brought before all nations, tongues, and peoples. The closing work of the third angel's message will be attended with a power that will send the rays of the Sun of Righteousness into all the highways and byways of life, and decisions will be made for God as supreme Governor; His law will be looked upon as the rule of His government." {1888 166.1}

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* Jesus Talks about the Seventh-day Adventist Church

 

Who are the 3 angels messages associate with? The Seventh-day Adventist [Corporate] Church. Who then is currently leading out in the 3 angels messages and responsible for their dissemination to the world at large? The Seventh-day Adventist Church Worldwide.

 

Then, if the Seventh-day Adventist is continuing to have a mixture of both wheat and tares, and does not purify herself of the tares, then what will happen to her? The answer lies in the counsel to the Laodicean church of Revelation 3:14-16, the answer being in verse 16.

 

14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

 

That’s a pretty strong statement by Jesus Christ Himself to the last church on this earth. We know we are Laodicean church because the name itself tells us that we are a people "declaring judgment". What does that mean? It’s inherent in our beginning, even before the Seventh-day Adventist Church came into existence. It came from the Sanctuary.

 

The 3rd apartment of the Sanctuary is the Most Holy Place. In the Old Testament sanctuary service, it’s here in the Most Holy Place that on the Day of Atonement a judgment was made by which people were separated into 2 groups, the forgiven (by choice), and the unforgiven (again by choice). At the end of the Day of Atonement, the forgiven stayed in the camp with the children of Israel. The unforgiven were sent out of the camp and could not stay with the children of Israel.

 

Today, during this Great Day of Atonement, Seventh-day Adventists, among all religious bodies across the circle of the earth, are the only ones claiming that Jesus is in the Heavenly Sanctuary in the Most Holy Place going through the records of all mankind, judging each individual, and then separating out the tares from among the wheat. This is the judging process going on by the Judge of the whole earth. So, the Laodicean church of Revelation 3:14- applies solely to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

 

There are those who have asked for all their sins to be forgiven before and during the Day of Atonement, and have received the mercy of God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. Their names are retained in the Book of Life. They will go to heaven with Jesus Christ when He comes to take them to Heaven with Him. They will INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE. They will live in PEACE, HARMONY, and HAPPINESS, throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.

 

The other group are those who have not availed themselves of the blood of Jesus, preferring not to have a LIVING RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ. They prefer to pay for their own sins by going into the final fire that destroys Satan and his angels, with all those human beings who have done the same, They have all been unwilling to accept the good and lasting mercy of the God of Heaven. They have chosen to remain tares, look alikes, professing to be one of God’s people, called, but not chosen, chosen in the "furnace of affliction". It was a good life in God’s remnant church. They had good friends in the church, but they never chose to become acquainted with a Friend that wanted to be their Friend and in particular their Saviour. The sermons were good. Some of the sermons caused them some discomfort, but they just went on their way, unrepentant of things they knew they ought to do, or not do, but wouldn’t change. So close, yet so far. Salvation within their reach, yet they would not reach out to take hold of the Very One who had their best interest in His great heart of love. The provision for them was there, but their acceptance of that provision was not.

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18

That pride worked their own destruction, forever separated from their Great Creator by eternal death. That is the same pride that was in Satan’s heart that caused him to not accept the same mercy that God offered him when he was thinking that he knew better than God. In the end, all will see that God is just

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Romans 14:11

So, the separation takes place, not at Christ’s 2nd coming, as far as salvation or no-salvation being administered for each person who has lived on the face of this earth, but in the Heavenly Sanctuary, prior to the coming of Jesus.

 

What does Ellen White have to say about what will happen to the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

Of those who boast of their light, and yet fail to walk in it, Christ says, "But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum [Seventh-day Adventists, who have had great light], which art exalted unto heaven [in point of privilege], shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent [in their own estimation], and hast revealed them unto babes." {RH, August 1, 1893 par. 5}

 

"And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim." {RH, August 1, 1893 par. 6}

 

The Lord has established among us institutions of great importance, and they are to be managed, not as worldly institutions are managed, but after God's order. They are to be managed with an eye single to his glory, that by all means perishing souls may be saved. To the people of God the testimonies of the Spirit have come, and yet many have not taken heed to reproofs, warnings, and counsels. {RH, August 1, 1893 par. 7}

 

Ellen Whites statement above

And thou, Capernaum [Seventh-day Adventists, who have had great light], which art exalted unto heaven [in point of privilege], shalt be brought down to hell:

matches the verse in Revelation 3:14-16

14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

 

It’s a strange thing that Seventh-day Adventists who read these texts of Scripture never seem to see that in verse 16 there are no conditions to the statement when Jesus says "I will spue thee out of my mouth". When you emphasize the word will in that sentence, the sentence takes on an entirely new meaning that most people, especially Seventh-day Adventists, don’t normally see in what Jesus is saying. The reason given for this action by the Saviour is made in verse 15. "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." God wants His people to be either hot or cold, NOT LUKEWARM.

 

In other words, Jesus wants those in the church to either get fully on (get with it) or get fully off. Eventually, through persecution, the fence sitters will leave the church, and those who are serious about their character and the gospel commission will get fully engaged in the final movement "when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world." Testimonies to Ministers, page 300. Jesus said that there are tares in the church in his parable of The Sower in Matthew 13. He’d like nothing better than even the tares to be converted and work with those who will finish the gospel. He doesn't want anyone lost. But the truth of the matter is that with the freedom of choice He has given to every human being, there are those who will side with and stay with Satan and eventually die with Satan eternally. So, sometime before the last movement of Revelation 18:2 gets fully engaged as the final movement, He allows persecution to come to the church. Those who are in the church for the ride, will be flushed out. This will allow the church, at that time, to move forward as one unified group, without any internal hindrance.

 

Joel 2:7 & 8 gives a picture of a people like this people who will give the last message of mercy that this world will every hear.

"Joel 2:7  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

8  Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded."

 

Ellen White says it another way in Great Controversy, page 611, paragraph 1 to 612, paragraph 2.

The angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel's message is to lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted power is here foretold. The advent movement of 1840-44 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God; the first angel's message was carried to every missionary station in the world, and in some countries there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century; but these are to be exceeded by the mighty movement under the last warning of the third angel. {GC 611.1}

 

The work will be similar to that of the Day of Pentecost. As the "former rain" was given, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the opening of the gospel, to cause the upspringing of the precious seed, so the "latter rain" will be given at its close for the ripening of the harvest. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." Hosea 6:3. "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain." Joel 2:23. "In the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts 2:17, 21. {GC 611.2}

 

The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are "the times of refreshing" to which the apostle Peter looked forward when he said: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus." Acts 3:19, 20. {GC 611.3}

 

Notice that she quotes a verse that talks about sins being "blotted out". This is a direct reference to a Sanctuary activity in the Holy Place when after the repentance and conversion, then a subsequent activity by Jesus Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary the sins of the forgiven will be "blotted out". Blotting out is the same as erased from the book of your life’s activity. This is the last activity of Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary relating to sins being in the Sanctuary. Once blotted out, or erased from the book of life’s activity, they are transferred to Satan. At this point in time, the following verse of Revelation 22:11 becomes a reality.

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Revelation 22:11

 

Ellen White continues in the Great Controversy relating to this time. Here’s where the above verse of Joel become reality.

Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works, with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand. {GC 612.1}

 

The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from [1] fully comprehending the truth or [2] from yielding obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord's side. {GC 612.2}

 

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Notice in verse 14 that the message is to "the angel of the church of the Laodiceans" Who is the angel? Some have suggested the ministry of the church, the church leaders. Why? Because, even if there are good leaders among the Seventh-day Adventist Church, they have allowed things to come into and stay in the church that God never intended should be in the church. Some of that was addressed earlier in this writing.

 

Wouldn’t it be better if the tares would be weeded out of the church so that the Seventh-day Adventist Church can finish the final work of Revelation 18:2? Of course it would be better that way. However, if the church itself does not become pure as God intends it should be, then He has to go another way. That way has already been talked about in Ellen Whites writings.

 

Obedience to the Lord always brings favor, and a faithful discharge of righteous principles will bear the divine credentials; but the Lord is dishonored when those who are placed as stewards, guardians of God's flock, sustain and sanction an evil work. {14MR 101.1}

 

The outward signs of fasting and prayer, without a broken and contrite spirit, are of no value in God's sight. The inward work of grace is needed. Humiliation of soul is essential. God looks upon this. He will graciously receive those who will humble their hearts before Him. He will hear their petitions and heal their backslidings. {14MR 101.2}

 

Ministers and people need the work of purification in their souls, that God's judgments may be turned away from them. God is waiting, waiting for humiliation and repentance. He will receive all who will turn unto Him with their whole heart. {14MR 101.3}

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* God's Purpose for His Church

God gives men the light, but many are filled with a self-sufficient, masterly spirit; and they strive by carrying out their own ideas to reach a height where they will be as God. They place their mind first, as if God must serve with them. Herein lies the danger in this: Unless God shall in some way make these men understand that He is God, and that they are to serve Him, human inventions will be brought in that will lead away from Bible truth, notwithstanding all the cautions that have been given. {14MR 101.4}

 

The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of life, He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it unto the Gentiles. God will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work. When a church proves unfaithful to the word of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important responsibilities. But if these in turn do not purify their lives from every wrong action; if they do not establish pure and holy principles in all their borders, then the Lord will grievously afflict and humble them, and, unless they repent, will remove them from their place and make them a reproach. {14MR 102.1}

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* Warnings to the Seventh-day Adventist Church

In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence: "Found wanting." By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged. . . . {LDE 59.3}

Solemn admonitions of warning, manifest in the destruction of dearly cherished facilities [THE BATTLE CREEK SANITARIUM, THE LARGEST AND BEST-KNOWN ADVENTIST INSTITUTION IN THE WORLD, BURNED TO THE GROUND FEBRUARY 18, 1902. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY THE DESTRUCTION OF THE REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, ALSO BY FIRE, ON DECEMBER 30, 1902.] for service, say to us: "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works" (Rev. 2:5). . . . {LDE 60.1}

Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself. When she resists the evil and chooses the good, when she seeks God with all humility and reaches her high calling in Christ, standing on the platform of eternal truth and by faith laying hold upon the attainments prepared for her, she will be healed. She will appear in her God-given simplicity and purity, separate from earthly entanglements, showing that the truth has made her free indeed. Then her members will indeed be the chosen of God, His representatives.--8T 247-251 (April 21, 1903). {LDE 60.2}

 

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This statement of Ellen White conflicts with the following statements.

 

 

 

Here are some things she says about the future church.

 

 

 

 

 

The final separation takes place after Romans 14:11 takes place, and the fires that purify the earth that we are now living on, also destroy the wicked, angels and humans alike.

 

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Malachi 4:1

 

No one among the wicked, Satan and his angels, and his human followers will continue to live on and on and on. Once they have been burned up "STUBBLE", they will be entirely out of existence. In God’s mercy, He cannot let them into Heaven or onto the New Earth. They wouldn’t be happy there. They don’t appreciate His kindness, His mercy, or anything about Him. They have been bought off by Satan so much that Heaven and the New Earth would be eternal torment to them. So the only thing God can do for them is to put them entirely out of existence, nevermore to be apart of the life that He so generously offered to them while they were living upon the earth. His Holy Spirit was ever available to them, seeking to influence them to do what was right, but they would have none of Him or His just and merciful ways. Satan had so convinced them that doing things "their way" was the right way. They believe the right way was the wrong way, and that the wrong way was the right way. Their twisted warped mind, just like their leader Satan, caused them to refuse the generous offer of Salvation from their Creator. They were so close at one time, yet so far. What a very, very sad tragedy of those who could have, but would not. God gave them the power of choice to choose the right, and they would not.

"When light goes forth to lighten the earth, instead of coming up to the help of the Lord, they will want to bind about His work to meet their narrow ideas. Let me tell you that the Lord will work in this last work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning.

Let’s look at some other quotes by her, and we will include also some Scriptures.

 

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* Tame Sermons / Sleeping Preachers, People

Ministers must be imbued with the same spirit as was their Master when He was upon earth. He went about doing good, blessing others with His influence. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Ministers should have clear conceptions of eternal things and of God's claims upon them; then they can impress others and excite in them a love for contemplating heavenly things. {2T 337.1}

 

Ministers should become Bible students. Are the truths which they handle mighty? Then they should seek to handle them skillfully. Their ideas should be clear and strong, and their spirits fervent, or they will weaken the force of the truth which they handle. By tamely presenting the truth, merely repeating the theory without being stirred by it themselves, they can never convert men. If they should live as long as did Noah, their efforts would be without effect. Their love for souls must be intense and their zeal fervent. A listless, unfeeling manner of presenting the truth will never arouse men and women from their deathlike slumber. They must show by their manners, by their acts and words, and by their preaching and praying, that they believe that Christ is at the door. Men and women are in the last hours of probation, and yet are careless and stupid, and ministers have no power to arouse them; they are asleep themselves. Sleeping preachers preaching to a sleeping people! {2T 337.2}

 

We are in the great day of atonement, when our sins are, by confession and repentance, to go beforehand to Judgment. God does not now accept a tame, spiritless testimony from his ministers. Such a testimony would not be present truth. The message for this time must be meat in due season to feed the church of God. But Satan has been seeking gradually to rob this message of its power, [so] that the people may not be prepared to stand in the day of the Lord. {RH, March 22, 1887 par. 8} 

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* The People Who Are Sealed

Those that overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, will be the favored ones who shall receive the seal of the living God. Those whose hands are not clean, whose hearts are not pure, will not have the seal of the living God. Those who are planning sin and acting it will be passed by. Those who, while having all the light of truth flashing upon their souls, should have works corresponding to their avowed faith, but are allured by sin, setting up idols in their hearts, corrupting their souls before God, and polluting those who unite with them in sin, will have their names blotted out of the book of life, and be left in midnight darkness, having no oil in their vessels with their lamps. "Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings." {TM 445.1}

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The message of hope and mercy is to be carried to the ends of the earth. Whosoever will, may reach forth and take hold of God's strength and make peace with Him, and he shall make peace. No longer are the heathen to be wrapped in midnight darkness. The gloom is to disappear before the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The power of hell has been overcome. {COL 418.4}

 

 

People within the church will say, "This cannot be. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is going on through to the end. It will finish the work".

 

Oh yeah? Tell that to the God of Heaven. Is He a puppet that He should do as you think He should do? The Jews did that and look what happened to them.

 

(Insert 1)

 

The Day of Atonement had to come first so that God could have a people ready for Heaven that they should give the entire final gospel to the world. We have thought that the Seventh-day Adventist Church should finish the work, but this is not what the Scriptures nor Ellen White teach. It is true that the church is the "apple of God’s eye", but WHO is the church? The Seventh-day Adventist Church is made up of wheat and tares. According to the parable of Matthew 13 that Jesus told, that is true. So, is it both the wheat and tares mixed together? Is it the tares? Is it the wheat? My friend, it can be the wheat ONLY. Tares are not part of God’s people. In the grain world, wheat is good for food, tares are not. Doesn't it say He will "spue thee out of my mouth"? Obviously the tares will be spued out. They are not good for food. But the tares He will keep. They are "the apple of God’s eye." Since God is referring to the Laodicean church, it is talking about the church.

 

Not a soul of us is safe unless we learn of Jesus daily, His meekness, His lowliness of heart. When you go to any place to labor, do not be dictatorial, do not be severe, do not be antagonistic. Preach the love of Christ, and this will melt and subdue hearts. Seek to be of one mind and of one judgment, coming close in harmony with your brethren, and to speak the same things. {1SM 181.3}

 

Those who have published the "Loud Cry" tract have not consulted me upon the subject. They have quoted largely from my writings and put their own construction upon them. They claim to have a special message from God to pronounce the Seventh-day Adventist Church Babylon, proclaim her fall, and call the people of God to come out of her, and try to make the testimonies substantiate their theory. These publications are misleading minds, and increasing the prejudice already existing, and tend to make it more difficult to get access to them to present the message God has given in warnings to the world of altogether a different character from the ideas presented in these pamphlets. {1MR 348.2}

 

The Lord has not given you a message to call the Seventh-day Adventists Babylon, and to call the people of God to come out of her. All the reasons you may present cannot have weight with me on this subject; because the Lord has given me decided light that is opposed to such a message. {1MR 358.2}

 

In order for him to give this message broadcast to the world, he made an honest, conscientious, young man believe it to be his duty to steal the Review and Herald list. This is a state prison crime, and the young man ran away from Battle Creek. He did not dare return to Battle Creek for some time. The time was set by this fanatical teacher for probation to close, and as every prediction failed, the young man saw he had been deceived, and he confessed his sin and is now an honorable member of the Battle Creek church. {1MR 359.5}

 

Only two years since, another man, by the name of D, from Connecticut, came out with a message which he called new light in regard to the message of the third angel. This intelligent family have, through this delusion,

360

separated from the Seventh-day Adventist church. Because I had borne a decided testimony against this new light, so called, in_____, Connecticut, where he lived, he opposed me and my work and testimonies. {1MR 359.6}

 

The father of the D children attended the Conference and Ministers' Bible Institute held in Battle Creek; but he held himself aloof and did not harmonize with the spirit of the meeting. He left for his home, and began to leaven the little church in_____. If I had not labored in that place they might have broken up the whole church with their repudiating the truth and position of Seventh-day Adventists, and Mrs. White in particular. {1MR 360.1}

 

At this same time, one, Mrs. E, came from Washington, D. C., claiming to be wholly sanctified and to have the power of healing. This spirit led many to become bewildered. The same accusing spirit was with them--that is, that the church was all wrong and God was calling out a people who would work miracles. A large class of our people in Battle Creek were being severed. I was moved upon by the Spirit of God, in the night season, to write to our people in Battle Creek. {1MR 360.2}

 

The Message to the Laodiceans.--God is leading out a people. He has a chosen people, a church on the earth, whom He has made the depositaries of His law. He has committed to them sacred trust and eternal truth to be given to the world. He would reprove and correct them. The message to the Laodiceans is applicable to Seventh-day Adventists who have had great light and have not walked in the light. It is those who have made great profession, but have not kept in step with their Leader, that will be spewed out of His mouth unless they repent. The message to pronounce the Seventh-day Adventist Church Babylon, and call the people of God out of her, does not come from any heavenly messenger, or any human agent inspired by the Spirit of God.

361

{1MR 360.3}

 

The True Witness says, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:18-21). {1MR 361.1}

 

"I Rebuke and Chasten".--Jesus is coming in to give the individual members of the church the richest blessings, if they will open the door to Him. He does not once call them Babylon, nor ask them to come out. But He says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" (Revelation 3:19), (with messages of reproof and warning). These reproofs I am not ignorant of. I have given warnings because the Spirit of the Lord has constrained me to do so, and have uttered reproofs because the Lord has given me words of reproof. I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God, which has been given me for the church. {1MR 361.2}

 

I will say in the fear and love of God, I know the Lord has thoughts of love and mercy to restore and heal them of all their backslidings. He has a work for His church to do. They are not to be pronounced Babylon, but to be as the salt of the earth, the light of the world. They are to be the living messengers to proclaim a living message in these last days. {1MR 361.3}

 

I warn the Seventh-day Adventist Church to be careful how you receive every new notion and those who claim to have great light. The character of their work seems to be to accuse and to tear down. {1MR 363.1}

 

The Church Not to be Broken Up.--Again I say, The Lord hath not spoken by any messenger who calls the church that keeps the commandments of God, Babylon. True, there are tares with the wheat; but Christ said He would send His angels to first gather the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into the garner. I know that the Lord loves His church. It is not to be disorganized or broken up into independent atoms. There is not the least consistency in this; there is not the least evidence that such a thing will be. Those who shall heed this false message and try to leaven others will be deceived and prepared to receive advanced delusions, and they will come to naught. {1MR 362.2}

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* Eleventh-Hour Workers

The Lord will interfere to vindicate his own honor, to repress the swellings of unrighteousness and bold transgression. He will not be left without witness. The one-hour laborers will be brought in at the eleventh hour, and will consecrate their ability and their entrusted means to advance the Lord's work. While many have reduced the Word, the truth, the holy law of Jehovah, to a dead letter, and by their example testify that this law is a hard, rigorous burden; while they say, "We will lay off this yoke, we will be free, we will no longer remain in covenant relation with God, we will do as we please," there will be men who have had very meager opportunities, who have walked in ways of error because they knew no better way, to whom beams of light will come. As the word of Christ came to Zacchaeus, "I must abide at thy house," so the word will come to them; and those supposed to be hardened sinners will be found to have hearts as tender as a child's, because Christ has deigned to notice them. These will receive the reward for their faithfulness because they are true to principle, and shun not their duty to declare the whole counsel of God. When those who have had abundance of light throw off the restraint which the Word of God imposes, and make void his law, others will come in to fill their place and take their crown. {RH, December 21, 1897 par. 8}

 

Many who enter Christ's service at the eleventh hour will labor with great earnestness for him. They will appreciate the wonderful truths of the Word of God, and will bring these truths into the daily life. {RH, June 17, 1902 par. 17}

There are many who set up a standard of their own, and they trample upon the law of Jehovah. What we believe, influences our life and molds our character; and every one carries with him an atmosphere that is either a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. We are not safe a moment without that living faith that grasps the promises of God. {RH, July 2, 1889 par. 13}

There will be those who will come in at the eleventh hour, and they will receive an equal reward with those who have long known the truth. And why is this?--It is because they used all their talents to the utmost of their ability, and brought all their powers to bear on the work of advancing the light of the truth. When the truth was brought to their attention, they accepted it with joy, and God could trust them with a large measure of light and power. A great work is to be done in the earth, and while men sleep, Satan sows his tares. We must awake! Jesus is ready to work mightily in our behalf. {RH, July 2, 1889 par. 14}

Many who have known the truth have corrupted their way before God and departed from the faith. The broken ranks will be filled up by those represented by Christ as coming in at the eleventh hour.--Letter 103, 1903, p. 4. (To Brother and Sister Starr, June 3, 1903.) {7MR 186.1}

We know that unconsecrated Seventh-day Adventists, who have a knowledge of the truth, but who have linked themselves with worldlings will depart entirely from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits. The enemy will gladly hold out inducements to them, to lead them to carry on a warfare against the people of God. But those who are true and steadfast will have a strong and powerful defense in God.--Letter 127, 1903, p. 5. (To Brother Haskell, July 1, 1903.) {7MR 186.2}

 

Years ago I was shown that our people were far behind in attaining that knowledge which would qualify them to take positions of trust in the cause. Every individual member of the church should put forth efforts to qualify himself to do work for the Master. To each has been appointed a work, according to his ability. Even now, at the eleventh hour, we should arouse to educate men of ability for the work, that they may, while occupying positions of trust themselves, be educating by precept and example all associated with them. {16MR 142.1}

 

At the eleventh hour the Lord will gather a company out of the world to serve Him. There will be a converted ministry. Those who have had privileges and opportunities to become intelligent in regard to the truth, and yet who continue to counterwork the work God would have accomplished, will be purged out, for God accepts the service of no man whose interest is divided. He accepts the whole heart, or none. {20MR 320.1}

Spiritual death marks the course of those who feel no burden to bear the messages which, if received, will restore the moral image of God in man. An unconverted ministry means spiritual death to the churches. When the ministers are converted, spiritual life and spiritual death come into conflict ere the truth gains access to the heart. It must fight every inch of the way. {20MR 320.2}

The world and unconverted church members are in sympathy. Some, when God reproves them for wanting their own way, make the world their confidence, and bring church matters before the world for decision. Then there is collision and strife, and Christ is crucified afresh and put to open shame. Those church members who appeal to the courts of the world show that they have chosen the world as their judge, and their names are registered in heaven as one with unbelievers. How eagerly the world seizes the statements of those who betray sacred trusts! {20MR 320.3}

 

If you are walking humbly with God, you will understand the truth, and the preparation necessary to be made for this time. "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever." If you believe this, and walk out by faith, you will be saved in the kingdom of glory. We should not try to know the "whys" and "wherefores" of everything, but be content to know the simplicity of godliness. Jesus Christ has laid the plan of salvation, and opened the way before us, clear and distinct, that even the simplest who desire the truth, may find it. Special forces of darkness are at work to encircle us, and to take away our liberty of conscience. The mouths of those who have not kept pace with the work are closed, and they do not know what to say; but we who have been waiting and watching for the appearing of our Saviour, are not taken by surprise. {RH, December 18, 1888 par. 26}

 

Though you have yet no sheaves to bring to the Master, you can go to work even at the eleventh hour, and God will help you. Be in earnest; pray and work, and work and pray; and then act as though success depended upon your efforts. Do to the best of your ability, and God will co-operate with you. You ought to work with all the powers of your being. Awake! awake! I pray you. "Arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Go out and do your little, and he will increase your capabilities, and you may keep growing in grace, and in the love of the truth. The more you use your talents, the more they will increase. We are drawing near the close of probation. We should put our talents out to the exchangers, that when the Master comes, he may receive our talents as his own; but he will return to us again both principal and interest. May the God of heaven place your feet upon the eternal Rock. I beg of you to be followers of Jesus Christ, and to bring many sheaves to the Master. {RH, December 18, 1888 par. 28}

 

Isa. iii, was presented before me. I was shown that this prophecy has its application to these last days; and the reproofs are given to the daughters of Zion who have thought only of appearance and display. Read verse 25: "Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war." I was shown that this scripture will be strictly fulfilled. Young men and women professing to be Christians, yet having no Christian experience, and having borne no burdens, and felt no individual responsibility, are to be proved. They will be brought low in the dust, and long for an experience in the things of God, which they failed to obtain. {4bSG 63.1}

 

Every true follower of Jesus will have sacrifices to make. God will prove them, and test the genuineness of their faith. I have been shown that picnics, donations, shows, and other gatherings of pleasure, the true followers of Jesus will discard. They can find no Jesus there, and no influence which will make them heavenly-minded, and increase their growth in grace. The word of God obeyed, leads us to come out from all these things and be separate. The things of the world are sought for, and considered worthy to be admired and enjoyed by all those who are not devoted lovers

of the cross, and are not spiritual worshipers of a crucified Jesus. {4bSG 78.2}

There is chaff among us, and this is why we are so weak. Some are constantly leaning to the world. Their views and feelings harmonize much better with the spirit of the world than with Christ's self-denying followers. It is perfectly natural for them to prefer the company of those whose spirit will best agree with their own. And such have quite too much influence among God's people. They take a part with them, and have a name among them, and are a text for unbelievers and the weak and unconsecrated ones in the church. These persons of two minds will ever have objections to the plain, pointed, testimony which reproves individual wrongs. In this refining time, these persons will either be converted wholly, and sanctified by obeying the truth, or they will be left with the world, where they belong, to receive their reward with them. {4bSG 79.1}

 

* Do as the Bible Instructs

 

Let us all search the Scriptures, for in them you will find our Saviour a present help in every time of need. I exalt the precious Word before you today. Do not repeat what I have said, saying, "Sister White said this," and "Sister White said that." Find out what the Lord God of Israel says, and then do what He commands. Christ said, "I must work the works of him that sent Me." The Father and the Son are united. Will you [during this] morning address consecrate yourselves to God? {13MR 248.1}

You may well be alarmed for your soul if you allow cares to supplant the truth of God in your heart. If your associates are worldlings who flatter you, telling you how smart you are, and what great things you can do, and you love this unhallowed nonsense, you may well feel that you are in peril; for your moral taste is perverted, your perceptions are blunted.--Mrs. E. G. White. {ST, August 1, 1892 par. 16}

 

The teaching of the Bible would, if obeyed, [1] make men pure and [2] keep them pure. "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Mark this charge of the apostle to the Corinthians, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." {PH002 23.1}

 

February 12, 1897 Extracts From Testimonies

 

"If the Lord is in the midst of your councils, beholding your order and love and fear, and your trembling at his word, then you are prepared to do his work unselfishly." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 1}

 

"Man's way is to devise and scheme. God implants a principle." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 2}

"Circumstances cannot work reforms. Christianity proposes a reformation in the heart. What Christ works within will be worked out under the dictation of a converted intellect. The plan of beginning at the outside and trying to work inward, has always failed and always will fail." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 3}

"God's way is to give man something he has not." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 4}

"God's way is to make man something that he is not;" {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 5}

"Man's way is to get an easy place, and indulge appetite and selfish ambition. God's way is to

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work in power. He gives the grace if the sick man realizes that he needs it. Man is too often satisfied to treat himself according to the methods of quackery, and then vindicate the manner of his working as right." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 6}

"Day by day men are revealing whether the kingdom of God is within them. If Christ rules in their hearts they are gaining strength of principle, power, ability to stand as faithful sentinels, true reformers; for there can be no reformation unless there is a thorough co-operation with Jesus Christ. Through the grace of Christ men are to use their God-given faculties to reform themselves. By this self-denying action, which the Lord of heaven looks upon with approval, they gain victories over their own hereditary and cultivated tendencies; then, like Daniel, they make impressions upon others that will never be effaced. The influence will be carried to all parts of the earth." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 7}

"Many of the men who have acted as councilors in board and council meetings need to be weeded out." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 8}

"Other men should take their places, for their voice is not the voice of God. Their plans and devices are not in the order of God. The same men have been kept in office as directors of boards, until under their own management and their own ways, common fire is used in the place of sacred fire of God's own kindling. These men are no more called Israel but supplanters." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 9}

"Changes should have been made long ago. God would have the church roll away her reproach." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 10}

"The same men are not to compose your board year by year; changes should have been made long ago. God would have the church roll away her reproach; but as long as men who have felt fully competent to work without accepting counsel of God are kept in office year by year, this cannot be done. This state of things is leavening every branch of the work, because men do not feel their need of the guidance of the Holy Spirit." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 11}

Accepting Visions (and dreams)

There will be those who will claim to have visions. When God gives you clear evidence that the vision is from Him, you may accept it, but do not accept it on any other evidence, for people are going to be led more and more astray in foreign countries and in America.--2SM 72 (1905). {LDE 44.3}

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* Church Brought Down to Hell

I was confirmed in all I had stated in Minneapolis, that a reformation must go through the churches. Reforms must be made, for spiritual weakness and blindness were upon the people who had been blessed with great light and precious opportunities and privileges. As reformers they had come out of the denominational churches, but they now act a part similar to that which the churches acted. We hoped that there would not be the necessity for another coming out. [THIS IS THE ONLY KNOWN STATEMENT FROM THE PEN OF ELLEN WHITE INDICATING THAT SHE MIGHT HAVE LOST CONFIDENCE IN THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH ORGANIZATION. THE DOUBT WHICH SHE EXPRESSED HERE WAS NEVER REPEATED DURING THE REMAINING TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF HER LIFE.] While we will endeavor to keep the "unity of the Spirit" in the bonds of peace, we will not with pen or voice cease to protest against bigotry.--EGW'88 356, 357 (1889). {LDE 48.1}

Of those who boast of their light and yet fail to walk in it Christ says, "But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum [Seventh-day Adventists, who have had great light], which art exalted unto heaven [in point of privilege], shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day."--RH Aug. 1, 1893. [THE BRACKETED COMMENTS ARE BY ELLEN WHITE.] {LDE 48.2}

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* Not to Come Out of SDA Church

You will take passages in the Testimonies that speak of the close of probation, of the shaking among God's people, and you will talk of a coming out from this people of a purer, holier people that will arise. Now all this pleases the enemy. . . . Should many accept the views you advance, and talk and act upon them, we would see one of the greatest fanatical excitements that has ever been witnessed among Seventh-day Adventists. This is what Satan wants.--1SM 179 (1890). {LDE 51.1}

The Lord has not given you a message to call the Seventh-day Adventists Babylon, and to call the people of God to come out of her. All the reasons you may present cannot have weight with me on this subject, because the Lord has given me decided light that is opposed to such a message. . . . {LDE 51.2}

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* The Church Fails, God Stays With Them

The church has failed, sadly failed, to meet the expectations of her Redeemer, and yet the Lord does not withdraw Himself from His people. He bears with them still, not because of any goodness found in them, but that His name may not be dishonored before the enemies of truth and righteousness, that the satanic agencies may not triumph in the destruction of God's people. He has borne long with their waywardness, unbelief and folly. With wonderful forbearance and compassion He has disciplined them. If they will heed His instruction He will cleanse away their perverse tendencies, saving them with an everlasting salvation and making them eternal monuments of the power of His grace.--ST Nov. 13, 1901. {LDE 58.2}

 

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* In the Balances of the Sanctuary

In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the

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sentence: "Found wanting." By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged. . . . {LDE 59.3}

Solemn admonitions of warning, manifest in the destruction of dearly cherished facilities [THE BATTLE CREEK SANITARIUM, THE LARGEST AND BEST-KNOWN ADVENTIST INSTITUTION IN THE WORLD, BURNED TO THE GROUND FEBRUARY 18, 1902. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY THE DESTRUCTION OF THE REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, ALSO BY FIRE, ON DECEMBER 30, 1902.] for service, say to us: "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works" (Rev. 2:5). . . . {LDE 60.1}

Unless the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself. When she resists the evil and chooses the good, when she seeks God with all humility and reaches her high calling in Christ, standing on the platform of eternal truth and by faith laying hold upon the attainments prepared for her, she will be healed. She will appear in her God-given simplicity and purity, separate from earthly entanglements, showing that the truth has made her free indeed. Then her members will indeed be the chosen of God, His representatives.--8T 247-251 (April 21, 1903). {LDE 60.2}

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* The Church Militant - Defective

The church militant is not the church triumphant, and earth is not heaven. The church is composed of erring, imperfect men and women, who are but learners in the school of Christ, to be trained, disciplined, educated, for this life and for the future, immortal life.--ST Jan. 4, 1883. {LDE 61.2}

Some people seem to think that upon entering the church they will have their expectations fulfilled, and meet only with those who are pure and perfect. They are zealous in their faith, and when they see faults in church members, they say, "We left the world in order to have no association with evil characters, but the evil is here also;" and they ask, as did the servants in the parable, "From whence then hath it tares?" But we need not be thus disappointed, for the Lord has not warranted us in coming to the conclusion that the church is perfect; and all our zeal will not be successful

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in making the church militant as pure as the church triumphant.--TM 47 (1893). {LDE 61.3}

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* Proclaiming the Sabbath During the Loud Cry

{RH, July 21, 1851 par. 7}

The Lord gave me the following view in 1847, while at Topsham, Me. The brethren were assembled on the Sabbath. {RH, July 21, 1851 par. 8}

We felt an unusual spirit of prayer. And as we prayed, the Holy Ghost fell upon us. We were very happy. Soon I was lost to earthly things, and was wrapped up in a vision of God's glory. I saw an angel swiftly flying to me. He quickly carried me from the earth to the Holy City. In the City I saw a temple, which I entered. I passed through a door before I came to the first vail. This veil was raised, and I passed into the Holy Place. Here I saw the altar of incense, the candlestick with seven lamps, and the table on which was the shew-bread. After viewing the glory of the Holy, Jesus raised the second vail, and I passed into the Holy of Holies. {RH, July 21, 1851 par. 9}

In the Holiest I saw an ark; on the top and sides of it was purest gold. On each end of the ark was a lovely cherub, with their wings spread out over it. Their faces were turned towards each other, and they looked downwards. Between the angels was a golden censer. Above the ark, where the angels stood, was an exceeding bright glory, that appeared like a throne where God dwelt. Jesus stood by the ark. And as the saints' prayers came up to Jesus, the incense in the censer would smoke, and he offered up the prayers of the saints with the smoke of the incense to his Father. In the ark, was the golden pot of manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of stone which folded together like a book. Jesus opened them, and I saw the ten commandments written on them with the finger of God. On one table was four, and on the other six. The four on the first table shone brighter than the other six. But the fourth (the Sabbath commandment,) shone above them all; for the Sabbath was set apart to be kept in honor of God's holy name. The Holy Sabbath looked glorious--a halo of glory was all around it. I saw that the Sabbath was not nailed to the cross. If it was, the other nine commandments were; and we are at liberty to go forth and break them all, as well as to break the fourth. I saw that God had not changed the Sabbath, for he never changes. But the Pope had changed it from the seventh to the first day of the week; for he was to change times and laws. {RH, July 21, 1851 par. 10}

And I saw that if God had changed the Sabbath; from the seventh to the first day, he would have changed the writing of the Sabbath commandment, written on the tables of stone, which are now in the ark, in the Most Holy Place of the Temple in heaven; and it would read thus: The first day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. But I saw that it read the same as when written on the tables of stone by the finger of God, and delivered to Moses in Sinai, "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." I saw that the Holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers; and that the Sabbath is the great question, to unite the hearts of God's dear waiting saints. {RH, July 21, 1851 par. 11}

I saw that God had children, who do not see and keep the Sabbath. They had not rejected the light on it. And at the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully. This enraged the churches, and nominal Adventists, as they could not refute the Sabbath truth. And at this time God's chosen all saw clearly that we had the truth, and they came out and endured the persecution with us. And I saw the sword, famine, pestilence and great confusion in the land. The wicked thought that we had brought the judgments down on them. They rose up and took counsel to rid the earth of us, thinking that then the evil would be stayed. {RH, July 21, 1851 par. 12}

In the time of trouble, we all fled from the cities and villages, but were pursued by the wicked, who entered the houses of the saints with the sword. They raised the sword to kill us, but it broke, and fell as powerless as a straw. Then we all cried day and night for deliverance, and the cry came up before God. The sun came up, and the moon stood still. The streams ceased to flow. Dark heavy clouds came up, and clashed against each other. But there was one clear place of settled glory, from whence came the voice of God like many waters, which shook the heavens, and the earth. The sky opened and shut, and was in commotion. The mountains shook like a reed in the wind, and cast out ragged rocks all around. The sea boiled like a pot, and cast out stones upon the land. And as God spake the day and hour of Jesus' coming, and delivered the everlasting covenant to his people, he spake one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth. The Israel of God stood with their eyes fixed upwards, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. It was awfully solemn. At the end of every sentence, the saints shouted, Glory! Hallelujah! Their countenances were lighted up with the glory of God; and they shone with the glory as Moses' face did when he came down from Sinai. The wicked could not look on them for the glory. And when the never-ending blessing was pronounced on those who had honored God, in keeping his Sabbath holy, there was a mighty shout of victory over the Beast, and over his Image. {RH, July 21, 1851 par. 13}

Then commenced the jubilee, when the land should rest. I saw the pious slave rise in triumph and victory, and shake off the chains that bound him, while his wicked master was in confusion, and knew not what to do; for the wicked could not understand the words of the voice of God. Soon appeared the great white cloud. It looked more lovely than ever before. On it sat the Son of Man. At first we did not see Jesus on the cloud, but as it drew near the earth, we could behold his lovely person. This cloud, when it first appeared, was the Sign of the Son of Man in heaven. The voice of the Son of God called forth the sleeping saints, clothed with a glorious immortality. The living saints were changed in a moment, and were caught up with them in the cloudy chariot. It looked all over glorious as it rolled upwards. On either side of the chariot were wings, and beneath it wheels. And as the chariot rolled upwards, the wheels cried Holy, and the wings, as they moved, cried Holy, and the retinue of Holy Angels around the cloud cried Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty. And the saints in the cloud cried, Glory, Alleluia. And the chariot rolled upwards to the Holy City. Jesus threw open the gates of the Golden City, and led us in. Here we were made welcome, for we had kept the "Commandments of God," and had a "right to the tree of life."

 

{RH, July 21, 1851 par. 14}

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* Leading Churches Unite and Influence State Powers

When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result. . . . {LDE 131.1}

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* National Apostasy

Laws enforcing the observance of Sunday as the Sabbath will bring about a national apostasy from the principles of republicanism upon which the government has been founded. The religion of the papacy will be accepted by the rulers, and the law of God will be made void.--7MR 192 (1906). {LDE 132.1}

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* The Close of the Third Angels Message

The Third Message Closed

 

I was pointed down to the time when the third angel's message was closing. The power of God had rested upon His people; they had accomplished their work and were prepared for the trying hour before them. They had received the latter rain, or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the living testimony had been revived. The last great warning had sounded everywhere, and it had stirred up and enraged the inhabitants of the earth who would not receive the message. {EW 279.1}

I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer's inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing the ten commandments, throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said, "It is done." And all the angelic host laid off their crowns as Jesus made the solemn

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declaration, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." {EW 279.2}

Every case had been decided for life or death. While Jesus had been ministering in the sanctuary, the judgment had been going on for the righteous dead, and then for the righteous living. Christ had received His kingdom, having made the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins. The subjects of the kingdom were made up. The marriage of the Lamb was consummated. And the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, was given to Jesus and the heirs of salvation, and Jesus was to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. {EW 280.1}

As Jesus moved out of the most holy place, I heard the tinkling of the bells upon His garment; and as He left, a cloud of darkness covered the inhabitants of the earth. There was then no mediator between guilty man and an offended God. While Jesus had been standing between God and guilty man, a restraint was upon the people; but when He stepped out from between man and the Father, the restraint was removed and Satan had entire control of the finally impenitent. It was impossible for the plagues to be poured out while Jesus officiated in the sanctuary; but as His work there is finished, and His intercession closes, there is nothing to stay the wrath of God, and it breaks with fury upon the shelterless head of the guilty sinner, who has slighted salvation and hated reproof. In that fearful time, after the close of Jesus' mediation, the saints were living in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. Every case was decided, every jewel numbered. Jesus tarried a moment in the outer apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and the sins which had been confessed while He was in the

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most holy place were placed upon Satan, the originator of sin, who must suffer their punishment. {EW 280.2}

Then I saw Jesus lay off His priestly attire and clothe Himself with His most kingly robes. Upon His head were many crowns, a crown within a crown. Surrounded by the angelic host, He left heaven. The plagues were falling upon the inhabitants of the earth. Some were denouncing God and cursing Him. Others rushed to the people of God and begged to be taught how they might escape His judgments. But the saints had nothing for them. The last tear for sinners had been shed, the last agonizing prayer offered, the last burden borne, the last warning given. The sweet voice of mercy was no more to invite them. When the saints, and all heaven, were interested for their salvation, they had no interest for themselves. Life and death had been set before them. Many desired life, but made no effort to obtain it. They did not choose life, and now there was no atoning blood to cleanse the guilty, no compassionate Saviour to plead for them, and cry, "Spare, spare the sinner a little longer." All heaven had united with Jesus, as they heard the fearful words, "It is done. It is finished." The plan of salvation had been accomplished, but few had chosen to accept it. And as mercy's sweet voice died away, fear and horror seized the wicked. With terrible distinctness they heard the words, "Too late! too late!" {EW 281.1}

Those who had not prized God's Word were hurrying to and fro, wandering from sea to sea, and from the north to the east, to seek the Word of the Lord. Said the angel, "They shall not find it. There is a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord. What would they not give for one word of approval from God! but no, they must hunger and thirst on. Day after day have they slighted salvation,

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prizing earthly riches and earthly pleasure higher than any heavenly treasure or inducement. They have rejected Jesus and despised His saints. The filthy must remain filthy forever." {EW 281.2}

Many of the wicked were greatly enraged as they suffered the effects of the plagues. It was a scene of fearful agony. Parents were bitterly reproaching their children, and children their parents, brothers their sisters, and sisters their brothers. Loud, wailing cries were heard in every direction, "It was you who kept me from receiving the truth which would have saved me from this awful hour." The people turned upon their ministers with bitter hate and reproached them, saying, "You have not warned us. You told us that all the world was to be converted, and cried, Peace, peace, to quiet every fear that was aroused. You have not told us of this hour; and those who warned us of it you declared to be fanatics and evil men, who would ruin us." But I saw that the ministers did not escape the wrath of God. Their suffering was tenfold greater than that of their people.

{EW 282.1}

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* Early Time of Trouble

At the commencement [beginning] of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully." {LDE 143.1}

This view was given in 1847 when there were but very few of the Advent brethren observing the Sabbath, and of these but few supposed that its observance was of sufficient importance to draw a line between the people of God and unbelievers. Now the fulfillment of that view is beginning to be seen. "The commencement of that time of trouble," here mentioned, does not refer to the time when the plagues shall begin to be poured out, but to a short period just before they are poured out, while Christ is in the sanctuary. At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel.--EW 85, 86 (1854). {LDE 143.2}

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* Put into Prison

Some will be imprisoned because they refuse to desecrate the Sabbath of the Lord.--PC 118 (1907). {LDE 149.2}

As the defenders of truth refuse to honor the Sunday-sabbath some of them will be thrust into prison, some will be exiled, some will be treated as slaves. To human wisdom all this now seems impossible, but as the restraining Spirit of God shall be withdrawn from men and they shall be under the control of Satan, who hates the divine precepts, there will be strange developments. The heart can be very cruel when God's fear and love are removed.--GC 608 (1911). {LDE 149.3}

If we are called to suffer for Christ's sake, we shall be able to go to prison trusting in Him as a little child trusts in its parents. Now is the time to cultivate faith in God.--OHC 357 (1892). {LDE 149.4}

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* Many Martyred

The two armies will stand distinct and separate, and this distinction will be so marked that many who shall be convinced of the truth will come on the side of God's commandment-keeping people. When this grand work is to take place in the battle, prior to the last closing conflict, many will be imprisoned, many will flee for their lives from cities and towns, and many will be martyrs for Christ's sake in standing in defense of the truth . . .. You will not be tempted above what you are able to bear. Jesus bore all this and far more. . . . {3SM 397.4}

 

The two armies will stand distinct and separate, and this distinction will be so marked that many who shall be convinced of truth will come on the side of God's commandment-keeping people. When this grand work is to take place in the battle, prior to the last closing conflict, many will be imprisoned, many will flee for their lives from cities and towns, and many will be martyrs for Christ's sake in standing in defense of the truth. They will be brought before kings and rulers, and before councils to meet the false, absurd, and lying accusations brought against them, but they must stand firm as a rock to principle, and the promise is, "As thy days so shall thy strength be." (Deut. 33:25). You will not be tempted above what you are able to bear. Jesus bore all this and far more. The express command of God must be obeyed, for God has been working. Luke 21:8-19. {1888 484.1}

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* Destruction of the Cities

In the annals of human history, the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as if dependent on the will and prowess of man; the shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the Word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and through all the play and counterplay of human interest and power and passions, the agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.--Prophets and Kings, pp. 499, 500 (c. 1914).

Judgments Coming on the Cities

Terrible shocks will come upon the earth, and the lordly palaces erected at great expense will certainly become heaps of ruins.--Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, p. 312 (1891).

When God's restraining hand is removed, the destroyer begins his work. Then in our cities the greatest calamities will come.--Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, p. 314 (1897).

The end is near and every city is to be turned upside down every way. There will be confusion in every city. Everything that can be shaken is to be shaken and we do not know what will come next. The judgments will be according to the wickedness of the people and the light of truth that they have had.--Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, p. 248 (1902).

Sanitarium, Cal., May 15, 1906

 

God's judgments are in the land. Whole cities and villages will be blotted out. {SpTB13 16.2}

O that God's people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry.--Evangelism, p. 29 (1903).

The time is near when large cities will be swept away, and all should be warned of these coming judgments.--Evangelism, p. 29 (1910).

Catastrophe-proof Buildings Will Become Ashes

I have seen the most costly structures in buildings erected and supposed to be fireproof, and just as Sodom perished in the flames of God's vengeance so will these proud structures become ashes. . . . The flattering monuments of men's greatness will be crumbled in the dust even before the last great destruction comes upon the world.--Selected Messages, book 3, p. 418 (1901).

Men will continue to erect expensive buildings, costing millions of money. Special attention will be called to their architectural beauty and the firmness and solidity with which they are constructed, but the Lord has instructed me that despite the unusual firmness and expensive display, these buildings will share the fate of the temple in Jerusalem.--Ellen G. White Comments, Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1098 (1906).

On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify their owners and builders. . . .

The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fireproof buildings and said: "They are perfectly safe." But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines.

I am instructed that when the Lord's time comes, should no change have taken place in the hearts of proud, ambitious human beings, men will find that the hand that had been strong to save will be strong to destroy. No earthly power can stay the hand of God. No material can be used in the erection of buildings that will preserve them from destruction when God's appointed time comes to send retribution on men for their disregard of His law and for their selfish ambition.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, pp. 12, 13 (1909).

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* Light in Every Dwelling

The whole earth is to be lightened with the glory of the Lord. The pure in heart shall see God. It is those who are following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth that will receive power from that angel that came down from heaven "having great power." The first message is to be repeated proclaiming the second advent of Christ to our world. The second angel's message is to be repeated, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies" [Revelation 18:2, 3].

 

-41- {16MR 40.2}

This prophecy will be fulfilled, and the earth will know that the Heavens do rule. Christ is coming with power and great glory. He will come with all the holy angels with Him. He will come with His own glory and with the glory of the Father. While all the world is plunged in darkness, there will be light in every dwelling of the saints. They will catch the first light of His second appearing. {16MR 41.1}

What a day that will be when the unsullied light will shine from His splendor, and Christ the Redeemer will be admired by all who have received Him. All who have served Him will catch the undimmed rays of the glory and brightness of the King in His majesty. In that day those who have been counted as the lowly ones will be the truly lofty. {16MR 41.2}

 

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* The MAIN Time of Trouble

The time of trouble is soon to break upon us, and the decree will go forth that everyone who will not keep the first day of the week shall be put to death. Those who have not regarded the Sabbath as they should, who have exalted their business above God's commandment, will trample upon the Sabbath and keep the first day of the week, because they have consulted their own convenience before the honor of God. They did not learn to bring themselves into harmony with the Sabbath, but sought to bring the Sabbath to meet their own convenience. With the preparation they have made, they are no more fitted to stand in the day of judgment than the greatest sinner. Their ideas are confused; they have tried to serve God and mammon; they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Those who love God with all the heart, and their neighbor as themselves, will be the only ones who will stand the test of the decree. When Satan brings his power to bear upon half-hearted professors, he will sweep them over to his side, he will claim his right to do with them as he pleases. But of those who honor God, the Lord says, "They shall be mine, . . . in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." {ST, June 2, 1890 par. 5}

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* When Sins are BLOTTED OUT

When the third angel's message closes, mercy no longer pleads for the guilty inhabitants of the earth. The people of God have accomplished their work. They have received "the latter rain," "the refreshing from the presence of the Lord," and they are prepared for the trying hour before them. Angels are hastening to and fro in heaven. An angel returning from the earth announces that his work is done; the final test has been brought upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to the divine precepts have received "the seal of the living God." Then Jesus ceases His intercession in the sanctuary above. He lifts His hands and with a loud voice says, "It is done;" and all the angelic host lay off their crowns as He makes the solemn announcement: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Revelation 22:11. Every case has been decided for life or death. Christ has made the atonement for His people and

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blotted out their sins. The number of His subjects is made up; "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven," is about to be given to the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. {GC 613.2}

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* What sins are not blotted out?

At the time appointed for the judgment--the close of the 2300 days, in 1844--began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins. All who have ever taken upon themselves the name of Christ must pass its searching scrutiny. Both the living and the dead are to be judged "out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." {GC 486.1}

Sins that have [1] not been repented of and [2] forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner in the day of God. He may have committed his evil deeds in the light of day or in the darkness of night; but they were open and manifest before Him with whom we have to do. Angels of God witnessed each sin and registered it in the unerring records. Sin may be concealed, denied, covered up from father, mother, wife, children, and associates; no one but the guilty actors may cherish the least suspicion of the wrong; but it is laid bare before the intelligences of heaven. The darkness of the darkest night, the secrecy of all deceptive arts, is not sufficient to veil one thought from the knowledge of the Eternal. God has an exact record of every unjust account and every unfair dealing. He is not deceived by appearances of piety. He makes no mistakes in His estimation of character. Men may be deceived by those who are corrupt in heart, but God pierces all disguises and reads the inner life. {GC 486.2}

How solemn is the thought! Day after day, passing into eternity, bears its burden of records for the books of heaven. Words once spoken, deeds once done, can never be recalled. Angels have registered both the good and the evil. The mightiest conqueror upon the earth cannot call back the record of even a single day. Our acts, our words, even our most secret motives, all have their weight in deciding our destiny for weal or woe. Though they may be forgotten by us, they will bear their testimony to justify or condemn. {GC 486.3}

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* Early Experience of Ellen White and the Brethren as the came to understand God’s direction in getting the truths laid out

Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father Pierce, Elder Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844,

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searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we studied and prayed earnestly. Often we remained together until late at night, and sometimes through the entire night, praying for light and studying the word. Again and again these brethren came together to study the Bible, in order that they might know its meaning, and be prepared to teach it with power. When they came to the point in their study where they said, "We can do nothing more," the Spirit of the Lord would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages we had been studying would be given me, with instruction as to how we were to labor and teach effectively. Thus light was given that helped us to understand the scriptures in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood. A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the city of God, was made plain to me, and I gave to others the instruction that the Lord had given me. {SpTB02 56.4}

 

During this whole time I could not understand the reasoning of the brethren. My mind was locked, as it were, and I could not comprehend the meaning of the scriptures we were studying. This was one of the greatest sorrows of my life. I was in this condition of mind until all the principal points of our faith were made clear to our minds, in harmony with the word of God. The brethren knew that when not in vision, I could not understand these matters, and they accepted as light direct from heaven the revelations given. {SpTB02 57.1}

 

For two or three years my mind continued to be locked to an understanding of the Scriptures. In the course of our labors, my husband and I visited Father Andrews, who was suffering intensely with inflammatory rheumatism. We prayed for him. I laid my hands on his head, and said, "Father Andrews, the

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Lord Jesus maketh thee whole." He was healed instantly. He got up, and walked about the room, praising God, and saying, "I never saw it on this wise before. Angels of God are in this room." The glory of the Lord was revealed. Light seemed to shine all through the house, and an angel's hand was laid upon my head. From that time to this I have been able to understand the word of God. {SpTB02 57.2}

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* NOTES: …only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it when it shall have swelled into the loud cry. {RH, November 19, 1908 par. 9}

 

How is this going to take place? Under the control of men as it has been for many long years? No, no it won’t. It will take place under the control of God. Here’s what Ellen White has to say about that.

 

"There will be those among us who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world. God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands." [TM 300]

Conclusion to the above 2 statements.

 

1) Not all who claim to be genuine Seventh-day Adventists will be part of the final movement when the 4th angel starts up. Only a certain group "who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it when it shall have swelled into the loud cry."

 

She also says "As the storm approaches, a large class [ of Seventh-day Adventists] who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By [1] uniting with the world and [2] partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side." [GC 608.1]

 

2) Many [not a few] who have been calling themselves Seventh-day Adventists will abandon God’s people because they have allied themselves with the worlds thinking and philosophies, and have been unwilling to follow God’s true ways, ways that they have seen and heard while they have been in the church.

 

But, God will make it clear that He is in charge of His work. "…it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands." Ellen White uses a Scriptural word "reins" that was common in her time. Reins are what a rider of a horse, or in days long ago when stagecoaches were the mode of transportation in this country and also in Europe, reins were used by the driver to guide the horse(s) where the driver wanted them to go.

 

Why should God take the reins "in His own hands"? Ellen White has said of the church that she has stopped following Christ her leader and headed back to Egypt, much as some of the Israelites wanted to do a short time after they came out of Egypt. Here’s what she has said.

 

"I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people. The Lord has not closed heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God. Pride, covetousness, and love of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or condemnation. Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us. And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing and that peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders. {5T 217.1}

 

Testimonies for the Church Volume 5, p. 217.2

The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader and is steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt, and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would have it thus. Ministers who preach self instead of Christ would have it thus. The testimonies are unread and unappreciated. God has spoken to you. Light has been shining from His word and from the testimonies, and both have been slighted and disregarded. The result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among us.{5T 217.2}"

 

There will be a people who will do as God knows is best for them in the Day of Atonement that we are now in. Listen again to what Ellen White has to say about them.

 

Only those who, in their attitude before God, are filling the position of those who are repenting and confessing their sins in the great anti-typical day of atonement, will be recognized and marked as worthy of God's protection. The names of those who are steadfastly looking and waiting and watching for the appearing of their Saviour--more earnestly and wishfully than they who wait for the morning--will be numbered with those who are sealed. {TM 445.1}

 

On the other hand, there will be those who have not followed God’s eternal instructions and have made Him a mockery in their lives. Ellen White continues from the quote above.

 

Those who, while having all the light of truth flashing upon their souls, should have works corresponding to their avowed faith, but are allured by sin, setting up idols in their hearts, corrupting their souls before God, and polluting those who unite with them in sin, will have their names blotted out of the book of life, and be left in midnight darkness, having no oil in their vessels with their lamps. "Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings." {TM 445.1}

 

Do you value the life that God offers you for all the eternal ages, or do you value the death that Satan offers you by disregarding the eternal principles of life from God? It’s your choice. God gives you the freedom to choose. If you choose life, and follow God’s eternal principles, the way of life will what you will have. If you choose death, Satan’s ways (He cannot give you life.), then eternal separation from God will be where you will end up, not in an eternal burning, suffering hell fire, (not from the God of love) but in an eternal death in which you will no longer have access to the life you now enjoy today. Today’s decision will determine tomorrow’s destiny.

 

Those who have had opportunities to hear and receive of the truth and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist church, calling themselves the commandment-keeping people of God, and yet possess no more vitality and consecration to God than do the nominal churches, will receive the plagues of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the law of God. Ellen G. White: 19MR 176 (1898)

 

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* Chap. 6 - The Testimonies Slighted

 

Healdsburg, California, June 20, 1882.

 

Dear Brethren and Sisters in Battle Creek: I understand that the testimony [Reference is here made to the preceding article.] which I sent to Brother—–, with the request that it be read to the church, was withheld from you for several weeks after it was received by him. Before sending that testimony my mind was so impressed by the Spirit of God that I had no rest day or night until I wrote to you. It was not a work that I would have chosen for myself. Before my husband’s death I decided that it was not my duty to bear testimony to anyone in reproof of wrong or in vindication of right, because advantage was taken of my words to deal harshly with the erring and to unwisely exalt others whose course I had not in any degree sustained. Many explained the testimonies to suit themselves. The truth of God is not in harmony with the traditions of men, nor does it conform to their opinions. Like its divine Author, it is unchangeable, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Those who separate from God will call darkness light, and error truth. But darkness will never prove itself to be light, nor will error become truth. The minds of many have been so darkened and confused by worldly customs, worldly practices, and worldly influences that all power to discriminate between light and darkness, truth and error, seems destroyed. I had little hope that my words would be understood; but when the Lord moved upon me so decidedly, I could not resist His Spirit. Knowing that

 

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you were involving yourselves in the snares of Satan, I felt that the danger was too great for me to keep silent.

 

For years the Lord has been presenting the situation of the church before you. Again and again reproofs and warnings have been given. October 23, 1879, the Lord gave me a most impressive testimony in regard to the church in Battle Creek. During the last months I was with you I carried a heavy burden for the church, while those who should have felt to the very depths of their souls were comparatively easy and unconcerned. I knew not what to do or what to say. I had no confidence in the course which many were pursuing, for they were doing the very things which the Lord had warned them not to do.

 

That God who knows their spiritual condition declares: They have cherished evil and separated from Me. They have gone astray, every one of them. Not one is guiltless. They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and have hewed out to them broken cisterns that can hold no water. Many have corrupted their ways before Me. Envy, hatred of one another, jealousy, evil surmising, emulation, strife, bitterness, is the fruit that they bear. And they will not heed the testimony that I send them. They will not see their perverse ways and be converted, that I should heal them.

 

Many are looking with self-complacency upon the long years during which they have advocated the truth. They now feel that they are entitled to a reward for their past trials and obedience. But this genuine experience in the things of God in the past makes them more guilty before Him for not preserving their integrity and going forward to perfection. The faithfulness for the past year will never atone for the neglect of the present year. A man’s truthfulness yesterday will not atone for his falsehood today.

 

Many excused their disregard of the testimonies by saying: "Sister White is influenced by her husband; the testimonies

 

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are molded by his spirit and judgment." Others were seeking to gain something from me which they could construe to justify their course or to give them influence. It was then I decided that nothing more should go from my pen until the converting power of God was seen in the church. But the Lord placed the burden upon my soul. I labored for you earnestly. How much this cost both my husband and myself, eternity will tell. Have I not a knowledge of the state of the church, when the Lord has presented their case before me again and again for years? Repeated warnings have been given, yet there has been no decided change. I saw that the frown of God was upon His people for their assimilation to the world. I saw that the children of Brother—have been a snare to him. Their ideas and opinions, their feelings and statements, had an influence upon his mind and blinded his judgment. These youth are strongly inclined to infidelity. The mother’s want of faith and trust in God has been given as an inheritance to her children. Her devotion to them is greater than her devotion to God. The father has neglected his duty. The result of their wrong course is revealed in their children. As I spoke to the church I tried to impress upon parents their solemn obligation to the children, because I knew the state of these youth and what tendencies had made them what they are. But the word was not received. I know what burdens I bore in the last of my labors among you. I would never have thus tasked my strength to the utmost had I not seen your peril. I longed to arouse you to humble your hearts before God, to return to Him with penitence and faith.

 

Yet now when I send you a testimony of warning and reproof, many of you declare it to be merely the opinion of Sister White. You have thereby insulted the Spirit of God. You know how the Lord has manifested Himself through the spirit of prophecy. Past, present, and future have passed before me. I

 

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have been shown faces that I had never seen, and years afterward I knew them when I saw them. I have been aroused from my sleep with a vivid sense of subjects previously presented to my mind; and I have written, at midnight, letters that have gone across the continent and, arriving at a crisis, have saved great disaster to the cause of God. This has been my work for many years. A power has impelled me to reprove and rebuke wrongs that I had not thought of. Is this work of the last thirty-six years from above or from beneath?

 

Suppose—some would make it appear, incorrectly however—that I was influenced to write as I did by letters received from members of the church. How was it with the apostle Paul? The news he received through the household of Chloe concerning the condition of the church at Corinth was what caused him to write his first epistle to that church. Private letters had come to him stating the facts as they existed, and in his answer he laid down general principles which if heeded would correct the existing evils. With great tenderness and wisdom he exhorts them to all speak the same things, that there be no divisions among them. Paul was an inspired apostle, yet the Lord did not reveal to him at all times just the condition of His people. Those who were interested in the prosperity of the church, and saw evils creeping in, presented the matter before him, and from the light which he had previously received he was prepared to judge of the true character of these developments. Because the Lord had not given him a new revelation for that special time, those who were really seeking light did not cast his message aside as only a common letter. No, indeed. The Lord had shown him the difficulties and dangers which would arise in the churches, that when they should develop he might know just how to treat them.

 

He was set for the defense of the church. He was to watch for souls as one that must render account to God, and should

 

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he not take notice of the reports concerning their state of anarchy and division? Most assuredly; and the reproof he sent them was written just as much under the inspiration of the Spirit of God as were any of his epistles. But when these reproofs came, some would not be corrected. They took the position that God had not spoken to them through Paul, that he had merely given them his opinion as a man, and they regarded their own judgment as good as that of Paul.

 

So it is with many among our people who have drifted away from the old landmarks and who have followed their own understanding. What a great relief it would be to such could they quiet their conscience with the belief that my work is not of God. But your unbelief will not change the facts in the case. You are defective in character, in moral and religious experience. Close your eyes to the fact if you will, but this does not make you one particle more perfect. The only remedy is to wash in the blood of the Lamb.

If you seek to turn aside the counsel of God to suit yourselves, if you lessen the confidence of God’s people in the testimonies He has sent them, you are rebelling against God as certainly as were Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. You have their history. You know how stubborn they were in their own opinions. They decided that their judgment was better than that of Moses and that Moses was doing great injury to Israel. Those who united with them were so set in their opinions that, notwithstanding the judgments of God in a marked manner destroyed the leaders and the princes, the next morning the survivors came to Moses and said: "Ye have killed the people of the Lord." We see what fearful deception will come upon the human mind. How hard it is to convince souls that have become imbued with a spirit which is not of God. As Christ’s ambassador, I would say to you: Be careful what positions you take. This is God’s work, and you must render

 

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to Him an account for the manner in which you treat His message. While standing over the dying bed of my husband, I knew that had others borne their part of the burdens, he might have lived. I then pleaded, with agony of soul, that those present might no longer grieve the Spirit of God by their hardness of heart. A few days later I myself stood face to face with death. Then I had most clear revealings from God in regard to myself, and in regard to the church. In great weakness I bore to you my testimony, not knowing but it would be my last opportunity. Have you forgotten that solemn occasion? I can never forget it, for I seemed to be brought before the judgment seat of Christ. Your state of backsliding, your hardness of heart, your lack of harmony of love and spirituality, your departure from the simplicity and purity which God would have you preserve—I knew it all; I felt it all. Faultfinding, censuring, envy, strife for the highest place, were among you. I had seen it and to what it would lead. I feared that effort would cost me my life, but the interest I felt for you led me to speak. God spoke to you that day. Did it make any lasting impression? When I went to Colorado I was so burdened for you that, in my weakness, I wrote many pages to be read at your camp meeting. Weak and trembling, I arose at three o’clock in the morning to write to you. God was speaking through clay. You might say that this communication was only a letter. Yes, it was a letter, but prompted by the Spirit of God, to bring before your minds things that had been shown me. In these letters which I write, in the testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the Lord has presented to me. I do not write one article in the paper expressing merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision—the precious rays of light shining from the throne.

 

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After I came to Oakland I was weighted down with a sense of the condition of things at Battle Creek, and I, weak, power less to help you. I knew that the leaven of unbelief was at work. Those who disregarded the plain injunctions of God’s word were disregarding the testimonies which urged them to give heed to that word. While visiting Healdsburg last winter, I was much in prayer and burdened with anxiety and grief. But the Lord swept back the darkness at one time while I was in prayer, and a great light filled the room. An angel of God was by my side, and I seemed to be in Battle Creek. I was in your councils; I heard words uttered, I saw and heard things that, if God willed, I wish could be forever blotted from my memory. My soul was so wounded I knew not what to do or what to say. Some things I cannot mention. I was bidden to let no one know in regard to this, for much was yet to be developed. I was told to gather up the light that had been given me and let its rays shine forth to God’s people. I have been doing this in articles in the papers. I arose at three o’clock nearly every morning for months and gathered the different items written after the last two testimonies were given me in Battle Creek. I wrote out these matters and hurried them on to you; but I had neglected to take proper care of myself, and the result was that I sank under the burden; my writings were not all finished to reach you at the General Conference.

 

Again, while in prayer, the Lord revealed Himself. I was once more in Battle Creek. I was in many houses and heard your words around your tables. The particulars I have no liberty now to relate. I hope never to be called to mention them. I had also several most striking dreams.

 

What voice will you acknowledge as the voice of God? What power has the Lord in reserve to correct your errors and show you your course as it is? What power to work in the

 

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church? If you refuse to believe until every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of doubt is removed you will never believe. The doubt that demands perfect knowledge will never yield to faith. Faith rests upon evidence, not demonstration. The Lord requires us to obey the voice of duty, when there are other voices all around us urging us to pursue an opposite course. It requires earnest attention from us to distinguish the voice which speaks from God. We must resist and conquer inclination, and obey the voice of conscience without parleying or compromise, lest its promptings cease and will and impulse control. The word of the Lord comes to us all who have not resisted His Spirit by determining not to hear and obey. This voice is heard in warnings, in counsels, in reproof. It is the Lord’s message of light to His people. If we wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn, and we left in darkness.

By once neglecting to comply with the call of God’s Spirit and His word, when obedience involves a cross, many have lost much—how much they will never know till the books are opened at the final day. The pleadings of the Spirit, neglected today because pleasure or inclination leads in an opposite direction, may be powerless to convince, or even impress, tomorrow. To improve the opportunities of the present, with prompt and willing hearts, is the only way to grow in grace and the knowledge of the truth. We should ever cherish a sense that, individually, we are standing before the Lord of hosts; no word, no act, no thought, even, should be indulged, to offend the eye of the Eternal One. We shall then have no fear of man or of earthly power, because a Monarch, whose empire is the universe, who holds in His hands our individual destinies for time and eternity, is taking cognizance of all our work. If we would feel that in every place we are the servants of the Most High, we would be more circumspect; our whole

 

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life would possess to us a meaning and a sacredness which earthly honors can never give.

The thoughts of the heart, the words of the lips, and every act of the life, will make our character more worthy, if the presence of God is continually felt. Let the language of the heart be: "Lo, God is here." Then the life will be pure, the character unspotted, the soul continually uplifted to the Lord. You have not pursued this course at Battle Creek. I have been shown that painful and contagious disease is upon you, which will produce spiritual death unless it is arrested. Many are ruined by their desire for a life of ease and pleasure. Self-denial is disagreeable to them. They are constantly seeking to escape trials that are inseparable from a course of fidelity to God. They set their hearts upon having the good things of this life. This is human success, but is it not won at the expense of future, eternal interests? The great business of life is to show ourselves to be true servants of God, loving righteousness and hating iniquity. We should accept gratefully such measures of present happiness and present success as are found in the path of duty. Our greatest strength is realized when we feel and acknowledge our weakness. The greatest loss which any one of you in Battle Creek can suffer is the loss of earnestness and persevering zeal to do right, the loss of strength to resist temptation, the loss of faith in the principles of truth and duty. Let no man flatter himself that he is a successful man unless he preserves the integrity of his conscience, giving himself wholly to the truth and to God. We should move steadily forward, never losing heart or hope in the good work, whatever trials beset our path, whatever moral darkness may encompass us. Patience, faith, and love for duty are the lessons we must learn. Subduing self and looking to Jesus is an everyday work. The Lord will never forsake the soul that trusts in Him

 

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and seeks His aid. The crown of life is placed only upon the brow of the overcomer. There is, for everyone, earnest, solemn work for God while life lasts. As Satan’s power increases and his devices are multiplied, skill, aptness, and sharp generalship should be exercised by those in charge of the flock of God. Not only have we each a work to do for our own souls, but we have also a duty to arouse others to gain eternal life. It pains me to say, my brethren, that your sinful neglect to walk in the light has enshrouded you in darkness. You may now be honest in not recognizing and obeying the light; the doubts you have entertained, your neglect to heed the requirements of God, have blinded your perceptions so that darkness is now to you light, and light is darkness. God has bidden you to go forward to perfection. Christianity is a religion of progress. Light from God is full and ample, waiting our demand upon it. Whatever blessings the Lord may give, He has an infinite supply beyond, an inexhaustible store from which we may draw. Skepticism may treat the sacred claims of the gospel with jests, scoffing, and denial. The spirit of worldliness may contaminate the many and control the few; the cause of God may hold its ground only by great exertion and continual sacrifice, yet it will triumph finally.

 

The word is: Go forward; discharge your individual duty, and leave all consequences in the hands of God. If we move forward where Jesus leads the way we shall see His triumph, we shall share His joy. We must share the conflicts if we wear the crown of victory. Like Jesus, we must be made perfect through suffering. Had Christ’s life been one of ease, then might we safely yield to sloth. Since His life was marked with continual self-denial, suffering, and self-sacrifice, we shall make no complaint if we are partakers with Him. We can walk safely in the darkest path if we have the Light of the world for our guide.

 

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The Lord is testing and proving you. He has counseled, admonished, and entreated. All these solemn admonitions will either make the church better or decidedly worse. The oftener the Lord speaks to correct or counsel, and you disregard His voice, the more disposed will you be to reject it again and again, till God says: "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find me; for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of My counsel: they despised all My reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices."

 

Are you not halting between two opinions? Are you not neglecting to heed the light which God has given you? Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. You know not the time of your visitation. The great sin of the Jews was that of neglecting and rejecting present opportunities. As Jesus views the state of His professed followers today, He sees base ingratitude, hollow formalism, hypocritical insincerity, pharisaical pride and apostasy. The tears which Christ shed on the crest of Olivet were for the impenitence and ingratitude of every individual to the close of time. He sees His love despised. The soul’s temple courts have been converted into places of unholy traffic. Selfishness, mammon, malice, envy, pride, passion, are all cherished in the human heart. His warnings are rejected and ridiculed, His ambassadors are treated with indifference, their

 

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words seem as idle tales. Jesus has spoken by mercies, but these mercies have been unacknowledged; He has spoken by solemn warnings, but these warnings have been rejected.

 

I entreat you who have long professed the faith and who still pay outward homage to Christ: Do not deceive your own souls. It is the whole heart that Jesus prizes. The loyalty of the soul is alone of value in the sight of God. "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace!" "Thou, ... even thou"—Christ is at this moment addressing you personally, stooping from His throne, yearning with pitying tenderness over those who feel not their danger, who have no pity for themselves.

 

Many have a name to live while they have become spiritually dead. These will one day say: "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Woe will be pronounced against thee, if thou loiter and linger until the Sun of Righteousness shall set; the blackness of eternal night will be thy portion. Oh, that the cold, formal, worldly heart may be melted! Christ shed not only tears for us, but His own blood. Will not these manifestations of His love arouse us to deep humiliation before God? It is humility and self-abasement that we need, to be approved of God.

 

The man whom God is leading will be dissatisfied with himself because the light from the perfect Man shines upon him. But those who lose sight of the Pattern, and place an undue estimate upon themselves, will see faults to criticize in others; they will be sharp, suspicious, condemnatory; they will be tearing others down to build themselves up.

 

When the Lord last presented your case before me, and made known to me that you had not regarded the light which had been given you, I was bidden to speak to you plainly in

 

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His name, for His anger was kindled against you. These words were spoken to me: "Your work is appointed you of God. Many will not hear you, for they refused to hear the Great Teacher; many will not be corrected, for their ways are right in their own eyes. Yet bear to them the reproofs and warnings I shall give you, whether they will hear or forbear." I bear you the testimony of the Lord. All will hear His voice who are willing to be corrected; but those who have been deceived by the enemy are not willing now to come to the light, lest their deeds shall be reproved. Many of you cannot discern the work and presence of God. You know not that it is He. The Lord is still gracious, willing to pardon all who turn to Him with penitence and faith. Said the Lord: Many know not at what they stumble. They heed not the voice of God, but follow the sight of their own eyes and the understanding of their own hearts. Unbelief and skepticism have taken the place of faith. They have forsaken Me.

 

From here to the end of this quote is also the same quote as under the heading Fair as the moon (above)

 

I was shown that fathers and mothers have departed from their simplicity and neglected the holy calling of the gospel. The Lord has admonished them not to corrupt themselves by adopting the customs and maxims of the world. Christ would have given them the unsearchable riches of His grace freely and abundantly, but they prove themselves unworthy.

 

Many are lifting up the soul unto vanity. No sooner does a person imagine that he possesses any talent which might be of use in the cause of God than he overestimates the gift and is inclined to think too highly of himself, as though he were a pillar of the church. The work which he might do with acceptance he leaves for someone else with less ability than he considers himself to possess. He thinks and talks of a higher station. He must let his light shine before men; but instead of grace, meekness, lowliness of mind, kindness, gentleness, and love shining in his life, self, important self, appears everywhere.

 

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The spirit of Christ should so control our character and conduct that our influence may ever bless, encourage, and edify. Our thoughts, our words, our acts, should testify that we are born of God and that the peace of Christ rules in our hearts. In this way we throw around us the gracious radiance of which the Saviour speaks when He enjoins upon us to let our light shine forth to men. Thus we are leaving a bright track heaven ward. In this way all who are connected with Christ may become more effectual preachers of righteousness than by the most able pulpit effort without this heavenly unction. Those light bearers shed forth the purest radiance that are the least conscious of their own brightness, as those flowers diffuse the sweetest fragrance that make the least display. Our people are making very dangerous mistakes. We cannot praise and flatter any man without doing him a great wrong; those who do this will meet with serious disappointment. They trust too fully to finite man and not enough to God, who never errs. The eager desire to urge men into public notice is an evidence of backsliding from God and of friendship with the world. It is the spirit which characterizes the present day. It shows that men have not the mind of Jesus; spiritual blindness and poverty of soul have come upon them. Often persons of inferior minds look away from Jesus to a merely human standard, by which they are not made conscious of their own littleness, and hence have an undue estimate of their own capabilities and endowments. There is among us as a people an idolatry of human instrumentalities and mere human talent, and these even of a superficial character. We must die to self and cherish humble, childlike faith. God’s people have departed from their simplicity. They have not made God their strength, and they are weak and faint, spiritually. I have been shown that the spirit of the world is fast leavening the church. You are following the same path as did

 

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ancient Israel. There is the same falling away from your holy calling as God’s peculiar people. You are having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Your concord with unbelievers has provoked the Lord’s displeasure. You know not the things that belong to your peace, and they are fast being hid from your eyes. Your neglect to follow the light will place you in a more unfavorable position than the Jews upon whom Christ pronounced a woe.

 

I have been shown that unbelief in the testimonies has been steadily increasing as the people backslide from God. It is all through our ranks, all over the field. But few know what our churches are to experience. I saw that at present we are under divine forbearance, but no one can say how long this will continue. No one knows how great the mercy that has been exercised toward us. But few are heartily devoted to God. There are only a few who, like the stars in a tempestuous night, shine here and there among the clouds.

Many who complacently listen to the truths from God’s word are dead spiritually, while they profess to live. For years they have come and gone in our congregations, but they seem only less and less sensible of the value of revealed truth. They do not hunger and thirst after righteousness. They have no relish for spiritual or divine things. They assent to the truth, but are not sanctified through it. Neither the word of God nor the testimonies of His Spirit make any lasting impression upon them. Just according to the light, the privileges, and opportunities which they have slighted will be their condemnation. Many who preach the truth to others are themselves cherishing iniquity. The entreaties of the Spirit of God, like divine melody, the promises of His word so rich and abundant, its threatenings against idolatry and disobedience—all are powerless to melt the world-hardened heart.

 

Many of our people are lukewarm. They occupy the position

 

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of Meroz, neither for nor against, neither cold nor hot. They hear the words of Christ, but do them not. If they remain in this state, He will reject them with abhorrence. Many of those who have had great light, great opportunities, and every spiritual advantage praise Christ and the world with the same breath. They bow themselves before God and mammon. They make merry with the children of the world, and yet claim to be blessed with the children of God. They wish to have Christ as their Saviour, but will not bear the cross and wear His yoke. May the Lord have mercy upon you; for if you go on in this way, nothing but evil can be prophesied concerning you.

 

The patience of God has an object, but you are defeating it. He is allowing a state of things to come that you would fain see counteracted by and by, but it will be too late. God commanded Elijah to anoint the cruel and deceitful Hazael king over Syria, that he might be a scourge to idolatrous Israel. Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, "Peace, peace," when the Lord hath not spoken peace. I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write. It may be that erelong all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers.

 

When God shall work His strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be upon the people. Oh, that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace!

 

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people may, as did Nineveh, repent with all their might and believe with all their heart, that God may turn away His fierce anger from them. I am filled with pain and anguish as I see parents conforming to the world and allowing their children to meet the worldly standard at such a time as this. I am filled with horror as the condition of families professing present truth is opened before me. The profligacy of youth and even children is almost incredible. Parents do not know that secret vice is destroying and defacing the image of God in their children. The sins which characterized the Sodomites exist among them. The parents are responsible; for they have not educated their children to love and obey God. They have not restrained them nor diligently taught them the way of the Lord. They have allowed them to go out and to come in when they chose, and to associate with worldlings. These worldly influences which counteract parental teaching and authority are to be found largely in so-called good society. By their dress, looks, amusements, they surround themselves with an atmosphere which is opposed to Christ. Our only safety is to stand as God’s peculiar people. We must not yield one inch to the customs and fashions of this degenerate age, but stand in moral independence, making no compromise with its corrupt and idolatrous practices.

 

It will require courage and independence to rise above the religious standard of the Christian world. They do not follow the Saviour’s example of self-denial; they make no sacrifice; they are constantly seeking to evade the cross which Christ declares to be the token of discipleship. What can I say to arouse our people? I tell you not a few ministers who stand before the people to explain the Scriptures are defiled. Their hearts are corrupt, their hands unclean. Yet many are crying, "Peace, peace;" and the workers of iniquity are not alarmed. The Lord’s hand is not shortened

 

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that He cannot save, nor His ear heavy that He cannot hear; but it is our sins that have separated us from God. The church is corrupt because of her members who defile their bodies and pollute their souls. If all of those who come together for meetings of edification and prayer could be regarded as true worshipers, then might we hope, though much would still remain to be done for us. But it is in vain to deceive ourselves. Things are far from being what the appearance would indicate. From a distant view much may appear beautiful which, upon close examination, will be found full of deformities. The prevailing spirit of our time is that of infidelity and apostasy—a spirit of pretended illumination because of a knowledge of the truth, but in reality of the blindest presumption. There is a spirit of opposition to the plain word of God and to the testimony of His Spirit. There is a spirit of idolatrous exaltation of mere human reason above the revealed wisdom of God. There are men among us in responsible positions who hold that the opinions of a few conceited philosophers, so called, are more to be trusted than the truth of the Bible, or the testimonies of the Holy Spirit. Such a faith as that of Paul, Peter, or John is considered old-fashioned and insufferable at the present day. It is pronounced absurd, mystical, and unworthy of an intelligent mind.

 

God has shown me that these men are Hazaels to prove a scourge to our people. They are wise above what is written. This unbelief of the very truths of God’s word because human judgment cannot comprehend the mysteries of His work is found in every district, in all ranks of society. It is taught in most of our schools and comes into the lessons of the nurseries. Thousands who profess to be Christians give heed to lying spirits. Everywhere the spirit of darkness in the garb of religion will confront you.

 

If all that appears to be divine life were such in reality; if

 

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all who profess to present the truth to the world were preaching for the truth and not against it, and if they were men of God guided by His Spirit,—then might we see something cheering amid the prevailing moral darkness. But the spirit of antichrist is prevailing to such an extent as never before. Well may we exclaim: "Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." I know that many think far too favorably of the present time. These ease-loving souls will be engulfed in the general ruin. Yet we do not despair. We have been inclined to think that where there are no faithful ministers there can be no true Christians, but this is not the case. God has promised that where the shepherds are not true He will take charge of the flock Himself. God has never made the flock wholly dependent upon human instrumentalities. But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.

 

The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Those who have rendered supreme homage to "science falsely so called" will not be the leaders then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and file.

 

They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the

shaking, testing time will be disclosed

 

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to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed. In the day time we look toward heaven but do not see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster. The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ’s righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness. When trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when multitudes of false brethren are distinguished from the true, then the hidden ones will be revealed to view, and with hosannas range under the banner of Christ. Those who have been timid and self-distrustful will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth. The most weak and hesitating in the church will be as David—willing to do and dare. The deeper the night for God’s people, the more brilliant the stars. Satan will sorely harass the faithful;

 

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but, in the name of Jesus, they will come off more than conquerors. Then will the church of Christ appear "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners."

 

The seeds of truth that are being sown by missionary efforts will then spring up and blossom and bear fruit. Souls will receive the truth who will endure tribulation and praise God that they may suffer for Jesus. "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." When the overflowing scourge shall pass through the earth, when the fan is purging Jehovah’s floor, God will be the help of His people. The trophies of Satan may be exalted on high, but the faith of the pure and holy will not be daunted.

 

Elijah took Elisha from the plow and threw upon him his mantle of consecration. The call to this great and solemn work was presented to men of learning and position; had these been little in their own eyes and trusted fully in the Lord, He would have honored them with bearing His standard in triumph to the victory. But they separated from God, yielded to the influence of the world, and the Lord rejected them. Many have exalted science and lost sight of the God of science. This was not the case with the church in the purest times. God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the outward training of scientific institutions. These facilities are not to be despised or condemned; they are ordained of God, but they can furnish only the exterior qualifications. God will manifest that He is not dependent on learned, self-important mortals.

 

There are few really consecrated men among us, few who have fought and conquered in the battle with self. Real conversion is a decided change of feelings and motives; it is a

 

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virtual taking leave of worldly connections, a hastening from their spiritual atmosphere, a withdrawing from the controlling power of their thoughts, opinions, and influences. The separation causes pain and bitterness to both parties. It is the variance which Christ declares that He came to bring. But the converted will feel a continual longing desire that their friends shall forsake all for Christ, knowing that, unless they do, there will be a final and eternal separation. The true Christian cannot, while with unbelieving friends, be light and trifling. The value of the souls for whom Christ died is too great.

 

He "that forsaketh not all that he hath," says Jesus, "cannot be My disciple." Whatever shall divert the affections from God must be given up. Mammon is the idol of many. Its golden chain binds them to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. These are Satan’s snares, set for unwary feet. But these slavish bands must be broken; the flesh must be crucified with the affections and lusts. We cannot be half the Lord’s and half the world’s. We are not God’s people unless we are such entirely. Every weight, every besetting sin, must be laid aside. God’s watchmen will not cry, "Peace, peace," when God has not spoken peace. The voice of the faithful watchmen will be heard: "Go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." The church cannot measure herself by the world nor by the opinion of men nor by what she once was. Her faith and her position in the world as they now are must be compared with what they would have been if her course had been continually onward and upward. The church will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. If her moral character and spiritual state do not correspond with the benefits and blessings God has conferred upon her, she will be found wanting.

 

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The light has been shining clear and definite upon her pathway, and the light of 1882 calls her to an account. If her talents are unimproved, if her fruit is not perfect before God, if her light has become darkness, she is indeed found wanting. The knowledge of our state as God views it, seems to be hidden from us. We see, but perceive not; we hear, but do not understand; and we rest as unconcerned as if the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, rested upon our sanctuary. We profess to know God, and to believe the truth, but in works deny Him. Our deeds are directly adverse to the principles of truth and righteousness, by which we profess to be governed.

 

 

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