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EVERYBODY
LIKES TO BE IT, BUT NOBODY CARES TO HAVE ITS NAME
Almost
every Christian denomination admits in some way that it is living in the time of
the last of the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3, the church "in the
latter days," yet not one wants to accept her name "Laodicea"!
The
reason is evident: in the sacred annals of church history, she carries the
heaviest condemnation. Claiming to
be in need of nothing, actually she is in need of everything, not even knowing
that she is "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
And though counselled to buy gold tried in the fire (Inspired Truth) and
"eyesalve" (eye-opening Truth), her only remedy, she does not care to
invest, for she imagines she has it all.
If she
continues in this lukewarm (satisfied) condition, she must certainly know that
she will as a result be spued out. Yet,
thus far, every effort has failed to bring her closer to her Lord, that she
might see herself even as Isaiah saw himself: "Woe is me!
for I am undone; because I am...of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
hosts." Isa. 6:5.
Laodicea,
the last church with the "wheat" and "tares" commingled, may
be recognized amidst the many "isms" of Christendom by the work she is
doing. She is pointed out by the
very name.
The name
Laodicea is compounded from the two Greek words lao and decia, which mean the
people declare judgment. The
church, therefore, which declares, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for
the hour of His judgment is come" (Rev. 14:7), is evidently the one called
Laodicea. And it is almost as well
known outside of Seventh-day Adventist circles as within it, that the
Seventh-day Adventist church is endeavoring to carry the judgment message of
Revelation 14:7, and is therefore unchallenged in her claim to the title of
Laodicea.
Describing
her condition in present-day language, Inspiration declares:
"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
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....
"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,
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cannot
be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and his testimony must be
correct."--Testimonies, Vol. 3, pp. 252, 253.
"l
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."--Early Writings, p. 270.
"...
our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from God.
Pride, covetousness, and love of the world have lived in the heart
without fear of banishment or condemnation.
Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us.
And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing, and that
peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders.
"The
church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily
retreating toward Egypt. Yet few
are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power.
Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is
leavening our churches everywhere. Satan
would have it thus. Ministers who
preach self instead of Christ would have it thus.
The testimonies are unread and unappreciated.
God has spoken to you. Light
has been shining from his word and from the testimonies, and both have been
slighted and disregarded. The
result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among
us."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217.
That
Laodicea is the typical name for the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, every
Seventh-day Adventist knows, and yet no one cares to do anything about it!
Instead, all are satisfied that they have all the truth to carry them
clear through!
To
prolong their lukewarm condition indefinitely, the Demon power has perfected a
thermos-covering composed of an impervious layer of prejudice, self-confidence,
and the fear that someone is trying his best to deceive them by word or by
literature. Hence most of us, as
Seventh-day Adventists, do not discuss or read Bible truths that are advocated
by anyone not approved by the angel of Laodicea--the conference prelates.
Consequently, such ones cannot be reached with a message from heaven
today any easier than could the Jews in their day.
Nevertheless the All-knowing One commanded:
"And
unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the
Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God; I
know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or
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hot.
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue
thee out of My mouth. 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: I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be
rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest
see." Rev. 3:14-18.
According
to Revelation 1:20, the "candlesticks" symbolize the churches, and the
"stars" the angels (leadership) who have charge over the churches.
So when in Revelation 2:5 the Lord sternly addresses one group of
leaders, warning them that unless they repent and do their first works, He will
come unto them quickly and remove the candlestick out of their control, He makes
that fate entirely conditional on their own response to His cutting rebuke.
But
later, to the Laodicean leadership (angel), He makes an even more drastic
decree, an unconditional, unequivocal, sharp and final statement, that He will
spue them out, thus bringing the Laodicean church government to an abrupt and
cataclysmic climax. At this very
time, then, the church is to under
go a thorough house-cleaning, a change of administration and organization, even
as anciently the Kingdom was "rent from" Saul and given to David (1
Sam. 15:28).
And this
example from the history of Israel becomes even more impressive when one
compares the circumstances surrounding "the seven churches" with the
selection of David, the eighth son of Jesse, who was completely left out of
consideration until his seven brothers had been tested, one by one. (See our Tract No. 8, Mt. Sion at the Eleventh Hour.)
Clearly,
the "angel" and the church here addressed, necessarily represent two
parties--the ministry and the laity. But
the one directly addressed and condemned is the angel, the one in charge of the
laity. The True Witness'
"startling denunciation," therefore, though not exempting the laity,
is expressly and particularly for the sake of the ministry.
So, especially should they, most of all, take heed and lay well to heart
the great ethic that the Master Shepherd will let no sheep go carelessly
NOW LET
EVERYONE HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH UNTO LAODICEA
"Let
Him That Thinketh He Standeth Take
Heed
Lest He Fall." 1 Cor. 10:12.
Sacred
history is repetitious with the tragic lesson that when a people go wrong, as
did Israel in Elijah's and again in Christ's time, they are no longer sensible
of their being wrong. Likewise
repetitious is the even more tragic lesson that such a people have always
misconstrued God's efforts to bring them to a realization of their errors.
So once they are led astray from the teachings of the prophets, and
captivated by new and magnetic human leadership, their liberation and correction
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tended,
to fall into the abyss, if He can help it.
But
since, as under-shepherds, they have long and grievously been thus derelict, the
Lord years ago promised that He would shortly "take charge of the flock
Himself."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 80.
In a
forecast of this complete change-over from the Laodicean inertia, the Spirit of
truth solemnly affirms: "God will use ways and means by which it will be
seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands.
The workers will be surprised...."--Testimonies to Ministers, p.
300.
Again,
we read that God will put aside those who are "self-sufficient, independent
of God," and whom "He cannot use," and will disclose to view
those "precious ones now hidden, who have not bowed the knee to
Baal."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 80.
Thus,
even more accurately does sacred history repeat itself than does profane
history. And the terrifyingly
irrevocable words of the prophet Samuel to Saul, (1 Sam. 15:28, 29.) come
ringing down the ages with double finality to the Laodiceans.
Awake,
Brethren, awake! to the stern realization that if you would have a part in the
work of the angel who is to join the Third Angel, and lighten the earth with his
glory, you must now accept the "renewal of the straight testimony to the
Laodiceans," and humbly confess to the Lord that your idea of being rich
and increased with goods (truth) and in need of no more, and of being
continuously harassed by a Voice (the Rod) trying its best to deceive you, is
only a dream. For the Lord Himself
says that you are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked"--already deceived. Do
you not think He knows? And again,
it is He Himself Who says: "The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the
man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and Who hath appointed
it." Mic. 6:9. And do you not
think He knows this, too?
So,
Brethren, we beg of you, "look up!"
Hear the True Witness--hear the Rod--and fill up your vessels quickly,
for they are empty; the oil in your lamps is used up; and your light is already
grown dim. Now is your chance to
refill. Believe the truth--beyond
this filling station there is none other!
NOW LET
EVERYONE HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH UNTO LAODICEA
RIGHT SIDE
become
almost impossible. (See Prophets
and Kings, pp. 121-126.)
In
varying ways, the fatal weakness which has characterized every Movement, from
that of Israel to that of Laodicea, has been in "laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works." Heb. 6:1.
And what is still more basic, and more urgently to the point, is that
each Movement alike failed to progress beyond the first principles of Truth, and
to go on to reach its final goal of transcendental attainments in divine
knowledge. Instead each fell from
the heights of its own early, rich experience back down to spiritual poverty,
because
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it
failed to keep pace with the Truth. Each
divinely called Movement came to a standstill where it contentedly satisfied
itself that it was yet in the sanctified steps to the Mount of Perfection, that
it was "flourishing, and that peace and spiritual prosperity" were
"in all its borders" (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217), when in reality,
quite the opposite was the truth. So
follows Laodicea, thinking she is all right when she is all wrong.
Never in
the violent history of this sin-deluged world has so great a danger and so great
a necessity confronted the church. In
this all-enveloping peril, what does God say in regard to His people?--'But this
is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they
are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil,
and none saith, Restore. (See also
Isaiah 43.) These are prophecies
that will be fulfilled."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 96.
"What
greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are
right, when they are all wrong!"--Testimonies, Vol. 3, pp. 252, 253.
Again,
it is written in Proverbs 29:18 margin), "Where there is no vision, the
people is made naked."
Here in
more extensive relief is the picture of a people who have indeed lost their
"vision" (the supernatural guidance afforded by the living voice of
the prophetic gift resident among them), but who realize it not.
More amazing still, they have evidently introduced their own inventions
(idols) as substitutes for the things of God.
This they have done so gradually that they are quite as unaware of it as
they are that many have not availed themselves of the volumes of the Spirit of
Prophecy--their very "eyesight."
And where others have had these volumes of vision lying all around them,
they have let them go either unread or unheeded and therefore
"unappreciated."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217.
Thus it is in this sense more than in any other that they have become
blind--no longer even expecting any further revealed truth to give power and
force to their message (Early Writings, p. 277).
Yet they still flatter themselves that they are in the inner circle of
God's favor!
"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. 253.
If the
thinking processes of the Laodiceans were not in dire need of a complete
spiritual overhauling and re-orientation, they would not "think they are
all right when they are all wrong," think that they are "rich"
when in reality they are desperately "poor"--destitute of truth and
righteousness!
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Accordingly,
nothing but a message with "healing in its wings" will heal the
Laodicean mind of its spiritual sickness. In
this hour of the church's crisis, "those who have been timid and
self-distrustful, will declare themselves openly for Christ and his truth.
The most weak and hesitating in the church, will be as David--willing to
do and dare."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 81.
Why?--Because they have the promise that "there shall be a fountain
opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for
uncleanness.
"And
it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off
the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered:
and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the
land." Zech. 13:1, 2.
"For
in that day every man shall cast away his idols...which your own hands have made
unto you for a sin....Turn ye unto Him from Whom the children of Israel have
deeply revolted." Isa. 31:7,6.
"In
that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is
feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be
as God, as the angel of the Lord before them."
Zech. 12:8.
The
Spirit's Voice through Isaiah is now also crying aloud: "Awake, awake; put
on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy
city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and
the unclean....How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of
good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"
Isa. 52:1, 7.
The same
Voice through Nahum also pleads: "Behold upon the mountains the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!
O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall
no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off."
Nah. 1:15.
But in
all her history, the church as a whole has never accepted a message from heaven.
The call therefore comes to each individual member.
Each must decide for himself. No
one should allow himself to be influenced by another.
And "no one has a right to shut away the light from the people.
When a message comes in the name of the Lord to His people, no one may
excuse himself from an investigation of its claims....It was from pursuing this
very course that the popular churches were left in partial darkness, and that is
why the messages of heaven have not reached them."--Testimonies on Sabbath
School Work, p. 65; Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 28.
"But
we see that the God of heaven sometimes commissions men to teach that which is
regarded as contrary to the established doctrines. Because those who were once the depositories of truth became
unfaithful to their sacred trust, the Lord chose others who would receive the
bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and would advocate
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truths
that were not in accordance with the ideas of the religious leaders.
And then these leaders, in the blindness of their minds, give full sway
to what is supposed to be righteous indignation against the ones who have set
aside cherished fables. They act like men who have lost their reason.
They do not consider the possibility that they themselves have not
rightly understood the Word. They will not open their eyes to discern the fact that they
have misinterpreted and misapplied the Scriptures, and have built up false
theories, calling them fundamental doctrines of the faith."--Testimonies to
Ministers, pp. 69, 70.
Dear
Brethren in Laodicea, take heed to this divine wisdom.
Since you are already in the great-
WHEN IN
NEED OF TRUTH, WHY BEG FOR POWER
From
time to time many zealous individual and group Christian Movements have launched
impressive prayer-marathons in a determined, persevering effort to bring about
the fulfillment of the promised outpouring, of the Holy Spirit, even the
"latter rain." Because,
though, these periodic efforts have invariably ended in heart-breaking
disappointment and frustration, thousands of souls have become confused and
bewildered, given up their faith completely, and perhaps sunk into infidelity.
Yet no
student of the Scriptures will deny that the Bible does definitely hold forth
the promise of a singularly dynamic manifestation of the Holy Spirit, to bestow
upon all believers a special outpouring of power such as the apostles received
on the day of Pentecost,--yes, even greater!
Then the answer to the question, Why do we not now receive It?
inescapably is, Because the conditions for receiving it have not as yet
been met. When they are met, this
sure promise of God will be instantaneously fulfilled,--even as it was with the
apostles.
Therefore,
whatever is now keeping the Christian from receiving this greatest of the gifts,
the hindrance must lie with him and not with God:
There is
a promise of the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth (John 16:7-13), and a promise of
the "latter rain." Joel
2:23, 28. This promised Comforter,
the apostles received on the day of Pentecost, and It was to abide with them
forever; that is, even with their successors.
But as in the apostolic succession, men of the primitive apostolic
caliber ceased, the Comforter gradually disappeared. And though He has at different times reappeared, through the
Spirit of Truth, His Pentecostal power and presence have never since been
reimparted. This manifestation of
the Spirit should not, however, be confused with either that of the "latter
rain" (Joel 2:23) or that of the Spirit of truth.
The very
title, "latter rain," itself shows that this particular manifestation
takes place in the "latter days"--our time. And through Zechariah the prophet, Inspiration in pointing
out that there is a set time for the latter rain, urges: "Ask ye of the
Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds,
and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field."
Zech. 10:1.
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est
deception, you stultify reason in your declining to investigate a claimant to
truth for fear that in doing so you will be deceived.
Awake, Brethren! Can you not
see that study is your only salvation--your only hope of getting out of your
present "sad" (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 253), "terrible"
(Id., p. 254), "fearful" (Id., p. 260) deception, and your only hope
of protection in keeping you from plunging into the abyss?
So study--study as never before! And
you will find that this is the beginning of the very message you must have in
order to clear the scales from your eyes and break the invisible, but
nonetheless real, shackles of inertia and self-exaltation in which the Enemy
holds you bound.
WHEN IN
NEED OF TRUTH, WHY BEG FOR POWER
RIGHT SIDE
The
related passage of Joel 2:23, marginal rendering, makes clear that "the
latter rain" is a teacher of righteousness," bringing a full knowledge
of Truth in righteousness--the very last message.
Therefore, while it is very urgently requested to pray and agonize for
the Spirit of Truth at all times, it is even more urgently necessary to pray for
it now!
As in
the natural state of things, the latter rain comes not only to make the wheat
grow but also to bring it to its full maturity, so, by spiritual analogy, this
Teacher of Righteousness must bring the saints to the full stature of men in
Christ Jesus (Eph. 4:13)--fit them for the Kingdom.
But the
second phase, that promise of power in Joel 2:28 which comes
"afterward," after "the latter rain," is that for which most
Christians are praying without considering that there is a first phase (Joel
2:23)--the "teacher of righteousness," a final outpouring of Present
Truth--which must be obtained before the final outpouring of power can be
realized.
It is
evident that the part which comes "afterward," the Pentecostal power,
comes to enable the receiver to proclaim the latter truth; and this power will
not come until the church as a body, every one grass in the field" (Zech.
10:1), not a group here and a group there, has joyously assimilated for their
spiritual growth all the rain that the Teacher of Righteousness, who has now
come, has brought.
But the
great question here confronting us is: When can "every grass," every
church member, receive this glorious power?
Shall saint and hypocrite share it alike? Inspiration answers:
"By
fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the
Lord shall be many....and I will send those that escape of them unto the
nations....and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles....they shall
bring all your brethren...to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the
children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the
Lord." Isa. 66:16, 19, 20.
So in
the time between the "latter rain" of truth and the
"outpouring" of the Spirit's power, there
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will be
a consecrated number who will escape from among the "slain of the
Lord." In other words, at the
first-fruit harvest, when all the sinners have been taken out of the church, and
the righteous left by themselves as were the 120 disciples in the upper room,
then and only then can the Lord finally pour out His Spirit's power upon all, so
that all (all the "escaped" ones) shall prophesy, dream dreams, and
see visions.
"And
it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in
Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living
in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of
Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the
spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
And the Lord will create upon
ALMOST
DROWNED BY FLOOD BUT RESCUED BY EARTH
"And
when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman
which brought forth the man child. And
to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and
half a time, from the face of the serpent.
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman,
that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the
remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ." Rev.
12:13-17.
Nearly
all Christians accept as the only tenable interpretation of the
"woman" here mentioned, that she symbolizes the church.
And the fact that she gave birth to the man child, Christ, she is
therefore symbolical of the church in at least the Christian dispensation.
While
the dragon was persecuting her through the deceived Jewish priests who rejected
Christ as the Messiah, "there was a great persecution against the church
which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the
regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation
over him. As for Saul, he made
havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women
committed them to prison. Therefore
they that were scattered abroad went every-where preaching the Word."
Acts 8:1-4.
To her
were given the wings of a great eagle her means of transport into the
wilderness. The figure,
"wilderness," being the opposite of the vineyard ("the house of
Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant"--Isa. 5:7), the former
obviously denotes the Gentile nations. The
apostles, therefore, in fulfillment of this prophecy were commanded, given the
wings, to go preach to all nations.
"Then
Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said,
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every
dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day,
and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a
defence. And there shall be a
tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuse,
and for a covert from storm and from rain."
Isa. 4:3-6.
Only
after this great purge in the Church (described also in the ninth chapter of
Ezekiel), will the remnant be equipped to carry their fully blazing, lighted
torch of Truth to all the Gentile world. Out
of Zion will then go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
The work will then be finished, "cut short in righteousness,"
and the Lord will then appear in glory--seen by every eye (Rev. 1:7).
ALMOST
DROWNED BY FLOOD BUT RESCUED BY EARTH
RIGHT SIDE
It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to
you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting
life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For
so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the
Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the Word
of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
And the Word of the Lord was published throughout all the region."
Acts 13:46-49.
Seeing
this, the serpent sought to destroy the "woman's" usefulness among the
Gentiles--he "cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that
he might cause her to be carried away of the flood."
Rev. 12:15.
Anyone
can see that this "flood" can only represent the church's suddenly
becoming infiltrated with unconverted pagans who, as in Constantine's time and
for years thereafter, were even taken en masse and forced into baptism.
In the parables of Christ this same "flood" is described, but
under the different term, "tares."
And the evident fact that they are still very much in the church compels
the painful realization that the earth has not as yet swallowed up the flood.
The
figures "flood" and "tares" being synonymous, the time of
the swallowing of the flood or of the burning of the tares are therefore both
comprehended in the parable of the harvest (Matt. 13:30).
Besides,
the Revelator points out that not until after the flood is swallowed by the
earth, after the unconverted are "slain" and buried, and the church
thereby purified, will the dragon wage his fiercest warfare against the remnant
of the woman's seed. Hence, the
harvest time in the church, the time the earth swallows the flood, is before the
dragon wars against the remnant.
"Fruits"
garnered are the result of a harvest. When
the 144,000, the first fruits (Rev. 14:4), are garnered in, and the tares
(flood) are destroyed (swallowed) from among them, the 144,000 are
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taken to
Mt. Zion, where they then comprise the Mother church, the twelve-star-crowned
woman, under the protection of the Lamb, the One with them.
Thus protected, the dragon consequently can not then war against her.
So he wars only against her "remnant," those yet to be
garnered--the second fruits still scattered throughout the world, away from Mt.
Zion. This climax of the ages was
vividly foretold by both Isaiah and Micah:
"But
in the last days," declares Micah, "it shall come to pass, that the
mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto
it. And many nations shall come,
and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of
the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His
paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from
Jerusalem." Mic. 4:1, 2. (See also Isaiah 2.)
From
these scriptures, it is plainly seen that Mt. Zion becomes the headquarters for
the last gospel work on earth, from the time the 144,000 arrive there, and
during the time the dragon wars against the remnant, "for the law shall go
forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem"--no longer from the
General Conference, or from Mt. Carmel Center.
Then
shall many nations say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in His paths....
"In
that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather
her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that
halteth a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord
shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even forever."
Mic. 4:2, 6, 7.
In these
verses three nations are brought to view: (1) "her that halteth," (2)
"her that is driven out," (3) and her that is "afflicted."
In the
parable of the seed sower, we are told that "he that received the seed into
stony places, the same is he that heareth the Word, and anon with joy receiveth
it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when
tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is
offended....But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth
the Word,
LAY NOT
AGAIN THE FOUNDATION OF REPENTANCE
To all
those who are dissatisfied with their present spiritual status, and thus no
longer "lukewarm," comes this divine challenge: "Therefore
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ [or, as the margin says,
"the word of the beginning of Christ"--the first principles], let us
go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead
works, and of faith toward God." Heb.
6:1.
Make
absolutely certain that advancement to per-
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and
understandeth It; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an
hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
Matt. 13:20, 21, 23.
The
difference between the two soils is that the seed in the stony, shallow soil
comes up quickly, while the seed in the good, deep soil comes up slowly.
She "that halteth" therefore is the one that received seed in
good soil, the Christian church. And
she needs to be assembled because at the present time she is scattered and
divided into schisms. She is
therefore seen to be the woman's "remnant" of Revelation 12.
She
"that is driven out" can be none other than the ten-tribe kingdom, and
she "that is afflicted" is the two-tribe kingdom, Judah, as will be
seen from reading the third chapter of Micah.
"Her
that halteth," the Lord will make a remnant: He will separate her unlawful
children, the tares, from her. "And
her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in
Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever."
Mic. 4:7.
Thus the
subjects who are the root of the Kingdom, are to be converted and gathered from
the Christian church and from the descendants of the two ancient kingdoms,
Israel and Judah, and then brought to Mount Zion, because "the Lord loveth
the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.
Selah. I will make mention
of Rahab and Babylon to them that know Me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with
Ethiopia; this man was born there. And
of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest
himself shall establish her. The
Lord shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there.
Selah." Ps. 87:2-6.
Dear
Brethren in Laodicea, do not miss this greatest and most blessed of all
opportunities, now tarrying for a little moment, as it were, for the wise:
"The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy
name: hear ye the rod, and Who hath appointed it."
Mic. 6:9. Do, we beseech
you, give ear. To you is given the
privilege of becoming Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile; to stand on Mt.
Zion, the city of David, Jerusalem the Holy City.
Hear the Good Shepherd's Voice: "Awake, awake; put on thy strength,
O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for
henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the
unclean." Isa. 52:1.
LAY NOT
AGAIN THE FOUNDATION OF REPENTANCE
RIGHT SIDE
fection
be real, not imaginary; do not slide back into Laodiceanism. This urgency upon us as message-bearers cannot be
over-emphasized.
Let us
all, as a Davidian band, remember that we are called to the high office of
conservators of the gospel, restorers of the old paths, repairers of the breach.
We are called as the first of the "firstfruits" from Laodicea,
and thus we are to serve as "saviours" to and of Laodicea (Obad. 17,
21). Hence, obviously, before we
can save our brethren
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from the
fatally pernicious malady of Laodiceanism, we must first save ourselves from it.
And to do this, we must now and forever absolutely stop treating
symptoms, and instead get at the cause; stop dosing ourselves first for this,
then for that, but instead correctly apply the sovereign remedy, the message in
the heart, until a complete cure is effected.
Accordingly,
he who really means to be present and accounted for in the swift-coming Kingdom
of God is perseveringly exploring and applying the divine principles and laws of
the Science of Salvation. He is
earnestly laying hold upon the all-enabling power of divine grace to do all that
the Truth bids him do, first things first, and all things "decently and in
order" (1 Cor. 14:40), not each thing catch-as-catch-can when the urge
strikes.
It is
this careless, sporadic, hit-and-miss, irregular sort of effort to live
"the principles of the doctrine of Christ," that has resulted in
Seventh-day Adventists' laying again and again down through the years "the
foundation of repentance from dead works."
While all the time thinking ourselves full of zeal "according to
knowledge," we all, as Seventh-day Adventists, have grown more and more
lukewarm, lapsing little by little into a mechanical, cut-and-dried performance
of the Truth, which must inevitably cause all who persist in it to be spued out.
The
Davidian who is determined to escape this fearful end, and who is therefore
taking the cure for Laodiceanism, is accordingly reversing his former thinking
process, is rigorously disciplining himself consistently, day in and day out.
He has "regular hours for rising, for praying, and for eating"
(Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 181); indeed, he guards jealously his hours for prayer,
Bible study, and self-examination. (See
Gospel Workers, p. 100.) He rises
on time, eats on time, goes to work on time, goes to bed on time, and above all
he is always on time, never late, to church services.
He is a time-keeping Christian; and not only a model of punctuality, but
also a model of correctness in all things.
Six days
he labors and does all his work. He
is as careful to order his home as himself.
He has a place for everything and keeps everything in its place, and runs
his home according to Bible order.
All
these things is the Kingdom-bound Christian faithfully doing day in and day out.
Lest he be
NO GUILE
IN THEIR MOUTH
Our only
safeguard, we are adjured, is to speak only those "things which become
sound doctrine" (Tit. 2:1) and to "speak evil of no man."
Tit. 3:2. That is, speak the
truth and naught but the truth, and always speak well of every man.
Never
was this solemn charge more binding upon Christians than upon Davidians, Present
Truth believers today, because never before were God's people so exposed and
subject to unsound and evil speaking at a time when so much depended upon their
teaching for doctrine the absolute Truth, and
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almost
but not quite a real Christian, he is, most imperatively of all, practicing the
golden rule. He has forsaken
murmuring, criticizing, gossiping, and backbiting, and by the grace of
all-enduring, never-failing charity, has become a peacemaker.
To be
such a man or woman, an "altogether" Christian, a true Davidian, means
to be implicitly and absolutely obedient to the heavenly vision, as notably as
was Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, and Paul. When the church has reached the state of
such perfection, "Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a
mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall
flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.
And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall
be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, Whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace
in Jerusalem." Isa. 31:8, 9.
"And
there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people, which shall be left,
from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the
land of Egypt." Isa. 11:16.
(See our Tract No. 14, War News Forecast.)
"For
I will take you," says the Lord, "from among the heathen, and gather
you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from
all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you....and I will
put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall
keep My judgments, and do them. And
ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My
people, and I will be your God." Ezek.
36:24, 25, 27, 28.
Let us
therefore hasten that glad day in every way we can, by wasting not a moment of
the precious time of which life is composed.
Let us gear our Christian lives to the greatly increased tempo that
present-day activities everywhere demand.
That
"the final movements will be rapid ones" must be seen in our spiritual
progress as verily as in the social and political movements that are daily
rocking the world with breath-taking swiftness and far-reaching consequences.
We
cannot afford at this late hour, if ever before, to allow one day's developments
to catch us "unawares."
NO GUILE
IN THEIR MOUTH RIGHT
SIDE
upon
their speaking only the absolute good of all men; no gossip.
The last
hour, the eleventh--the most momentous in history--is about to strike, when the
billions of earth are to hear the gospel's final plea, and Mercy's farewell cry
to unrepenting sinners. Upon the
purity of this final message and the force given to it now in the sealing time
of the first fruits, hangs the fate of the church and the world.
If it goes forth in company with pet theories and fanatical ideas
(unsound doctrines), with faultfinding.
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talebearing,
reporting, backbiting, and slandering (evil speaking), how can we dare think
that it will charm the ear and turn the heart Zionward?
How, O,
how, then, dare a herald of the Kingdom bruit about the frailties and faults,
foibles, failures, and sins of others? Certainly
not, if in his heart abides the love of Christ for the thousands in Laodicea and
the millions in Babylon, whose souls are Judgment-bound.
With their salvation in the balance, he will covenant with the Lord to
tell them only this wonderful message, free from man-made ideas and theories.
"It
pains me to say that there are unruly tongues among [Present Truth] members.
There are false tongues, that feed on mischief.
There are sly, whispering tongues. There
is tattling, impertinent meddling, adroit quizzing.
Among the lovers of gossip, some are actuated by curiosity, others by
jealousy, many by hatred against those through whom God has spoken to reprove
them. All these discordant elements
are at work. Some conceal their
real sentiments, while others are eager to publish all they know, or even
suspect, of evil against another.
"I
saw that the very spirit of perjury, that would turn truth into falsehood, good
into evil, and innocence into crime, is now active.
Satan exults over the condition of God's professed people.
While many are neglecting their own souls, they eagerly watch for an
opportunity to criticize and condemn others.
All have defects of character, and it is not hard to find something that
jealousy can interpret to their injury. 'Now,'
say these self-constituted judges, 'we have facts.
We will fasten upon them an accusation from which they cannot clear
themselves.' They wait for a
fitting opportunity, and then produce their bundle of gossip, and bring forth
their tidbits.
"In
their efforts to carry a point, persons who have naturally a strong imagination,
are in danger of deceiving themselves and deceiving others.
They gather up unguarded expressions from another, not considering that
words may be uttered hastily, and hence may not reflect the real sentiments of
the speaker. But those
unpremeditated remarks, often so trifling is to be unworthy of notice, are
viewed through Satan's magnifying glass, pondered, and repeated, until mole
hills become mountains. Separated
from God, the surmisers of evil become the sport of temptation.
They scarcely know the strength of their feelings or the effect of their
words. While condemning the errors
of others, they indulge far greater errors themselves. 'Consistency is a jewel.'
"Is
there no law of kindness to be observed? Have
Christians been authorized of God to criticize and condemn one another?
Is it honorable, or even honest, to win from the lips of another, under
the guise of friendship, secrets which have been entrusted to him, and then turn
the knowledge thus gained to his injury? Is
it Christian charity to gather up every floating report, to unearth everything
that will cast suspicion on the character of another, and then take delight in
using it to injure
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him?
Satan exults when he can defame or wound a follower of Christ.
He is the 'accuser of the brethren.'
Shall Christians aid him in his work?
"God's
all-seeing eye notes the defects of all, and the ruling passion of each; yet he
bears with our mistakes, and pities our weakness. He bids his people cherish the same spirit of tenderness and
forbearance. True Christians will
not exult in exposing the faults and deficiencies of others.
They will turn away from vileness and deformity, to fix the mind upon
that which is attractive and lovely. To
the Christian every act of fault-finding, every word of censure or condemnation,
is painful.
*
* *
"Would
all professed Christians use their investigative powers to see what evils needed
to be corrected in themselves, instead of talking of others' wrongs, there would
be a more healthy condition...[among Present-truth believers]
today."--Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 94-96.
"What
a world of gossip would be prevented, if every man would remember that those who
tell him the faults of others, will as freely publish his faults at a favorable
opportunity. We should endeavor to
think well of all men, especially our brethren, until compelled to think
otherwise. We should not hastily
credit evil reports. These are
often the result of envy or misunderstanding, or they may proceed from
exaggeration or a partial disclosure of facts.
Jealousy and suspicion, once allowed a place, will sow themselves
broadcast, like thistle-down."--Id., p. 58.
"The
tongue that delights in mischief, the babbling tongue that says, Report, and I
will report it, is declared by the apostle James to be set on fire of hell.
It scatters fire-brands on every side."--Id., p. 57.
Indeed, it is "a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among
our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of
nature; and it is set on fire of hell."
James 3:6. The man who controls it, "the same is a perfect man, and
able also to bridle the whole body." James
3:2.
"I
saw that it is highly important for those who preach the truth to be refined in
their manners, to shun oddities and eccentricities, and present the truth in its
purity and clearness."--Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 415.
"I
saw the necessity of the messengers, especially, watching, and checking all
fanaticism wherever they might see it arise.
Satan is pressing in on every side, and unless we watch for him, and have
our eyes open to his devices and snares, and have on the whole armor of God, the
fiery darts of the wicked will hit us. There
are many precious truths contained in the word of God, but it is 'present truth'
that the flock needs now. I have
seen the danger of the messengers running off from the important points of
present truth, to dwell upon subjects that are not calculated to unite the flock
and sanctify the soul. Satan will
here take every possible advantage to injure the cause."--Early Writings,
p. 63.
"'Sound
doctrine' is Bible truth--truth that will
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promote
piety and devotion, confirming God's people in the faith. Sound doctrine means much to the receiver; and it means much,
too, to the teacher, the minister of righteousness; for wherever the gospel is
preached, every laborer, whatever his line of service, is either true or untrue
to his responsibility as the Lord's messenger.
"A
devoted, spiritual worker will avoid bringing up minor theoretical differences,
and will devote his energies to the proclamation of the great testing truths to
be given to the world."--Gospel Workers, 311, 312, 313.
"A
PRUDENT MAN FORSEETH THE EVIL"
Prov.
22:3.
From
past experience, the wise have teamed the inexorableness of life's law of
inflation and depression. They know
that the abnormal amount of money in circulation swells the demand for goods
beyond what the market can supply, and thus sends prices sky-rocketing.
They recognize in this a warning signal of impending financial disaster.
The
prudent also know that the wild orgy of spending everything they make must
sooner or later end in an upheaval of privations, sorrows and regrets,--the
shattering of many homes. So the
wise take steps beforehand to insure themselves against the inevitable day of
economic erup-tion. In time of
price inflation they will sternly deny the mania for making more luxurious their
present standard of living. And in
this time of stepped-up money circulation they will lay by, save, rather than
spend. They will not fall into that
careless attitude befitting only the lowest forms of animal life,--of
"feast today and famine tomorrow;" nor will they join with them who
say, "let us eat, drink and be merry (spend our money as fast as we make
it) for tomorrow we die."
Anyone
now boarding the pleasure-boat on its gay excursion down the stream of least
resistance, is sure to be sucked into an inextricable maelstrom of financial
mismanagement. Too late, he will
find himself a victim of his arrant improvidence--rank presumption.
The mental likeness of such a one may be compared only to that of a
senseless leech--that stupid little water creature which listlessly starves
itself when there is nothing convenient for it to fasten to, and then kills
itself from over-eating when something finally comes its way.
This form of prodigality is of the worst kind because for such there is
no "father's house" to return to.
If the
experiential criterion that history repeats itself is to be acknowledged, then
out of this war must come a transition period with its inevitable depression.
A dollar now is easily earned; and a dollar saved now may be worth two or
three dollars after the war, when money may become even scarcer than it has ever
been. So now is the time
QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
WHAT IS
THE SECOND TITHE USED FOR?
Question
No. 262:
Answer:
"To
promote the assembling of the people for religious service, as well as to
provide for the poor,
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"O
that our brethren and sisters might value aright the truth! O that they might become sanctified by it!
O that they might realize that upon them rests the responsibility of
communicating this truth to others!" And
to desist forevermore from evil speaking."--Testimonies, Vol. 8, p. 151.
"Unchristian
hearts will think they can discern great wrongs in others where none exist, and
will dwell upon little matters until they appear greatly
magnified."--Testimonies, Vol. 4, p. 610.
"A
PRUDENT MAN FORSEETH THE EVIL"
RIGHT SIDE
to spend as little as possible and lay aside as much as possible.
Now is the time of plenty in which to reap a harvest and to store it for
the time of need that lies ahead--not to consume it on "whatsoever the soul
lusteth after."
Beyond
whatever necessary expenditures and increasing deductions one may have--Income
tax, Victory tax, War Bonds, Social Security, tithes and offerings--every wise
wage-earner will every week put aside a certain amount in savings, no matter how
small, and tenaciously determine to allow nothing to divert him from this plan,
and nothing to diminish this fund. This,
however, one will find very hard to do, owing to temptations of spending, and to
clever business men who have spent a life time studying how to exploit the other
fellow's savings. For such, the
Association has prepared special Bequeathment Certificates which will assure the
holder a nest-egg for a "rainy day," or insure him against financial
disaster in the days of old age.
The busy
bee stores and saves its honey during the summer months. Then when winter comes, she has not only enough to carry her
through the hard spell but also even some to spare for her keeper.
Present Truth believers should not be less wise than a little
insignificant bee! Let the
Bequeathment Certificate be your reminder that where the moths cannot enter and
where the thieves cannot break through, is the safest place to deposit your
treasure.
A little
of such foresight now will make it immeasurably easier on the Father's house
when the strenuous times come, because you can then draw on your own reserve
fund--on your Certificate. It may
be impossible then for the Association to serve all the unfortunate ones; and
those who make no provision in this little time of seeming prosperity, may feel
embarrassed then. Of course, none
but those who hold a Certificate of Fellowship can invest in the Bequeathment
Certificate--share in this divinely dedicated saving system and consecrated
social security.
QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS RIGHT
SIDE
a second tithe of all the increase was required.
Concerning the first tithe, the Lord has declared, 'I have given the
children of Levi all the tenth in Israel.'
But in regard to the second he commanded, 'Thou shalt eat before the Lord
thy God, in the
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place
which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy
wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that
thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.'
This tithe, or its equivalent in money, they were for two years to bring
to the place where the sanctuary was established. After presenting a thank-offering to God, and a specified
portion to the priest, the offerers were to use the remainder for a religious
feast, in which the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow should
participate. Thus provision was
made for the thank-offerings and feasts at the yearly festivals, and the people
were drawn to the society of the priests and Levites, that they might receive
instruction and encouragement in the service of God.
"Every
third year, however, this second tithe was to be used at home, in entertaining
the Levite and the poor, as Moses said, 'That they may eat within thy gates, and
be filled.' This tithe would
provide a fund for the uses of charity and hospitality.
"And
further provision was made for the poor. There
is nothing, after their recognition of the claims of God, that more
distinguishes the laws given by Moses than the liberal, tender, and hospitable
spirit enjoined toward the poor. Although
God had promised greatly to bless his people, it was not his design that poverty
should be wholly unknown among them. He
declared that the poor should never cease out of the land.
There would ever be those among his people who would call into exercise
their sympathy, tenderness, and benevolence.
Then, as now, persons were subject to misfortune, sickness, and loss of
property; yet so long as they followed the instruction given by God, there were
no beggars among them, neither any who suffered for food.
"The
law of God gave the poor a right to a certain portion of the produce of the
soil. When hungry, a man was at
liberty to go to his neighbor's field or orchard or vineyard, and eat of the
grain or fruit to satisfy his hunger. It
was in accordance with this permission that the disciples of Jesus plucked and
ate of the standing grain as they passed through a field upon the Sabbath day.
"All
the gleanings of harvest-field, orchard, and vineyard, belonged to the poor.
'When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field,' said Moses, and hast
forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shall not go again to fetch it....When thou
beatest thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again....When thou
gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward.
It shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land
of Egypt.'
"Every
seventh year, special provision was made for the poor.
The sabbatical year, as it was called, began at the end of the harvest.
At the seed-time, which followed the ingathering, the people were not to
sow; they should not dress the vineyard in the spring; and they must expect
neither harvest nor vintage. Of
that which the land produced
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spontaneously,
they might eat while fresh, but they were not to lay up any portion of it in
their storehouses. The yield of
this year was to be free for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and
even for the creatures of the field.
"But
if the land ordinarily produced only enough to supply the wants of the people,
how were they to subsist during the year when no crops gathered?--For this the
promise of God made ample provision. 'I
will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year,' he said, 'and it shall
bring forth fruit for three years. And
ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year;
until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.'"--Patriarchs and
Prophets, pp. 530-531.
So the
second tithe, while on a more voluntary basis than the first, is just as
important and is actually a divinely ordained, long-range contribution to one's
own welfare. At present it
constitutes our general offerings. Formerly
it was used to forward our Academy work and to pay some of its back debts.
But now, as the Association grows and expands, the use of the second
tithe is likewise widening.
In the
first place, it now takes care of that part of the educational work, where the
first tithe can not legitimately be used. And
in the second place, it takes care of the needs of the worthy poor.
In short it is actually the original and only true mutual insurance
policy for all Present Truth believers who are eligibly holding the Certificate
of Fellowship.
So while
it is imperative that all Present Truth believers avail themselves of this
Certificate of Fellowship, it is even more urgent that all such should be both
first and second tithe payers, because if a Certificate of Fellowship is
extended to those who are not such tithe payers, they would not only become a
demoralizing influence among believers, but also deadly parasites in their
midst.
For this
obvious reason therefore the Association is obliged to grant such Certificates
of Fellowship only to full-fledged believers and cheerful doers of the Word.
The
denomination's failure to care for its members, for which it is under heavy
condemnation, should be a stern lesson to all of us, that we as reformers and
message-bearers must not fail. We
who are privileged to build the old wastes, to raise up the former desolations,
and to repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations (Isa. 61:4),
if need be must tax every muscle and stretch every nerve in order to comply with
the Lord's wishes. And more so in
this respect because it is for the material as well as the spiritual benefit of
each one of us. It is a fool-proof
economic plan--part of the balanced program given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai,
and long neglected and obscured. As
such it is one of the "Divine institutions" (Prophets and Kings, p.
678) that must be restored by the people "before the coming of the great
and dreadful day of the Lord."
Let us
therefore honestly and intelligently ask
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ourselves
the questions: If we fall on the world's charity organizations or on the world's
insurance companies, then how can we Present Truth believers be the pillars of
the church and thus of the world? And
has the Lord appointed the church or the world to care for His peculiar people?
If we, as saviours, cannot take care of the needs of those who are in the
world, then the least we can do is to take care of our own.
"There
is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than
is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The
liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also
himself." Prov. 11:24, 25.
"The
sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest,
and have nothing." Prov. 20:4.
"And
it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the
Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee
this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the
earth: And all these blessings
shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of
the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt
thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shalt be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy
ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of
thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy
basket and thy store. Blessed shalt
thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
"The
Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before
thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven
ways. The Lord shall command the
blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand
unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath
sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and
walk in his ways. And all the
people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and
they shall be afraid of thee. And
the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in
the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the
Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The
Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto
thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt
lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow'
And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt
be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the
commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and
to do them." Deut. 28:1-13.
HOW TO
MATRICULATE IN THE INSTITUTE?
Question
No. 263:
What
makes one eligible for matriculation? What
part of the student's expense at Mt. Carmel does the second tithe take care of,
and how much
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in cash
must one pay?
Answer:
Only
those who hold the Association's Certificate of Fellowship are eligible to
matriculate in the Davidic-Levitical Institute.
And it is required that the enrollee deposit with the Bank of Palestina
the Qualification fee of $30.00. This
fee is a prearranged payment for his room, board, and laundry during his
orientation period--his first two months only.
Should he readily adapt himself to the manual phase of his training and
earn these expenses, then the $30.00 fee may be credited to his drawing or
savings account.
In
addition, the student is required to deposit the amount of return transportation
home, so that should he not find himself able to fit into the school program, or
for any other reason decide to leave Mt. Carmel, both himself and the
Institution will be protected against his being stranded, without sufficient
funds to leave. Besides, the
student is required to bring his own bed (single bed), springs, mattress, and
bedding.
The
second tithe takes care of his tuition, books, and other supplies, and for the
wages paid him for his manual training (that is, above what the department in
which he is employed cannot pay--the part which the student does not actually
earn.) In other words, from the
time the student lands at Mt. Carmel, he need pay for nothing more than he would
at home; namely, only for room, board, laundry, and clothes.
TO WAIT
AFTER REGISTRATION, OR TO ENROLL BEFORE?
Question
No. 264:
Should a
Davidian who is planning to matriculate at the Davidic-Levitical Institute, and
who is approaching Selective Service Registration age, matriculate after
registration, or should he enroll at the Institute before registration, and then
register from Mt. Carmel Center?
Answer:
Any
Davidian who has been called of God to study for the ministry, at The
Davidic-Levitical Institute, Mt. Carmel Center, but who is approaching Selective
Service Registration age, should enroll at the Institute in time to register
from Mt. Carmel Center.
If,
however, he has already registered with Selective Service, but plans to enroll
immediately at the Institute, then, regardless whether or not he has returned
his Selective Service Form 40 to his Local Board of origin, he should at once
request that Board to transfer him to McLennan County, Texas, Local Board No. 4,
for classification.
Failing
to secure this transfer before leaving for Mt. Carmel, one may find it too late
to do so upon arrival, and may not be able to avoid the inconvenient and
unsatisfactory results often attendant upon representing one's case by
correspondence with his Selective Service Board.
Furthermore,
neglecting to take these steps, one can hardly expect a Board to grant him
Ministerial deferment.
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IS THERE
NEED FOR EXTRA OIL?
Question
No. 265:
I am
told that somewhere in her writings, Sister White has said: "We have all
the light which we need till Jesus comes."
Can you give us the reference?
Answer:
We know
of no such statement. Furthermore,
any like declaration would be wholly contrary to everything Sister White has
written on the subject, as is quickly seen from only two of her many testimonies
on this point:
"The
question has been asked me, 'Do you think that the Lord has any more light for
us as a people?' I answer that He
has light that is new to us, and yet it is precious old light that is to shine
forth from the Word of truth. We
have only the glimmerings of the rays of the light that is yet to come to us.
We are not making the most of the light which the Lord has already given
us, and thus we fail to receive the increased light; we do not walk in light
already shed upon us."--Review and Herald, June 3, 1890.
"We
should all know what is being taught among us; for if it is truth, we need
it....No matter by whom light is sent, we should open our hearts to receive it
with the meekness of Christ....O, may we act as men who want light!"
"The Lord sends light to us to prove what manner of spirit we are
of. We are not to deceive
ourselves." "We must not
for a moment think that there is no more light, no more truth, to be given
us."--Gospel Workers, pp. 301, 302, 310.
Obviously,
therefore, there cannot be even so much as a suggestion in Sister White's
writings that we already have all the Truth and need nothing more.
But there are in the Bible at least two previews of a people who will
mistakenly think they have need of nothing more: (1) the five foolish virgins,
who think the oil in their lamps is enough to give them light clear to the
Kingdom, but who being mistaken, fail to reach their goal (See Matthew 25:1-13);
(2) the Laodiceans, who think they have need of nothing, although the Lord says
they have need of everything, and who thus doom themselves to being spued out of
His mouth. See Revelation 3:14-18.
Apparently
the one who thinks Sister White is guilty of saying, "We have all the light
which we need till Jesus comes," is either one of the five foolish virgins
or one of the Laodiceans.
Question
No. 266:
Early
Writings, p. 15, speaks about God's announcing the day and the hour of Jesus'
coming, and pouring upon the saints the Holy Ghost.
Does not all this take place at the time of the seven last plagues, just
before the second advent? If so,
then does it not show that the "latter rain" is to be poured out upon
God's people after the close of probation?
Answer:
True, we
do understand from the passage in question that toward the close of the seventh
last
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plague,
God will announce the day and the hour of Christ's coming, and that He will then
pour out His Spirit upon His saints. We
do not, however, understand this outpouring to be the "latter" or the
"former rain" of truth, or the power prophesied of in Joel 2:23, 28
(as differentiated in Question 266), but rather the final manifestation of God's
Spirit, not to reveal to us any more of Gospel Truth, nor to enable us to
proclaim it more fully, but simply to baptize us with a fitness to see Jesus
face to face, "as He is." (See
Joel 2:24 and Early Writings, pp. 85, 277-279.)
IS THE
FORMER RAIN THE PENTECOSTAL POWER?
Question
No. 267:
The Rod
says that the former rain is the Spirit of Prophecy, and that the latter rain is
the closely related pre-pentecostal message or "teacher of
righteousness," which the church is now receiving, and that the Pentecostal
power is still another thing. But
The Desire of Ages says that the former "rain" was the
"outpouring of the Spirit in Apostolic days," and the "latter
rain," the Pentecostal outpouring itself, to occur in the last days.
What is one to believe?
Answer:
Both
books are endeavoring to say what the Bible says, and in order to bring harmony
we must restudy the subject directly from the Bible, specifically from Joel's
prophecy: "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your
God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come
down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first
month." Joel 2:23.
No one
should fail to see that Joel's prophecy calls for double fulfillment.
Although those who are promised the latter rain, are told that they have
already been given the former rain, yet when the latter rain falls upon them, it
brings the former rain with it, both coming upon them in the first month.
The marginal rendering for the former rain explains that it is a Teacher
of righteousness. Now, if the
former rain repeats and comes down with the latter rain in the same month, then
the fact stands out that the former rain in the apostles' day is the one of
which the Desire of Ages speaks, and that the former rain which falls in the
month of the latter rain, is the one of which The Shepherd's Rod speaks.
In the
natural realm, the former rain bursts and sprouts the seed and the latter rain
brings the blade to full development. So
in the spiritual realm, "the former rain" must denote a heaven-sent
message to germinate the spiritual seed, and "the latter rain" a
subsequent message to ripen the grain for the spiritual harvest. In thus bringing its receiver to full maturity of
righteousness, it is, as Joel terms it, "a teacher of righteousness"
(Joel 2:23, margin). In its
complete application, "the latter rain" of our day is therefore not
only the outpouring of the pre-pentecostal Truth, the teachings of
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Christ
in His day, the type, but is also the initial outpouring of the last and
pre-pentecostal truth in our day, the antitype. First there must be the revelation of Pentecostal truth
before there can be given the Pentecostal power to proclaim it: "And it
shall come to pass afterward [after the former, and the latter rain]," says
the all-knowing One, "that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh."
Joel 2:28.
Accordingly,
these two manifestations of the Holy Spirit are seen to be inseparable.
The first develops a people, by teaching them in righteousness; the
second fully matures them, and clothes them with power to proclaim the truth in
righteousness. In consequence,
there is given in the first phase of the work "a teacher of
righteousness" who trains an army of under-teachers of righteousness for
the carrying out of the second phase.
Since
there was to be a revelation of truth in the apostles', in Sister White's, and
in our day, The Desire of Ages is correct in saying that, at that time (when it
was written), the former rain was the "rain" of truth in the apostles'
day. But as today the former rain
is not only the truth of the apostles' day but also that of Sister White's day,
the Rod is correct in saying that her writings are "the former rain"
today and that the latter rain, as Joel shows, is directly applicable to the
last message--the message of today (Joel 2:23). Thus only (with the former rain being the writings of Sister
White and the "latter rain" being the Rod) can both former and latter
fall at the same time, as required by Joel 2:23. And the Spirit's power, being subsequent to the former and
latter rain, is therefore yet future.
FORTY
YEARS WITHOUT REFILLING?
Question
No. 268:
How can
it be true that no progressive truth was given to the church during the
forty-year period, from 1890 to 1930, when so many of Sister White's writings
were published from 1890 to 1915?
Answer:
Though
many of Sister White's manuscripts were published during the period of time
stated above, yet a careful check will reveal that if any new revelation of
timely Bible truth, "meat in due season," was published therein, it
was revealed to her before 1890.
Between
the dates in question, most of her testimonies, especially those which comprise
the Testimonies for the Church, were given, not expressly to reveal timely Bible
truth, but primarily to furnish counsel, admonition, reproof and instruction in
righteousness in an endeavor to save the Laodiceans from being spued out.
Any other of her writings remained, in their prophetic aspects, a mystery
until the forty years expired with the arrival of The Shepherd's Rod.
So long
without spiritual oil, the church's truth-containing vessel needed to be
refilled with fresh extra oil that her lamp might lighten her path all the way
to the Kingdom, lest she miss the way.
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THE
KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE HEART, OR IN THE EARTH?
Question
No. 269:
Since
Jesus says, "the kingdom of God is within" us (Luke 17:21), how, then,
can it be an earthly kingdom?
Answer:
If the
statement in question means that there is to be no kingdom of God on earth, then
by the same token of reasoning it must also mean that neither is there to be any
kingdom in heaven. And if there is
to be none on earth, and none in heaven, then our hope is vain.
But, as always, that which proves too much, proves nothing, and to stand
upon the proposition in the question is to take the position that there is to be
no literal kingdom either on earth or in heaven, but only a spiritual kingdom
within the heart, which is to reduce the subject to an absurdity.
It is to play right into the hands of the Devil, who would desperately
like to black-out the Kingdom truth, and relegate the Kingdom itself to
oblivion. But in this, thank God,
the Word assures us he is doomed to certain failure.
So
before the Kingdom of God is established on this earth, it must indeed be
spiritually established within us if we are ever to qualify for admission when
it is physically established upon "earth, as it is in heaven."
Accordingly,
the spiritual kingdom of God within, is within those who embody the principles
of its rule before the physical Kingdom is established. So the kingdom of God "within" is the regimen of
the spiritual life; it is the prerequisite to an inheritance in the Kingdom of
God without.
THE
MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH?
Question
No. 270:
What is
the marriage spoken of in Christ's Object Lessons, p. 307, and in The Great
Controversy, p. 426? In one
instance, it is said to be "the union of humanity with divinity;" in
another, "the reception by Christ of His kingdom;" in still another,
it is said that the marriage "takes place in heaven, while the saints are
upon the earth" waiting "for their Lord, when He will return from the
wedding;" again, the words, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh," are
applied to His coming to the "temple" from the investigative judgment.
Will you please clear this complex subject for me?
Answer:
Let us
remember that these figures of speech, along with many others, are only
illustrations of truths, not the truths in themselves.
For example, the setting up of the Kingdom is illustrated, in one
instance, by the "harvest;" the subjects of the Kingdom, by the
"wheat;" and the Kingdom itself, by the "barn."
Matt. 13:30. In another instance, the setting up of the Kingdom, and the
separation of the sinners from among the saints, is illustrated by the angels
drawing "the net" to shore, then sitting down and gathering from it
the good fish, and putting them into "vessels" and casting out of it
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the bad
(Matt. 13:48). In this case, the
subjects of the Kingdom are represented by the good fish; and the Kingdom
itself, by the "vessels."
So,
while it is true that the marriage of Christ is a "union of humanity with
divinity," it is true also that the marriage is "the reception of His
kingdom," for humanity makes up the Kingdom. Therefore, the marriage is equivalent to the coronation; the
Kingdom itself, to the city or bride; and the guests, to the saints or subjects
of the Kingdom. From this we see
that when Christ receives His Kingdom, He indeed will unite humanity with
divinity.
The
reception of His Kingdom takes place in heaven while the saints are still on
earth, as adumbrated by Daniel: "I saw in the night visions, and, behold,
one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient
of days, and they brought Him near before Him.
And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be
destroyed." Dan. 7:13, 14.
Jesus
said of this same event: "A certain nobleman went into a far country to
receive for himself a kingdom, and to return."
Luke 19:12. Note that He
receives the Kingdom (acquires ownership of it) while He is away, not when He
returns. (See The Great
Controversy, pp. 426, 427.)
So, the
marriage is the coronation of Christ, which takes place in the heavenly temple
when all His subjects on earth are made ready, while the work is drawing to
completion and probation to a close. Obviously,
then, the marriage takes place before He comes to "receive" the saints
unto Himself (John 14:3), and before they meet Him "in the air." 1
Thess. 4:16, 17. Afterwards is
served the "supper."
Consequently,
though the wedding takes place in heaven, the saints while on the earth are the
prospective guests for the marriage supper in heaven. After the wedding ceremony, Jesus descends from heaven and
takes the guests unto Himself, so that where He is, they may be also (John
14:1-3). There they eat of the
"marriage supper of the Lamb."--The Great Controversy, p. 427; Rev.
19:9. In this instance, while the
saints are said to be the guests, the Holy City is said to be "the
bride." Rev. 21:9, 10. Again, just before the marriage, when the saints are still on
earth, their righteousness is said to be the bride's (city's) "fine
linen." Rev. 19:8.
The
lessons that are taught by these and other illustrations become priceless jewels
of truth to those who take heed to them.
WHEN
BEGINS THE TIME OF THE END?
Question
No. 271:
When
begins "the time of the end," in which the book of Daniel is opened?
Answer:
The
angel who instructed Daniel, declared that the book would be closed until the
time of the
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end.
Accordingly, not before or after, but in the time of the end, the book
must be opened.
The time
is marked by an increase of knowledge and by men running "to and fro."
Dan. 12:4, 9. As a large
portion of the book is now understood, and as we are in the automotive age, the
age of increased knowledge, with men running to and fro, it is evident that we
are living "in the time of the end."
Daniel
11:40 makes clear that "at," not "in," the time of the end,
the King of the North was to wage victorious wars against the King of the South.
Consequently, "the time of the end" must have begun at the
closing of the eighteenth century and at the beginning of the nineteenth, with
the victories of the King of the North. (See
map in our Tract No. 12, The World Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, p. 97.)
WHO FLEE
TO MOUNTAINS?
Question
No. 272:
If God's
people are in the Kingdom during the Loud Cry, how can they be put in prison or
driven to the mountains during that time, as the Spirit of Prophecy asserts they
will (The Great Controversy, p. 626)?
Answer:
When it
is understood that the 144,000 are but first fruits, the forerunners, the
advanced guard, of a great multitude of second fruits, the difficulty in
question is immediately resolved. The
first fruits stand with the Lamb, safe on Mt. Zion (in the Kingdom).
But those who shall find refuge in the mountains, and who shall be put in
prison, can be only from among the second fruits--those who shall accept the
message during the Loud Cry, but who shall not yet at that time have reached the
Kingdom. (See our Tract No. 12,
"Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow," pp. 45-49.)
ONLY A
PORTION NOT TRODDEN?
Question
No. 273:
In Tract
No. 9, Behold I Make All Things New (1942 edition), p. 38, is the statement:
"That portion of the new earth which the feet of the wicked have
trodden...will be purified by the fire's coming 'down from God out of
heaven.'" We have been taught
that in the second resurrection, the wicked will come up from their graves from
every part of the earth. If so,
then how is it possible that they will tread only a portion of it?
Answer:
The part
of the new earth which wicked feet do not tread and defile, is that portion
where the Holy City rests.
IS IT
"HE," OR ARE WE TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER?
Question
No. 274:
"He
that dasheth in pieces," as I see it after reading Tract No. 14, is Hitler.
But how can this be, when he has for sometime been getting the worst of
it, and the allies are winning the war?
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Answer:
The
tract is not definite as to the identity of "he that dasheth in
pieces." Any conclusions,
therefore, that may be deduced from one's analysis of the tract's contents, can
be only inferential and therefore tentative.
From
current developments in the European theater of war, it does look as though
Hitler is doomed. Despite this
appearance, however, Nahum's prophecy analytically fits him, although it is
possible that someone else may yet step into the picture.
And if during this war the prophecy does not meet its entire fulfillment,
then it will be only because the sealing of the saints must yet be incomplete,
the work of the message unfinished, and the people not ready to stand with the
Lamb on Mt. Zion.
While we
are not certain how this war will wind up, and who "he that dasheth in
pieces" is, we are, however, plainly told that at the time
"Assyria" falls, the Lord will free His people not only from the
sinners in their midst but also from the Gentile rule under which they now are.
So with
you personally, dear reader, the Holy Voice of prophecy pleads: "Now will I
break his [the Assyrian] yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace!...for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is
utterly cut off." Nah. 1:13,
15.
Are you
ready, and will you help others to get ready?
HOW TO
AVOID THE REARING OF MISFITS?
Question
No. 275:
How may
we best help children between the ages of two and twelve, to occupy their time?
Answer:
Because
most children in this Laodicean age, are in some respects allowed to grow up
like weeds instead of as trained human beings, the question of properly
utilizing their time is very pertinent indeed.
In the
first place, all parents realize the value of having their children trained
faithfully, intelligently, and courageously to shoulder life's duties and to
meet its problems, if they are not to become parasites or social misfits--square
pegs in round holes. Nevertheless
many parents will let their children drift along unequipped to care for
themselves, and indifferent to life's manifold challenges.
Thus, when matured, they find life a dreary drudgery instead of an
excellent joy; they are defeated at everything they attempt, at every turn in
the way. Their homes become untidy
and unsanitary--unfit to live in; and their families, in turn, become depressed,
useless, unfit company for society.
Children
left to their own devisings, to fritter and dawdle away their time as they will,
are like the grasshopper. Playing,
singing, and sunning himself all summer long, giving no thought to the
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approaching
chill breath of winter before which the green grass vanishes from the fields,
the grasshopper has idled away his time, and now he must starve for want of
food, and freeze in the open field. The
ant, though, who has busily worked the whole summer through, has plenty to eat
and a good warm winter home. Only
poor judgment and blind love will leave children to themselves to grow up in the
grasshopper habit, untrained in the wisdom of doing all their work in the six
appointed days, so as to deserve a rest on the seventh.
Parents who allow their children to fool away the time, are thereby
laying deadly snares before them; they are unfitting them for this life and for
the life to come.
Among
the many useful as well as edifying pursuits for children, are the various home
duties, such as washing windows, sweeping, dusting, making beds, washing dishes,
scrubbing floors and woodwork, baking, cooking, and even making simple articles
of clothing and furniture.
Then
there are outdoor employments such as keeping the premises neat and clean,
raising poultry, gardening, etc., in addition to other practical pursuits,
including the making of purchases economically and in a business-like manner.
And by
all means, reading and memorizing passages from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy
should be carefully cultivated as a crowning recreation.
To have
fully rounded and integrated personalities and characters, children must
properly develop the physical and the mental as well as the spiritual faculties.
The
training of the child should begin very early in life--just as soon as it is
able to walk and speak--because if it is left to squander its time until grown
older, it will acquire a zebra-like nature--one impossible to change from doing
nothing to doing something.
Children
should be assigned certain home-duties, and when they learn to master one thing,
promote them to another. The home
should be a school, not a playhouse. Neither
should they be left to play so much of the time outside of the home as to
habituate them only to a life of play and mischief.
Where there are several children in the home, the daily home-duties
should be divided among them, while the parents assume the duties of teachers.
In this way the children will not only keep themselves from mischief and
bad company but will also become useful and industrious, and at the same time
build strong physiques, noble characters, and happy personalities. Children thus brought up will never drift into vaga-bondage
or infidelity.
But if
you allow them to fall into the habit of getting something done only after
having been coaxed or scolded, you will then be teaching them to hate both
yourself and the work. And hence,
instead of training them to love a life that will make them happy and
independent, you will be driving them into the very thing that you are trying to
keep them from, and even predisposing them to quarrelsomeness.
Let them know that what
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you say,
you mean, then they will never try to talk you out of your word, or think that
you might be mistaken, and they thus suppose their disobedience to be not only
justifiable but even commendable.
Lead
them to love their work by keeping up their interest in it.
Be as God. Teach them in the
same manner in which He is teaching you. It
is written: "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth."
Heb. 12:6. He explains the
right and wrong sides of life, and plainly warns you of the results that will
follow from whichever course you may pursue--a blessing from the one and a curse
from the other. Do likewise.
But be careful that while so doing, you do not turn them against God by
threatening them that if they are not good, He will punish them in this way or
in that way. Rather teach them that
God is pleading with them to avoid the evil course because it, of itself, will
lead them to reap curses rather than blessings.
While
teaching them these two consequences, use simple illustrations.
Show them, for example, that if they fail to remove the food bacteria
from their teeth by regularly brushing them after meals, they will become
bacteria-eaten, as fruit becomes worm-eaten when the trees are not sprayed and
cared for, and the result ultimately will be aches, loss of teeth, ugliness, and
expense. Teach them that a
violation of the laws of God in any respect will naturally result in pain,
sorrow, bad character, a dishonorable life, and untimely death.
Children
incline naturally toward wrong habits instead of right ones, as carnivorous
animals naturally seek flesh instead of herbs.
"Foolishness," we are reminded, "is bound in the heart of
a Child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."
Prov. 22:15. The child must patiently and wisely be trained, disciplined,
chastened. "Train up a child
in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Prov, 22:6. But if he
becomes casehardened and intractable, refusing to be trained, then "chasten
thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying...He that
spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him
betimes." Prov. 19:18; 13:24.
Indeed, "withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest
him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou
shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell."
Prov. 23:13, 14.
Up to
five or six years, of age, depending upon the temperament of the individual
child, children may be subjected to corporal punishment when other measures of
discipline and correction have been exhausted without success. If on such occasions, the rod is properly used, the child may
respond so that he will never need it again.
If, however, the necessity should again arise, then be exceedingly
careful what you do.
Certain
children who require more drastic punishment than the average child, may become
incorrigible and develop a fear complex and corresponding hatred of their
chasteners. So, while such
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chastisement
is calculated to prevent a recurrence of a major evil in the child, it is bound
to bring in an even worse evil, unless carefully studied steps are taken to
insure against this brutalizing effect. It
must be administered with a commensurate and convincing demonstration of such
deep-felt love and yearning over the erring one that he will not lose filial
affection and respect for his chasteners, and his home-life become such a
haunting nightmare to him as to drive him to run away at the opportune moment.
"Parents...should
first reason with their children, clearly point out their wrongs, show them
their sin, and impress upon them that they have not only sinned against their
parents, but against God. With your
own heart subdued and full of pity and sorrow for your erring children, pray
with them before correcting them. Then
your correction will not cause your children to hate you. They will love you. They
Will see that you do not punish them because they have put you to inconvenience,
or because you wish to vent your displeasure upon them; but from a sense of
duty, for their good, that they may not be left to grow up in
sin."--Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 398.
At all
costs, they must always be influenced to feel that their chasteners are their
best friends, not bullies and enemies.
"The
mother may ask, 'Shall I never punish my child?'
Whipping may be necessary when other resorts fail; yet she should not use
the rod if it is possible to avoid doing so. But if milder measures prove insufficient, punishment that
will bring the child to its senses should in love be administered.
Frequently one such correction will be enough for a lifetime, to show the
child that he does not hold the lines of control."--Counsels to Teachers,
p. 116.
But
habitually to grab children on any and every provocation and angrily shake,
cuff, slap, spank, or whip them, and in between time hold over their heads the
threat to strike them, is the most damaging folly, abhorred alike by every
consideration of intelligence, decency, and humanity.
Its continuance will harden and brutalize, ruin instead of save.
It will make its victims vicious little animals instead of noble,
God-like children.
"Some
parents correct their children severely in a spirit of impatience, and often in
passion. Such corrections produce
no good result. In seeking to
correct one evil, they create two. Continual
censuring and whipping hardens children, and weans them from their
parents."--Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 398.
When
however, you do not have to discipline, be serious, mean business, and do a
good, sensible job of it. See that
you do it so well that you will not have to do it over.
Today,
as never before, youth are asserting a premature self-confidence, to such an
extent even that they threaten to leave home if they are not granted their every
wish. But do not compromise with
them at this critical period, or they will finally force things to such an issue
that they will eventual-
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ly have
to run away in order to make good their bluff.
Do not give in. Tell them
that if they want to go, you will help them to get started out openly and
honorably, but that they need not shame-facedly and sneakingly run away.
Do not
make them lose respect for you or for your religion.
They do not need so much of the doctrines at first as they do the simple
lessons of life religiously imprinted daily upon their minds. Make them love
your religion by understanding it, seeing its truth and beauty.
Never try to force them to take it; they will only hate it.
If your
course leads them to rule over you instead of you over them, or if you rule over
them with force instead of with love, it will eternally ruin them and, yes, you,
too. Then when God asks,
"Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?" you
will be speechless.
A MODEL
OUT OF THE WORLD, OR IN THE WORLD ALSO?
Question
No. 276:
Some
seem to think we are not supposed to wear dresses of such long length as those
who live at Mt. Carmel. Are we?
Answer:
If a
short dress does not constitute "modest apparel" for a Christian woman
in an isolated place, then it would be even more disgraceful in the city.
Any
woman anywhere will look far better in a neat dress of modest length and good
taste, than she will in a short, immodest dress.
She will thus commend herself to the intelligent, and, above every other
consideration, she will be a power for good rather than for evil.
To begin
with, the fashion creators started foolish women wearing short dresses, and the
worldly majority willy-nilly patterned after them. And if the stylists should now put the same models in longer,
neat, and modest dresses, the multitude of Christian women would unhesitatingly
fall in step.
God
expects His people to be the head, to set the right standard. Therefore, to give an unchristianlike witness in dress away
from Mt. Carmel, where one meets the world's multitude, is even worse than to do
so where one's influence is confined strictly to believers.
"You
are not accountable for any of the sins of your brethren, unless your example
has caused them to stumble, caused their feet to be diverted from the narrow
path."--Testimonies, Vol. 2, p. 256.
SHALL WE
SEEK ECONOMY AS WE
SHUN
PRIDE?
Question
No. 277:
Should
women wear silk or cotton hose?
Answer:
In the
cases of some women, circumstances make very impracticable the wearing of silk
hose, and in the cases of others, the wearing of cotton hose. Their wearing sheer silk hose, however, being neither modest
nor practicable in any way, is of
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course
clearly out of the question for all Christians.
If, though, service-weight silk hose prove more serviceable and
economical as well as more comfortable than cotton hose, then the service weight
is the best choice. But if lisle,
or cotton, are the more serviceable and economical as well as the more
comfortable, then obviously they are to be preferred. There is no hard and fast rule for all. This is a matter for the exercise of individual judgment and
conscience.
"Economy
in the outlay of means is an excellent branch of Christian wisdom....Money is an
excellent gift of God. In the hands
of His children it is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, and raiment
for the naked; it is a defense for the oppressed, and a means of health to the
sick. Means should not be
needlessly or lavishly expended for the gratification of pride or
ambition."--Testimonies, Vol. 4, p. 571.
"In
the establishment and carrying forward of the work, the strictest economy is
ever to be shown."--Counsels on Health, p. 319.
WHAT IS
MY GIFT?
Question
No. 278:
What is
the meaning of I Timothy 4:14: "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which
was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the
presbytery"?
Answer:
In the
scripture in question, the apostle Paul is urging the Christian to be faithful
and full of zeal in the duties which God has placed upon him, and not to neglect
his privileges and opportunities, nor to come short of his endowments, his
capabilities, his "talents."
The
first duty of each Davidian is to be faithful in obeying the principles of the
doctrine, in doing whatsoever work he is given to do, and by precept and by
example leading others to do likewise.
Some are
thus doing by building Mt. Carmel Center, some by giving studies, others by
writing letters and sending tracts and books to their relatives, friends, and
acquaintances, and still many others by sending in names and addresses of
Seventh-day Adventists to whom Present-Truth literature may be sent.
Each
must be faithful in his duties, as was Daniel, so that he bring no reproach
against his religious profession, but rather, by his consistent behavior and
faithful service in the name of Christ, lead others to the message of the hour.
Today as never before the Christian is to be " not slothful in
business," but "fervent in spirit; serving the Lord."
Rom. 12:11.
WHAT
ABOUT COMMUNION SERVICE?
Question
No. 279:
Should
we celebrate the communion service when the believers who are well established
in the message meet together?
Answer:
As to
ordaining the communion service in our own midst we believe that since we all,
as Seventh-
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day
Adventists, have. defiled ourselves as did the Jews at Christ's first appearing
(The Desire of Ages, p. 104), and since this sacred service works damnation to
those who unworthily receive it (1 Cor. 11:29), therefore we dare not now, as
Davidians, take unto ourselves its hallowed privilege until as a people our
lives bear convincing evidence of our repentance from the Laodicean condition.
(Nevertheless, we have, whenever possible, taken part in the communion
services in the Seventh-day Adventist church.)
The
lesson in not organizing this blessed service in our midst at this time, is
parallel to that which John the Baptist taught in ordaining and insisting upon
the baptismal service then; that is, John's instituting the baptismal service
then, was to show that the Jews were not ready for the kingdom, and the message
of this hour in not instituting the communion service now, is to show that
neither are we, and that we must therefore quickly repent from our lukewarmness,
buy the "eyesalve," and anoint our eyes.
Then we shall gloriously celebrate the communion service, and the shame
of our nakedness will not appear (Rev. 3:18).
Those
who do not sense this great need are yet blind to the church's undone condition
and to the Lord's holiness. Just a
firm outward faith in the message is not enough; its inward work in our lives is
the all-essential and supreme work that must take place in the lives of all of
us before we can conscientiously and profitably celebrate the Lord's supper.
Let us hasten that glad day.
BAPTIZED
FOR REMISSION OF SINS,OR FOR PROGRESSING WITH THE TRUTH?
Question
No. 280:
As we
were admitted into the Seventh-day Adventist church membership on our former
baptism in the Baptist church, we desire to know if it is necessary for us to be
re-baptized?
Answer:
The Holy
Scriptures teach a need of one baptism only (Eph. 4:5).
As you were baptized by immersion in the Baptist church, and united with
the Seventh-day Adventist church for no reason other than to walk in brighter
light of the Word, there was no need for re-baptism.
And if you have been true to your Christian vows also in the Seventh-day
Adventist church, then there is no need for re-baptism now.
Suppose
you had been baptized by the apostle Paul and received into church fellowship,
lived on up, and walked in the advancing light of the Lord, to the present time,
you would have followed Him through all of the seven successive reformatory
movements--the seven church periods. In
the Protestant period, you would have been Lutheran first and Davidian last.
In your thus faithfully following the light of Truth, it is neither
Scriptural nor logical that God would have required you to be re-baptized every
time you took a step forward.
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ON WHICH
SIDE WILL YOU BE?
Question
No. 281:
What
does Mt. Carmel stand for, and what position do The Davidian Seventh-day
Adventists take concerning the writings of Mrs. E.G. White?
Also how do they regard the Seventh-day Adventist denomination?
Answer:
To
facilitate answering these questions, let us consider them in reverse order:
1. The
Davidian Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Seventh-day Adventist church
was ordained of heaven and charged with a special message for the world, but
that in the course of time she permitted herself to grow self-complacent,
lukewarm, and careless in discharging her sacred responsibilities; and that thus
having once "turned back from following Christ her Leader," she has
ever since been "steadily retreating toward Egypt," with the
consequence that her "own course of continual backsliding has
separated" her from God.--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217.
The
Davidians further believe that this tragic departure from the Lord is all too
manifest in that divided state of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, the
contest "between the commandments of God and the commandments of men"
(Id., p. 81); that "the gold will be separated from the dross in the
church"--the Modernists, those who have rendered supreme homage to
"'science falsely so-called,'...trusted to intellect, genius, or
talent" (Id., p. 80), will be winnowed from the Fundamentalists--from those
who "are standing in the light...sighing and crying for the abominations
that are done in the land."--Id., p. 209.
Let it
be immediately understood, however, that unlike those who openly affirm their
modernistic views, the Seventh-day Adventist Modernists loudly and blindly
repudiate all such, and insistently profess to stand on the fundamentals of
Seventh-day Adventism, although gradually and quietly they slip further and
further away from them (Id., pp. 217, 137; Christ Our Righteousness, p. 51).
This insidious variety of modernism, and the gradual
"new-modeling" of the denomination's fundamental principles
(Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 48, 69, 70, 360, 372, 373, 409) is heart-breaking
evidence that those at its helm are Modernists.
But their seeming innocence of the fact, and their denial of it, make
exceedingly difficult our helping them, without our efforts being misunderstood.
And to fix guilt for starting the drift away from the Heaven-established
fundamentals of the faith today, is as impossible as to trace down the first
Jewish teacher who put in the place of a "thus saith the Lord," a thus
saith himself or someone else. Indeed,
whom to charge with this defection is as impossible to determine as is the date
when the evil work started. Inspiration
says:
"There
are those today who will present false-hoods as testing truths, even as the Jews
presented the maxims of men as the bread of heaven. Sayings of no value are given to the people of God as their
portion of meat, while souls are starving for the bread of life.
Fables have been de-
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vised,
and men are trying to weave these fables into the web.
Those who do this will one day see their work as it is viewed by the
heavenly intelligences. They choose
to bring to the foundation wood, hay, and stubble, when they have at their
command the word of God, with all its richness and power, from which they can
gather precious treasures of truth. The
food that is being prepared for the flock will cause spiritual consumption,
decline, and death. When those who
profess to believe present truth come to their senses, when they accept the word
of God just as it reads, when they do not try to wrest the Scriptures, they will
bring from the treasure-house of the heart things new and old, to strengthen
themselves and those for whom they labor."--Review and Herald, June 18,
1901.
2.
Unfaltering faith in the belief that the Spirit of Prophecy is to repose in the
church to the end of time, is one of the foundation stones of Seventh-day
Adventism. "This prophetic
gift bestowed," admits Elder A.G. Daniels, "was to abide with the
church from Adam to the second advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, when
He comes to take His redeemed people to Paradise.
It did not cease with the apostles, but is traceable through the
centuries to the last days of human history, just before the return of our Lord.
When that supreme event of the ages shall occur, then--and not until
then--shall come to pass that which is spoken of by the apostle Paul:
"'...whether
there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they
shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is
perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.'--l Cor. 13:8-10,
A.R.V."--The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 6.
Since
this prophetic gift was manifest through Sister White, as has been evidentially
establishing, she necessarily then wrote under divine Inspiration, as did the
Bible writers. And, therefore,
orthodox Seventh-day Adventism turns on the pivotal truth that "no prophecy
of the Scriptures is of any private interpretation," and can no more be
understood now without special divine illumination than could prophecy have been
understood in Daniel's time without enlightenment from the angel, who explained:
"I will shew thee, that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there
is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your Prince."
Dan. 10:21. Just so, the
same Michael must commission a "teacher" for us today; otherwise those
things which belong to our peace will be "hid from [our] eyes."
Luke 19:42.
This
solid rock of doctrine was ever to be the denomination's sure foundation, and
just to the extent that its principles have been faithfully followed out has
there been power in the church. Upon
the death of Sister White, in 1915, the gift ceased.
With the church thus cut off from the very source of its life, as was the
Jewish church after the death of the prophet Malachi, how could it maintain its
vitality and growth? Hence now as
then, there has followed the same inevitable
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spiritual
malnutrition and deformity, accompanied with its long train of woes.
Against
this dark background of spiritual decline and consumption (wretchedness, misery,
poverty, blindness, and nakedness), and imminent end (being spued out), stands
out in bold relief the sternly chiseled work of Mt. Carmel Center, as did the
flaming summit of ancient Carmel amid the idolatry and decadence of apostate
Israel. Again type meets antitype.
To the Israel of God today, says the angel: "Ye have done worse than
they."--Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 129.
"Like
a hammer to break the flinty heart; like a fire to consume the dross"
(Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 254), its voice cries unto Laodicea the unheeded
warning: "I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a
people. The Lord has not closed
Heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding has separated us from
God. Pride, covetousness, and love
of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or condemnation.
Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us.
And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing, and that
peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders.
"The
church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily
retreating toward Egypt. Yet few
are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power.
Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is
leavening our churches everywhere. Satan
would have it thus. Ministers who
preach self instead of Christ would have it thus.
The testimonies are unread and unappreciated.
God has spoken to you. Light
has been shining from His word and from the testimonies, and both have been
slighted and disregarded. The
result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among
us."---Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 217.
"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?" Id., p. 137.
And now
louder and louder sounds the voice of Carmel, through the series of The
Shepherd's Rod publications, "the Lord's voice...unto the city, and"
says the Divine Author, "the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the
rod, and Who hath appointed it." Micah
6:9.
"Feed
thy people," He commands, "with thy rod, the flock if thine heritage,
which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel."
Mic. 7:14.
Thus to
rescue the honest in Laodicea from spiritual starvation and death, to
revitalize, restore, and rearm them for the final conflict, the Lord has sent
the Rod.
When
this work of restitution has been completed according to Matthew 17:11, and the
Modernist element has been "cut off" as decreed in Ezekiel 9 and in
Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 80, then will be seen in the church a literal
fulfillment of the words of Christ: "The rain descended, and the floods
came,
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and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house" and it stood. Matt. 7:25.
Like the
early pioneers of the Adventist church, those who heed the Rod are the restorers
of the "old paths;" they realize the grave consequences involved in
going contrary to any light the Lord chooses to send His people.
And since the message of the Rod has aroused an interest in the need of
"reformation among God's people," we as Davidians would not only be
recreant to our trust but would also be passing "by on the other
side," allowing our beloved Seventh-day Adventist church to drag in the
dust, our brethren to be lost, and the world around us to perish for "lack
of knowledge," if we did not bestir ourselves to warn the church of the
on-coming danger.
Our
unselfish zeal and effort to help all Modernist Seventh-day Adventist brethren,
regardless of their race, nationality, or social position, is evidence enough of
our love for them and our devotion to them.
We believe with the apostle Paul that we are all the children of Adam,
children of adoption into the family of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.
Though
we realize the greatness of our goal, yet with implicit confidence in our
Leader, Who has never yet failed to carry through any phase of the divine
purpose, we face our task with courage and confidence, believing that "we
are well able to go up and possess the land" of our inheritance, and
finally to pass into that heavenly Canaan, where "milk and honey" flow
forever.
Of
necessity, then, Mt. Carmel Center is being built as a base of operations for
training and fitting workers to carry this special message to the church; for
educating deserving youth; for caring for worthy poor, aged, widowed, and
orphaned; and for ministering to the sick and infirm according to God's plan.
It has heard God's double charge to it:
"Cry
aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their
transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins."
Isa. 58:1.
"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
DELICIOUS,
VITALIZING JUICE FORMULAS
Whenever
possible, select only those vegetables (or fruits) which are young and tender,
and the heaviest in weight or most solid. Those
with a deep color are invariably the juiciest.
Both the roots and leaves of vegetables should be utilized, for thus only
can be obtained all the organic minerals. Carrot
tops, for instance, are an excellent source of vitamins G, B, C, and A, and are
rich in calcium, iron, and phosphorus. They
will do more good to promote health than will commercial preparations.
Especially those who are anemic or neurotic should always utilize the
juice of the carrot tops along with their regular carrot or other vegetable
drinks. Do not try to take more
than you can stand. Too much even
of a good thing causes a great deal of damage.
Remember that you are
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bridegroom
go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet."
Joel 2:15, 16. ,
When it
has accomplished this "closing work for the church" (Testimonies, Vol.
3, p. 266), then those "who have overcome every temptation in the strength
of the Mighty One," who have sighed and cried and escaped the destruction,
will "be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of
the Lord before them." Zech.
12:8. Davidians, indeed!--"a
great people and a strong" (Joel 2:2), "clad in the armor of Christ's
righteousness,...'fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army
with banners,'... to go forth into all the world, conquering and to
conquer."--Prophets and Kings, p. 725.
Thus are
the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists to gather all the saints to the house of the
Lord.
Mt.
Carmel's great burden is to get this manifold work done as soon as possible, so
that we may then go home to our eternal rest, no more to be fettered with the
shackles of sin.
WHAT
IDENTIFIES ONE AS A DAVIDIAN SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST?
Question
No. 282:
As the
Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association does not have a formal membership,
what evidence can one give to identify himself as a member of the organization?
And how can he establish the length of time he has been with it?
Answer:
One's
support of the timely Davidian message, and his living out its principles
(baptism, Sabbath observance along with the rest of the ten commandments,
vegetarianism, dress reform, total abstinence from tobacco and alcoholic
beverages, and all else contained in the Spirit of Prophecy), are the truest
witnesses and the only genuine visible certification which can convince a human
being of his worthiness of membership in the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist
Association. Just how long one has
been a member of this Association depends entirely upon how long one has known
and lived these principles.
To all
such, the Association will, upon reguest, give an authorized Certificate of
Fellowship, so that one may thus officially identify himself when necessary.
DELICIOUS,
VITALIZING JUICE FORMULAS
RIGHT SIDE
drinking
this juice, not for pleasure, but for health.
The next
step in making these juices more appetizing, is to squeeze a small amount of
lemon juice into the extractor before putting the vegetables through, then
sprinkle a few drops of lemon into the receptacle before catching the finished
product. In doing this, no fear
need be entertained of violating health precept, for the little lemon juice used
is not incompatible with vegetable chemistry.
The combinations of the acids in cooked fruits and vegetables, according
to best authorities, are harmful and quite different from these same
combinations in the raw state.
Tomato
juice may be combined with any fruit or vegetable juice, as it is a
"neutral" acid.
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A
pleasant variation in the enjoyment of these vegetable juices, is to combine
them with cream or milk, and serve them as hot drinks or as soups.
JUICE
FORMULAS
Make or
buy a juice-press or extractor--there are several good types on the market--and
start in on one or more of the following exhilarating combinations:
CELERY
JUICE
Wash
celery and put through vegetable juicer. Some
of the leaves can be used, but they are bitter, so do not use many.
This
drink is especially helpful to those who do not sleep well, get up tired, and
always have a fatigued feeling, along with extreme nervousness.
(Raw leaf lettuce salad will also help to induce sound slumber.)
KIDNEY
CLEANSER
There is
probably no other fruit or vegetable that has the curative properties of the
tomato. In the short space of the
last few years tomato juice has become one of America's most popular drinks.
Many
delicious drinks can be made by blending tomato juice with the juices of other
vegetables.
The
Kidney cleanser is made by blending the juice of two or three stalks of celery
with a glass of tomato juice. (Asparagus
and radish juices may also be added or substituted to give the same effect.)
BLOOD-BUILDER
The
juice of several handfuls of fresh, crisp spinach, two or three leaves of
lettuce, and a handful of parsley may be blended with tomato juice.
GALL
BLADDER CORRECTIVE
This
appetizer is made of the juice of tender rhubarb and fresh young asparagus, with
a sufficient amount of grapefruit juice added to prevent the rhubarb from
stinging.
This is
particularly helpful to those who have had the gall bladder removed, and to
those who are suffering from gall stones or faulty functioning of the gall
bladder.
THE
CUCUMBER--"AID"
Cut
unpeeled cucumbers into slices and put through juice extractor.
The cucumber is needed for its large amount of organic sodium, which is
thought to act as a solvent for excessive mineral deposits that are often the
cause of swollen joints and other pains and aches of undetermined origin.
After having extracted the juice of the cucumber, sometimes an equal
amount of unsweetened fresh pineapple juice and the juice of half a lime may be
added.
ENERGIZER
This
mixture is composed of the juice of two oranges, one teaspoon pure virgin olive
oil, the yolk of one raw infertile egg, and half an orange peel grated very
finely on top of the cocktail.
It is
especially recommended to the victims of brain fag and fatigue, for it is a
natural tonic.
IODINE
RECIPE
Women
with thyroid and related disorders, also men who have throat or goiter trouble,
should often drink this Iodine formula--Spinach juice, a chopped onion, and a
chopped garlic. Make this
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by
grinding a bunch of spinach through the juicer.
Let the onions and garlic soak in the juice for an hour.
Stir thoroughly this mixture, put into cheese cloth, strain through the
cloth, and drink freely. Remember,
after eating garlic, to eat parsley, in order to eliminate odor from the breath.
Also,
the juice from a handful of watercress may be blended with an equal amount of
fresh pineapple juice to gain this same effect, as an endocrine accelerator.
Subjoined
herewith is another group of the high-est mineralized formulas.
Try each one of them. You
will find that one or two of them, taken daily, will restore your body to
optimum health.
CITRUS
"SPECIAL"
Those of
you who lack vitality and have been unable to increase your supply should use
generous quantities of this concoction. It
will give you the desired store of renewed vitality. In all of these formulae, we are giving you the fruits and
vegetables highest in the minerals. This
refreshing formula is especially high in Hydrogen--equal parts of lemon,
grapefruit, and lime juices.
POTASSIUM
DELIGHT
Tomato
juice, with a little finely chopped parsley in it.
This is said to be helpful in relieving arthritis.
Watermelon juice is another form of potassium, as are also celery and
carrot juices mixed.
SODIUM
CIDER
Fresh
Apple juice separately, or mixed with a small amount of celery juice.
IRON
TONIC
Peach
and apricot juices are especially rich in iron; also grape juice of any kind, or
raisin broth. To make the broth,
use one pound of seedless raisins to one quart of water; let this simmer for one
hour. The same raisins can be used
in fruit salad after the broth has been made.
Blackberry,
spinach, and beet juices are likewise rich in iron.
CHLORINE
BEVERAGE
This is
supplied by Coconut Cream. Grate
one coconut fine, and to the grated coconut add a glass of cold water; mix well
with the hands, and run through a presser.
Drink the cream and throw away the dry shreds of coconut, as it has no
food value left.
PHOSPHORUS
"PHOSPHATE"
Phosphorus
Formula--Tomato juice mixed with either celery salt or fresh celery juice.
(Include carrot-tops, if possible.)
Phosphorus
nourishes the brain and nerves. Sufferers
from anemia and rickets should not fail to eat and drink those foods richest in
phosphorus.
ARTERY-SOFTENER
This is
primarily suggested for the benefit of those who may be predisposed to hardening
of the arteries. It is also a very
valuable drink for sufferers of high blood pressure.
This
formula is made by putting two or three young tender beets through the juice
extractor. This will give you one
of the most colorful and tasty of all vegetable drinks.
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After
having expressed the juice of the beets, a little grapefruit juice may be added,
if desired, to enhance the flavor and you will have not only a liquid with a
wine-like hue but also one of the most highly alkaline drinks that can be
concocted.
LIVER
STIMULATOR
The
liver is probably one of the most abused organs of the whole body, as it is the
great detoxifier, straining out the toxins of the blood stream.
The average person's blood is filled with toxins in proportion to the
amount of devitalized and destructive contents in the diet, inadequate liquids,
and poor oxidation from improper breathing.
Put
one-half of an onion and three or four radishes through the vegetable extractor.
Occasionally, some other juice may be added.
Pineapple juice may be combined, diluted, with no ill effect.
SULPHUR
SIP
Prune
Juice--After prunes have soaked all night, drink the juice, or steam prunes for
30 minutes and drink the juice. This
is especially helpful as a nerve tonic.
FLUORINE
JULEP
Fluorine
Drink--Beet juice, or beets that have been slowly steamed for one hour.
Good for rheumatic conditions, and muscle tone, this juice acts as a real
disease prophylactic by heightening the resistance.
All those with poor teeth or pyorrhea should imbibe this juice freely
four or five days a week. Especially
good for acid mouth. (Raw cabbage
is likewise excellent for gingivitis condition.)
SPECIAL
NOTICES
SABBATH
SCHOOL LESSONS
Believers
wishing to organize Sabbath School groups, or isolated individuals wishing to
obtain the Davidian Sabbath School lessons, may write to the Davidic-Levitical
Institute for lesson sheets, record cards, and instructions.
These lessons are in three divisions: (1) Kindergarten and Primary, (2)
Intermediate, and (3) Senior. Only
those who submit regular reports (as will be explained in the instruction sheet
mentioned above), will receive the lessons free of charge.
Others wishing to receive the lesson, may do so by paying a fee of 5
cents for each section of lessons mailed.
FOR
ADVANCED STUDENTS ONLY
A free
copy of Volume 2 of The Shepherd's Rod, the textbook for the second portion of
the Davidic-Levitical Institute's Correspondence Bible Course, will be sent upon
request to all who enroll for this Advanced work.
There
will not be another edition of this valuable volume in book form, and the old
edition will undoubtedly run out within the year 1944.
These copies will ever serve as a valuable keepsake and monument of the
original, founding literature of the Davidian Kingdom Movement.
Only
those who have completed the course on Volume I are eligible for advanced work.
New
enrollments are still being taken for the first course, in Volume 1.
A number
of our people are calling for school
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CALCIUM
BROTH
Take two
raw Irish potatoes, scrub them good, chop them to small bits, skin and all, pour
one glass of water over the mass, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Drink the juice.
SPECIAL
FORMULA
Raw
tomato juice with the juice of one lemon.
This is
indicated for obesity, and for those who are suffering with too much acid.
It will eliminate acids and waste from the body and restore elasticity.
It is one of the best drinks to take while on or after a 24 or 48-hour
fast. It is fine for rheumatism,
arthritis, and neuritis, is a perfect eliminator of poisons, and accentuates the
healing processes of the skin.
Special
Sodium and Magnesium Formula--Tomato juice, chopped parsley, one clove of
garlic, little lemon juice. Pour
the juices over garlic and chopped parsley, then work it together and strain
through cheese cloth. Fine for all
eye, ear, nose, throat, and sinus trouble.
For a fast, you can use two quarts per day.
CARROT
JUICE
If you
do not have an extractor, and are not able to secure one, then chop or grind
carrots fine, pressing out the juice by placing them in a strainer cloth and
tightly twisting the cloth. This
will partially extract the juice. Some
may find it even more appetizing to add a small amount of honey, a pinch of
salt, and serve with vegetable meal.
Many of
these other juices may be prepared in this same way.
SPECIAL
NOTICES RIGHT
SIDE
teachers,
that we are not able to supply. We
therefore sincerely solicit the prayers of every Present Truth believer to
entreat the Lord for laborers in His field that is now being harvested.
Where
there is a company of full-fledged believers who have among them not less than
15 children, if they can find from their midst a faithful and capable teacher to
employ and to organize a school, the Association will gladly do its part to
lighten the parents' load.
ATTENTION,
TEACHERS
The new
supply of 22"x28" teachers' charts, for which you have long waited,
will be available early in 1944. These
are to be cloth-mounted, more attractive than the first, and priced at 85 cents
each or $15.00 cash for the set of twenty charts; additional charge for the
colored ones. Send in your order
now.
DO YOU
READ EVERY PAGE?
Entirely
too many are still continuing in a typical Laodicean habit, at least so far as
their attitude toward reading every paragraph of each of the publications is
concerned. This is the only
conclusion we can come to, judging from the fact that many have failed to note
the announcement, on the back page of the January-December, 1942, Code, of
"A New Publication Free," referring to Tract No. 14.
For the
special benefit of all our believers, we have published for free distribution
three new
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official
organizational tracts--one of 102 pages, the others of 36 and 29 pages,
respectively, and yet many have failed to read the announcement.
This we know to be a fact because those who find out that others have
them, conclude that the Circulation Department has neglected them, not knowing
that we are not sending these to any except those who write in for them in
accordance with the rule set forth in Tract No. 14, War Prophecy Forecast.
Read page 47 of the tract, then make your written request accordingly, if
you wish to have the three special publications above mentioned.
Let this be a lesson to you, brother, and sister, teaching you to read
carefully every line in all the publications.
MEMBERSHIP
CERTIFICATION
Because
a number of Davidian Seventh-day Adventists have been confronted with the need
of identifying their church-membership, and because the mother Seventh-day
Adventist denomination denies this privilege to them, the Davidian Seventh-day
Adventist Association has prepared a membership certificate for all who are
eligible and who desire to have one.
One
becomes eligible for membership in this Association as soon as he conforms his
life to the teachings of the Holy Bible as unfolded in The Shepherd's Rod
publications, and so notifies the secretary of his local meeting place, or the
Association's General Office at Mt. Carmel Center.
As soon as the Association confirms the genuineness of his profession,
just that moment he becomes a registered member.
Those who in compliance with this eligibility requirement, request a
Certificate of Fellowship, will receive one with which to identify his
membership with the Association.
HELP
WANTED
For
permanent employment at Mt. Carmel Center, help is wanted for several vacancies.
All ap-
REMINDERS
No. 1
In
securing and sending in names and addresses for our literature ministry, or for
whatever purpose, please take more care hereafter that they be written legibly
and spelled correctly. Many good
prospects have been lost to us already because these rules have not been
observed. Be "faithful in that
which is least," that ye may also become "faithful" in that which
"is much."
No. 2
Please
do not send currency in the mail, especially not large amounts.
No. 3
Those
who are enrolled in the Correspondence Course, should, when mailing their
completed assignments, make sure that they place sufficient
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plicants
must be well established in Present Truth, or completely settled in their
convictions (if recent converts) that the work of the Davidian Seventh-day
Adventists is the "closing work for the church."
They must have an eye single to the work of God, recognizing the high and
exalted privilege of being laborers with Him and Angels, as did Ezra and
Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah, while rebuilding ancient Jerusalem.
The
openings are as follows:
1. Fast
accurate proof-readers, having a good foundation in grammar and rhetoric.
This is the only technical requirement.
We will teach you the rest.
2.
School-teachers for elementary grades, academy, and college.
3.
Carpenters, skilled or semi-skilled.
ASK AND
YE SHALL RECEIVE
A
Question and Answers compendium! You
have long needed it, wanted it, and asked for it.
It is now almost ready for the printers.
This
latest addition to our regular tract series will be an indispensable accessory
to every Davidian believer and to every investigator of the sealing message.
It contains many of the commonest inquiries propounded to us by new and
prospective believers, as well as the most troublesome which arise now and then
to perplex established members. It
will be of invaluable service not only to those who wish to fortify themselves
against the attacks of the enemy but also to those who are weak in the faith.
You
cannot afford to be without it. Study
"to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that
is in you with meekness and fear," never forgetting the injunction to first
"sanctify the Lord God in your hearts." I Pet. 3:15. And
remember that it is distributed free of charge, but, only those who send in for
it will receive it!
REMINDERS
RIGHT SIDE
postage
on their packages, as they are usually over weight.
One can readily see that when a large number of these come in with
insufficient postage which the office must make up, the aggregate shortage
imposes a large burden upon the school's limited funds, whereas the individual
shortage would be to the delinquent one only a small matter for him to bear.
ERRATA
In the
pages of the last Code (January-December, 1942, the following inadvertencies
oc-curred: on page 4, "Simon" should be "Ananias;" on page
10, "Testimonies, Vol. 2, pp. 127, 128," should be "Testimonies,
Vol. 1, pp. 127, 128"; and on page 11, "Testimonies, Vol. , p.
161," should be "Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 163."
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