Self Sacrificing Workers

May 21, 2016

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In our post last week we talked about getting out of our me box. This week we’ll look at a related subject of being a self-sacrificing worker in God’s vineyard. Once we decide to get outside ourselves and start doing the things of God, we can also benefit greatly from learning how to “put our money where our mouth is”. In other words start “doing” instead of talking only.

“God is displeased with the lack of self-denial in some of his servants. They have not the burden of the work upon them. They seem to be in a death-like stupor. Angels of God stand amazed, and ashamed of this lack of self-denial and perseverance. While the Author of our salvation was laboring and suffering for us, he denied himself, and his whole life was one continued scene of toil and privation.” (Gospel Workers, p.55-56)

With our SDA probation fast closing upon us it is paramount that we get to our post of duty and that is most likely a sacrifice in time and money required of each of us. As we have posted many times our King makes clear in His word that we are not to “rob” Him (Mal. 3:8).

We all know about the required Tithes but what about the offerings? The extra that comes from our heart’s benevolent love of God and His cause. By way of example let me tell you of my own personal example of self-sacrificing.

In a corner of the house the Lord laid upon my heart to “set up shop” as it were. There is set up a smorgasbord of present truth material. Several times each month packages are sent out around the country and the world. Those hungry for the Lord’s final message to us are indeed feasting in the things of God.

But who is paying me to do this? No one. This all comes from what the Lord has placed upon my heart. I do not ask for any donation neither do I want such. Occasionally there has been offers to help on the cost and for that I am truly thankful , but for the most part it all comes from the private pocketbook.

Below is a picture of the shop and some material.

Production table two    Production table

Often many of our receivers will send me a picture of the material received such as below

present truth package

This truly is a joyful experience knowing that they are now in possession of the most valuable gift on the planet- God’s final word to us! But how could this all happen if yours truly was not self sacrificing? We all know nothing would get done.

You see brothers and sisters, there is a great reward for you if you will but -get going. Each day that goes by many are just content to “ride along” while those few self-sacrificing ones keep the wheels turning.

The reason, I believe that this personal work is able to be accomplished is by taking very seriously the Lord’s promise–

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” (Mal. 3:10)

Due to having our current business rated number one in our field in a large city (about 800,000) this work is able to provide the necessary funds to get packages sent. The Lord has returned His promise in full. All we have to do is our part- be a faithful servants and return what belongs to Him.

And that is not only returning the Tithes but giving some offerings.

“Every convert to the truth should be instructed in regard to the Lord’s requirement for tithes and offerings…Those who are truly converted are called to do a work that requires money and consecration. The obligation that binds us to place our names on the church roll holds us responsible to work for God to the utmost of our ability.”(Testimonies, vol. 6, p.447)

The Elijah message gives us the Lord’s final instructions on the offerings-

“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.” (Answerer, vol. 4, p.45, Q-97)

So we see that we can use some of our offerings for our personal work in behalf of the Lord. The main thing is we are “doers” of the Word, not “hearers” only.

“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22)

A few weeks back we told of a long time present truth believer who advocated that we should do as we feel is right with our Tithes and offerings, not necessarily what His word says.  This, we pointed out, is in direct violation of the Lord’s message as shown below.

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)

Believe me brethren the above snare is much more common than we think. Far too many of us mount the judgment seat and declare this shortcoming and that shortcoming from the few large organizations that our doing their best to provide present Truth “meat” to all those hungry for it. But as we point out in this post we don’t have to solely rely on the formal organizations  to send out and spread the Truth  today. A great tool is to obtain a church directory and send a few to get started.

To obtain free material  see this post for the “storehouses” and you can contact them.https://godsloveandlaw.com/2015/01/17/who-really-is-a-davidian-seventh-day-adventist/

“No need to depend on the sanction of any minister or any people to do God’s work, God will vindicate you.”(1888 Materials , p.1746)

We’ve heard the famous quote, “He marches to his own beat.” Well, that’s another way of saying we don’t have to be told what to do, we pick up the shovel, hammer, wheelbarrow (figuratively speaking) and get to work! All that is required for us to be active in spreading the sealing message today is to be–self sacrificing.

Posted in Hard work, Tithes and Offerings, Witnessing | 4 Comments »

Get Out of the Me BOX

May 14, 2016

selfish

It is a well known fact, not only within the Scriptures but in human psychology, that we as humans have predominantly one person who usually is the center of our universe– ourselves. Many may scoff at this but it may not be consciously that we believe this, but certainly unconsciously.

With this human trait grounded deep within us, those of us who attempt to change our nature, our core, can only succeed by the transformation of the Holy Spirit, Christ within us.I came across a Spirit of Prophecy quote so deep and profound, it is the basis of this week’s post. Let us read.

 “Now sin has marred God’s perfect work, yet that handwriting remains. Even now all created things declare the glory of His excellence. There is nothing, save the selfish heart of man, that lives unto itself. No bird that cleaves the air, no animal that moves upon the ground, but ministers to some other life. There is no leaf of the forest, or lowly blade of grass, but has its ministry. Every tree and shrub and leaf pours forth that element of life without which neither man nor animal could live; and man and animal, in turn, minister to the life of tree and shrub and leaf.

The flowers breathe fragrance and unfold their beauty in blessing to the world. The sun sheds its light to gladden a thousand worlds. The ocean, itself the source of all our springs and fountains, receives the streams from every land, but takes to give. The mists ascending from its bosom fall in showers to water the earth, that it may bring forth and bud.

The angels of glory find their joy in giving,–giving love and tireless watchcare to souls that are fallen and unholy. Heavenly beings woo the hearts of men; they bring to this dark world light from the courts above; by gentle and patient ministry they move upon the human spirit, to bring the lost into a fellowship with Christ which is even closer than they themselves can know.”(Desire of Ages, p.20-21)

What we see is that all things were created for benefit of another. Only man “lives unto itself.” With this thought in mind let us look at how this selfish nature is at work among us and how we can get going and get out of the –me box.

One of the great and sorrowful lessons of our past history is the story of the blind man’s parents.

“The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.” (John 9:18-23)

Truly a sad sad situation! Here were supposedly excited and grateful parents who witnessed their blinded by birth son’s eyesight return, yet they selfishly denied Christ! Their only concern was to not be expelled from their church even though a life changing miracle was given their son by a man called Jesus. In other words they refused to leave their me box and stand out alone what ever may fall- for the Truth.

And that is key to getting out of our boxes, to not be afraid of the circumstances that comes with standing up for Jesus and His word as delivered by His prophets. Have you ever asked yourself– Why is it that we as the “Israel of today” (Testimonies vol. 9, p.164) are prophesied to have “only” 144,000 sealed amongst us? Yes, it is because so many of us refuse to get out of the me box! The Lord’s last message of Elijah is derided, mocked, scorned and dismissed and who among us wants to be associated with that?  Only those willing to get outside of the safety of their box and face the consequences.

Let’s look at another example, that of our King.

“As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me...On hearing this, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”..As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”(John 6:59,61, 66)

The Lord had just given the people strong and deep meat (truth) and in doing this it struck the people as strange words. In order to do this Jesus, our example , stepped out of His comfort zone and gave them the words of life. In  other words all our Lord had on His mind was His people not Himself, however strange it might make Him appear.

Do we today have this same “I want to help my brothers and sisters no  matter if I must be put in uncomfortable situations” attitude? To proclaim the truth from the Lord, His final message of solemn warnings and instructions, we must be willing to “go it alone” if this is what it takes. Of course all those who side with the Lord, will never be alone despite what we see and feel from this world.

The Spirit of Prophecy shows us that those who step outside the box will be like Elijah, willing to speak the words of Truth come what may.

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

Being in this message I am frequently hearing from brethren, especially from the poorer countries, who tell of their experience within their own church. Their willingness to stand for the Lord’s final message and it’s often solemn declarations, has cost them their membership or rank within the church. Despite the opposition they have learned that it is not self they are worried about rather it is their brothers and sisters!

In closing, let us read what the message tells of our responsibilities. We can only do these faithful instructions if we step outside our–me box. May God help us to do that.

 

   The Responsibility of Those Who Bear the Message.

Since Ezekiel represents those whose hearts the message has reached, then to them the Lord is speaking when He says: “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me.  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.  Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

   “Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: because  thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.  Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.” Ezek. 3 :17-21.

   Because of the unfaithfulness of the former watchmen, the Lord makes the antitypical Ezekiel — he and she who “sigh and cry for the abominations  that be done in the midst thereof” (the church) — a “watchman” (Ezek. 3:17) in their stead.  Be careful, therefore, Brother, Sister, lest you also betray your trust and find yourself thrust out.  “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” 1 Cor. 10:12.  Only those who thus humble themselves now, will the Lord exalt in due time to be

His Faithful Watchmen to Stand Before the Unfaithful (Tract 1, p.41-42)

Believe me brethren the above snare is much more common than we think. Far too many of us mount the judgment seat and declare this shortcoming and that shortcoming from the few large organizations that our doing their best to provide present Truth “meat” to all those hungry for it. But as we point out in this post we don’t have to solely relay on the formal organizations  to send out the Truth  today.

“No need to depend on the sanction of any minister or any people to do God’s work, God will vindicate you.”(1888 Materials , p.1746)

We’ve heard the famous quote, “He marches to his own beat.” Well, that’s another way of saying we don’t have to be told what to do, we pick up the shovel, hammer, wheelbarrow (figuratively speaking) and get to work! All that is required for us to be active in spreading the sealing message today is to be–self sacrificing.

 

 

 

Posted in Brotherly love, Christian walk, Courage, Warning our brethren | Leave a Comment »

Questions and Answers

May 7, 2016

Q and A

Last week we posted on an example of restoration of the truth concerning the 120 disciples. This week we’d like to address some questions that may arise in the minds of some who would like more examples of the Elijah restoration.

1.If Victor Houteff was the Elijah to come and he was the one to restore all things then how can it be that he can restore the prophesied pre-millenial kingdom when he has died?

This question is a fair one and needs to be addressed. First, the Scriptures show that the anti-typical David is to rule in the upcoming kingdom based in the holy land. We know that just as The Elijah to come was not to be the original Elijah but the anti-type man, so too the David to come will be an anti-type man. Several Scriptures point out this promise of the anti-type David coming and ruling in the pre-mil kingdom. Though this study is quite deep and extensive, we shall give a condensed version.

“.. the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them,You are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, You are the sons of the living God.

Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.” (Hosea 1:10-11)

“Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” (Hosea 3:5)

“And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.  And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.”(Ezek.34:23-24)

Knowing the above prophecies we then know that Spirit of Prophecy shows that there shall be a special resurrection of the faithful SDA servants of God–

“Your work, my work, will not cease with this life. For a little while we may rest in the grave, but, when the call comes, we shall, in the kingdom of God, take up our work once more.” (Testimonies, vol. 7, p.17)

Brother Houteff has accomplished his first part of the Elijah duties and that was to warn us about the Lord’s next move–His surprise coming (“Suddenly”-Mal. 3:1) to our SDA church for the “great and dreadful day of the Lord.” The Rod writings have enabled us to know the Lord’s requirements- our present truth. Once the trumpet sounds and those faithful servants arise, then it is that Victor Houteff, many present truth believers believe, will lead the flock based from the land of Israel, the Loud Cry headquarters. This second part of Elijah’s duties will be the setting up of this pre-mil kingdom and the subsequent Loud Cry message to all the world. Isaiah 66:15 -20 is an excellent read for a short synopsis  of this.

2. What are some practical applications of the Elijah restoration?

There are many but we shall address two that come to mind. Communion and Alcohol. In both of these the Lord made sure that they were restored to the correct observance. While reading these instructions, let us keep in mind that truth is ever unfolding and that our instructions change as our time in the Lord’s master time clock changes. For instance, prior to the Lord’s coming, if one was caught in adultery they were to be stoned. Yet when our Lord came he changed that truth and no longer was this the Lord’s instructions (John 8:7). Multiple wives , while not specifically approved, was tolerated until the Lord came and restored the one man-one wife lifestyle (Matt 19:4-6).

Communion — “And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”(Luke 22:19)

But we also have this statement- “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” (1 Cor. 11:27-29)

So what to do? How can we harmonize these Inspired references? That is why the Elijah was sent! Let us read.

WHAT ABOUT COMMUNION SERVICE?

Question No. 120:

   Should believers who are well established in the message, celebrate the communion service  when they meet together?

Answer:

   As to authorizing the communion service in our own midst, we believe that since we all, as Seventh-day Adventists, have defiled ourselves as did the Jews at Christ’s first appearing (The Desire of Ages, p. 104) and since this sacred service works damnation to those who unworthily receive it (1 Cor. 11: 29), therefore we dare not now, as Davidians, take unto ourselves its hallowed privilege until as a people our lives bear convincing evidence of our repentance from the Laodicean condition.

   The lesson in not authorizing this blessed service in our midst at this time, is inversely parallel to that which John the Baptist taught in ordaining and insisting upon the baptismal service then; that is, John’s instituting the baptismal service then, showed that the Jews were not ready to meet their King, and the Rod’s not instituting the communion service now, shows that neither are we ready to meet our King, and that we must therefore quickly repent from our lukewarmness, buy the “eyesalve,” and anoint our eyes. Then we shall gloriously celebrate the communion service, and the shame of our nakedness will not appear (Rev. 3:18).

   Those who do not sense this great need are yet blind to the church’s undone condition, and to the Lord’s holiness. Just a firm outward faith in the message is not enough; its inward work in our lives is the all-essential and supreme work that must take place in the lives of all of us before we can conscientiously and profitably celebrate the Lord’s supper. Let us hasten that glad day. (Answerer, vol. 5, p.39-40)

This instruction is often a difficult one because when the service is on going and we sit there and pass on it, it can be viewed as odd or even rebellious. Yet as shown we are not fit for taking the Lord’s body and blood due to the fact that we corporately are in a woeful “undone” condition as the prophet explained.
 

Alcohol — “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” (1 Tim. 5:23)

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” (Proverbs 20:1)

“Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress;” (Proverbs 31:6)

“Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”(Nehemiah 8:10)

“Whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.” (Hosea 4:11)

These are not all the Scriptures that speak of alcohol but upon reading the above there is no doubt one can become confused with the drinking of alcohol, particularly–wine. Is a little wine good for us? Or is this something we should avoid? Again the Lord’s restoring message does  not fail us–

“Are you still insulting God by asking His blessing on the table upon which stands the enslaving and injurious pepper shaker, mustard can, spice boxes, and vinegar pitcher? And do you still have to confess shameful addiction to liquor, tobacco, coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, or soda fountain drinks..” (Sym. Code, vol. 2, no. 11, p.3)

Question No. 150:

   As the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association does not have a formal membership what evidence can one give to identify himself as a member of the organization? And how can he establish the length of time he has been with it?

Answer:

   One’s support of the timely Davidian message, and his living out its principles (baptism, Sabbath observance along with the rest of the ten commandments, vegetarianism, dress reform total abstinence from tobacco and alcoholic beverages, and all else contained in the Spirit of Prophecy), are the truest witnesses of his affiliation, and the only genuine visible certification of the fact. These are the only absolutely convincing evidences of one’s worthiness to membership in the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association.

In the following reference, the message confirms no use of alcohol by way of quoting Spirit of Prophecy.

Question No. 10:

“Shall we still continue the use of milk, eggs, and butter?”

Answer:

“We bear positive testimony against tobacco, sprirituous liquors, snuff, tea, coffee, flesh-meats, butter, spices, rich cakes, mince pies, a large amount of salt, and all exciting substances used as articles of food.” — “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 3, p. 21. (Sym. Code, vol. 2, p.2)

So we see that the message restores us in not allowing alcohol to be any part of our life.

3. Does not the Lord tell us in Matt.11:13 that there was to be prophets only up to John the Baptist? He was to be the last prophet so how can we believe any one can be a legitimate prophet since then?

“Prophesied Until John.” Matt. 11:13.

   If the aforequoted scripture means that there were to be no more prophets after John, then there should have been none since that time.  And were this the meaning, then the Scriptures would contradict themselves, for they bear evidence that while Christ was the Son of God, He was also “a prophet.” Luke 24:19. And although John the Baptist never wrote a single prophetic utterance,  yet he was rated by Christ with the greatest of the prophets (Luke 7:28).  Also Matthew, Mark, and Luke, under the Spirit of Inspiration, wrote concerning Christ and His work.  Likewise John, Peter, and Paul, and others contemporary with them, prophesied in their own right of many things to come.  All these are Scripturally accorded  the title “prophet.”

   Jesus Himself testifies that the book of Revelation  is a prophecy, for the angel “who bare record of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw” says: “Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written  therein: for the time is at hand.” Rev. 1:2, 3.  “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” Rev. 22:18.

   Now the fact that this prophecy was written nearly a century after John the Baptist was beheaded, is historical acknowledgment that the prophets did not cease with him.  Thus in misconstruing Matthew 11:13 so as to make John the last of the prophets, the opposition is attempting to substitute for the gift of prophecy in the Christian era, “private” (uninspired) interpretations of the Scriptures.  And in doing this, they are led either to ignore or to try to explain away the irrefutable  statement of Paul: “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities  of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:28) — absolute evidence that the second of the eight gifts to the church in the Christian era, is prophets. (Tract 6, p.5-6)

4. In the Elijah message is there one publication which has the bulk of the restoring instructions in it?

Yes, and that can be found in the publications called “The Answerer”. This addressed many prophetic areas of the message but also dealt with practical areas as well (particularly volumes 4 and 5). People from all over the world wrote to brother Houteff and the chosen questions were addressed. For example one of the questions  was – “Are dolls idols?” Another was “Is it wrong to carry Insurance?”.

For the link to read the complete 5 books of the Answerer, click here– http://shepherds-rod.org/answerers/index%20answerer.html

In closing, we should be so grateful that many things which the Lord knew we needed to get straight about is found in His Elijah message. All we need to do is start reading and then putting it in practice! Amen.

Posted in Elijah, Elijah Interpretations, Present Truth, Proper teachings | Leave a Comment »

An Example of Restoration– the 120 Disciples

April 30, 2016

120 disciples

One of the most heart warming scenes in all the Bible is that of the gathering of the 120 disciples. In Acts 1:15 we read–

“And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)..” (Acts 1:15)

As we can see the Word says that there were “about an hundred and twenty”. So this Word has been left with us for centuries in that we are not sure just how many came together that fateful day. But our Lord knew that someday all things would be “restored”. Let us now take a look at an important restoration from the Lord’s promised Elijah.

Before we do that let us remember our Lord’s promise–

Jesus replied, “Elijah does indeed come, and he will restore all things.(Matt.17:11)

A promise is made that the Elijah to come will restore all things. But what does this mean? Let us turn to the Elijah message itself–

“..since Elijah is to herald the great day, he can therefore be the only one who will rightly interpret the prophecies of the day, which are still mysteries to Christendom, and even to our own Denomination!  Indeed, to reiterate, it is for this very reason that the prophet is sent.  He is to unroll the scroll to explain what the day of the Lord is like, what the Lord will do then, and how we may survive His judgments. 

To re-emphasize the fact, let it be said again that being the last of the prophets Elijah is, therefore, the only one who can open to our understanding all the prophecies of the Scriptures pertaining to the great and dreadful day of the Lord — prophecies which heretofore have been only mysteries to all.  Thus he is, as the Scriptures say, to blow the trumpet in Zion, and to sound an alarm in God’s holy mountain, in the church.

   In doing all this, he sets in motion the Power that is to restore all things.  Hence Christ’s positive declaration: “Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.” Matt. 17:11.  Inevitably, then, without his message we would die in our ignorance and in our sins — never live to see the restoration completed. (General Conference Special , p.19-20)

So we see that the restoration is

1. Understanding the prophecies of this day (even those previously unknown in Christendom)

2. To know what the Lord will do and how we can survive His upcoming judgments

3. Sound a warning through out God’s church of the Lord’s next move

4. Brings a message we must heed or be left to die in ignorance and in our sins

So in regard to no. 1 we shall now take a look at the understanding of the 120 disciples, and why it’s an important restoration.

As we noted in the top referenced quote, the Word says “about 120 disciples”. Yet the message shows us the straight fact about this number, Let us read–

“To get into the full beam of light, we must first face the fact that the pre-pentecostal harvest took place in a self-deceived church, the Jewish; and through miracle-working power manifested by Christ Himself, it yielded the 120 disciples, the first fruits of those who are to be resurrected.  Whereas the post-pentecostal harvest took place among the nations; and through miracle-power manifested by the Spirit-filled 120 disciples, it yielded an innumerable multitude of converts to Christianity (Acts 2:41, 47), the second fruits of those who are to be resurrected.” (TG, vol. 2, no.46, p.27-28)

Ah, we see that the message declares it to be -120 disciples, not “about 120 disciples”! Some may say –so what’s the big deal about this? It is because the 120 disciples represent the “type” of the 144,000, which is the anti-type. And some  present truth believers use this word “about” to justify that the Lord will seal more than 144,000 from the remnant church.

Again the message illuminates about the 120–

Now to summarize the types before the Pentecost: (1) the first fruits were numbered; (2) they came exclusively from the church itself; (3) the miracles then wrought were by Christ Himself.

   Now coming to the types after the Pentecost: (1) the second fruits were not numbered; (2) they came from the nations; (3) the miracles then wrought were by the numbered ones (the 120), the first fruits.

   Accordingly, the antitypical Pre-pentecostal harvest takes place in a self-deceived church, the Laodicean, “the house of God”; and through miracle-working power manifested by Heaven itself in the angels (Matt. 13:39), it yields the 144,000, the first fruits of those who are never to die.  Whereas the antitypical post-pentecostal harvest takes place among the nations; and through miracle-working power manifested by the Spirit-filled 144,000, it yields the great multitude which no man can number (Rev. 7:9), the second fruits, of those who are never to die. (TG, vol. 2, no. 46, p.28)

In the first fruit harvest how many in type composed the church? 120 disciples or “about” 120 disciples?  120 disciples. Thus the restoration message corrects our understanding that there were 120 , no more and no less and the same with the anti-type–there will 144,000, no more and no less. As we just read “the house of God”..yields the 144,000. Not 144,000 and some others but–144,000.

I often tell this personal story concerning the knowledge of 144,000 surviving the first fruit harvest of the church. Before the knowledge of the truth of the 144,000, if someone would have said to me “Rob, you know there will only be 144,000 sealed from the SDA church in the upcoming church purification.” I would say “What are you talking about?? No way , c’mon, there is close to 18 million in our church, no way.”

Now, as the message of Elijah has revealed , through its myriad of lessons and Scriptures, the real truth of the 144,000, I often say , “Lord will there really be that many??” You see once conversion takes place and the Lord’s sealing message is learned and obeyed, we do indeed see sin for what it truly is– deadly sin! Thus we see the church as the Lord sees it, in desperate need of Him. After all He is the real “Restorer.”

Once again the beauty of the words of the Spirit of Prophecy guides us —

“The true people of God, who have the spirit of the work of the Lord and the salvation of souls at heart, will ever view sin in its real, sinful character. They will always be on the side of faithful and plain dealing with sins which easily beset the people of God. Especially in the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply the wrongs of God’s professed people.

This is forcibly set forth by the prophet’s illustration of the last work under the figure of the men each having a slaughter weapon in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side. “And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.”(Testimonies, vol. 3, p.266)

In closing my brothers and sisters, the restoring message is truly a beautiful thing to know. First we see that the truths we need are restored, such as the truth of the 120 disciples-our type,  then the earthly pre-millennial kingdom will be set up, thus restoring “all things” as the Lord said.

 

Posted in Elijah Interpretations, Proper teachings | Leave a Comment »

The Sealed Fate of the Israelites–Murmuring

April 23, 2016

Mose parting the sea

Note: This post is primarily directed to our present truth believers, the Davidian SDA.

In the story of the great exodus of  Moses leading God’s people out of Egypt, we look back and see the great sin of murmuring.

As we know the Lord time and again did great and miraculous things in front of their eyes yet STILL that did not remove their spirit of unbelief. Oh how sad! But what is just as sad is that today this spirit is still very much alive and has taken a root not only in the SDA but also in the DSDA.

We as present truth believers, as we know, have been given the highest and brightest light on the planet. The Scriptural truth known by us cannot be surpassed yet Satan and his angels, through their wiles have  led some of us to do the very thing that caused our Lord to reject His people of old–murmur.

Let us review that first exodus.

“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! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”(Numbers 14:2-4)

Here we see clearly that the people had rejected God’s chosen leader, thereby rejecting the Lord! As we continue to read the sorrowful story of these people we realize that there survived only TWO adults over the age of 20 that made it to the promise land–Joshua and Caleb.

So all of us should know the ramifications of unbelief as exposed by murmuring , right? You would think, but as we open our eyes and ears today we realize that this same murmuring has not changed or disappeared among us. Let us look at two current examples.

Brother D is a long time believer of the Lord’s Rod. He has studied it well for about 30 years. He prides himself in knowing the ins and outs of the prophecies as expounded upon by our last prophet–Victor Houteff.

Sister H  is fairly new to the message of the hour. She is still studying it and is learning it well. Seems quite devoted to knowing it fully. Yours truly has supported her in her efforts to get material (books, Tracts, etc.).

We found out that brother D has some phone conference studies and we began to listen. Very well done we thought, despite our disagreement in some of the points presented. So we invited sister H to come and listen.

Soon sister H was thrilled to listen in to the studies. Later she requested to speak to brother D and they soon did.

The subject of Tithes as we all know is very important. And during their conversation this subject had come up. We had given sister H good helpful advice and material guiding her to the fact that despite our financial condition or circumstances, we MUST NOT neglect our Tithes.

Well, apparently our long time present truth believer has other ideas. He led our sister to understand that the current main organizations are not doing the right things and are therefore unworthy of our Tithes. In other words “just hold on to them and do as you think is right.”

In other words he was influencing her to NOT be faithful in Tithe paying due to what he perceives as “wrong doing”, not doing this right or the other. Murmuring and then exalting himself as a personal dispenser of the Tithes! Oh my, shades of Korah comes back again.

This is exactly the opposite of what the message teaches as evidenced here–

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)

This brother no doubt has convinced himself that because God’s current Elijah message organizational leaders are not doing the right thing, he is justified to make his own house the Lord’s storehouse. Again we read–

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)

Do we truly think that our murmuring today is somehow different? Somehow excusable?

Our Lord’s word applies –

“I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3)

Let us look at our second case, that of sister C.

She is also a long time “professed” believer in the message of the hour. She has been very active in the Lord’s latest avenue of spreading His final message-Facebook.

But over the years we have noticed one unmistakable trait. That is that she neglects to post studies or other helpful encouraging present truth and instead she chooses to resort to criticizing and discouraging comments. Time and again when our studies have been about Tithes, she has always been the first to make comments condemning the main current organizations for their “wrong doing.”

Yet privately when warned repeatedly that she is murmuring, she has rejected the idea that she is doing wrong. Just as with brother D, just as Korah and his men as well, she too exalts her own position and declares that “she” is entitled to dispense the Tithes as “she” sees fit.

After being specifically warned of this evil course she has flatly rejected all counsel.

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

Blindness is indeed Satan’s handy work! But what makes this especially sad is that these are not people who are ignorant of His last message. They know the Rod or at least should know it.

“There is a certain element whom even God Himself cannot convince that He has taken the reins in His Own hands.  They never take orders from any but themselves.  Such independent ones will continue to question and criticize everything in which they themselves have no part.  So regardless of their profession, of what they think or say, they are not God’s people.  His real people, He declares, are able to take orders even from women and children.” (TG, vol.1, no.5, p.20-21)

And again the message tells us that instead of murmuring we should fall in line with God’s structural leadership, despite it’s seeming deficiencies–

 “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.” (TG, vol. 1, no. 7, p.12)

The Spirit of Prophecy also describes in plain and clear words the results of murmuring–

“He wants to make of us a people through whom He can reveal His grace, and He will do this if we will only give Him opportunity, if we will open the windows of the soul heavenward and close them earthward against human rabble, against murmuring, complaining, and faultfinding….

Those who today murmur against God’s appointed agencies, weakening the confidence of the people in them, are doing the same work that the children of Israel did. The Lord hears every murmuring word. He hears every word that detracts from the influence of those whom He is using to proclaim the truth that is to prepare a people to stand in the last days.” (Christ Triumphant, p.121)

So if can we keep ourselves in check from this disastrous evil trait, we shall be just as victorious as the faithful Israelites–

“The remnant finally crossed the Jordan only because they whole-heartedly believed that Moses was God’s mouth piece, and because they ceased murmuring, took and obeyed orders.” (TG, vol.1, no.15, p.4)

In closing my brothers and sisters, let us not be like the Israelites, who questioned and criticized God’s work. Their murmuring was their undoing and they did not survive, let it not be our fate as well. You got a complaint? Put it to the right channels and you have done as Inspiration instructed, the results are in God’s hands.

Posted in Obedience, Tithes and Offerings | 2 Comments »

The Purpose of Elijah, Part 2 of 2

April 16, 2016

victor-houteff

In our post last week we laid the groundwork for the purpose of the Elijah’s coming. We found that the Lord sent a message through him, in order that we can know of His next coming. As we have posted before, the vast amount of SDA do not  know about this “sudden” coming of the Lord to His Temple (church). Yes this is indeed His next coming.  It will not be visible, as in the well-known “second coming”. Additionally this coming shall effect only His remnant church.

With this truth firmly in mind, we continue to expose the Scriptural discoveries that the Elijah prophet uncovered in order for us to be prepared, to stand in that great and dreadful day of the Lord.

You see brethren, if we truly believe in His word, we know it does not fail. And the reason why present truth believers are very content and even joyful is that they know the road map, the way of the Lord’s plans. And these plans are not well-known due to the fact that the vast leadership (not all though) within the SDA have either purposely rejected the humble man sent to us, or they remain in blissful ignorance, unwilling to hear the “Spirit of Truth” that is promised each of His truth believers AND practitioners.

Ok ,let us now look at more prophecies.

3. The Book of Ezekiel

Here we find the Lord’s prophet expounding upon this book as no one has ever done before him. Chapter 1  provides details of the Lord’s travelling throne, the mysterious “wheel within a wheel”. The Jews of old held this book in such reverence that one could not read it until he was 30 years of age (according to St. Jerome’s writings).

Chapter 4 is the great prophecy of the grains and the prophetic 430 years. A lesson showing the different messages represented by the different grains. See here for the interpretation http://shepherds-rod.org/SRbooks/1sr5txt.htm#114

Chapter 9 is thoroughly dealt with throughout the Rod writings. It explains the when , where and why. The Spirit of Prophecy shed “some” light on this prophecy but it was the Elijah who  expounded upon this solemn church judgment. He showed the many other prophetic Scriptures that also describe the judgment from different symbols and viewpoints (such as Rev. 12 and Daniel 2 for example).

Chapter 36 to 39 deal with the upcoming pre-mil Kingdom. In Chapter 47-48 goes into the specifics of the kingdom (land borders, locations, etc.).

4. The Book of Daniel

We as SDA pride  ourselves in thinking we know the great prophecy of Chapter 2–we don’t. This one prophecy almost more than any other is applicable from the SOP injunction–

“We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. God and heaven alone are infallible. Those who think that they will never have to give up a cherished view, never have occasion to change an opinion, will be disappointed. As long as we hold to our own ideas and opinions with determined persistency, we cannot have the unity for which Christ prayed.” (Testimonies to Ministers, p.30)

The prophet show us the correct interpretation. Amazingly once we see the two interpretations–SDA vs. Inspiration we are truly joyful to see the true great light in this “stone that is cut out without hands” prophecy. In short, this describes the church purification (cut out without hands) and the pre-mil kingdom (breaking the image and filling the earth as a great mountain).

Chapter 7 and 8 are wonderfully explained. Again, it is often different that what we have been shown through traditions as to meaning. Chapters 11 and 12 are interpreted as well, giving us some end time events to come.

5. The book of Hosea

The prophet showed us the meaning of the famous “Go, take yourself a wife of whoredoms and children of harlotry..” This is, contrary to many false Christian interpretations, an allegory story of God’s historical remnant church, committing “harlotry and adulteries” against Him through the ages. The SDA church leadership being the last church He exposes for their betrayal of Him. For a link to read the interpretation of Hosea 1 and 2 click here http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/tracts/tract_4.html

6. The book of Joel

Although a short book, this book is packed with specifics on the days after the church purification, the great army of God and what they will be like and do. Awesome reading for the present truth believers! Chapter 2  was praised by the prophet for being so descriptive of God’s elect, the 144,000.

7.  The book of Micah

The book of Micah is unique. As it is the one book that the Lord directly instructs us to hear His Rod.

“Hear ye the Rod and Whom has appointed it.” (Micah 6:9) Then a few sentences later the Rod is again encouraged upon us- “Feed your people with your Rod, the flock of your heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the middle of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” (Micah 7:14)

Victor Houteff writes about the discovery of this part of prophecy-

“The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.” Micah 6:9.  Note it is the Lord’s voice.  The voice is crying in the“city.” (City, or Jerusalem are symbols of God’s church the same as “mountain,” the difference between the symbols being that “mountain” means the entire denomination, but “city” means the leading part of that body.)  By what means is the Lord’s voice crying in the city (church)?  The last part of the verse answers the question: “Hear ye the rod.”  To hear a rod, it must be the kind that can speak.

 

   The only rod God’s people have ever been asked to hear is this “Shepherd’s Rod.”  At the time we gave the name to this book, we knew nothing about the prophecies in the book of Micah, neither did we know this passage was there.  We mean to say it is not any of our knowledge of this particular scripture that compelled us to name the book by that title, but we feel it was done by the same divine providence that brought about the entire truth, in order to fulfill the scripture.  See also explanation on page 95, under the heading “The Shepherd’s Rod.” (SRod, vol. 1 ,p.242-243)

 

The above is, as we said not all of the prophetic discoveries from the Lord’s last prophet but we wanted to give an idea of the vast scope that entails His very last message of Elijah. The purpose of Elijah as we have learned is two-fold.

One, prepare us to stand in the great and dreadful day of the Lord. The instructions come not only in the prophecies but in all the Rod writings. The Lord’s Rod contains:

15 Tracts, 8 Misc. Tracts, 5 Answerer books, Timely Greetings sermons vol. 1 numbers 1 to 52, volume 2 numbers 1 to 48, 9 Jezreel Letters , Shepherd’s Rod books volume 1 and 2, Symbolic Code news publications, volume 1 to 10 no.2.NOTE: Some organizations publish Sym. Codes volumes after this (vol.10 no. 7 to vol. 13, no.11-12) but we cannot subscribe to those as they were not published by the prophet and are suspect as to originality.

Additionally there are 25 main prophetic charts showing prophecy through chart form. Click here to see them http://davidiantoday.org/en/publication/chart/bea488e4cd28b4dba43b3093aeb51ef7

Two, subsequently to know what our responsibilities are to be once the church purification occurs. Simply put  that is to set up headquarters in the Holy land and then to proclaim the long-awaited Loud Cry to all the world. As mentioned the book of Joel describes a clear future projection of the 144,000 and their work.

Often proclaimed by the prophet as a short synopsis of end time events let us read Isaiah–

For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. 

For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 

And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. (Isaiah 66:15-20)

In closing, how can we be a part of this last great work upon earth? Just as Inspiration said–

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

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Elijah, Elijah Interpretations, Our Lord's kingdom, Victor T. Houteff | 6 Comments »

The Purpose of Elijah, Part 1 of 2

April 9, 2016

Victor Houteff

 

“Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” 

As we all know, the original type Elijah, never died. He was translated to heaven on a chariot and remains there today. So when the Lord promised an end time Elijah, what was the purpose? Let us look into this important area.

Let us first read what brother Houteff said about the Elijah to come.

Since there is general agreement that Inspiration direct from the Throne of God is our only spiritual eyesight, then we should be able to see eye to eye if we let the Spirit of God have His way with us.  Especially so, dear fellow believers, since the time is dead ripe to look into the situation, now that God’s people everywhere are aroused by the questions:

   “Has Elijah the prophet already come?”  “Is the ancient prophet to appear in person himself?”  “Is a group of people to do a work similar to that of the ancient Elijah?”  Or what?

   As no one can in either honesty or impunity stand aloof to the answer which comes from God’s infallible Word, surely you brethren will now give the most serious attention to this urgent consideration, letting nothing distract you from it for you, as well as I, must realize that it means life and eternity to all of us.

   The serious issue to which these questions give rise, demands that we cease fooling ourselves or letting others make fools of us.  If the questions cannot be answered in positive Truth, far better, then, that they be left on the shelf until the scroll unfolds further, than that they be answered by men’s idle tales, which only confuse and confound.

 Now we may ask, Has the scroll unrolled far enough to clear up all these questions?  Is the Spirit of God pleading for us to stop, look, and listen, or are we still to wait?  For the Divine answer let us open our eyes wise to the light of “the more sure Word of prophecy” Itself, now shining more and more on our pathway:

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

   In the light which this prophecy sheds on the subject, no one can possibly escape the conclusion that a prophet — a person — is to be sent “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord,” and that thus only can there be a group of people in connection with Elijah’s message.  The Scriptures make definite and sure the promise, the time, and the work, also the way to our security in the great and dreadful day, “lest,” as says the Lord, “I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Mall 4:6.

 No one can afford to commit the absurdity of either treating lightly or of kindling sparks of his own on the subject.  We should remember, moreover, that it is not possible that God should leave a one of us in darkness if we want to know the Truth, and if we are mindful of what God would have us to do. (“The Great Controversy,” p… 560).  To the end that this may be the happy experience of all of us, we should pray that the Spirit Who leads into all Truth would direct this effort.

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

What makes Elijah’s work especially hard is that Christendom has long been drilled in the idea that no prophet is to come, that there is no necessity for one, that it has enough revealed Truth to carry it inside the Pearly Gates.

It is therefore only to be expected that the predicted Elijah will be denounced as a false prophet, perhaps even as the anti-Christ, offshoot, or what not. (General Conference Special, p.4-7)

Today unfortunately was have a great confusion, or should we say blissful ignorance of the very last message to come to us as His remnant people. Many us SDA say , “Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming.” Yet is this not what all the other so-called Christian churches are proclaiming? The Lord has specifically sent us a message, unlike them, so that we shall know all about His “next” coming, if we want it that is.  The remnant church has within its reach , great and wonderful prophetic descriptions describing His plans, His methods, and His coming.

Last week we posted of how the Lord led us into His sanctuary to speak of one of the many prophecies (Rev.12) that came directly from the pen of Inspiration–the Elijah prophet.

But the prophet also brought us many other prophetic interpretations, which we shall briefly summarize in this post. But before we do let us remember that the Elijah was to come sometime “before” the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And this being so, obviously, the message must be a preparatory message enabling us to stand in the day of that great and dreadful day. Additionally Elijah was to prepare the remnant to go to the pre-millennial kingdom. This teaching is one of the most awe-inspiring of the whole Elijah message!

Malachi once again sheds light on the purpose of Elijah’s coming.

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.”(Mal.3:1-5)

We see  –

A. Preparatory message given by a messenger

B. A Sudden coming of the Lord to the church 

C. Church purification

D. Loud Cry and True Worship

Ok let us now look at some of the specific areas of Scripture that the Elijah uncovered and how fascinating these prophetic truths are in the Holy Writ. If you take the time to read these references they shall indeed lift us up for a bright future. Or if we have still rejected the last message they may make us uncomfortable due to the solemnity of His church judgment.

  1. The book of Isaiah 

This book shows us the Pre-Mil. kingdom and the church purification . These references are not all in the book of Isaiah but we will point out some of the well-known and clear ones.

The Pre-Mil. Kingdom-  2:1-4, 11:1-16, 14:1-3, Chapter 26, Chapter 35, 49:5-13, 52:7-10, 62:1-12

Church purification- 3:16-24 ,34:5-10, 63:1-6, 65:11-16, 66:15-21

2. The book of Jeremiah

This book also deals much with the Pre-Mil kingdom.

The Pre-Mil Kingdom-  23:1-7, 30:1-22, 32:36-44

 

Next week we’ll look at more prophecies, stay blessed.

 

Posted in Elijah, Elijah Interpretations, Our Lord's kingdom, Victor T. Houteff | 1 Comment »

Truth in the Sanctuary

April 2, 2016

Truth sign

A couple of weeks ago at the local church’s Friday night vespers study, this servant was able to give a study in present truth. It was a short study on the Revelation 12 prophecy. As many of us know we are told by Inspiration that we must have “present truth” now.

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

What is noteworthy and remarkable is how the Lord has opened doors for such powerful truth to come into His house at this late hour. Many of us, especially us Elijah messengers, know very well that the Lord’s important  present truth prophetic lessons are rarely spoken of in His church today.

There was many reasons why this occurrence developed. Let us look at this latest development.

We know that our adversary is pulling out all stops to prevent God’s remnant church from getting the all important seal in their foreheads.

Much of the credit goes to the fact that our current pastor is of a “Burean” spirit. The  Bureans  as we recall were a people who did not scoff nor smugly disregard “new truth”.

“Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.” (Acts 17:11)

Pastor A, we’ll call him, has received many things with an open mind and a searchable spirit. As such our email studies and in-person studies have been one of mutual benefit. It has been quite refreshing to experience such willingness to “love the Truth” by a SDA leader. Now, contrast this from my last church.

The leaders there were proudly “rich and increased with goods”. New light/truth was something they were not interested in. “We have it all, we don’t need any more truth, let’s just rehash all the old truths and we’re good to go.” This was their attitude.

The Spirit of Prophecy is too clear to misunderstand —

“New light will ever be revealed on the word of God to him who is in living connection with the Sun of Righteousness. Let no one come to the conclusion that there is no more truth to be revealed. The diligent, prayerful seeker for truth will find precious rays of light yet to shine forth from the word of God. Many gems are yet scattered that are to be gathered together to become the property of the remnant people of God.” (Counsels to writers and editors, p.35)

So that week prior to the appointment to give the study, I prayed and supped(Rev.3:20) with the Lord on what to speak about. A brother, a fellow Elijah messenger, mentioned  that I should do the Revelation 13, “beast” prophecy. But as I dwelled on that, even to the point of searching more out on that propehcy , something did not click.

What came to me was that the Rev. 13 prophecy is more complicated and therefore with the short time I had scheduled in (about 30-45 minutes) I figured I could not properly cover it. So later the bell sounded–Revelation 12!

This seemed the ideal topic because it is relatively short and easily understood. It’s a beautiful story of how the Lord takes back His church from the “Dragon” who tries to over run the church with his “flood”, ie. unconverted so-called Christians, within God’s remnant church.

Prior to speaking , the pastor and I went into a small room and prayed. Those prayers were heard and answered! As I began to speak and not being accustomed to speaking publicly, I was alittle tight and uneasy. But as the study progressed the Spirit began to guide and the words came forth that were to be spoken.

Once the study concluded my wife and I handed out supplemental papers on this Rev. 12 study so that they could further review what was said about it.

Back to the point of the Pastor. The Spirit of Prophecy makes a startling statement —

“Unless the ministers are converted, the people will not be.” (Testimonies, vol. 4, p.445)

Once we have a leader (Pastor or Head Elder) who shows that they love the Truth more than anything else, we stand on good ground that the flock is in good hands. Now, contrast this will a uncoverted Pastor or Head Elder.

I left the prior church about 1 and half years ago because I could see the writing on the wall. The church, headed by the Pastor, was stuck in slow gear and often–neutral! And to confirm that Inspiration is spot on with the above quote, the current pastor was responsible for bringing into the church sanctuary  serious abominations. See this post — https://godsloveandlaw.com/2016/01/02/a-sda-christmas-celebration/

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?(Ezek. 34:1-2)

Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet?’As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!'”(Ezek.34:18-19)

Despite the many shepherds who are “feeding themselves” within our beloved SDA church today, there exists some who are willing to “listen” to the Truth and for this we can truly praise the Lord. Being an Elijah messenger it really brings true joy to be able to go up before the people and give present truth, which the flock is hungering for. I can tell you not one person was asleep during the vespers study.

During the day, prior to that evening’s service, my wife and I spoke about what I’d speak about. In our conversation she mentioned that she could record the presentation but I told her no, as I did not want attention drawn to myself. To look like the presentation was rehearsed or set up for a certain purpose. But once I got up and began she said that the “Holy Spirit told me to do it” so it was recorded. So pray for this servant’s ministry that the Lord will continue to open doors so that His final message to us will go before the people, enlightening and encouraging, helping them to “stand ” in the”great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

May the Lord’s word arouse us and guide us!

The Rev. 12 study — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9q2xzskHR8

 

Posted in Proper teachings, Witnessing | 3 Comments »

“Woe is Me!”

March 26, 2016

Sad woman

This week we had a conversation with a lady, we’ll call sister G. As I listened the Spirit started to guide me that something must be said about her situation that we may see how the  “rubber meets the road”. In other words, God’s promises can be believed in and followed, or they can be neglected and no blessings shall be received.

In Malachi we read of God making a sure promise to us–

“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)

Here we see that our King makes a promise that if we do this–He will do that. But we see it’s a co-partnership, a mutual cooperation agreement.

As I listened to sister G, I couldn’t help but think “You are not receiving blessings because you stubbornly ignore the message of hope and instruction the Lord guided me to tell you.”

You see, sister G is a serious student of present truth, yet in our many conversations I have pointed out several times that if we obey His word then we get blessings. In our last conversation she lamented about her bad, even awful circumstances. This and that was all against her. My mind continued to dwell on why she was not receiving blessings. I point blank told her that she needs to “get with the program”.

The word in James tells us that we should act on what we learn —

“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22)

Our Lord gave us a great example of the poor old lady–

“Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more than all the others into the treasury. For they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” (Matt.12:41-44)

What a truly remarkable sight! An old lady having but little to live on came through and STILL gave what little she had.

Being in the work of present truth, it is often remarkable that some of those who profess present truth don’t even keep current with their account! What a sad sad situation. Knowing the great lights of His word, the present truth for us today, yet not doing what they should do. The basics are just that–basic. Meaning that we fool ourselves if we think we can just “know” the Truth and not apply it.

Our gracious Lord made sure that we as His end time people would know exactly where we should stand on this issue of being faithful, even if we, like the poor old lady have nearly nothing to give.

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)
 

Now let me give a personal example. Before I committed to being faithful to paying Tithes into His storehouse(s) my repair business was–so so. I did fairly good but not gangbusters. Shortly after beginning my payback to the Lord, per Malachi instructions, my business really started to take off. Today, I have the number one ranking in my field (most positive reviews) in our city (close to 400,000).

I see this as no accident, the Lord has often rewarded me in a financial way that I sometimes think “this is really a clear payback to His Malachi promise.” During the week I watch ALL income that comes in and I keep a running daily tally. Then at the end of the week (Friday evening) I add it up and put away the Tithe and mail it out to “present truth” organizations. But as His word says “Tithes AND offerings” I put away a little more as well.

See this post for “storehouse” recommendations —

Who really is a Davidian Seventh-day Adventist?

 

Back to sister G. As she laments of her condition, and all others like her, they have only one person to blame–their selves. The Spirit of prophecy describes the point in a dramatic way–

“They keep their possessions from doing good in the cause of God. They claim that these are their own, and that they have a right to do what they please with their own; and souls are not saved by judicious efforts made by them with their Lord’s money.

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.197)

“The truth has taken hold of hearts. It is not a fitful impulse, but a true turning unto the Lord, and the perverse will of men is brought into subjection to the will of God. To rob God in tithes and offerings is a violation of the plain injunction of Jehovah and works the deepest injury to those who do it; for it deprives them of the blessing of God, which is promised to those who deal honestly with Him.” (Testimonies, vol. 5, p.644)

There are three aspects to the Malachi promise.

  1. Pay the Tithes and offerings
  2. Pay it to His storehouse
  3.  Receive God’s bountiful blessings

So it is not enough to just send out Tithes. If we send it to where they are not teaching and dispensing His “present truth” then that so called “storehouse” is not really a legitimate storehouse. And the rich blessings cannot be expected.

The idea that many current churches are not always the place to pay the Tithes was first shown by the Apostles. After the death of Christ, the followers of Christ realized that the Jews had rejected the “present truth” message  that was given from our Lord. Their leaders continued to preach “old” truths. The churches (synagogues) no longer remained God’s “storehouse”, the message of the hour was not proclaimed and instead darkness was inserted in place of light!

One point  that needs to be addressed is the idea that “I don’t need to pay my Tithe to _____ because they do this and that, they aren’t doing the right thing in my opinion.” In other words we justify our withholding the Tithes to His storehouse. This issue was dealt with in the message–

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.(The Answerer, vol. 4, Q-98)

So as we know by Scripture that the Lord’s final message right before the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” is His Elijah message, we should not quibble or murmur, leading us to withhold our Tithes. If the organization is proclaiming the message then we must “get on board” and show it by being faithful.

In closing , let each of us remember that God’s promises are a two-way street. He WILL do His part, are we willing to do ours? There is great blessings ready for us to receive!

 

 

 

Posted in Christian walk, God's storehouse, Obedience | Leave a Comment »

“All Things that Offend” (Matt 13:41-43)

March 19, 2016

All things that offend

In Matthew 13:41-43 we read, “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” 

Here we have God’s Word truly packed with much warning and hope. But there is more to it than meets the eye. We shall go deeply into the ramifications of these powerful and soul awaking Words of God.

The message tells us that each Word of God is very important–

“..those who desire to know the truth must carefully mark every word, otherwise they will never comprehend the truth and, as a consequence, they will be driven by the winds as the waves of the sea until the winds cease blowing (probation closes), and they be left to sink down in their sins as do the waves in the sea.” (Sym. Code, vol. 2, no. 7-8, p.10)

But what have we as SDA been generally taught in regards to our study text? Yes, the second coming of Christ in the clouds. Let us now breakdown these words and see the truth therein.

First we see that the Lord sends His angels to remove those that “offend” from His kingdom. Now, what kingdom is the Lord talking about? It cannot be heaven’s kingdom because there are no offenders there. Neither can it be the new earth for obvious reasons. So that means it must be the earthly kingdom.

Let us note that the offenders are “gathered out” from this kingdom, whereas we know that when Christ comes at the second coming He will “gather out” of the world those that DO NOT offend and take up to the heavenly kingdom.

Do you notice what difference this understanding brings? Therefore this is pointing to the well-known topic that we have discussed so many times in our studies–the Ezekiel 9 church judgment.

Let us also look at the word “offend”. We see that God’s word makes a distinction from offenders and those that “do iniquity”. Not that the two are totally separate but rather God’s word wants us to dwell upon the fact that we can “offend” Him.

So in what way can we offend. Well, we know that for starters God’s word has many warnings and instructions to keep His Sabbath holy. So logically if we get lazy or sloppy we certainly take the chance in offending Him by our carelessness.

“You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.” (Ezek. 22:8)

Are we dressing proper on His holy day? Are we avoiding business transactions on His holy day? Do the ladies wear the proper head coverings in His sanctuary? Are we avoiding buying and selling on His holy day?

Let us remember that there are basically two duties in our lifetime and they are found in Ecc. 12:13 –

 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” 

Those two duties are very far-reaching, they encompass so much of our life. So in order to avoid offending Him we should have a healthy amount of “fear”. Meaning that instead of saying “oh the Lord loves me I cannot concern myself with such minor issues as proper dress in His sanctuary”, we should be on the side of an overly cautious attitude.

This last week our church invited a youth music group to perform in God’s sanctuary. There appeared about 15 or so youths around 18- 25 years. At least 5 young gals came prancing around in His sanctuary with mini-skirts and high heels. Do we think our God is winking? LET’S GET REAL!

These people have no clue who Christ is and further there probably is NO parent or church leader who will sit them down and show them their offensive behavior. Again the Word of God warns–

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

The Spirit of Prophecy gives us clear warning of “an offended 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 have changed. 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, volume 5, p.211)

As we look further in our study text we see that after mentioning offenders His Word mentions the iniquity doers. These would appear to be those who have been established in their sins, those who regularly transgress. As opposed to the offenders who are much more lukewarm and appear to walk upright but still fail to give God glory by doing what He specifically warns us to do through His very last prophet (our current present truth).

You see my beloved, God does not make a serious move until He clearly warns us through his messengers.

“God does not send judgments upon His people without first warning them to repent. He uses every means to bring them back to obedience and does not visit their iniquity with judgments until He has given them ample opportunity to repent.” (Testimonies, vol.4, p.179)

Soon the Lord will remove “all things that offend”. This means that today, while we are still alive, we must at once decide to watch our steps and if we error, we error on being overly cautious. We do not mean to say that we  must be Pharisaic or extremely legalistic, only that we fear Him in an honest wholesome way.

The Loud cry is almost ready to start and the word says after the removal of the offenders it’s a new day for His people-Praise the Lord!

“Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” (Psalms 1:5)

In the final point of our reference we see the grand glorious hope for those that remain in His kingdom (church) and that is  — “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

The spotless church is then ready to proclaim the final Gospel proclamation to all the world, it is the long awaited–Loud Cry.

“Clad in the armor of Christ’s righteousness, the church is to enter upon her final conflict. “Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song of Solomon 6:10), she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.” (Review and Herald, July 1, 1915)

Are you prepared to do all you can to not “offend” the Lord to walk as His word says? How can we know what is required of us today?  It is only by “our” present truth, “our” current message of Truth, that we can know what does not offend Him. Let’s get down to business my brethren , let’s start reading and studying His final message of Elijah, don’t take any chances!

Posted in Present Truth | Leave a Comment »

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