Archive for the ‘Holy Spirit’ Category

Holy Spirit Report

May 4, 2024


In this report we will look at the Holy Spirit from 3 sources. The Bible, The Spirit of Prophecy, and The Elijah message ( Shepherd’s Rod). Before we start we are told from SOP the following —

“The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them, but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.” (AA, p.52)

So despite our striving to know all we want on the Holy Spirt, it will remain a mystery until it is revealed at God’s time. Things such as — does the Holy Spirit have a bodily form, why is there no throne spoken of in the Bible for the Holy Spirit to sit upon, like the Father and Son, etc.?

But we do have sufficent evidence from Inspiration to make, according to our finite understanding, a good idea of who and what the Holy Spirit is. God did not withhold light on this subject.

THE BIBLE:

What did Christ say about the Holy Spirit?

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” (John 15:26)

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7)

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15-17)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Notice something clearly. Jesus continually referred to the Holy Spirit as “He” and “Him”. Now, there are some who make the argument that Jesus is talking about Himself in the third person. For example in John 17:1-5 it says —

“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”


But let us now show from the Bible that the Holy Spirit a separate and distinct Being.

” “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.” (John 8:54)

Now let’s compare that to John 16:13-14.

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authourity, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

As Jesus won’t glorify Himself, this shows someone else (a separate being) as able to glorify Him.

Next look at how The Father and Son are within each other.

“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me”(John 14:11)

“Abide in Me and I in you.” (John 15:5)

“At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”(John 14:20)

“Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.” (John 14:10)

Now, because the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in the Father can we now say the Father or Christ is not a separate and distinct Being? Likewise when we read that the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and Son and lives in us, we cannot say He is not a separate distinct Being. As they all exist within each other, we that are limited in human understanding, must accept the fact that the Triune Godhead exists. This is an example of the “mystery” spoken of in Spirit of Prophecy.

So scripture such as follows —

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”(John 20:22), cannot prove the Holy Spirit is not a separate distinct Being. Again, this is part of the mystery of the Holy Spirit.

“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one.” (1 John 5:7)



SPIRIT OF PROPHECY:

“We have been brought together as a aschool, and we need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds, unseen by human eyes, that the Lord God is our keeper and helper.”(Letters and Manuscripts 14, MS 20, 1899)

” The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God.” (Evangelism, p.616-617)

“In Co-operation with the Three Highest Powers –We are to cooperate with the three highest powers in heaven,– the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these powers will work through us, making us workers together with God.” (Special Testimonies, Series A (1897)

THE ROD: (Micah 6:9 and 7:14)

We as Davidian SDA know that our Fundamnetal Beliefs are our core doctrines of faith, a summary of what we believe. In them we find FB no. 2 on page 4 of FB Tract, the following —

“2. That the Godhead, or Trinity, consists of the Eternal Father, a personal, spiritual Being, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, infinite in wisdom and love; the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, through whom all things were created and through whom the salvation of the redeemed hosts will be accomplished; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, the great regenerating power in the work of redemption. Matt. 28:19.

Some try to explain away the meaning of “person”. This leads to confusion and down a road of doubtful faith in what the clear obvious meaning of words are. The prophet viewed it as a person, a living separate distinct person, so should we.

How do we know this? God revealed to him, and now to us, the meaning of Ezekiel 4 prophecy (the grains). In this revealing, it is shown that John Knox’s teaching brought the “Truth of the Holy Spirit” from God. Knox clearly taught that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. A Triune Godhead consisting of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In closing let us stand firm on our fundamental beliefs, remembering this about our arch enemy —

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”(1 Peter 5:8)

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Understanding the Holy Spirit from a different Angle

January 13, 2024


For many Christians today there exists, and has for a long time, a controversy over the Holy Spirit. Many are divided on this issue. One side says “There are only two Beings in the Godhead” and the other side says “No, there are three Beings in the Godhead.” In order to understand this issue, we decided to produce some considerations.

First, let us try to imagine the following analogy.

Let us say there is a car. In this example the car represents the Godhead. Inside that car is three persons. Each of them are distinct, having their own personality and being. Yet they are together within that car. They communicate and have the same purpose. They are of one like mind with the goal of  driving to their location. 

Their  destination is the Kingdom. As they drive they will pick up passengers (those with their thumbs up asking for a ride) to the Kingdom. Many others ignore this free drive with the Experts who know the way.

 The Scriptures speak of the Holy Spirit.

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:25-26)

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.“(Eph. 1:11-14)

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8 :26-27)

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:7-12)

It is noteworthy to see that the Lord Himself refers to the Holy Spirit as “he” and “him”. The agrument from the non-trintarian view is that there is no such he or him of the Holy Spirit. They say that it is just Christ’s essence, force or energy. Or it is God the Father’s as well. In other words the Holy Spirit is not a distinct seperate Being having His own personality. The idea that the HS is a person as God and Jesus is a person is dismissed.

Well as always lets try and let our King speak on this issue and then maybe we can see more clearly about the Holy Spirit.

Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God. ” (John 8:54)

Here we see that Christ will not glorify Himself as it is nothing. Now let us go to the revealing statement from our King —

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14)

Once again we see the continual reference from our King to the Holy Spirit as “he”.  But notice that this “he” will glorify Christ. As we know Jesus will not glorify Himself, it proves that the Holy Spirit is a Being able to glorify Jesus! Powerful.

So to summarize our analogy helps to show a mental picture of the Godhead and Jesus, the King Himself reveals to us all we need to know. There are THREE BEINGS in the Godhead, not two. The Holy Spirit is a person just like God and Jesus are persons.

 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”(1 John, 5:7)

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Afraid of the word “Trinity”?

December 3, 2022

Understanding What the Trinity is: Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Let’s face it, today many Adventists are afraid to use the word “Trinity”. They think that by using that word you automatically appear to represent Catholic theology.  In other words, that word originated with the Roman Catholic Church they say, and how dare we use a term coined by the Catholics!

To begin with, the word Trinity was not coined by the Catholic religion (which would be officially formed later in the 4th and 5th centuries) but by an early Roman Christian named “Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus”. Primarily known as Tertullianus, he was an early writer of the Christian faith (born AD 155).

However the idea of a Trinity form of Godhead is established in the Scriptures, Tertullianus began to use the name Trinity as the name of the Godhead. Let us read the Scriptures on what It says about this subject —

 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” (1 John 5:7)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matt. 28:19)

Also, the concept of Three Beings is seen in the following —

“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:16-17)

While true, the Scriptures don’t elaborate on the Holy Spirit as much as we’d like, we do receive by God’s love and grace more light on the Holy Spirit from the two last prophets to our church –Ellen White and Victor Houteff.

Recently we had a chance to do a presentation on the Trinity with our Ministry called “Pre-11th Hour Ministry”. It was very well received and it brought to light necessary information we, as present truth believers should have on this VERY important subject.

Especially since in our church today, there is a growing number of Seventh-day Adventists subscribing to the theology of “Two Beings” in the Godhead, and the word Trinity is a big no-no.

So we’d like you to enjoy our powerpoint presentation. Feel free to share it with anyone should you desire. Be blessed.

Trinity presentation

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Looking at John Knox’s teaching of the Holy Spirit

July 20, 2019

Image result for John Knox

Three weeks ago we made the post “Mysterious God”, in it we expounded upon the Holy Spirit and how it is truly the Third Person of the Godhead. But recently the Lord has impressed upon us to delve more into the John Knox tie in and why it is important for us present truth believers to know what he taught in regards to the Holy Spirit.

To begin, once more we need to see this issue from the Lord’s final pleading message of Elijah (Mal.4:5-6), the “restoring” message that is to restore all things (Matt. 17:11). The Lord knew undoubtedly that this Holy Spirit issue would become a real controversy among His people, and for sure it has!

The Seventh-day Adventist church, along with even some present truth believers, the Davidian SDA, are seriously battling this controversy right now, with many online websites and YouTube videos proclaiming that we are dishonoring God and even blaspheming Him when we claim the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Godhead.

Two of the leading proponents of this “two Beings” only doctrine, is Nadar Mansour and David Barron, both being quite active in online media today. But to be sure, there are many others as well. So we feel there must be a counter-voice from the present truth believer standpoint to expose this folly, this terrible doctrine, lest us Elijah messengers get snagged also!

Let us look at what specific counsel the Lord sent through His message to us. First, we shall look at the Ezekiel 4 chart.

 

 (Click this link to enlarge)
http://www.davidiansda.org/Chart02.htm

Once you click the enlarged chart, you will notice step two showing John Knox as the Barley, as symbolically described in Ezekiel 4:9.

“Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.”

We should also take notice of the words “Presbyterian”. John Knox and John Calvin were the leaders in starting this movement and today their teachings in this denomination are largely based on their doctrinal understanding of the Bible, particularly the Godhead, ie. The Holy Spirit. Thus we need to see what John Knox and their Presbyterian teachings were concerning our issue because obviously they were inspired and approved by the Lord and allowed into His Elijah chart above.

As present truth brethren, we should know well this Ezekiel 4 teaching. This we believe sets straight our issue of clarity on the Holy Spirit understanding.

For those who aren’t familiar with the basics of this teaching see this link for a general outline —

http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/outlines/eze_4.pdf

The Eliajh message confirms that Knox’s teachings on the Holy Spirit was sanctioned by the Lord —

“The Jews never rose higher than the height to which Moses led them. When Moses died, they as it were died with him so far as spiritual progress was concerned. Thus it was that they rejected and killed the prophets that came after Moses, not sparing the Son of God.

The same spirit prevailed in the Christian church. She never rose above the level on which the Apostles left her, and for a time she even fell almost to the bottom of the pit. And she would have dropped out had God not again visited His people in the persons of Luther, Knox, Wesley, Campbell and the other reformers, through whom the Lord brought to light certain parts of Bible Truth that had long been trampled under foot.” (Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 26, page 21)

Let’s note the words “certain parts of the Bible”. This explains how those reformers were given specific “parts” of truth (parts of the spiritual food) and their sum total is the whole spiritual food fed to God’s people in six steps (courses) during the time of the Reformation. The Protestant denominations are built chiefly on the six doctrines;

1) Wheat = Faith brought by Martin Luther (Lutherans)  Hebrews 11:6

2) Barley = Holy Spirit  by John Knox  (Presbyterians)  Judges 7:13-14

3) Beans = Grace  by John Wesley  (Methodists)  Rom. 3:24; 4:4

4) Lentils = Baptism by Alexander Campbell  (Baptists)  Matt. 3:16

5) Millet = 2300 days  by William Miller (1st-Day Adventists) Dan. 8:14

6) Fitches (Spelt) = Sabbath/Sanctuary by E. G. White  (SDA) Gen. 2:1-3 Ex. 20:4-6

 

The message explains more detail of this important Ezekiel grain prophecy —

 “The Lord said to the prophet Ezekiel, “Put them in one vessel” (Ezek.4:9).   It will now be considered as to whether he really did put all these doctrines in one vessel.  Luther believed in the doctrine he taught, but the great enemy flooded the church with deception.  Not with arguing the truth.  No, no.  But suggesting to the people that they now have all the truth, and that they surely were right, thus hardening their hearts against more light.

Soon additional truth came, but Satan had already flooded the church with his agents, and prejudice was aroused against the new light.  The result was that the majority turned down the truth.  A few saw the light and as the case generally is, they were voted out by the church.  Necessity gave birth to a new movement, or denomination.  Such has been the experience with the church in each advancing truth up the line to our own time.

   In like manner, the truth represented by the barley (Spirit) was turned down by those who had accepted the doctrine symbolized by the wheat (faith).  Knox believed in all the truth he had and also all the truth Luther taught.  Thus the wheat and the barley were in one vessel and carried to the second step.

   We next have the truth symbolized by the beans (grace) and presented by Wesley, who believed also in the truths previously taught by Luther and Knox, which were represented by the wheat and barley.  The third step was made, and the wheat, barley, and beans were in one vessel.  The fourth truth was represented by lentils (baptism by immersion) and taught by Campbell, who believed in the doctrines of Luther, Knox, and Wesley.

Thus the wheat, barley, beans and lentils were carried to the fourth step, and in one vessel.  The fifth truth (2300) was represented by millet, and this step upward was made by William Miller who believed in all the truths symbolized by wheat, barley, beans, and lentils.  The fifth step was made and the five varieties of food of truth were carried in one vessel.

   We now come to the last variety of the cereals: “spelt” (Sabbath), in connection with the judgment.  Is it not a fact that the Seventh-day Adventist denomination believes in all these truths: The wheat (faith); barley (Holy Spirit); beans (grace); lentils (immersion); millet (2300 days); spelt (Sabbath, with the sanctuary truth)?  It will be noticed the Lord said, “Put them in one vessel”.  He did not say in two, or more, but in one.

There are no other people besides Seventh-day Adventists who believe in the 2300 days (cleansing of the Sanctuary), and it is this denomination (vessel) which teaches all the six doctrines as represented by the six varieties of food.  Thus the prophecy meets its fulfillment in our day, and we are amazed with the difficulty to comprehend the great wisdom of the Lord our God.” (SRod, vol. 1, p.120-122)

Ok, we have established the fact that the Lord’s Rod message shows us to look closely at what John Knox taught in regard to the Holy Spirit, so let’s see exactly what that teaching is —

Our first reference comes from the Presbyterian creeds of confession —

Chapter 12 – Faith in the Holy Ghost

“Our faith and its assurance do not proceed from flesh and blood, that is to say, from natural powers within us, but are the inspiration of the Holy Ghost; whom we confess to be God, equal with the Father and with his Son, who sanctifies us, and brings us into all truth by his own working, without whom we should remain forever enemies to God and ignorant of his Son, Christ Jesus.

For by nature we are so dead, blind, and perverse, that neither can we feel when we are pricked, see the light when it shines, nor assent to the will of God when it is revealed, unless the Spirit of the Lord Jesus quicken that which is dead, remove the darkness from our minds, and bow our stubborn hearts to the obedience of his blessed will.

And so, as we confess that God the Father created us when we were not, as his Son our Lord Jesus redeemed us when we were enemies to him, so also do we confess that the Holy Ghost does sanctify and regenerate us, without respect to any merit proceeding from us, be it before or after our regeneration. To put this even more plainly; as we willingly disclaim any honor and glory from our own creation and redemption, so do we willingly also for our regeneration and sanctification; for by ourselves we are not capable of thinking one good thought, but he who has begun the work in us alone continues us in it, to the praise and glory of his undeserved grace”.https://www.apuritansmind.com/creeds-and-confessions/the-scottish-confession-by-

We note that the Holy Spirit is said to be “God”, and “equal with the Father and the Son”. This is profound and cannot be misinterpreted!

Next we go to our second reference  direct from an authorized Presbyterian website —

“Presbyterian theology, like Christian theology, begins with the triune God. The Trinity is the basis for understanding who God is. The three persons are one God. Who we see in Jesus Christ is God. What we see the Holy Spirit do is God. The God who is revealed in the Old Testament is God. All the work of God is one work in that it is carried out by the one God. But God works as three divine persons, united in the divine love. The Bible distinguishes the work of the persons of the Godhead. But we believe in and worship, as the hymn says, “God in three persons, blessed Trinity”

Click to access What-Presbyterians-Believe-Session1.pdf

In our last reference, again is from the Presbyterian site we read —

“1. The Holy Spirit is God. That is to say, the Holy Spirit is understood strictly in Trinitarian terms. The Trinity is a doctrinal way of referring to the three ways God has of being God — all three simultaneously, and each always in active relation with the other two. This means that our experience of God as Holy Spirit always involves also our relation to God as Creator (Father) and to God as Mediator-Savior (Son).

God as Holy Spirit comes into our lives in and through and with God’s creation of Israel and its history, in and through and with the coming of the Word of God in the “flesh” of Jesus of Nazareth. No matter how profound is our sense of the immediate spiritual presence of God in our lives, that awareness is always initiated, given substance and definition, corrected, and sustained in and through and with our being encountered by the eternal Word of the Creator — finally and decisively by that Word incarnate in the life-death-resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Holy Spirit moves within us, but there is no merging and loss of identity in the union of Holy Spirit and human spirit.”
https://www.presbyterianmission.org/what-we-believe/holy-spirit-3-views/

Summary —

Because our King told us through His final restoring message of Elijah that John Knox, the barley of Ezek. 4 prophecy, taught the correct understanding of the Holy Spirit, we would do well to know this doctrine and stand upon His word, fortified and solid upon the Rock of Jesus.

Those that come to us saying something different must be shown as the usurpers they are, counterfeits and leading souls into the pit, prepared for the devil and his angels. The Lord says there are THREE BEINGS in the Godhead, the Father as God, the Son as God, and the Holy Spirit as God, amen.

If we reject this clear teaching shown by Knox’s doctrine of the Holy Spirit then we should not call ourselves present truth believers, rather some other description and be honest by denying connection to our Lord’s Rod message, aka the Elijah message. The two being doctrine cannot be reconciled with the Lord’s Rod.

“And such as do choose to engage in private interpretation are respectfully asked to desist from teaching in the name of the Rod and at its expense. Let them like honest men, teach in their own names and at their own expense.” (Answerer, vol. 5, Q- 133)

 

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The Mysterious God

June 29, 2019

Holy Spirit

The Spirit of Prophecy gave us perhaps the greatest counsel on the Holy Spirit, let us read —

“The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them, but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.” {AA 52.1}

Now those words are packed with powerful truths about our subject. As we go into this post let us keep these clear and unmistakable words of God in mind.

As we have posted so many times before, Satan in all his craftiness, studies us inside and out, especially those of the household of faith, to see if he can snare us one way or another. And one of the greatest snares for many years now is making the understanding of the Holy Spirit a test of faith. In other words, you may be lost if you do not understand the Holy Spirit correctly. Oh how our enemy is so crafty and sneaky!

Yet nevertheless, we should know what kind of ploys are employed by him today in regard to the Holy Spirit. This issue, along with keeping the feast days, and the church is Babylon is perhaps the three greatest snares that he has foisted upon the unsuspecting in our church.

But let us be sure, our all-knowing and foreseeing Lord saw down to this day the contentious issues we would be involved in as a church. Let NO ONE think the Lord did not know beforehand what to do about it! Thus He promised —

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Mal. 4:5-6)

And knowing already what He promised in that Scripture when He walked this earth,  He settled the reason why He would need to send His last prophet to the church —

“And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things.” (Matt. 17:10-11)

As present truth believers, we know that the Elijah to come had a double application, as Jesus said to His disciples that John had played that role for His first advent (Matt. 17:12). However, we today know very well that another prophet was sent for these last days and this servant has opened up to us marvelous things from the word of God, writing out the Lord’s final message (Elijah message aka the Shepherd’s Rod (Micah 6:9).

“..as John was a messenger to God’s own people at that time, just so at this time the Elijah of Malachi’s prophecy represents a message which is to be delivered not to the world, but to the professed people of God. As John was their last prophet, his message was their final means to fit them for the Messiah’s appearing, for which cause said the Master, “If ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. (Matt. 11:14) Likewise, Elijah’s message of today must be to the professed people of God, and is to be their last means to fit them for Christ’s appearing at this time.” (1 SC 4:5)

To be sure, the issue of the Holy Spirit was one of those “restored” things (teachings) that the Lord sent through His prophet. So this being the case we MUST go to this final message to get clarity and restoration and to stand upon the solid Rock of Jesus–HIS WORD.

Our first and most important area to know about this issue is to review our present truth Fundamental Beliefs. These are, as we know, our core beliefs, our foundation. So let us look here first —

FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS   Emerging in 1930 from within the Seventh-day Adventist denomination (“the church of the Laodiceans”), the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association has ever been committed to the prophetic work (predicted in Isaiah 52:1) of preparing the Laodicean church, the last with “the tares” among “the wheat,” for the final proclamation of the gospel “in all the world.” Matt. 24:14.

   This Association, in common with the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, holds ”certain fundamental beliefs, the principal features of which, together with a portion of the Scriptural references upon which they are based,” are originally summarized as follows:

   “1. That the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, contain an all-sufficient revelation of His will to men, and are the only unerring rule of faith and practice. 2 Tim 3:1517.

   “2. That the Godhead, or Trinity, consists of the Eternal Father, a personal, spiritual Being, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, infinite in wisdom and love; the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, through whom all things were created and through whom the salvation of the redeemed hosts will be accomplished; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, the great regenerating power in the work of redemption. Matt. 28:19. (FB Tract, p.3-4)

In the above we notice that there is mention of “Trinity”, yes “Trinity”. We need to point that out because Satan has stirred some to say, “That is a Catholic doctrine, it’s from Satan!” Ok, then if the Lord calls it Trinity is He following Satan?? Let’s get real here! This clearly ESTABLISHES that the word Trinity is correct and proper to call the Godhead.

Then we notice something that cannot be misconstrued. “Person”, what does that mean? Is it a force, is it energy, is it part of another being? No, let us read —

per·son
noun
a human being regarded as an individual.
“the porter was the last person to see her”
synonyms: human being, individual, man/woman,

 human,

 being, living soul, soul, mortal,

 creature, fellow

Google Dictionary

The message tells us to pay close attention to “each word”.

“..when we take into consideration the meaning of each word instead of making thoughtless and hasty conclusions, the Scriptures prove to be not only most perfect and wonderful and yet simple, but also inspiring, making wise the humble — and lightening the path of him who as did Christ, delights to do the will of God.” (Sym. Code, vol. 2, no. 2, p.3)

Thus we see that when we read carefully and simply, childlike, we cannot escape the FACT that Jesus says through His end-time prophet, that there is a third PERSON in the Godhead and a part of the TRINITY. That means that each Being, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct individual Beings but of ONE PURPOSE– a Triune God.

Lets go back to Ellen White now. The “only Two Beings” crowd often tries to deny and explain away her many references that confirm the Trinity Godhead as taught in our SDA FB’s and confirmed in our DSDA FB’s.

This Ellen White Estate article is eye-opening and calls out her critics for their ploys —

“Third Person of the Godhead”

For most Adventists, Ellen White’s published statements are conclusive as to her teaching on this question. In The Desire of Ages she writes that “sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power” (p. 671).

This is how the text has read since its first publication in 1898. So how do opponents escape its natural interpretation that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead?

First, by suggesting that the expression found its way into The Desire of Ages through the influence of Ellen White’s assistants and/or Herbert Lacey or W. W. Prescott.1 Second, by pointing out ELLEN WHITE’S TRINITARIAN STATEMENTS 19 that the words “third person” are not capitalized in the original 1898 printing, signifying to them that the word “person” is used in a more “general sense.”

Third, by suggesting that while there are in reality only two persons in the Godhead, “the net effect for us is that there are three divine beings,” since the Holy Spirit is called “another Comforter.” In this view, the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit (presence) of the Father and/or Christ,” and not in actuality a distinct third divine person….

The White Estate often receives this type of inquiry from persons who question the reading or teaching of a published statement. Some are surprised when we tell them that Ellen White
did not write out her chapters by longhand as they appear in books like Steps to Christ and those in the Conflict of the Ages Series. She was certainly the author of the text, but most of the material
comprising the chapters as we have them was compiled from her many earlier works, including her sermons, letters, and articles.

So to find the original manuscript for any given passage in a book like The Desire of Ages, we must determine the source document and whether a handwritten draft of that document is extant.
What, then, is the source for this sentence on page 671 of The Desire of Ages? We find it in a letter Ellen White addressed to “My Brethren in America,” dated February 6, 1896.

She wrote,
“Evil had been accumulating for centuries, and could only be restrained and resisted by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified
energy, but in the fullness of divine power.”

This letter was copied and sent from Australia to church leaders in Battle Creek, where the General Conference president, O. A. Olsen, published it the next year in a pamphlet circulated among church leaders  20 ELLEN WHITE AND CURRENT ISSUES SYMPOSIUM 2006 and ministers (Special Testimonies, No. 10, pp. 25-33). This contemporary publication provides another evidence—beyond the obvious copyright date—that this passage in The Desire of Ages reads as it did when first published in 1898.”

Click to access TheTrinity.pdf

May we suggest that the above article be read in full for those who are stuck in the TWO BEINGS teachings. If that article is carefully read, you will be set straight. Trying to undermine EGW’s teachings that there are THREE PERSONS in the Godhead is unfruitful work and a ploy of Satan. God is not mocked!

So how can we conclude our report? There is no doubt that if you call yourself a present truth believer you must agree that the Lord CONFIRMS the plain clear teachings of THREE BEINGS (PERSONS) all acting as one, yet each with their own BEING and individuality.

Christ our King warned us to be careful in regards to the Holy Spirit —

“And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” (Matt. 12:32)

Again, the Lord, through the Spirit of Prophecy warned us above, that we cannot truly understand the nature of the Holy Spirit. What we do know is that His final message of Elijah tells us —

a. There is a TRINITY, Three individual Beings comprising the Godhead, and that

b. the Holy Spirit is a PERSON, an Individual Being.

The message also teaches from the chart below that John Knox, founder of the  Presbyterian church, was the Barley and he brought the true understanding of the Holy Spirit (See Chart below).  Below is what the Presbyterian’s doctrine is on the Holy Spirit. We would have to call the Rod’s Ezek. 4 Chart as teaching error, if we think that there is not a Trinity but only Two beings. This non-Trinity teaching has lots of holes as we can see, it’s built on shifting sand, let’s stand upon the clear Rod teachings.

“Presbyterian theology, like Christian theology, begins with the triune God. The Trinity is the basis for understanding who God is. The three persons are one God. Who we see in Jesus Christ is God. What we see the Holy Spirit do is God. The God who is revealed in the Old Testament is God. All the work of God is one work in that it is carried out by the one God. But God works as three divine persons, united in the divine love. The Bible distinguishes the work of the persons of the Godhead. But we believe in and worship, as the hymn says, “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.”(TheThoughtfulChristian.com)

Our adversary has worked for many years on this issue and now it seems a sizable crowd of church members, even some claiming to be Davidian SDA, are falling for this trick. They spend their time trying to explain the Holy Spirit, His nature and His true definition. THIS WILL NOT STRENGTHEN THE CHURCH as SOP says.

There are crafty men and women today who are doing what we call “private construction” trying to construct this passage here with that over there and then say “Ah, see there is only Two Beings”. They are so enamored with this idea that they mount the judgment seat and say that all who believe and teach the Trinity are lost! Shades of Korah and his followers all over again!

Another confirmation from the message —

“Thus being as they were the product of the omnipotent power of the three persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost at work for 40 days through the personal ministry of their triune representative, Christ, this preternatural little group consequently preserved and continued  the line of the church.” (Tract 3, third edition, p.91)

We did a prior post called Rabbit Trails which highlighted how some get so worked over an issue that they believe restores the truth, yet they fall for a dead end rabbit trail in the end! Don’t be one of them. Stay on the straight clear path that the Lord has restored for us. His Elijah is to be listened to not the “sayings of men”.

https://godsloveandlaw.com/2015/10/31/rabbit-trails/

“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.” (GCS, p.7-8)

“All present truth believers should now see the necessity of shunning every wind of doctrine regardless how plausible or reasonable it might appear to be.  Remember the words: “Behold, those that go toward the north country have quieted My Spirit in the north country.” (See p. 27 of Tract No. 2, The Warning Paradox, — Zech. 6:1-8.)  Get your doctrine, Brother, Sister, only from the golden bowl (see The Shepherd’s Rod, Vol. 2), and be not like the waves of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed — be not carried about by the many winds of doctrine that are blowing wildly from every direction to cause you to lose your way to the everlasting kingdom.” (Tract 11, p.12)

Throughout history, there have been God’s authorized mouthpieces to give us the truth we need for our time, the message gives us such clarity on this issue that none should be in ignorance —

Chart showing seven tubes coming from the top of the Golden Bowl to the seven candlesticks.  Zech. Four Lesson. (Answerer, vol. 3, Q-55)

“Here it is seen that the candlestick, as interpreted by Revelation 1:20, is symbolical of the church membership; the tubes extending from the golden bowl to the candlestick, are symbolical of the ministry (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 188); the olive trees are symbolical of the Old and New Testament Scriptures (The Great Controversy, p. 267); and the two golden pipes, which carry the golden oil from the trees to the bowl, are symbolical of the Bible interpreters, the inspired messengers from God, for the symbolism immovably shows that they are the only ones whom Inspiration enables to draw the oil from the olive trees—to interpret the Scriptures. And the bowl, the container of that which the pipes (interpreters) place therein, can be only the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy.

  As a necessary and natural sequent, God will have but one mouthpiece to teach His people in the establishing of His Kingdom, as He prophetically tells us in unmistakable language: “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” Ezek. 34:23-26.

“The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the Rod, and Who hath appointed it.” “Feed thy people with thy Rod the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvelous things.” Mic. 6:9; 7:14, 15. (Answerer, vol. 3, Q-55)

We see that our truth for today has established without doubt that the Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead, a separate third Being. This is confirmed by the Lord through His Elijah prophet. Let us not make our own doctrines, putting our own pipes as it were, into the Golden Bowl and extracting our own ideas and doctrines.

God’s message says it, we believe it!

Posted in Elijah Interpretations, Holy Spirit | 2 Comments »

Follow the Guide

December 15, 2018

Image result for picutre of the Spirit of Truth

AS we read the above very important Word of God, we would like to sink the shaft of Truth into the mine of God. This one reference is so profound and deep that we truly are blessed to know even part of the ramifications.

Many of us have been to the Zoo, wild animal park, museum or such, where we are escorted around and guided into new things we are not likely to know about. This experience enriches our lives and gives us lasting pleasant memories. In this same vein we know that our Almighty King has promised us a “guide”, a most wonderful Spirit, whose job it is to enlighten and uplift us in His Word. Let us look into this deep subject.

We know that every single promise spoken of by our King will not go undone. As such , the promise given in the above Scripture is a “real thing” to those who believe it and are blessed to have it working in their lives. The Elijah message expounds upon it’s importance.

“Different periods in the history of the church have each been marked by the development of some special truth, adapted to the necessities of God’s people at that time. Every new truth has made its way against hatred and opposition; those who were blessed with its light were tempted and tried.” — The Great Controversy, p. 609.

   Accordingly, “when a message comes in the name of the Lord to His people, no one may excuse himself from an investigation of its claims.” — Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work, p. 65. Lay aside all prejudices, self-opinions, and ideas of men who bear not the mark of Inspiration, and who say in effect by their actions: “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” (truth or prophets). Rev. 3:17.

   The Bible can be rightly explained only by the Spirit Who dictated it. He “will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come” that ye may “be established in the present truth.” And “whosoever…blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost [speaketh evil against the message] it shall not be forgiven” him: for it is the only means whereby we may be saved (John 16:13; 2 Pet. 1:12; Luke 12:10). (Tract 3, p.10)

 

“And “when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come,” says Christ, in broader statement of this same truth, “He will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13.

   Having been put forth prematurely and without the prompting of the Spirit of Truth, human efforts have accordingly failed to discover and explain the truth of “the trumpets.”  And no scripture ever being unfolded without Inspiration, the expositions of uninspired minds are hence of private interpretation, in forewarning of which the Bible says: “….no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” 2 Pet. 1:20.

   So before a person can climb the ladder of Truth, he must first of all free himself from erroneous theories, which keep him bound in darkness.  And to loose himself from such weights of error so as to reach the top step of the ladder of Truth, he must carefully investigate and “prove all things” in Open-Mindedness.” (Tract 5, p.5-6)

So why is it that some have this Spirit working in their lives and some don’t? Again Christ has not left us without an answer, let us read–

“If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.” (John 7:17)

 Powerful! Ah, so those who are NOT doing God’s will aren’t being led of the Spirit to know God’s true doctrine.This is far reaching!

Allow us to give an specific example. Brother P, is a very well studied student of the Scripture, in fact he is often asked to lead out in the local Sabbath School lessons.When asked about the S.D.A Sanctuary truth, or the “Leopard like Beast” his quick to flip the Bible pages and start his discourse. I have personally sat down with him and went over the Scriptures together.

Yet of many years of occasional studies (usually around the dinner table during Sabbath lunch) I became dumbfounded  how he could not see a plain “Thus sayth the Lord”. In other words, how can the following be mis-interpreted?

“Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Malachi 4:5).

This was not all, the Scriptures like the following as well —

“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”(Isaiah 2:2-3)

To his credit, at least he did not fight the clear texts as to the meaning, rather he looked bewildered and simply acknowledged his incomplete understanding of it.

But where is the “Guide”?That Spirit of Truth who was promised those who “do His will”? He has been an Adventist for over 20 years and studied quite a bit. We  don’t know, but somewhere somehow It’s not guiding him.

Now, for us Adventists where do you think the Spirit of Truth is guiding us today? We just read it- Mal. 4:5. There is a FINAL message to be given us from the Lord’s last prophet to His S.D.A church –“Elijah”.

This obviously is SO IMPORTANT because it’s “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” The message explains more —

 

“Behold,” says the Word, “I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”  To him shalt thou hearken.  “And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter,  when the towers fall.”  “Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with His anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue as a devouring fire: and His breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err,” “because  they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” Mal. 4:5; Isa. 30:25, 27, 28; 2 Thess. 2:10.

   Here it is seen that the prophecies and the correct interpretations thereof are “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect.” 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.

   Therefore, brethren, settle it once and forever, that with the Lord’s help you will no longer be carried away by winds of doctrine that are created and driven by the spirit of error, not by the Spirit of Truth, but that you will always look for, and stand by, the Inspired Word of God — “the testimony of Jesus,” delivered to you by “the Spirit of Prophecy” (Rev. 12:17; 19:10);  that you will “hear the rod, and Who hath appointed it.” Micah 6:9.(Tract 6, p.79-80)

“Because in that day the Lord is both to shepherd the faithful and to punish the unfaithful, the message which announces this “great and dreadful  day” (Mal. 4:5), is titled, The Shepherd’s Rod.  “The Lord’s voice,” therefore, “crieth unto the city,…

“Hear Ye the Rod, and Who Hath Appointed it.“Micah 6:9.   Sunken in Laodicean slumber and sleep, “the city,” the church, in God’s merciful effort to prepare it against this day of trouble, is to be startled to life by His urgent cry:

   “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.”  Isa. 52:1.

   “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.  For, behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall rise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.  And the Gentiles shall come to the light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” Isa. 60:1-3.

   The church of the Laodiceans, being the last of the seven churches, is the last sectionnof the Christian church in which the wheat and the tares are commingled.  The overcomers, the marked ones, from it, those who hear the Rod, begin the eighth section of the church — the one symbolized by the “barn” (Matt. 13:30)  and by the “vessels” (Matt. 13:48), also by the “golden candlestick” of Zechariah 4.  Of her the Lord says: “…the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.  Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” Isa. 62:2, 3.

   Among the Laodiceans, however, those who refuse to arouse and take in the situation, who will not “sigh and…cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof” (Ezek. 9:4) will be left without the mark, and will consequently fall under the slaughter weapons of the angels (Ezek. 9), while those who receive the mark will escape them and be shielded from the trouble, the shield’s being symbolized by the barn and the vessels.” (Matt. 13:30, 48). (Track 9, p.61-62)

 Allow me to briefly explain my views on this “guiding”.  It was only when I began to “sigh and cry” for the sins of the church, was my eyes opened. As we know , our current truth message of Elijah  tells us to sigh and cry for all the abominations done in the church (Testimonies, vol, 3, p.266-267, vol. 5, p.221-212). And Ezekiel 9. This is now what gets us sealed, along of course with keeping of the Sabbath and His other Commandments.

So if one is not truly validating his walk with Christ, obeying His final message of Elijah, then it would seem that the Spirit of Truth is stymied, stuck. This may be why some cannot see what is there in the Scriptures. I am speaking solely concerning Seventh-day Adventists of course. Those without are being addressed in a wholly separate way and according to Scripture await, in most cases, the work of God through His final servants the 144,000. This is known as the Great Multitude of Rev. 7:9.

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)

In closing, let us know that God is able to give us that precious guide, the Spirit of Truth. But we must do our part to humbly ask for It and be willing to advance so that it will be said of us —

“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.” (Rev. 14:4)

“Wonderful possibilities are open to those who lay hold of the divine assurances of God’s word. There are glorious truths to come before the people of God. Privileges and duties which they do not even suspect to be in the Bible will be laid open before them. As they follow on in the path of humble obedience, doing His will, they will know more and more of the oracles of God.” (Testimonies for the Church , Vol. 8, P.322)

Posted in Christian walk, Holy Spirit, Obedience, The Spirit of truth | 1 Comment »

Holy Spirit under Attack

March 15, 2014

Holy Spirit

In Luke 3:22, we read, “..and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

We are well familiar with this passage. Here we see that the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove. But who really is the Holy Spirit? Does it have a gender? Or is it a kind of floating energy at the beck and call of God and His Son? Kind of like airwaves?We can’t see them but they exist and pickup/transmit information through great distances from the sender and receiver.

Most of Christian world, although amiss in much understanding of the true doctrine of Christ, do believe in the almighty Godhead. However there is a growing body of “believers”, claiming to be Seventh Day Adventists, or even Davidian SDA, who deny that there exists an actual “person” in the form of the Holy Spirit. They see “it” as a general God force instead. Some far-out sects even call the Holy Spirit a female being!

With this very important Biblical subject under attack, we thought it would be good to try to get to the “Thus saith the Lord” as spoken from His mouthpieces–the prophets. And amazingly when we take a clear and straight forward look at the evidence of the Holy Spirit, we cannot escape the solid conclusion.

I say amazingly because when something is so clear and plain yet people ignorantly close their eyes to the obvious, then we can be sure that the “Spirit of Truth” is not in them and they are indeed heading for disaster. To deny God’s word means to deny Him.

Recently I was informed by a so-called “Davidian brother” that I should take a serious look at the Holy Spirit and it’s “real” purpose and existence from a ‘Biblical” viewpoint. Right away giant red flags went up. Here was what I thought,  a brother in the faith,  who was basically telling me that I needed to re-learn who the Holy Spirit really was and if I didn’t come to a clear understanding of this, I would be in serious condition spiritually.

In other words he was trying to tell me that there exist only TWO supreme beings, the Father and the Son.

It would bad enough to hear this from a protestant( who generally has giant holes in their beliefs anyway), yet from a so-called Davidian, the highest light bearers in the world (most present truth known), this was really too much to take. And I did not mince words in my rebuttals. Not soft little words that would only slide off him like water off a ducks back.

Last week we posted about righteous discernment. This is a perfect example of using this discernment to warn and even admonish such disastrous and wayward thinking.

What I said , and this should be a main consideration to anyone presenting a belief that is divergent from our standard beliefs, is “Ok if you want to enter this study, please show me from the “restorer of all things”, the Elijah prophet where he said that our SDA understanding of the Trinity is incorrect.” In other words I highly doubted his conclusions and put the “proof” onto him.

Well after several run- around side tracking emails, he could not and did not provide any Elijah quotes. I let him know  that basically he was kidding himself if he thought he was a Davidian. Further I countered with solid evidence to the contrary of what he was trying to teach. Specifically that The Holy Spirit was not actually a person.

Let us look at some evidence from His inspired writings on the matter.

Before we do, we should read applicable counsel from the Spirit of Prophecy. “The language of the Bible should be explained according to it’s obvious meaning, unless a symbol or figure is employed.” (Great Controversy, p.598).

Obviously this applies as well to His inspired writings brought by Ellen White and Victor Houteff. Brother Houteff added further counsel in this regard, “Hold not to what fabricated ideas seem to make Scripture say, but grip tenaciously to what the Word, in simplicity , plainly says.” (Tract no.10, p.13)

“We need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds. — Manuscript 66, 1899. (From a talk to the students at the Avondale School.) {Ev 616.5} The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. When this witness is borne, it carries with it its own evidence. At such times we believe and are sure that we are the children of God. .. . . {Ev 616.6} 

The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”–Manuscript 20, 1906. {Ev 617.1}

“Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature.” (Desire of Ages, p.671)

The above words are beyond obvious.  Do we not see that the prophetess says that a)the Holy Spirit is a person as God is a person b) has a personality. Does a “force” or an “energy” have a personality? If it does it can no longer be a force or energy but a being.

Additionally we know that the Holy Spirit has feelings. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)

The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them, but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden. {AA 52.1}

 What part of “silence is golden” do the anti- truth tale bearers not understand? They promote their false ideas that say “we need to re-think our Trinity understanding” . “We got this from the Catholic Church”, etc. etc. Unless Ellen White was a secret member of the Catholic church, they are really groping and reaching for straws on this issue.

You see this is what Satan and his angels do to the unsuspecting (non grounded)–they twist and side-step the straight word. That was Satan’s first deceptive practice – “Surely you shall not die..”(Gen. 3:4). God plainly  said “You shall surely die.”(Gen 2:17).

So who is it that leads men to say “The Holy Spirit is not a person”? You guessed it! There is nothing new under the sun(Ecc. 1:9). SOP says “Holy Spirit is a person” Devil says, “Holy Spirit is not a person.” This really is not complicated when we understand from whom these falsehoods come from. Just follow history my brethren.

SOP makes mention of praying with the Holy Spirit —

“We must not only pray in Christ’s name, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This explains what is meant when it is said that the Spirit ‘maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.’ Such prayer God delights to answer. When with earnestness and intensity we breathe a prayer in the name of Christ, there is in that very intensity a pledge from God that He is about to answer our prayer ‘exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”--Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 146.

We also must as brother Houteff said “grip tenaciously to what the Word, in simplicity, plainly says.” 

The Elijah prophet further confirmed that we are to believe in the Trinity as understood in our Seventh Day Adventist faith in his writings (Fundamental Beliefs and Directory, p.3-11) . Here is the exact wording of our original SDA faith and understanding of the Holy Spirit and Trinity.

Fundamental belief no.2 

” That the Godhead, or Trinity, consists of the Eternal Father, a personal, spiritual Being, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, infinite in wisdom and love; the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, through whom all things were created and through whom the salvation of the redeemed hosts will be accomplished; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, the great regenerating power in the work of redemption. Matt. 28:19.

Brother Houteff was asked the following question in the Symbolic news codes.

Question 214:

Why are not the given names of the Trinity used in baptizing?

Answer:

As the Scriptures give several names for the Father and for the Son (and none for the Holy Ghost), and as we are not told which of these to use in baptizing, we must, therefore, take Him at His word and baptize in just the way He commands: “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”  Matt. 28:19.  Moreover the names given in the Scriptures are not absolute names, but rather titles–equivalent to the names Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Still further, even if the absolute names of the Trinity were known, their use would lead to irreverent address.  For example, suppose the Father’s name is George; the Son’s, Thomas; and the Holy Ghost’s, William.  Could any God-fearing human being even dare think of its being reverent to say, I now baptize you in the name of George, Thomas, and William!  Let us therefore comply with the Lord’s command: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of be Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”  Matt. 28:19. (For further light on this subject, study our Tract No. 11.) (Vol. 7   Symbolic Code   Nos. 1-6. page 13.)

Now that we see that the Holy Spirit is a person, a being, let’s look at Scripture that further identifies other characteristics of  “Him”.

Holy Spirit is a helper and teacher

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)

Holy Spirit is God’s precious gift

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

Holy Spirit is our Comforter and companion for ever

..do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? (1 Cor.6:19)

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.. (John 14:16)

Holy Spirit is a power enabler

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.(Acts 1:18)

Holy Spirit is a discernment enabler

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment ; concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:7-15)

Holy Spirit is miracle enabler

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4)

Holy Spirit is a witness for us

And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him. (Acts 5:32)

Holy Spirit is a faithful servant of God, truth giver and prophesier 

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority , but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Holy Spirit is a joy giver

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.. (1 Thes. 1:6)

Holy Spirit is a communicator

The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”(Acts 8:29)

While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.” (Acts 10:19)

That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice,don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness…” (Hebrews 3:7-8)

Holy Spirit is a truth detector

Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself..” (Acts 5:3)

In closing, those who deny the “person” of the Holy Spirit must come clean. They should immediately renounce their Seventh Day Adventist membership and/or their Davidian SDA affiliation. With such powerful evidence as presented from the three divine sources, Scripture, SOP, and the Elijah message, there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit  is a real being, and part of the almighty Godhead.

Holy Spirit is a leader

The experience of apostolic days will come to us when we wholeheartedly accept God’s principle of benevolence–consent in all things to obey the leadings of His Holy Spirit.(Testimonies, vol.7, p.146)

 

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