Archive for December, 2017

What is the Biblical Significance of the Latest Jerusalem Events?

December 30, 2017

Image result for picture of Trump declaring jerusalem the capital

NOTE: Our color code is as follows : Orange– The Lord speaking  Blue- Bible verses/SOP  Brown- Elijah message (Victor Houteff writings)

Recently we have seen the much publicized declaration by the United States, that Jerusalem will be considered the capital of Israel and our embassy will relocate there. Apparently this has shook up the Christian world and has all kinds of “prophets” coming out and declaring the Biblical implications of such event.

As we have posted so many times, God’s Word is the rock of our foundation, our basis for making any declarations of any prophecies past present or future.  Let’s see if they stand up to the Word, particularly to our King’s final message of Elijah.

In January of this year, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) and Nevada Sen. Dean Heller (R) proposed the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act.  President Trump throughout his campaign made the promise that he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the USA embassy there. These were not empty promises. The official declaration came December 6th , 2017.

And this excited some  Christian evangelicals  as they think that it fulfills important prophecies. In an article from Haaretz, an Israel newspaper/website, we read —

“Trump showed he is behind the evangelical agenda not only when it comes to enacting domestic agenda – like opposing abortion, appointing conservative judges or saying “Merry Christmas” – but on foreign policy issues close to their heart as well…On Wednesday, the far-right Christian evangelical website Charisma News was overflowing with praise from evangelical leaders for the Jerusalem announcement…Evangelicals are ecstatic, for Israel is to us a sacred place and the Jewish people are our dearest friends,” Pastor Paula White told Charisma. “The Jewish people have dedicated themselves to Jerusalem over millennia, taken pride in it, defended it with blood and treasure, and today we rejoice with them…”

..In order to truly understand the centrality of this “theological dog-whistle” to Trump’s evangelical base, you must take their religious beliefs seriously, argued progressive Christian commentator and pundit Diana Butler Bass, in a widely circulated thread on Twitter. Bass said the Jerusalem issue was so important to evangelicals because it is necessary to regain Judeo-Christian control of the Temple Mount.

This is vital, she explained, because rebuilding the Temple would initiate the “end-time” laid out in the Book of Revelation. End-time is a fundamentalist Christian belief in a prophecy that the living and the resurrected will one day be delivered from the Earth by God, their bodies transformed and protected in heaven, as he pours out his wrath on the sinners left behind.

Butler Bass asserted that “of all the possible theological dog-whistles to his evangelical base,” the Jerusalem declaration “is the biggest. Trump is reminding them that he is carrying out God’s will to these Last Days. They’ve been waiting for this, praying for this,” she wrote. “They want war in the Middle East. The Battle of Armageddon, at which time Jesus Christ will return to the Earth and vanquish all God’s enemies. For certain evangelicals, this is the climax of history. And Trump is taking them there. To the promised judgment, to their sure victory. The righteous will be ushered to heaven; the reprobate will be banished to hellfire.”

President Trump and his evangelical base are making this move in order to contribute, aka push along, God’s final timeline! But regardless, and which ever way you look at it God’s Word will supersede man’s ideas. Further, the Sunday keeping leaders (aka Christian evangelicals) are also the ones who say that the Jews that are there now will become victorious with complete control of the Holy land until the end, based on their interpretations of the Scriptures. But let us read what comes of the nation who officially declares not Christ —

“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger. For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. (Zeph 2:1-5)

The american pastor and Sunday keeping cheerleader, John Hagee also commented on his recent conversation with Trump,

“…I told him that God measures everything in modules of 50 years,” Hagee explained to CBN News. “And I said this is a principle that’s carried out in Leviticus, the 25th chapter.”

“I said, ‘If you look at 1917, it was a Jubilee Year, and the Balfour Amendment came, and then in 50 years, it was 1967, and Jerusalem was reconnected to Israel,'” he continued.

“‘And you add 50 to 1967, and you’re in 2017.’ I said, ‘This is the year to move the embassy and make that declaration because it is a biblical timing of absolute precision,'” Hagee said. “Thank God, he’s going to do exactly that.”

Naturally the prime minister Of Israel was very happy about the announcement as well , saying —

“Thank you for today’s historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The Jewish people and the Jewish state will be forever grateful.” (Benjamin Netanyahu, Dec. 4, 2017)

But let us now look at what the Lord says through His final message of Elijah. It makes it clear that the “times of the Gentiles” are soon to expire. Rather than building up this land with unbelievers as it is now being done and declaring what man decides is best for the land, there shall be a rebuilding of the land but not in the way the Sunday keeping leaders proclaim.

“Zech. 1:20, 21 — “And the Lord shewed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do?  And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.”

   Previously the prophet saw these as four horns, as powers that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem throughout the Gentile nations, but as the angel projected the prophetic view to the time of the end he saw them as four carpenters; that is, as “horns” they come to “fray” and to “cast out the horns of the Gentiles” from the land of Judah, but as carpenters they obviously come to build for Judah.  Evidently, then, when the horns (powers) of the Gentiles are cast out of the land, and God’s people are brought into it, then “the times of the Gentiles” shall have been fulfilled.”( 1 TG, vol.12,p.16)

We see that even though the general Christian world looks on a supposed spectacular biblical move by Trump, in reality the current people there now, mostly are considered “Gentiles” and thus their time is about to be “fulfilled”.

The Sunday base of Christians for decades have kept a close eye upon Israel/Jerusalem. In 1948 the return of the Jewish people to Israel led many to declare that Scripture such as the following was  fulfilled —

“For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” (Jeremiah 30:3)

Yet this was not a fulfillment of the above but rather —

“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired..” (Zeph. 2:1)

Further they conveniently forget the words of Christ, speaking to His own Jewish people who rejected him —

“Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (Matt.21 :42-43)

In summary, this move by president Trump means nothing based upon true biblical prophecy. Rather it helps build up the false narrative of the Sunday keeping leaders/flock so that when the time comes and the “fulfillment of the Gentiles” is complete, they shall be thoroughly confused and bewildered. After all their script and dogma has been that “God will protect Israel”meaning the unbelieving Jewish nation possessing His land now.

Once the four horns (carpenters) come into the land, the false prophets confusion will be a fitting start to the people known in Revelation as “Babylon”, which means confusion. For the Lord declares them confused and the honest of heart will see past the false prophetic events for what they are – false and misleading. Yet there is hope for them.

“If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Despite the current uproar of false ideas and cheer leading, those in Babylon will have a chance!

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev 18:4)

“Zech. 2:12 — “And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the Holy Land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.”

   This is what the Bible teaches, and no one can afford to doubt the Word of God.  This being the message of the hour, and as all are to be judged by It, then if we do not fully accept It we would be in God’s sight naught but “cumberers of the ground.”  Our so-called good works alone will not lead us out of Babylon, but our understanding the Truth for this time, and implicitly heeding God’s call, will.” (TG, vol. 1, no.12, p.27)

Posted in Delusion, End times, Prophecy study | 2 Comments »

200 Million into the Pre-Mil Kingdom?

December 23, 2017

Image result for people jammed together in a small area picture

 

Astounding as it sounds the Scriptures through the prophets say –yes indeed! Often throughout the Word we see miraculous things that only God could accomplish. Jesus walking on water, the Red Sea opening up for dry land travel, water gushing from a rock, the young boy raised to life by Elijah, etc.

Well we can count this prophetic word as one of those upcoming miraculous works of the Lord. Yet how will this be? How can 200 million people fit into the land of Israel, which has only about 8000 square miles , slightly larger than New Jersey?

Recently I had a conversation with a long time Elijah messenger. This brother made mention that “all” of God’s people at the time of the end will have to reside in Israel in order to escape the plagues. I said “what”? I had been under the belief that some, even quite a few , of the great multitude would not be able to make it to the holy land during the Loud Cry and have to live out in the mountains or desert until the Second Advent. But after review of the Word, I was wrong.

This post is a two-fold lesson, how God will have 200 million live in His holy land and that we must joyfully embrace the times when we are corrected or new light shines in our path, dispelling our former understandings.

Our first important quotes  —

“I have been shown that the greatest reason why the people of God are now found in this state of spiritual blindness is that they will not receive correction.” (Testimonies, vol. 3, p.255)

“Do not read the Word in the light of former opinions; but, with a mind free from prejudice, search it carefully and prayerfully.  If, as you read conviction comes, and you see that your cherished opinions are not in harmony with the Word, do not try to make the Word fit these opinions.  Make your opinions fit the Word.  Do not allow what you have believed or practiced in the past to control your understanding.” (Messages to Young People, p. 260.)

So simple and clear, correction is a must if we are not to be in a “state of spiritual blindness”. As new truths are explained and we verify if unsure, then we jump aboard with the Truth and march merrily forward.

So where does this idea of 200 million of God’s people come from? Fair enough, I also wondered. So let us build the foundation on which this is understood.

“Rev. 9:16-19. “And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.  By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.  For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.”

   These verses immediately evoke the question Who are these “horsemen” and “horses,” numbering  200,000,000 each, “the army” which is to “slay the third part of men”?

   In answering this question, it is to be remembered that likewise the “four angels” were to “slay a third part of men,” also that they symbolize the fourfold message brought to view in preceding  paragraphs.  Unmistakably, therefore, the “army”  of “horses” is figurative of the workers who proclaim the final message.

   That the symbol, horses, is correctly interpreted to represent gospel workers is further borne out by Zechariah 14:20.  There, horses are used to symbolize preachers, those who sound “the bells” — the alarm of warning, the message of salvation.  Like the “locusts,” therefore, they represent the messengers of God, but under different  circumstances. (For more ample treatment of this  symbolical meaning of the horses, read Tract No. 2, The Warning Paradox of Zechariah 6.)

   So as the horses are representative of gospel messengers, and as they are controlled and guided by their riders (divine beings), then the “horsemen,” it automatically follows, are figurative  of the angelic host who lead and direct the saints in their work of proclaiming the message and, subsequently, in killing the third part of men who reject it.  But since riders, not horses, do the killing when engaged in battle, these supernatural beings, the angelic horsemen, are the ones who actually do the slaying.  Hence, their having “breastplates of  fire [protection of the Spirit], and of jacinth, and brimstone.”

   What, then, we may ask, is the “power” of the horses?  These 200,000,000 horses, we have learned, symbolize a great army of gospel workers, from whose lips go a message which means life or death.  That, therefore, must be the power in their mouth.  Consequently, the “fire,” “smoke,” and “brimstone,” which issue “out of their mouths,” are figurative of the message which they proclaim: the power of the Holy Spirit (the “fire”), the sacrifices of Christ (“the smoke”), and the destructive judgments of God (“the brimstone”).  By this three-fold message “was the third part of men killed.” Rev. 9:18.

   “The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.” Isa. 60:12.

   “Lift ye up a banner,” saith the Lord, “upon the high mountain [God’s holy church], exalt the voice [the proclamation of the gospel] unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.  I have commanded My sanctified ones [the ministry — “two hundred thousand thousand”  “horses”], I have also called My Mighty ones [the angelic host — “two hundred thousand thousand horsemen”] for Mine anger, even them that rejoice in My highness. 

The noise of a multitude [the army of Revelation 9:16] in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.  They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land.

   “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.  Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.  Behold, the day of the Lord  cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 

For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.  And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.  I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.  Therefore, I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.” Isa. 13:2-13.

   “And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:17.

   If our eyes were opened as were the eyes of “the young man,” we, too, would see an angelic host round about the “Elishas” of today.

   And now as to what swelled the number of preachers from 144,000 to 200,000,000, the Lord says: “I will also take of them [of those whom the 144,000 shall bring from “all nations,” after the fulfillment of Isaiah 66:16 — the purification of the church] for priests and for Levites.” Isa. 66:21.  The very fact of such a multitude of workers speaks for itself that they are engaged in reaping the harvest of the world.

   Here in pledged word, God foretells in clearest tenor that many of those whom He brings into the church after the purification, will join the 144,000 in proclaiming the message to the whole world, when the earth is lightened with the glory of the angel (Rev. 18:1).

Then shall “the sons of strangers,” says the Lord, “build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in My wrath I smote thee…. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel…. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders;  but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.  The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” Isa. 60:10, 14, 18, 19.

   “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.” Zech. 13:8, 9.

   Two parts lost and one part saved make three parts in all.  The “one third” (Rev. 9:15) shall be slain by fire, smoke, and brimstone (Rev. 9:18), before probation closes.  The remaining wicked who are slain by the seven last plagues (Rev. 16) and by the brightness of His coming (2 Thess. 2:8), after probation closes, make the other third. The saved, the last third, are “the third…left therein.” Zech. 13:8. (Tract 5, p.89-95)

So the message establishes the fact that the 200 million are “Gospel workers”. The army of God’s servants proclaiming the Loud Cry! Ask yourself    — have you ever seen such clear and sensible understandings of Revelation 9:16-19? The Lord did not fail us brethren, we are reading from His Elijah prophet, praise Him!

Now let us go to other parts of the message showing why the servants of God must come into the Holy Land in the last days.

“The certainty that both the vineyard and the wilderness are in existence at the same time, shows, first, that Babylon, riding (ruling) the beast, reigns only over the wilderness (Gentile world); and second, that from it are God’s people called to go into the vineyard (the kingdom restored), where there are no sins, and where there is no fear of their receiving the plagues.  Of this kingdom of safety the prophet Daniel wrote:

   “And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” Dan. 2:44.” (Tract 12, p.41)

Ah, we see that there will be a place where God’s people will need to go to escape the plagues–the holy land.

“And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” Rev. 12:16.

   Or, literally stated, the unconverted who are now in the midst of the church, are to be slain and buried.  The converted are then to be taken into the kingdom.  Then will the dragon be “wroth  with the woman, and…make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17.

   Stirred to fury over her purification, the dragon will make war “with the remnant of her seed.”  Against her personally, though, he will not war, because her communicants, the 144,000 (the first fruits — Rev. 7:3-8; 14:4), those who go first into the kingdom, stand with the Lamb, the King, on Mount Sion (Rev. 14:1) His palace grounds.  Thus being the rulers of the tribes, they are symbolized by the crowned woman.  And being in their own land, they are protected from the dragon who consequently persecutes only the “remnant,” those who are left behind, who are still in Babylon but who are finally called out of her (Rev. 18:4).

(For full particulars on Revelation 12, read The Shepherd’s Rod, Vol. 2, pp. 64-82.)

   The first fruits of the kingdom come as a result of the shaking, the separation in the church, as is demonstrated by the parables of the net and of the field: The good fish are removed from the net (the church), and put into vessels (the kingdom — Matt. 13:48), and the wheat is  taken from among the tares, and put into the  barn (the kingdom — Matt. 13:30).  As bad fish, they are cast away; as tares, they are burned.  (For a detailed study of the harvest, read Tract No. 3, The Judgment and the Harvest.)

   The second fruits, however, those that are still in Babylon after the purification, are taken from among the bad (Rev. 18:4), rather than the bad from among the good (Matt. 13:49).

   The dragon’s warring against them is occasioned by their having the Testimony of Jesus, the Spirit of Prophecy (Rev. 19:10), by becoming commandment-keepers instead of worshipers of  the beast and his image.  The dragon’s aim is to keep them from coming out of Babylon and thus from going into the rapidly growing Kingdom.   Then it is, though, that the world shall behold all God’s people coming

Out of Babylon’s Dominion Into Their Own Land.The truth now being clearly established that the scarlet-colored beast is the symbol of the dominion over which reigns “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots,” it follows that her boundaries will extend as far as the boundaries of the nations that bow down to her authority.  Therefore, the call, “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4), is a call for them to come out of her dominion, that they share not in her sins, nor receive of her plagues.

Those who respond to the Lord’s bidding, must, of course, have a sin-free place to go to, where they may “dwell safely,” though there be “neither  bars nor gates” around it (Ezek. 38:11).  To this haven they shall be “brought forth out of the nations, and [there] they shall dwell safely all of them.” Ezek. 38:8.  So, “all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” Isa. 54:13.

   God’s people at that time can no more serve the Lord in “Babylon” and in “Egypt” than they could have in the days of Ezra or of Moses, for when the plagues are poured upon Babylon, as the “fire and brimstone” were poured upon Sodom and Gomorrah, then if they be living among worldlings, they can no more escape the damage of the plagues than Lot could have survived the fire, had he stayed in Sodom.  So all who want to escape the foretold ruin verily must come out of Babylon, as Lot and his family came out of Sodom.

   “And it shall,” therefore, “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.  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.  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.” Isa. 2:2-4.  (Read also Isaiah 11:11, 12, 15, 16.)  (Tract 12, p.44-47)

 So we see that there shall be a great vast multitude coming into the land. The following is a map of the upcoming land division per Ezek. 47-48. The map on left is the old days map and right is the kingdom map.

 Summary, the holy land is indeed the soon coming gospel headquarters and the Word says not only 200,000 million but that is a part of the actual number because the Word says of God’s people “no man could number” (Rev. 7:9).  Let us know and understand that being S.D.A in order to be in this holy land kingdom we must —

“Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be among the hundred and forty-four thousand. And let us do all that we can to help others to gain heaven.”–Review and Herald, March 9, 1905.”

Posted in End times, Ezekiel, Loud Cry, Our Lord's kingdom | 2 Comments »

A Straight Message to Laodicea (Part 2 of 2)

December 16, 2017

Image result for Laodicea picture

Continuing with part 2 —

“When one finds himself in a climate which is neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, a temperature desired and sought by all, there he basks as a pauper become a prince! So it is with the Laodiceans, as represented in prophecy, though their supposed riches are nothing but a death trap!

  To rescue one from such a terrible deception is a task which calls for the utmost wisdom not only because the victim is blindly inured to the perilous condition he is in, while his rescuers are endeavoring to save him from perishing, but also because he considers them as his enemies, false prophets, instead of as his friends and deliverers,  messengers from God!

 

  From the life line, the saving message which they pleadingly hold forth to him, he recoils. And consequently by his attitude against them, he shouts: Away, away, I am rich and increased with goods: I have need of nothing; I have all the truth. “I am satisfied with my position. I have set my stakes, and I will not be moved away from my position whatever may come.”–Testimonies on Sabbath-School  Work, p. 65; Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 28. 

In protesting that they are not wretched (not unhappy), not –miserable (not troubled), not poor (not in need of truth), not blind (not benighted or illiterate), not naked (not without the righteousness of Christ), the Laodiceans are contradicting the True Witness, rejecting  His counsel, and discrediting His remedy—The Eyesalve.

  As only the “salve” will heal them from their deadly Laodicean malady, hence if they fail to avail themselves of the cure (by searching for truth as for hidden treasure) and to apply it (to repent), they will be spued out. O, Brother, Sister, will you not call for the “salve”? or will you continue in your wretchedness, miserableness, poverty, blindness, and nakedness, and thus compel Him to spue you out and to—Uncover Your Shame?

 

  That your shame, Brethren, might not appear to all, God has long forborne to expose to the world the sins which you have cherished and kept under cover. Not forever, though, will He forbear. So for your soul’s sake, argue no longer that you have all the Truth; cease adding sin to sin; repent, and return to Him; He will just as gladly accept you and make a feast for you as did the father in the parable welcome back his prodigal son and make a feast for him. 

  Be not like the Jew. But open your heart; cast out its pride, its prejudice, and its self-conceit; let these not deprive you of eternal life at such a late hour as this. If you repeat the mistake  of the Jews, your shame and your loss will be as much greater than theirs as are your light and your opportunities and privileges. Yea, beyond comparison! So do not fail, we plead with you, to end your long Laodicean sickness and poverty, and no longer imagine that you are—Rich, Increased With Goods. 

  Never do you even so much as intimate that you have all the buildings, all the institutions, all the money, all the workers, all the converts you need! Your only boast is of having no need of more truth! This attitude, therefore, the Lord says, is the way in which you are saying, “I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” It is the source of your trouble, and the thing which He expects you to confess and to repent of. 

  The angel’s (the ministry’s) mistaken claim of being rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing, does not make him a liar, but rather shows him to be a victim of ignorance and delusion. But his thinking that he has and knows all the Truth, makes his condition even more perilous than a liar’s, for a liar knows that he is lying. O awake, Brother, Sister, awake! awake!—Do As Did Nathaniel.— 

 Come and see! 

  See what? Laodiceans, rich and increased with goods, and in need of nothing, with the excuse that the need to take care of the material things of life (Luke 14:15-19) forbids their accepting the invitation? — 

 Indeed not! 

  See the Laodiceans from the streets and lanes–“the poor, and the maimed and the halt, and the blind” (Luke 14:21), gladly availing themselves of the remedy! 

  But, alas, not all who come, remain, for “when any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.” Be not like him, but make the effort required to understand the Truth. And others, “when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word,” are offended. These are they “that received the seed into stony places.” Neither be like them; be rooted in the Truth. “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth  it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth  forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matt. 13:19-23.

  Though the “bad” along with the “good” are still coming (for we are yet in the period in which the wheat and the tares, the good and the bad fish commingle), you need not be of the tares or of the “bad fish.” Be of the wheat, do as the “good”: lay aside your own thoughts and ways, then take the Lord’s, for He says: “…My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways…For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isa. 55:8, 9.

  And finally, never be like a Pharisee who can see the mote in his brother’s eye, but cannot see the beam in his own (Matt. 7:3). For after all “Who art thou?” asks the Lord. Art thou thyself not a Laodicean? How “judgest” thou “another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” Rom. 14:4. 

  Never mind the other fellow, Brethren; you have barely enough time to look after yourself. And moreover, do not measure the Truth with the rod of man, but with the Rod of God: “Hear ye the Rod, and [Him] Who hath appointed it” (Mic. 6:9), urges the Lord. your name and address for Present Truth literature–the feast which, though worth everything, will cost you nothing. And besides being the only cure for your Laodiceanism, it will thrill and satisfy your hungry soul with something truly rich and extraordinary! 

  Then all of us together “shall have spiritual eyesight to discern the inner courts of the celestial  temple. We shall catch the themes of song and thanksgiving of the heavenly choir round about the throne. When Zion shall arise and shine, her light will be most penetrating and precious songs of praise and thanksgiving will be heard in the assemblies of the saints….As we apply the golden eye-salve, we shall see the glories beyond. Faith will cut through the heavy shadow of Satan, and we shall see our Advocate offering up the incense of His own merits in our behalf. When we see this as it is, as the Lord desires us to see it we shall be filled with a sense of the immensity and diversity of the love of God.”–Testimonies,  Vol. 6, p. 368. (Answerer, vol.1, p.14-19)

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A Message straight to Laodicea (Part 1 of 2)

December 9, 2017

Image result for Laodicea picture

This week in our studies we came across a profound and powerful truth packed message which we would like to share. May you be blessed and enlightened.

“Dear Brethren in Laodicea, do you know that prophecy positively declares that the people of God in the Laodicean church are in a critically dangerous condition and know it not? Well, Brethren, whether or not you realize it, whether or not you believe it, that precisely is the case. And if you hope to enter into eternal life, you must believe it, and that without delay. Whatever else you may believe or disbelieve, this one thing you must believe, “for it is the True Witness who speaks, and his testimony must be correct.” –Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 253.

And remember that above all people, the Laodiceans should not only be the last but the least inclined to criticize, for they themselves, says the True Witness, are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” without so much even as suspecting it, but instead blissfully imagining that they are “rich, and increased with goods, and” in “need of nothing.” Rev. 3:17. How, then, can they be in a position truly to know anything about others!

Think, Brethren, and rouse to life! This voice, pleading with you to awake and avert the Enemy’s pitfalls cannot possibly be the Enemy’s voice! Remember that the Lord “surprises us by revealing His power through instruments of His own choice, while He passes by the men to whom we have looked as those through whom light should come. God desires us to receive the truth upon its own merits,–because it is truth.”–Testimonies to Ministers, p. 106.

“No matter by whom light is sent, we should open our hearts to receive it with the meekness of Christ….We should all know what is being taught among us; for if it is truth, we need it.”–Gospel Workers, p. 301.

“The great danger with our people has been that of depending upon men, and making flesh their arm. 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; and thus many will reject the very messages God sends to His people, if these leading brethren do not accept them.”–Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 106, 107.

“He will use men for the accomplishment of His purpose whom some of the brethren would reject as unfit to engage in the work.”–The Review and Herald, Feb. 9, 1895.

In the light of these warnings, will you not take time carefully and prayerfully to ascertain whether or not God is leading in this reformatory work? He has promised to all who will do this, that He will not leave them in darkness but will guide them into all Truth. So will you not take Him at His Word, and try Him?

We plead with you to, for already “the agencies of evil are combining their forces, and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world,” says Inspiration, “and the final movements will be rapid ones….The time is coming when in their fraud and insolence men will reach a point that the Lord will not permit them to pass, and they will learn that there is a limit to the forbearance of Jehovah….Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism! and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis….Soon everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that those things that can not be shaken may remain….

“It is impossible to give any idea of the experience of the people of God who shall be alive upon the earth when celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions of the past are blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of God. By means of the angels there will be constant communication between heaven and earth.”–Testimonies, Vol. 9, pp. 11, 13, 15, 16.

In view of these solemn realities even now looming before our eyes, no longer, Brother Sister, hide yourself in the darkness. Stand in the light, lest you stumble and fall and not be found. Come, take time, and

Let Us Reason Together.

The Laodicean church, the last of the seven churches (Rev. 2, 3), being figurative of the Christian church in her last period, our time, the message on record to her is therefore the last message to the church. So, plainly, if there is any Bible subject essential for the church to study, the message to the Laodiceans certainly is.

Although satisfied with their attainments, the Laodiceans who believe and take God at His Word will not question Him concerning their condition but will, whether they see it or not, acknowledge that they are in a “sad deception,” “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked.” Having honestly made this acknowledgment, they will, in consequent obedience to the True Witness’ counsel to buy of Him eyesalve which He alone can supply, anoint their eyes with it and be able to see.

Those, though, who recline in the false security of self-complacence, will pay no attention to the warning counsel, and will as a result lose everything–be spued out! Yet how few does this dread threat alarm! How few does it impel to find out where the trouble lies and how they stand! How few, indeed, does it even trouble! And O how few incline to inquire into it for fear that it may rebuke their evil course and deprive them of some sinful pleasure which they dearly cherish! Surprisingly few yet all too truly.

Then, too, there being instilled in them great fear of false prophets, and not at all awakened in them any expectation of true ones (although there can be no false where there are no true), they are now therefore almost beyond reach. And behind their careless attitude is seen the truth that “the pains of duty and the pleasures of sin are the cords with which Satan binds men in his snares” (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 53), while behind the deeply instilled fear of false prophets, is seen the false watchman’s carefulness to keep them from coming in contact with the messengers whom God has sent to them.

Our deep concern, therefore, is that there awaken an interest in you, dear Laodicean, to go to the bottom of the matter, to make sure of your salvation. So will you not be sensible and courteous enough to sit down with this lightbearer in humble,impartial, prayerful study which must repay you many, many times over what you put into it? Remember, there is a divine law that converts every honest effort into joy, a personal experience with God, and eternal life. So will you not start now to measure yourself, no longer by what you think you are or will be but by what the Lord says you are and must be? Begin your investigation with the ensuing

Seven Questions.

1. Who is Laodicea?

2. Whom does the angel represent?

3. What is meant by being wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked?

4. What is it to be “lukewarm”?

5. Why does God prefer one either cold or hot rather than lukewarm?

6. What is the eyesalve?

7. Should Laodicea fail to repent, how would her shame be uncovered?

The Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, describes the condition of each of the seven churches the last of which is the Laodicean. These churches, admittedly, portray the Christian church in seven different periods; the seventh, Laodicea, depicting her in the period just before the “harvest,” the last in which the “wheat and tares” are comingled, and the one in which she is to experience the separation of the bad from among the good (Matt. 13 :30, 47-49).

Since in her every section, the church must be true to her name (it alone being her identification), we shall therefore consider the question:

Who is Laodicea?

Laodicea may be infallibly recognized amidst the many “isms” of Christendom by the work she is doing–declaring the judgment. Indeed, this mark of identification is pointed out by the very name Laodicea, compounded of the two Greek words lao and dekei, the one meaning “people,” also “speak,” the other meaning “judgment,” the two in one meaning the people declaring judgment.

The church therefore, which declares, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come” (Rev. 14:7), is evidently the one called Laodicea. And it is almost as well known outside Seventh-day Adventist circles as within, that the Seventh-day Adventist church is endeavoring to carry the judgment message of Revelation 14:7, and is therefore unchallenged in her claim to the title, Laodicea.

Since, therefore, the Seventh-day Adventist church is the only one proclaiming the judgment, and since each of the seven messages is addressed to the angel of the respective churches, the message to Laodicea is accordingly addressed

To the Seventh-day Adventist Angel.

According to Revelation 1:20, the “candlesticks” symbolize the churches, and the “stars” the angels (leaders) who have charge over the churches. Being the attendants of the churches, the angels are thus seen to be the ministry, whose responsibility is to have the lamps trimmed, filled with oil, and burning brightly, so that the church may give light to all about her.

Accordingly, as the Laodicean angel, him to whom the condemnatory message is sent, is symbolical of the ministry in Laodicea, he should consequently be the more anxious to discover where the trouble lies, for he is, says the Lord,

Wretched, Miserable, Poor, Blind, and Naked.

With a ministry wretched, miserable, poor blind, and naked, what church (candlestick) could possibly stay lighted? And with her light thus gone out or but flickering dimly, how could she lighten the world as God has set her to do? Through the eyes of the True Witness, therefore, the tragedy of Laodicea is starkly seen–“sleeping preachers preaching to a sleeping people” (Testimonies, Vol. 2, p. 337) while a sin-benighted world plunges on hell-bent in its darkness! O what a piteous plight! And yet it is so utterly overlooked!

With both ministry and laity in such a pitiful state of darkness, it is clear to be seen that though the Laodicean church is the last in the order of the seven churches, God cannot through her lighten the world and prepare His people for the Kingdom when she is in darkness and unprepared herself. Hence the necessity of a new order, a new ministry, as predicted inTestimonies, Vol. 5, p. 80, and in Zephaniah 3:11, 12.

Then it will come to pass that “only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One, will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it [the Third Angel’s Message] when it shall have swelled into the Loud Cry.”–The Review and Herald, No. 19, 1908.

In the light of these facts, the prophetic message to the angel of the Laodiceans must obviously be brought and proclaimed by someone other than the angel himself. But this, of course, is the very thing that neither the ministry nor the laity expect or wish to happen. For the sake of the faithful, nevertheless, it is happening.

So since God’s Word says that the ministry of the Laodicean church is wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, and that neither they nor the laity are aware of the fact, it lends heavy emphasis to the statements: “Sleeping preachers preaching to a sleeping people!” (Testimonies, Vol. 2. p. 337); “the message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception.”–Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 253.

Although they are in this horrible predicament, one which should make them tremble and fear, and give anything to get out of, yet they continue

Lukewarm–Neither Cold Nor Hot.”  (Answerer, vol. 1, p. 5-14)

Stay tuned for part 2 next week …

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As in the Days of Amos

December 2, 2017

Image result for picture of Amos rebuking at the gate Bible

In the days of Amos, he wrote under Inspiration the following —

“They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.” (Amos 5:10)

What was Amos doing that caused people to “hate” him for rebuking at the gate? What is “rebuking at the gate” mean? We found a good commentary.

“The prophets seized the opportunity of finding the people together, and preached to them there. So it was even in the days of Solomon. “Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city she uttereth her words, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?…”Proverbs 1:20-22, and again, “She standeth in the top of high places, by the way, in the meeting of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors; Unto you, O men, I call, “Pro 8:2-4.

Jeremiah mentions two occasions, upon which God bade him reprove the king and people in the gates of Jerusalem Jeremiah 17:19; Jeremiah 19:2. There doubtless Amos and Hosea reproved them, and, for reproving, were “hated.” As Isaiah says, “they lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate”Isaiah 29:21. They sinned publicly, and therefore they were to be rebuked publicly. They sinned “in the gate” by injustice and oppression, and therefore were to be “rebuked before all, that others also might fear” 1 Timothy 5:20. (Bible Hub Amos 5:10)

Fast forward to today. There is a small group of people known as the “Siege Ambassadors” who are S.D.A members. They have a ministry where they go to churches around the USA and stand at the “gate” the entry areas for the churches. Their  mission is to warn the members that judgment is about to happen with our church.

While doing this, they also try and hand out Tracts, Cd’s, Dvd’s and other literature as the members drive or walk by. This small company usually takes videos of the siege and posts them either on their YouTube channel or Facebook.

How is this ministry received by S.D.A members and other present truth believers? Well, let’s say it’s a mixed bag. Many don’t subscribe to this method of reaching out. They see it as confrontational and not really helping the members to come to the message. Personally I see it as a last ditch effort to reach our Laodiceans. They are so near coma like in regards to the message, there can maybe be some who have their ears open to this pleading. Scripture also supports such pleading —

“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” (Isaiah 58:1)

This appears to be exactly what the siege team does. They cry aloud and lift up their voices like a trumpet. A while back during one of our many conversations, I had an in depth discussion with their leader, sister Patricia.

What I said was that the work of God is multifaceted. Apostle Paul beautifully breaks it down.

 “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 

On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;  and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it.

But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.” (1 Cor. 12:18-27)

So while many of us often don’t appreciate this difficult and trying work, we should realize that God has called these servants to do this part of the work. We as part of the body of Christ, His final Elijah messengers, cannot say “you are not needed” because even if this work is different than the norm, it is still Scriptural, a part of the body, and can reach out in a unique and peculiar way.

Has this work produced fruit? Yes it has. Several members have contacted the team over the years and Bible studies have been had. Only God knows who has come into the message, but rest assured this method has aroused some members from their sleep.

Some have argued that this method cause disturbances during the Sabbath. However, this is not the full picture. The siege team approaches their work with two main goals. First, they are warning the church it’s time to wake up, the Lord’s “suddenly coming to His temple” (Mal. 3:1-5) is about to happen. Second, they want to give out present truth because the leaders are derelict in duty on the Sabbath.

Now, the occasional “scene” usually goes as follows. The team simply starts lifting their voice like a trumpet and a pastor, elder or member soon comes over to the sidewalk to speak to them. They tell them to stop doing what they are doing. They are accused of trouble makers, disturbers, false witnesses, etc. Then the accusers of the brethren resort to calling the police on the Sabbath in hopes of removing them.

The police arrive and they quickly tell the accusers that the team has a right to protest. But Satan’s objective is now achieved. These “Amos” people are now looked on by the observing members as troublemakers, yet in reality it is the church leaders and members themselves that cause the trouble making scene!

So how should the church respond to this? If Christ’s voice is to be heard, the leaders should go up to them and ask them to come into the church and discuss the issues. Then calmly the siege team would lay out the charges and if true, the leaders should at once correct their error ways or at least set in motion the corrections. If found not true by Scripture or the Spirit of Prophecy, then that should be discussed to the team. Bottomline the search for unity and discussion for Truth’s sake is what would please our King!

But of course this does not take place, instead mocking, arguing, slanderous words, calling the cops,  all come from the members to these souls who have stepped up to the plate to give God’s message of Elijah.

In closing, with the S.D.A close of probation at hand, God is pulling out all stops in order to reach His people. These siege ambassadors are a unique and peculiar division of the body. Let us keep these brave souls in prayer.

Posted in Courage, Sighing and Crying, The Book of Amos, Warning our brethren, Witnessing | Leave a Comment »