Increased Light? On What?

[skyblue888]

It is indeed a sobering prospect for the people of God who can expect to live through this time. Not one of us will face and pass that test successfully unless we are facing and passing the lesser tests of today. The person who today cannot resist the petty indulgences of appetite, the careless eating between meals, who cannot rise above the demands of fashion and dress differently from the world simply because it is popular to do so, the person who cannot overcome pride and selfishness now, certainly will not stand then.

May these understandings of coming events stir each reader up to a more consecrated work of soul cleansing and development so that we shall be able to stand in that dark and degenerate hour, remembering these encouraging words from the pen of inspiration:

"Those who live nearest to Jesus discern most clearly the frailty and sinfulness of humanity, and their ONLY HOPE is in the MERITS of a crucified and risen Saviour." The Great Controversy,471.

"Take hold by faith of the MERITS of Christ and the SOUL-CLEANSING BLOOD will be APPLIED." Faith & Works,96.

to be continued

[Dr. Rich]

Thanks Sky, some really interesting fictional reading there! (My opinion)

But for light that is the real truth, one might want to search for the ONE Elijah type as found in Matt. 24:45, as he will be feeding real truth to only those who are hungry for it.

[skyblue888]

We have been studying that part of the chapter in The Great Controversy entitled, The Final Warning, wherein we saw, traced from the opening of the Loud Cry to its end, the development of that final call to men upon this earth.

Having brought us to the point where the work is ended and the people of God are forced to flee to the Mighty One for strength, as the devil presses upon them with all his power and cunning and all the power of evil men, we are brought also to the end of a section in the chapter, the remainder of which is devoted to giving general descriptions and facts about the Final Warning which will be given in the power of the Latter Rain.

We are interested to learn now these events and conditions which shall follow the situation which will have developed as the Latter Rain comes to its end with the finishing of the mission of the gospel.

We have seen that the evil one and the people of the Lord are locked in a titanic struggle at this time. Satan will be working with all his might and skill to break the faith of the people of God especially as they stand in the judgment of the living, while they on the other hand will be determined to hang on and gain the victory.

In Heaven the time of the judgment of the living having commenced, the books of record will be opened so that from the accounts contained therein, a determination can be made as to the disposition of the sins which stand in the sanctuary, placed there on their behalf until that very time.

As the true and the faithful upon the earth successfully endure the great final test, as they are reflecting the character of God fully, the records show this, and, as they plead for the Saviour to blout out their sins, Jesus steps to the Mercy Seat and confesses their sins as He sprinkles His blood thereon.

By virtue of this confesion on His part in the Most Holy Place, all the sins which He has confessed therein ever since He entered that apartment in 1844, first for the righteous dead, and then at last for the righteous living, will be taken out of the sanctuary and placed upon the scapegoat, Satan, when Christ reaches this earth.

Of this we shall learn later when we come to that point of time in our study.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

At the time when Jesus makes that final confession over the Mercy Seat, human probation is closed and mercy no longer pleads for the human family. Then will be uttered those awfully solemn words, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be fithy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he which is holy, let him be holy still. And behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me to give to every man according as his works shall be." Revelation 22:11,12.

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Daniel 12:1.

The closing of human probation is the beginning of the great time of trouble and of the time of Jacob's trouble.

While these two times of trouble have a common beginning in time and run concurrently for quite a period, one extends beyond the other and are not the same.

The great time of trouble is that which the finally impenitent experience, while the time of Jacob's trouble is that which the people of God alone pass through.

The former reaches right down to the actual second coming of Jesus, while the latter will terminate some time before that, when the voice of God delivers His people from the wrath of their enemies. This we shall see more clearly as we proceed. See Early Writings,285; Spiritual Gifts, Vol.1,206; Vol.2:32, Great Controversy,636-640.

sky

[skyblue888]

SD, if my memory serves me well, I already answered that question. I am not trying to bring any new light, only the light that is already available there in the writings. It should be obvious to any student of the Scriptures and the SoP.

sky

[skyblue888]

At the time when Jesus makes that final confession over the Mercy Seat, human probation is closed and mercy no longer pleads for the human family. Then will be uttered those awfully solemn words, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be fithy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he which is holy, let him be holy still. And behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me to give to every man according as his works shall be." Revelation 22:11,12.

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Daniel 12:1.

The closing of human probation is the beginning of the great time of trouble and of the time of Jacob's trouble.

While these two times of trouble have a common beginning in time and run concurrently for quite a period, one extends beyond the other and are not the same.

The great time of trouble is that which the finally impenitent experience, while the time of Jacob's trouble is that which the people of God alone pass through.

The former reaches right down to the actual second coming of Jesus, while the latter will terminate some time before that, when the voice of God delivers His people from the wrath of their enemies. This we shall see more clearly as we proceed. See Early Writings,285; Spiritual Gifts, Vol.1,206; Vol.2:32, Great Controversy,636-640.

sky

Before studying in their sequence the events of these periods, we would do well to clarify the question as to the duration of this time of trouble. It has generally been held in the past that the time of trouble occupied a whole year from the close of probation to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of Heaven. This concept was based upon a certain understanding of Revelation 18:8 which reads as follows:

"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her."

Knowing as we do the well established principle that a day in prophecy is symbolic of a literal year, then it is all too easy to quickly arrive at the conclusion that this means the seven last plagues will be one literal year in falling, but such a conclusion can only be held by overlooking several important facts.

In the first case there are three other verses in the same chapter which state that it will come "in one hour." See verses 10,17, and 19. Now one hour is just as much a time symbol as one day, which means then that here we have conflicting witness in this chapter. One could take the weight of evidence and conclude that there are three texts which state it will come in one hour to the one which states they will come in one day, and therefore conclude that the plagues will occupy one twenty-fourth of a prophetic day which is about fifteen literal days, more or less.

However, to take this position cannot be satisfactory while ever there is that text which distinctly says one day. The only remaining position to take is that the year day principle is invalid at the time spoken of in this chapter and this is the correct position to take.

It is correct because we have been distinctly told that after the close of the 2,300 day prophecy, prophetic time had ceased. The word of the mighty Angel who is no less a Person than Christ Himself, has declared that "there should be time no longer." Revelation 10:6. As this was spoken at the time of the bitter-sweet experience, we know that it applies to the termination of the great 2,300 day prophecy, which ended in October 22,1844.

In commenting on this statement, the Spirit of Prophecy has this to say:

"This time, which the Angel declared with solemn oath, is not the end of this world's history, neither of probationary time, but of prophetic time, which should precede the advent of our Lord. That is the people will not have another message upon definite time. After this period of time, reaching from 1842-1844, there can be no definite time tracing of the prophetic time. The longest reckoning reaches to the autumn of 1844." E.G.White, 7B.C.971.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

By this clear declaration then, we can know that after 1844, the year day principle of interpretation no longer applies, so that we are not to understand that either the use of the word "day," or "hour," in Revelation 18, is intended to reveal to the Bible student the exact length of time in which the plagues will fall. Rather, the idea which is being conveyed is that it will come suddenly and in a very short period of time. In actual fact we have no real indication of how long the time of trouble will extend beyond evidences which suggest it will be very much less than a year in duration.

In the first case, as we have so clearly seen in our past study, the death decree will have already been passed and the date set for its execution, before the great time of trouble actually begins. This fact should tell us that the time of trouble would have to be much less than a year. In respect to this we must remember that the fearful calamities and disasters which desolate the world during the seven last plagues do not fall upon a world enjoying at the time of the beginning of this period, a glorious and sunny prosperity.

This will be far from the case for, as the world progressively stiffens its resistence to the truth, the devil has greater and greater control over the elements, so that calamities and disasters increase and spread even before the loud cry begins. One has but to look out today on the world scene to know that things in this field are growing worse and worse, and will continue to do so as the rejection of the truth of God increases.

"While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation.(Ezekiel 14:12-17) Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and beast.'The earth mourneth and fadeth away,'' the haughty people do languish. The earth also shall be defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, broken the everlasting covenant.'" Isaiah 24:4,5; The Great Controversy,589,590.

If things are bad as they are now, what will it be like in the earth as the Loud Cry progresses? Under the flood tide of that light the rejection of the truth will become more and more totally defiant and complete until the close of probation when it will be absolute, and Satan will have full control of the finally impenitent and of the elements of nature. Therefore during the Loud Cry period we can know that disasters and calamities will very rapidly increase until the world is in a very sorry state even before the seven last plagues are poured out.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

Some question as to why it is that Satan brings destruction upon his own subjects and kingdoms, when it would appear that he would do better to make a happier and cleaner world in which men could live. But Satan is not concerned so much with making a better world for anyone as he is in saving his own skin. The only way he can do this now is to prove that God is wrong. To do this he must prevent God from doing what He would do, "finish the work and cut it short in righteousness." Rom.9:28.

Already, Satan has succeeded in greatly extending the finishing of the work in the past and, if he could finally detroy the work of God out of the earth, then he would succeed in proving God wrong, that God could not keep His word, that the power of sin was so great that it was impossible for created beings to be victorious over its power and that God was demanding too much in expecting created beings to obey His law. Should he succeed in doing this, then he would take away the power of God to punish him with eternal destruction and would win the fight for reinstatement into Heaven on his own terms.

As a means to this end, there is a calculated purpose in his destructive activity in the world which brings him a two-fold divident. In the first case, he causes men to charge God with his work. "It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work," (G.C.35), thus leading men to hate God and join him in his fearful rebellion against the Creator who destroys no one.(Rev.18:24)

"God destroys no man." C.O.L.84.

In the second case, "the great deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God are causing these evils. The class that have provoked the displeasure of Heaven will charge all their troubles upon those whose obedience to God's commandments is a perpetual reproof to transgressors." The Great Controversy,590.

Thus the devil is able to provide himself with an instrument with which to accomplish his long cherish ambition of destroying the people of God, for "If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete." Testimonies, 5:473.

This is the awful truth. All the devil has to do is to prevent the formation of the 144,000 by slaying all those who would be numbered among them, and he has won the great controversy and will have proved his point. He does not even have to wait till then, for if today he could destroy every faithful child of God, then his triumph right now would be complete. But let us praise the God of Heaven that "the Angel of the Lord emcampeth around about them that fear Him and delivereth them," (Ps.34:7), and will do so until the very end.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

"As the Sabbath has become the SPECIAL POINT OF CONTROVERSY throughout Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a SMALL MINORITY to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that THE FEW who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state, ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. The same argument eighteen hundred years ago was brought against Christ by the 'rulers of the people.' ' It is expedient for us,' said the wily Caiphas,'that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not...' John 11:50.

"This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment, and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death... The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress dscribed by the prophet as the time of Jacob's trouble." The Great Controversy,615-6.

We are witnesses to the wrath of the people and what that can do in rioting and the like in this present time, even when this is limited by the restraining power of the ruling class over the rioters, and from this we can imagine something of the wrath of a people who have been deprived of homes, lands, loved ones, health, food and the comforts of life, by, as they imagine, a STUBBORN MINORITY who refuse to bow to the will of the majority, the church and the state, when the wwhole of the world is united in their hatred against A CLASS SO SMALL that it would seem but the work of a moment to blot them out of existence.

They cannot do it while probation still lingers because the four angels are still holding the four winds of strife.

"While Jesus had been standing between God and guilty man, a RESTRAINT was upon the people; but when He stepped out from between man and the Father, the RESTRAINT was REMOVED, and Satan had ENTIRE CONTROL of the finally impenitent." Early Writings,280.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

This is to say that from that moment when probation closes, the devil has unrestricted and unconstrained control of the masses of mankind who have rejected the truth of God. Therefore he can do just as he pleases with them. "Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passions, all the elements of strife will be let loose." The Great Controversy,614.

Inasmuch as they share his hatred of the true and the faithful, he and they are joined in a common desperate and consuming anxiety to rid the earth of this pestilential minority. Is it reasonable to conclude in the light of all these facts that he and they are going to wait for almost a whole year before they carry out the plan to execute the death decree? Why of course not. Both the devil and his followers will seek to have this done as soon as it is possible to have it done.

At the same time Satan does not want to make any mistake about it. He knows that to be too hasty can spoil the matter too so he plans the whole scheme with the most careful and thorough finesse so that not one of the righteous will be left to perpetuate the truth of God and guarantee his destruction.

So it will be as it was in the days of Esther, that the death decree will be drawn up by the leading men of the earth at some meeting place acceptable to them all. It will be first the work of the ecclesiastical authorities who must then have it ratified by the powers of the earth, just as the Jezabel of old wrote out letters, the death warrant of Naboth the faithful, obedient servant of God, "in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal." 1 King 21:8.

This decree, as we read above will give the people the right to be the executioners, which conferring of legal power must be legally done by transmitting copies of the decree in every part of the world, just as the writings of the decree in the days of Esther had to be sent first to every part of the realm before the actual plan of slaughtering of the people of God could take place.

Knowing as we do that the experience of the people of God in the days of Esther was a type or a preview of how it will be in the last days, we can know how it will be again, and this fact is confirmed in the following statement:

"Then I saw the leading men of the earth consulting together, and Satan and his angels busy around them. I saw a writing, copies of which were scattered in different parts of the land, giving orders that unless the saints should yield their peculiar faith, give up the Sabbath and observe the first day of the week, the people were at liberty after a certain time, to put them to death." Early Writings,282-3.

Such will not require a great deal of time. Under present conditions, once the decree had been drawn up and passed,(due allowance must be made for the fact that considerable disruption to world communications at that time because of the heavy hand of blight and destruction upon the world so that it might take a little longer but by no means a year) would be all accomplished in a matter of a few days. At the most it could only take a week or two.

Therefore it is most reasonable to conclude that the time will be of relatively short duration, and for this we can well be thankful for one would really wonder as to how human nature could possibly endure twelve months of the agony of Jacob's trouble without total desintegration, mentally and spiritually!

to be continued

[skyblue888]

A statement which is worth some consideration on this question of the length of the duration of the time of trouble is this one from A Word to the Little Flock, p.12.

"The Lord has shown me in vision, that Jesus rose up, and shut up the door, and entered the Holy of Holies at the seventh month, 1844; but Michael's standing up (Daniel 12:1) to deliver His people, is in the future. This will not take place until Jesus has finished HIs priestly office in the Heavenly Sanctuary, and lays off His priestly attire, and puts on His most kingly robes, and crown, to ride forth on the cloudy chariot... Then Jesus will have the sharp sickle in His hand,(Rev.14:14) and then the saints will cry day and night to Jesus on the cloud, to thrust in His sickle and reap. This will be the time of Jacob's trouble,(Jer.30:5-8) out of which the saints will be delivered by the voice of God." See also, Spiritual Gifts, Vol.1:206; 2:32; Early Writings,285; The Great Controversy,636-640.

This statement tells us that as soon as Jesus has completed the work in the sanctuary as the High Priest, He changes His priestly garments for the kingly robes immediately following which He rides forth on the journey from Heaven to this earth to deliver His people.

While He is thus riding forth, the saints upon the earth will be calling upon Him to thrust in the sickle and reap the harvest. Then we are told that the time of Jacob's trouble is the time when this is going on, by which we would instantly know that duration of the time of trouble if we knew how long it will take Jesus to lay off the priestly attire, put on the kingly garments and fly down from Heaven to the earth.

Now nowhere are we told just how much time will be occupied on this journey though we certainly do know that it can be accomplished in seven days and even possibly less for that is the length of time it will take to make the return journey. The evidence for this is given in Early Writings, 16. "We all entered the cloud together, and were seven days ascending to the sea of glass."

That much then is clear that the journey need occupy but the seven days. However, we cannot take the definite position from this that there will be exactly the same length of time in coming. There may well be other factors not revealed to us which may extend the period a little, but it does indicate to us that the length of time will be a great deal less than one whole year.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

In reading of the experience of the saints during the time of Jacob's trouble, we find the following in The Great Controversy, 630-1:

"Could men see with heavenly vision, they would behold companies of angels that excel in strength stationed about those who have kept the word of Christ's patience.(Rev.14:12) With sympathising tenderness, angels have witnessed their distress, and have heard their prayers. They are waiting the word of their Commander to snatch them from their peril. But they must wait yet a little longer. The people of God must drink of the cup, and be baptised with the baptism. The very delay, so painful to them, ist he best answer to their petitions. As they endeavour to wait trustingly for the Lord to work, they are led to exercise faith, hope, and patience, which have been too little exercised during their religious experience. Yet for the elect's sake the time of trouble will be shortened. Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him?...'I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.' The end will come more quickly than men expect."

The evidence available then is that though of fearful intensity, the time of Jacob's trouble will certainly be much less than a year in length and will in fact be of quite short duration. To those who have to pass through it, it will seem like a thousand years while it is going on, but terrible and trying though it will be and seemingly beyond the power of human endurance, the strength of the Lord will be the victory of His people and in that time they shall come off more than conquerors.

sky

[skyblue888]

Having determined from the study in our last posts that the actual times of truble will be much, much shorter than has been generally supposed, it is time to study just what is to happen during that period. To do this, it will be necessary to study the sequence of events for the people of God, and then finally, the sequence of events for the finally impenitent.

It should already be clear from what we have studied, that the close of probation marks the very beginning of this time of trouble such as never was. Nevertheless, we would do well to establish this point from the evidences of the word of God. The fact we shall see is that the time will come when Jesus will bring to an end the high priestly ministry in the Most Holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, will step out from that position so that there will be no Mediator for man. When that point of time comes, then the wicked are left fully exposed to the power of Satan which will then plunge the whole world into such trouble as would never have been thought possible.

The cessation of the ministry of Christ in the Most Holy place of the heavenly sanctuary will mark the point when the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit shall be entirely withdrawn, with the result that the time of trouble will begin in full and earnest. Satan will have entire control of all those who are not sheltered by divine grace. See The Great Controversy,627-8; Early Writings,36,280.

Until the ministry of Jesus is completed in the Most Holy place of the sanctuary in Heaven, the seven last plagues cannot and will not be poured out on the guilty inhabitants of the earth, but that they will be, just as soon as that mediation comes to its end. There will be no delay in the matter whatsoever. Therefore we are established on this truth that the ministration of Jesus ceases in the Most Holy place, Jesus puts on the kingly robes and at once the seven last plagues begin to fall upon the unprotected heads of the wicked while at the same time the people of God are plunged into the experience of the time of Jacob's trouble. This much is clear.

sky

[Windsor]

Sky, can you tell me who this ONE Elijah type person is right now--today? Do you believe it is the same ONE person as found in Matthew 24:45?

And who WAS the Jezebel woman who's teachings are now causing would be bondservants to become deceived as found in Rev. 2:18-25? Please notice that at the time this prophecy is understood the woman here who is called a prophet, is dead and only her teachings are leading those now living, astray?

Notice that if these people do not repent that they will go through the time of trouble and have the plagues affect them? This means that this warning is ONLY for those now living in the last generation from the Adventist Church. Please pray for the correct understanding on all of this.

20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

Well, first you need to find a woman who called herself a prophet. Right off the bat, that specifically would exclude Ellen White who was famous for avoiding that term. Secondly it would be someone who misleads people into sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. Our church has long been an advocate of sex only within marriage between one man and one woman and also a major advocate of the vegetarian diet which was revealed in a vision to Ellen White. I'm stumped, Dr. Rich. Who is Revelation 2 talking about?

[phkrause]

Originally Posted By: Dr. Rich

Sky, can you tell me who this ONE Elijah type person is right now--today? Do you believe it is the same ONE person as found in Matthew 24:45?

And who WAS the Jezebel woman who's teachings are now causing would be bondservants to become deceived as found in Rev. 2:18-25? Please notice that at the time this prophecy is understood the woman here who is called a prophet, is dead and only her teachings are leading those now living, astray?

Notice that if these people do not repent that they will go through the time of trouble and have the plagues affect them? This means that this warning is ONLY for those now living in the last generation from the Adventist Church. Please pray for the correct understanding on all of this.

20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

Well, first you need to find a woman who called herself a prophet. Right off the bat, that specifically would exclude Ellen White who was famous for avoiding that term. Secondly it would be someone who misleads people into sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. Our church has long been an advocate of sex only within marriage between one man and one woman and also a major advocate of the vegetarian diet which was revealed in a vision to Ellen White. I'm stumped, Dr. Rich. Who is Revelation 2 talking about?

Excellent post Windsor

[Dr. Rich]

Originally Posted By: Dr. Rich

Sky, can you tell me who this ONE Elijah type person is right now--today? Do you believe it is the same ONE person as found in Matthew 24:45?

And who WAS the Jezebel woman who's teachings are now causing would be bondservants to become deceived as found in Rev. 2:18-25? Please notice that at the time this prophecy is understood the woman here who is called a prophet, is dead and only her teachings are leading those now living, astray?

Notice that if these people do not repent that they will go through the time of trouble and have the plagues affect them? This means that this warning is ONLY for those now living in the last generation from the Adventist Church. Please pray for the correct understanding on all of this.

20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

Well, first you need to find a woman who called herself a prophet. Right off the bat, that specifically would exclude Ellen White who was famous for avoiding that term. Secondly it would be someone who misleads people into sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. Our church has long been an advocate of sex only within marriage between one man and one woman and also a major advocate of the vegetarian diet which was revealed in a vision to Ellen White. I'm stumped, Dr. Rich. Who is Revelation 2 talking about?

First, EGW clearly said she had visions from God that were about prophecy and that, my friend, is exactly what a prophet would say and do, therefore, by her own testimony, she called herself a prophet.

Second, it is clear you have no clue as to what this is all about. It is all spiritual. Sexual immorality is about worshiping other gods as exactly what God said what happened to Israil during the time of Jezebel.

Third, eating foods sacrificed to idols is also spiritual. Food is information. Food offered to idols means that her teachings are lies, not truth which is the 'food' being fed to the servants by the ONE Good and Faithful Servant found in Matt. 24:45.

You are stumped just as all of the other sleeping 'virgins'. Perhaps it's about time to wake up.

\

[skyblue888]

Having determined from the study in our last posts that the actual times of trouble will be much, much shorter than has been generally supposed, it is time to study just what is to happen during that period. To do this, it will be necessary to study the sequence of events for the people of God, and then finally, the sequence of events for the finally impenitent.

It should already be clear from what we have studied, that the close of probation marks the very beginning of this time of trouble such as never was. Nevertheless, we would do well to establish this point from the evidences of the word of God. The fact we shall see is that the time will come when Jesus will bring to an end the high priestly ministry in the Most Holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, will step out from that position so that there will be no Mediator for man. When that point of time comes, then the wicked are left fully exposed to the power of Satan which will then plunge the whole world into such trouble as would never have been thought possible.

The cessation of the ministry of Christ in the Most Holy place of the heavenly sanctuary will mark the point when the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit shall be entirely withdrawn, with the result that the time of trouble will begin in full and earnest. Satan will have entire control of all those who are not sheltered by divine grace. See The Great Controversy,627-8; Early Writings,36,280.

Until the ministry of Jesus is completed in the Most Holy place of the sanctuary in Heaven, the seven last plagues cannot and will not be poured out on the guilty inhabitants of the earth, but that they will be, just as soon as that mediation comes to its end. There will be no delay in the matter whatsoever. Therefore we are established on this truth that the ministration of Jesus ceases in the Most Holy place, Jesus puts on the kingly robes and at once the seven last plagues begin to fall upon the unprotected heads of the wicked while at the same time the people of God are plunged into the experience of the time of Jacob's trouble. This much is clear.

sky

The true and accurate understanding of the word of God is not for the careless and superficial reader of it, but for the careful, thoughtful reader who is prepared to compare scrïpture with scrïpture and Statement with Statement and let every word have its true and proper weight. Thus it is that the first reading of the statements above would give the impression that the beginning of the seven last plagues will be a dramatic entry introducing a situation so vastly different from that which went before, that all will have not the slightest difficulty in seeing that the seven last plagues have begun. A careful study of the related events of the time show that this will not be so, but rather the seven last plagues will be but the final intensification of plagues in the world, which are already there as a result of the apostasy in the world.

So terrible will be these plagues which shall fall before the close of probation, that the coming of the seven last plagues will not be anything new and strange to the people of the earth, but rather the same things in greater severity. The ones which come before the close of probation will blend into those which come after, and no man will be able to tell when those which come before give place to those which come after, no matter how good a Bible student he may be. In fact, not even Satan will know when probation has closed. The evidences for all of this we must now search out and study.

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[skyblue888]

In the very first case, the expression used over and again in the Spirit of Prophecy, "the seven last plagues," is in itself very meaningful. They are not called simply the seven plagues but the seven last plagues. If these are the last, then there must be the former, because something can only be last if there is a first to go before it.

Now we have learned from the statements quoted above that the seven last plagues come entirely after the close of probation, and, inasmuch as they begin the moment that human probation closes, then the first plagues must all be located before the close of probation. Furthermore, we are plainly told that these seven last plagues are the antitype of the plagues which fell on Egypt when God was about to deliver His people from the power of the oppressor back in those days.

"The plagues upon Egypt when God was about to deliver Israel, were similar in character to those more terrible and extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance of God's people." Teh Great Controversy,627-8.

In both cases the death decree had been passed upon the people of God with the intention of destroying them from the face of the earth. Of this death decree we read in Exodus 1:15-22. Pharaoh was then the highest earthly power and so again it will be the highest earthly powers who will make a decree designed to exterminate the people of God.

But just as God back there sent those ten terrible plagues before He delivered His people, so He will again sent the plagues of the last days before the final deliverance of His people. AS it was then, so it will be, which would lead us to the conclusion that if there were ten plagues back then, there will again be ten plagues in the last days. If this is so and if, as we know, the seven last of them are located after the close of probation, the first three must come before the close of probation.

We are not aware of any plan where we can find three exact plagues listed as coming before the close of probation, but we can find abundant evidence to show that the earth will be plagues with disasters and calamities of staggering proportions before that time shall come. In fact, such troubles are already in the land and becoming worse as the years go by.

Let us trace this through once again in the chapter entitled "The Impending Warning," from The Great Controversy, 582-592. As we have spent some time on this previously, we will but touch the high points here as the introduction to the truth we need to see in regard to the seven last plagues.

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[skyblue888]

Since the year 1844, the great truth of Sabbath reform and the true keeping of the law of God, had been somewhat held in power before the people and the churches of the world. But the call has not only gone unheeded but it has been flatly rejected and strongly resisted by these churches. Now the simple fact is that it is quite impossible to resist the call of God without suffering terriby as a result. Cause is followed by effect. Every action has its equal and opposite reaction. These churches have sown to the wind and they will as surely reap the whirlwind.

"As the work of Sabbath reform extends, this rejection of the divine law to avoid the claims of the fourth commandment will become well-nigh universal. The teachings of religious leaders have opened the door to infidelity, to spiritualism and to contempt for God's holy law; and upon these leaders rests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that exists in the Christian world." The Great Controversy,587.

It is of the utmost importance that these leaders hide from the people the real cause of the troubles which are coming upon them with mounting severity, so they turn and blame the desecration of Sunday for it, which act on their part is a still further rejection of the claims of God upon them as they seek to set up the false day of worship. So we read, "Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called 'Christian sabbath,' and that the enforcement of Sunday observation would greatly improve the morals of society." p.587.

Such an act only serves further to open the doors to the entrance of infidelity and spiritualism, and as spiritualism is the power through which Satan works, this then gives the evil one greater power to work his will in the earth. It is the plan and the work of this wicked one to appear to men as the benefactor of the race while in actual fact he comes as its destroyer. Thus we read:

"Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing the diseases of the people, and professing to present a new and more exalted system of religious faith; but at the same time he works as a destroyer. While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. Thse visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous." The Great Controversy,589-0.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

You may not appreciate what is being posted but that is you. Others may not feel the same way as you do.

sky :)

[skyblue888]

Since the year 1844, the great truth of Sabbath reform and the true keeping of the law of God, had been somewhat held in power before the people and the churches of the world. But the call has not only gone unheeded but it has been flatly rejected and strongly resisted by these churches. Now the simple fact is that it is quite impossible to resist the call of God without suffering terriby as a result. Cause is followed by effect. Every action has its equal and opposite reaction. These churches have sown to the wind and they will as surely reap the whirlwind.

"As the work of Sabbath reform extends, this rejection of the divine law to avoid the claims of the fourth commandment will become well-nigh universal. The teachings of religious leaders have opened the door to infidelity, to spiritualism and to contempt for God's holy law; and upon these leaders rests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that exists in the Christian world." The Great Controversy,587.

It is of the utmost importance that these leaders hide from the people the real cause of the troubles which are coming upon them with mounting severity, so they turn and blame the desecration of Sunday for it, which act on their part is a still further rejection of the claims of God upon them as they seek to set up the false day of worship. So we read, "Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called 'Christian sabbath,' and that the enforcement of Sunday observation would greatly improve the morals of society." p.587.

Such an act only serves further to open the doors to the entrance of infidelity and spiritualism, and as spiritualism is the power through which Satan works, this then gives the evil one greater power to work his will in the earth. It is the plan and the work of this wicked one to appear to men as the benefactor of the race while in actual fact he comes as its destroyer. Thus we read:

"Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing the diseases of the people, and professing to present a new and more exalted system of religious faith; but at the same time he works as a destroyer. While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. Thse visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous." The Great Controversy,589-0.

to be continued

There are two points which bear notice in this statement. First of all we are told that "Even now he is at work." Those words were written more than a hundred years ago. Not only were we told that he was then at work but that "These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous."

Those who are living today are witnesses of the truth of these words. These visitations are indeed becoming more and more frequent and disastrous. The last few years were certainly marked by a fearful train of disasters of awful magnitude. Yet, so inured has the world become of such things because of their repeated severity and frequency, that it hardly took more than passing notice of the events.

But the serious Bible student notes that these things are becoming more frequent and disastrous as the moral and spiritual tone of the world descends to ever lower and still lower depths. That descent has never been more rapid than it has been in the past few years. It seems that men are casting off all restraints and abandoning themselves to the pursuit of all and every kind of wickedness, using their bodies in the performance of the vilest lusts and pleasures.

Inevitably now, this situation must become worse and worse, the result being that the restraining power of God is being withdrawn more and more from the earth, while the power of spiritualism will become more and more manifest, until these things assume plague proportions.

This reveals that a state of things is coming when the power of Spiritualism will be far greater than it is today. Then the church will have become the very habitation of devils and will be the hold of every foul spirit, things being so serious that her sins will have reached clear up to heaven. This means that Satan will then have unlimited power within those churches through whom he will exercise to the fullest extent the malignant and detructive power of spiritualism.

Today, things have not yet come to quite that point and will not until the churches have all become united in one purpose against the truth of God. But that time is coming and if the destruction in the world is as bad it is today with Satan not yet possessing full power in the churches, then what will it be like when he does exercise unlimited power in and through the churches?

It is frightening to even think about.

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[skyblue888]

But this will be by no means the worst of it for that will be, as we have learned previously, only the beginning of the loud cry period. At that time the devil will have full control of the churches but not yet of the world. Therefore, there will still be one limitation on the power of spiritualism.

The contest during the loud cry period will be for the souls of men generally. At the beginning of that time the churches will be fully committed for the devil, and the people of God will be committed to the Lord, but there will be the masses of the earth who will not yet have made their final decision the one way or the other. But during the loud cry period such decisions must be made and we know that the vast majority will make their decision on the wrong side.

The point is that every man who makes his decision on the wrong side thereby increases the power of Satan which is the power of spiritualism. The greater the power of spiritualism then the more that the enemy of souls is able to make it appear that he is a benefactor of the race, while at the same time the more he is able to work as a destroyer. The whole thing is in direct proportion so that, as the loud cry progresses and more and more make their final decision for wrong, then the greater becomes the power of spiritualism, and the more extensive and terrible the destructions which will fall upon the earth.

If the destruction which we see in the earth today are as extensive and disastrous as they are, while the power of Satan is still held in check, then what must they be like during the loud cry as he gains greater and greater power in his steady climb to the climax of that power to be realized as the time of probation ends.

The whole world will stagger from blow after terrible blow, as the calamities on the earth reach plague proportions before probation finally closes. Then, as the devil gains the final and complete control over all the earth apart from those who names are written in the Lamb's book of life, spiritualism will reach the full and final height of its destructive power as probation closes, and that power will be manifest in the seven last plagues.

Thus it is to be seen that the plagues which fall upon the earth just prior to the close of probation are scarcely less terrible than those which fall immediately after probation closes and therefore those who are living at the time will be unable to tell the difference between the one or the other or to know when the one ends and when the other begins. This is a very important point and one which we need to keep in mind as we proceed further.

The same is true of the withdrawal of the restraining power of God from the earth. This also is progressive. So far as Babylon the Great herself is concerned, that withdrawal is already complete at the very beginning of the loud cry period quite some time before the final close of probation, but for the world generally that final withdrawal is not complete until the close of probation.

Thus we can know that things are going to become worse and worse as time goes by until we reach the great time of trouble the like of which this world has never known. Knowing what is coming calls forth from every intelligent Christian the determination to make the most thorough and careful preparation for what is before us, for only those who have really set their hearts to serve the Lord will stand in that say.

"The storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it? Are we one with Christ as He is one with the Father?" E.G. White, Review & Herald, Vol.4,242.

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[skyblue888]

SD you are perfectly entitled to believe whatever you choose to believe. I have freedom to post here just as you do. If you are not interested in my posts, then don't pay attention to them. That's all there is to it.

Fair enough?

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[Gail]

SD you are perfectly entitled to believe whatever you choose to believe. I have freedom to post here just as you do. If you are not interested in my posts, then don't pay attention to them. That's all there is to it.

Fair enough?

Good advice for anywhere on the board!

[skyblue888]

Originally Posted By: skyblue888

SD you are perfectly entitled to believe whatever you choose to believe. I have freedom to post here just as you do. If you are not interested in my posts, then don't pay attention to them. That's all there is to it.

Fair enough?

Good advice for anywhere on the board!

Just common sense.

Thanks Gail.

sky