Serious Implications
to the Adoption of the Trinity Doctrine that Bruce Bivens’ has not Dealt With
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The gift of the pre-brought forth divine
nature of Christ, which Ellen White defines as the Holy Spirit life and soul
of Christ, is the “highest good, crowning gift that heaven can bestow.” "Christ declared that after his
ascension, he would send to his church, as
his crowning gift, the Comforter, who was to take his
place. This Comforter is the Holy Spirit,--the soul of his life,
the efficacy of his church, the light and life of the world. With his Spirit
Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power that takes away sin. In the gift of the Spirit [HIS
LIFE--THE SOUL OF HIS LIFE], Jesus gave to man the
highest good that heaven could bestow.... The Spirit was given as a
regenerating agency, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been
of no avail.... It is by the Spirit that the heart
is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the
divine nature. Christ has given his Spirit as a
divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil,
and to impress his own character upon the church." E.G. White, Review and Herald Articles, May 19,
1904, vol. 5, p. 42. Such a clear definition of the Holy
Spirit, leaves no room for speculation and/or the adoption of blasphemic
theories of men such as the Trinity Doctrine, Rome’s Central Doctrine. The
Personality of God as a Pillar Doctrine Godhead
as a pillar doctrine -- Personality of God and of Christ Landmarks: "Those who seek to remove the old landmarks are not holding fast they are not remembering how they have received and heard. Those who try to bring in theories that would remove the pillars of our faith concerning the sanctuary or concerning the personality of God or of Christ, are working as blind men. They are seeking to bring in uncertainties and to set the people of God adrift without an anchor." {MR760 9.5} The
Personality of God as Implicated in the Alpha of Apostasy in the SDA Church “The
Lord will put new, vital force into His work as human agencies obey the
command to go forth and proclaim the truth. He who declared that His truth
would shine forever will proclaim this truth through faithful messengers, who will give the trumpet a certain
sound. The truth will be criticized,
scorned, and derided; but the closer it is examined and tested, the brighter
it will shine. {1SM 201.1} “As a people, we are to stand firm on the
platform of eternal truth that has withstood test and trial. We are to hold
to the sure pillars of our faith.
The principles of truth that God has revealed to us are our only true
foundation. They have made us what we are. The lapse of time has not lessened
their value. It is the constant effort of the enemy to remove these truths
from their setting, and to put in their place spurious theories. He will
bring in everything that he possibly can to carry out his deceptive designs. But the Lord will raise up men of keen
perception, who will give these truths their proper place in the plan of God.
{1SM 201.2} “I have been
instructed by the heavenly messenger that some of the reasoning in the book
Living Temple is unsound, and that this reasoning would lead astray the minds
of those who are not thoroughly established on the foundation principles of
present truth. It introduces that which is nought but speculation in regard to the personality of God and where His
presence is. No one on this earth has a right to speculate on
this question. The more fanciful theories are discussed, the less men will know
of God and of the truth that sanctifies the soul. {1SM 201.3} ·
The Alpha speculated on the personality of God and where His
presence is. ·
The truth about the Holy Spirit is surely associated with the
personality of Christ, because the Holy Spirit is the life of His soul. ·
We are told that the presence of the Holy Spirit is to be in
us as a regenerating principle. ·
Concerning speculation on the personality of God, was the
personality of Christ involved with the “highest good, crowning sacrifice
that heaven could bestow? ·
The Incarnation and emptying of the Son’s Holy Spirit Divine
nature as a crowning gift to us; as the “highest good, crowning gift that
heaven could bestow,” certainly is involved with the personality of Christ,
because that sacrifice demonstrates more than anything else His
self-sacrificing character of love. ·
Anything that would deny the “highest good, crowning sacrifice”
that occurred as the most important part of the Incarnation of the Son of
Man, would have to be the greatest abomination involved in the Omega of
Apostasy. And what occurred in the Alpha was to occur in the Omega only on a
far greater scale. ·
The Trinity Doctrine totally denies the highest good, crowning
sacrificial gift that heaven could bestow, by denying what actually took
place in the Incarnation—that Christ emptied Himself of His Holy Spirit
Divine Nature and bequeathed it to man, and it was this act that constituted
the THIRD PERSON of the Godhead. ·
The Trinity Doctrine denies the above sacrifice by teaching
that the THIRD PERSON always existed without any sacrifice on His part. That
is the most abominable lie of professing Christianity, and Rome says that
doctrine is its Central Doctrine. That is speaking directly against the Holy
Spirit, and Scripture says that speaking against the Holy Spirit is
unpardonable sin. ·
”The Trinity Doctrine is a complete lie concerning the
personality of Christ involving the “highest good, crowning sacrificial gift
that heaven could bestow.” “In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega
will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the
warning God has given.” Selected
Messages, Bk. 1, 200. There could be no deadlier heresy than the
Trinity Doctrine, which is unpardonable sin blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit. Some have innocently believed this error before present truth light
was available, but those who reject the true light on this issue AFTER
LEARNING IT, commit unpardonable sin, and the leaders of the SDA omega new
movement, posing as the SDA church, are inexcusable for adopting the Trinity
Doctrine as a fundamental belief of the church. I could not overstress the
seriousness of this unpardonable sin. “The
spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God, followed to their
logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They estimate
as nothing the light that Christ came from heaven to give John gave to give
to His people.” Selected Messages,
Bk. 1, p. 204. (Context is the Alpha of Apostasy). Permit me to give you a clear demonstration
as to how the Trinity Doctrine alone, followed to its logical conclusion,
sweeps away the whole Christian economy. That doctrine does not teach that
the Son of God paid any eternal penalty for our sin. It teaches that there
was no eternal sacrifice on the part of any member of the Godhead. The
Testator’s Covenant cited in Scripture, demands the death of the Testator,
and that death DOES NOT involve just three days and nights in a tomb. That
was not the penalty of sin. The wages of sin is death, eternal death. We don’t
spend three days in a tomb and then become resurrected to eternal life. The
Testator must die some form of eternal death (the penalty for sin) to His
former state of Being. Notice: Hbr 9:16 For where a testament [is], there
must also of necessity be the death of the testator. Hbr 9:17 For a testament [is] of force after
men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator
liveth. While the Testator (Christ) should live, the
testament is of no force. The testament was an act that would atone for sin.
If Christ did not die to something eternally, the penalty for our wages of
sin, there has been no atonement, no death of the Testator that would count,
for the Testator must remain dead to something. The death involved is not
exactly as we think of death, but it did involve death to the Son’s “God,
DIVINE ONLY,” state of being—FOREVER AFTER! That sacrifice far exceeds the
sacrifice on the cross as important as that was. How do you know this is
true? Because Ellen White said the sacrifice involved with the Incarnation
was the “highest good, crowning gift that heaven could bestow.” That makes it
more important than the cross, though both sacrifice were essential. “Of what avail would it have
been to us that the only begotten Son of God had humbled Himself, endured the
temptations of the wily foe, and wrestled with him during His entire life on
earth, and died the Just for the unjust, that humanity might not perish, if
the Spirit had not been given as a constant, working, regenerating agent to
make effectual in our cases what had been wrought out by the world's Redeemer.”
{2MR 14.2} So along comes the Trinity Doctrine, evolved
by some Catholic apostates some centuries after Christianity began, which
sweeps away the entire Christian economy in one svelte swoop! How? Why?
Because if there was no eternal “deathlike” sacrifice on the part of the Son,
in fulfillment of the Testators Covenant agreement; if the Holy Spirit just
existed as a third person for eternity, then there has been no death of the
Testator, no eternal sacrifice of His Holy Spirit (soul of His life) Divine
Nature, and thus NO ATONEMENT, and the cross would have been to no avail
without the eternal death of the Testator to His DIVINE ONLY state of being
prior to His Incarnation. Thus, the entire Christian economy would be null
and void—unfulfilled—NO ETERNAL, EVERLASTING COVENANT, because the terms
would not have been met! Can you begin to see how the dragonish,
blasphemic Trinity Doctrine, which Rome’s brags as her Central Doctrine—https://omega77.tripod.com/centraldoctrine.htm,
and upon which all her other false doctrines are based, constitutes the
greatest blasphemy that could be perpetrated against the Holy Ghost, the soul
of the life of Christ, which involved the sacrifice of that Soul as a gift to
us, at which time the Holy Ghost became just that, the Ghost of His former
Being, and indeed the third person of the Godhead. This is the only way the
Holy Spirit could be the soul of Christ’s life, and the life He gave to us as
His Divine Nature. So indeed, Babylon is fallen because she
committed unpardonable sin a long time ago. And her daughters, now including
the omega of apostasy new movement, masquerading as the SDA church, have
fallen with her by embracing and teaching a doctrine that totally negates the
prime condition of the Testators Covenant and the penalty for our sin—eternal
death to something—in this case the DIVINE ONLY existence of the Son before
His Incarnation, to forever after being combined and cumbered with humanity.
What a sacrifice! What a display of pure agape, selfless, sacrificial love
for more than a few hours on the cross and three days and nights in a tomb,
after which He would ascend to the Father and retire to His former DIVINE
ONLY state of being. I will fully warn you that anyone who learns
of this truth and rejects it will thereby commit the greatest possible,
abominable, blasphemic, unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost of Christ’s
former Being. This is so serious friend of mine. The
Unpardonable sin of Speaking Against or Lying About the Holy Spirit
It is as blasphemic as
anything could get to in any way teach a doctrine that denies the “highest
good, crowning sacrifice that heaven could bestow—directly involving the
sacrifice of Christ’s “soul of His life” Holy Spirit Divine Nature as His “highest
good,” “crowing gift” to man. The Trinity Doctrine teaches that lie when it
teaches that there was always three members of the Godhead. There were not
three members of the Godhead until the Incarnation of the Son of Man, and if
there was, Jesus combined with humanity FOREVER, would constitute a fourth
person of the Godhead. The Godhead accrued a third
member when the Son of Man sacrificed the Soul of His Holy Spirit Divine
Nature as a bequeathed gift for us, and became united with humanity forever.
This is the proper order: ·
The Father ·
The Son (absolved,
emptied, of His Holy Spirit (ONLY) state at His Incarnation. The Holy Spirit
then became a distinct third person. ·
The Son Jesus who
combined Himself with Humanity forever, having bequeathed His Holy Spirit,
the life of His Soul Divine Nature to us at His Incarnation. Before the Incarnation, the
Father and the Son consisted of Spirit, the One Eternal Spirit, and that
Spirit, of course, was Holy, so in that context, the Holy Spirit has existed
eternally in and through both the Father and the Son, but through only those
two persons until the Incarnation. So was the Holy Spirit present when the
Everlasting Covenant was first conceived? Of course, but not as a third,
separate and distinct person until the Incarnation. Any denial of the above facts
of Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy, constitutes unpardonable sin,
because there could be no greater blasphemy against the Holy Spirit of
Christ, the soul of His life, than to deny the greatest sacrifice He made for
us, and that has to be greater than the cross, for without that sacrifice
there would have been no cross. There had to be an eternal death of the
Testator (Christ) in order to satisfy the wages of sin which is eternal
death. That is the penalty of the unrepentant sinner. So to redeem man from
that eternal death penalty, there had to be an eternal death of the Testator
to His former Being—His existence as God ONLY, uncombined with man. He died
to that God ONLY state of being FOREVER to be cumbered with humanity. “The Holy Spirit is Christ's
representative, but divested of the personality of humanity, and independent
thereof. Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place
personally. Therefore it was for their {the disciples'} interest that He
should go to the Father, and send the [His] Spirit to be His successor on
earth. No one could then have any advantage because of his location or his
personal contact with Christ. By the Spirit the Saviour would be accessible
to all. . . . {FLB 56.2} Remember that Ellen White
defined the Holy Spirit as the soul of Christ’s life. The Holy Spirit was the
soul of his life. The soul of one’s life is the essence of a particular,
distinct person. If the Holy Spirit was a third, distinct person from
eternity, the soul of His life would have been different from the soul of the
Father and the Son. "Christ declared that after his
ascension, he would send to his church, as
his crowning gift, the Comforter, who was to take his
place. This Comforter is the Holy Spirit,--the soul of his life,
the efficacy of his church, the light and life of the world. With his Spirit
Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power that takes away sin. In the gift of the Spirit [HIS
LIFE--THE SOUL OF HIS LIFE], Jesus gave to man the
highest good that heaven could bestow.... The Spirit was given as a
regenerating agency, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been
of no avail.... It is by the Spirit that the heart
is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the
divine nature. Christ has given his Spirit as a
divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil,
and to impress his own character upon the church." E.G. White, Review and Herald Articles, May 19,
1904, vol. 5, p. 42. The soul is the life. Life
is in the soul. Jesus gave us the life (Soul) that was His and suffered the death which was ours. The death which was ours
is eternal. "He
(Christ) suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which WAS His." Desire of Ages, p. 25 1 Cor.
11:24-265, cf. John 6:53, 54, Titus 3:5, 6. What death is ours? The
wages of sin is death! Would that be death for three days and nights after
which we would resurrect and live forever? Nay!, So Christ suffered a form of
eternal death—death to His former DIVINE ONLY being, to become combined with
our human nature FOREVER. That was the highest good, crowning sacrifice that
heaven could bestow. To teach and/or believe anything else is blasphemy against
that Holy Spirit gift of the Soul of His life. Thus, the New Movement SDA
church has committed blasphemic sin against the Holy Spirit by adopting Rome’s
Central Doctrine, the Trinity Doctrine. This was done circa 1930 by a small
group of men and primarily by LeRoy Froom. Is this most startling? Is this
the worst abomination of the Omega of Apostasy, involving the personality of
God, Christ? Could there be any greater abomination? If you would like to study
the Godhead from the Bible alone, see this document: https://omega77.tripod.com/hssolascriptura.htm "By His life and His death, Christ
has achieved even more than recovery from the ruin wrought through sin. It
was Satan's purpose to bring about an eternal separation between God and man
but in Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never
fallen. In taking our nature, the
Saviour has bound himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken.
Through the eternal ages He is
linked with us. 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son.' [John 3:16]. He gave Him not only to bear our sins, and
to die as our sacrifice He gave Him to the fallen race. To assure
us of His immutable counsel of peace, God
gave His only Begotten Son to become one of the human family forever to
retain His human nature. This is the pledge that God will fulfill His
word. 'Unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government
shall be upon His shoulder.' God has adopted human nature in the person of
His Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven. It is the 'Son of
man' who shares the throne of the universe. It is the 'Son of man' whose name
shall be called, 'Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the prince of Peace.' [Isa. 9:6]. The I Am is the Daysman between God
and humanity, laying His hand upon both. HE who is 'holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners,' is not ashamed to call us brethren. [Heb.
7:26 2:11.] In Christ the family of earth and the family of heaven are bound
together. Christ glorified is our brother. Heaven is enshrined in humanity,
and humanity is enfolded in the bosom of Infinite love." The Desire
of Ages, 25. The Case of
One Bruce Bivens and His Wife About
three months ago, Nov. 2009, Bruce was hauled before his home church board
and was asked to renounce his book elaborating on the eternal truths involved
with the issues you have read in this document. Because he would not renege
on what he knew was the pure truth, he was removed as a member of the SDA
church, or I should say the omega apostasy new movement masquerading as the
SDA church. The
question quite naturally arose to those reading Bruce’s book on this serious
issue, as to whether or not he still was a member of the SDA new movement
church. Bruce remained and member until he was removed. I don’t know Bruce’s
heart or that of his wife. I do know that she was quite adamant and defensive
for the church. Maybe that has all changed since Bruce was dismissed from
church membership as a result of standing by the truth you have just read
above. I
can say that Bruce should have realized that this issue involves unpardonable
sin and indeed he alluded to that reality in his book by the following words
in Chapter 12, entitled Implications. Maybe Bruce felt that there was still
hope that the church would see its error and repent. It that is possible, it
should be possible for Rome to repent. Especially in light of the fact that
the SDA church leaders had such advanced light and had ceded to that light
over 150 years ago! For all who have and will knowingly support this blasphemous
indulgence into error, there is one sentence—unpardonable sin blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost. And, as I stated earlier, there is no excuse for the
leaders who should have been faithful watchmen and kept this heresy from
coming into the church fifteen years after Ellen White’s death. She said the
omega would come and it surely did come. She said it would involved the
personality of God, and so it does! She also said that the apostasy would wax
stronger until Jesus comes. The following statement is in context with her
writings of warning against the Alpha and Omega of apostasy: Wax stronger "One thing it is certain
is soon to be realized, the great apostasy, which is developing and
increasing and waxing stronger, and will continue to do so until the Lord
shall descend from heaven with a shout. We are to hold fast the first
principles of our denominated faith, and go forward from strength to
increased faith. Ever we are to keep the faith that has been substantiated by
the Holy Spirit of God from the earlier events of our experience until the
present time. We need now larger breadth, and deeper, more earnest, unwavering
faith in the leadings of the Holy Spirit. If we needed the manifest proof of
the Holy Spirit's power to confirm truth in the beginning, after the passing
of the time, we need to-day all the evidence in the confirmation of the
truth, when souls are departing from the faith and giving heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of devils. There must not be any languishing of soul
now." (E.G. White, Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, p. 57). That, my friend, is why God and Ellen White said
that there will be another literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, BEGINNING AT HIS
SANCTUARY, those who had been privileged with great light, the House of
Jacob. The Pantheism Connection Pantheism was another manifestation of the Alpha
of Apostasy in the SDA church, circa 1900-1905. How large does that element
of apostasy accrue in the omega of apostasy new movement SDA “church?” I have
a Directory to Christian Councils, published by the World Council of
Churches. I bought a number of copies for the members of my home church group
in 1988. That directory, no longer published, lists SDA’s as full members of
the WCC in five different countries of the world. The last page of the
directory says that the WCC is in FULL WORKING RELATIONSHIP with the General
Conference of SDA’s. I called B.B. Beach, the SDA church ecumenical representative
at the time, and he denied any membership in the WCC. Scripture says that our
leaders will divine lies. Some believe such leaders without scrupulously
checking things out—things that involve their very eternal destiny. Then around the same time, the Adventist
Review came out with an article about the Hungarian revolt by 1500 SDA
members there who protested a 30 year long FULL MEMBERSHIP in the Hungarian
Free Council of Churches, a National Council of Churches subsidiary of the
World Council of Churches. So the SDA church was obviously complicit with
that membership by the principle of corporate responsibility, which indicts
every member of that church today. How does this tie-in with the Pantheism
Connection? The World Council of Churches members the major non-Christian religions
such as Hinduism etc., that teach pantheism. The SDA church pays quite large
annual dues to all the National Councils and the WCC. For example, I called
the church treasurer in the latter 1980’s and asked him how much the church
had given to the National Councils of Churches in the U.S.A. for that year.
He checked his ledger and told me a figure exceeding $8,000 for that one
council alone. Multiply this on a world-scale! Then tell me: If we support an
organization that supports and members pantheistic religions of the world,
are we not corporately responsible? Of course we are, and that is how
pervasive the pantheism connection is in the apostate SDA church today. And
it goes further than that. New Age classes have been conducted at the SDA
facility at Loma Linda, California. New Age teachings teach that God is in
everything and that you are as a god, so look within for help. That is pure
pantheism. Add these abominations to all the specifications mentioned in Selected
Messages, Bk. 1, 204-5, which any true reformer SDA can prove as having
been fulfilled, and you come up with full-blown omega of apostasy
unpardonable sin to all who are aware of these things and the leaders who
should be aware and protecting the sheeple from these evils. But what is the
reality?
Chapter 12 –
Implications It is my hope that you will finish this chapter
yourself—that you will go out and buy yourself a notebook or a journal and
that you will add addendum after addendum to this chapter, and to this book.
It is impossible for me to realize or cover all of the implications of the
truths about the Godhead, the plan of redemption, and the Holy Spirit in this
book (much less in this final chapter). I will list some of the most
important implications of this study, as I see them, Page 172 but I encourage you to add your own to those covered
here. For you preachers and teachers out there, there is an inexhaustible
mine of information you can bring forth from all of this to the people of
your flock! God says: “My people are
destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea
4:6). We must bring this vital knowledge to them. This book will only
“open the door”—it will be up to you to walk through it and discover all that
is on the other side! With that said, here are the most pressing implications
of all of this as I see it. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy
shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be
forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be
forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be
forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matt. 12:31-32). If you were the Devil and your goal was to entice me
into “sin,” which sin would you be most interested in getting me to
commit—one that can be forgiven or
one that can’t be forgiven?
Wouldn’t you focus most of your efforts, and try the hardest, to get me to commit the sin that God will not forgive? Of course you would, and
so would the Devil. Satan has ever sought to get us to commit the Sin against
the Holy Spirit and he would like to keep us from understanding what that sin
is so that we will be more likely to commit it. So exactly what is the sin
against the Holy Spirit? The specific
sin against the Holy Spirit, according to Jesus, is that of “Blasphemy.” What is blasphemy? The
Bible gives us only two definitions of blasphemy: (1) You commit blasphemy
when you speak against God, either
in an irreverent way or in a way
that denies the truth about God (speaking a lie about God). For example: anyone who denies that Jesus is
the Christ, is committing blasphemy—“Who is the liar but the one who denies
that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the
Father and the Son.” (1 Jn. 2:22). (2) You commit blasphemy when you claim
to be God—or if you claim that
something is God when it is not. That is what got Jesus into so much
trouble with the Jews—not that Jesus committed
blasphemy, but that they thought He
did: “The Jews answered Him, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for
blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” (Jn.
10:33). Page 173 Seventh-day Adventists have long taught that we
commit blasphemy (the sin against the Holy Spirit) when we refuse to be led
of God—when we refuse to yield to the promptings of the Holy
Spirit—effectively placing ourselves above
God (making ourselves God)—and
this is an absolutely correct description of “blasphemy against the Spirit.” However, we seem to be blind to the fact
that there is another way that we
can commit blasphemy against the Spirit, which involves our denying the truth about the Spirit (and therefore
about God). “The sin of
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit does not lie in any sudden word or deed; it
is the firm determined resistance of truth and evidence.” (MS #30, 1890
[SDA BC, vol. 5, p. 1093]). The Devil has been very successful in getting
us to commit this blasphemy
against the Spirit, and we shall see why
this cunning deception is so fatal
in a moment. Perhaps you, like myself, have been frustrated because you never knew how you were to relate to the Holy
Spirit. I knew that I needed Him, but I never really knew who He was. I knew that all the
evidence indicates that the Holy Spirit is
God, but since the Bible never tells us to pray to Him, or to worship
Him, or includes Him in the councils of God or the Throne of God, I never
really understood how I was to relate to Him. The Bible and the Spirit of
Prophecy both make it abundantly clear that we are to worship the Father and
the Son. Jesus Himself said: “This is eternal life, that they may know You,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Jn. 17:3). 1 John
2:22 (quoted earlier) says that one is the antichrist “who denies the Father
and the Son.” We find the Holy Spirit nowhere mentioned in this regard. We
only find the Holy Spirit described as the active agent of our acceptance and worship of God. Yet the Bible refers
to the Holy Spirit as a person,
and an extremely important person
at that. We know that we need the
Holy Spirit in order to overcome sin and to be fitted for heaven. We are told
that we must have the “Early” and
the Latter Rain” contained in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but we have
never really understood what we
were actually praying for! Instead, we have blundered along in a state of confusion regarding the nature of the
Holy Spirit, His purpose and how we are to relate to Him—and this confusion
has suited the Devil just fine. In fact, he has seized upon this confusion
and ambiguity regarding the nature
of the Holy spirit and has used this to get us to unknowingly commit the sin
(blasphemy) against the Holy Spirit. Page 174 The Devil really doesn’t care how he gets us to turn away from God and from His Truth, so long
as he can get us to do it. He knows that Christians
are not going to overtly
worship him (Satan), so he has invented all kinds of counterfeits—other things—to take
the place of Christ. He knows that if he can convince us to look to
someone other than Christ for our
hope and our salvation, that he has got us in his pocket and has secured our
fate. This is what he has done in propagating the orthodox teachings of the
Trinity doctrine. Through the doctrine of the Trinity, Satan has introduced someone other than Christ into the
plan of salvation of mankind. He has done this very cleverly and almost
imperceptibly—keeping his deception very
close to the truth so as not to have it discovered and readily discerned.
Here is how he has done this. He would have us believe that the Holy spirit is,
and has always been, the third
member of the Godhead. He would have us accept the Holy Spirit as someone other than Christ. He knows that if
he can keep us believing that the Holy Spirit is someone other than Christ
that, in effect, he is successful in getting us to deny Christ, and to deny the most important part of His sacrifice
for us. He knows that if he can keep us believing that the Holy Spirit is
someone other than Christ, that he
can prevent the outpouring of Christ’s
Holy Spirit and thus delay (or prevent) his doom. It is really a very
masterful deception! Through our belief in the traditional Trinity doctrine
he actually has gotten us to believe that we are rendering faithful service and obedience to God when, in fact, we
are doing the very opposite—we are going after “other Gods.” He has gotten us
to worship a lie. Satan knows that we must worship God “in Truth” (Jn. 4:23, 24) and he is
exalting in the fact that he has gotten us to pray both to and for a figment
of our imaginations (that which is not Truth).
He has gotten us to create another God
in the person of the Holy Spirit when, in reality, the Holy Spirit is not another but is Christ Jesus. It is my firm belief that Jesus is speaking to
us today, and is saying: “Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my
spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.” (Prov. 1:23. See also:
Joel 2:28, 29; Isa. 44:1-6; Acts 2:17-21). Page 175 Consider how far
our belief in the Trinity doctrine has taken us: George Knight, a professor and prominent SDA
theologian makes this startling confession in Ministry Magazine, October 1993—“Most of the founders of
Seventh-day Adventism would not be
able to join the church today if they had to subscribe to the
denomination’s fundamental beliefs. More specifically, most would not be able to agree to belief number 2 which deals with
the doctrine of the Trinity.” [Emphasis mine]. William Johnson, Editor of the Adventist
Review, wrote in the January 6, 1994 issue that—“Adventist beliefs
have changed over the years. Most
startling is the teaching regarding Jesus Christ. Many of the pioneers,
including James White, J. N. Andrews, Uriah Smith and J. H. Waggoner, held to
an Arian or semi-Arian view. That is, that the Son at some point in time,
before the creation of our world, was generated by the Father. The Trinitarian understanding of God, now
part of our fundamental beliefs, was
not generally held by early Adventists. Even today, a few do not
subscribe to it.” [used by permission—Emphasis mine]. The pioneers of Adventism believed that Jesus was
“brought forth” from the Father—and while their understanding of this may
have been imperfect, God never
directed Ellen White to rebuke them for believing this. In fact, Jesus
Himself stressed that this belief is important and necessary, and pronounced
the blessing of the Father’s love upon those who believe this truth: “In that day you will ask in My name, and
I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the
Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I
came forth from the Father.” (Jn. 16:26, 27). “I proceeded forth and have come
from God.” (Jn. 8:42). Our pioneers may not have understood the full
implications of this belief but they were on the right track and God never
rebuked them for it. How would you like to be a pastor of one of our churches
today and be forced to deny baptism
and membership to people Page 176 Like James White, J. N. Andrews, Uriah Smith, J. H.
Waggoner and others because they did not believe in the orthodox Trinitarian understanding of God? Sound preposterous? It
happens. There are basically three reasons, as I see it, that
inhibit our ability to secure the outpouring of the Holy spirit in full
measure. They are: 1.
We
do not recognize and/or acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is Christ’s Spirit—that it is His divine nature, which He sacrificed
on our behalf in order that we might become partakers of the divine nature,
overcome the sin which so easily besets us, and become like Him. 2.
We
are not fully surrendered to
Christ and are therefore unfit to
receive His divine Spirit. There is tremendous power in the Holy Spirit and
unless we are completely surrendered
to Christ—willing to do His
will—that power would destroy us and others. 3.
We
are not asking Christ for His Holy Spirit! We are currently
asking for something that is not His or His to give. Any one—or
any combination of these—inhibits God’s ability to give us the Holy Spirit
and has prevented us from
receiving Christ’s Holy Spirit in the power and the fullness of the Latter
Rain. When our attitudes and beliefs towards God are out of
kilter, we severely limit God’s
ability to communicate effectively with us. God will not force our wills. He will
not compel us to understand
or believe Him. We must choose to
do this. When our approach and attitude toward God is in error, or when we are
not living up to the light we already have, He cannot give us additional
light, understanding or power. It is our attitude
toward God that determines how much of His grace he is able to impart to us.
We must come to the point where we are humble, teachable and desiring of the
things He wishes to impart to us (even if it means giving up some cherished
belief). “When God’s people are at
ease, and satisfied with their present enlightenment, we may be sure that He
will not favour them. It is His will that they should be ever moving forward,
to receive the increased and ever increasing light that is shining for them.
The present attitude of the church is not Page 177 pleasing to God. There
has come in a self—confidence that has led them to feel no necessity for more
truth and greater light.” (5T, pp. 708, 709). God will
have a people who seek a right
relationship with Him and will allow
Him to impart knowledge and power to us—but we must accept the light that He gives us in order for this to happen. Greater light concerning the sacrifice of Christ will be revealed and understood by God’s people before the
end comes. The truth about the Holy Spirit is an essential component of the sacrifice of Christ and the plan of
redemption—and it will be
understood as such. But it will only be revealed and realized by those who desire more light and more truth from
God—By those who are aware of their utter depravity and helplessness, and who
feel their enormous need for the righteousness of Christ-By those who are willing to be led, and molded, and
transformed by the truth as it is in
Jesus—cost be what it may. Seventh-day Adventists have been given the privilege
and responsibility of proclaiming the last warning message to be given to the
world (the three angel’s messages). This message not only includes the
message that “the hour of His judgment has come” and a warning about
accepting the “mark of the Beast” (Rev. 14:7-9), it includes a warning
against accepting the “wine” (doctrines) of Babylon. These doctrines,
according to the Bible, are those of “confusion”
and are the teaching of men. Through our acceptance of the Orthodox doctrine
of the Trinity, handed down to us by the Catholic Church (the “Beast”), we
have inadvertently accepted the wine of Babylon and it has had a tremendously negative effect on our
ability to accurately proclaim the real
message contained in the three angel’s messages. Here is why: “The theme of greatest importance is the third
angel’s message, embracing the messages of the first and second.” (Evangelism, p. 196, Letter 97,
1902). This means that the “third
angel’s message” includes the messages of the first and second angels and
that they all contain a “theme of greatest importance.” What is this “theme” of great importance? What is the real message of the third
angel? “Justification by faith
[Righteousness by faith, or the message of “Christ our Righteousness”] . . .
is the third angel’s message in verity” (RH, April 1, 1890, par. 8). “The time of test is just upon us, for
the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the
righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning Page 178 of the light of the angel
whose glory shall fill the whole earth.” (RH, November 22, 1892, par. 7).
“The message of Christ’s righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth
to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This sis the glory of God, which
closes the work of the third angel.” (6T, p. 19). “Christ our Righteousness” is the last glorious
message that is to be proclaimed to our dying planet. Sounds simple enough
doesn’t it? We certainly teach this don’t we? Haven’t we stressed the
importance of being “born again,” of having “Christ formed within”—of being
“in Christ” and of having “Christ in us?” We have, but here is the catch: “How” is this accomplished? We have
been teaching that this is accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit (and
this is correct), BUT we teach that the Holy Spirit is someone other than
Christ. So, in effect, what we are teaching (through the orthodox view of the
Trinity) is that the “Spirit” that is responsible for enabling us to partake
of Christ’s divine nature and is
to reproduce Christ’s character in
us—effectively allowing Christ to
“abide in us” and making His
sacrifice effectual—is someone
other than Christ Himself! Does that make any sense to you at all? The fact
is that this teaching directly contradicts the plain teaching of the
Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy: for “there is salvation in no one else
. . . there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by
which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). “All power is given into
His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless
gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the
message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s
message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the
outpouring of HIS SPIRIT in large measure.” (Testimonies to Ministers, p.
92). Are we really so naïve
as to believe that God will bless our
refusal to accept the truth
that the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Christ?” Can we really
expect Christ to honor us with the
outpouring of His Spirit while we
are clinging to, and defending, a doctrine that denies this and has come to us straight out of the confusion of
Babylon? This is the most serious
of questions—especially at this moment in history. There is a growing desire and movement within our
church right now for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That is a good thing.
But we must ask ourselves why we desire the “outpouring.” Could we be
coveting the glory and power of God as the disciples Page 179 Once did—seeking position, authority and personal
honor? Could we be coveting a “feeling”
and an experience that will prove that we are accepted and
blessed of God? Such motives completely unfit
us for the honor of the calling in Christ Jesus and leave us completely
vulnerable to the deceptions of the Devil. Our desire for the outpouring of
the Spirit must be coupled with a
desire to understand the truth
about the Holy Spirit and all that it entails. Paul said that when we pray,
especially in regards to the Holy Spirit and its manifestation in our lives,
that we should pray with our “minds” and with our “understanding” also (See 1
Cor. 14:15)—not as one blindly asking for what we know not. As long as we
remain in confusion about the Holy
Spirit, we can be sure that the Devil will be glad to step in with a
counterfeit outpouring of the Spirit (his own spirit!) and will deceive many. In fact, we are told that this is going to be the
case at the end of time. You can read about it in the book “Early Writings”
in the chapter entitled “End of the 2300 Days,” pages 54-56. Here you will
find a description of two very different groups of people. One group has understood clearly that Jesus’ work
was not completed at the
cross—that He still had the work of Sanctifying
a people for Himself and that he had an investigative judgment to perform.
These people understand clearly the work that Christ has been doing (and how He has been doing it) and have
followed His movements through the heavenly Sanctuary. These people
understand that Christ is not only our substitute and Savior, they will also
understand that He is much more than that—they will understand Him to be
their Creator and “Father” (both
by his initial act of creation and
by his “re-creation” through the new birth experience). With this
understanding: “Those who rose up with
Jesus would send up their faith to Him in the holiest and pay, ‘My Father,
give us Thy Spirit.’ Then Jesus would breathe on them the Holy Ghost. In that
breath was light, power, and much love, joy, and peace.” (EW, p. 55). The second group of people did not understand
Christ’s work of sanctification and judgment. They have not followed Him
through His work in the Heavenly Sanctuary and, while desiring the “holy Spirit,” are completely unprepared to receive
it. Because they do not understand Christ’s work, they are deceived into worshiping Satan and
receiving his counterfeit. Here is
how Ellen Describes Page 180 this group of obviously sincere, yet deceived
people: “I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the
throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the
throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne,
and pray, ‘Father, give us Thy Spirit.’ Satan would then breathe upon them an
unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love,
joy, and peace. Satan’s object was to keep them deceived and to draw back and
deceive God’s Children.” (Ibid. p. 56). Truth matters!
Coveting the things of God is a good thing if it s done with understanding—if it is done with the Spirit of Wisdom and Truth! Satan has always wanted to be
the third member of the Godhead
and he is accomplishing this in the minds and experience of many people.
Following the great awakening of 1844 (the end of the 2300 days), there was a
revival that took place in many
denominations. Those who did not
understand and/or accept Christ’s
sacrifice and work for us began to be deceived by a host of manifestations of
the devil’s spirit. During this time there was the mysterious “knocking”
involving the Fox sisters, the “quaking” of the Quakers, the manifestation of
the false gift of tongues and many, many false doctrines introduced
(Dispensationalism, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormonism, Evolution, etc.). All of
these things happened just following the true spiritual enlightenment of
Christ’s work in 1844. Isn’t it extremely likely that even greater false
manifestations will take place at the very close of Christ’s work when His Spirit is about to be poured out
in full measure in fulfillment of His promise found in Joel 2:28? What
“Spirit” we will partake of will be decided in great measure by what we understand and accept the Holy Spirit to be! Will we understand and accept it to
be Christ’s Spirit, or will we
fall prey to the devil’s counterfeit? Christ denied Himself in ways we have only begun to
acknowledge and comprehend (much less appreciate).
Christ always sought to give glory to His Father. We must have the same
motive—to give glory to Christ. Christ sacrificed Himself in order to save us. Christ laid aside the power of His
own divine nature (Spirit) in order that we may overcome as He overcame and
be granted eternal life in Him. We are called to deny ourselves, and work as He did, for the good and salvation of
others. Christ has not left us alone
to accomplish this. He has given us His
Holy Spirit, and through this gift He has promised to impart His
own divine nature to us what we Page 181 may be transformed into His image and do the works
of God. What a puny sacrifice
we are called to make—to give up our sin,
our selfish desires, to love our fellow man, and to be
co-workers with Christ! What a puny sacrifice
is ours, when compared to that of Christ’s! It takes my breath away! How must
we respond to the privilege that is ours through Christ’s sacrifice?
God will have a people who will honor His Son. He will have a people who understand and appreciate
the eternal sacrifice that has been made in order to redeem them—a sacrifice
that has come at an “infinite cost to the Father and the Son.” (RH, March 10,
1891, par. 2) and “at an inconceivable cost to the Son of God” (ST, January
6, 1887, par. 3). God will have a people who will not deny Christ or His
Spirit, and who will accept the provision that has been made in order that we may become partakers of His divine
nature. That “provision” is the Holy Spirit of Christ. “Christ expects that
men will become partakers of His divine nature while in this world.” (5T, p.
731, par. 1), and He has given us “His own Spirit, the life of His own life.”
(DA, p. 827, par. 3) in order that we may actually do this. But He can never
give us His Spirit until we
acknowledge it as such, and until we ask Him
for it. Too many of us are praying for something for which we have no knowledge. The time has come for
God’s Remnant people to reclaim this important truth—to place it firmly into
its proper place—giving Christ the honor, glory and respect He deserves by
acknowledging and accepting the wonderful sacrifice of His Spirit on our
behalf. When we do this, we enable God to accomplish His work in us. God will
have a people who not only “know the Truth” but who will be empowered and set free by it. It is extremely interesting to me to notice what was
going on in the church when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened the
first time, and when it very nearly happened again in 1888. When the early
church gathered in the upper room, their focus was totally on Christ and what He had done—they recognized much more
fully the sacrifice that Christ had made—they now knew who He was and what He
had actually done—and they earnestly repented
and asked Christ to fill them with His grace and power. It was then that the Holy Spirit was poured
out in special measure. In 1888, our church’s focus began to center on Christ and Christ alone—people were repenting of their sins and were
seeking for Page 182 Christ to fill them with His righteousness—asking for His
power to overcome sin and form a righteous character within them. The
Holy Spirit began to be poured out
once again, but then halted as we lost
our focus and became embroiled in a host of other issues. It is my sincere
belief that the “power” that is missing as we have attempted to recreate and
proclaim the 1888 message, is the truth about Christ’s Holy Spirit. Christ cannot impart His righteousness to
us until we understand that He is
the one doing it! Until we regain our focus on Christ and His
righteousness—until we understand the sacrifice of Christ in giving His Spirit to us that we may become
partakers of His divine nature,
imparting His life and His righteousness to us—we will never
experience the Latter Rain which is to be poured out in full measure. Christ literally became one with us, in
order that we may literally become
one with Him. When we finally accept this truth, we will be enabled to become
“partakers” of His divine nature and become the Sons and Daughters of God as no other beings in history have had
the privilege. Then, the same
words that were spoken by the Father to
Christ, will be spoken of us also:
“YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN
YOU.” And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME.”
(Heb. 1:5). To which of the Angels has God granted the privilege of
partaking in the sufferings of Christ? To which of the Angels has He granted
the privilege of being called “Son?” To which of the Angels has He promised
to reign in His kingdom? Upon which of the Angels has He promised to “pour
out” His Spirit? Behold what manner of Love the Father has given unto us—that
we may actually partake of Christ’s divine nature and be called the “Sons and
Daughters of God!” “Man’s salvation depends
upon his receiving Christ by faith. Those who will not receive Him lose
eternal life because they refused to avail themselves of the only means
provided by the Father and the Son for the salvation of the perishing world.”
(MS #142 [SDA BC, vol. 7, p. 931]). The “Only means” that the Father and the Son have
provided—is the Spirit of Christ. By Christ, through Christ, Christ in us—the
hope of glory! This is to be the theme song of the remnant people of God. “One interest will prevail, one subject
will swallow up every other,--Christ our righteousness.” RH, December 23,
1890, par. 19). Page 183 “Jesus is waiting to
breathe upon all His disciples, and give them the inspiration of His
sanctifying Spirit, and transfuse the vital influence from Himself to His
people . . . Their will must be submitted to His will, they must act with His
Spirit that it may be no more they that live, but Christ that liveth in them.
Jesus is seeking to impress upon them the thought that in giving His Holy
Spirit He is giving to them the glory which the Father hath given Him.” (Letter
11b, 1892 [MR, vol. 4, p. 334]). It is time for the people of God to wake up! The
fullness of the incarnation of Christ is not yet complete. HE has yet to reproduce Himself in His people—He
has yet to incarnate His Spirit into you and I and us into Himself. Will we
let Him do this? “May the Lord help us
to die to self and be born again, that Christ may live in us, a living,
active principle, a power that will keep us holy . . . God knows what you can
be. He knows what divine grace can do for you if you will be partakers of the
divine nature.” (9T, p. 187, par. 4 & p. 188, par. 2). Do You? |
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