I think your rant is a conspiracy to find secret church members and turn them in to the Paranoia Police. Black `copters `n all.


g

Sounds like an excellent idea to me.

Bring on the whirly-birds!

Graeme

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck and flys like a duck then I would say it is a duck-so to speak. Has anyone taken a gander at what the Kingdom of Heaven will look like in Matthew 25:1-13?

I see a group of people that came from all the other religions to form a group because they thought Jesus was going to come in 1843. They used Daniel's 8:14 prophecy for the timing, so the time was right, they just got the event wrong. Also, the event they thought was going to happen was the coming in the clouds but what will really happen to them is the coming like a thief--an event they are not expecting.

This group mistakenly thought they were the bride when the words tell us they were actually the servants for the bride-the ones in charge to get the bride ready for the wedding. They all were waiting for Jesus to come and when He didn't come (because no one was ready with the real truth), they make all kinds of excuses and drifted off to sleep (spiritually).

Therefore, Jesus gave them seven messages found in Revelation 2 and 3, but they have no idea who they are and have misapplied their understanding so that they do not know the true meaning of these messages.

Now look at Matthew 25: 14-30 Please notice verse 14 that says; "again, it will be like..." Therefore this group will be like this too. Here we see three people representing perhaps three groups-as in Revelation 17:14, these being the ONE faithful servant found in Matthew 24:45, the 144,000 being the 'fellow servants' and those found in Rev. 3:4,5, and then the Kingdom of Heaven-aka the five wise maids.

Please notice that the Mastor is gone! These three are unable to ask the Master what to do with the talents. They MUST decide themselves what to do. Therefore they will NOT have any 'personal relationship' with the Master at this time.

Matthew 25:31-46 is the event called the coming in the clouds. This event is after the coming like a thief which was to seal the 144k and the 5 wise maids and after the time of trouble where during this time the 144k and the 5 wise maids did their work (Revelation 19:8) to get the bride ready (Revelation 7:9-14) for the wedding-that being the coming in the clouds. Enjoy!

Dr. Rich, I think you are reaching for a conclusion when you pull these verses :). These parables do not apply to THE GROUP of people, but were to teach a general lesson about the kingdom of heaven... hence why many of these begin with "the kingdom of heaven is like"...

But, to give my thoughts on the original post:

I think that today's Adventist suffers from the "chosen" people complex that Jews experienced in the OT. So, the idea is that SDA DEMOMINATION has the monopoly on truth and favor with God more than any other Christian groups out there.

I think that we forgotten some of the most important passages in the Bible:



I think that part of the problem is our confusion of what church to be... the Biblical purpose of the church.

It was never meant to be a 501c3 organization with officers and accountants, and lawyers, and presidents... a political entity. That's NOT church!

Church is a COMMUNITY, and God set it up for us to grow in truth by way of communication, care for each other, and care for our immediate neighbor... but above all, to be encouraged to grow INDIVIDUALLY, in both knowledge and love.

Today, we are "going to church"... and forget that we are the church. We are going to "worship God for couple hours on Saturday", and forget that most of our God worshiping happens outside of that time frame.

It does not matter how many songs we sing, and how many children's stories we tell, if we don't follow the example of Christ... taking care of the needy, showing compassion and interest in people, even though they may not "convert".... the church will decay.

Sure, warning people about things to come is important task, yet it should never be more important than loving them and showing true interest outside of the "duty of spreading the 3 angel's message".

That message is meaningless for people without Christ.

We keep the covenant of love, the Ten commandments, that is why we keep the seventh day holy. If that makes us special so be it.

You just broke one of them :) (hint... define ... "keep")

Follow the Ten Commands which are the covenant of the kingdom of God.

Ex 19:5 'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine...
De 9:11 "It came about at the end of forty days and nights that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
Re 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."
Re 11:19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

Same covenant, different kingdom.

8and all the people answer together and say, `All that Jehovah hath spoken we do;' and Moses returneth the words of the people unto Jehovah.


Keeping the commandments emplies... KEEPING THEM!!!!! Not... trying to keep them.... KEEPING THEM MEANS, YOU DON'T BREAK A SINGLE ONE :).

Now, if you strive to keep all 10, that would be more correct statement, but striving to keep them is not enough Biblically. Thus you need a mindset change...(heart change), which is a slow process.

To tell people that they should keep the 10 commandments is not enough, and claiming to keep all 10 is not enough. Jews claimed to keep all 10, including the Sabbath... but they did not keep it in the Spirit and purpose... only in letter and law. There's much to 10 commandments than mere 10 should and should nots.

Adventists today don't keep 10 commandments.

IF we could keep the commandments .... we would not need the sacrifice of Jesus.

I prefer to be a sinner saved by Grace. I don't want to get a big head thinking I can answer the curse of the Law.