Archive for June, 2012

The Spirit of Prejudice

June 30, 2012

Down through the ages, prejudice in all it’s many forms, has  hampered the good will of man, and exposed the foolishness of man. The dictionary describes the word as follows “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” (source dictionary.com) It also can be described as “prejudging”, with a certain closed  mindedness toward someone or something. When prejudice is allowed to come into our Christian walk, it can be deadly (spiritually speaking). Let us remember that the spirit of prejudice will not come from the Spirit of Truth.

 One of the clearest cases of prejudice,  Biblically speaking, was that of the Jews in Christ’s day. The Jews rejected the Lord because not all of what the prophets taught and wrote was found in the teaching of Moses. “We know”, they said “that God spake unto Moses:as for this fellow, we know not from where He is from” (John 9:29). They were prejudging our Lord because of His humble appearance and lack of aspiration to establish the kingdom during their time.

Today there is a strong spirit of prejudice among us, the Laodiceans, and it is prevalent within our church. Our Lord described us as thinking we are full and satisfied spiritually , knowing all we need to know (Rev.3:17). If a message comes to us that has been rejected by our “leaders” we shut it down with  prejudice. We care not to investigate the matter on our own. Our leaders  are our infallible guides,  without error, so we think.

Let us now look at some powerful words from our prophetess concerning this prejudice, and it’s error. “Men, women, and youth, God requires you to possess moral courage, steadiness of purpose, fortitude and perseverance, minds that cannot take the assertions of another, but which investigate for themselves before receiving or rejecting, that will study and weigh evidence , and take it to the Lord in prayer.” (Test. for the Church, vol. 2, p.130)

A  Christian brother told me a while back “Rob , the best testimony you can give, is that of your own testimony.” So with that counsel in mind, let me relate my experience recently that hopefully will drive home some clear points.

As a SDA member for about 3 and a half years. I soon became somewhat of a leader within our local church. The Lord had me up there speaking in front of the people , right after I arrived (due to my unique story of becoming a Sabbath keeper). One thing led to another, and soon I was asked to be a Sabbath school superintendent and deacon. I would speak maybe 20 or 30 minutes from the pulpit, prior to the Sabbath school lesson before services.

My messages were mostly based on this blog. I would take one of the posts and use it as a basis for the speech. As many of you are aware, I do not mince words, I tell the straight truth as the Lord guides me. Popular or not, I serve Him, and as such the speeches were not lukewarm, rather they were the straight testimony.

As I progressed in my walk and drew closer to Him, the Lord began to reveal things that stood out from the normal teachings of the SDA. Being guided by the Spirit of Truth, I had no choice, but to teach that which became so clear to me. I could not conceal and pretend. Sadly, soon the “leaders” within our church could not accept the teachings I was guided to make. Even though I had spoken about 5 or 6 times, and received many heartfelt thanks by our members after speaking.

For example, I received comments such as ‘I was blessed all week by what you said”, “Thank you so much, that was excellent”, and “I would like to hear you again very soon”. Despite many of the  people  accepting the testimonies, the higher ups were going to put a halt to the testimonies and they did.

This following quote from EGW really nails my experience and situation, as regards to the leadership taking the position it took. ” Those who allow prejudice to bar the mind against the reception of truth can not receive the divine enlightenment. Yet, when a view of Scripture is presented, many do not ask, Is it true-in harmony with God’s word? but, By whom is it advocated? and unless it comes through the very channel that pleases them, they do not accept it. So thoroughly satisfied are they with their own ideas, that they will not examine the Scripture evidence, with a desire to learn, but refuse to be interested, merely because of their prejudices.”(Test. to Ministers, p.105-106)

Let me make something clear, if someone was to come to me and say “Rob, listen to this, I have been shown from the Lord, the following …such and such.” I would never close him down.I would hear him out. Why? Because I take our prophetess counsel —  “..Suppose a brother held a view that differed from yours, and he should come to you, proposing that you sit down with him and make an investigation of that point in the Scriptures; should you rise up, filled with prejudice and condemn his ideas, while refusing to give him a candid hearing? The only right way would be to sit down as Christians and investigate the position presented in the light of God’s word, which will reveal truth and unmask error.” (Test. to Ministers, p.107). Additionally, being a lover of the truth, I just might learn new truth.

Let me explain why the above approach is correct. If a pastor or brother or sister, comes to me and says “brother you are wrong to believe that, or this, here’s why” and they point out clear Scripture or SOP countering my position, I will be very attentive and search this out. Why? Because I do not want to be in error. In Scripture we read ” My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgement” (James 3:1). As a teacher of His word, I am held accountable, therefore I take very seriously what I teach. If I am found in error, I am very thankful to God for being shown this, and profess to my brethren my heartfelt thanks for being straightened out. This is the attitude we all must have.

 The truth will lose nothing upon close investigation. Those who blindly reject what a brother has to offer mustproduce from Scripture or SOP, why he is in error. Otherwise if the corrector bases it on “what I have been taught” or “heard” he shuts down the Spirit of Truth, and as such cannot receive God’s truth.It’s like a blind man riding in a car, and he wants to grab the steering wheel and says “let me take over, I’ll guide you.”  Should we allow ourselves to be guided by blind men or women?

Sadly, the great throng in our church are holding onto blind leaders, who are approaching the edge of the cliff. Now is the time to awake, and hear His voice.

As we are aware , the last message to us, His church,  is the Elijah message (Mal. 4:5). Unfortunately many of us, as members of His church (the SDA) are not taught what this message  is. However, there are some who, being converted and guided by the Holy Spirit,  perfectly understand what this message is. Unfortunately, Satan and His angels also understand what it is.

Because he knows what it is all about and has been waiting for the promised Elijah to appear, do you think he will sit idly by and twiddle his fingers, as the Elijah message goes out? He must gather all his minions and plan a counter attack. On the right and on the left, don’t let up, muzzle and stop all those who proclaim the last message. His survival is at stake! Can he hinder the spreading of this message? Yes, definitely, just look at our history and how brother Houteff was received and those today who are spreading the message. We are in good company, did they not (His own people) throw out our Lord from church?

We are told in Scripture “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ will be persecuted.” (2 Tim. 3:12)  Notice it doesn’t say “may” be persecuted  it said –will be persecuted. Make no mistake the devils will not pursue you or counter you if you are not taking a firm truthful stand for Christ and His word. We made a post before that stated that those who truly live for Christ, have their light shine amidst the dark world, and as such the devils spot those and target those.

“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.” (Test. for the Church , vol. 5,p.728)  Our Lord will not allow it to linger anymore, for it is going out now in a powerful way. What is this message and by whom has it been advocated?  It is the  Lord’s final Shepherd’s Rod message, began by brother Victor Houteff. Also known as the Elijah message. It’s the one where “leaders” within our church have fought, just like they did to the 1888 message to the church. Except this one is the Lord’s final message.

 The message that has stirred up our people since 1930 and has been gaining momentum in this late hour of  our church history. Facebook, emails,DVD’s and CD’s,  private studies, are all spreading it.  But the “leaders” are stillfighting it. This is the sad part.  They have not investigated by themselves.  Their  prejudices have guided them. Almost each and everyone of the leaders are parroting what they have heard. To prove the point,  ask one of them   —-   “Excuse me pastor….., can you tell me the error in brother Houteff’s interpretation of the Hosea prophecy?” (Hosea chapter 1 and 2). Or ” What is the error in brother Houteff’s interpretation of Matt.20?” (The parable of the 11th hour workers)  Most likely they will  be dumbfounded and speechless about these interpretations. Most will ignore your inquiry and then speak of a diversionary sidetrack issue, again based on their prejudices. Because they have not even listened to, or read, his interpretations of that Scripture. How can they be a fair impartial guide if they refuse to hear or read things out, to weigh the evidence? Does   the 1888 message ring a bell?  Again, can prejudice  guide us into all truth?  Of course not.

“Now as in former ages, the presentation of a truth that reproves the sins and errors of the times will excite opposition..as men see they cannot maintain their position by Scriptures, many determine to maintain it at all hazards, and with a malicious spirit they assail the character and motives of those who stand in defense of unpopular truth…Elijah was declared to be a troubler in Israel…” ( The Great Controversy, p.458)

Just as the original Elijah was accused of troubling his own people (not the world), the Elijah to come was also similarly accused, and his messengers today are also being labeled as “troublers”, people with a un-needed and useless message. Prejudice raises it’s ignorant head and declares them to be unsound,  “…those who have not been in the habit of searching the Bible for themselves, or weighing evidence, have confidence in the leading men and accept the decisions they make; thus many will reject the very messages God sends to His people, if these leading brethren do not accept them.” (Test. to Ministers, p.105)  Sadly, this is exactly what is taking place through out our church.

If we reject our Lord’s very last message to us, are we not rejecting His  final word? It’s a dangerous position of false security. The Elijah message  is , as we who have studied it know, where our Lord gives us specific instructions to survive His upcoming church judgment ( the beginning phase of the judgment of the living).  Most importantly,  it shows us how we can be sealed (marked) by the sealing angel prior to His great and dreadful day.

Right now we are fulfilling the prophecy Jeremiah 23:20 ” The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He has executed, and till He has performed the thoughts of His heart: in the latter days you shall consider it perfectly.” Yes, we now understand that His held back anger will  soon break forth, are we prepared and able to stand in the day of His retribution?

“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like a launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness”  (Mal.3:2-3).

Can He accept a church with a mixture of righteous and unrighteous? We only need to look to His history to find the answer. Not once in all the OT did he ever accept such a people. One Achan was enough to shut down His power( Test. for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 157). Can He change for us today? No, our Lord does  not change “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Mal.3:6). This is why this last  Elijah message is warning us to come clean, convert, and repent, before His judgments start. He is at the door!

 In closing, we must be  careful not to fall into the prejudice trap, nor let others snare us. If we do, we may  find someday  very soon, we have pre-judged ourselves right out of God’s sealing.

Posted in The spirit of predjudice | 4 Comments »

A Covenant With Me By Sacrifice

June 23, 2012

Our Lord’s great work of redemption caused to cease the sacrificial atonements of the slayed animals. Upon the cross, the veil was  ripped and from then on,  the “sacrifice” had new meanings, and was  forever changed. This being understood, is there now a new sacrifice, where we as His people are required to make?

Here is our quote, of which we shall base this post on, ” The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall keep not silence: A fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare His righteousness:For God is judge himself. Selah. Hear, O My people, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God (Psalm 50:1-7)

As in so many places in God’s Holy Scriptures, many revealing truths are packed into one paragraph.  Ellen White said the following ” Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us.” (Selected Messages, Vol. 3, p.338) That being the truth, then (Psalms 50:17) has  prophetic truths for us today, right now. So let us with the Spirit of Truth , look into the many applications of these words.

First we notice that our Lord is called mighty, meaning He can and will do all that He says He will do, in His word. Second, we notice “out of Zion” indicating out of His people,  aka. His church comes something beautiful.  Something performed and done by our Lord, “Our God hath shined” and “shall come”.

Next we find what work our Lord will do to obtain the “perfection of beauty”. This indicates  clearly what this event is about. “A fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him… that He may judge His people.” Notice clearly He judges HIS people. This indicates a judgment of His church, since no where in the scriptures are the heathen ever referred as “His people”. Otherwise we would find “He may judge the people” or similar words. Let us ever remember our Lord is a precise Lord, never missing on any fine point of clarification. The Spirit of Truth guides us in this.

 As studious Bible students we know that there will soon be the Lord’s judgement upon His people, and it begins in His sanctuary. “For time is come that judgment must begin in the house of God…” (1 Peter 4:17)

This fire is none other than the destroying fire of His judgments upon the church!  We as SDA are well aware that the judgment of the dead began in 1844, we must be  aware that judgment of the living begins among us in the church. The heathen judgement come after us!

Next we find that after this tempestuous judgment (meaning a surprising and shocking execution of His  judgment upon His church) He shall gather His saints to Him, who have made a “sacrifice” to  Him. On the “perfection of beauty”point, it means finally our Lord has His church which is pure. He had to take the reins into His own hands to obtain this, otherwise the co-mingling would have been never ending.

We asked in the beginning of this post if there is a current sacrifice required to be made unto the Lord. The answer is –yes, most definitely. What is that sacrifice?   The answer is–we must forego worldly pleasures! The great and tempting worldly pleasures.

Our Lord said ” For whoever wants to save his life, will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35) Here we see that our Lord asks us to give up “our life” for him. Meaning our own desires and pleasures (Worldly TV, theatre, worldly music, lusts, passions,love of money, carnal habits(gluttony, tobacco, alcohol), and generally all worldly entrapment). As we begin a converted life, our life becomes a new life for Him. How many today are trying to straddle the two lives? They have one foot in the world and one foot in the Lord’s work. They believe the “smooth things” by the sleeping pastors, that they are safe, even while they continue to sin!

Ellen White says the following ” Your hearts will be where your treasure is. You are situated where there are temptations to be plunging deeper and deeper into the world, to be continually accumulating; and while you are thus engaged, the mind becomes engrosed with the cares of this life to such an extent as to shut out true godliness..no wonder that we experience so little of the illuminating influence from the heavenly sanctuary. Our desires are not in that direction, they are mostly confined to earthly pursuits, seeking for worldly things, and neglecting the eternal.” (Test.for the Church, Vol. 2, p.183)

Continuing with our reverenced quote,  we see that our Lord asks us,  He pleads–to hear Him! His word is speaking to us, will we hear?  Remember His word is His very essence, His core.  And then sadly, He confesses that He will testify against us. He has no other choice. Most have not converted and kept one foot in the world.

How is it that only 144,000 from His last church can sing a song that only they know?  One of the reasons is because they have overcome the most temptations that have ever fallen upon mankind. Since the beginning of time, there has never been the powerful and tempting worldly desires, as we have today! Every where we look we are tempted. Our friends, our relatives, the TV, the radio, the computer, music,  the shopping malls, the newspapers, everywhere! The devils have pulled out all stops in an effort to distract us, and sadly it has worked for the most part.The world and it’s many interests take our time and devotion.

If we give up these powerful entrapments that engage us to turn them into idols, we shall indeed overcome. This is what our Lord speaks about in (Rev.21:7) “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

So in closing my beloved, let us look upon the final goal, to walk the golden streets and drink of the pure life giving water, and behold our majestic King, His hands, His sacrifice for us. When we realize that our sacrifices really are  investments into life eternal with  our King, and all the rewards He will bestow, it really shouldn’t require much thought. Will we  make the  sacrifice that He asks for?

Posted in Christian walk, Covenants, Obedience | 7 Comments »

Peddling the Word of God

June 16, 2012

One of the most striking things I learned in the journey for God’s truth is that God’s word specifically says his “bread” (word) should be free. That the Holy Spirit should move the conviction upon the receiver of His word to “help out”. Let us look at this neglected area of His word.

A while back members of our church and myself got together and raised several hundred dollars to post a large billboard in our town, about the Sabbath being the day of the Lord, not Sunday. Our plan was set, we wanted them to call and when they did we sent out info, such as Sabbath literature and  DVD’s. I contacted a well known SDA ministry to order.

The DVD’s sent are a very powerful tool in explaining why the Sabbath is the Lord’s day and not Sunday. It goes into all the arguments for and effectively counters the arguments against God’s real day of worship- the 7th day. I decided to order many of them. I called their office and spoke to the man in charge.  We discussed the situation and I mentioned I wanted to order quite a few, maybe 100 or more. Thinking that just maybe our billboard would be a divine success.

As we discussed, I figured that this man would appreciate our efforts for proclaiming God’s Holy day on the billboard. Plus I said we would use their own site as reference on the billboard itself. But as we talked it became clear I wasn’t getting much of a break. I sensed that something was amiss. Money was too important to them to budge much and eventually I capitulated and paid a hefty cost for about 50 of them. But this episode made an impression on me.

I sensed that the real concern was the dollars/profit , not spreading God’s truths. Little did I know , later in my walk I would see the obvious clear light on this subject, hence this post would be made some day (now).

In the New Testament, apostle Paul makes clear how some have the wrong motive in spreading God’s word.  ” Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit, on the contrary in Christ we speak before God with sincerity like men sent from God.” (2 Cor. 2:17).

Again we read “freely you have received, freely give”. (Matt. 10:8) Although that quote is spoken of in the context of spiritual gifts, after reading the Cor. quote, we can see it clearly applies to the spreading of the word as well. Can we imagine our great role model, our King, saying to someone who want’s some word’s of wisdom  “Ok, I’ll give you some advice, but that’ll be 20 dollars”? Or the apostle’s saying they want to be paid for spreading the word of God? Absolutely not. Should it be any different today?

So with the clear words of instruction on spreading God’s word, we should then be in a better position to see who is and who is not obeying these word’s of instruction from our Lord. What do we find in almost all of the current church ministries today? A DVD or CD for “only” 21.95 here, or another over there for “only 19.95” , etc. etc. SDA churches are no exception. The holy (word of God) and the common are of no difference.The products  are “marketed” first and foremost, you don’t pay,  most of the time– you don’t get.

This is one area where I was very surprised to learn,  the Lord’s end time messenger’s the DSDA (Davidian Seventh Day Adventists **) —do not charge one cent for literature , DVD’s, or CD’s(scripture and SOP based). They even mail it out for free. Are they hurting? Apparently not. God has and continues to provide. This has been practiced for  several decades by the DSDA.

In Isaiah we read a beautiful worded scripture basically saying the same thing. “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread?And your wages for that which does not satisfy. Listen unto me, and eat that which is good, and delight yourself in abundance”.(Isaiah 55: 1-2) Here we see that often when we spend money on  a “peddler” of God’s word, it will many times not  satisfy. Does this mean that if they charge for books or other literature (DVD’s, etc) that it is automatically not spiritually good? Of course not, Ellen White’s books are mostly sold, as an example.

But the greater point is that when you see  God’s servants  trying to give you at no cost literature based on the word of God, then these are being “peddled” exactly how our Lord said to peddle them–free. Obedience to His word can only bring great joy and reward!

The great One who knows how many hairs are on our head, knows how to make sure we have enough compensation to fulfill the spreading of His word.

Just look at the many SDA ministries today, nearly all will charge you.

Let us look at what Brother Houteff (Co-founder, with the Lord,  of the DSDA) had to say on the matter.” If your literature is any good at all, it should not be sold at such high prices, but instead it should be given away free of charge and thus be scattered everywhere as the leaves of autumn. On the contrary though, books that should be sold for $1 per copy you are selling for $2 or $3. If the literature is  given away for free, and if it is convincing, it should bring added multitudes of souls and thus yield more in tithes and offerings than it’s purchase price now brings. Your love of money, though, makes you afraid to take that chance.” ( 3rd Jezreel Letter)

Also we read “Everyone who endeavors to do whatever he or she can, be it little or much, be it part or full time, is now provided with free literature of unlimited amount, with free transportation, be the trip a mile or a thousand miles long, and whatever expenses one may incur by his busying himself in this great and grand work, are all paid by this Layman’s Movement.” ( 4th Jezreel Letter)

To summarize, we see that our Lord really want’s His people to take the “Bread” (His Word) free. Those who follow His instructions on this really do step out in faith and call upon His word, that He will provide. The greatest faith brings the greatest rewards.

(** Not to be confused with “Branch” Davidians, off shoot movement from the original Davidians, started in the early 60’s. They add and subtract from the original writings of brother Houteff)

Posted in Christian faith, Obedience, Proper teachings | 2 Comments »

God’s final message to His Church

June 9, 2012

Note: this post is primarily addressed to the SDA and DSDA members.

The final message has it’s beginnings in our Lord’s last message in His last book of the Old testament. In Malachi 4:5 we read “behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Because this is His last warning  message, it is of supreme importance that we – know it, obey it, and spread it.

To begin with, there really is much confusion on this subject within our church. And why not? The Lord’s last message to His church has been known to Satan for centuries, and as such he has worked overtime to block it, confuse it, and just plain trash it as worthless.

As we delve deeper into this message , keep in mind the one startling fact that becomes crystal clear– the evil ones hate it and will stop at nothing to keep it from being presented to the people of God. For awareness and obedience to it by His people, hastens their demise, and they know it!

So we must ask ourselves , as members of His last church, known as Seventh Day Adventists, –have we really studied this last message of Elijah? Do we even know who, where, and what this end time Elijah is all about? If we are truly honest , for most of us the answer is—no. Why is that? Could it be that the Spirit of Truth is lacking among our leaders and they think themselves rich and increased with goods, and in need of nothing? Our Lord specifically warned us in Rev. 3 :17 “ Because you say,’ I am rich, have become wealthy (spiritually), and have need of nothing’-and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked–”.

Our leaders today , for the most part preach the old truths, neglecting the new or present truths. And as we’ll see this final message is the present truth for us today. EGW explains “In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation….it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of the truth that glorifies the old (truth). He who rejects or neglects the new (truth) does not really possess the old. For him it loses it’s vital force and becomes but a lifeless form.: (COL, p.127-128)

We must now acknowledge that many of the SDA leaders have said that they are rich and have all they need, and need nothing more. This is evident by the continual message of peace and safety, of proclaiming that all is well in God’s house, week after week.  And the steadfast belief that there is no need of any new revelations of truth for our church. Present truth is not necessary, let’s  rehash all the old truths, we got it all we are taught.

Let us look at the truth, as the Lord now asks us to look. First, our beloved prophetess Ellen G. White, whom we love and acknowledge was a servant of the Lord said the following words — “Someone is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say ‘you are too earnest, you do not interpret the scriptures in the proper way, let me tell you how to teach your message.  There are many who cannot distinguish between the work of God and that of man. I shall tell the truth as God gives it to me, and I say now, if you continue to find fault, to have a spirit of variance, you will never know the truth.” (Testimonies to ministers, p.475-476, 1 Selected Messages, p. 412).

My dear brethren, please follow this closely. The above quote by EGW has at least four clues to who would be the Elijah to come.Let’s look at the four.

The first clue, EGW clearly states that a “he” would come. Do you want to know a clear clue that these leaders of our church are misleading the people in understanding this powerful statement by EGW in identifying the Elijah? Notice they put an asterisk by this statement  basically saying she was talking about herself as the Elijah!  Come let us reason together, EGW was a she not a he. This right here should arouse any truth seeker that something is terribly wrong with the “leaders” to even say this and allowed it there to deceive! So we know that this end time Elijah will be a man.

The second clue is he will come and interpret scripture. This is clue definitely shows his work will be an interpretive work and it stands to reason , much of it would be in written form. All prophets have made their writings known,  to be passed on to God’s people. So they must be published and spread among the people. These interpretations must be well known and been seen because they have a message attached to them (as we shall see).

The third clue is that the man who will interpret scripture and give a message, will be rejected. Men, representing men who can bear a message, no doubt leaders in the church, will rebuke this man and interject their opinions on what he is trying to tell the people. In other words this man and his message will be countered. Keep in mind this whole scenario must be wide open and in front of God’s people, for our Lord would not bring this Elijah unless he was known to His people as an interpreter.

The fourth clue is that she says that “many” would confuse the work of God with that of man. God does not do things haphazardly. Under divine inspiration, the mentioning of the Elijah to come is followed by two clarifications. 1) people would think that the work of Elijah is a man’s work , or his own work and not inspired of God 2) They will find fault and thereby never know the truth as God wanted them to have.

These four clues undeniably point to a certain man in our history of the SDA church, for there can be no other that fits these to a  tee!

Our Lord said the Elijah would come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, so it stands to reason that Elijah’s interpretations would describe newly revealed Biblical prophecies, that had been hidden, primarily dealing with that great and dreadful day. Because the Lord obviously wants to warn His people . We must ask ourselves, as truth seekers, the following. Who has come from among us since Ellen White has prophesied those words from the Lord? Can you think of somebody? Have we even searched history to see if a man has filled these requirements?

As we mentioned obviously he must be well known, and had made an impact among the people throughout the SDA. He cannot be a relative unknown . The Lord cannot have him as a vaguely know person.Because the Lord wants the people to hear this man, at least of him. Again, he must standout as an interpreter, and he must be rejected by the SDA leaders.

My dear brethren there is only one who has completely fit that description  – Victor T. Houteff. Yes, he interpreted so many scriptures of old and new testament prophecies. His work was quite voluminous. He revealed Hosea, chapter one and two, the Noah flood type and anti-type, Matthew 20, the vineyard laborers parable, Zechariah 4 and 6, Ezekiel 1-2, 9-10, and 47. Also Revelation 1 to 3, 7 and 12, Daniel 8 and more. These prophecies dealt primarily with our Lord’s last day warnings to the church.

As we Davidians are so very well aware , when you actually take the time to sit down and watch or read brother Houteff’s interpretations, you are quite thrilled that our Lord revealed this to us through His servant. I have yet to find error in these interpretations(though I did fine some typo’s, such as the well-know 2300 days shown as 23,000 days in the 11th hour chart below), and believe me I am a truth seeker who want’s no part in error, and with an open-mind  thoroughly listened or read these.

Yes, he was and is still rejected. Today, almost everywhere in the SDA, you will hear the leaders say that brother Houteff did not interpret scripture correctly, and they will interject their reasons, thus saying what God’s real message is.

Strangely though when pressed and shown that most of VTH’s work is based on Scripture and EGW, they are stuck as how to address this. For when they reject much of Houteff’s work they do indeed reject EGW’s as well.

To prove a point, ask a fellow SDA member who denies brother Houteff was the Elijah to come the following  “Ok , after knowing these four clues who could it have been?”  Believe me, just as EGW prophesied they will find some fault in VTH and then likely say –“I don’t know”  –case closed.

EGW makes it clear that if you want to have a tendency to find fault, you’ll have ample opportunity to complete your task in (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p.675). “Those who desire to doubt, will have plenty of room. God does not propose to remove all occasion for unbelief. He gives evidence which must be carefully investigated with a humble mind and teachable spirit, and all should decide from the weight of evidence. (Vol. 3, p.255, 1873) ” God gives sufficient evidence for the candid mind to believe; but he who turns from the weight of evidence because there are a few things which he cannot make plain to his finite understanding, will be left in the cold, chilling atmosphere and questioning doubts, and will make shipwreck of faith.” (Vol. 4, p.232, 233 (1876)

Some of the writings of  Houteff show some hard to grasp things, some even appear contradictory, yet this is also found in Ellen White’s writings and even Scripture. As EGW said,  do we throw it all out because of the few places that we can’t quite comprehend ? It is the weight of evidence that we must go by and even more importantly, we must have the gift of the Spirit of Truth in us to discern what is truth. As we have said many times before  -once we are converted and turn from our cherished sins, we are promised the Spirit of Truth, the great Truth detector.

You see the whole purpose of the last day Elijah’s message is that of repeating the original “type” message. The original Elijah message was to His own people, not—to–the –world. This is key. When we see Amazing Facts, Hope Channel, 3 ABN, and the host of other SDA outlets telling us that the “world” is who we must go out and preach to, we are denying our Lord’s Elijah message IN FULL! Do these leaders even consider that our own church is in such dire straights that our Lord knew WE are the ones in need of the message, not the world!

As I have pointed out before it’s akin to inviting more people into a sinking boat. The Lord wants the boat patched up, then we can add. Many have a hard time understanding this yet, His purpose clearly is for the Elijah message in these last days to go only to His own people. How dare us second guess our Lord!

Who are obeying this last day Elijah message? It is the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists! They know, believe, and understand this message our Lord wants us to know , obey and spread. The message is that the sealings are now taking place and only those who walk daily in His Commandments, and sigh and cry for the abominations done in His church –will be sealed.None others. Yes, it is  solemn but it’s His word. Who are we to say “I don’t like it Lord, and therefore it’s not going to happen”?

My beloved SDA , please look into the end time message of Elijah. The Lord has sent it for a reason. He is preparing to come down to the earth and walk into His churches to begin the beginning phases of the judgment for the living. In 1844, the beginning of the judgment of the dead began, and we as SDA all know this, but do we know and understand Elijah’s warnings about the very soon beginning phase of  the judgment for the living right in our own churches?

FINAL TIMELINE COUNT DOWN AS PROPHESISED BY BROTHER HOUTEFF

  1. Our Lord writes His warnings to His people in Malachi 4:5 in order to be prepared for His message to come, through His prophet Elijah. This message is His LAST message to His people.
  2. Our Lord , by the Holy Spirit creates His last church, the Seventh Day Adventist church. He brings forth a most wonderful servant named Ellen Harmon, later to be known as Ellen G. White. SDA people are given great light through her on many, many writings, particularly a special message that a prophet is to come after her. It is found in Testimonies to Ministers, P.475, and again in 1 Selected Messages, P.412 However in much blindness, obviously through the adversary himself—Satan, the end time prophet is not discussed openly much,  throughout the church. He is not looked for, as the vast amount of people are taught the old truths rather than present truth, they think themselves rich and increased in goods(spiritually strong), so ignorance is prevalent throughout the denomination.
  3. But this all changes in 1929. A man rises up in the SDA church and begins to teach his local Sabbath school lessons. His teachings attracted some real interest, but also as prophesied , the local leaders, whom had never heard of these interpretations, began to doubt his conclusions. Shortly after a furor hit the church worldwide. Some were excited about the new revelations and some were against. All of this was clearly shown as the identifying sign that the Lord had spoken of through the prior prophetess, Ellen G. White. The man’s name was Victor T. Houteff.
  4. In 1930 He began to publish his work in many written volumes. They covered many, as yet, uncovered prophecies of much old and new testament scripture. Primarily these were shown to be about the upcoming judgment upon God’s church. His name became front and center in the early 30’s within the church( his symbolic code newsletter contains many, many glowing testimonies of the original hearers of the message). Sadly though, the denominations leaders began denounce him publicly as a false leader, saying he did not interpret scripture properly, just as prophesied! Soon the people were divided. Some accepted his interpretations and writings, but sadly a great many followed the leaders like blind sheep and did not believe or investigate for themselves  his work. Soon he was forced to leave the church. Thousands accepted the Elijah message, but the great majority rejected it.
  5. So we now see that  the identifying marks had been fulfilled . He knew his duty was to go to work within his own people, not to work upon the world at large. His work was the anti-type of Elijah’s message. One of warnings that the Lord was about to come secretly to this earth to walk into His churches worldwide (SDA) and begin and execute the beginning phase of the judgment of the living. After this work is done, there will be His elect left within the church, the 144,000, to go out into babylon , to win the great multitude. His interpretations have shown beyond doubt that this is indeed God’s end time plans for His church. Sin , he pointed out,  is so prevalent in God’s churches, that He cannot wait forever to have the people on their own clean up their act—He must take the reins into His own hands. ” 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..God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His Own Hands. The workers will be surprised by the simple means that he will use to bring about and perfect His work of righteousness. ” ( Test. to Ministers, p.300)
  6. He puts together a clear end time count down based on scripture and EGW.   1) EGW said that John and Ezekiel both saw the sealing acts of Rev 7. (Ezekiel 9) This is  found in Testimonies to Ministers, p.445  2) The release of the four winds represent the Sunday law to begin. The sealings and destroying of the tares within the church must happen before the releasing of the winds (Sunday law). EGW clearly says that the “four winds” represent the Sunday law. (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, P.152).

3) The remaining surviving people after God’s sealings/destroying is the 144,000. They are filled with the Holy Spirit and go out into babylon to win the great multitude. But as this happens trouble comes from Satan to oppose (known as the time of trouble as never was). Even so, a great many around the world come into God’s purified church, as signs and wonders are performed by the 144,000. The devils soon imitate these signs and wonders, and there is great confusion among the world’s people, as to who God is really with. Only those grounded in the word will know clearly (ie. True Commandments including the Sabbath)

SUMMARY

With the explosion of media and online communications, our Lord has opened the avenues for the final Elijah message to come to all the SDA church members, so that there will be no excuse. Facebook, emails, and blogs are very active in promoting this end time message. Soon when the 144,000th one is sealed, the Lord will then take the reins into His own hands, a solemn event. We as truth seekers must seriously ask our selves the following – Are we full and satisfied that we know all the truth that we need to make us spiritually ready to meet the Lord? Or could it be that we haven’t searched the above plain truths, and therefore believe that we don’t need our Lord’s last message? These are solemn serious questions each must ask right now. His last message through His prophet Elijah has specific instructions that we need spiritually to receive His sealing.

An example of Brother Houteff’s work, here are a few charts symbolically showing interpretations of prophecies , click on each to enlarge.
http://shepherdsroddavidian.org/charts.html

Posted in Elijah, End times | 4 Comments »

Insidious Idols

June 2, 2012

As the title of this post says, many of our idols today are so sneaky, that we are not even aware that they are indeed  —  idols. In this way they are insidious, just as the adversaries would have it. Let us look more deeply into this real trap. I dare say that today this is the biggest trap for us Christians, our biggest stumbling block to walking upright with our Lord.

Idolatry has been a big problem since the beginning of God’s people. In Ezekiel we read ” Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it (Ezekiel 36:17-18).

Many think of the term “Idol worship” as some old fashion form of actually bowing down to false gods and such. In reality it is completely different, especially in today’s world. In (Rev.22:14-15) we read the following  ” Blessed are those who do His Commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”

We see from the above that keeping the “Commandments” requires that we not be idolaters. Most of us know that having  promiscuous sex, practicing lying, murder, and practicing sorcery are clear cut and flat out wrong before the Lord. But that sneaky one- idolatry,  can stumble us in ways that we ourselves can be caught unaware. Idols can blind us so well, we are in many case not even aware of it!

As many of you who follow this blog are aware, the Lord is about to select His 144,000 servants to proclaim the final Loud Cry. The real difference , I believe,  is that His true servants realize perfectly the whole idol trap and keep themselves free from it. For they have made an effort to free themselves of his ( the devil’s) snares.

Let’s look at one of the most obvious idol traps — television.  Do you watch worldly television daily or several times each week day? Do you come home from work and mindlessly turn on the TV and watch for  hours every night?  If your answer is yes, then you have likely been snared by the TV idol trap.

Here’s a good way to know if something is an idol to you. How much time do you spend weekly in the Lord’s work? Study, sharing the Lord with friends or family, prayer, reading His holy word? Ok, if TV or anything else takes up more of your time than the Lord’s work, you have a more enjoyable god you serve. “For where your treasures lie, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). Make no mistake,  our idol worship  is noticed by our Lord.

In my own life, TV was one of the last idols to leave. Growing up  as a typical TV and music idol worshiper(sports, entertainment shows, car radio on every day, etc.), I just couldn’t see it as “bad”.  “The Lord doesn’t really care if I practice TV watching or listen to worldly music, as long as I read the Bible now and then and show up for Sabbath services, I’ll be fine” was my deluded thinking.

 But you know what? If someone would have said  that I was a TV or music  idol worshiper, I would have said “yeah right, get real”. It was only until I started putting my time into the Lord’s work and forsaking worldly desires, by sincerely wanting to do the Lord’s will, that I could then see clearly that yes it was an idol!

Does this mean we should never watch  television? No, not necessarily. Certainly we can get  some good from TV. Inspirational, educating, news and such can be good. But as we pointed out, once it starts to fill a gap in your life that should be towards the Lord’s work, you’ve shown Him where your desires really are. With time being so short and His workers being in short supply, we cannot have any excuses.

One of the most important prayers we should do frequently, is to ask the Lord to help show us where we are wrong in  our walk.  I continue to do this, even though I have tossed much sin out of my life. We need to continue to look to Him for help and guidance.

Once you pray this prayer and do it will all your heart, He will be faithful to show you. You’ll start to feel more and more guilt on something that you are doing that is dis-pleasing to Him.

Think about it, with so many now in His church, about 16 million, how is it that He can only use 144,000 as His servants when the gospel message swells into a Loud Cry? I truly believe much of the blame can be traced to idol involvement. “Only those who have withstood and overcome temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming this message when it shall have swelled into the Loud Cry” (Review and Herald , Nov. 19, 1908).  If we don’t overcome our idols now, we shall not be around to partake of the Loud Cry message– straight and solemn indeed! Our Lord is not playing around my friends.

Again EGW points out how  serious the worldly treasures (idols) are to many. “I asked the angel why so few were interested in their eternal welfare, so few preparing for their last change. Said he ‘ Earth attracts them, it’s treasures seem of worth to them.’  They find enough to engross the mind, and have no time to prepare for heaven…such will have no excuse” (Test. for the Church, vol. 1,p.132)

Our Lord said we must be born again, and that means all things become new. When we make the effort to convert and live as He would have us, then we see clearly each and every stumbling block.

There can be other idols of course, such as music, hobbies, or even your job. Obsessing about making more money and attending to business too much can clearly snag us. Let me give another example of an  idol today that has come into people’s lives–the computer.

This snag certainly is insidious to God’s people today. Chatting away for hours on worldly matters, gossiping,  playing games, searching worldly desires and such on the computer has taken so much of our time each and every week, it has established itself as nearly as bad an idol as TV is.   Of course if we are on it  much of the time doing the Lord’s work, then it can serve His purpose. Paul says in first Corinthians ” All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but I will not be enslaved by anything” (1 Cor.6:12)  We do anything (apart from the Lord’s work) too much we can become enslaved.

One point that shows that our Lord doesn’t leave one thing untouched. Guess how many times the word “idol” is used in the whole Bible? 666 –according to this source- Answers.com* (-Note-  this number appears contradicted by other sources, but it’s safe to say it’s in the hundreds of times, indicating it’s supreme importance to us.)

In closing, our Lord said “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son” (Rev. 21:7) One of the greatest obstacles we must over come is that one snare that can sneak up upon us  — the  insidious idols.

Posted in Christian walk, Delusion, Idol worship | Leave a Comment »

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