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Poor Man’s Mite Tithe Program

January 14, 2023

In Mark 12:41-44 we read —

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Here we see that our King not only commended this poor lady for giving all she had as her tithe but wanted the disciples to witness this great thing! Contrarily, we notice the Lord did not tell her to “don’t worry about it, you are so poor and you need that little bit left for you to live on”. No, tithe returning is SO IMPORTANT and this lesson is a great one! Let us look more into this.

A while back, a sister in the faith and myself were having a conversation. It soon turned to tithes. I asked her what she was doing with her tithe situation and her fellow brethren. For disclosure, she lives in a  very poor African country. She had been a fellow member of a certain present truth organization. The leader of that organization, she said, told her “don’t worry about it”. In other words, he was telling her she and her fellow brethren don’t have much and to save it for their own needs. Wow!

When I heard that I about fell off my chair! Thoughts of the little old lady story ran through my head. I told her that didn’t sound right but at the time I didn’t have much of alternative options to tell her. Time has certainly revealed much in this regard.

Another brother whom we’ll call bro. John has been a long-time brother in the faith. He, too, lives in a very poor country in Africa. However, he has progressed with the truth and advanced forward in “following the Lamb wheresoever He goes” (Rev. 14:4).  as such the Lord’s voice has spoken to Him and he hears it! The subject of returning the tithes made brother John a conscientious “doer”. 

We read of the Lord’s contract in Mal. 3:10 —

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

A contract requires two or more people to do something, but BOTH must perform. In this case, the Lord is asking any and all to return tithes to “My house” — His storehouse. If one party does not keep the bargain then the contract becomes null and void –useless.

But unlike the sister, brother John has decided to enter the contract. But the important thing is, just as the little old lady was very poor and still kept her faithfulness, brother John likewise is poor yet has not kept the tithe but returned it as the contract requires. Now he joyfully awaits the bountiful blessing GUARANTEED by the Lord!

The final message of Elijah does not tread lightly on this topic as we read —

“IS SMALL INCOME TITHE EXEMPT?

Question No. 158:

As my income is very small, am I not exempt from paying tithe?

Answer:

God designed the plan of systematic benevolence so as to make it as equitable to the poor as to the rich, no more a tax on the mite than on the million. And we know of no Scriptural authority for exempting from tithe any income, however small. All, poor as well as rich, are given the privilege of returning to the Lord His own. Many with a “mite” income are paying both first and second tithe, and in return are receiving a rich bestowal of blessing.

Thus reason forces the conclusion that if one is not obliged to receive charity help in addition to his income (whatever its source) to cover his living expenses, then for him not to pay tithe is to cheat Himself of the abundant blessing which attends a faithful regard for the royal privilege of being one of God’s stewards. “(Answerer, vol. 5, p.86-87)


In summary, the poor can indeed enter into this tithe program and expect to reap the rewards, they just have to begin and not procrastinate. Why not take up the Lord’s challenge — “try Me on this”?     


For those interested in our Ministry and studies we give each Sabbath you may contact us at —

pre11thhour@gmail.com


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A Testimony on God’s Tithe Promise

June 13, 2020

Leighton – Tech. Talent. Together.
In Malachi 3:10 is found one of the greatest promises  given us from our Maker, let us read —

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Key in on the promise “and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Is God slack on His word?

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” ( Isaiah 55:10-11)

As the above Word shows God’s promise WILL come true, it’s only that we must do our part. Pay the tithes to His storehouse “meat in due season”, and we experience blessings beyond what we expect.

With the recent Covid-19 situation, many unfortunately, have fallen on hard times, indeed even dire times.  For the heathen, this can all be expected, but for God’s true people–no! They are held to a greater responsibility.

Let me give you my personal testimony as to this wonderful promise.

As we have reported in prior posts, we know that truth is ever advancing, the scroll continues to be unrolled. But as God “does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7) we must keep abreast of his advancing prophets. Thus when we do we see in Scripture the promise of one last prophet “Elijah” to come right before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

This prophet, along with the prior prophetess, both told us that tithe reporting is extremely important. Let us read —

“Angels keep a faithful record of every man’s work, and as judgment passes upon the house of God, the sentence of each is recorded by his name, and the angel is commissioned to spare not the unfaithful servants, but to cut them down at the time of slaughter. And that which was committed to their trust is taken from them. Their earthly treasure is then swept away, and they have lost all.

And the crowns they might have worn, had they been faithful, are put upon the heads of those saved by the faithful servants whose means was constantly in use for God. And everyone they have been the means of saving, adds stars to their crown in glory, and increases their eternal reward.” (Testimonies, vol. 1, p.198)

 

Mal. 3:11-12 — “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Under no other conditions does He promise His blessings. You have hard luck? You cannot make ends meet? Start paying your tithes. Note carefully that God requires not only tithe but tithes; that is, tithe and free will offering. He does not want them spent on something of your own devising. You are to bring them into the “store house.” (Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 30, page 19)

 

“The command is, “…they shall not appear before the Lord empty.” Deut. 16:16.

God does not lie. He carries out His promises. He never fails. There is nothing more offensive to Him than unbelief and unfaithfulness in His Word.” (Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 30, page 20)

Both a fearful warning and an upbeat confirmation that paying our tithes cancels “hard luck”–wow!

As I continued my walk with the Lord, after about a couple years the Spirit of Truth guided me into the final message of Elijah (Mal. 4:5-6). This indeed truly awoke me and set in motion my faithful tithe paying career.

One of the greatest joys in my walk, I have discovered, is the joy of doing accounting and bookkeeping for God. I take delight in keeping track of the ingo/outgo of my secular business. In other words, I — get down to business — God’s business!

This dedication is firmly entrenched because I know that the promise will be fulfilled, indeed it has! Remember God says “try Me on this”! Not only does His Word make a promise, He says that even if you are skeptical –try it and see.

Not just a short “test trial of paying” but a commitment. This is how it will work. In other words, we don’t return His money back to Him to see what we can get, rather we do it for His kingdom’s sake, yet knowing that as a result, we will reap great benefits!

So as I became aware of God’s true storehouses today, those that have “meat in due season”, I began that weekly duty of returning His money back to Him as Malachi instructs us. Slowly but surely I began to see more and more business come. And soon, of the over 25 competitors in our large city (over 800,000) we became the number one rated company.

There seemed to be a guiding influence getting things done behind the scenes! Word spread and the money coming in began to be consistently steady and increasing. This success soon made me keenly aware of “why” all was running seamless and successful. God was doing as He said.

So despite these COVID restrictions, unlike some of our competitors, we have INCREASED  our business. We can only say Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!

Now, contrast this with sister C, she is a longtime so-called “present truth believer”. She talks a good game but has shown her money is not where her mouth is, as they say. Recently she called and we had a long talk. She complained about being down and out, the COVID situation greatly exasperating her situation.

We have talked to her many times before. She KNOWS what is required. The story of the little old lady and the mite should be straight counsel to her —

“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings [b]for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” (Luke21:1-4)

Even if we are not well off financially that is no excuse for us to neglect our proper bookkeeping and returning His portion due. I asked her “are you accounting for your ingo/outgo”? She responded no as she “doesn’t even make ends meet”. That is still not the attitude. You DO THE ACCOUNTING anyway, to know what is what.

In closing, the Lord has His hand out for a deal, are we willing to extend ours to shake the hand of the GREAT KING OF THE UNIVERSE?  A BINDING agreement?

Here are God’s true storehouses that we have paid into and seen His Word fulfilled in bountiful ways.

http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/index.html

https://davidiantoday.org/

Posted in Covenants, God's storehouse, Tithes and Offerings | 3 Comments »

Why Shouldn’t We Pay Tithes to the SDA Church?

September 7, 2019

Image result for Seventh day Adventist

We know our Christian history. In Acts 4:33-37, we read–

“And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

What was taking place here? It was the fact that the believers now knew what the present truth was, that Jesus the despised leader was in fact “the Way, the Truth and the Life. (John 14:16)”. They knew that they could no longer support the church that was the “official” church, so claimed by the multitudes. To do so would only support the enemy of their cause, to lead them to destroy their movement in full

We see the changing of the storehouse. The unpopular and despised movement being the true God led one. The popular and majority led one– no longer God’s. Today we have the anti-type in the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist movement. Let us look at this subject more fully.

Last week we wrote about how no matter our financial position, we still need to be faithful to God. But the question arose — Why not return the tithes to the Seventh-day Adventist church? After all as SDA, even though we may call ourselves present truth believers, why not return the Lord’s money to the church we have our official membership with? A legitimate and timely question.

To begin, our faith in what is Truth is paramount. The message tells us —

"For every truth-seeker, moreover, stands the promise that He will not let one of them be deceived: "God never honors unbelief and questioning and doubt.  When He speaks, His word is to be recognized and carried out in the daily actions.  And if the heart of man is in living connection with God, the voice that cometh from above will be recognized... Those that do the will of God shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God for no deception will cloud their minds." -- Testimonies  on Sabbath-School Work, pp. 64, 65. (Tract 10, p.42)

Powerful injunction! Do we see a basic foundation of how we know Truth?  Do God’s will and we will know Truth–guaranteed!

So let us compare the Seventh-day Adventist “will” for God’s people versus the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist will and see which one stands closer to –God’s will and Word.

1) The SDA wants us to believe that EGW was the last prophet to come from God to His people. When asked about the “male prophet”–Elijah promised to come in the very last days (mal. 4:5) they do not believe in it’s fulfillment. or they have strange ideas such as “Ellen White fulfilled that role” or “God people in his church today fulfill that role”, or “that is symbolical”, etc.

The DSDA takes God at His word and believe that when He makes a promise His word will not return void. They never want to spiritualize away what is the clear and straight word of God.

“So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper whereto I sent it.”  (Isaiah 55:11)

2) The SDA general leadership doesn’t want to uphold the high dress standards of our founder Ellen White. Our Inspired prophetess was very clear that dress reform is not to be trifled with. Her many writings deal squarely with this as does our unfailing standard — the Bible.

“In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses  and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls. Instead of fragrance, there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.” (Isaiah 3:18-24)

The Word of the Lord solemnly warns the people of God that soon He will deal with all this dress perversion among His people, that come to His sanctuary as if He is a common God, not noticing such terrible disrespectful attire among His people.

For anyone who doubts that the current leadership of our church is fast asleep in this issue just go to the services for a few weeks and you’ll see not a few younger women dress in short skirts and high heels. Some of the men dressed in jeans open collar shirts, tennis shoes, etc. The leadership blissfully winks at it all!

Not so with the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. They will be found dressed in suit and tie, the women dressed modestly as well, including head covering.

3) Week after week the SDA pastors and leaders will come to the pulpit giving what is known as “peace and safety” messages. By this, we mean that there is hardly ever a word about sins in the church or a need for reformation among the people of God. No, they blindly assume that you just need to punch in your weekly church card and you’ll be ready for the portals of glory when the King comes in the clouds!

The SOP has straight applicable words here–

“Satan deceives many with the plausible theory that God’s love for His people is so great that He will excuse sin in them; he represents that while the threatenings of God’s word are to serve a certain purpose in His moral government, they are never to be literally fulfilled. But in all His dealings with his creatures God has maintained the principles of righteousness by revealing sin in its true character—by demonstrating that its sure result is misery and death.

The unconditional pardon of sin never has been, and never will be. Such pardon would show the abandonment of the principles of righteousness, which are the very foundation of the government of God. It would fill the unfallen universe with consternation. God has faithfully pointed out the results of sin, and if these warnings were not true, how could we be sure that His promises would be fulfilled? That so-called benevolence which would set aside justice is not benevolence but weakness.” (PP, p.522)

However, the DSDA know well that peace and safety is not the message for the church. Scripture and SOP tell us —

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1 Thess. 5:3)

“Our message is not to be one of “peace and safety” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). As a people
who believe in Christ’s soon appearing, we have a work to do, a message to bear—“Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12). (SLM, vol. 2, p.150)

So after knowing the above, what is the Truthseeker to do–return His tithes to the SDA church or to the DSDA organizations? Before we answer this the following question was asked dealing with the two groups. We as Adventists really need to know –who is who?

 

ON WHICH SIDE WILL YOU BE?

Question No. 66:

  How do the Davidians regard the Seventh-day Adventist denomination?  What Position do they take concerning the writings of Mrs. E.G. White, and what dose Mt. Carmel stand for?

Answer:

  The Davidian Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Seventh-day Adventist  church was ordained of heaven and charged with a special message for the world but that in the course of time she permitted herself to grow self-complacent, lukewarm, and careless in discharging her sacred responsibilities; and that thus having once “turned back from following Christ her Leader,” she has ever since been “steadily retreating toward Egypt,” with the sad and tragic consequence that her “own course of continual backsliding has separated” her from God.—Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217.

  The Davidians further believe that this tragic departure from the Lord is all too manifest in that divided state revealed in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination by the contest within it “between the commandments of God and the commandments of men.”-Id., p. 81. To the end that this ruinous state of division and weakness be resolved into unity and strength, an absolute imperative to the church’s ever fulfilling her high destiny, the Davidians still further believe that, as is written, “the gold will be separated from the dross in the church.”

In other words, they believe that the Modernists, those who have rendered supreme homage to “ ‘science falsely so-called,’ . . . trusted to intellect, genius, or talent” (Id., p. 801, will be winnowed from the Fundamentalists—from those who “are standing in the light . . .sighing and crying for the abomination that are done in the land.”—Id., p. 209

   Let it, however, be immediately understood that, unlike those who openly affirm their modernistic views, the Seventh-day Adventist Modernists deprecate all such tendencies, and insistently profess to stand solidly on the fundamentals of Seventh-day Adventists, although unwittingly they gradually slip further and further away from them (Christ our Righteousness, 1941 Edition, p. 36).

  That this drift is recognized as an actual peril by some even within the church, is seen from an article published in The Review and Herald, July 2, 1936, entitled, “Modernism—A Personal Application”:

  “As we view with alarm the rapid spread of Modernism among the various Protestant churches, it is well to consider our own lives, to see if the same principles and trends may not have begun to operate there. While the doctrines and principles of Seventh-day Adventists are Fundamentalistic, there is grave danger that we as individuals may become Modernistic.

  “In order better to appreciate this danger, it is well to consider the essential difference between Fundamentalists and Modernists. The Fundamentalist believes in the word of God as a final authority; while the Modernist believes in the interpretation of the word of God according to his human reasoning, thus putting reasoning above the God of revelation.

  “In these last days, God has not confined His revelation to us as a people to the Scriptures only, but has also given us special instruction through the manifestation of the Spirit of prophecy ….

  “So while the popular churches show their Modernistic attitude only toward the Bible, it is possible for us to show the same attitude toward God’s special messages to us. In fact, our relation to the Testimonies is the very place where this attitude will be first manifested.”

  This insidious variety of modernism, weakening “the faith of God’s people in the Testimonies” (Testimonies, Vol. 4, p. 211), and gradually “new-modeling” the Denomination’s fundamental principles (Testimonies To Ministers, pp. 48, 69, 70, 360, 372, 373, 409), is heartbreaking evidence that those at its helm are Modernists. But their seeming innocence of the fact and their denial of it, make exceedingly difficult our doing anything to help them, without our efforts being misunderstood.

And to fix guilt for starting the drift away from the Heaven-established fundamentals of the faith today, is as impossible as to trace down the first Jewish teacher who put in the place of a “thus saith the Lord,” a thus saith himself or someone else. Indeed, whom to charge with this defection is as impossible to determine as is the date when the evil work started. Inspiration says:

  “There are those today who will present falsehoods as testing truths, even as the Jews presented the maxims of men as the bread of heaven. Sayings of no value are given to the people of God as their portion of meat, while souls are starving for the bread of life. Fables have been devised, and men are trying to weave these fables into the web. Those who do this will one day see their work as it is viewed by the heavenly intelligences. They choose to bring to the foundation wood, hay, and stubble, when they have at their command the word of God, with all its richness and power, from which they can gather precious treasures of truth.

The food that is being prepared for the flock will cause spiritual consumption, decline, and death. When those who profess to believe present truth come to their senses, when they accept the word of God just as it reads, when they do not try to wrest the Scriptures, they will bring from the treasure-house of the heart things new and old, to strengthen themselves and those for whom they labor.”-The Review and Herald, June 18, 1901.

  Next, the Davidians hold that the belief that the Spirit of Prophecy is to repose in the church to the end of time, is one of the foundation stones of Seventh-day Adventism. “This prophetic gift bestowed,” admits Elder A.G. Daniels, “was to abide with the church from Adam to the second advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, when He comes to take His redeemed people to Paradise. It did not cease with the apostles, but is traceable through the centuries to the last days of human history, just before the return of our Lord. When that supreme event of the ages shall occur, then—and not until then—shall come to pass that which is spoken of by the apostle Paul:

  “‘…whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.’—l Cor. 13:8-10, A.R.V.”—The Abiding Gift Of Prophecy, p. 6.

  Since this prophetic gift was manifest through Sister White, as has been evidentially established, she necessarily, then, wrote under divine Inspiration, as did the Bible writers. And, therefore, orthodox Seventh-day Adventism turns on the pivotal truth that “no prophecy of the Scriptures is of any private interpretation,” and can no more be understood now without special divine illumination than could prophecy have been understood in Daniel’s time without enlightenment from the angel, who explained: “I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me In these things, but Michael your Prince.” Dan. 10-21. Just so, the same Michael must commission a “teacher’’ for us today; otherwise those things which belong to our peace will be “hid from tour] eyes.” Luke 19:42.

  This solid rock of doctrine was ever to be the Denomination’s sure foundation, and just to the extent that its principles have been faithfully followed out has there been power in the church.

  Upon the death of Sister White, in 1915, the gift of Inspiration, the active Spirit of Prophecy, became quiescent, no longer manifesting Itself for a time. With the church thus cut off from the very source of its life, as was the Jewish church from the death of the prophet Malachi to the rise of John the Baptist, how could it maintain its vitality and growth? Hence, now as then, there has followed the same inevitable spiritual malnutrition and deformity, accompanied with a long train of woes.

  Against this dark background of spiritual decline and consumption (wretchedness, misery, poverty, blindness, and nakedness), and imminent end (being spued out), stands out in bold relief the sternly chiseled work of Mt. Carmel Center as did the flaming summit of ancient Carmel amid the idolatry and decadence of apostate Israel. Again type meets antitype. But to the Israel of God today, says the angel: “Ye have done worse than they.”-Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 129.

  “Like a hammer to break the flinty heart; like a fire to consume the dross”  (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 254), the voice of Carmel cries unto Laodicea the unheeded warning: “I am filled with sadness when I think of Out condition as a people. The Lord has not closed Heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God. Pride, covetousness, and love of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or condemnation. Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us. And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing, and that peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders.

  “The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would have it thus. Ministers who preach self instead of Christ would have it thus.

The testimonies are unread and unappreciated. God has spoken to you. Light has been shining from His word and from the testimonies, and both have been slighted and disregarded. The result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among us.”-Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217.

  “Now is the time when we should closely connect with God, that we may be hid when the fierceness of his wrath is poured upon the sons of men. We have wandered away from the old landmarks. Let us return. If the Lord be God, serve him;  if Baal, serve him. Which side will you be on?”-Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 137.

  And now louder and louder sounds the voice of Carmel, through the series of The Shepherd’s Rod publications, “the Lord’s voice…unto the city, and,” says the Divine Author, “the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the Rod, and Who hath appointed it.” Mic. 6:9.

  “Feed thy people,” He commands, “with thy rod the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel.” Mic. 7:14.

  Thus to rescue the honest in Laodicea from spiritual starvation and death, to revitalize, restore, and rearm them for the final conflict, the Lord has sent the Rod.

  When this work of restitution has been completed according to Matthew 17:11, and the Modernist element has been “cut off” as decreed in Ezekiel 9 and in Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 80, then will be seen in the church a speedy fulfillment of the words of Christ: “The rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;” and it stood. Matt. 7:25.

  Like the early pioneers of the Adventist church, those who heed the Rod are the  restorers of the “old paths”; they realize the grave consequences involved in going contrary to any light the Lord chooses to send His people. And since the message of the Rod has aroused an interest in the need of “reformation among God’s people,” we as Davidians would not only be recreant to out trust but would also be passing “by on the other side,” allowing our beloved Seventh-day Adventist church to drag in the dust, our brethren to be lost, and the world around us to perish for “lack of knowledge,” if we did not bestir ourselves to warn the church of the oncoming danger.

  Our unselfish zeal and effort to help all Modernist Seventh-day Adventist brethren, regardless of their race, nationality, or social position, is evidence enough of our love for them and our devotion to them. We believe with the apostle Paul that all are of the children of Adam, children of adoption into the family of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

  Though we realize the greatness of our goal, yet with implicit confidence in our Leader, Who has never yet failed to carry through any phase of the Divine purpose, we face our task with courage and confidence, believing that “we are well able to go up and possess the land” of our inheritance, and finally to pass into that heavenly Canaan, where “milk and honey” will flow forever.

  Of necessity, then, Mt. Carmel Center is being built as a base of operations for training and fitting workers to carry this special message to the church; for educating deserving youth; for caring for worthy poor, aged, widowed, and orphaned; and for ministering to the sick and infirm according to God’s plan. It has heard God’s double charge to it: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isa. 58:1.

  “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.” Joel 2:15, 16.

  When it has accomplished this “closing work for the church” (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266), then those who have overcome every “temptation in the strength of the Mighty One,” who have sighed and cried and escaped the destruction, will “be as David; and the house of David shall be as God as the angel of the Lord before them.” Zech. 12:8. Davidians indeed!—“a great people and a strong” (Joel 2:2), “clad in the armor of Christ’s righteousness,…‘fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,’…to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.”—Prophets and Kings, p. 725.

  In this way the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists are to gather all the saints to the house of the Lord.

  Mt. Carmel’s great burden is to get this manifold work done as soon as possible, so that we may then go home to our eternal rest no more to be fettered with the shackles of sin.” (Answerer, vol.3, Q-66)

TO WHOM SHOULD MY TITHE GO?

Question No. 96:

   While still holding membership in the Seventh-day  Adventist denomination, should one pay tithe to the Davidians?

Answer:

   One can best answer this question by asking himself the following questions:

   Do I believe that The Shepherd’s Rod contains the message of the hour, the sealing message of the 144,000? Have I received any spiritual help from it? Has it caused me to repent of formerly indulged sins? Am I now a better Seventh-day Adventist than I was before I accepted it? Has it made me love the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy, and the brethren more than ever before?

   If one’s answer to each of these questions is “No,” then he should pay his tithe to the church of which he is still a member. If his answer to them is “Yes,” and if he is still in doubt as to where he should pay his tithe, then he should further question  himself:

   Had I continued in the Laodicean course in which the Rod found me, could I be saved and ready to meet the Lord at His coming? Can my Seventh-day Adventist brethren be saved by remaining in their present condition?

   If to these questions one’s answer is “No,” then his answers to the following questions will instruct him where to pay this tithe.

   Since I am responsible for the light which is now shining upon my pathway, and since I must help give it to my brethren, should I pay my tithe to the Denomination so that the ministry may have more money with which to fight both the message and my personal endeavors to reach the people with it, and thereby, working at cross-purposes, only help to keep them in darkness?

Or, should I pay it to the Davidians, the “storehouse” of Present Truth, where it naturally should go to promote the advancement of a heart-searching reformation and to rescue my Seventh-day Adventist brethren from eternal ruin? And as they themselves  are not prepared to meet the Lord (Testimonies,  Vol. 6, p. 371), then how can they adequately prepare the heathen?

In view of all these facts, shall my tithe go to the Seventh-day Adventist denomination in behalf of the heathen or to the sealing message in behalf of the brethren?  If I dare not place my tithe to the support of what I believe to be Present Truth, then how will it be supported, and where else can I conscientiously place my tithe?

   Furthermore, if I place it in the Denomination to be used largely for the evangelizing of worldlings, rather than in the storehouse of Present Truth to be used for the benefit of my brethren, then am I not doing so to the neglect of my own brethren, and thus denying that I am my brother’s keeper?

   And ought I, moreover, obey the ministers’ order to go in search of sheep in the house of Baal, instead of heeding the Lord’s express command to take the heaven-sent remedy to the sin-sick sheep in the house of Israel  (Matt. 10:6)? Which of these two endeavors would be the more sure to gain for me the commendation,  “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”? Matt. 25:21.

   “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing.” Matt. 24:45, 46.

   Now if after having answered these questions to your satisfaction, you are still undecided as to what you should do with your tithe, then read Tract No. 4, The Latest News for Mother, 1943 Edition, pp. 63-70. Then “remember Lot’s wife,” and do as the Lord bids you. (Answerer, vol. 4, Q-96)

The Lord’s work through His church has come full circle, just as it started. A movement has sprung up within it, led of the Lord just like the early Christian movement was. And the same financial situation exists, the true believers have kept pace with the Truth and therefore have decided to support the message of the hour. To do otherwise is to help the opposers of the message, thus reducing it to smolders, instead of the Lord’s brightly fire of Truth shining to all those who have eyes and hearts.

All of these sins mentioned by the SDA church cannot and will not be glossed over when the Lord “suddenly comes to His temple” (Mal. 3:1).

“The Lord will not leave His church without reproofs and warnings. Sins have become fashionable; but they are none the less aggravating in the sight of God. They are glossed over, palliated, and excused; the right hand of fellowship is given to the very men who are bringing in false theories and false sentiments, confusing the minds of the people of God, deadening their sensibilities as to what constitutes right principles.” (SLM, vol. 2, p.147)

In closing, we received a comment on our last post about tithes from the poor, trying to equate the reasoning of calling out problems with the SDA church versus calling out the problems with the DSDA organizations. In other words, the brother was saying –Why do the Davidians say they are to pay their tithes to DSDA groups even though they have some of their own issues and their own message says not to judge the organizations, but remain faithful. Doesn’t this rule also apply to the SDA church then?

Not at all. For one thing, the issue with the DSDA organizations is not at all like the SDA, as outlined above in the 3 points. Dress, diet, health, prophecy study, acceptance of the Lord’s final prophet (Mal. 4:5), the straight solemn message of warning of the church purification, etc are ALL part of the DSDA today. So the issues with them are not at all similar to the blatant rejection of all the items listed above by the SDA.  

Rejection of the Lord’s Word, diet, health, dress, other SOP numerous counsels, neglect of prophetic studies, renting out the Lord’s sanctuary to Sunday churches, failure to preach the straight testimonies in favor of peace and safety, rejection of the Lord’s last prophet “Elijah”, etc. etc, cannot compare to the DSDA shortcomings.

In closing, just as in the former early church days, we are at a crossroads with the Seventh-day Adventist church. Return His tithes to opposers of His final message of Elijah, or go with the small group of  “fisherman” who have moved onward with the Lord’s prophetic Word and plans.

Posted in Church, Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, God's storehouse, Present Truth, Tithes and Offerings, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

A Look at Two Tithe Payers

August 31, 2019

Image result for Jesus watching the old lady two mites

In Mark 12:41-44 we read —

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

What a marvelous uplifting story of someone sold out to the Lord! Giving all she had to fulfill her duty. This story’s lesson is still applicable today. We shall look at two people who take two different directions in being faithful and unfaithful to the Lord. These examples are by no means unusual, but rather common today.

The first person we shall discuss is brother H.

He is from a very poor country in Africa. He currently is making just a few dollars a month (about the equivalent of 100.00 USA per month). He has been a present truth believer for 8 years. After studying the Scriptures and SOP message, he felt led by the Lord to continue studying, as the parable of the 10 virgins shows he needed “extra oil” to get to the kingdom.

But somewhere along the line brother H never took seriously the following SOP warning —

“Angels keep a faithful record of every man’s work, and as judgment passes upon the house of God, the sentence of each is recorded by his name, and the angel is commissioned to spare not the unfaithful servants, but to cut them down at the time of slaughter. And that which was committed to their trust is taken from them. Their earthly treasure is then swept away, and they have lost all. And the crowns they might have worn, had they been faithful, are put upon the heads of those saved by the faithful servants whose means was constantly in use for God.” (Testimonies, vol. 1, p.198)

Week after week passed by yet he continued to ignore the Lord’s treasury. He justified the missing of paying tithes as “I am poor and barely make expenses to live on, the Lord understands.” This brother H continues on his merry way thinking all is right and that the Lord is winking at his duty and making him an exception to returning the Lord’s money.

Again the Word of the Lord counsels —

“Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated Me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat You?’ “You have cheated Me of the tithes and offerings due to Me.”(Mal. 3:8)

Brother H is still struggling 8 years later after accepting present truth. Often getting temporary jobs and then being let go to start all over again looking for work. The Lord’s promise, His Word, has not applied to brother H. Why? Because he has not done his part to keep the bargain that the Lord proposed.

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10)

Let’s now look at brother T.

He also is very poor, he is also from a poor country in Africa. Brother T has likewise accepted the Lord’s Elijah message and has believed now for 7 years. But he, unlike brother H, read in the Scriptures (Malachi), SOP (many places) and the Rod (many places) that we must be faithful in returning the Lord’s money back to Him. He took this very seriously as he counted it a duty that must not be neglected, lest he is found a slothful and unfaithful servant.

Brother T makes about 180.00 monthly sweeping and cleaning the streets for some of the local business shops. Six days a week he works, and it is hard labor. But he decided long ago that he would make meticulous bookkeeping of his income and expenses. Every week he lists all his expenses for that week and deducts it from his income. The net balance (aka — net increase) is only about 18 dollars. So at the end of the week he sends off about 20%-25% of that to cover his first and second tithes = 3.60 to 4.50 a week. He also sends in free-will offerings as often as possible.

Brother T has been blessed, not only has he had a steady reliable job but the owners have paid him faithfully and he can count it like clockwork that he will get his money at the end of the week. This is the Lord’s hand at work. For the Lord has moved upon the heart of all who are connected with brother T to “treat him right” and they do this. Not only that but he has received three unsolicited raises during his five years on this job.

As to the motivation, brother T was inspired by the Lord’s counsel when he read the following —

 

“IS SMALL INCOME TITHE EXEMPT?

Question No. 158:

   As my income is very small, am I not exempt from paying tithe?

Answer:

   God designed the plan of systematic benevolence so as to make it as equitable to the poor as to the rich, no more a tax on the mite than on the million. And we know of no Scriptural authority for exempting from tithe any income, however small. All, poor as well as rich, are given the privilege of returning to the Lord His own. Many with a “mite” income are paying both first and second tithe, and in return are receiving a rich bestowal of blessing.

   Thus reason forces the conclusion that if one is not obliged to receive charity help in addition to his income (whatever its source) to cover his living expenses, then for him not to pay tithe is to cheat Himself of the abundant blessing which attends a faithful regard for the royal privilege of being one of God’s stewards.”  (Answerer, vol. 5, p.86-87)


To be sure Satan has found many ways to bring up excuses as to why we don’t need to bother with paying tithes. Here is a shortlist of some of the common ones —

1 —  Your income is too small and you just don’t have any extra to pay the tithes.

2 —  You live in a poor country and the mailing alone will cost more than the tithe.

3 —  You find much wrong with the current SRod associations, they do this or that wrong and therefore they are unworthy of your tithes.

4 —  You make your own home the storehouse and because of this, you are allowed to pocket His tithes and even ask for donations. You spread the message yourself and therefore are entitled to the Lord’s money.

Of course, there are more reasons to justify being a thief, but the above four are very prominent reasons today. We’ve shown you how number 1 reason is dealt with, now let’s look at number 2.

The Lord in His all-seeing vision saw that the poor countries would have that problem–too small tithe based on income that doesn’t even take care of the postage in some cases. In other words, how can one send in their 5.00 check or money order when postage is 5.00 ? Not to worry.

For the last several years both of the two large SRod organizations have online donation links, that process the money in seconds free of charge. The one thing that the sender has to have is a bank account. The sender simply gives his bank info to the organization’s process server (it is very secure) and it is done in minutes. 

This avenue has been so simple and seamless that yours truly has used it for years with good success.

Here are the two links to the Mt. Dale and Waco organizations for tithe processing–

http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/giving/giving.html

https://davidiantoday.org/en/donation/

Now as to number 3, again the Lord counsel’s us —

IS IT MY DUTY TO SET RIGHT THE LORD’S TREASURY?

Question No. 98:

   Should we pay our tithe to the “storehouse” if we know that it is not used rightly?

Answer:

   Knowing that our tithe belongs to God’s storehouse, our greatest burden should be to see that it is faithfully paid there. Nowhere in the Bible do we find that the Lord has laid upon any tithe payer the policing of the channels through which these funds pass.

   The Lord’s treasury is under His control, and if He Himself should not see fit to correct an abuse in the handling of His money, certainly we could not correct it however hard we might try. If we guard carefully that part of His work which He entrusts to us, our only concern will be to find out where His “storehouse” is, and then faithfully to deposit His money there. He has not made us responsible for its use; that, He will personally take over–even as He is now “taking the reins in His own hands.”

   When the Promised Land was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi received no land for an inheritance, as did the eleven tribes. Instead, the Lord decreed that the tithes of the other tribes were to go to the Levites. This was their inheritance. It was actually their own. And just as they, as the tithe receivers, had no right to dictate to the others, the tithe payers, what to do with their own increase after it had been tithed, so the tithe payers had no right to dictate to the tithe receivers what to do with the tithe. Each tribe was itself to be accountable to the Lord for that which He had entrusted to it. Thus it must be today. (Answerer, vol. 4, p.46)

On number 4, we also have direct clear counsel that warns us of such terrible ideas–

 

CANNOT MY HOME BE HIS “STOREHOUSE”?

Question No. 97:

   Is it Scriptural for one to retain and personally use his tithe and offerings in order to carry on the gospel work in his own community, according to his own plans?

Answer:

   Nowhere in the Scriptures do we find permission to use the Lord’s money at our own discretion. The only justification for so doing would be sheer inability, for some reason to send it to the Lord’s “storehouse.” Should one voluntarily, though, engage in such a practice then he would set the wrong example before others.

And if following in his lead, others assume  the same right, their course must inevitably  result in seriously handicapping the Lord’s work, bleeding and subverting His treasury, and thus disorganizing His work and reducing the church to a mere shell, while her members are hiring themselves as laborers in the Lord’s vineyard, helping themselves to the Lord’s money, and running without having been sent! What a Babylon that would be!

   Though the Lord commands, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse” (Mal. 3: 10), He does not say to bring all the offerings. Thus, He shows that if we would engage in some personal charity or missionary activity, we should sustain it from offerings, not from the tithe.

   “Angels keep a faithful record of every man’s work, and as judgment passes upon the house of God, the sentence of each is recorded by his name, and the angel is commissioned to spare not the unfaithful servants, but to cut them down at the time of slaughter….And the crowns they might have worn, had they been faithful, are put upon the heads of those saved by the faithful servants….”Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 198. (Answerer, vol. 4, p.44-45)


“The message invests no one with authority to solicit financial help to carry on either their work or that of the Shepherd’s Rod. ” (Sym. Code, vol. 8, no. 1-12)

Summary —

The privilege to return the Lord’s money back to him is indeed one of our most precious blessings the Lord bestows upon us. I have personally seen it working in my own life and can attest to the Lord keeping His Malachi 3:10 promise. It is up to each of us to look within and account for either our faithfulness or thievery. Now is the time for self-reflection and while we still can make our faithful duty a serious business.

 

Posted in Backsliding, God's storehouse, Tithes and Offerings | 3 Comments »

Serial Murmurers

May 11, 2019

Image result for Bible people murmuring
Murmuring has become a serious problem among God’s present truth believers. There is no doubt this issue needs to be addressed because anti-type is fast fulfilling type. We would like to make a thorough analysis of our dilemma and provide some solutions. This post is predominantly to Seventh-day Adventists who have advanced in the unrolling scroll of truth, also known as Davidian Seventh-day Adventists.

WHAT DOES THE LORD SAY ABOUT OUR SUBJECT?


The dictionary describes murmuring as —

“a half-suppressed or muttered complaint: grumbling” (Merriam-Webster) 

In Number 14:12 we read —

“And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!”

There is no doubt and one of the biggest offenses to God during His great exodus delivering was –murmuring. In fact we know that because of their unbelief and murmuring, only TWO adults over 20 years were saved from the possibly million strong Israelite congregation. What a solemn example indeed!

As we draw to the close of our Seventh-day Adventist probation, we would do well to thoroughly understand this great sin. Just as in the type,  it will no doubt be one of the surest and plentiful way of many will fail to make it to the kingdom. But if we know just how widespread and easy this great Satanic temptation can trap us, we can be much more fortified to stand against it.

The message is very clear about this subject–

   “Who went into the promised land? — All but the murmurers.  Do you suppose that you can entertain the same spirit of murmuring and complaining, and in spite of it receive the seal? — How absurd the very thought!  How unfair it would be for a just God to destroy the disobedient of that day, but to save the disobedient of this day.

   What made one group eligible to cross the Jordan? — It was their trust in God, knowing that He was their Chief Leader.  They recognized Moses and Joshua as the ones through whom God was communicating with them.  They did not look upon them as being anyone other than who they actually were.  They were satisfied with their lot.  They took orders as the orders were given.  So it was that they were the only ones who entered into the land.

    Having these ensamples before us, this picture to go by, I can confidently tell whether I am headed for the Kingdom or whether I am headed for the bowels of the earth (Rev. 12:16).  And I am sure that you, too, can tell which way you are headed.  The Lord does not require more or less of us than He required of our types.  There is therefore no mystery as to what we must do, and what we must not do to receive the seal of God.” 1 TG, no. 7, p.12-13)

Our example, our type, is plain and clear. Murmuring will result in as sure of end to all those who participate in it as in the days of Moses. Therefore, let’s look at some of our today examples and beware of their pitfalls.

Today, as always in His vineyard, there is plenty of work to be done. In our particular case, the Lord has given us work to do in the social media part of the vineyard. Thus, we are often in a position to see what is going on within this area.


CURRENT EXAMPLES OF MURMURING TODAY


Sister P is a long time present truth believer. She has been in the message over 20 years. Not too long ago she came on Facebook and began posting comments and posts about her beliefs. Personally speaking, being active in the different Elijah message groups for close to 10 years now, we become aware of many of the new posters on social media. We soon took notice of our new sister. All was well and good for the first few months.

But as time went on we started to see comments like ” Davidians are messed up” and “There are many things wrong with Davidia”, etc.  There were many blanket statements without any remedies. In other words, throwing rocks at the work/workers then running away.

Being helpful we reached out to her privately to let her know that such vague and non-constructive criticism amounted to plain ol murmuring.  Sadly, as often all too common in such warnings, it was flatly rejected.

Often because we take on the role of a watchman on the sites we are Administrators of, we get little acceptance of our help. Instead prophecy of the following gets fulfilled because we the few have to pick up the slack —

“Some who occupy the position of watchmen to warn the people of danger have given up their watch and recline at ease. They are unfaithful sentinels. They remain inactive, while their wily foe enters the fort and works successfully by their side to tear down what God has commanded to be built up. They see that Satan is deceiving the inexperienced and unsuspecting; yet they take it all quietly, as though they had no special interest, as though these things did not concern them.

They apprehend no special danger; they see no cause to raise an alarm. To them everything seems to be going well, and they see no necessity of raising the faithful, trumpet notes of warning which they hear borne by the plain testimonies, to show the people their transgressions and the house of Israel their sins. These reproofs and warnings disturb the quiet of these sleepy, ease-loving sentinels, and they are not pleased.

They say in heart, if not in words: “This is all uncalled for. It is too severe, too harsh. These men are unnecessarily disturbed and excited, and seem unwilling to give us any rest or quietude ‘Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them.’ They are not willing that we should have any comfort, peace, or happiness. It is active labor, toil, and unceasing vigilance alone which will satisfy these unreasonable, hard-to-be-suited watchmen. Why don’t they prophesy smooth things, and cry: Peace, peace? Then everything would move on smoothly.” (Testimonies, vol. 2, p.440)

Brother F, is also a long time present truth believer. He seldom posts anything on the message but when there is something negative said about the work or workers in the message, you can often find him commenting in support to the criticism, giving likes to any and all who lambast the organizations or workers for any reason.

Sister L, is another longtime present truth believer. She has often posted that there does not exist any present truth organization worthy of our support today. To see her posts, you would think that God has abandoned the organized work and left many little atoms running around all over, answering to no leadership, but just to themselves and their own causes.

Let us not be fooled brethren, God HAS provided some pointed guidance in regard to this subject, the following are two great references giving us specific advice.


GOD’S SPECIFIC COUNSEL 


“Some have been dissatisfied, and have said, “I will not longer pay my tithe; for I have no confidence in the way things are managed at the heart of the work.” But will you rob God because you think the management of the work is not right? Make your complaint, plainly and openly, in the right spirit, to the proper ones. Send in your petitions for things to be adjusted and set in order; but do not withdraw from the work of God, and prove unfaithful, because others are not doing right.” (GW, p.226)

 

IS IT MY DUTY TO SET RIGHT THE LORD’S TREASURY?

Question No. 98:

   Should we pay our tithe to the “storehouse” if we know that it is not used rightly?

Answer:

   Knowing that our tithe belongs to God’s storehouse, our greatest burden should be to see that it is faithfully paid there. Nowhere in the Bible do we find that the Lord has laid upon any tithe payer the policing of the channels through which these funds pass.

   The Lord’s treasury is under His control, and if He Himself should not see fit to correct an abuse in the handling of His money, certainly we could not correct it however hard we might try. If we guard carefully that part of His work which He entrusts to us, our only concern will be to find out where His “storehouse” is, and then faithfully to deposit His money there. He has not made us responsible for its use; that, He will personally take over–even as He is now “taking the reins in His own hands.”

   When the Promised Land was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi received no land for an inheritance, as did the eleven tribes. Instead, the Lord decreed that the tithes of the other tribes were to go to the Levites. This was their inheritance. It was actually their own.

And just as they, as the tithe receivers, had no right to dictate to the others, the tithe payers, what to do with their own increase after it had been tithed, so the tithe payers had no right to dictate to the tithe receivers what to do with the tithe. Each tribe was itself to be accountable to the Lord for that which He had entrusted to it. Thus it must be today. (Answerer, vol. 4, p.46-47)

The above truly guides us in regard to proper procedures to address our grievances. Let’s carefully note them. Although the above references deal with proper tithe responsibilities the guiding point of procedure applies to the other complaints of leaders/the work, those at the head of the work generally.

1 —  We have a complaint, we go about it in God’s order.

2 — We do not withdraw from the organized work, even if others are not doing right.

3 —  Make the complaint to the proper ones in the right spirit.

4 —  Once this is done, God may or may not correct what we think is wrong.

5 —  We have no authority to override the leadership God has put in place to lead. 

6 —  If there is a wrong being done by leadership, it is on them, not us.

7 —  Proper tithing is a must even when leadership is doing wrong or right.


HOW DO WE KNOW WHO IS THE GOD LED ORGANIZATIONS TODAY?

Obviously, the above question is paramount for present truth believers today. Because this issue is so important we devoted a special 5 part report for Davidian Seventh-day Adventists on this subject on our sister site –HEARYETHEROD. Click the following link.

https://hearyetherod.wordpress.com/2019/01/13/following-our-storehouse-history-part-1-of-3/

In closing, the evil of murmuring is insidious brethren, it can sneak up on you if you are not on guard. Let us stand solid in knowing the pitfalls of our type (Moses leading the people out of Egypt) and be in the very near kingdom with no spot or stain in our character called murmuring!

  “When a crisis finally comes, as it surely will, and God speaks in behalf of his people, those who have sinned, those who have been a cloud of darkness, and who have stood directly in the way of God’s working for his people, may become alarmed at the length they have gone in murmuring and in bringing discouragement upon the cause; and, like Achan, becoming terrified, they may acknowledge that they have sinned.  But their confessions are too late, and are not of the right kind to benefit themselves, although they may relieve the cause of God….” (Testimonies, vol. 3, p.270-271)

Posted in Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, General thoughts, Obedience, Tithes and Offerings, Warning our brethren | 2 Comments »

Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s

April 20, 2019

Image result for man paying the IRS

In Matt. 22:21 we read —

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” 

Our King gave us instructions to give to our government what belongs to it. But oh how this clear plain instruction has been ridiculed, ignored, side-stepped, explained away through out the centuries. Let’s face it most of us  do not think that our government should have our money, they waste and overspend.

Yet our King has shown that stealing in all forms, even to our government,  is wrong and not good in His sight. As April 15th has just passed, we would do well to look at this injunction and see how we can please our King in obedience.

As we know the Pharisees often tried to trip up our Lord and one example is found in Mark 12:13-17.

“And they sent unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in His words. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?

Shall we give, or shall we not give? But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye Me? bring Me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at Him.” 

Also we have —

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Romans 13:1)

So it is clear that we have a duty to subject ourselves to the governing laws that God ultimately establishes. Those laws that do not conflict with His holy law and righteousness. One of the most important laws is the paying of taxes. As Commandment number 8 says we shall not steal , therefore we must take this command seriously. Present truth believers are certainly no exception. 

It is important to point out that the Lord, in His all-knowing wisdom, gave us a way out and enabled us to save and thus have more funds to contribute to His vineyard work. Allow us to go over this issue.

The tax situation for us present truth believers, those who pay their Tithes to his “meat in due season” storehouses, are aware that the main two organizations (Mt. Dale and Waco) are Incorporated. Just as the Seventh-day Adventist church is and has been since the 1860’s. This inc. status has enabled those who have made Tithe donations to deducted their Tithes from their taxes, thereby saving money.  It also enables the organizations to be tax-free on the Tithes and donations they receive, a win-win for both the Tithe payer and the Storehouses of God!

From a personal view these government allowed tax benefits have hugely helped us to focus the savings into spreading the message via mailings of present truth material all around the world.

Paul contributes to this importance of proper tax paying —

“Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” (Romans 13:5-7)

The message gives us good counsel as well —

“God’s authority being supreme and absolute, “altogether-Christians” will ever prefer homage to the King of heaven and earth, while faithfully seeking to render “unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.” Luke 20:25. “…to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” Rom. 13:7.

Such will “owe no man anything” so long as their debtor’s demands or requirements conflict not
with God’s laws and statutes. As “altogether-Christians” they will be as true to God and to man as was Daniel and as was Joseph.

When “the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the
kingdom;…they could find none occasion nor fault.” Dan. 6:4. Finding him thus faultless, his enemies “consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, “save of” the king, should “be cast into the den of lions.” Dan. 6:7.

By securing the king’s signature on the decree, they sought to create a situation that must
necessarily involve Daniel in an act of rebellion against the king. They knew that though he purposed to render unfaltering allegiance to the king, he would not do so at the price of showing disloyalty to his God. And so as he continued to petition his God as he was wont to do, he was cast into the “den of lions.” But the One to whom he prayed saved his life from the ravenous beasts.

And amid the slaves of ancient Egypt looms the majestic stature of Joseph, the greatest provisioner the world has ever seen. Behold him in steadfast loyalty to his government, rising in honor till he is given to share the very throne of Pharaoh himself!

From these and other Bible examples, it is clear that one’s loyalty to his government is his pledge of allegiance to it — a salute to its flag. Altogether, therefore, we see that while on the one hand a man’s disloyalty to the divine government is a sin against God, on the other hand his disloyalty to his nation’s government is a sin against it, also indirectly against God, for disloyalty to one’s government is disobedience to God’s express command: “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work.” Tit. 3:1.

“Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.” 1 Pet. 2:13, 14. (Tract 13, p.32-34)

The great deceiver often tries to get us to ‘cut corners’ in our walk and one of the most successful areas is to convince believers that “taxes are not so important especially to the corrupted government” mentality. Don’t fall for it–stick to the Master and His words.

For those who reflectively realize that they have not kept faithful in paying Caesar what is Caesars, now is the time to begin to make things right. You can either pay the government and shun His timely message of the hour, or pay less to the government because you pay to His storehouses . You can be the faithful steward who has contributed all year to His cause.

And let us remember that the Lord’s Elijah message specifically tells us the old message of the “judgment of the dead” proclaimed for decades by us Seventh-day Adventists no longer was “meat in due season” when the new message came to our church in 1930 , the message of the upcoming “judgment of the living”. THIS is His meat in His storehouse worthy of our Tithes.

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver[a] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.  The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more.  But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!

The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more. The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.  I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.

But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate,why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 25:14-30)

In closing, every year we are to carefully account for all our income. This accounting includes properly paying our taxes to our government. Yet if we are working in God’s vineyard God as provided us a beautiful answer to  contributing to His final message to His church –claiming and deducting our Tithes from taxes.

 

Posted in Christian walk, Obedience, Tithes and Offerings | Leave a Comment »

A Pleasant Surprise

August 4, 2018

Image result for picture of a tithe box

All too often we as the Lord’s Elijah message messengers see disappointment after disappointment. We work in the Lord’s vineyard and it seems that we witness few changes in our churches. Abominations which we are to “sigh and cry” against (Ezek.9 and Testimonies, vol. 3, p.267) continue unabated. Yet, when we hear of good news we are like our Lord —

“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”(Luke 7:9)

Such is the good news we heard from one of our sisters in the faith recently. She called and excitingly told us of the Chowcilla S.D.A Church in northern California. She explained that she was pleasantly surprised when she walked into the church and noticed a Tithe Box secured against the wall for receiving the Tithe donations. She further found out that this church DOES NOT pass the church bag around compelling members to donate. Wow! True reason to say Praise the Lord!

As we all know as Seventh-day Adventists, this bag passing has been a standard custom in our church ever since our prophetess died in 1915. For those who would like to see our prior posts on some history of tithe collection see this link —

https://godsloveandlaw.com/2015/05/23/the-collection-box/

We really don’t know how this started but it’s a good bet that the Roman custom infiltrated our churches. The message explains –

“What a privilege and what an opportunity is now ours! Look and see what a difference there is between God’s method for supporting His work, and the Roman system that is now carried on by the church: plate-passing, high-powered speeches, Big Day, Book Day, high pressuring, campaigning, selling, auctioneering, Harvest Ingathering, birthday offerings, Christmas-tree hangings, baby weighings, Dorcas sales, investment funds, and what not!  As none of these squeezings are Biblical, and as all of them are Pagan in origin and condemned by the Scriptures, they could not possibly be considered freewill offerings. Search and see.

Instead of Sabbath-keeping the day is devoted to money raising, and instead of a house of worship, the church is turned into a den of thieves — disgusting to observers, and most discouraging for a member to invite a friend or a neighbor to a church service.  Is there any wonder that God does not now bring many into the church (“Testimonies,” Vol. 6, p. 371)?

It was this sort of thing that aroused Luther to action as he saw the priests living in luxury by exploiting the people’s conscience and by making the poor poorer.  True worship and God’s plan for supporting the work must now be restored.” (Jezreeel Letter, no.9, p.8)

To be sure, we serve a Holy God. One that is particular and certainly not like us. He has sent His last messenger to us to let us know this bag passing/money solicitation in His house is “condemned by Scriptures” and not considered “freewill offerings”.

“These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.” (Psalms 50:21)

Yes brethren there is our ways then there is God’s way. Unfortunately Satan specializes in blurring the two! I was once a regular partaker in this bag passing and solicitation of funds every Sabbath, being a deacon who led out in bag passing. For I knew no better, until advanced light came and I could see this issue as the Lord sees it.

Isn’t it wonderful when the Lord always gives us an out. Today we have online payment systems which gives ample opportunity to avoid such abomination.

“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations …” (2 Peter 2:9)

But when we begin to “reform” we do so bit by bit both individually and corporately, as the message explains —

“Correct your habits. “Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” (Ezek. 18:31, 32.)

    You may not understand all there is about it, but that would not excuse you from doing faithfully the little things which you already perfectly know. Start with the A B C’s in the science of reform as you would in a grade school, gradually climbing up the ladder of perfection as you would from the first grade up to a course in a. university. As you are unable to understand in the schools of the world the higher grades ahead of the lower, so you will never learn all the science in physiology or the mysteries in the laws of God from its heights down or all at once. Moreover, if you are not willing to do correctly the little things in life, what will it compel you to agonize in prayer for the power you need to accomplish the great thing?

   No one can successfully be promoted to a higher position until he proves true and proficient in a lower place. Says the apostle Paul: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” That is, no one can in a haphazard manner do the necessary things of life and yet stand innocent before the Lord. His command is: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48.) (Sym. Code, vol. 2, no.1, p.3)

This church has taken that small step in righting a wrong before the Lord, and it can only bring blessings. No doubt there is much work to be done still in the Chowcilla church, yet this seemingly small thing is truly a BIG thing, when we think about the roughly 95% other S.D.A churches who commit the Roman custom abomination in God’s house Sabbath after Sabbath. In other words this stance is breaking away from the prevalent cattle like herd mentality of following the Roman custom!

SOP tells us that  “those only who sigh and cry for all the abominations done in the church”  will receive the seal of God (pure mark of truth).

“Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done” in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel.” (Testimonies, vol. 3, p.267)

“The day of God’s vengeance is just upon us. The seal of God will be placed upon the foreheads of
those only who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land. Those who link in sympathy with the world are eating and drinking with the drunken and will surely be destroyed with the workers of iniquity. “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (Testimonies, vol. 5, p.212)

To be sure, the subject of tithes today is very deep and involves knowing where to tithe as well as how to collect tithes. But as mentioned by Inspiration above, the small steps must be taken first then advancement comes. But advance we must. If we don’t want to, we have the “need of nothing” Laodicean malady.

In closing let us rejoice in this small but significant step. We are in the process of trying to get in touch with the leadership in this church and hope to encourage them to keep up the good work and advance further in the Lord’s way.

Posted in Christian walk, Church, Tithes and Offerings | Leave a Comment »

Squeezings

June 16, 2018

Image result for picture of someone pressuring someone for money

The dictionary  describes the word compel as–

“force or oblige (someone) to do something. bring about (something) by the use of force or pressure.drive forcibly.” (Source-Google dictionary)

A few weeks ago we were attending one of the local S.D.A churches in our area. It was your typical service complete with music, speeches, sermon and the usual money requests. But something happened that caught my eye, even more, shook us up a little. Allow us to explain.

As we Seventh-day Adventists know, one of the primary customs of our service is the offering service. In addition to that we have the little kids request offering time. They are sent out among the crowd to gather small donations, usually dollar bills. Most often they are accompanied by an adult as many of them are very small with their little hands holding onto the basket, container or bag.

As this part of the service began, We were sitting and watching the activity. Soon, a very small boy came up to us and he stopped at me and pointed his small basket at me. I looked at him and smiled thinking he would see that I would not contribute. But instead he kept the basket at my chest waiting and watching. It turned out to be almost one minute of his waiting and watching, he would not move on.

At this point I placed my hand on his little shoulder and said “it’s ok, you can go”. The father came to our aid and moved him along. No doubt and as one would imagine I felt embarrassed and frankly a little disturbed by this scene. Thus, the reason for this post.

The last message of Elijah gives us counsel on this subject —

“What a privilege and what an opportunity is now ours! Look and see what a difference there is between God’s method for supporting His work, and the Roman system that is now carried on by the church: plate-passing, high-powered speeches, Big Day, Book Day, high pressuring, campaigning, selling, auctioneering, Harvest Ingathering, birthday offerings, Christmas-tree hangings, baby weighings, Dorcas sales, investment funds, and what not!  As none of these squeezings are Biblical, and as all of them are Pagan in origin and condemned by the Scriptures, they could not possibly be considered freewill offerings. Search and see.

   Instead of Sabbath-keeping the day is devoted to money raising, and instead of a house of worship, the church is turned into a den of thieves — disgusting to observers, and most discouraging for a member to invite a friend or a neighbor to a church service.  Is there any wonder that God does not now bring many into the church (“Testimonies,” Vol. 6, p. 371)?

   It was this sort of thing that aroused Luther to action as he saw the priests living in luxury by exploiting the people’s conscience and by making the poor poorer.  True worship and God’s plan for supporting the work must now be restored.” (Jezreeel Letter, no.9, p.8)

Did you notice the word “squeezings”? This is exactly the method used today to extract money from the people albeit sometimes in the form of innocent little children! The fact remains it’s a –squeezing! Further, as the basket or bag is passed around many eyes settle on the next one to have it placed before them and we wonder what they will do. Is this not a form of extraction or coercion?

Some may claim this is all “innocent” stuff, not something to make a big deal out of. After all the main purpose is to put money into God’s storehouse , so the end justifies the means. But is that really God’s way, His plan for us as “returners” of His money?

Sometimes I have a mental picture of the following when watching the little ones scramble around for money, which although funny is sadly close to the truth —

Image result for monkey asking for money

These little kids are being manipulated by the grownups just like this monkey–take money for the owners and not really know what they are doing!

The message tells us to “search and see”. When we look through God’s word, the Bible, and we will NEVER find one example of solicitation or money dealing within His sanctuary. All we find is a collection box set up at the entrance of the Sanctuary or Temple premises.  See this post for more on this subject–

The Collection Box

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor. 9:7)

If we would do as shown throughout the Bible, a container placed in view for us to discreetly place our offerings we would definitely be giving without compulsion or pressure. God loves his type of giving.

We are told the following well-known Scriptural counsel–

“Teach a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

So what are we doing? We are teaching our little ones to do little abominations! What a way to bring up our children. The Lord shall soon rain down justice and one of the those righteous and just acts will be NO MORE of these abominations done in His house.

Further as a reminder, the issue of paying tithes on the Sabbath is dealt with in HIs Elijah message. It is given to us to do the following —

“In order to eliminate money changing for tithe and offering, paying for books, etc. on the Sabbath, a Laodicean practice which the word of God condemns, let us carefully attend to all such matters on the first day of the week (1 Cor.16:2) by placing all monies in envelopes.” (Vol. 1 Symbolic news code, no.9, p.11).

“The Bible does not teach or recommend even a plate collection (a custom which Rome originated) in Sabbath services, much less merchandising in the presence of God.  All the Bible recommends is a container for free will offering placed somewhere in the church premises…Since the Bible does not teach any plate gatherings, but only freewill offerings (and not for your own use either), then by high pressuring the laity with your speeches, your pleas, and plate-passing all in the name of Christ, you make Him an extortioner of the worst kind.” (Jezreel Letter, no. 3, p.1-2)

In closing, there is the more important aspect of this subject and that is returning our Tithes to His true storehouse. But that is a long discussion of itself. Our point here in this report is that we find ourselves each Sabbath doing an “abomination” and make no mistake this is not a little thing. Pressuring and compelling is not “freewill offerings”. God does not want this nor is God like us.

“These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.” (Psalms 50:21)

Posted in Christian walk, God's storehouse, Sabbath, Sighing and Crying, Tithes and Offerings | 2 Comments »

Striking a Deal

February 24, 2018

Image result for picture of two people shaking hands

As we know throughout history, “deals” are usually between two parties. Both sides agree upon a mutual agreed idea or plan. Take for instance our current president of our country, Donald Trump. He famously wrote the “Art of the Deal” and has shown through out his career that deals can be done and often for the benefit of those concerned.

In Scripture, there is a proposal of a deal. Except this deal is made straight from God to any and all who would want to agree to it, let us read —

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”(Mal. 3:10)

In this deal, God makes the following proposals —

  1. Bring His rightful money into His rightful Truth dispensing storehouse.
  2. God boldly says that He wants us to test Him on this
  3. If we abide by our part of the deal, he will pay us back so profoundly that we will be amazed, a blessing that reaches each one individually.

Wow, now who in their right mind would not want to reach out and say to God “You got a deal” ? Sadly there are legion within His S.D.A church who do not participate in this agreement. They ignorantly support the church which has an avowed enmity against the Lord’s Rod!

Equally amazing as well as sad, is that even some so-called present truth believers don’t take God up on this promise.

Let us discuss this very important subject more specifically.

As some are aware, we run a Facebook group with the sole purpose of spreading the Lord’s Elijah message. Occasionally we get private messages from people who profess to believe in the message yet let us know how bad off they are. Often they describe how their present circumstances are dire, specifically their financial situation. They will go on and on about this, eventually asking for help.

While we do indeed sometimes extend a helping hand, if the Lord guides us, some are told in no uncertain terms , what we point out in this post. They should trust the Lord and stop disbelieving in Him and His word. Let us review a very important lesson which Jesus gave us —

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.  But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)

As we have a world-wide ministry, and as can be expected, we usually get requests from the poorer countries. But the lesson above shows that is no excuse to ignore Tithing. God will bless the mite payer as well as the wealthy payer. The message gives us another lesson —

IS SMALL INCOME TITHE EXEMPT?

Question No. 158:

   As my income is very small, am I not exempt from paying tithe?

Answer:

   God designed the plan of systematic benevolence so as to make it as equitable to the poor as to the rich, no more a tax on the mite than on the million. And we know of no Scriptural authority for exempting from tithe any income, however small. All, poor as well as rich, are given the privilege of returning to the Lord His own. Many with a “mite” income are paying both first and second tithe, and in return are receiving a rich bestowal of blessing.

   Thus reason forces the conclusion that if one is not obliged to receive charity help in addition to his income (whatever its source) to cover his living expenses, then for him not to pay tithe is to cheat Himself of the abundant blessing which attends a faithful regard for the royal privilege of being one of God’s stewards. (Answerer, vol. 5,p.86-87)

So what do we have here? A blessing just waiting to happen! God is willing and waiting. All we need is faith and belief in His word. What He said He would do–HE WILL DO!

There should be no one unwilling to put God to His word — “..prove Me now..”.

Do you not know that God is able to deliver to your doorstop a bag of money? Yes, and a myriad of other ways He can give you “..a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Further, we do not want to be found a “robber”–

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings.” (Mal. 3:8)

One word of caution, we should enter this deal with the right intentions. Put the right goals in mind and that is to help our brethren get His sealing Truth. We don’t want to do it with primarily ideas of “getting something”. That part will come IF we remain faithful to providing funds for His workers to bring souls to the saving Truth. Many have “stolen”  from Him for a long time, God in His perfect judgment will recompense in His perfect timing. You’ll be more than happy on His specific plan for YOU.

SOP let’s us know how important our duty —

“Prayer offered ever so often and ever so earnestly will never be accepted by God in the place of our tithe. Prayer will not pay our debts to God.” — “Messages to Young People,” p. 248. 

Lastly we read what is often a pondering question of us S.D.A —

“If I am responsible for the light which is now shining upon my pathway, and if my S.D.A. brethren must have it, should I pay my tithe to the denomination so that the ministry can have more money to fight against the message and against my personal endeavors to reach the people and thus help them deceive my brethren, or should I pay it to the “storehouse” of present truth where it is most needed to facilitate its speedy deliverance and rescue my brethren from eternal ruin?

If neither our S.D.A. brethren nor those in the world are saved and no better prepared to meet the Lord than the ministry themselves, shall my tithe go to the church in behalf of the heathen and ultimately both be lost — the church and the heathen — or to the message of the SRod which is to save the church first and then the heathen?____ If I as a believer of the message dare not support it by my tithe, then who will?____ Where will my tithe accomplish the most good?____ If I pay my tithe for the benefit of the heathen to the neglect of my own brethren would I be saying by my own actions, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”____

Shall I respond to the call and go in search of the lost sheep of the house of Israel, or after the lost sheep in the house of Baal?____ In which one of these two fields would my tithe entitle me to the words: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” (Matt. 25:21.) (Symbolic Code, vol. 1 no. 14, p.10)

For those who are moved by the Spirit we once again provide two sites that we recommend to return His money to His storehouse. These are “storehouses” indeed! We can only say that personally we have witnessed the Mal. 3:10 promise by doing our part.

God will do His, just reach out your hand and make that deal.

http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/index.html

http://davidiantoday.org/

Posted in God's storehouse, Tithes and Offerings | 1 Comment »

The Love of Money

February 17, 2018

Image result for Picture of someone loving money

In 1 Timothy 6:10 we read —

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

As some of you may recall, we have often mentioned that our brother Doug Batchelor has done some good things in His long time ministry. The subject of the Sabbath is one good example of Doug’s expertise.

When I first came into the S.D.A faith, I was soon drawn to Amazing Facts and their leader. Soon I discovered the many videos and books Doug had out on the subject of the Sabbath. As a newbie in the faith, I wanted to learn all I could about God’s holy day. Doug’s teachings more than filled this desire.

However as we have posted many times, we are to continually move up the ladder of Truth and knowledge. Just like the trees in nature, if we stop growing (learning) we can die — spiritually. So it is that the Spirit of truth has guided me to be here today, writing of His wondrous Truth and His prophecy pathway to the very soon to come kingdom.

Fast forward to right now. Just recently, I went to the mail box and saw once again the 3rd or 4th mailer from Amazing Facts within the last month. This has continued for several years now. But instead of quickly glancing at it I decided to focus on it. It was a simple newsletter of 4 pages.

The first thing one sees is their donation slip, this is purposely put in the first slot. It’s complete with space to put your donation amount — 10.00 to 100.00 or even a space for up to 9,999.00 and of course the credit card number info spaces.

As I began to read my eyes got wider and wider. Soon I counted 8 requests/suggestions for donations! Something didn’t ring right. I recalled how I was taken aback in past mailers with an overdoing of requests for donations, in fact I called Amazing Facts and let them know it.

Let us read —

“Since the Bible does not teach any plate gatherings, but only freewill offerings (and not for your own use either), then by high pressuring the laity with your speeches, your pleas, and plate-passing all in the name of Christ, you make Him an extortioner of the worst kind.  And by your harvest ingathering and other such campaigns to get money from the Gentiles, you make Him also a begger of the worst kind.” (Jezreel Letter, no. 3, p.3)

Let us  review the words contained in this newsletter.

1)”Consider how your partnership with Amazing Facts is already changing lives and touching people..”

2)”One method that Amazing Facts is effectively pursuing –with your support–is television.”

3)”..a friend shared Amazing Facts media with Kamesh, and he now believes in Jesus and the Sabbath. But he needs our continued support and prayers because of family pressures to remain a Hindu.”

4)”I’m thrilled to tell you that God has just opened a door for Amazing Facts to expand onto a Hindu-language station to reach the people of India, I hope your heart is moved.”

5)”Your gift this month will help us reach this goal while also continuing our outreach around the world.”

6)”..ask God what He would gave you do to be a vital part of this mighty work. Your gift of $50, $20,$100, or more will make a profound difference in the lives of these dear people who need to know Jesus and hear His last-day truth.”

7)”Will you join me–through God’s power– in changing more lives in India?

8)”Will you help us touch more lives for Christ in one of the largest countries on earth? Thank you in advance for your precious gift today.”

Wow, are these not “squeezings” of the worst type?? What part of “freewill” do we see here? No! We see begging and pressuring over and over again in this short 4 page report. And this is continual in nearly all of Amazing Facts newsletters and other media.

Make no mistake this is a two prong violation of God’s end time Elijah message, it’s robbery and not providing current manna from heaven (present truth). The worst part is that it’s asking for funds to proclaim a message that God is not sending right now!

“The Lord does not now work to bring many souls into the truth, because of the church members who have never been converted, and those who were once converted but who have backslidden. What influence would these unconsecrated members have on new converts? Would they not make of no effect the God-given message which His people are to bear?” (Testimonies, vol. 6, p.371)

Time and again I have watched Amazing Facts online presentations and we see the head man, Doug Batchelor, walk right up there onstage for his sermon,  following the young ladies who were up on that very stage  complete with mini-skirts singing their praise songs. He’s smiling as if saying “oh God does not care, he does not see these things”. Do you see why SOP was right? Bring em in and let them be transformed not to Christ, but to the world! Yeah that’s it.

The message speaks of this again —

“O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.  The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.   The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of His people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.  What mean ye that ye beat My people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor?  saith the Lord God of hosts.” Isa. 3:1215.

   This scripture itself, you note, points out that it is speaking to the people at the commencement of the judgment of the living.  The charge is that ye have misled the people, that ye have “eaten up the vineyard,” that “the spoil of the poor is in your houses.”  The rest of the chapter goes on to say that in some instances you have taken the living of the poor and have bestowed it upon your daughters, the which they lavish and wickedly display upon themselves.  Since it is obvious that you will not much longer be allowed to “grind the faces of the poor,” why not repent now? Why keep on with your wickedness, and why perish in it?” (Jezreel Letter, no. 3, p.6)

Misled indeed! The S.D.A church is about to experience the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” yet we see organizations like Amazing Facts, 3 ABN, Secrets Unsealed –Stephen Bohr, Amazing Discoveries–Walter Vieth, etc, etc. totally ignore the message of judgment to occur FIRST in our own churches. They may speak of 1 Peter 4:17 but they do not place it in its rightful context–before the Sunday Law and Plagues. The wrath of the Lamb is the next event to take place (Mal. 3:1-5) within our church yet few of our people know about it! Thanks to these leaders who are derelict of duty and who want your money anyway. I am sorry to be so blunt my people but the Truth MUST be proclaimed.

Let us read what is soon to befall us unless we wake up. Many are often hooked by solicitations that go into something other than God’s “storehouse” by greedy people out for their own ideas and plans. May we awake soon!

“The Lord commissions His messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their hands: “Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

Here we see that the church–the Lord’s sanctuary–was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God’s power as in former days. Times havechanged. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say:

The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus “Peace and safety” is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together.” (Testimonies, vol. 5, p.211)

We see that today our leaders are asking for money which is not spiritually helping the flock even though they think it is, the message clearly spells out what our duty is today —

“..to devote our time to evangelizing the world while neglecting the church, would be a criminal act, one of highest treason both to God and to His people. The church must first be saved from her Laodicean condition of being “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” She, not the world, is just about to be spued out. She “is the only object on earth on which He bestows His supreme regard.”-Testimonies to Ministers, p. 15.

But in her present deplorable state of blindness and destitution as exposed by the True Witness (Rev. 3:14-18), she is utterly unfit for the task assigned her, and must be rescued from her sad deception before she can become a safe refuge and a saving influence to those who would join her ranks. Should God leave her in the Laodicean condition in which she now languishes, not only would she herself be lost but, in consequence, so also would the whole world along with her. He must therefore rouse her up or else raise up another to do the work which remains to be done.” (Answerer, vol. 2, Q-32)

For those who are led by the Holy Spirit to “return” God’s money to His rightful storehouses, we provide two worthy sites. By way of disclosure we return the Lord’s money to the below sites and have truly experienced the fulfillment of His promise (Mal. 3:10). Sometimes we say “Lord this is too much” just like He said we would. He is indeed faithful!

“Will a man rob God?  Yet ye have robbed Me.  But ye say,  Wherein have we robbed Thee?  In tithes and offerings.  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Mal. 3:8-10.

The phrase, “even this whole nation” robbing God is so because the old message, the “Judgment for the Dead, (for the proclamation of which the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination was specifically called forth), is now out of date as is the message of Noah’s flood, and as Denominational officials have already rejected the message of the Judgment for the Living but are still collecting tithes of the people, they as a nation (as a Denomination) are robbing God.

   There are many precious truths contained in the Word of God but it is present Truth that the Flock needs now. (“Early Writings,” p. 63).

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

This is God’s reason for no plate passing now in our gatherings, for no money raising in any form, and for scattering our literature everywhere as the leaves of autumn without money and without price to the people.  In other words, the literature, the ministers, and the Bible workers — those who bring the message of the hour to your door, are to be paid by the tithes and offerings that come to the Lord’s storehouse.  God, therefore, asks His faithful people to gladly respond to His call and sufficiently to supply the need.  He asks this not only for the prosperity of His storehouse, but for His people’s prosperity as well.” (Jezreel Letter, no. 9, p.3-4)

http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/index.html

http://davidiantoday.org/

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