By The Remnant Herald
“Now is the time for God’s people to show themselves true to principle. When the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His law is most despised, then should our zeal be the warmest and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few — this will be our test. At this time, we must gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice and loyalty from their treason…The Captain of our salvation will strengthen His people for the conflict in which they must engage…Now is the time when we should closely connect with God that we may be hid when the fierceness of His wrath is poured upon the sons of men. We have wandered away from the old landmarks. Let us return. If the Lord be God, serve Him; if Baal, serve him. Which side will you be on?” (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, pp. 136, 137).
This famous statement is one we do well to read often, for we need all the truth contained therein to exhort us “…that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude 1:3 (2nd part).
The message God has given to Seventh-day Adventists is to be proclaimed to the world in a manner that upholds the certainty of our faith — which is based not only upon its truthfulness but also upon its power to transform the life. As the apostle John declared:
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:1-3.
Deriving her emphasis from this passage, the messenger of the Lord proclaimed in plain, unmistakable terms:
“We have, as had John, a message to bear of the things which we have seen and heard. God is not giving us a new message. We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches” (Review and Herald, January 19, 1905).
It is in this context that she could say:
“We have nothing to fear for the future, except we forget the way the Lord has led us and His teachings in our past history” (Life Sketches, p. 196. 1915 edition).
The landmarks of our faith have been clearly defined and no “new light” or counter theories can alter this fact:
“The passing of the time in 1844 was a period of great events, opening to our astonished eyes the cleansing of the sanctuary transpiring in heaven, and having decided relation to God’s people upon the earth, [also] the first and second angels’ messages and the third, unfurling the banner on which was inscribed, ‘The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.’ One of the landmarks under this message was the temple of God, seen by His truth-loving people in heaven, and the ark containing the law of God. The light of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment flashed its strong rays in the pathway of the transgressors of God’s law. The nonimmortality of the wicked is an old landmark. I can call to mind nothing more that can come under the head of the old landmarks” (Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 30; Manuscript 13, 1889).
These pillars should never be altered nor compromised to gain the favor and acceptance of the world:
“No line of truth that has made the Seventh-day Adventist people what they are is to be weakened. We have the old landmarks of truth, experience, and duty, and we are to stand firmly in defense of our principles in full view of the world” (Testimonies for the Church, volume 6, p. 17).
There is a crying need for people today who will possess a heavenborn courage and a sanctified fortitude in standing for the truth amid the universal apostasy of our times.
“The greatest want of the world is the want of men — men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall” (Education, p. 57).
This is not only true with regard to the secular world but also to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has long been buffeted by forces seeking to overturn the landmarks of its faith. There is an opinion gaining more popularity and strength — expressed particularly by our younger generation — that the denomination should do away with its 19th-century heritage, that we ought to repudiate a belief we teach, a book we publish, a standard we uphold, or a practice we maintain — no matter the endorsement of truth — if it does not meet the approval and expectation of “modern society”. Numerous examples could be cited to document this “new thinking” within our ranks, but here is one that was sourced from the website of Adventist Today:
“While Ellen White isn’t necessarily associated with today’s right wing politics, The Great Controversy is rich in what is today thought of as conspiracy theories, including blatant anti-Catholicism. “It’s also worth mentioning that while Ellen White’s writing can be beautiful and lyrical in books like Steps to Christ, The Great Controversy is verbose, obtuse, and ridiculously long. Even those who overcome their biases enough to open the book and read it find it a heavy lift. “The Adventist Church has always had difficulty adapting to modern times. Many of the evangelistic tools of the past are now ineffective or obsolete. And this is one of them. What do the theories in this book have to do with a modern culturally diverse technological culture? … Aunty can think of about a thousand things just off the top of her head that would be more effective, more Christlike, and give a much better picture of our loving God than this dense, grandiloquent tome” (Website of Adventist Today: What do You Think of “The Great Controversy” Mailings, Aunty? November 22, 2022).
The writer of this diatribe (bitter denunciation) either has forgotten or couldn’t care to reflect that it was Christ who commissioned Sister White to write The Great Controversy (Manuscript 24, 1891), that it should be very widely circulated (Letter 281, 1905), that Satan tried to destroy Sister White’s life when she began to write the first edition in 1858 (Spiritual Gifts, volume 2, pp. 270-272), and that she was conscious of the presence of the angels of God as she penned its pages (Letter 56, 1911). All this seems to be irrelevant to those who want to “change” Adventism. By advocating for one rejection of our landmarks after another, they are preparing themselves to ultimately do away even with the notion of keeping Saturday as the Sabbath of the Lord — it is all written in the book they belittle and despise (The Great Controversy, p. 608. 1911 edition).
This same reference also declared that those who reject the Sabbath truth shall become “the most bitter enemies of their former brethren.” Are we preparing ourselves for that eventuality — when we will have “to stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few” — even from the professed people of God?
Jesus bids His loyal, obedient children to be of good courage, to be strong in God, to be fervent in spirit, to cease not to pray for others, to continue in sharing the faith (both by precept and example), and to maintain that intimate union with Him. Let us not be daunted by what is happening — it has been foretold. By His grace, we can endure to the end.
About: The Remnant Herald is an Australian publication produced by Remnant Ministries. The current editor and author is Elvis Placer, and we have reproduced this article with his permission. You can contact Elvis Placer through email at rh1844@pm.me or call the office clerk at +61 3 9706 2173 to request a FREE subscription to the Remnant Herald.
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On the few occasions I’ve seen Elvis Placers sermons, they are of a high standard, just looked on YouTube and there’s a few of his present truth videos there.
The youth are not to blame for them wanting to do away with out foundational truths. It is the parents and the leaders in the GC church. The leadership of the GC church have been training its members and especially its youth to throw out our foundational truths including the Sabbath. Satan is the engineer. And the parents have set idly by saying the church is going to go thru. And it is. Here is the church that is going thru.
God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Where Christ is even among the humble few, this is Christ’s church, for the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church. {UL 315.5}
Where two or three are present who love and obey the commandments of God, Jesus there presides, let it be in the desolate place of the earth, in the wilderness, in the city enclosed in prison walls. The glory of God has penetrated the prison walls, flooding with glorious beams of heavenly light the darkest dungeon. His saints may suffer, but their sufferings will, like the apostles of old, spread their faith and win souls to Christ and glorify His holy name. The bitterest opposition expressed by those who hate God’s great moral standard of righteousness should not and will not shake the steadfast soul who trusts fully in God. . . . {UL 315.6}
Amen brother Alan.
In Early Writings, Sister White was given a view of the appearance of the church at the close of time:
“Persons were continually leaving the companies that were in darkness and joining the free company, who appeared to be in an open field raised above the earth.” EW 243.1
This vision was given to her with symbolism. In most symbolic, or prophetic, descriptions that I’m aware of, the object is symbolic, but the action taken is literal. She saw “a company of people” who were free. To be free means that they are not bound by traditions and false doctrines, or as she puts in the previous paragraph, “cords….” The cords that claim “We have the truth! God is with us!”
She sees this company in what “APPEARED to be” (note that this is a queue that we are entering symbolic or prophetic language) “An open field.” An open field is language that is representative of something that possesses a natural simplicity that is of God. An open field is not something that brings to mind images of great cathedrals, national establishments, massive hospitals, etc., but rather inspires the mind to give glory to the Creator of heaven and earth.
Next, she says that this company in the open field was “raised above the earth.” I’m not aware of any literal field that can be raised above the earth, so once again, she is given symbolic language. This company she is referring to, who was separate from another company (which claimed have the truth and God with them, but in fact were in darkness) is raised above the earth in that it has nothing to do with corporate structures, tax exempt status, medical insurance, 401k retirement funds, purchasing of headquarters buildings with reverted tithe, and even denominational classifications. These are all earthly and have no place with the heavenly. This little company is literally disconnected from earthly endeavors, purposes and categorization. Their main distinguishing marks are that they are free from such affiliations, they experience a natural, grass-roots worship whose author and finisher is God, and they came out, or separated, from another earthly company that is in darkness.
From this sentence, as well as the entire chapter and the one that follows it, we find confirmation of what is to take place before the end, including the fact that persons will be “continually leaving the companies that were in darkness (who claim to have the truth) and joining the free company.” The conclusion that the companies that are in darkness refers to the modern Seventh-day Adventist denomination is difficult to avoid, particularly with the endless string of atrocities being daily committed within the GC church.
The writer did not seek to apportion blame when writing about how the younger generation in particular are in the vanguard with their calls for drastic change to be made within our ranks in keeping with the anti-Christian philosophy of the world — he merely wrote what is the reality of the situation. If blame is to be meted out, we all share in the guilt of the apostasy that has continued from generation to generation throughout our long history as Seventh-day Adventists. We have individually, to varying degrees, disregarded the counsel of God concerning the heart preparation to be made, the character perfection to be wrought, the last message to be preached, the godly principles to be exemplified before Jesus can come again. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23); “for there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20); “if we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).
Our collective condition as a people is no different to that of ancient Israel:
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters; they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward” (Isaiah 1:2-4).
That’s why we are told by the servant of the Lord:
“A revival of true godliness among is the GREATEST and the MOST URGENT of ALL our needs. To seek this should be our FIRST WORK” (Review and Herald, March 22, 1887 — capitalisation supplied).
May God help us to encourage as many as possible to undertake this work, for the hour is desperately late. May our prayers be earnest and importunate, putting ourselves with God’s professed children today — reflecting the spirit and pathos of those who pled for the wayward, the disobedient and the rebellious in times past (Moses — Exodus 32:31, 32; Daniel — Daniel 9:3-20; the Levites in the days of Nehemiah — Nehemiah 9:1-38; Ezra — Ezra 9:1-15; Jeremiah — Jeremiah 3:25).
“The leaven of godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf of the church because its members are doing after the manner of the world.
“The earnest prayers of this faithful few will not be in vain. When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity and kept themselves unspotted from the world. It is at this time that God has promised to avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them.
“The command is: ‘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.’ These sighing, crying ones had been holding forth the words of life; they had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel; although many still continued the forms of religion, His power and presence were lacking.
“In the time when His wrath shall go forth in judgments, these humble, devoted followers of Christ will be distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul anguish, which is expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and warnings. While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have a zeal for God’s honour and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favour of any. Their righteous souls are vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the unrighteous. They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and alarm. They mourn before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church. The Spirit of God, which prompts to reproof, is trampled underfoot, while the servants of Satan triumph. God is dishonored, the truth made of none effect.
“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” (Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, pp. 209-211).
One remark must be made pertaining to Alan’s statement that “the youth are not to blame for them wanting to do away with our foundational truths.” There is partial truth to that statement — they have been tragically led astray by parents, teachers, leaders within the organised structure to disregard the pillars, principles and standards of our faith. But they also have a measure of responsibility and accountability, according to the light received, which they cannot evade. In 1888 — the very year in which the message of Christ our Righteousness was more fully proclaimed, sent by God in mercy to awaken His unprepared people — Sister White wrote the following:
“I have been laboring in Healdsburg for the last four weeks. I have spoken fourteen times. I have had a sharp, pointed testimony for the youth, and I am pained to the heart to see the little modesty and real, good, decent behavior in the young. [There are] young girls so forward as to make advances to young men; so destitute of Christlike humility and elevation of character. The young girls [are] flirting with young men, sitting in meeting and exchanging notes with them at the very time I am presenting a message from God to the people.
“The young women make advances to the young men and get up a flirtation with them. Their forwardness, their common, cheap talk and ways are offensive to God, and I told them last Sabbath that they were fast becoming like the Sodomites. And yet they profess to be Christians. What a good, gracious Lord we have to bear with such mockery of the Christian name and such perversity of character. I am disgusted and afflicted for my Saviour that those who claim to represent His character are being led and controlled by the wily foe, the great adversary of God and man.
“It seems that during vacation the young have tried to see how far they could venture upon the long-forbearance of Jehovah. I have been burdened over these things. It does seem that Satan has lifted his hellish banner in the families of professed Sabbath-keepers. Their young men and women only think of how they can get into each others’ society and break down all the barriers of reserve and true decorum. It is a pitiful condition of things…
“The end is near. The time for God to work is about come. He will do terrible things in righteousness for those who have so great light yet have not lived up to it. Boys flirting with the girls and the girls flirting with the boys seems to be a passion which destroys even common sense and leaves the souls of youth who might use their talents to the glory of God as destitute of the Spirit of God as the hills of Gilboa that have neither dew nor rain.
“If you had been ever free from this spirit yourself, you would not be in the position you are. Unless the moral taste is refined, unless Christ becomes an abiding principle in the soul, but few of the youth will ever see heaven. They have misapplied their powers, perverted the privileges and opportunities given them, and will reap that which they have sown — a harvest which they will not be pleased to garner.
“Where great light has been given, great opportunities and privileges granted, there has been such a strengthening of unbelief, such determined resistance of light, such despising of God’s divine favors, that I can see nothing for these thus favored but terrible judgments and wrath.
“Wherever the intercourse between heaven and earth has been free and abundant and God’s gifts [have] been unappreciated, the long-forbearance and patience of God [will] finally be exhausted. Then the once blessed and once favored are abandoned and forsaken of God. It is a terrible thing to exhaust the divine patience.
“God today is as surely speaking by His servants as in past ages. He has His messengers today as in ancient times, but those souls who have not had divine enlightenment, [who] have had no deep and rich experience in the things of God, know not by experimental knowledge at what they stumble. They are infatuated; deluded by the enemy; rejecting offered mercy when the Eternal Father is seeking to save them by the cross of Calvary. Oh, that hearts might be touched by the love of Jesus!
“God has made the mind, and man must make the character through the merits of Jesus Christ. How few are willing to deny self, to lift the cross and follow Jesus” (Letter 39, 1888).
Upon reading these lines, we ought to fear and tremble for the salvation of our youth today. What would Sister White write of the present generation of young people in Adventism, 135 years after she penned those dire warnings regarding the youth of the church in her time? O, if ever there was a time for a revival and reformation to be seen amongst Seventh-day Adventists — old and young, male and female, ministers and lay people — we desperately need it now! The whole assembly of the saints should be gathered together and hear the genuine message of Christ our Righteousness, which alone is able to save our souls from the penalty and the power of sin.
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, where is their God?” (Joel 2:15-17).
“If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
This is the straight testimony to the Laodiceans which needs to be preached with meekness and humility, and yet with power and holy boldness — a message which our young people are entitled to hear. They need to be convicted by the Holy Spirit that
“God is love…But the love of God does not lead Him to excuse sin. He did not excuse it in Satan; He did not excuse it in Adam or in Cain; nor will He excuse it in any other of the children of men. He will not connive at our sins or overlook our defects of character. He expects us to overcome in His name. Those who reject the gift of Christ’s righteousness are rejecting the attributes of character which would constitute them the sons and daughters of God. They are rejecting that which alone could give them a fitness for a place at the marriage feast” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 316).
Who loves our youth enough to tell them the truth exactly the way it is — do you? Do I?
Pertinent! Interesting Quote from EGW, Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 30; Manuscript 13, 1889, concerning the old landmarks.
1. The sanctuary in heaven, and its relation to God’s church on earth.
2. The first angels message.
3. The second angels message.
4. The third angels message.
5. The keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
6. The seventh day sabbath of God.
7. The non immortality of the soul.
The old land marks. Seven of them, the number of completeness. A sevenfold message of finality for humanity.
When they instituted a 7 day rest . They should have went back to the way’s of old to get the correct 7th day of rest established by the creator. And they should have went back to the old ways by the remembering of God’s own name. And they would have been spot on correct. They made a mistake by saying the Savior was coming back then. And they have done the same by saying the 7th day is Saturday by the modern day man’s calendar. And they have forgotten to call GOD by his real name YHWH. When they do this .only then will they be in YH’s favor. For by doing this will the Church of the Almighty be persecuted. Because the pope the one the SDA claims is out to get them only over their keeping the Saturday 7th. Has publicly proclaimed that the 7th day Saturday is the Lord’s Day. Who’s Lord that is the question? Think and pray about it.
If you don’t mind my asking, who is they? Would that be SDA’s? SDA’s didn’t institute a seventh day of rest, they accepted the biblical teaching of the fourth commandment, to be kept by faith in God’s word. Which truth was introduced to them by a Seventh Day Baptist I believe, who also believed this truth by faith in God’s word. And so on and so forth back throughout history to the Jews themselves I suppose. Which day do you teach is the seventh day? Have the Jews apparently forgotten which day is the seventh as well, since they observe the same one as most others? Who made a mistake in saying the Savior was coming back, back then? I presume you mean the Millerites concerning the year 1844, do you not? It could not have been SDA’s who did not exist as a denomination until 1863 I do believe. One of the founding beliefs of which, is that no man knows the day or hour of our Lord’s coming. Which was an important doctrine to many of the founders of the SDA church, as they themselves came to understand this mistake which some them agreed with at one time. Therefore thinking it an important doctrine, to help prevent this mistake from being made again. If in fact YHWH is the only title God’s own should use in reference to Him, then why do you yourself in your above comments, use the term God several times? As apparently the scriptures do as well. Please do expound. Could you also supply a reference to where the pope proclaimed that Saturday the seventh day, is the Lord’s Sabbath for God’s people? Thank you.
God has never let the seventh day Sabbath change. I don’t know what you mean by getting back to the correct 7th day Sabbath? Also, we are not saved by pronunciation! God has many names, as well as Jesus. If a person calls upon them for deliverance, no matter by what name, they will be saved.
It is always a blessing to hear from The Remnant Herald. Please, write more often.
To be blunt, “Aunty” is not a Seventh-day Adventist, nor is anyone that wants to change Seventh-day Adventism… and yet, this is precisely what has been accomplished – our religion has been changed. Once a true Seventh-day Adventist awakens to the reality of the condition existing within the modern SDA denomination, there can be little doubt as to our responsibility. Option A – stand up, like Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezekiel, to declare the judgment of God against his apostate people, or Option B – “glue your rear to the pew” and pretend as if there were any example of God accepting a willfully disobedient, rebellious, and wayward people into his kingdom. To be even more blunt, if upon seeing how this denomination has been hijacked, we continue to support it by our mere presence at it’s corporately recognized meeting houses (Option B), then we cannot honestly call ourselves Seventh-day Adventists.
God established the SDA movement. The founders of this movement were given “A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the city of God” 18LtMs, Ms 135, 1903, par. 3. It is not possible to alter what God has established. There is no reasonable way to condemn the doctrine or the words that God gave to Seventh-day Adventists, and yet still call yourself a Seventh-day Adventist. Seek out the truth upon which this movement was established, then cling to it. Do not join with those in rebellion that refuse that pure truth, but rather call them to come back to the true Seventh-day Adventist church. God reveals to us his love by pointing us to his truth. We need to do the same.
The writer did not seek to apportion blame when writing about how the younger generation in particular are in the vanguard with their calls for drastic change to be made within our ranks in keeping with the anti-Christian philosophy of the world — he merely wrote what is the reality of the situation. If blame is to be meted out, we all share in the guilt of the apostasy that has continued from generation to generation throughout our long history as Seventh-day Adventists. We have individually, to varying degrees, disregarded the counsel of God concerning the heart preparation to be made, the character perfection to be wrought, the last message to be preached, the godly principles to be exemplified before Jesus can come again. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23); “for there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20); “if we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).
Our collective condition as a people is no different to that of ancient Israel:
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters; they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward” (Isaiah 1:2-4).
That’s why we are told by the servant of the Lord:
“A revival of true godliness among is the GREATEST and the MOST URGENT of ALL our needs. To seek this should be our FIRST WORK” (Review and Herald, March 22, 1887 — capitalisation supplied).
May God help us to encourage as many as possible to undertake this work, for the hour is desperately late. May our prayers be earnest and importunate, putting ourselves with God’s professed children today — reflecting the spirit and pathos of those who pled for the wayward, the disobedient and the rebellious in times past (Moses — Exodus 32:31, 32; Daniel — Daniel 9:3-20; the Levites in the days of Nehemiah — Nehemiah 9:1-38; Ezra — Ezra 9:1-15; Jeremiah — Jeremiah 3:25).
“The leaven of godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf of the church because its members are doing after the manner of the world.
“The earnest prayers of this faithful few will not be in vain. When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity and kept themselves unspotted from the world. It is at this time that God has promised to avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them.
“The command is: ‘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.’ These sighing, crying ones had been holding forth the words of life; they had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel; although many still continued the forms of religion, His power and presence were lacking.
“In the time when His wrath shall go forth in judgments, these humble, devoted followers of Christ will be distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul anguish, which is expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and warnings. While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have a zeal for God’s honour and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favour of any. Their righteous souls are vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the unrighteous. They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and alarm. They mourn before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church. The Spirit of God, which prompts to reproof, is trampled underfoot, while the servants of Satan triumph. God is dishonored, the truth made of none effect.
“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” (Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, pp. 209-211).
I recently exposed the devil’s last day plans in a small church in Virginia. You can view this one hour presentation on Youtube: Compton Ole Country Church of
Jesus Christ- 07/01/23. (Fast forward the first 29 minutes then I appear in front of the church.) According to viewers it is interesting, educational, Biblical, and
is an hour well spent in viewing. I did not use notes and depended on the Holy Spirit to bring material to my remembrance, which I am thankful for. God bless
you. C.W. Good