Archive for August, 2013

Clarifying the Last Prophet

August 31, 2013

Victor Houteff

Today a vital understanding is important in regards to understanding what a prophet of God and a messenger of God really is. Also we must understand who the “last” one is to be. Let us begin by finding out what a prophet of God is. We begin with the Spirit of Prophecy.

“In the highest sense the prophet was one who spoke by direct inspiration, communicating to the people the messages he had received from God. But the name was given also to those who, though not so directly inspired, were divinely called to instruct the people in the works and ways of God.” (Education, p.46)

Here we see that there was “direct inspiration” prophets and then there was “not so directly inspired” prophets. However we should note that she is describing the title in  past notations . It’s important to note that today we are faced with some solid words that show there are no more “prophets” after the Elijah prophet.

“God speaks through his appointed agencies, and let no man, or confederacy of men, insult the Spirit of God by refusing to hear the message of God’s word from the lips of his chosen messengers. By refusing to hear the message of God, men close themselves in a chamber of darkness. They shut their own souls away from vast blessings, and rob Christ of the glory that should come to him, by showing disrespect to his appointed agencies.”(Review and Herald, Sept.5, 1893)

The above clearly says that we are to listen to His chosen messengers, lest we close ourselves “in a chamber of darkness.”

To illuminate further what a prophet is we read in (Amos 3:7) , ” Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.” We see that the Lord does something only after he reveals it to His spokesmen-the prophets. So one of the main aspects of prophets is to foretell what the Lord will do.

For examples of this clear foretelling of upcoming events we can refer a few examples. Malachi predicted “..the Lord , whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple..” Has this happened yet? No, this prophet has declared what the Lord will do (future tense).

Ellen White has declared that the world’s governments will establish a “Sunday law”, has this happened? No yet, but this will come to pass.

Also in (2 Peter 1:20-21) we read, ” Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

Again we see that all foretelling and the interpretation of foretelling events of Scripture is left only to the Holy Spirit which God anoints to a “holy” man, a prophet, or in Ellen’s case–a holy woman.

Today, unfortunately, God’s people have seen in their midst a few who have illegally mounted the “prophet” throne and proclaimed themselves as such, directly or indirectly. Either saying so upfront or implying it, or not denying it should their followers make the claim. But this false usurping is thoroughly debased if we will only seriously study the clear, simple, plain word of God through His prophets.

Let us look at solid evidence that only one prophet is to come in the last days. As we’ve mentioned many times before, there is two clear quotes from the word of God that point this out. We shall quote them and after them we shall add what the Elijah prophet himself said about this subject. Let us remember that the Elijah prophet is to “restore all things” and that this spokesman of the Lord, is the last source(restoration) we must refer to because it’s the last word of the Lord.

How many of us would like to arrive in a city and ask the people there for a 20 year old map? Of course we’d want the latest to know where we are going and how to get there. It’s the same with His latest prophet, it’s the Lord’s latest map to the kingdom.

As we search Scripture closely we find the well-known Malachi 4:5,  and it reads, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.”

Then we have the other unmistakable quote from Spirit of Prophecy.

“Prophecy must be fulfilled. The Lord says: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Somebody 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.” (Testimonies to Ministers, p.475)

We notice that they both show ONE person, a male, to come in the spirit and power of Elijah. What is the prophet to do? Obviously from the two quotes we can see that he is to bring a message. And that is to be about the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and how we can survive it. In other words to reveal plainly what this day is to be like and to be prepared. We see he describes this day from his God-given ability to “interpret” Scriptures. But he will not succeed initially . Why? Because the people will say “you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way, let me tell you how to teach your message.”

The people, which can only be God’s remnant people, the Seventh Day Adventist people, will know that this man (Elijah) will have a message to bear. But they will be led to put it down and others will step forward to proclaim another message apart from the God-given one. A Elijah message of reform and reformation will be replaced by a smooth and peace and safety message.

Has this happened? Yes indeed! Brother Victor Houteff has been the ONLY large-scale “interpreter” from our SDA history to have qualified to fit this specific prophecy. Can we name any other in our history known for his interpretations, claiming his work as Elijah,  and then rejected?  No we cannot.

His interpretations were numerous, his writings uncovered “hidden” treasures of truth, never before in history declared or understood. Even the Jews were stumped on the meanings of some of the prophecies that Victor Houteff soundly uncovered. Yet the great majority of the SDA, at the urging of the leaders, blindly turned away from investigating this Elijah prophet’s writings and symbolic charts.

“Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent you, how often I have longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! ” (Luke 13:34)

Because of this rejection, we now can see why Ellen White prophesied that a “small portion” would be saved in the remnant church. (Testimonies for the Church, Vol.1, p.608-609). The Lord does not change (Mal. 3:6). If he spared only 2 from over the age of 20, out of hundreds of thousands in the Egypt exodus, will He let down His standards now? Will He overlook the fact that we  reject a prophet He sent? Search  our history, not once did He ever give His people a pass once they soundly rejected His prophets. His judgments followed and they were thorough. That is why we continually plead to all who will listen —read and study the last prophet’s words for they are the Lords!

So it is clear that only one male prophet is to come after Ellen White.

“As never before, we should pray not only that laborers may be sent forth into the great harvest field, but that we may have a clear conception of truth, so that when the messengers of truth shall come, we may accept the message and respect the messenger.” (Test. for the Church, vol. 6, p.420).

Let us now look at the direct words spoken by our last prophet addressing  the “last” prophet to come issue. Here are the common excuses used to deny the Elijah prophet.

1) They inject that John the Baptist fulfilled the role of the Elijah to come (Mal. 4:5)

Brother Houteff addresses this — “ Now the question: Is the ancient prophet Elijah himself to re-appear, or is some other, having the same spirit and power, to take his place?

   John the Baptist’s statement that he himself was not the Elijah, and Jesus’ statement that John was the Elijah of that day, not of our day, clear three points:

   (1) That John was not in any sense of the word fulfilling the mission of the Elijah who is to come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, but that he, the last prophet to the church of his day, simply came in the spirit and power of Elijah, to prepare the way for the Lord’s first advent.  So it is that the Elijah of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, the last prophet to the church of this day, comes in the same spirit and power, to prepare the way for the Lord’s second advent.

   (2) That as John was the Elijah of his day, yet not Elijah the Tishbite himself, then the promise of the prophet Elijah is not necessarily to be fulfilled in person by the ancient prophet himself.

   (3) That as the Elijah of Christ’s first advent was one person, and also as the Elijah of Mt. Carmel of old was one person, not a multitude of priests, then by parity of reasoning the Elijah of today must also be one person, not a multitude of ministers.

   The promise, itself, moreover, is for only one, not for more, and, with but one exception, we know not of any other time when God employed even two prophets (let alone many) at one time, to convey one message to one people.  He invariably called one, and that one himself, under the direction of the Spirit, employed others to help him take the message to the people.  Thus only were any others ever identified with a called one.

 What a blasphemous theft!  — should one endeavor to steal away the truth about the prophet’s office, to pass on a lie instead, — to say that Elijah is not an individual but a group of people, in the face of the fact that the types, and the prophecy as well, besides Heaven’s law and order, disallow such a thing.  Thus to go contrary to Holy Writ is an outright effort to do away forever with the promised prophet of God, as Pharaoh endeavored to do away with Moses by drowning the male Hebrew children, and likewise as Herod tried to do away with Christ by slaying the little children of his day!  What wickedness indeed!  Think this through, too, Brethren.(1950 General Conference Special, p. 31-33)

Next he reveals the real purpose of his message.

No one but a hopeless Laodicean, one who forever holds to his day-dreaming that he has need of nothing more, — no more Truth or prophets, — can fail to see that the prophecies pertaining to the day of God are only dark sentences to him, that he is in need of everything instead of nothing, and that the work of the promised Elijah is not the work which the Laodiceans are doing. 

The Laodicean message (the Judgment for the Dead) is definitely not Elijah’s message, although many may think it is.  That many are blind to this, the Lord points out: “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.”

   Moreover, we all know that the work of typical Elijah was to do away with the prophets and priests who served Baal instead of God, those who led ancient Israel into the greatest fallacy and folly of the day.  Accordingly, the antitypical Elijah’s work, being in the spirit and power of typical Elijah, must therefore be similar to typical Elijah’s work-restoring Truth and righteousness, and bringing judgment upon the false prophets and teachers in the antitypical day which in itself is the separating of the chaff from the wheat — the work of the Judgment for the Living.”(1950 General Conference Special, p.30-31)

2) The next issue we find today (particularly among some DSDA) is that brother Houteff was not the last prophet to come. This is soundly cleared up if we read and believe , in the plain, simple and clear words of VTH.

“Since God is not experimenting, and since He means just what He says, there should be no doubt in your minds that the Scriptures concerning antitypical Elijah (he who is to awaken the church and to warn the Laodiceans of “the great and the dreadful day of the Lord”‘ make sure that he is one person.  Of a surety, he is to have faithful helpers, but according to the prophet Nahum he will greatly make use of the printing press and will scatter his message by the postage stamp everywhere, as the leaves of autumn.  He will not care what is done with his publications, but will make sure the they find their way into all hands, laps, pockets, yards or waste baskets throughout Laodicea…” (1950 General Conference Special, p.34)

“And since the Enemy cannot get around the Truth, he does all he can to blacken character and to pick flaws in personalities.  The prophet’s message nevertheless cannot be judged by the behavior of its professors, for even the Apostles misconducted themselves before the ascension of Christ.  The multitude, too, that followed Moses was anything by exemplary; in fact, in many instances they were disgraceful.  And the “holy men of God” who wrote the Scriptures were faulty men.   Even Moses himself was not faultless. Regardless, though, he was still Moses, and his was the only message and movement for the day.

   Likewise, irrespective of considerations of personnel faults, frailties, and failings, Elijah’s message and movement will be the only God-sent ones, the only ones to fear, to love, to stand by, to live or to die for.  No, there will be no other shield when heaven opens and the storm breaks in all its dread fury upon the world, to unavoidably pour down its lethal lightning from the skies.

   Finally, for what other purpose could any right thinking minds suppose the Lord would send His prophet if not for them to give ear to him, that they might thereby survive the great and dreadful day of the Lord?   For what else, indeed, could the Lord have made a record of prophecy and promise of His last-day prophet?  Ponder this, Brethren; think it through.”(1950 General Conference Special, p.8-9)

As if the above is not enough to point out that the Elijah prophet is the last “one” to come, we read, ” Since the promised Elijah is to be the last prophet to the church today, as John the Baptist was the last prophet to the church in his day, and since the last work on earth is the Judgment for the Living, the truth stands forth like the light of day that Elijah’s message is the message of the Judgment for the Living, the last, which in the very nature of the gospel is of far more importance and consequence than any other message ever borne to a people.” (1950 General Conference Special, p.23-24)

3) The claim that Ellen White was the “Elijah” to come. This began in 1962, over 70 years after EGW made the statement that a “he” was to come as the anti-typical Elijah. In 1962 the leaders went back and added an asterisk to (Test. to Ministers, p.475) saying they she was really saying that she was talking of herself as the Elijah to come. Brother Houteff knew of this deception, even in 1950 and addressed it.

“The Judgment for the Dead, furthermore, is not the message of “the great and dreadful day.”  It does not even touch on the prophecies of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  And since the one by whom the message on the Judgment for the Dead was unfolded has already been dead these many years, and since nothing, not to mention “all things,” has as yet been restored, and, too, since that one never claimed to be the Elijah, nor to unfold the prophecies of the Judgment for the Living, no one, therefore, can honestly and innocently say Elijah has already come and gone. 

In view of these facts, it would be stupidity of the lowest form, if not blasphemy, for any one to lay such charges to her, or to imagine that her prophetic office fulfilled anything more than a preparatory part of the mission of Elijah.” (1950 General Conference Special, p.39)

In closing my brethren, let us watch and be on guard because the devils know they have but little time. Our prophet has spoken and said –what the Lord will do.

“However, I would remind you, Brethren, that no prophet of God has ever been welcomed by the church.  On the contrary, each in his time was rejected, abused, and most of them were martyred by the ones to whom they were sent — the very ones who were supposed to be serving God!  Indeed, the Lord Himself paid the same price.  For this very reason we must remember that when the last prophet comes he will have the greatest opposition to meet, for Satan well knows that if he loses now, he loses forever. 

What makes Elijah’s work especially hard is that Christendom has long been drilled in the idea that no prophet is to come, that there is no necessity for one, that it has enough revealed Truth to carry it inside the Pearly Gates. It is therefore only to be expected that the predicted Elijah will be denounced as a false prophet, perhaps even as the anti-Christ, offshoot, or what not.

   Moreover, the old Devil has already put all his forces to work, piping pleasing tunes to lure Truth seekers to climb aboard his golden bandwagon.   Its glittering tinsel of truth is already beguiling many with his wares while his captains and generals are to the top of their voices shouting their “Hallelujahs,” “Holy Ghost,” “gift of healing,” “gift of tongues,” “gift of miracles,” and all the rest, although the entire fanfare is devoid even of a spark of life. 

Every wind of doctrine will be blowing, false revivals and reformations will be at their peak.  Everything that can be done will be done to distort the Truth and thus distract and dishearten believers and draw their attention to something other than the message of Elijah.

   Thus will be the Devil’s deal while the day of God is approaching, and while Elijah is making the announcement of it as the scroll unrolls and while the prophecies concerning the day of God are being unsealed.   His work and his interpretation of the prophecies for the great day will identify him as the promised Elijah the prophet (“Testimonies to Ministers,” p. 475),

and this will enrage the Devil as never before.  Nevertheless, one’s only safety will be in the teaching of Elijah, for there will be no other voice of timely Truth and authority to whom one may turn.  Any others will lead their victims blind-folded into perdition.

   Do not henceforth leave in the hands of others your investigation of the subject.  After hearing the evidences, you alone in the closet of prayer and with the aid of the Spirit can determine whether the Elijah has come, or whether he is yet to come.”(1950 General Conference Special, p.6-8)

Posted in Elijah, Victor T. Houteff | 5 Comments »

Doing Business with the Businessman

August 24, 2013

Pr_070_-_TRI_-_14_11_10_-_014  Many of us have never thought about our Lord as a “Businessman”. Yet in many respects this is what He is. He has and is keeping track of ever cent you and I have spent. We realize that this aspect is seldom looked at but after this post we hope that we can clearly see that we do have a Boss and that He is adding and subtracting our great account in the heaven. Let us look into this neglected aspect of our Lord’s accounting.

Have you ever envied the likes of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet or Carlos Slim? Their wealth is truly astronomical but yet it’s temporal and finite. The wealth we are going to talk about now, is –eternal wealth. How would you like to invest in  a “stock” that could yield much more wealth than the above mentioned men and remain throughout eternity? You can! That stock is called–the Lord’s storehouse of —present truth.

I remember when I was younger, money became a great motivation factor in my life. Like the vast majority of people around the world, my life basically revolved around money. I awoke thinking how I was going to make some. Being self-employed most of my life, my goal was to become financially secure, and very rich if I could. I became a “buyer and seller” of different things. But as I grew older it was clear that although I was successful at being master of my own time and finances, I was far from rich and frankly I really didn’t have that all-consuming passion for wealth that I thought I had earlier in life. In other words it was as if something held me back and I instinctively knew money wouldn’t make me truly happy.

Looking back on my life I can only say that He allowed me to be a businessman most of my life for a reason. It taught me how to deal with people and to be observant. As I converted my life and accepted Him as my Lord and King, I grew to know how vastly more important is the  “spiritual wealth” than the earthly wealth.

But throughout most of my life,  I was just like the vast majority, handling and spending money for –self and our own specific interests. I had no idea that the Lord had a definite say and concern in the matter of money. In fact because money represents and is backed by –possessions, the Lord owns all of it, down to the very last cent. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:3)

As we have learned from our prior studies, the book of Malachi is the last sign off letter of the Old Testament  to His people. Kind of like the last word of the most important points and issues He wishes us to know. Therefore, this small book (only 4 chapters) has some specific treasures that we must study and obey. In Chapter 3 we read, “Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?” (Mal. 3:7)

As we have learned of the Lord’s “last” prophet to our church (see our post “Has Elijah Come https://godsloveandlaw.com/2011/10/15/has-elijah-come-part-1-of-2/),  let us now see His divine words, as spoken through the Elijah prophet,  concerning these Malachi instructions.

In the “Jezreel Letters” a composition of 9 letters addressed to the leaders of the SDA church  (ministers, elders, deacons, conference leaders, etc.) , brother Houteff deals directly with  the prophetic meaning of much of Malachi. He minced no words in declaring the straight truth in the matter of our account  with the Lord. Like the original type of the Elijah, who called out the religious leaders of his  day to reform, brother Houteff as the anti-type did the same concerning our wayward ways.

—————————————–

“Since His people still do not see wherein they have departed from His ordinances, He specifically points out and immediately pleads for action, ” “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse–even this whole nation–because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”(Mal 3:8-10).

The phase, ‘even this whole nation’ robbing God is so because the old message, the ‘judgment for the Dead’, (for the proclamation of which the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination was specifically called forth), is now out of date as is the message of Noah’s flood, and as Denominational officials have already rejected the message of the Judgment for the Living but are still collecting tithes of the people, they as a nation (as a Denomination) are robbing God.”There are many precious truths contained in the Word of God but it is present Truth that the Flock needs now.(Early Writings, p.63)” (Jezreel Letter, no.9, p.3-4)

Note that not to the Levites, or to some other place or people but into God’s storehouse are the tithes and offerings to be brought. And for no other reason that His storehouse may have the means to dispense spiritual food, “meat in due season.” These words definitely and positively show that the only support which the message of the purification for the church  has for caring on it’s work is the tithes and the offerings from His faithful people; that in no other way could the message be dispensed; that in no other way could the expenses be paid.

This is God’s reason for no plate passing now in our gatherings, for no money raising  in any form, and for scattering our literature  everywhere as the leaves of autumn without money and without price to the people. In other words, the literature, the ministers, and the Bible workers– those who bring the message of the hour to your door, are to be paid by the tithes and offerings that come to the Lord’s storehouse.  God, therefore, asks His faithful people to gladly respond to His call and sufficiently to supply the need. He asks this not only for the prosperity of His storehouse, but for His people’s prosperity as well.” (Jezreel Letter, no. 9, p.9-10)

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What we see from the above is that with our money (tithes) we are today supporting a cause that is outdated (spreading the Judgment for the Dead message) instead of supporting the real present truth today– the Judgment for the Living message. Thus those who are neglecting this duty are complicit in robbing God.

The above really packs much divine instruction for us.  We see that it is very important to know that we must send our tithes to His storehouse, which is identified as dispensing spiritual food–meat in due season. What is that?  It is present Truth. It is our Lord’s last word to us. Can we honestly say that we are being “fed” with present truth by our church today? When the last time we heard the speakers go up on the Sabbath and rebuke or admonish the people for some sins in the midst? We only hear “peace and safety”.

Ellen White warns the leaders that unless they quit proclaiming “peace and safety” they will fall in the judgment. She says, “…’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.” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p.211)

Once we know what His storehouse(s) are and what they do, we can help lead some who aren’t sure where the locations are that are actively dispensing spiritual food–meat in due season. Before we do,  we want to touch on another brother Houteff quote. “And how thankful we ought to be that everyone is given the privilege and the opportunity  in one way or another to share the , “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” (Jezreel Letter, no. 9, p.6)

In brother Houteff’s words “one way or another”, the most beautiful thing to us who would want to join in this great work of proclaiming the last message of the Lord- The Elijah message, is that you can –faithfully pay your tithes into His storehouse each week and thus be counted as being active in the work!  For various reasons, such as family, work load, or whatever, some can’t get to work like they would like but nevertheless by supporting the workers they can help “foot the bill” towards His work. They can become a partner and a real chance to receive that “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” and its great rewards! Their work becomes your work.

As many of you are aware we are very active in the work of the Elijah message and therefore we are quite familiar with the organizations and people dispensing present truth. Because this work is so important for our church, we know that the Lord has more than one storehouse dispensing meat in due season. One important point before we list. There are some involved in the Elijah message who teach that there should be only one storehouse. Because the time is so short and more than one organization doing a competent job in spreading the message, it makes sense that the Lord wants the message out as far as possible today, in reaching our brethren in these last hours of probation of our SDA church.

The following are storehouses that we can recommend and a short description of their work. Not in particular order.

1) General Association of Davidian Seventh Day Adventists (Mt. Carmel center)

Based out of New York, and located in Mountaindale,  this group is very active in sending tracts, literature, Cd’s, DVD’s  around the world. They also send Bible workers around the world to work one on one for new converts. Recently heard that they had helped convert 16 families in Mexico to the present truth message. They accept check, money orders and pay pal. Keep in mind you’ll need the email to send a Paypal donation.

Address-  P.O. Box 119, Mountaindale, N.Y 12763

Website –http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/charts/

Email– gadsda@shepherds-rod-message.org

2) General Assoc. of Davidian Seventh Day Adventists

Based in Waco Texas, this organization is very active much as the others. (CD’s, DVD.s tracts, literature) Also has some very good youtube videos.

Address – 2500 Mt. Carmel Dr., Waco, Texas 76710

Website – http://shepherdsroddavidian.org/

Email — dsdacommunication@gmail.com

In closing , we cannot stress enough that our Lord is watching us and how we handle “His” money. If we are careless and give His money to fruitless efforts and stale messages of truth, we take the real chance of being found supporting the wrong storehouse. “The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.” (Ezek. 22:25)

Once we decide to return His money to His current present truth storehouse, we can rest assured we are standing on solid ground and providing “meat in My house”. Our investments will pay the great dividends–we’ll be considered doing good “business” with the Businessman.

“Every soul, in going out and coming in, in all business transactions, at all times and in all places, should act with the consciousness that he is moving under the inspection of God and heavenly angels, and that the Being
who will judge every man’s work for eternity accompanies him at every step, observing all his actions and scrutinizing all his motives.”(Test. for the Church, vol. 5, p.628)

Posted in God's storehouse, Tithes and Offerings | Leave a Comment »

Spiritual Warfare

August 10, 2013

Temptation of Jesus

As we are all aware, in war there is a supreme requirement– preparation. That is to prepare, to plan, to execute. What army does not calculate who, what and where the enemy is, and how to formulate their battle? The greatest “war” of all time is happening in our midst, it’s the final Spiritual war happening in an intense battle. The souls of the world and particularly the Seventh Day Adventists (God’s remnant church) , are being fought over. Christ our King and holy angels against Satan and his army of angels.

Obviously we know who wins this battle, but does that make the battle go away? Do we have to remain in this war, to endure it’s struggles? The answer is that only a “few” are active in this battle. The evil ones have no problem with the vast majority who haven’t decided to engage in the battle. The “rich and increased with goods” people are just who the devils enjoy. So what is this battle centered on? The last word from the Lord–His Elijah message of hope and life saving instructions.

In describing the plans and words of Satan to counter this last message of warnings, admonitions,  and instructions, we read, ” I will have unbelieving ones present who will express doubts in regard to the Lord’s messages of warnings to His church. Should the people read and believe these admonitions, we could have little hope of overcoming them. But if we can divert their attention from these warnings, they will remain ignorant of our power and cunning, and we shall secure them to our ranks at last.” (Test. to Ministers, p.475)

Let us now look at the many facets of this war and learn more about this enemy we are fighting.

In (Eph.6:12) we read, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

In the above we find powerful and clear clues to this spiritual warfare.  First, we see that our struggles are against the ones in power, the rulers, the powers of the dark world and the spiritual forces of evil surrounding us. This clearly points out that Satan and his army is behind our struggles and battles. Our family, neighbors or friends may upset us, but the real upsetting comes from the “dark forces” behind it all. But as hard and tough as this battle becomes, we must ever remember “greater is He who is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

As we go into this post, it’s important to ask yourself — “Am I having spiritual struggles, battles on a somewhat regular basis?” If you are not, and find that your walk with Christ is mostly a coasting experience, a mellow all’s well  and comfortable experience, then you should be awoke to the fact that something may be amiss. You may not have decided to enter the war.  For we are directly told that, “.. all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,“(2 Tim. 3:12). This “persecution” isn’t like the days of old, the throwing you into the lions den, or going to the stake, but rather the murmurs against you, the demotions and dis-fellow shipping from positions in the church, the loss of friends, the mental struggles because of the dark forces surrounding you. All these are evidences that you are in the war. You’re not a looker on or bystander.

Let’s briefly speak about the mental struggles. Once you begin to stand up for the Lord and his purpose for you, you’ll notice that your sighing and crying, your warnings, will sometimes place a burden upon you. After all it’s tough to speak of the negative of situations, instead of the positive. But because we serve a “HOLY GOD” we must view sin as HE sees it.

Ellen White spoke about this, “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.” (Test. for the Church, Vol. 5, p.211). “Those who have excused these wrongs have been thought by the people to be very amiable and lovely in disposition, simply because they shunned to discharge a plain Scriptural duty. The task was not agreeable to their feelings; therefore they avoided it…The true people of God, who have the spirit of the work of the Lord and the salvation of souls at heart, will ever view sin in it’s real, sinful character.” (Test. for the Church, vol.3 , p.266)

So now let us look at our enemy and some of his devices he uses today to trip us, to even make us fall if possible.

1) Rich and increased with goods. This is so prevalent today. The devils are active in whispering in the lukewarm member’s ears–“You’re safe you got the knowledge concerning your walk with Christ. Who needs any more messages from the Lord? You have “need of nothing”(Rev. 3:17).

The messages from the pulpit today are largely peace and safety. The same ol same ol. You are saved just because you show up to church.

“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.” (Test. for the Church, vol. 5 p.209)

Remedy- Learn all you can about the Elijah message. This strikes the enemy in his heart. This message helps you survive the upcoming church purification. The instructions given are specific and clear. In (Mal 4:5) we read, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Obviously the focal point of Elijah’s message is to warn us how we are to survive the great and dreadful day.

2) Murmurs and slander against you.  The evil ones are not letting anyone who decides to accept the sealing message of Elijah, get away from people saying things against you. This is a center piece in their drive to divide the people of God. What better way to do it than to get the unconverted to talk against you? If we are silent and speak no words of warning to our brethren, then we can rest assured we won’t have this problem. For the devils love those who look the other way at sins in our midst. Does the speaking against us bother us- of course. But does this ploy by Satan and his unsuspecting workers become effective in stopping us from proclaiming the Elijah message of warning? Absolutely not. Did the multitude against Joshua and Caleb succeed in persuading them that the land of Canaan wasn’t able to be taken? They looked to God and believed in Him, not man.

Ellen White describes the actions of Satan in the last days. “We must cause distraction and division. We must destroy their anxiety for their own souls, and lead them to criticize, to judge, and to accuse and condemn one another, and to cherish selfishness and enmity. ” (Test. to Ministers, p.475)

“…The messages from heaven are of a character to arouse opposition. The faithful witnesses for Christ and the truth will reprove sin. Their words will be like a hammer to break the flinty heart, like a fire to consume the dross. There is constant need of earnest, decided messages of warning. God will have men who are true to duty. At the right time He sends His faithful messengers to do a work similar to that of Elijah.” (Test. for the Church, vol.5, p.254).

Remedy- Keep on doing what you are suppose to–warn, counsel and admonish when needed. As we read, it is our “duty to labor diligently to save others.”

3) Neglect to sigh and cry. This is a real biggie. For we know from the Lord’s  Elijah message that “only” those who sign and cry for the abominations done in the church and our own life, will be sealed. God is not playing around when He says in Ezekiel 9 –“..put a mark (seal) on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done in the midst. To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. (Ezek. 9:4-5)

But the devils are very active in countering these words of God. One of the sure ways they deceive is to say that this was past. Ezekiel 9 happened in the old days of Israel. But when you study and learn the truth you can tell anyone who doubts to  read Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, p.260.  “Study the ninth chapter of Ezekiel, these words will be literally fulfilled.”

Remedy– Learn the specific abominations being done in the church. Then protest against them. There are many ways to do this. You can mention the wrongs to the fellow church members, elders, or even pastor. For example, a while back we had noticed that cell phones were going off in the sanctuary. We brought to the pastor’s attention. Shortly after, the church now prints on the Sabbath program flyer “please silence all electronic devices in sanctuary”.

You can start a blog and speak out about them. You can email brethren. You can from a small study group to discuss them. You can spread the posts and studies of present truth to the brethren. You can post your comments on Facebook. The main point is that you sigh and cry. You let the Lord know you are not a partaker and therefore you have the real chance of getting that eternal seal in your forehead.

4) Dark forces surrounding you. One can look at the situation like this. The whole world is in much darkness. Yet the ones who are converted, the ones who “sell-out” to Jesus and walk in all the light given them, are shining in the midst of the darkness. In other words the devils can spot them right away. In the spiritual realm this is obvious to them. So what happens? They concentrate on these elect of God. Satan has his army stationed around the ones who are doing the most damage to his cause.

Ellen White describes the dark forces surrounding the people of God in the last days.

“I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Firmness and great earnestness was expressed in their countenances; large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads. Now and then their faces would light up with the marks of God’s approbation, and again the same solemn, earnest, anxious look would settle upon them.

Evil angels crowded around, pressing darkness upon them to shut out Jesus from their view, that their eyes might be drawn to the darkness that surrounded them, and thus they be led to distrust God and murmur against Him. Their only safety was in keeping their eyes directed upward. Angels of God had charge over His people, and as the poisonous atmosphere of evil angels was pressed around these anxious ones, the heavenly angels were continually wafting their wings over them to scatter the thick darkness.

As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts and light up their countenances. Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. The angels of God left these and went to the aid of the earnest, praying ones. I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance. But His angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them.”(Early Writings, p269-270)

We see that only the ones with “strong faith and pleading” are the ones having to deal with the “pressing darkness”. But then she describes the others who are “indifferent and careless”. Notice that these put up no resistance and go through no “agonizing and pleading” for the Lord. The hard stance of proclaiming the unpopular message of Elijah of church warnings,  is the all consuming truth for today from the Lord, and hence the devils continue to press their “poisonous atmosphere” at the ones with the “earnest cries.” The sighers and criers are the ones in the battle!

In describing this darkness we read, “Moral darkness, like a funeral pall, covers the earth. All manner of false doctrines, heresies, and satanic deceptions are misleading the minds of men. Without the Spirit and power of God it will be in vain that we labor to present the truth.” ( Test. for the Church, vol. 5, p.158)

Let us remember a very important Scripture, which we have brought up several times in past sudies. It  is the Lord’s first description of those who won’t make it to heaven. “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly...shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:7-8).  The Lord has always rewarded those who have stood up. David, Noah, Elijah,  Caleb, Joshua, Moses, among others were steadfast in courage.  In this final war we must be of courage and not be afraid.

Remedy- Stay focused on Him who gives you strength. Read the Scriptures, SOP, and the Elijah message often. Know that because you are taking a stand in the battle that the evil ones will come at you. But because you know their schemes you can be better prepared to withstand their arrows. “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Eph. 6:11)

Here’s an appropriate  quote from the Elijah prophet, “The old devil well knows that this is the last message the world will ever receive and that it will chain him for a thousand years and at last reduce his being down to ashes as though he never was.”(Symbolic Code News, vol. 2, no.3-4, p.3)

5) No need to worry about the Tithes.  In our present system, there is no doubt that “money makes the world go round.” The Lord knows full well that His work needs funds to reach the honest and willing souls. But Satan and his angels know this just as well. EGW states what Satan says about it , ” We must do our utmost to prevent those who labor in God’s cause from obtaining means to use against us. Keep the money in our own ranks. The more means they obtain, the more they will injure our kingdom by taking from us our subjects. Make them care more for money than for the up building of Christ’s kingdom and the spread of the truths we hate, and we need not fear their influence; for we know that every selfish, covetous person will fall under our power, and will finally be separated from God’s people.” (Test. to Ministers, p.474)

The tithe we must remember is the Lord’s, it’s not ours. So if we deny the Lord His money, we are in effect–thieves. And breakers of His 8th Commandment. His blood can cleanse us of our sins if we repent and turn away from them . But if we continually trespass without asking for repentance (such as stealing from him on a regular basis) are we not in a very dangerous position?

We also know that our Lord pleaded His case to us in His final letter to us in the Old Testament. “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, “In what way have we robbed You?” In tithes and offerings. (Mal 3:8)

But this has two elements to it. One, we must be loyal to tithing to Him. Two, we must bring the tithe into His “storehouse”, so that their will be “food in My house.”(Mal. 3:10). The big problem today in our churches is that there is no food (present truth). Meaning that their message is not one of present truth, but past truth.  The message of peace and safety week after week is largely what we see. And the devils are perfectly fine with it! So the tithes must be sent to God’s storehouse of present truth. Where the latest and most applicable truth from the Lord is proclaimed.

Remedy- Be faithful in providing the Lord’s money to the right storehouse. If we pay our tithes faithfully yet they go to places where the Lord’s end time truths are not spoken of, are we not defeating the whole purpose of “food in His house”?

Our final quote says the following, ”

“Satan’s snares are laid for us as verily as they were laid for the children of Israel just prior to their
entrance into the land of Canaan. We are repeating the history of that people. Lightness, vanity, love of
ease and pleasure, selfishness, and impurity are increasing among us. There is need now of men who
are firm and fearless in declaring the whole counsel of God; men who will not sleep as do others, but
watch and be sober.” (Test. for the Church, vol. 5, p.160)

In closing, I must say that prior to accepting and proclaiming the Elijah message, the comfort and ease in my walk was much more prevalent. But what kind of servant, relaxes on the couch and takes life’s ease? They go to work, but in this case it’s war– the great spiritual war of all-time. The above 5 points are just a small example of some of the ways we are tempted and pursued by Satan and his angels. The enemy can and will be defeated. It’s only when we can look to our all powerful Lord and His word that we gain strength in this battle of all-time. As I am active in this spiritual war, I have found one of the best ways to combat the arrows thrown (and I feel many ),  is to sing to the Lord in the middle of your moments of trial. When things seem very tough, that’s when I turn the tables and sing as if all is just fine. This flusters the evil ones to no end! And it also pleases the Lord! Remember Paul singing in jail?(Acts 16:25).

Ok, let’s put on that armor and go to work, knowing that “.. For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” (Isaiah 52:12)

Posted in End times, Satan, Sighing and Crying, Tithes and Offerings, Warning our brethren | 6 Comments »

Goodbye Shotsky

August 3, 2013

We remember those words, “My Lord and my God!” spoken by Thomas as he saw first hand the miraculous sign of the Lord’s existing life after death. It was a great and awesome sign to Thomas. What I experienced this week is truly a  moment of–“My Lord and my God!”. A sign given that simply was so strong and obvious that I must share with you and hopefully it’ll inspire you, to know that we serve an all-seeing Lord and that His love and compassion is so deep.  Allow me to explain what the Lord has done this week.

Sadly my beloved dog of 7 years, “Shotsky”, died last Saturday evening.

He had gotten some type of stomach or intestine ailment and it was off and on the last 3 weeks or so. This dog was indeed a blessing to me. I found him in the local dog pound about 7 years ago. One day I decided to go to the pound to search for a dog. I arrived and then went inside and they said to go out to the kennels and walk them  and see if I saw any I liked. So I began at the first row and walked the aisle.  I walked the first 2 or 3 rows and strangely almost all the dogs either stayed back in their pen and stared or didn’t even pay attention to a potential new owner.

Finally in the last row and the last pen, I see a dog coming running up to the fence, his tail wagging a hundred miles an hour, and he’s licking through the fence. I knew right then this was my new friend, his loving energy had won me over. I had never been a big fan of pit-bulls and certainly had no intention of getting one. But this one was quite “handsome” as I noticed he looked almost like a Labrador with a pit bull mix . He was what is known as a “fawn” pit bull. Most of them don’t have the real wide jaws and frankly they look more docile (less menacing)  I believe.

So I decided to get this new furry friend. But the story soon took a un-expected twist. The first 2-3 weeks he was nothing but trouble. He continually got out of the back yard and destroying the fence in the process, and I had to find him running around the neighborhood. So about 1 month later I placed a call to the pound and inquired whether I could give him back. They answered affirmatively. But it seemed after the call he had calmed down and started acting better and less trouble. When I picked him up at the pound they had told me his name was “Brownie”. But I didn’t like that name so as I was driving home a name just popped into my mind–“Shotsky”.

So Shotksy became better and better and he started to show me that he was really a good boy with some high energy at times. I drew more attached, as we all do after time. We learn their little ways and habits. But Shotsky really was special , allow me to explain why.

When I had purchased him they told me that he was a surviving dog brought to our local pound from the storm riddled area of Louisiana -the massive Katrina disaster. Apparently some of the surviving dogs had been sent all the way to southern California. So he most likely had to scramble for his life to safety amid the torrential waters . This sounds just like Shotsky because I was to witness a most unbelievable survival instinct he showed later. Likely his owners didn’t survive. They told me that I would have to wait 6 months to see if anyone claimed him from the area.

After a few months I started to worry. He had become my special “boy”. What happens if they come and claim him back? That thought was quite worrisome. But no one ever came forward. So we bonded through the years and I truly enjoyed his company. His obedience was so inspiring that I wrote a blog post about it. You can view it here https://godsloveandlaw.com/2011/04/15/the-shotsky-story/ . In that post I describe the incredible accident that Shotsky survived. If I had any doubt that I didn’t have a special dog before, I certainly knew after that terrible ordeal and accident.

So last Sabbath, Shotsky wasn’t doing well. He had good days and bad days. But he seemed to be hanging tough. He had already survived a sever bout of bloat and his liver had turned his eyes yellow a year or so earlier. As evening came around after I had given him a light dinner and his remedies, he came into my office and did his favorite little move. He came up to me as I sat in my chair and placed his head on my knee with his big eyes looking right into mine. This was his way of saying “I want something”. Usually it was for food, or to go “bye-bye”. I would place him in the passenger seat and he would stick his head out the window. His tongue sticking way out and all the drool landing on the window and side of the truck,lol.  Or he wanted to go outside. In this case it was to go outside as it was about 8 pm. Which was not unusual due to his wanting to go relieve himself.

So I went to let him outside and then went back to the office. About 30 minutes later I went outside to check on him. As it was dark I couldn’t see him as he was in the further part of the yard. But as I looked I was spooked as a humming sound flew right by my head. What was that? Then a few seconds later again it happened. Then I saw that a small hummingbird had landed a few feet away from me. As I have posted before,  the Lord has used hummingbirds several times in my life as direct signs from Him. In fact the awesome story of the dead hummingbird sent by God to warn me about my former idol (music) was made into a post. https://godsloveandlaw.com/2011/04/02/god-sends-a-hummingbird/.

I knew that this was a direct sign from the Lord. But little did I know that it would turn out to be quite an amazing sign. As I watched this little bird, I then looked out in the yard and there was Shotsky just standing there from afar watching. As if he knew what was going on and observing it. I drew real close to the bird and he just sat there and didn’t flinch at all. He just looked back at me and fluffed his feathers. Then he took flight and hovered around my head again, almost as if to give me some type of acrobatic show. I stood fascinated and looked up to the heavens and thanked our Lord. There could be no doubt this was sign from the Lord. Then after watching for a while I opened the sliding glass door and the bird flies  right into the house!

He went into the living room and landed on a small table. In amazement I walked over and gently put out my hand in invite him to come on my finger. He was very comfortable and I was able to get within inches of him but as he didn’t move to my finger , I didn’t press the issue. He just looked around as if he was inspecting the place. Then he flew to the chandelier lights in the dining room and perched above the lights.

About this time I decided to go outside again to check on Shotsky. My heart stopped. There he was slumped over on the patio floor, his breathing stopped. I knelt down and as tears flowed I thanked the Lord for the special time He gave me to have spent with this one of a kind dog. He had been having some real bad days the last couple of days and his breathing had been labored. So I felt somewhat relieved that his suffering was over.

After a while I went back into the house and the bird was hovering around one of the scenic pictures on the wall, then he landed atop the frame. As I watched this, strong emotions came over me as it all hit home. The Lord knew that Shotsky was about to die and sent this little messenger to comfort me– wow! So even though I was deeply saddened I felt very close to “my Lord and my God.”

So that evening I felt truly blessed by Him and it helped to soften the hard blow of losing my dear friend. Our Lord is always steps ahead of us and just the fact that He goes this far to comfort a broken heart is truly the best and strongest love of all.

One of my brothers in Christ showed me this quote. As I read it, it confirmed what the Lord had told me — Shotsky would be in the earthly kingdom (Israel) when we arrive there. His tail wagging, his tongue hanging out, and his eyes full of warmth and love.

Until we meet again, rest in peace my beloved Shotsky.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” (Roman 8: 19-21)

Posted in God's signs, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »