Our journey with Jesus

"The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place." (Deut. 1:30,31).

Isn't that a precious thought? "Thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place."

After Jesus delivered us from the bitterness and self-indulgence that comes with serving Satan, He has been responsible for bringing us all the way until we came to this place in our venture with God.

It's had its ups and downs. But all in all, we have learned a lot. No, we haven't finished our sealing and entered our land flowing with milk and honey. Yes, our path has been very circuitous, like the children of Israel for forty years.

But, here we are, by God's grace alone (!), still in the fight of faith. The tribes of Israel hadn't yet gone in to obtain the Canaan land, at the time of this context. And neither have we. Yet, Jesus still showers us with His approbation.

"The Lord your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 

(The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as He hath promised you!). (Vs. 10,11).

The Lord make you a thousand times more filled with His presence! Isn't that the stuff of the blessing that Aaron poured upon the whole nation?

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." (Num. 6:22-26).

After all that they had done wrong, and would do wrong! It's like Peter. I don't remember him being perfect. But perfection was his goal because he came to love Jesus as his perfect friend, "Lord; thou knowest that I love [phileo] Thee." (John 21:15). Phileo means to love a close friend.

How could Peter stay in the good graces of God? By simply loving His Son with unfeigned love.

"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." (1Pet. 1:22). Peter's soul was being purified through the Spirit. And what is the Spirit? 

It's the union and communion with a reconciled God through His Son. "He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit." (1Cir. 6:17). When we saddle up next to Jesus, we join in the eternal union of Father and Son. God blesses us and keeps us. 

"He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.... If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him." (John 14:21,23).

And God will "bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into" "that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." (Deut. 4:21).

Undo the heavy burden, break every yoke

"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 7:25).

What does "every" mean, as in breaking "every yoke"?

"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" (Isa. 58:6,7).

These acts of kindness certainly are God's will. Jesus had a small treasury for that purpose. Peter admonished Paul in that, which he had been greatly involved in. "Only they [Peter, John, and James] would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do." (Gal. 2:10).

But, is addressing the physical wants enough? Are they all that Jesus has to offer for the uplifting of a downtrodden world? Creature comforts are a necessity, but are they the greatest necessity?

We do the easy work, and eskew the hard things. We fast and pray, but don't get through to God. But Jesus told us to fast and pray. "Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him [the devil] out? And Jesus said unto them,... This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." (Matt. 17:19,21).

What went wrong? What is going wrong today? We can't help others overcome their sins and temptations and the devils, and we can't overcome our own. When our obedience doesn't have the results God promised, we must go back to the drawing board. We must go back to the One who promised the victory. We must afflict our souls before Him, we must fast from self. That means leaving more than just food, which we need.

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." (Jas. 4:3). 

"Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again." (John 4:13).

"Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled." (John 4:26).

God sees the obstacles that prevent the access to Him that we wish for so badly. He sees our hearts, whether or not they are deceitful and desperately wicked. Can we admit that possibility? Will we accept the rebuke of God? The human heart is that wretched. Separated from God, the heart is only "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9). 

We are blinded to our idolatry. We are full of adultery in our relations with our Lord, and can't discern our condition. We don't know ourselves. We don't see our heart as God sees it. Our love for Him is riddled with spiritual Trichinella  worms, "and of all uncleanness.

But if we can't change our heart, yet our present evil heart is unable to get to God, then what can we do? Give up on the whole business of salvation?

Two things. Yes, there is a definite work by which God can bless us. But isn't that salvation by works? Didn't Jesus say, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent" (John 6:29)? Doesn't that mean I should just sit back and enjoy the ride? 

Absolutely not! Not only is your loved one's eternal life at stake here, but your eternal life is at stake on this point, also. Are you going to assume that you have nothing to do except what you have always been doing, but has never panned out? No, any sincere person will want to be sure that he is doing all that the Judge requires.

"And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint... 'And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?'" (Luke 18:1,7,8).

No. Here's the two things, and they won't be easy: Importunate prayer, and seeking His will.

I.e., 1) Continuously pray for His help until His help comes. And then, 2) while praying, work your prayers. Work your prayers? Yes, by studying His instructions in righteousness until He tells you've found the answer.

Because He told us, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." (Prov. 28:9). And He will speak to us, not by emptying the mind and waiting in the silence, but through His plethora of previously given light.

"My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." (Prov. 6:20-23).

Break every yoke. Undo heavy burdens. Loose the cords of wickedness and set the oppressed free. Throw out the acts that make you look like you're praying, and work your prayers. All the while, keep asking God to show you the right way. "Give me a vision of what I need to do or say!!" "My wife, my son, my daughter, my friend, my neighbor, my enemy needs this and that!!" "Show me the way!!"

"Give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." (Isa. 62:7).

"Give Me no rest! That's an order!" "And I will answer you!"

Why does He wait so long to answer? Because we need the faith that comes from bothering Him. We need the trust that comes out of the mud wrestling with our God.

"Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" (Isa. 58:5,6).

The Spirit of Prophecy not optional

"The remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Rev. 12:17).

Some friends and I just read the short chapter in Early Writings, entitled, "The Shaking". That chapter is a "must read".

Why do I say that? Because we are getting woefully close to the first time of trouble. Who can deny that? That means the shaking is right upon us.

"Oh, what a day is before us! What sifting will there be among those who claim to be the children of God! The unjust will be found among the just. Those who have great light and who have not walked in it will have darkness corresponding to the light they have despised. We have need to heed the lesson contained in the words of Paul, “But I keep under my body, and bring it in subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” The enemy is diligently working to see whom he can add to the ranks of apostasy; but the Lord is soon coming, and erelong every case will be decided for eternity. Those whose works correspond with the light graciously given them will be numbered on the Lord's side.

But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor." Counsels for the church, p. 338.

"I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Firmness and great earnestness was expressed in their countenances; large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads. Now and then their faces would light up with the marks of God's approbation, and again the same solemn, earnest, anxious look would settle upon them....

As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts and light up their countenances. Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. The angels of God left these and went to the aid of the earnest, praying ones. I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance. But His angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them.

I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God's people.

I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified." Early Writings, p. 269,270.

According to these statements in Early Writings, there is only one way to survive the shaking/sifting. That is to heed the straight testimony of Jesus. It is to stand before the perfect law of liberty. It is to let the mighty Cleaver of truth scourge every son who God receives.

The very destiny of our church hangs upon our reception of the straight testimony from Jesus. The destiny of the Advent movement is a 144,000 having obtained the victory over self and standing without fault before the throne of God on the day that Jesus returns, when "the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." (Luke 21:27).

But, all who will disregard the Spirit of Prophecy will be disregarding that which Jesus gave His Laodicean church for a destiny that leads to purification, especially so in Earth's final furnace of affliction, the early time of trouble.

"'At the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully.'...

"'The commencement of that time of trouble,' here mentioned does not refer to the time when the plagues shall begin to be poured out, but to a short period just before they are poured out, while Christ is in the sanctuary. At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel. At that time the 'latter rain,' or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out." Ibid. p. 85,86.

The final vindication of God's character is a great privilege. The Advent movement's gift of prophecy is Jesus' privileged grace by which His Adventists will vindicate the Father, and with which He kept ancient Israel. Through His prophets Jesus constantly sent the Israelites guidance, and power to obey His personal guidance. Without His constant voice of instruction and correction, and His sometimes out of character purging the children of Israel would never have been ready for the Messiah.

In our case, His strong voice is given to us through His messenger, Ellen White, or the 144,000 could never be ready for His return. Therefore, if disregarding the voice of truth to the Israelites meant His cutting them off, then our disregarding the Lord's messenger would lead to Israel's fate being ours. The Lord is no respecter of persons, for good or for evil.

The Spirit of Prophecy straight testimony is not optional, just as it wasn't optional for ancient Israel. Instead, it is our great privilege, as it was theirs. They inherited the weighty covenant with the only true, holy God. They didn't choose to be strapped with the covenant their father Abraham made with the Creator.

But a covenant with the Father of love and Law need not be a liability. When obedient to Him He unswervingly protected them from the destroyer who despises every individual or group who are having the image of God traced upon them. And He raised them up above all peoples in the earth.

At the end, the 144,000 will be 100% obedient. And accordingly, whatsoever they do shall prosper because God will be with them. Before "the work of salvation is closing", and before "trouble will be coming on the earth" and all the nations are agitated, "some" Adventists will have been afflicting their souls in the presence of the scourging Schoolmaster. He then will drive them to seek the Lord's face for His loving-kindness and tender-mercies. And they will obtain it. That is, they will receive His blotting out of all sin, and His Spirit will testify to theirs that His Father is reconciled with them. So, they will obtain the victory over sin and self.

An angry world

"The nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come. And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." (Rev. 11:18).

What will cause all the nations to be angry at the end? Why does it seem to coincide with God's wrath, as in the third angel's message against everyone who chooses the Mark of the beast? Its context, when laid over Revelation 15, also shows that it is time for the last plagues. Does their anger stem from God plaguing the earth with the three woes, which Revelation 9:20 calls plagues, because the nations will have corrupted Noah's old world order? When Israel was delivered from Egypt, they could have gone in to conquer Canaan. The Canaanites had corrupted the Lord's land, and He said the land was going to vomit them out. As it happened, rather than frogs or the Nile turned bloody or the Sun darkened that afflicted Egypt, hornets helped Israel to afflict the Canaanites and drive them out. Have the Jesuit-corrupting locusts from the bottomless pit almost wholly corrupted the nations of the world that are soon to be vomited out of God's peace, Protestant America being first in line? 

(The tormenting locusts with scorpion tails, followed by killing locusts with man-eating lion's mouths and lethal viper tails, are the symbolic mode of destroying faith in the earth, thereby corrupting the earth. The three woes are the first three of the ten last plagues, the first three afflicting even the people getting the Seal of God in their foreheads, with its holy, deeply rooted self-denial. And once received, the rest will have the Mark of the beast, and its deeply rooted self-exaltation and self-indulgence. Then the last seven of the ten plagues will afflict only those who would prefer the Mark's self-indulgence and self-exaltation, rather than the Seal's self-forgetfulness and self-abnegation.)

But what will make the nations angry? Several things factor into their rage, which we can see by letting scripture interpret scripture.

"Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them.

And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.

And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity." (2Chron. 15:3-6).

God's vexation was of a character that made the people fight among each other, fighting between Jewish cities, fighting between Jewish nations (tribes), and even between Israel and neighboring nations.

"There was no peace." No peace in the heart leads to no peace outside the heart, creating inter-personal conflicts and long lasting family feuds. When King Solomon left the God of his father, he also had no peace and lots of wars. His own inspired words were a witness against him, "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." (Prov. 16:7)

"And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, (who) had appeared unto him twice,

And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.

Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant." (1Kings 11:9-11).

 

The Lord raised up enemies of Irael. This was for a wake-up call to Solomon, if perhaps he would arouse and again seek the only true God. 

"And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country." (1Kings 11:21).

"And God stirred Him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.

And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria." (Vs. 23-25).

"And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king...." (Vs. 26).

The Lord promised to exceedingly prosper Solomon on condition that he would remain faithful to all the covenant that his God had made with Israel. His promises are in effect only as long as the heart is justified, by which it comes in line with the character traits of God.

"I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.

And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in My ways, and do that is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.

Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam." (Vs. 37-40).

"And he (Rehoboam, son of Solomon) did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.

Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually." (1Chron. 12:14,15).

The constant strife with King Solomon and his son was only for keeping them back from complete apostasy and eternal destruction. God keeps His people under the curse of His broken Law so that He might justify them by a revived need for His grace. Rehoboam wouldn't seek his God in all honesty and sincerity, like King David had. Jesus remembered those blissful days of sweet communion with His son David. And, although Rehoboam never had the holy privilege of meeting his grandfather, the priests had taught him that holiness is what pleased the only true, living God. But the good life of the king's court spoiled Rehoboam's heart for holy heavenly things, and apathy set in. 

With King Asa the Lord repeated the punishment of unrest for national apostasy. The Lord's rebuke and the threat of war exploded the king's presumption.

"And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand....

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars." (2Chron. 16:7,9).

But instead of humble repentance, the king's response was imperious rage, against God, His prophet, and His few holy people.

Therefore, wars and disquietude would wear away the nation professing to serve Jehovah, and eventually humble a remnant within it. Ultimately though, most within their heaven blessed refuge, which had flowed with sweet love, joy, and peace, would be filled with hardened, brier-filled and thorny hearts from serving Satan through Baal and Ashtoreth worship, and then the soil of their hearts would become forever hardened when they received punishment from their Jehovah Elohim. 

Moses had long before forewarned the holy people of the unacceptable discipline upon proud hearts if they should choose to serve Satan and his priests.

"Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.

Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand.

Thy fruit of thy land, and all labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway." (Deut. 28:30-33).

Later, Jesus sent Isaiah to tell his people of a 700 year captivity that would begin in his lifetime and continue until the end of the Israelite nation.

"And He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Then said I, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof." (Isa. 6:9-13).

After Assyria would successively come Babylon and the other three world empires until the old covenant people of God would be full of briers and thorns, and their divinely imposed status taken away.

"The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes." (Isa. 7:17-19).

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.

With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns." (Isa. 7:23,24).

The briers and thorns symbolized the hardened hearts and disagreeable temperaments. Where in times of faithfulness gardens were lush with produce, silver was like stones for abundance, and peace flowed like a river, now after centuries of living in the glorious land without one yearning thought toward their God of love and Law, all the blessings, spiritual and temporal, would be taken away.  

Like a garden overgrown with thorns and thistles, the hearts of the apostatized descendants of beloved Abraham would be thorny and abrasive, worthy of Assyrian tribute, destruction, and centuries of captivity for all who would surrender. 

"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.

For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God.

But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." (Heb. 6:4-8).

They turned their ear away from hearing the Law, and their prayers became an abomination to God. Then the health-giving, joyful light of the Holy Spirit would go out, leaving them in a horrible, hopeless, perpetually darkened hearts. The vanity and vexation of spirit, their anxious and unsettling, inner turmoil from being cut off from the God of creative and recreative life, would be expressed in cursing and bitterness toward each other.

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness." (Isa. 8:20-22).

But the faithful remnant, who continued to let the Spirit of truth break up their fallow hearts and scourge their consciences, would remain before God, receiving His blessed Spirit, and would be the spiritual lineage that would receive the Messiah when He should come--Miriam and Joseph, Zacharias and Elizabeth, the shepherds and street urchins, demoniacs and publicans and sinners of all sorts, and common people--the 500 who saw Jesus ascend to His Father and the thousands who turned to the Father and Son after the ascension.

"And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle." (Isa. 7:25).

"For butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land." (Vs.22).

I believe these scriptures show the cause behind Revelation 11:18, "the nations were angry", and the time for judgment. And they show us how, 

by returning to the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, we can avoid the final, lifeless void of soul and burning wrath of God.

Are we letting the sixth trumpet cavalry of Jesuit locusts, ordained by the Satan-ordained Vatican, which not by coincidence but for convenience, was built upon the Necropolis, kill our consciences by their modern, deceptive and corrupting delusions, by which they bombard the world through every form of media and education, that God does not exist, or that His merciful kindness is not strong enough to forgive and imbue His children with His powerful presence?

Will we return to the twin mighty Cleavers of truth, be given a conviction of exceedingly sinful sins, receive an exceedingly needful need for an exceedingly merciful Saviour? Will we be given an exceedingly powerful loathing of our sins from on high that sanctifies us from sin and seals us?

The Law and the Testimony

"To the Law and to the Testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isa. 8:20).

Over the past few months a friend has been strongly encouraging me to vote. I keep pointing him to the Spirit of Prophecy counsel:

"We cannot with safety vote for political parties; for we do not know whom we are voting for." Gospel Workers, p. 391.2.

More recently, a different friend texted me the link to the video, "The great awakening, the world is about to change." It's been out for a few months, so it may be considered old news. I had never known of it, so I watched it. But near the beginning of it, a strong impression came to me following the same principle as the counsel above.

It said, "We cannot with safety believe the material that this video is propounding; for we do not know who made the video."

As the video made its way to some conclusion, I finally turned it off. Besides the above reason, here are other reasons for rejecting it:

1) It was not political party neutral. It highly favored the Republican party, in the person of President Donald Trump.

2) The enemy of everything today was either the Illuminati, the Democrats, the leftist liberals, George Soros, Bill Gates, the Clintons, the child sex abusers, and others. 

3) But there was perfect silence regarding the tormenting fifth and killing sixth trumpet Jesuits and Vatican! Aren't they showcased in Daniel and Revelation as God's primary nemesis? Did they create this video?

Of those voracious locust Jesuits John Adams correctly, although probably unwittingly, described them as swarming here.

"I do not like the late Resurrection of the Jesuits. They have a General, now in Russia, in correspondence with the Jesuits in the U.S. who are more numerous than every body knows. Shall We not have Swarms of them here? as many Shapes and disguises as ever a King of the Gypsies, Bamfied More Carew himself, assumed? In the shape of Printers, Editors, Writers School masters &c. I have lately read Pascalls Letters over again, and four Volumes of the History of the Jesuits. If ever any Congregation of Men could merit, eternal Perdition on Earth and in Hell; according to these Historians though like Pascall true Catholicks, it is this Company of Loiola. Our System however of Religious Liberty must afford them an Assylum. But if they do not put Purity of our Elections to a Severe Tryal, it will be a Wonder.

J. Adams"

Aren't we now seeing the purity of our whole political and election system put to severe trial? Then there is the high possibility of a population explosion of Jesuit agents. Let's not forget what a former Jesuit General revealed in a graduation commencement speech,

"Jesuit education would consist in the creation of multiplying agents." -- Pedro Arrupe

Are not the Jesuits more numerous than anybody knows? Do they not rule every aspect of our nation, yeah, of the world?! Then why are they conspicuously absent in the video? Why does the narrator villify other name after name, and expose documented crime after crime that the Justice Department overlooked and left unpunished, and never once connect it all to the humble, "little" company of Jesus, the sole masters of subterfuge? This video is the perfect psy-op.

I cannot disprove any or all of the allegations put forth by the video. But, is not the video one-sided? That told me that it is not to be trusted. And, what about the female narrator? Who was she? Her video never said. How can her credentials be investigated? How can we know her by her fruits? Then why should we trust the purported, extensive seams of truth that she unravelled?

But really, how can anyone outside your own little village be known by their fruits? How can anyone in our gigantic American empire be known by their fruits? Likewise, how can anyone be disowned by alleged evils of which the empire's media has accused them? So much assassination is taking place, why dismiss the high probability of character assassination? Why believe an anonymous voice hook, line, and sinker?

I'm not saying that the video's litany of crimes should be glossed over as though they weren't commited. But, I am saying that if the Bible's chief enemy is protected by the video, then I must speak out against it. I don't trust the media in any way anymore. When I saw how complicit the mainline media was with the 9/11 disinformation and deceptions I realized that the major media outlets had ended all real investigative reporting.

The only news we have now is their "official" propaganda or a few rare individual researchers here and there, surrounded by many secondary propagandists.

There is now only one way to find a true investigative reporter. "To the Law and to the Testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isa. 8:20).

Does a news outlet shed light on correct Bible truths? Does a video shed light on the Spirit of Prophecy counsels from Ellen G. White? I don't want to be charged as a fundamentalist extremist, but anymore in these days of deception, which Jesus forewarned us of, there exists nothing else, in which to put our faith, besides the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. Outside of the Lord as He has revealed His truth, no other refuge can be trusted. "If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." 

One last big question remains: Do I have the Spirit of truth? Do I have the discernment and courage to eskew homegrown Adventist misconceptions and falsehoods that have creeped into our doctrines and church practices? 

Nevermind how the creeping things got there (the mystery of iniquity?). All I know is that I see them, and they are multiplying. Trinitarianism. Feastkeeping. Celebration worship. High adrenalin preaching. Spiritual Formation (or whatever its newest name is). Ecumenism. Worldliness and country club ethics. No more preaching Jesus. No more confession of faults in personality conflicts. Very little salvation from sin.

It's what Ellen White wrote in Desire of Ages concerning John the Baptist. "He saw his people deceived, self-satisfied, and asleep in their sins." Could it be that she was hinting of her own secret disposition toward her people, especially of the last generation, that we are deceived, self-satisfied, and asleep in our sins? She did compare her ministry to John's.

Are we still the people of the Book? All of us? Are we still searching the scriptures as for hidden treasures? She made another assessment of our final SDA generation, 

"As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls." Great Controversy, p. 608.

If it turns out that I am not sealed with the Seal of the living God, then how can I possibly navigate the deceptions that are being arrayed against the children of the Most High? How can I be part of the Latter Rain and the great Tribulation, and not abandon my Three Angels' theology? How can I survive Jacob's troubles, and with face pale and haggard, stand when Jesus returns? How will I be changed when we shall see Him as He is, and not run in stark terror, only to be destroyed by the heat of His presence and the brightness of His coming?

It all begins with the fear of God, and the Law and testimonies.