"As
the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third
angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth,
abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking
of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and
when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular
side. Men of talent and pleasing
address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead
souls." The Great Controversy, p. 608.
***
When 1 John 2:19 was first written, who did
it apply to?
1Jo 2:19 They went out from
us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would [no doubt]
have continued with us: but [they went out], that they might be made manifest
that they were not all of us.
Did it apply to the
apostate Jewish church or the church of Jesus, His disciples and their
followers? We all know the answer to that question! But most SDA’s seem
woefully ignorant as to the proper application of 1 John 2:19 to our present
day situation. When they read this verse and/or Ellen White’s application of
it, they immediately interpret it to mean that the bad will go out of the apostate
SDA new movement to leave it purged and purified. They make the same
application to the following statements on the shaking by Ellen White which
the leaders have carefully selected to convince the laity that no matter what
the leadership does, the church militant (wheat and tare co-ed church) will
be purged to leave it as the church triumphant.
Though they admit that
church membership is no guarantee of salvation, yet they strongly imply that
to leave the apostate church is to forfeit salvation. This is one of the
greatest deceptions believed by professing Seventh-day Adventists.
Adventists are well aware
of the Loud Cry as applied to the fall of Babylon. What they are totally
ignorant of is that God says that a remnant will go out of Jerusalem as well.
Any LITERAL fulfillment of
Ezekiel 9, as prophesied by God and Ellen White, must follow the same pattern
of what occurred in the last A.D. 27-70 literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9.
This is how God purged His church in the last LITERAL
FULFILLMENT of Ezekiel 9. So any LITERAL future fulfillment would have to be
the same process of cleansing and purging.
In the last LITERAL FULFILLMENT of Ezekiel 9, A.D. 27-70:
- Did a remnant GO OUT
OF JERUSALEM?
- Where was the dross
gathered? Answer, Ezekiel 22:17-31.
It's just that simple
Is God’s Word true?
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall
again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go
forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD
of hosts shall do this. Isaiah 37:31, 32.
That is EXACTLY what occurred in the last LITERAL FULFILLMENT
of Ezekiel 9, and that is what will happen in the future LITERAL FULFILLMENT
of Ezekiel 9, or it would not be LITERAL.
"The
Bible for Our Time.--Never are we absent from the mind of God. God is our joy and our
salvation. Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than
for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us. 'Now all these things
happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come' (1 Cor. 10:11). 'Not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven which things the angels desire to look into' (1 Peter
1:12).'" E.G. White, Selected Messages, Bk. 3, p. 338.
Prophets
Wrote for Their Own and Our Day.—“The last books of the Old Testament show us
workers taken from the laborers in the field. Others were men of high ability
and extensive learning, but the Lord gave them visions and messages. These
men of the Old Testament spoke of things transpiring in their day, and
Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel not only spoke of things that concerned them as
present truth, but their sights reached down to the future, and to what
should occur in these last days.”--Letter 132, 1898. {3SM 419.5, 420}
Chap. 12. - The Shaking – Last Day
Events, pp. 182
Church Membership
No
Guarantee of
Salvation
It is a solemn statement that I make to the
church, that not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church
books are prepared to close their earthly history, and would be as verily
without God and without hope in the world as the common sinner.--ChS 41
(1893). {LDE 172.1}
Those who have had opportunities to hear
and receive of the truth and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist
church, calling themselves the commandment-keeping people of God, and yet
possess no more vitality and consecration to God than do the nominal churches,
will receive the plagues of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the
law of God.--19MR 176 (1898). {LDE 172.2}
The Chaff Separated From the Wheat
Divisions will come in the church. Two
parties will be developed. The wheat and tares grow up together for the
harvest.--2SM 114 (1896). {LDE 172.3}
There will be a shaking of the sieve.
The chaff must in time be separated from the wheat. Because iniquity abounds,
the love of many waxes cold. It is the very time when the genuine will be the
strongest.--Letter 46, 1887. {LDE 173.1}
The history of the rebellion of Dathan
and Abiram is being repeated, and will be repeated till the close of time.
Who will be on the Lord's side? Who will be deceived, and in their turn
become deceivers?--Letter 15, 1892. {LDE 173.2}
The Lord is soon to come. There must be
a refining, winnowing process in every church, for there are among us wicked
men who do not love the truth or honor God.--RH March 19, 1895. {LDE 173.3}
We
are in the shaking time, the time when everything that can be shaken will be
shaken. The Lord will not excuse those who know the truth if they do not in
word and deed obey His commands.--6T 332 (1900). {LDE 173.4}
Persecution Cleanses the Church
Prosperity multiplies a mass of
professors. Adversity purges them out of the church.--4T 89 (1876). {LDE
173.5}
The time is not far distant when the
test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those
who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly
customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather
than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and
death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of
men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the
church.--5T 81 (1882). {LDE 173.6}
In the absence of the persecution there
have drifted into our ranks men who appear sound and their Christianity
unquestionable, but who, if persecution should arise, would go out from
us.--Ev 360 (1890). {LDE 174.1}
When the law of God is made void the
church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger proportion than we now
anticipate will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.--2SM
368 (1891). {LDE 174.2}
Superficial Believers Will Renounce the Faith
The work which the church has failed to
do in a time of peace and prosperity she will have to do in a terrible crisis
under most discouraging, forbidding circumstances. The warnings that worldly
conformity has silenced or withheld must be given under the fiercest
opposition from enemies of the faith. And at that time the superficial,
conservative [ELLEN WHITE IS NOT HERE DISTINGUISHING THEOLOGICAL
CONSERVATIVES FROM THEIR LIBERAL COUNTERPARTS; SHE IS DESCRIBING THOSE WHO
PUT "WORLDLY CONFORMITY" FIRST AND GOD'S CAUSE SECOND.] class,
whose influence has steadily retarded the progress of the work, will renounce
the faith.--5T 463 (1885). {LDE 174.3}
If Satan sees that the Lord is blessing
His people and preparing them to discern his delusions, he will
175
work with his master power to
bring in fanaticism on the one hand and cold formalism on the other, that he
may gather in a harvest of souls.--2SM 19 (1890). {LDE 174.4}
Those who have had privileges and
opportunities to become intelligent in regard to the truth and yet who continue
to counterwork the work God would have accomplished will be purged out, for
God accepts the service of no man whose interest is divided.--Ms 64, 1898.
{LDE 175.1}
As trials thicken around us, both
separation and unity will be seen in our ranks. Some who are now ready to
take up weapons of warfare will in times of real peril make it manifest that
they have not built upon the solid rock; they will yield to temptation. Those
who have had great light and precious privileges but have not improved them
will, under one pretext or another, go out from us.--6T 400 (1900). {LDE
175.2}
The Straight Testimony Produces a Shaking
I asked the meaning of the shaking I had
seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called
forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have
its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the
standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight
testimony. They will rise up against it, and this will cause a shaking among
God's people.--1T 181 (1857). {LDE 175.3}
There are those among us who will make
confessions, as did Achan, too late to save themselves.
176
. . . They are not in harmony
with right. They despise the straight testimony that reaches the heart, and
would rejoice to see everyone silenced who gives reproof.--3T 272 (1873).
{LDE 175.4}
The Lord calls for a renewal of the
straight testimony borne in years past. He calls for a renewal of spiritual
life. The spiritual energies of His people have long been torpid, but there
is to be a resurrection from apparent death. By prayer and confession of sin
we must clear the King's highway.--8T 297 (1904). {LDE 176.1}
Unjust Criticism Causes Loss of Souls
Even in our day there have been and will
continue to be entire families who have once rejoiced in the truth, but who
will lose faith because of calumnies and falsehoods brought to them in regard
to those whom they have loved and with whom they have had sweet counsel. They
opened their hearts to the sowing of tares, the tares sprang up among the
wheat, they strengthened, the crop of wheat became less and less, and the
precious truth lost its power to them.--TM 411 (1898). {LDE 176.2}
False Doctrines Draw Some Away
Science, so-called, and religion will be
placed in opposition to each other because finite men do not comprehend the
power and greatness of God. These words of Holy Writ were presented to me,
"Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw
away disciples after them" [Acts 20:30]. This will surely be seen among
the people of God.--Ev 593 (1890). {LDE 176.3}
When the shaking comes, by the
introduction of false theories, these surface readers, anchored nowhere, are
like shifting sand. They slide into any position to suit the tenor of their
feelings of bitterness.--TM 112 (1897). {LDE 177.1}
Not having received the love of the
truth, they will be taken in the delusions of the enemy; they will give heed
to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils and will depart from the
faith.--6T 401 (1900). {LDE 177.2}
The enemy will bring in false theories,
such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary. This is one of the points on
which there will be a departing from the faith.--Ev 224 (1905). {LDE 177.3}
Rejection of the
Testimonies Results in Apostasy
One thing is certain: Those Seventh-day
Adventists who take their stand under Satan's banner will first give up their
faith in the warnings and reproofs contained in the Testimonies of God's
Spirit.--3SM 84 (1903). {LDE 177.4}
The very last deception of Satan will be
to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. "Where there
is no vision, the people perish" (Prov. 29:18). Satan will work
ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle
the confidence of God's remnant people in the true testimony.--1SM 48 (1890).
{LDE 177.5}
The enemy has made his masterly efforts
to unsettle the faith of our own people in the Testimonies. . . . This is just
as Satan designed it should be, and those who have been preparing the way for
the people to pay no heed to the warnings and reproofs of the Testimonies of
the Spirit of God will see that a tide of errors of all kinds will spring
into life.--3SM 83 (1890). {LDE 178.1}
It is Satan's plan to weaken the faith
of God's people in the Testimonies. Next follows skepticism in regard to the
vital points of our faith, the pillars of our position, then doubt as to the
Holy Scriptures, and then the downward march to perdition. When the
Testimonies, which were once believed, are doubted and given up, Satan knows
the deceived ones will not stop at this; and he redoubles his efforts till he
launches them into open rebellion, which becomes incurable and ends in destruction.--4T
211. {LDE 178.2}
Defections Among Church Leaders
Many a star that we have admired for its
brilliance will then go out in darkness.--PK 188 (c. 1914). {LDE 178.3}
Men whom He has greatly honored will, in
the closing scenes of this earth's history, pattern after ancient Israel. . .
. A departure from the great principles Christ has laid down in His
teachings, a working out of human projects, using the Scriptures to
179
justify a wrong course of
action under the perverse working of Lucifer, will confirm men in
misunderstanding, and the truth that they need to keep them from wrong
practices will leak out of the soul like water from a leaky vessel.--13MR
379, 381 (1904). {LDE 178.4}
Many will show that they are not one
with Christ, that they are not dead to the world, that they may live with
Him; and frequent will be the apostasies of men who have occupied responsible
positions.--RH Sept. 11, 1888. {LDE 179.1}
Unsanctified Ministers Will Be Weeded Out
The great issue so near at hand
[enforcement of Sunday laws] will weed out those whom God has not appointed
and He will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter
rain.--3SM 385 (1886). {LDE 179.2}
Many will stand in our pulpits with the
torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of
Satan. . . . {LDE 179.3}
Some will go out from among us who will
bear the ark no longer. But these can not make walls to obstruct the truth;
for it will go onward and upward to the end.--TM 409, 411 (1898). {LDE 179.4}
Ministers and doctors may depart from
the faith, as the Word declares they will, and as the messages that God has
given His servant declare they will.--7MR 192 (1906). {LDE 179.5}
The Church May Appear as About to Fall
The shaking of God blows away multitudes
like dry leaves.--4T 89 (1876). {LDE 180.1}
Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on
the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat.--5T 81
(1882). {LDE 180.2}
Soon God's people will be tested by
fiery trials, and the great proportion of those who now appear to be genuine
and true will prove to be base metal. . . . {LDE 180.3}
When the religion of Christ is most held
in contempt, when His law is most despised, then should our zeal be the
warmest and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand in
defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the
battles of the Lord when champions are few--this will be our test. At this
time we must gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their
cowardice, and loyalty from their treason.--5T 136 (1882). {LDE 180.4}
The church may appear as about to fall,
but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted
out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal,
but nevertheless it must take place.--2SM 380 (1886). {LDE 180.5}
As the storm approaches, a large class
who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have
181
not been sanctified through
obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the
opposition.--GC 608 (1911). {LDE 180.6}
God's Faithful Will Be Revealed
The Lord has faithful servants who in
the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones
now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light
which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under
a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian
character will be revealed. In the daytime we look toward heaven but do not
see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot
distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster.--5T 80, 81
(1882). {LDE 181.1}
On every occasion that persecution
takes place, the witnesses make decisions, either for Christ or against Him.
Those who show sympathy for the men wrongly condemned, who are not bitter
against them, show their attachment for Christ.--ST Feb. 20, 1901. {LDE 181.2}
Let opposition arise, let bigotry and
intolerance again bear sway, let persecution be kindled, and the half-hearted
and hypocritical will waver and yield the faith; but the true Christian will
stand firm as a rock, his faith stronger, his hope brighter than in days of
prosperity.--GC 602 (1911). {LDE 181.3}
New Converts Will Take
the Places of Those Who Leave
Some had been shaken out and left by the
way. The careless and indifferent, who did not join with those who prized
victory and salvation enough to perseveringly plead and agonize for it, did
not obtain it, and they were left behind in darkness, and their places were
immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the
ranks.--EW 271 (1858). {LDE 182.1}
The broken ranks will be filled up by
those represented by Christ as coming in at the eleventh hour. There are many
with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God's destructive
judgments is the time of mercy for those who [now] have no opportunity to
learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of
mercy is touched, His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is
closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers will be admitted who in
these last days hear the truth for the first time.--Letter 103, 1903. {LDE
182.2}
Standard after standard was left to
trail in the dust as company after company from the Lord's army joined the
foe and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy united with the
commandment-keeping people of God.--8T 41 (1904). {LDE 182.3} End of Ellen
White’s statements on the shaking.
How the True
Church Triumphant is Purged and Purified
I repeat the next few paragraphs for important emphasis. There is
much of great importance beyond those paragraphs.
This is how God purged His church in the last LITERAL FULFILLMENT
of Ezekiel 9. So any LITERAL future fulfillment would have to be the same
process of cleansing and purging.
In the last LITERAL FULFILLMENT of Ezekiel 9, A.D. 27-70:
- Did a remnant GO OUT OF
JERUSALEM?
- Where was the dross
gathered? Answer, Ezekiel 22:17-31.
It's just that simple!
Is God’s Word true?
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall
again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth
a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of
hosts shall do this. Isaiah 37:31, 32.
That is EXACTLY what occurred in the last LITERAL FULFILLMENT of
Ezekiel 9, and that is what will happen in the future LITERAL FULFILLMENT of
Ezekiel 9, or it would not be LITERAL.
"The Bible for Our Time.--Never are we absent from
the mind of God. God is our joy and our salvation. Each of the ancient
prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their
prophesying is in force for us. 'Now all these things happened unto them for
ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the
world are come' (1 Cor. 10:11). 'Not unto themselves, but unto us they did
minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have
preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven which
things the angels desire to look into' (1 Peter 1:12).'" E.G. White, Selected Messages, Bk. 3, p. 338.
Prophets Wrote for Their Own and Our Day.—“The last books of the Old
Testament show us workers taken from the laborers in the field. Others were
men of high ability and extensive learning, but the Lord gave them visions
and messages. These men of the Old Testament spoke of things transpiring in
their day, and Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel not only spoke of things that
concerned them as present truth, but their sights reached down to the future,
and to what
should occur in these last days.”--Letter 132, 1898. {3SM
419.5, 420}
Great Controversy Chapter 1 says there were
also true prophets warning the people when to leave. And from A.D. 34 and on,
the disciples formed home churches. That is how God cleansed the apostate
Jewish church.
Scripture on Home
Churches
Act 16:32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all
that were in his house.
Act 16:34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat
before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
Act 16:40 And they went out of the prison, and entered into [the
house of] Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them,
and departed.
Act 18:7 And he departed thence, and entered into a certain [man's]
house, named Justus, [one] that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to
the synagogue.
Rom 16:5 Likewise [greet] the church that is in their house. Salute
my well beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
1Cr 1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by
them [which are of the house] of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
1Cr 16:15 I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas,
that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and [that] they have addicted
themselves to the ministry of the saints,)
1Cr 16:19 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla
salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.
Ellen White on Home
Churches
When the young men and women were kept away from the Alpha of
apostasy in the church, what did they do where did they meet for worship?
Ellen White on Home Churches in the Alpha of Apostasy:
"There is a little hope in one direction: Take the young men and
women, and place them where they will come as little in contact with our churches
as possible, that the low grade of piety which is current in this day shall
not leaven their ideas of what it means to be a Christian." E.G. White,
Manuscript Release #995, p. 5.
"Brother and sister Haskell have rented a house in one of the
best parts of the city, and have gathered round them a family of helpers, who
day by day go out giving Bible readings, selling our papers, and doing
medical missionary work. During the hour of worship, the workers relate their
experiences. Bible studies are regularly conducted in the home, and THE YOUNG
MEN AND YOUNG WOMEN connected with the mission receive a practical, thorough
training in holding Bible readings and in selling our publications. The Lord
has blessed their labors, a number have embraced the truth, and many others
are deeply interested." Review and Herald, September 7, 1905,
Evangelism, p. 108.
"Christ was a protestant...The Reformers date back to
Christ and the apostles. They came out and separated themselves from a
religion of forms and ceremonies. Luther and his followers did not invent the
reformed religion. They simply accepted it as presented by Christ and the
apostles." E.G. White, Review and Herald, vol. 2, 48, col.
2.
Paul left
"And as they persisted in their rejection of the gospel the
apostle (Paul) went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of
three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of
God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that
way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples,
disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus." Acts, 19:8, 9.
"Fearing that the faith of the believers would be endangered by
continued association with these opposers of the truth, Paul separated from them,
and gathered the disciples into a distinct body." E.G. White, Acts of
the Apostles, p. 286.
The Shaking
From Ezekiel Chapter 5
Ezekiel 5:3 refers to the small remnant that is saved out of Jerusalem. The words “in thy skirts” is marriage
terminology similar to that applied in the story of Ruth and Boaz.
Compare Ezekiel 5:3 with the following verse in chapter 16,
verse 8:
8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. Ezekiel 16:8.
Ezekiel, chapter 5, is a rehearsal of the
reasons why Ezekiel 9 is literally fulfilled upon God’s people. The Lord
showed me that the scriptural proof that Ezekiel 9 will be literally
fulfilled again, is found in verse 9 of Ezekiel 5, for it is at the end time
that God permits the worst thing He has ever before or ever again will
permit. Compare Ezekiel 5:9 with
Matthew 24:21, to wit:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since
the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. Matthew
24:21.
So as the storm approaches, and even after the storm ensues, a
remnant is saved, and it is from and
by the faithful remnant that the bad are shaken out exactly as occurred in
A.D. 27-70.
Notice Ezekiel 20:34-38. This is exactly what occurred under
the leadership of Jesus and His disciples and the 70 from A.D. 27-70.
34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.
37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Now, let’s compare Ellen White’s “church
appears as about to fall” statement with the above verses from Ezekiel 20:
·
In Ezekiel 20:34-38,
(above), obviously it is by and from the church triumphant (Zion) that the
rebels are shaken.
·
In Ellen White’s statement it is from Zion that the bad are
shaken.
·
In Isaiah 62, Zion is the mother of son’s and daughters, and
it is she who is married, verses 1-5.
·
In Christ’s Object
Lessons, pp. 405-6, it is the voice of the bride (Zion) and the voice of
God that awakens all ten virgins. Matthew 25 says that all ten virgins
slumbered and slept.
·
It is the bride, Zion, the 144,000, that is sealed and gives
the Loud Cry. She thus shakes all the rebels (the bad) out of her. This is
too clear to miss, and all this
evidence is meaningless if this is not the truth on the issue of the shaking
and who is shaken from whom!
"The
church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while
the sinners IN ZION will be sifted
out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat [AFTER THE CLOSE OF
PROBATIONARY TIME--CHRIST'S OBJECT LESSONS 72]. This is a terrible ordeal,
but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming
by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with
the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their
mouths...
The
REMNANT that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the
trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding
apostasy. All these, He says, 'I have graven . . . upon the palms of my
hands' (Isa. 49:16)...
That
which God required of Adam before his fall was perfect obedience to His law.
God requires now what He required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness
without a flaw, without shortcoming in His sight....We cannot do this without
that faith that brings Christ's righteousness into daily practice." E.G.
White, Selected
Messages, Vol. 2, 380.
Jesus and
His disciples (His bride, Desire of Ages, 179), shook the bad out of
their Christian church. They did not purify the apostate Jewish temple by
shaking the bad out of it. This is historical truth in fact. So it will be
again in the final LITERAL fulfillment of Ezekiel 9.
Ezekiel 5
1And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife,
take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy
beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
2Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the
midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt
take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou
shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
3Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them
in thy skirts.
4Then take of them again, and cast them into the
midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come
forth into all the house of Israel.
5Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have
set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
6And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness
more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round
about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not
walked in them.
7Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye
multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not
walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done
according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even
I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the
sight of the nations.
9And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and
whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.
10Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the
midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute
judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the
winds.
11Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely,
because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and
with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither
shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
12A third part of thee shall die with the
pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and
a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a
third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
13Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will
cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know
that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury
in them.
14Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach
among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass
by.
15So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an
instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee,
when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious
rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of
famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to
destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your
staff of bread:
17So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,
and they shall bereave thee: and pestilence and blood shall pass through
thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.
Conclusions
Any time Ellen White mentions anyone as “going out from us,”
she is referring to all who are shaken out of Zion, the Holy Woman, the bride
of Christ.
How is it that Adventists missed the all important Bible
warning that there is also a final going out of modern-day spiritual
Jerusalem (the apostate SDA church), as well as out of Babylon? How is it
that even the independent ministries that don’t profess to have a current
prophet as their leader, have missed this crucial evidence in Scripture? This
is quite a phenomenon. I have never seen this evidence proffered by any of
the other independent ministries as of this date, March 25, 2010, and I have
been teaching it since 1986.
"The
people of God, symbolized by a holy woman and her children, were represented
as greatly in the minority. In the last days only a remnant still existed. Of
these John speaks as they 'which keep the commandments of God, and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ." E. G. White, Signs of the Times, Nov.
1, 1899, and Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p.
972.
In
the type of Israel’s experience, it was from and by the church triumphant
that the rebels were shaken. So it will be again.
One
of the biggest misconceptions of professing Seventh-day Adventists is that
the bad are shaken out of the church militant to leave it as the church
triumphant.
The
church militant will even instruct its members to keep Sunday:
"The Lord has a
controversy with His professed people in these last days. In this controversy
men in responsible positions will take a course directly opposite to that
pursued by Nehemiah. They will not only ignore and despise the Sabbath
themselves, but they will try to keep it from others by burying it beneath
the rubbish of custom and tradition. In churches and in large
gatherings in the open air, ministers will urge upon the people the necessity
of keeping the first day of the week. There are calamities on sea and
land: and these calamities will increase, one disaster following close upon
another; and the little band of conscientious Sabbath-keepers will be pointed
out as the ones who are bringing the wrath of God upon the world by their
disregard of Sunday." R & H 3-18-1884.
"The
leaven if godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the
danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who
are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations
that are done in the land. But MORE ESPECIALLY will their prayers arise in
behalf of the church because ITS MEMBERS are doing after the manner of the
world." Testimonies, vol. 5, 209, 210.
The
time when the danger and depression of the church is the greatest is the time
of the National Sunday law. And the danger increases as the great time of
Jacob’s trouble ensues. And what is the church doing at that time? It is
found doing after the manner of the world. That church is not cleansed!
Ezekiel
warned us that apostate (spiritual) Jerusalem is not cleansed:
23 And
the word of
the LORD came
unto me, saying,
24 Son of
man, say unto her, Thou art the
land that
is not cleansed, nor
rained upon
in the day of
indignation.
25 There is a
conspiracy of
her prophets in
the midst thereof,
like a roaring lion ravening the
prey; they
have devoured souls; they
have taken the
treasure and
precious things; they
have made her many widows in
the midst thereof.
26 Her
priests have
violated my
law, and
have profaned mine
holy things: they
have put no difference between
the holy and
profane, neither
have they shewed difference between
the unclean and
the clean, and
have hid their
eyes from
my sabbaths, and
I am profaned among them.
27 Her
princes in
the midst thereof are like
wolves ravening the
prey, to
shed blood, and to
destroy souls, to
get dishonest
gain.
28 And
her prophets have
daubed them
with untempered morter , seeing vanity, and
divining lies unto
them, saying, Thus
saith the
Lord GOD, when
the LORD hath
not spoken.
29 The
people of
the land have
used oppression, and
exercised robbery, and
have vexed the
poor and
needy: yea,
they have oppressed the
stranger wrongfully.
30 And
I sought for
a man among
them, that should make up the
hedge, and
stand in
the gap before me
for the land, that
I should not destroy it:
but I found none.
31 Therefore
have I poured out mine
indignation upon
them; I have consumed them
with the fire of
my wrath: their
own way have
I recompensed upon
their heads, saith the
Lord GOD.
Do you believe God, or
do you believe SDA apostate leaders?
They cry from SDA’s is
that they do not need another prophet; that Ellen White and Scripture are
plain enough for all to discern the truth and interpret it aright! If that is
so, how could they have mistaken all the evidence I have produced herein by
the instruction of the Holy Spirit?
God sent me to discover
these facts of truth to His people and to disabuse their minds as to their
misconceptions and obvious misinterpretations of His Word and His prophetess
Ellen White. Someone had to do it. Is this work appreciated? Only by a very,
very few.
—rwb
|