Godsloveandlaw's Blog

Come now and let us enjoy of that “extra oil” we spoke of a couple posts back. If the following does not thrill you with deep truths, then please check your spiritual pulse because something is amiss.

OPENING PRAYER THOUGHT   Before engaging in prayer and Bible study, I shall read from The Mount of Blessing, beginning with the first paragraph on page 151.  The chapter is based on the Lord’s Prayer.

   M.B. pp. 151, 152 — “The Lord’s prayer was twice given by our Saviour, first to the multitude in the sermon on the mount, and again, some months later, to the disciples alone.  The disciples had been for a short time absent from their Lord, when on their return they found Him absorbed in communion with God.  Seeming unconscious of their presence, He continued praying aloud.  The Saviour’s face was irradiated with a celestial brightness.  He seemed to be in the very presence of the Unseen: and there was a living power in His words, as of one who spoke with God.

   “The hearts of the listening disciples were deeply moved.  They had marked how often He spent long hours in solitude, in communion with His Father.  His days were passed in ministering to the crowds that pressed upon Him, and in unveiling the treacherous sophistry of the rabbis, and this incessant labor often left Him so utterly wearied that His mother and brothers and even His disciples, had feared that His life would be sacrificed.”

   What did they fear?  They feared that Jesus was doing too much, and that if He thus continued to overtax His strength, He would not live long.  They felt sure He would soon take sick and pass away.

   Did their expectations come true? — No.  The opposite of what they feared took place.  What made Him equal to His task?  Was it not prayer?  If Jesus could receive sufficient strength in prayer to perform His daily duties, why cannot we?  Let us kneel and pray to this end.

THAT WHICH SHALL BE  IN THE LAST DAYS
 
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH, SEPTEMBER 7, 1946
MT. CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO, TEXAS

   Our study for this afternoon is to be from Isaiah, chapter three.  But since the story, or prophecy, of this chapter begins in the preceding chapter we cannot profitably study the third chapter independently of the second.  No one by beginning to study a subject from the middle, backward or forward, can learn its continuity and know what it is all about.  If one is to learn the full truth of a subject, he must study it in its entirety.  Dogs and cats, not civilized human beings, start eating the slice of pie from the center out.   As intelligent human beings, as God’s people, we ought to eat the pie correctly.

   How do I know that the prophetic subject of chapter three begins with the second chapter? — The very first word of chapter three, the preposition “for,” points out that something has gone before.  To pick up the continuity of Inspiration’s burden, and also to get the background of the subject, we are compelled to start our study with the very verse Isaiah was led to commence the prophecy:

Isa. 2:1 — “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.”

   What was Isaiah led to reveal? — Things concerning Judah and Jerusalem, the church.  We need to know, though, the exact generation of that people, because if the prophecy is concerning our generation, then it will have greater meaning to us.  Its teachings will then be especially adaptable to our present and dire needs — will be “meat in due season.”  For this very reason we need to ascertain who are the people that Inspiration is addressing.  Let us read

Isa. 2:2 — “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.”

   Not a man, not a people or a nation, but the Lord Himself so declares.  The prophet was shown things concerning the Lord’s house (church), “in the last days,” — not in Isaiah’s days.  The statement “last days,” in itself leads us to the “time of the end.”  As we were shown last Sabbath that the time of the end began in the 18th century, obviously then, the time is here for this marvel of the ages to take place.

Isa. 2:3 — “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

   Since no such gathering as here predicted has as yet taken place, the subject becomes exceedingly obvious that it is still future.

   Some years ago in my interest of Isaiah 2, I interrogated a well-informed preacher, who also was an eloquent speaker.  He answered as emphatically as he could, by saying, “That will never be fulfilled.”  At that time I did not know, and his answer to my question did not help me one way or another, but now that the scroll has unrolled God Himself declares that His Word never fails, and Him we must trust, for if this prophecy cannot be fulfilled, then what assurance have we that any of the prophecies will be fulfilled?

   Moreover, if this prophecy is not to be fulfilled, then consequently the gospel work will not be finished either, for this prophecy tells the way the work is to be finished– that the law of the Lord during the judgment day of the living is to go from Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem, — not from Takoma Park, not from Mt. Carmel Center, and not from some other place either.

   After the judgment work in the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17) is completed and the 144,000 guileless servants of God, the first fruits (Rev. 14:4) take their high and exalted post with the Lamb on Mt. Zion (Rev. 14:1), then commences the ingathering of the second fruits.  Finally the world’s eyes will come open to the situation, and as one nation invites another nation, the gospel work will intensely speed up. Many will then say, “Let us go up to the mountains of the house of the Lord, to the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we wall walk in His paths.” All the prophets have spoken of this great and marvelous event, but for brevity’s sake I shall quote only from one chapter — Zechariah 2.

    “And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein.  For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her…. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.  And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee.  And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the Holy Land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.  Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for He is raised up out of His holy habitation.” Zechariah 2:4, 5, 10-13.

Isa. 2:4 — “And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

   Not the nations, but Inspiration Itself declares that in the day God judges the living, then those nations who go to the mountain (Kingdom church purified) of the Lord “shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks” — they will go farming instead of spending their strength in war.  The nations that do not accept the Lord’s “rebuke,” in that day, though, will madly arise against the “mountain” of the Lord, as forecast by the prophet Joel, saying: “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.  Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.  Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.” Joel 3:9- 12.

 Since Inspiration has dedicated these publications to the announcement of this most important event in connection with the gospel — the climax and the triumph of it, the separation of the good from the bad (Matt. 13:30, 47, 48), the goats from the sheep (Matt. 25:32); and the establishment of the mountain of the Lord’s house; there is therefore no escaping the conclusion that these chapters of Isaiah were penned especially for the church today.  Now that we are the forerunners of this great and glorious event, we must give special heed to what these chapters have to say.  This we must do if we are to prepare the way of the Lord (Matt. 3:3; Isa. 4:3-5).  This message to the church, you plainly see, is to prepare her members for the Judgment before the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” begins (Mal. 4:5).  For this very reason the Scriptures at this time are unsealed.  Let us now hear the Lord’s plea.

Isa. 2:5 — “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.”

   Because the church greatly needs this light, the light that now illuminates the Judgment Day, the Lord makes the foregone plea to the antitypical “house of Jacob,” the house in which are the 144,000 Jacobites, the descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel, who down through the ages became assimilated by the Gentile nations, and thus lost their racial identity.

   The Lord’s concern, that the church walk in the light of the Lord (in Inspiration’s light for today) definitely implies that she is not now walking in His light; and His command, found in the last verse of Isaiah’s chapter, clearly reveals that she is walking in the sparks of uninspired men.   The Lord, therefore, commands:

Isa. 2:22 — “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?”

   The reason that her members should immediately cease from men is told in the verses that follow:

Isa. 3:1-4 — “For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.”

   For over a century we as Seventh-day Adventists have been preaching the work of the Judgment for the Dead, and should now with ease see that when the Judgment for the Living begins it is to separate the saints from the sinners — the wheat from the tares (Matt. 13:30), the good fish from the bad fish (Matt. 13:47, 48), the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32-46), the wise virgins from the foolish ones (Matt. 25:1-13).

   Plainly then, Isaiah 3:1-4 reveals that among those who are found wanting, are some of the mighty men, men of war, judges and prophets (teachers of religion), prudent and ancients, captains and honorables, counsellors and cunning artificers and eloquent orators, and that God is not a respecter of persons, but only of penitent sinners; that He is not dependent on so-called great men.

   Those who have been exalting themselves and who have thus caused His people to follow learned men instead of Inspiration and thus the Lord’s advancing Truth, are all to be carried away as chaff!

   The brethren who for years have been preaching the Judgment for the Dead have gone spiritually blind and foolish, do not even expect a message of the Judgment for the Living and are insultingly saying. “These prophecies are never to be fulfilled!”  Now is the hour for them to ponder over this light along with the statement: “In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged.” — Testimonies, Vol. 5, pg. 80.

   Let us go back to chapter 2.

Isa. 2:6 — “Therefore Thou hast forsaken Thy people the house of Jacob, [those men that are causing the people to follow them], because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.”

   At the time the great ingathering here projected is about to take place, His professed people, He declares, please themselves among the unconverted and are charged with being soothsayers, ably explaining away God’s revealed Truth for this time rather than to magnify and to proclaim It.

Isa. 2:7 — “Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.”

   The house of Jacob to which God is here speaking is again identified by the fact that it dwells in a land that is full of silver, of gold, and of chariots, that there is no end to the number of them.  Since there is no land in all God’s world that is as rich with silver, gold and motor vehicular traffic as is this land of the United States of America, very obviously America, the land where the headquarters of the gospel is, is the land to which God refers.  He is, therefore, this day, Brother, Sister, in a special way talking to you, to me, to the whole denomination and particularly to the General Conference (the house of Jacob) in newly revealed Truth, and in unmistakable language.  Shall you, shall I, gladly comply with the Lord’s wishes?  is the great question before us.  Soon the Judgment will begin and we must make sure that our cases will stand.

Isa. 2:8 — “Their land also is full of idols [He declares]; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.”

   The land from which the gospel now eminates is also full of idols, He declares, the kind their own hands have made; that is, they are proud of their idolatry, and their accomplishments they worship as if they were their God.  Both the mean and the great practice hypocrisy.  Forgive them not He exclaims, except they repent.

Isa. 2:10 — “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty.”

   Here we are plainly told that the sinners will eventually find themselves unprepared for the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and when God thus manifests His Power they will indeed be terrified.  They will as wild men run to the rocks and the mountains there to hide themselves.  The event of this particular verse runs parallel with that of The Revelation:

“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:15-17.

   Very evidently Isaiah’s prophecy meets its fulfillment in the time of the sixth seal, the time in which the Lord sits on the Throne of His Glory, not on the clouds, the throne before which gather all nations, whereupon the Judgment work begins: the separation takes place, the saints (sheep) are then put to His right and the sinners (goats) to His left (Matt. 25:33).  The prophet Joel declares the day in these words:

   “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.  The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.  The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Joel 3:13-16.

   It is the time in which shall be said,

   “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites.  Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?  who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?  He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.  And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” Isa. 33:14-16, 24. (Timely Greetings, vol.1, no. 5, p. 1-12)

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