The 5th trumpet and the rat race
Hello again D______,
Last night I talked on the phone with a friend in Pennsylvania. We are arranging a hike up a mountain with some other friends and their children. It will be on a Sabbath, which we always enjoy once in a while. The last hike we did was the past summer.
My friend was very stressed about his workload. He works for a military contractor and his company layed off over half of its workers and hasn't slowed down the work for the remaining people. This is happening in many other places also and the workers are afraid to work slower for fear of losing their jobs. Secure jobs are getting increasingly harder to find these days.
So, we talked until 11:30 about church issues and about the stress of working in the world, and even the stress of church responsibilities. He has a friend from work that joined their Adventist church, but finds it hard to cope with the stress of life. This person has been on medication for anxiety and stopped taking it because didn't want to be hooked on it anymore.
But, to get off the world's temporary chemical solutions for spiritual problems doesn't help unless the person is attached to Jesus by faith. It isn’t until the heart is healed through the mighty power of the Holy Spirit that our problems get fixed. My friend said his friend has found it easier to cope now than when that person first stopped taking the medication. But, I feel that he has encouraged his friend to suffer unnecessarily with anxiety.
No one is encouraging his friend to know Jesus, or personally introducing Jesus to his friend. This kind of situation is pervasive throughout the Adventist church and every other Protestant church and Catholicism. We don't know Jesus. We can't bring people to Him. This is a real dilemma.
When I go up and see them I'm praying for the words and encouragement needed to allow them to lay hold of Christ. That is where our power to live in this world comes from. I was reading this morning from Job.
"Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
For He maketh sore, and bindeth up: He woundeth, and His hands make whole.
He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
In famine He shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." (Job 5:17-27).
This is a real powerful promise of what happens when the soul bows in surrender to the Spirit of God. That soul becomes impregnable to the troubles and evils of this life. The transformation that takes place in the heart and mind fortifies them to face life, and even death.
But, notice that the beginning of this process was the wounding and healing of the Lord. Its not until that happens that the strength of heaven are ours. I want to present this to my friends. It ties in with the 5th trumpet perfectly, because the 5th trumpet in 1849 is about torment, and that is exactly what is happening around the world and in the churches.
I talked with my friend about the trumpets and how the 5th trumpet is tied with the investigative judgment period. We spoke about how technology since 1849 has put God at a great distance and made it very difficult for sinners to need Him, and therefore to put faith in Him. My friend agreed with all of that. He saw that as his problem. So he is looking forward to hearing more about the trumpet prophecy. I explained it to him and another brother there a couple of years ago. But they were doubtful of it. Maybe now they will listen to it.
I want to share the trumpet study with the others who come to the hike. Some are very loyal to the Spirit of Prophecy, so they will be challenged. I would love to see them join me in looking into this. My friend on the phone is also very loyal to Mrs. White, but, given his circumstances, he was ready to look into the trumpets. I'm happy to present the trumpets to hardcore Spirit of Prophecy people; because if they can agree with what I've found, then I feel more at peace with the discrepancy it makes with a few of Ellen White's conclusions.
I don't feel comfortable with standing apart from her. But I do feel good about letting the Bible speak for itself. So many Adventists have been Spirit of Prophecy students and not Bible students. Prophets were human agents for infallible, immutable communications of God's will. The human agent can try his best to use a word to communicate the thought given by the infinite Holy Spirit, but may fail of expressing that thought with perfect exactness or even understanding that thought perfectly clearly. God's word is infallible because it is self-correcting. The many minds of the scripture writers have been able to clarify each other. Ellen White had only her mind and could not correct wrong conceptions she might have had. The scriptures alone are infallible when understood correctly.
New light will show who has heeded the authoritative words of the Spirit of Prophecy and, having done so, whose minds have become opened to understand the Bible. True Bible students are the fruit of the Spirit of Prophecy. The trumpets could reveal who has been sighing and crying from the wounds of the Lord from His Law, as given to us through the precious soul, Mrs. Ellen G. White. Through her we can say, "Now...the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." (Matt. 3:10).
Your brother,
David
Last night I talked on the phone with a friend in Pennsylvania. We are arranging a hike up a mountain with some other friends and their children. It will be on a Sabbath, which we always enjoy once in a while. The last hike we did was the past summer.
My friend was very stressed about his workload. He works for a military contractor and his company layed off over half of its workers and hasn't slowed down the work for the remaining people. This is happening in many other places also and the workers are afraid to work slower for fear of losing their jobs. Secure jobs are getting increasingly harder to find these days.
So, we talked until 11:30 about church issues and about the stress of working in the world, and even the stress of church responsibilities. He has a friend from work that joined their Adventist church, but finds it hard to cope with the stress of life. This person has been on medication for anxiety and stopped taking it because didn't want to be hooked on it anymore.
But, to get off the world's temporary chemical solutions for spiritual problems doesn't help unless the person is attached to Jesus by faith. It isn’t until the heart is healed through the mighty power of the Holy Spirit that our problems get fixed. My friend said his friend has found it easier to cope now than when that person first stopped taking the medication. But, I feel that he has encouraged his friend to suffer unnecessarily with anxiety.
No one is encouraging his friend to know Jesus, or personally introducing Jesus to his friend. This kind of situation is pervasive throughout the Adventist church and every other Protestant church and Catholicism. We don't know Jesus. We can't bring people to Him. This is a real dilemma.
When I go up and see them I'm praying for the words and encouragement needed to allow them to lay hold of Christ. That is where our power to live in this world comes from. I was reading this morning from Job.
"Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
For He maketh sore, and bindeth up: He woundeth, and His hands make whole.
He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
In famine He shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." (Job 5:17-27).
This is a real powerful promise of what happens when the soul bows in surrender to the Spirit of God. That soul becomes impregnable to the troubles and evils of this life. The transformation that takes place in the heart and mind fortifies them to face life, and even death.
But, notice that the beginning of this process was the wounding and healing of the Lord. Its not until that happens that the strength of heaven are ours. I want to present this to my friends. It ties in with the 5th trumpet perfectly, because the 5th trumpet in 1849 is about torment, and that is exactly what is happening around the world and in the churches.
I talked with my friend about the trumpets and how the 5th trumpet is tied with the investigative judgment period. We spoke about how technology since 1849 has put God at a great distance and made it very difficult for sinners to need Him, and therefore to put faith in Him. My friend agreed with all of that. He saw that as his problem. So he is looking forward to hearing more about the trumpet prophecy. I explained it to him and another brother there a couple of years ago. But they were doubtful of it. Maybe now they will listen to it.
I want to share the trumpet study with the others who come to the hike. Some are very loyal to the Spirit of Prophecy, so they will be challenged. I would love to see them join me in looking into this. My friend on the phone is also very loyal to Mrs. White, but, given his circumstances, he was ready to look into the trumpets. I'm happy to present the trumpets to hardcore Spirit of Prophecy people; because if they can agree with what I've found, then I feel more at peace with the discrepancy it makes with a few of Ellen White's conclusions.
I don't feel comfortable with standing apart from her. But I do feel good about letting the Bible speak for itself. So many Adventists have been Spirit of Prophecy students and not Bible students. Prophets were human agents for infallible, immutable communications of God's will. The human agent can try his best to use a word to communicate the thought given by the infinite Holy Spirit, but may fail of expressing that thought with perfect exactness or even understanding that thought perfectly clearly. God's word is infallible because it is self-correcting. The many minds of the scripture writers have been able to clarify each other. Ellen White had only her mind and could not correct wrong conceptions she might have had. The scriptures alone are infallible when understood correctly.
New light will show who has heeded the authoritative words of the Spirit of Prophecy and, having done so, whose minds have become opened to understand the Bible. True Bible students are the fruit of the Spirit of Prophecy. The trumpets could reveal who has been sighing and crying from the wounds of the Lord from His Law, as given to us through the precious soul, Mrs. Ellen G. White. Through her we can say, "Now...the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." (Matt. 3:10).
Your brother,
David
posted by David | 12:15 PM
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