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| The brethren deal with me | Does God kill? | Ezekiel 9 |
Welcome to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in exile. Just as Ellen White was exiled to Australia, and Waggoner to England, so God’s people are today exiled from God’s last day church, reduced to ‘sighing and crying’ for the sins done in Israel. All they can do is sigh and cry, because they have no power to change anything; their words largely fall on deaf ears. That’s quite a shocking claim, isn’t it? Let’s look at some exhibits. First up is 1888 Re-examined, by Robert J. Wieland and Donald K. Short, first the original publication, and then the later one published in 1988.
Shocking, isn’t it? But, it shouldn’t be. God’s message to the last day church is equally shocking, if not more so. Since the dear saints, especially those in leadership positions, don’t seem to have thought much of it, much less addressed it. I repeat the message here:
14 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;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
17 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:
18 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.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
-Revelation 3:14-22
The Son of God starts out by telling us He is the faithful and true witness – He is apparently going to tell us something almost unbelievable. And He does! He tells the angel of the church of Laodicea, i.e., the leadership, that they are lukewarm, and that He will spue them out of His mouth. (The Greek words are mello se emesai – Jesus is literally saying He feels so sick to His stomach, that He feels like throwing up!) But wait! It gets worse! He then tells the leadership that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked! All is not lost, however. He counsels us, and tells us that “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
Sadly, not many respond, otherwise, Ezekiel 9 would not be in the Bible:
1 He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.
3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;
4 And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.
10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.
-Ezekiel 9
The spirit of prophecy agrees:
“…In the last solemn work,” declares the Spirit of Prophecy, “few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and he cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you….
When trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when multitudes of false brethren are distinguished from the true, then the hidden ones will be revealed to view, and with hosannas range under the banner of Christ. 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….
-Ellen White, Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 80, 81
Remember, the sins of the church leadership are unknown sins, which she “knowest not” Revelation 3:17. (It’s not a coincidence that the other unknown sin was the murder of the Son of God by the leadership in His day, which is why Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34 That prayer extended forward and backward in time.) So, it should not be surprising that the leadership asked for an ‘explicit confession to the church’ for daring to say that the 1888 message was rejected! Wieland and Short responded in “An Explicit Confession Due the Church”, in which they repeatedly shank the leadership (in love). The second one has smaller type as a download link, which you can download and print out if you wish:
Brothers and sisters, we can do our part in moving the gospel forward. Even if you’ve been disfellowshipped or otherwise kicked out of your local church, you can attend another church. Ask God to help you reach the brethren – He will! If you haven’t already, read the 1888 messengers, Jones and Waggoner, who gave the beginning of the loud cry, and share these concepts at church, especially in Sabbath school. The writings of A.T. Jones and E.J. Waggoner are available for free in a pdf form, just do a search, and print copies are available as well. Don’t read what someone has said about them, read their writings for yourself.
There is no excuse for anyone in taking the position that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are without an error. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation.
– Ellen White, CW 35.2
More Spirit of Prophecy quotes here:
Ellen White commended the messengers and their message over 200 times, and you will receive a blessing as you read. Here is a sampling:
For further study, go to:
https://www.1888msc.org/resources/ebooks/pdf
https://1888mpm.org
https://www.practicaprophetica.com/books/atj
https://www.practicaprophetica.com/books/ejw
https://www.practicaprophetica.com/books/egw
Please understand, the links are where you can find pdf’s of the 1888 messengers writings; I cannot verify that everything else on the sites are true and correct. We’re all where we’re at.
Lastly, Righteousness By Faith and the Shaking of the Church, by Robert J, Wieland is a booklet I came across from a dear sister. I tried to find it online, unsuccessfully. As far as I know, she had the only copy in existence. She was willing to loan to to me, and I had it transcribed and printed in a booklet form; you can read the pdf version here:
PDF copy of original here:
