Warnings-
The
Seal of God.
"He
cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge
over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his
hand." Ezk. 9:1
And
he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his
side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the
midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and
that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the
others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite:
let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both
maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is
the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which
were before the house." Ezk 9:3-6
Jesus
is about to leave the mercy seat of the heavenly sanctuary to put on garments
of vengeance and pour out His wrath in judgments upon those who have not
responded to the light God has given them.
"Because sentence against an evil work is not
executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them
to do evil." Ecc 8:11
Instead
of being softened by the patience and long forbearance that the Lord has
exercised toward them, those who fear not God and love not the truth strengthen
their hearts in their evil course. But there are limits even to the forbearance
of God, and many are exceeding these boundaries. They have overrun the limits
of grace, and therefore God must interfere and vindicate His own honor. . .
The
class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor
mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God.
The
Lord commissions His messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their
hands: "Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye
spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little
children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin
at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the
house. Ezk. 9:6
Here
we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke
of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light
and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had
betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for
miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times
have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord
will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His
people in judgment. Thus "Peace and safety" is the cry from men
who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people
their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that
would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God.
Men, maidens, and little children all perish together. . .
It is with reluctance that the Lord withdraws
His presence from those who have been blessed with great light and who have
felt the power of the word in ministering to others. They were once His
faithful servants, favored with His presence and guidance; but they departed
from Him and led others into error, and therefore are brought under the divine
displeasure.
The
day of God's vengeance is just upon us. The seal of God will be placed upon the
foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land.
Those who link in sympathy with the world are eating and drinking with the
drunken and will surely be destroyed with the workers of iniquity. "The
eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their
prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."
Our
own course of action will determine whether we shall receive the seal of the
living God or be cut down by the destroying weapons. Already a few drops
of God's wrath have fallen upon the earth; but when the seven last plagues
shall be poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation, then it
will be forever too late to repent and find shelter. No atoning blood will then
wash away the stains of sin.
"And
at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the
children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was
since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people
shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book."
When
this time of trouble comes, every case is decided; there is no longer
probation, no longer mercy for the impenitent. The seal of the living God is
upon His people. This small remnant, unable to defend themselves in the deadly
conflict with the powers of earth that are marshaled by the dragon host, make
God their defense. The decree has been passed by the highest earthly authority
that they shall worship the beast and receive his mark under pain of
persecution and death. May God help His people now, for what can they then do
in such a fearful conflict without His assistance! (Testimonies for the Church,
Vol. 5, Pp. 211-212; bold, italicized, and underscored emphasis added.)
Shall
We Be Found Wanting?
Our
position in the world is not what it should be. We are far from where we should
have been had our Christian experience been in harmony with the light and the
opportunities given us, had we from the beginning constantly pressed on ward
and upward. Had we walked in the light that has been given us, had we followed
on to know the Lord, our path would have grown brighter and brighter. But many
of those who have had special light are so conformed to the world that they can
scarcely be distinguished from worldlings. They do not stand forth as God's
peculiar people, chosen and precious. It is difficult to discern between him
that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.
In the balances of
the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed. She will be
judged by the privileges and advantages that she has had. If her spiritual
experience does not correspond to the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost,
has bestowed on her, if the blessings conferred have not qualified her to do
the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence: "Found
wanting." By the light bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be
judged. . .
One who sees beneath
the surface, who reads the hearts of all men, says of those who have had great
light: "They are not afflicted and astonished because of their moral and
spiritual condition." Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul
delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will
bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I
spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before Mine eyes, and chose that in
which I delighted not." "God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a lie," because "they received not the love
of the truth, that they might be saved," "but had pleasure in
unrighteousness." Isaiah 66:3, 4; 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 10, 12.
The heavenly Teacher
inquired: "What stronger delusion can beguile the mind than the pretense
that you are building on the right foundation and that God accepts your works,
when in reality you are working out many things according to worldly policy and
are sinning against Jehovah? Oh, it is a great deception, a fascinating
delusion, that takes possession of minds when men who have once known the
truth, mistake the form of godliness for the spirit and power thereof; when
they suppose that they are rich and increased with goods and in need of
nothing, while in reality they are in need of everything." . . .
Who
can truthfully say: "Our gold is tried in the fire; our garments are
unspotted by the world"? I saw our Instructor pointing to the garments of
so-called righteousness. Stripping them off, He laid bare the defilement
beneath. Then He said to me: "Can you not see how they have
pretentiously covered up their defilement and rottenness of
character? 'How is the faithful city become an harlot!' My Father's house
is made a house of merchandise, a place whence the divine presence and glory
have departed! For this cause there is weakness, and strength is
lacking." . . .
Unless
the church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent
and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall
abhor herself. (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, Pp. 247-248; bold emphasis
added) [The Church has not repented; and Luke 21:24 establishes that
judgment has been rendered:
Even
as the sanctuary . . .;
The
first parallel . . .]
Three
Angels' Message to the Church
"The
first, second, and third angels' messages are to be repeated. The call is to be
given to the church: 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every
unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath
of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with
her, and the merchants of the earth have waxed rich through the abundance of
her delicacies. . . . Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached
unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.'"
Many
who went forth to meet the Bridegroom under the messages of the first and
second angels, refused the third, the last testing message to be given to the
world, and a similar position will
be taken when the last call is made. (RH,
October 31, 1899; emphasis added)
Seducing
Spirits and Doctrines of Devils
Let
the truths that are the foundation of our faith be kept before the people. Some
will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of
devils. They talk science, and the enemy comes in and gives them an abundance
of science; but it is not the science of salvation. It is not the science of
humility, of consecration, or of the sanctification of the Spirit. We are
now to understand what the pillars of our faith are,--the truths that have made
us as a people what we are, leading us on step by step.- - Review and Herald, May 25, 1905. {CW 29.1}
Take
Heed What and How We Hear.--From time to time we need unitedly to examine the
reasons of our faith. It is essential that we study carefully the truths of
God's Word; for we read that "some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils [demons]." We are in
grave danger when we lightly regard any truth; for then the mind is opened to
error. We must take heed how and what we hear. We need not seek to understand
the arguments that men offer in support of their theories, when it may be
readily discerned that these theories are not in harmony with the Scriptures.
Some who think that they have scientific knowledge are by their interpretations
giving wrong ideas both of science and of the Bible. Let the Bible decide
every question that is essential to man's salvation.--MM 96 (1904).{DG 78.3}
"And
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and
out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For
they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings
of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great
day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth,
and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (without the robe of Christ's
righteousness) and they see his shame" (Revelation 16:13-15).--Letter 141,
1902, p. 6. (To Brother and Sister Haskell, September 10, 1902.) {8MR 345.1}
There
will be seducing spirits and doctrines of devils in the midst of the
church, and these evil influences will increase; but hold fast the beginning of
your confidence firm unto the end.--Ms 61,
1906, p. 2. ("Hold Fast the Beginning of Your Confidence," June 29,
1906.) (8MR 345.2)
The
Great Apostasy
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 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 today 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. (NYI, February 7, 1906 par. 1)
The
Laodicean Condition
The
Church is in the Laodicean state. The presence of God is not in her
midst." Notebook Leaflets, 99.
The
message to the church of the Laodiceans is a startling denunciation, and is
applicable to the people of God at the present time. . .
The
Lord here shows us that the message to be borne to His people by ministers whom
He has called to warn the people is not a peace-and-safety message. It is not
merely theoretical, but practical in every particular. The people of God are
represented in the message to the Laodiceans as in a position of carnal
security. They are at ease, believing themselves to be in an exalted condition
of spiritual attainments. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased
with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
What
greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they
are right when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the
people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not
that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed
are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the
message of the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation
of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The
testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True
Witness who speaks, and His testimony must be correct. (Testimonies, Vol. 3, P. 252)
The
true people of God, who have the spirit of the work of the Lord and the
salvation of souls at heart, will ever view sin in its real, sinful character.
They will always be on the side of faithful and plain dealing with sins which
easily beset the people of God. Especially in the closing work for the
church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who
are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply
the wrongs of God's professed people. This is forcibly set forth by the
prophet's illustration of the last work under the figure of the men each having
a slaughter weapon in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen, with
a writer's inkhorn by his side. "And the Lord said unto him, Go through
the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the
foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be
done in the midst thereof."
Who
are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually
excuse wrongs among the professed people of God and who murmur in their hearts,
if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their
stand against them and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No,
indeed! Unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing
those who have the burden of the work and in holding up the hands of sinners in
Zion, they will never receive the mark of God's sealing approval. They will
fall in the general destruction of the wicked, represented by the work of the
five men bearing slaughter weapons. Mark this point with care: Those who
receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost,
represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those "that sigh and that
cry for all the abominations that be done" in the church. Their love for
purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony,
even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel.
But
the general slaughter of all those who do not thus see the wide contrast
between sin and righteousness, and do not feel as those do who stand in the
counsel of God and receive the mark, is described in the order to the five men
with slaughter weapons: "Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let
not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both
maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is
the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." (Ibid. Pp.
266-267.)
Some
will not receive the testimony that God has given us to bear, flattering
themselves that we may be deceived and that they may be right. They think that
the people of God are not in need of plain dealing and of reproof, but that God
is with them. These tempted ones, whose souls have ever been at war with
the faithful reproving of sin, would cry: Speak unto us smooth things. What
disposition will these make of the message of the True Witness to the
Laodiceans? There can be no deception here. This message must be borne to a
lukewarm church by God's servants. It must arouse His people from their
security and dangerous deception in regard to their real standing before God.
This testimony, if received, will arouse to action and lead to self-abasement
and confession of sins. . . . (Ibid.,
P.269.)
A
False Reformation
The
enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation
was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would
consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and
engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take
place, what would result?
The
principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church,
would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles
that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as
error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be
written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders
of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath
of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing
would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would
teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place
their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their
foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away
the structure. (1SM, 204.2)
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