Tarrying in Jerusalem and the Ezekiel 9 Sealing
Part I
One of the misguided
mentors of The Blasphemous Heckler, is Ulicia Unruh, the wife of an SDA minister, Olie (Oli) Unruh. The Unruh’s
live in northern Alberta, not far from where I live. Ulicia
teaches that we must remain in apostate Jerusalem, the professing SDA church,
in order to receive the sealing of the Man in Linen spoken of in Ezekiel 9. The
Blasphemous Heckler takes up her refrain on her forum. Here is their
instruction as stated on Ulicia’s SDA forum. First Ulicia’s teaching on Ezekiel 9:
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Ron’s Commentary: Notice the following
factors from Ulicia’s testimony:
· It is obvious that Ulicia does not believe
God’s and Ellen White’s statements on corporate responsibility for open sin
abominations in the church.
· Ulicia says that Ezekiel 8 mentions
abominations. Ezekiel 9 mentions abominations as well, to wit: “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.” Ezekiel 9:4.
· Ulicia says that an apostate church is the
apple of God’s eye. We will discover which “Jerusalem” is truly the apple of
God’s eye.
· Ulicia says that Ezekiel 9 has “MANY”
parallels with Revelation 17, the whore that claims to belong to Christ, but is
unfaithful.
·
Ulicia concludes that the warning is there in Ezekiel 8 and 9 that “counterfeit worship will invade the congregation of God's chosen. But the faithful
are in "midst of Jerusalem" in
sorrow over the evil, but holding on in faith and righteousness and receiving
God's seal of life.”
Now let’s look at DT’s
parroting of Ulicia Unruh’s testimony on Ezekiel 9:
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Ron’s Commentary: DT concludes that:
· The saints who are sealed are found “in the midst of Jerusalem, where all
the abominations are taking place.
· DT says that the angel is not told to go around the edge of the city of
Jerusalem to seal little groups who have separated because they can’t stand the
apostasy any longer.
· DT says: “Rather, the sealed saints and the abominations are found in the same
place, and when the sealing is over and the slaughter of the faithless
accomplished, the sealed saints are left INSIDE Jerusalem.”
The only safe and
wise course regarding Ezekiel, chapters 1-22, is to study exactly what occurred
in the last literal fulfillment of those chapters. That will be the objective
of the remainder of this manuscript.
The Very First Act of Jesus’ Ministry
Involving Ezekiel 9
The very first act
of Jesus was to gather out those who would take the gospel to the Jews and the
world. We have a Biblical record of this and we have Ellen White’s commentary
on this all important issue. Here are some facts of history that are crucial to arriving at the truth on any study of Ezekiel 9:
· We know that Jesus called the disciples to follow Him.
· Matthew 22:1-10 depicts the two calls the disciples made to the apostate
Jews.
· The disciples were to tarry in Jerusalem until they received power from
on high on the Day of Pentecost.
· Did “tarrying in Jerusalem” mean they were not “gathered out” of the
apostate Jerusalem church before the Day of Pentecost? We will explore the
truth in answer to this question.
· In Matthew 22:1-10, the disciples gave two calls to the apostate Jews
beginning in A.D. 34. Their calls were rejected.
· Ellen White reapplies Matthew 22:1-10 to our time in Sermons and Talks,
Vol. 1, pp. 4-9.
· The tie-in with Matthew 22:1-10 and Ezekiel Chapters 5, 8, 9 and
22:17-31, is Matthew 22:7, where the murderous city is
destroyed. That occurred
in A.D. 70, 36 years after the two calls to the
apostate Jews began in A.D. 34, on the Day of Pentecost and the stoning of
Stephen.
· The 490 years of probation allotted the Jews to put away sin, Daniel 9,
ended in A.D. 34.
· Ezekiel 9 sealing (Mark by the Man in Linen) and judgment could not begin
until the 490 years of their probation ended. That probation ended in A.D. 34
at the stoning of Stephen.
· Jesus gathered out His disciples in A.D. 27, 7 years before they were to
begin their two calls of Matthew 22:1-10. Jesus and His disciples separated
from the apostate Jewish church.
· Jesus died in A.D. 30, so He had to separate before that time and so did
His disciples, per the following statement: “Christ was a protestant. He protested against the formal worship of the
Jewish nation, who rejected the counsel of God against themselves. He told them that they taught
for doctrines the commandments of men, and that they were pretenders
and hypocrites. Like whited sepulchers they were beautiful without, but within
full of impurity and corruption. 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. The Bible is presented to us as a sufficient
guide; but the pope and his workers remove it from the people as if it were a
curse, because it exposes their pretensions and rebukes their idolatry.” E. G.
White, {RH, June 1, 1886 par. 14}
· Jesus “gathered out” those who would give the three calls of Matthew 22,
the first two of which were to the apostate Jews, to wit:
"The Sanhedrin had
rejected Christ's message and was bent upon His death therefore Jesus departed from Jerusalem, from the
priests, the temple, the religious leaders, the people who had been instructed
in the law, and turned to another class to proclaim His message, and to gather out those who
should carry the gospel to all nations.
As the light and life of men
was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities in the days
of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation. Again and again the history of Christ's withdrawal from Judea has
been repeated. When the Reformers preached the word of God, they had no
thought of separating themselves from the established church but the religious leaders
would not tolerate the light, and those that bore it
were forced to seek another class, who were longing for the truth. In our day
few of the professed followers of the Reformers are actuated by their spirit.
Few are listening for the voice of God, and ready to accept truth in whatever
guise it may be presented. Often those who follow in
the steps of the Reformers are forced to turn away from the churches they love,
in order to declare the plain teaching of the word of God. And many times those
who are seeking for light are by the same teaching obliged to leave the church
of their fathers, that they may render obedience."
E.G. White, Desire of Ages, 232.
· Jesus had to “gather out” the disciples before A.D. 30, because Ellen
White said He was a Protestant and separated Himself and His disciples from a
religion of forms and ceremonies. He died in A.D. 30, so He and His disciples
had to separate before His death to fulfill what Ellen White says.
· How could the disciples have been sealed in the apostate Jerusalem Temple
if Jesus gathered them out before His death in A.D. 30, which was BEFORE the
close of Israel’s probation in A.D. 34, the close of the 490 years of Daniel 9,
and the stoning of Stephen, as well as being the time when the disciples
received power from on high in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the typical
Day of Pentecost?
· In every succeeding generation, the ecclesiastical authorities (the leaders)
have rejected the teachings of the light of life, Christ, for the commandments
and heresies of men.
Where the Disciples and All Faithful Christians Received the First
Ezekiel 9 Sealing – THE TWO JERUSALEMS WITHIN JERUSALEM WHERE THE MARKING BY
THE MAN IN LINEN TOOK (TAKES) PLACE
We have seen that the Jews
could not have received the Mark (Seal) by the Man in Linen, prior to the end
of the 490 years of their probation per Daniel chapter 9. That probation ended
in A.D. 34. The stoning of Stephen also ended the probation of the Jews. The
disciples were instructed by Jesus to TARRY IN JERUSALEM until they received
power from on High, the Day of Pentecost, which occurred in A.D. 34. In A.D.
34, the disciples began calling the Jews out of the apostate Jewish church into
home churches. Jesus told His disciples that whoever they bound (sealed) on
earth, would be bound (sealed) in heaven. The disciples had their headquarters
in Jerusalem as well.
Questions:
· If Jesus gathered out His disciples (those who were to give the gospel
to the Jews and the world—Matthew 22:1-10), as His very first act, how could
they have been sealed in the apostate church of Jerusalem?
· What virtue would an apostate Temple have to seal anyone for the
heavenly garner (Kingdom)?
· The disciples were told they would bind (seal) the faithful for the
heavenly kingdom. They were not in the apostate church of Jerusalem themselves,
so how could they seal their converts in that church?
· The disciples also bound the tares (dross) for hell and
destruction—Ezekiel 22:17-31.
· When the disciples were instructed by Jesus to TARRY IN JERUSALEM until
they received power from on high, how could that mean “tarry in the apostate
church of Jerusalem, WHEN THEY HAD BEEN GATHERED OUT OF THAT CHURCH AS THE VERY
FIRST ACT OF CHRIST’S MINISTRY, when He instructed His disciples to FOLLOW HIM,
rather than the leaders of the apostate Jewish Temple?
The Two Jerusalem Headquarters of the Church
When Ezekiel 9 says that the Man in
Linen goes through the Midsts of Jerusalem to put a
Mark (Seal) on all who sigh and cry for all the abominations in the midsts thereof, would that include the Christian church
established by the disciples in Jerusalem, especially since from the beginning
their headquarters was in Jerusalem?
It is a matter of historical fact that
the disciples established the headquarters for their home churches in
Jerusalem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Evangelist
“St. Paul in opposing
his enemies in Galatia names John explicitly along with Peter and James the
Just (the brother of Jesus) as a "pillar of the Church", and refers
to the recognition which his Apostolic preaching of a Gospel free from the law
received from these three, the most prominent men of the old Mother-Church
at Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9). When Paul came again
to Jerusalem after the second and after the third journey (Acts 18:22; 21:17 sq.)
he seems no longer to have met John there. Some wish to draw the conclusion
from this that John left Judea between the years 52 and 55.”
LUKE 24:45-48; ACTS 1:8 http://new.bereanbiblesociety.org/our-great-commission-part-3-the-twelve-apostles-and-us/
Beginning at Jerusalem
Luke 24:47: “…beginning at
Jerusalem.” Acts 1:8: “…and ye shall be witnesses unto Me
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth.”
This they also did. Indeed, so scrupulous were the twelve in
their obedience to these instructions that Jerusalem remained their headquarters even
when the disciples were “scattered abroad” by the great persecution that arose
when Stephen was stoned to death.
The twelve, Matthias replacing Judas, had begun to carry out
their world-wide mission, but had not gotten beyond their own nation. We should
always associate Acts 1:8 with Acts 8:1 in our study of the Acts, for
Jerusalem, rather than turning to Messiah so that the apostles could go on with
their “great commission,” had started a “great persecution” against the Church
there, with the result that “they were all scattered abroad throughout the
regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles” (Acts 8:1).
The twelve have often been charged with bigotry and
unfaithfulness for remaining in Jerusalem at this time. In fact, however, it
was rare courage and fidelity to their commission that kept them there while
persecution raged and their very lives were in danger. They remained at
Jerusalem for the same reason that the rest fled: because Jerusalem was not turning
to Christ. The first part of their commission had not yet been completed, therefore they were duty-bound to remain there.
Certainly the twelve did not remain at Jerusalem because they
were prejudiced against the salvation of the Gentiles. There is too much
Scriptural evidence against this. Rather, they remained there because they had
a clear understanding of the prophetic program and of their Lord’s commission.
They knew that according to covenant and prophecy the Gentiles were to be saved
and blessed through redeemed Israel (Gen. 22:17,18;
Isa. 60:1-3; Zech. 8:13). Our Lord had indicated no change in this program, and
He Himself had worked in perfect harmony with it. Before His death He had
insisted that Israel was first in God’s revealed program, commanding His
disciples not to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but to “go rather to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:6), and saying to a
Gentile woman who came for help: “Let the children first be filled” (Mark
7:27). And now, in His “great commission” to the eleven, He specifically stated
that they should begin at Jerusalem, as we have seen above.
It is amazing that some should charge the twelve apostles and
the Jewish believers with prejudice against the Gentiles because they did not
immediately go “to the uttermost part of the earth,” when they were explicitly told
by the Lord to make disciples of all nations beginning at Jerusalem and
when there is so much evidence that they longed for the salvation of the
Gentiles and rejoiced when Gentiles turned to Christ (See Acts 3:25; 10:9,15;
11:18,23,24; 15:3; 21:19,20).
Which took the greater courage, to flee from Jerusalem now or to
remain there in the raging persecution, in daily peril of death? Wouldn’t
unfaithful men have fled at such a time? We are not blaming the multitude of
the disciples for fleeing for their lives, but are rather giving the twelve due
credit for faithfully carrying out the orders
specifically given them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century
“The years following Jesus until the death of the last of the Twelve
Apostles is called the Apostolic Age.[20]
The Christian Congregation
came fully into being on Pentecost when, according to scriptural accounts, the
apostles received the Holy Spirit and emerged from hiding following the death
and resurrection of Jesus to preach and spread his message.[21][22]
The apostolic period produced writings attributed to the direct followers of
Jesus Christ and is traditionally associated with the apostles and apostolic
times. This age is the foundation upon which the entire church's history is
founded.[23]
Though congregations met in the houses of these followers of Jesus Christ, this
Apostolic Congregation, also called the "Primitive Church", was the
community led by Jesus' apostles and, it would seem, his relatives.”[24]
It is an abomination in and of itself that Ulicia Unruh, as the wife of an SDA minister, would not
know all of the facts that I have enumerated above! She should know that the
disciples were gathered out by Christ and that any Marking by the Man in Linen
in Ezekiel 9 would include the true Christians in the churches established by
the disciples, and not just the tares (dross) marked at the apostate Jewish
Temple. And DT knows this for I have told him this history during the past
eleven years.
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.
True Jerusalem Headquarters
Versus Apostate Jerusalem Headquarters and The Apple of God’s Eye
God told the Jews that they were the apple of His eye:
Zec 2:8 For
thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations
which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
Yet, when the Jews apostatized, God gave them a bill of divorce and
called them the Synagogue of Satan. But they still referred to themselves as
the apple of His eye, just as professing Seventh-day Adventists do after
committing their abominable apostasies.
An extremely important revelation of the two Jerusalem churches, the
true and the false, the apple of God’s eye versus the Synagogue of Satan, is
found in Isaiah 4:1-4 as juxtaposed with Isaiah 37:31, 32. These verses totally
contradict if one does not see TRUE JERUSALEM as opposed to APOSTATE JERUSALEM,
and God’s Word does NOT contradict.
All Bible commentaries agree that Isaiah chapters 1-4 are of end-time
in context. In Isaiah 4, seven women (symbolic
of every formally organized Christian church) take hold of one man
(Christ), saying, we will eat our own bread (the commandments of men), and wear our own apparel, our own
apparel (our own robes of
unrighteousness based on heeding the commandments of men in lieu of God’s commandments),
only let us be called by thy name (Christian) to take away our reproach.
In light of verse 1, verse 2 is speaking of the remnant of spiritual
Jerusalem that purifies herself, for verse 1 describes
the apostate churches (women means churches). All who “escaped of Israel,” were
the true Christians of the True Jerusalem based home churches. History tells us
that every Christian escaped the destruction of the Temple and the city of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70, The Great Controversy, Chapter
1. The words: “…he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem,”
refer to those who joined the bridal process (the disciples—DA 179 and COL
405-406). The disciples were the bride and Jerusalem represented the guests who
joined them, GC, 426, 427.
Isaiah Chapter 4
1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only
let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that
remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written
among the living in Jerusalem:
4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of
Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by
the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and
upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming
fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the
heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
Compare the above with Isaiah 37:31, 32, and then interpret so that
NOTHING CONTRADICTS and you will be FORCED to arrive at the same conclusions I
have if you are honest, because Isaiah 4:1-4 does not contradict Isaiah 37:31,
32, because the Bible does not contradict itself.
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 prophesied exactly
what occurred from A.D. 34-66, in the first literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9,
when a remnant went forth out of the apostate Temple church at Jerusalem, to
join God’s true church at Jerusalem, the home churches established by the
disciples, which was also headquartered at Jerusalem. This prophecy was/is
directly related to Ezekiel 9 THEN AND NOW, for Ellen White said that Ezekiel 9
will be literally fulfilled. Isaiah 37:31, 32 was literally fulfilled in the
last literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, so it must be literally fulfilled in the
next literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9. This is irrefutable fact for the
sincere, honest student of the Scriptures and history.
Thus one can witness the
folly of Ulicia Unruh and one of her disciples, DT.
Jesus called the apostate Jewish Jerusalem church THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN,
before He died in A.D. 30. Ulicia Unruh and DT are
saying that one had to remain in the SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN to be sealed. That is
complete folly, and all who do so will receive the same fate as those who
remained in apostate Jerusalem then—men, maidens and little children all
perished together.
Ellen White clearly
stated that it is the THRID ANGEL who seals the wheat for the heavenly garner,
and that the THIRD ANGEL is symbolic of faithful men who select the wheat from
the tares with a shaking message, just as the disciples did the very same
thing. God says that all who unite with the corrupt find it impossible to
mature and remain/become pure amongst the corrupt. They are destroyed with the
corrupt. Most Adventists do not believe this admonition by God Almighty.
"It is IMPOSSIBLE for you to unite with those
who are corrupt, and still remain pure. (II Corinthians 6:14-15 quoted). God
and Christ and the heavenly host would have men know that if he unites with the
corrupt he will become corrupt." E. G. White, Review and Herald, Vol. 4, p. 137.
"Thorns sprung up.--The thorns made it
impossible for the wheat to mature (see Luke 8:14). In the same way secular
interests prevent the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23) from reaching
maturity. Religion is relegated to the subordinate position of being only one
interest among many. For lack of cultivation it withers and eventually dies.
That which the thorny-ground hearers lack is a moral transformation. To them,
justification is the sum and substance of religion, and they fail to realize
that the Christian life consists essentially in the process known as
sanctification--the process by which evil traits and tendencies are replaced by
the perfect life-pattern of Jesus Christ." Seventh-day Adventist Bible
Commentary, Vol. 5, 405.
The wheat can mature amongst tares [insincere
believers whose motives we would have to judge in order to remove them], but
the wheat cannot mature amongst thorns, open, apostate sinners, because they
choke out and kill the wheat. This is why true reformers have separated from
open sin apostate churches in every succeeding generation, Desire of Ages, 232. On that page, note that the only reason
for separation of the true reformers given is that the ecclesiastical leaders
would not tolerate light--truth.
If wheat and thorns could dwell together until the
harvest at the end of the world, then there should never have been a separation
from any apostate body including the apostate Jewish church from A.D. 34, from
Roman Catholicism in the Reformation, and from apostate Protestantism in 1844.
In the Old Testament, apostasy was dealt with by
killing all the apostates who would not repent, and/or leaving them to
sacrifice on one's own at home:
"The recreant priests added
licentiousness to the dark catalogue of their crimes yet they still polluted by
their presence the tabernacle of the Lord, and, laden with sin, dared to come
into the presence of a holy God. As the men of Israel witnessed the corrupt
course of the priests, they thought it safer for their families not to come up
to the appointed place of worship. Many went from Shiloh with their peace
disturbed, their indignation aroused, until they at last determined to offer
their sacrifices themselves, concluding that this would be fully as acceptable
to God, as to sanction in any manner the abominations practiced in the
Sanctuary." E.G. White, The Signs of the Times, Vol. 1, p. 264, col. 3, December 1, 1881.
"It is IMPOSSIBLE for you to unite with those who are corrupt, and
still remain pure. (II Corinthians 6:14-15 quoted). God and Christ and the heavenly
host would have men know that if he unites with the corrupt he will become
corrupt." E. G. White, Review and Herald, Vol. 4, p.
137.
"Thorns sprung up.--The thorns made it impossible for the wheat to
mature (see Luke 8:14). In the same way secular interests prevent the fruits of
the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23) from reaching maturity. Religion is relegated to the
subordinate position of being only one interest among many. For lack of
cultivation it withers and eventually dies. That which the thorny-ground
hearers lack is a moral transformation. To them, justification is the sum and
substance of religion, and they fail to realize that the Christian life
consists essentially in the process known as sanctification--the process by
which evil traits and tendencies are replaced by the perfect life-pattern of
Jesus Christ." Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, 405.
Where were the faithful who departed from Shiloh sealed? Were they
dependent upon the licentious priests for being sealed? Did they remain amongst
the abominations as Ulicia Unruh and DT say we must
remain? Who was the apple of God’s eye; THOSE WHO SEPARATED FROM THE CORRUPT,
or those who remained in their presence? From A.D. 34 on, who was the apple of God’s eye; those
God called the Synagogue of Satan, or those who separated from the Synagogue of
Satan and formed home churches? History is literally repeating itself!
Corporate Responsibility and Bowing the
Knee to Baal
It is true that God does
not necessarily hold anyone responsible for apostasy until they know of it. But
what happens when one knows of it and does not make a proper response in
separating from it?
"The plain straight testimony must live in the
church, or the curse of God will rest upon His people as surely as it did upon
ancient Israel because of their sins. God holds His people, as a body
[corporately], responsible for the sins existing in individuals among
them." Testimonies, Vol. 3, p.
269.
"The names of those who sin and refuse to repent
should not be retained on the church books, lest the saints be held
accountable for their evil deeds. Those who pursue a course of
transgression should be visited and labored with, and if they then refuse to
repent, they should be separated from church fellowship, in accordance with the
rules laid down in the Word of God." {11MR 208.3}
Corporate
Responsibility in Acts 2:36
36 Therefore let all the
house of
Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have
crucified, both Lord and Christ.
37 Now when they heard this , they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren,
what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men , as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness
and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Acts 2:36-47.
Ellen White on Achan and Corporate Responsibility
-----
Original Message -----
From:
luke19v10
To: AdventistHotIssues@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2012 6:58 PM
Subject: [AdventistHotIssues] Re: A
Blasphemous Heckler on Corporate Responsibility
AMEN bro. Ron and George, the corporate responsibility
principle is as unchangeable as God's character.
Brian
"The Lord gave Joshua to understand that the sin
of even one man would bring the divine wrath upon the whole congregation.
There was work for both magistrate and people, to keep
the camp free from iniquity. They must have vigilant care, not only for
themselves, but for one another, lest sin should prevail, and the Lord's name
be dishonored. God's character changes not." ST 12/8/81
"Except in his neglect to restrain and
control his sons, Eli had faithfully performed the duties of his office. But
his failure to maintain the honor of God by repressing sin with an impartial
hand, gave rise to a long train of evils, bringing crime and anguish upon a
whole nation. In the history of Eli and his sons is a solemn warning for
all the ministers of Christ—an admonition to guard their own hearts with
diligence, to keep holy all God's requirements, that his blessing may rest upon
the workmen, and that the work may bear the signet of Heaven. It should also impress
upon them their duty to rebuke sin in the members of the church, be they high
or low, rich or poor. Even our dearest friends are not to come between us and
our allegiance to God. We need not expect to receive the divine blessing
until all that has been left for man to do is done to correct error and repress
sin. To neglect this duty, or to be slothful and careless in its performance,
is to disobey God, to sanction sin, and to bring his wrath upon his people.
The example of ministers should be such as to impress
the people with reverence for God, and with fear to offend him. They should
honor the Lord at all times, ever acknowledging that of themselves they can do
nothing, that their strength and wisdom must come from God, and that all the
glory belongs to him. Those who occupy responsible positions, where if
connected with God they might do much good, yet who abuse these privileges by
the gratification of appetite or unlawful passion, will be visited with the
wrath of God according to the gifts which they have perverted." ibid.
"The Captain of our salvation died for the human
race that men might be made one with Him and with each other. As members of the
human family we are individual parts of one mighty whole. No soul can be made independent of the rest. There is to be
no party strife in the family of God; for the well-being of each is the
happiness of the whole. No partition walls are to be built up between man and
man. Christ as the great center must unite all in one." {FE 479.1}
"In this last conflict the
Captain of the Lord's host [Joshua 5:15] is leading on the armies of heaven and
mingling in the ranks and fighting our battles for us. We shall have
apostasies, we expect them. "They will go out from us because they were
not of us" (see 1 John 2:19).
"'Unless the minister shall fearlessly declare
the whole truth, unless he shall have an eye single to the glory of God and
shall work under the direction of the great Captain of his salvation,' Ellen
White warned, 'unless he shall move to the front, irrespective of censure and
uncontaminated by applause, he will be accounted an unfaithful watchman.'"
Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5,
page 263.
"The Captain of our salvation died for the human
race that men might be made one with Him and with each other. As members of the
human family we are individual parts of one mighty whole. No soul can be made
independent of the rest. There is to be no party strife in the family of God;
for the well-being of each is the happiness of the whole. No partition walls
are to be built up between man and man. Christ as the great center must unite
all in one." {FE 479.1}
“And then I call attention to a vision the Lord's
servant had, in which she saw a ship heading toward an iceberg. She said,
'There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic
iceberg. An authoritative voice cried out, 'Meet it!' There was not a moment's
hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam,
and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg.
With a crash she struck the ice. There was a fearful
shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a noise like
thunder to the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the
collision, but no lives were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond
repair. She rebounded from the contact, trembling from stem to stern, like a
living creature. Then she moved forward on her way.
Well I knew the meaning of this representation. I had
my orders. I had heard the words, like a
voice from our Captain, 'Meet it!' I knew what my duty was, and that there
was not a moment to lose. The time for decided action had come. I must without
delay obey the command, 'Meet it!'” –Selected
Messages, Bk. 1, pp. 205, 206.
"In this last conflict the
Captain of the Lord's host [Joshua 5:15] is leading on the armies of heaven and
mingling in the ranks and fighting our battles for us. We shall have
apostasies, we expect them. "They will go out from us because they were
not of us" (see 1 John 2:19).
"'Unless the minister shall fearlessly declare
the whole truth, unless he shall have an eye single to the glory of God and
shall work under the direction of the great Captain of his salvation,' Ellen
White warned, 'unless he shall move to the front, irrespective of censure and
uncontaminated by applause, he will be accounted an unfaithful watchman.'"
Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 263.
"The enemy is preparing for his last campaign
against the church. He has so concealed himself from view that many can hardly
believe that he exists, much less can they be
convinced of his amazing activity and power. They have to a great extent
forgotten his past record; and when he makes another advance move, they will
not recognize him as their enemy, that old serpent, but they will consider him
a friend, one who is doing a good work. Boasting of their independence they
will, under his specious, bewitching influence, obey the worst impulses of the
human heart and yet believe that God is leading them. Could their eyes be opened to distinguish their captain, they would see
that they are not serving God, but the enemy of all righteousness. They would
see that their boasted independence is one of the heaviest fetters Satan can
rivet on unbalanced minds." {5T 294.1}
Open sin "Christ has plainly taught that those who
persist in open sin must be separated from the church..." E. G. White, Christ's
Object Lessons, 71.
"The names of those who sin and refuse to repent
should not be retained on the church books, lest the saints be held
accountable for their evil deeds. Those who pursue a course of
transgression should be visited and labored with, and if they then refuse to
repent, they should be separated from church fellowship, in accordance with the
rules laid down in the Word of God." {11MR 208.3}
"Christ
has plainly taught that those who persist in open sin must be separated from
the church, but He has not committed to us the work of judging character and
motive. He knows our nature too well to
entrust this work to us. Should we try
to uproot from the church those whom we suppose to be
spurious Christians, we should be sure to make mistakes. Often we regard as hopeless subjects the very
one whom Christ is drawing to Himself, it would
perhaps extinguish their last hope. Many
who think themselves Christians will at last be found wanting. Many will be in heaven who their neighbors
supposed would never enter there. Man
judges from appearance, but God judges the heart. The tares and the wheat are
to grow together until the harvest;
and the harvest is the end of probationary time." COL
71, 72.
Tares
are not open sinners, because open sinners are to be reformed or removed if
they won’t reform! Tares are insincere believers whose motives we would have to
judge in order to uproot them and we are not to judge motives, but we can judge
OPEN SIN APOSTASY without knowing the motives for it. When we choose to ignore
open sin apostasy after KNOWING OF IT, we bow the knee to Baal and are THEN
corporately responsible for it.
Tarrying in Jerusalem
Part II https://omega77.tripod.com/tarryinjerusalem2.htm
—rwb