| Believer of Present Truth Must Be Strong in the Lord |
Today's Text:
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Ephesians 6:10
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The Message:
True Christianity will always be aggressive, and wherever it exists it will arouse enmity. All who live a conscientious life, who bear testimony of the claims of God, of the evil of sin, of the judgment to come, will be called the disturbers of Israel. Those whose testimony awakens apprehension of the soul offend pride and arouse opposition. The hatred of evil against good exists as surely now as in the days of Christ when the multitudes cried, "Away with this man!" "Release unto us Barabbas." There is no kind of evil in our world but that some have an interest in maintaining it. Evil is ever warring against good. And since we know that the conflict with the prince of darkness is constant and must be severe, let us be united in the warfare. Cease to war against those of your own faith. Let no one help Satan in his work. We have all that we can do in another direction....
"Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." [Ephesians 6:10.] Let us give heed to this injunction. If it were not possible for us to be strong, God would never have commanded it. "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." [Verses 11, 12.]
The first thing recorded in Scripture history after the fall was the persecution of Abel. And the last thing in Scripture prophecy is the persecution against those who refuse to receive the mark of the beast. We should be the last people on the earth to indulge in the slightest degree the spirit of persecution against those who are bearing the message of God to the world. This is the most terrible feature of un-Christlikeness that has manifested itself among us since the Minneapolis meeting. Sometime it will be seen in its true bearing, with all the burden of woe that has resulted from it.
A passive piety will not answer for this time; let the passiveness be manifested where it is needed, in patience, kindness, and forbearance. But we must bear a decided message of warning to the world. The Prince of Peace thus proclaimed His work, "I came not to send peace [on earth], but a sword." Evil must be assailed; falsehood and error must be made to appear in their true character; sin must be denounced; and the testimony of every believer in the truth must be as one. All your little differences, which arouse the combative spirit among brethren and sisters, are devices of Satan to divert minds from the great and fearful issue before us. The true peace will come among God's people when, through united zeal and earnest prayer, the false peace that exists to a large degree is disturbed. Now there is earnest work to do. Now is the time to manifest your soldierly qualities; let the Lord's people present a united front to the foes of God and truth and righteousness.
God expects every man to do his duty. "Ye are my witnesses," saith the Lord. [Isaiah 43:10.] Call men to repentance. Set before them in clear, distinct lines their danger; point them to Him who taketh away the sin of the world. Carry the offer of Christ's mercy and righteousness to those who are lost. Many will resent your testimony; you can expect nothing else, for they resented the testimony of the Son of God. But if we stand in God, faithful and true, our testimony will be as a hammer breaking in pieces the rocky hearts, a fire consuming the refuge of lies.
Those who profess to believe the special truths for this time need to be converted and sanctified by the truth. As Christians we are made depositories of sacred truth, and we are not to keep the truth in the outer court, but bring it into the sanctuary of the soul. Then the church will possess divine vitality throughout. The weak shall be as David, and David as the angel of the Lord. One question will be all absorbing-Who shall approach nearest the likeness of Christ? Who shall do most to win souls to righteousness? When this is the ambition of believers, contention is at an end; the prayer of Christ is answered.
When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the early church, "the whole multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul." [Acts 4:32.] The spirit of Christ made them one. This is the fruit of abiding in Christ. But if dissension, envy, jealousy, and strife are the fruit we bear, it is not possible that we are abiding in Christ. To draw nourishment from the Living Vine is the same that Christ represents as eating His flesh and drinking His blood. And if we are feeding upon Him we shall manifest His spirit.-Letter 25b, 1892.
*Note: I have added in the parts that were left out by the compilers for what ever reason, that the true sentiment of the author may be seen. These parts are underlined.
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Commentary:
My friend, at the time that the prophet of God penned this message there was dissention in the church. The message of 1888, which was to call the church back to the righteousness of Christ, had been given but had not been heeded. She endeavored to unite the church under the banner of Jesus that we might be united in our efforts to bring the gospel to the world.
Today the church is pushing that we are to be united in the teachings of the church, claiming that to speak against the church is to speak against God. But while it is true that we should put aside petty bickering we cannot turn a blind eye to heresy within the church. We are to be watchmen on the walls of Zion, that the church may be warned to the dangers that are already among us.
Many members of the church have seen and are speaking out against the heresies that are coming into the church such as spiritual formation, contemplative prayer, women's ordination, the acceptance of homosexuals into the fellowship, and even Sunday services. Yet they do not realize the true source of these heretical doctrines. In the early 1900's Dr. John Harvey Kellogg wrote a book called the "Living Temple" in which he presented pantheistic theories about the nature of God. After the prophet of God denounced the book, Dr. Kellogg suggested that he rewrite the book. He had recently came to believe in the trinity and he felt that his statements about the nature of God could be cleared up, for now he did not believe that God was in everything, but that it was the Holy Spirit that was in everything.
To this God had shown Ellen White that while the book would be change the heart of the author had not, and that his mind had been worked by the enemy of souls. She called this the alpha of deadly heresies and that the omega would follow and be of a most startling nature.
The omega of deadly heresies spoken of by the prophet of God is already among us. The heresies that have come into the church are just the fruits of the doctrine of the trinity that has been accepted by the church. Since our church pioneers were laid to rest the work of Satan to infiltrate the church has progressed with little opposition. The enemy has crept into the church planting the seeds of the trinity into the minds of the people. As theses seeds began to take root and grow, the opposition against the trinity began to soften and change until it was wholly embraced by the church in 1980 when it was voted in as one of the fundamental beliefs of the church.
Today, this heresy is in full bloom and has brought in with it deadly heresies that are destroying the foundations of our faith. At its core it destroys the gospel of God, denying that the Son of God is truly a son and therefore denies the Father as well. Of this the Scriptures foretold saying "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." (1 John 2:22, 23).
If we are to truly be watchmen on the walls of Zion we must not allow this deadly sin to continue with out warning. The church today is truly in the Laodicean condition for they have forsaken the One true God and His Son Jesus Christ for the triune god of Babylon. As such the message of Faithful and True Witness to the SDA Church in the Laodicean condition is this "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. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." (Revelation 3:18, 19).
My friend, it is time for all of us to awaken from the deadly condition that we have been led to be in. The deception of the trinity has been accepted as truth. Those who would have their eyes opened must have their eyes anointed by the eyesalve of heaven. We must study the word of God and take it as it reads, comparing Scripture with Scripture that we may know the truth. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3).
God bless,
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