As the Storm Approaches—Part II

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.

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"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

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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.

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. . . 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

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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

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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

 

 

 

 

 

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